Barbara....a brazen hussy!

I was finally able to face my obsession with Barbara, and I must admit, I kind of liked her. This was definitely a way wicked hard workout, but there is a sick part of my mind that is really starting to bond with the ass-kicking, pure pain workouts. It's a bit on the bizarre side, I'm not sure what is happening to me....

Barbara - 20 pullups, 30 pushups, 40 sit ups, 50 squats - 5 rounds for time. The good news, I actually finished, but with a caveat. In reality, I was in round 4 with just the situps and squats left when time was called. I opened my big mouth, and said something to the effect of "aw shucks, 5 more minutes and I could have finished" Low and behold, I was given the go ahead to finish it all up. Final time was 39:23 (I think that was the seconds amount, but I'm not positive).

Ok, I will readily admit - the pullups were lame, but jumping pullups usually are! However, I sure as heck can't do 20 deadhangs in a row, and can't really kip until I'm outta the bands - so, what else is there? We'll just keep workin' on these - they are coming along ok. Worked them Red band low bar.
Pushups were full on boy style. By the last couple rounds, I cranked out the first 10 then had to go in 5's.
Sit ups - regular style..
Squats - taking a leap from 15 in a row to 50 is kind of a big 'un. These felt like they took forever, and I have a hunch that these may cause me a bit of pain tomorrow.

I got through it, and I'm darn-tootin' glad I did!! Thanks to everyone cheering me on at the end, I know I wouldn't have finished as quickly without that.

Again, this is one I would rather do than Helen, and I was thinking about that little fact, and wondering about it. This is definitely more difficult, so it didn't make alot of sense. However, I did come to the conclusion that it's all about the breathing. Running, there is no rhyme or reason to how you should breath - yes, you try to keep a rhythm but it never really works. With Barbara, doing situps/pushups/squats - you know when to inhale and exhale - when you need to stop it's because of muscle exhaustion, not because "holy crap, I can't breathe!" I think that explains my total and complete hatred of running in a nutshell - for those who think I'm completely nuts!

Now, I'm just going to wait for the onset of pain....although I'm crossing my fingers in hope that it never really sets in. HA! We'll see....

Happy Birthday Jonathan!! Hope it was a good one and you had some ice cream!!

T-giving mish-mash and my latest frustration

Ok - I must confess, when I realized the Thanksgiving workout was not going to be posted, I definitely got a sense of dread - because not posting it, was an omen of pure evilness. Walking into the gym that morning, and looking at the whole workout, written on the board, then turning around and seeing the 8am group collapsed into heaps on the floor, didn't really do much to alleviate that dread. However, when it came down to it, this was an excellent pre-Thanksgiving gorge fest ass-wholloping!
Started off with "Micro Cindy", AKA 6 minutes of Cindy (5 Pullup/10pushup/15 squats). In general, I like Cindy, so 6 minutes is not so bad. Got in 4 rounds plus 2 pullups. Red Bands high bar.
Next - Fight gone bad - 2 rounds. I got 62 first round and 60, I think it was, the second round.
Then, Tabata Cleans - ok - In case you didn't know, I hate cleans with a blood red hot passion. They are just a strange movement. ...and doing them Tabata style...YUKKO! But, I managed to get 40 in - which averaged out to about 5 per round, which I was good with. Then came Tabata burpees. This was an ending created in hell. Burpees are hard enough, but ending with them, Tabata style?? OY VAY! I only got 20 in....but hey, that was still ending on 20 burpees. Overall, definitely one of the more difficult workouts, but I must say, and call me crazy if you will, I would rather do this than Helen!! Have I mentioned that I hate running lately? ...Hmm...is it me, or am I suddenly filled with alot of hatred? Ok - hate may be too strong of a word,but plain and simple, running and cleans kinda suck.

Bench Press is quickly taking the place of pullups as the most frustrating thing! At least I am feeling like I am making improvements in my pullups - I feel like I'm close to where I was in the Blue Bands when I dumped them - still have alot of work to do, but I definitely am feeling better about them. Bench Press on the other hand, I'm in a bit of a rut. Stuck and just not getting any better...it's 135-140 at 1 with pause, or 145-150 no pause. Today, I couldn't get past the 135, despite hitting 140 before. It was definitely a bit disappointing and frustrating. So, now that I've whined for a bit, I'll turn to the glory of the TGU's and bask in that for a bit longer. (In case you haven't guessed, I don't really like dwelling on the negative too long, sucks too much energy and life outta ya!)

Hatred and love are sooo close!

Oh, so much to say...I'll start with the bad......tonight, Helen. Hate her, she is an evil swine. Helen=200m run, 21 Kettlebell swings, 12 pull ups 3 rounds for time. BLECH! Have I mentioned lately that I really hate running?? It's one of those evil tasks devised to make you huff and puff until you think your lungs are going to explode. Sad that 1/4 of a mile makes me say that, but I'm hoping that this paints a vivid picture of my hatred of it. Will I do it? yes....but unless given a good reason, apparently I'll be bitching the whole way. I guess I'm a bit of a whiner at heart. Finished this one in....14:40. Quicker than last time, but a tad bit slower than the time before. Red bands, low bar.

Now, a bit happier - Diane on Monday. Deadlift 155/Handstand Pushup 21/15/9. Crud, I can't remember the time on it.....hmmm..no clue. I believe it was a tiny bit faster than last time. On the really positive side, my arm didn't go numb for a couple weeks from the HSPU's this time. Just a finger or two and it didn't last long. I was a tiny bit disappointed in the range of motion overall- got some with a decent range, but then some were kind of sad and pathetic. Again, breathing got in the way. Have you ever really tried to catch your breath while upside down, blood rushing to your brain?? It doesn't work quite as well. Next time, I'll have to concentrate on the range more, even if my time deteriorates in a big way.

Now...onto the good stuff. Turkish Getups for weight. I have to say, I LOVE this one. Tried it with the barbell, because I think that is the coolest looking thing on the planet. Did 35, 40, 45, 50 - not such a good 50, faltered quite a bit. Then tried the 50 one more time, and got it! I have to say, I am super duper-uber glad that I didn't attempt to go up and redid the 50 for success. I left yesterday, feeling super geeked about the whole thing, and in reality, I still am! First of all - it was a PR -ok, maybe only a PR by 1 measly pound, but it was with a barbell, and not the kettlebell this time - so added degree of difficulty, but extra element of coolness! I have come to the conclusion that this is my all time favorite lift..it's so complex, and takes such a combination of strength, coordination and balance that it's just awesome!....and awesome to watch someone do it (albeit a bit nerve racking!!). The bad thing was coming home to a house full of people, all geeked up about doing it, and they look at you with a blank face thinking "huh?? Turkish what?? what the hell are you talking about??" Ah well, had to dig up a video to show everyone tonight, because they all need to be as impressed with me as I am with myself right now...YAY ME! I can't wait for this one again - makes me feel all cool and coordinated!! I have to say - the feeling of accomplishment that I have had since doing this one is why I love doing this - even the miserable, evil ones, like Helen - they all make it possible!! TGU's are just awesome!!

Backsquats and...what the heck was I thinking?

Back squats on Thursday 5-5-5-5-5 for max weight. Going for the full "breaking the plane" on this one...UGH!....it may only be an extra inch or two down, but that extra inch or two makes the weight just that much heavier. So, because I wasn't sure how the extra dip down would affect the weight, and I had just come off a very mentally, and emotionally draining day at work, I started off low. It did still feel heavy! So first round 135, second 145. Then Jonathan looked at the board, saw what I had done last time, and burst out with a "what are you doing piddling around with the low stuff?" Ok, fine....so went up to 185, then 205 - which was super-duper heavy. One of those moments when, in retrospect, you knew you had the red bloated face trying to push that baby up (still not as bad as crazy Mary though!!). The 205, was done, but it definitely wasn't pretty - so backed down to 185 for the last rep.
Flash forward 24 hours....and the back muscle soreness begins to set in- not a big deal, pop a few advil and relax, no problemo. Waking up this morning, still a bit sore, but better, and the warmup stretches did alleviate any residual before starting the WOD.

Today, doing what, in my head thinking about it this morning, I'm thinking, oh this won't be so bad...heck, it may only take 10 minutes or so.
50/40/30/20/10 - jumping squat/push press 35 lb bar
HA! Again, what was going through my brain? First inkling that my initial thought was way off was when I hear something to the effect of "I have a bit of a diabolical mind when it comes to devising a workout" ...2nd hint was when Rich said he ended up laying on the floor at the end.....RUTROW!! This took me forever - 23 minutes or so. But, the last rounds, I did have to stop frequently because my back muscles were kind of pissed off and yelling at me to give 'em a break. If we ever do this one again, I'm thinking I should have a vast improvement on time, without the back muscles screaming at me. Overall, and several hours after the fact, I think I liked it.

Thanks everyone for humoring me on this bit of fun, and for coming to lunch afterwards. It was fun and awesome!

Dippety Fran ups

Fran - 21/15/9 65 lb Thrusters/Pullups for time. Not sure that I'm such a fan of Fran, for many reasons, 1. it's my middle name - never particularly cared for it. 2. This particular Fran is a tad bit evil.

I did full pop on the Thrusters, and red band high bar for pull ups (note: I did NOT say dead hang!!) For some odd reason, the Thrusters felt a bit off. Actually, that would probably be the understatement of the day, as I couldn't even remember if you started off with a squat or where. But I got through them, and the pull ups. I believe my time was 11:09 - something along those lines. I managed to knock a couple seconds off my last time.
Now, that being said, as I was driving into work this morning, I was thinking about Fran. I momentarily had the thought that I really wanted to get this one under 10 minutes. Then I paused, and remembered, that I had to stop to breath every once in awhile, because my form was leaving along with each breath. So.....here's the question - what's better, maintaining form throughout the entire workout, or kicking butt for a spectacular time?? My thought is form, which, for me, will always need a momentary pause or two for breathing purposes -because if I can't breath, I sure as heck cannot "keep my weight on my heels", or "hips before elbows", or "pull from the bellybutton".
Actually, I can't do anything close to a pulll up if I can't breath!!

Today, 7 rounds of 10 Sumo Deadlift High pulls, Ring dips. Did my dips on the bar, foot assisted. Cripes, 70 is ALOT!! Yes, I may be able to do a dip or two unassisted, but there is not a chance that I could have done this one with more than a millimeter range of motion without that foot assist. SDHP's were actually no problem. This one wasn't too too awful, but it was an awful lot of dippety-dos! I completed in 10 minutes and some odd seconds. Hmm...not really sure exactly what my time was, oddly enough this particular fact seems to have left my brain rather quickly!

We ended up with some extra time at the end, so decided to work on Turkish Get-ups!! YAY! However, after 70 dips, I wasn't sure how strong my arms were. Did the first one, with the 12 kg kettlebell, no problem. Then Luke stepped it up the second round and did it with a 65 lb barbell. HOLY CRAP! That was pretty AND impressive!! Rich tried it next, again, TGU's are really pretty with Barbells - they add a certain balance and symmetry to the move. I was up next, tried it with the 35 lb barbell. I must say, balancing the barbell in one hand adds a whole new element of difficulty. I'm very proud to say, I did it...it wasn't fast, it wasn't necessarily pretty....but holy moly!! I can do it. Now...I need to work on getting used to the balancing of the barbell, once I get that, the world is my oyster!! BAHAHAHAHA!!

Burping through Deadlifts

Deadlifts on Saturday, it was an interesting day all around. First off, warming up, I felt super-ultra-uber weak. When the warm up weight, of 185 feels heavy with a capital H.....you start thinking you're in trouble. Once we started the actual workout (7 sets of 1 for weight), it went a tad bit better. Started off 225, 245, 255 (this was a match to my previous PR), ok, lets try 265...got it! I think I actually stated, "I got my PR, so I'm done for the day"....who knew, next round when I tried for 270, my body would actually listened to my sarcasm!! Probably need to watch that next time! So, I tried 270 twice, failing both times, got it off the ground, but no way was I straightening up! Last round back down to 245. At this point, I'm very happy with 265, feeling pretty darn tootin' strong (not Hercules strong by any means, but overall, strong). Then we go to the powerlifting meet, and get hit with the reality - I'm not so strong at all. Holy moly these people were beyond strong. Even the crazy Mary chick who would bulge her eyes out and huff around like a bull in heat - she scared the living crap out of me, but she was impressive, along with everyone else. Overall, a good day, worth the time.

Death by Burpee on the other hand, I must say, was a lesson in misery. "Death by" workouts are start at 1 in one minute and each minute increase by one. Doesn't sound so difficult, and in reality, the first coupla minutes, it's not. The Burpee "death by" workout has a quick demise. You feel like you're doing really well, and then suddenly you hit 7 and it's wretched. The weird thing, is I started getting arch cramps - something that I haven't really had with Crossfit - I used to get them all the time, skiing, skating, almost anything else, but not this...until tonight. ...and I must say, cramps in the arches of your feet, hurt like a ....hmmm..not sure what, but something. Anyway, momentary pause, it goes away, but also puts you way behind in the Burpee count. In the end, I did a total of 61. Doesn't sound so bad, but criminy, it felt like a heck of alot more than just that -cripes, that's only 11 more than the Filthy 50. I must say, Despite the new guy "Z" was a burpee fiend, and kicked some wild turkey butt!!

Bench Press and those elusive pullups...

Yesterday - Bench press - 3-3-3-3-3 for weight.
Well, On the plus side, I finally hit my goal of 150! You would think I'd be jubilant, happy, but I'm just not as overjoyed as I should be. I think it's because the workout is sets of 3, and I only got 1. In fact, if I'm counting correctly, I only did a grand total of 8 bench presses the whole night. We were going without the pause - with the thinking, of let's get the PR, then work on the pause (at least that's my interpretation of it).
So first set, quick and easy 3 sets at 125.
Then I decided to try the Luke method - go big early, before fatigue sets in.
Next set 150 - I did 1 successfully - but it wasn't as successful as the count of one sounds. In reality, I didn't touch down all the way...so I kind of cheated a bit.
Next set - 150, only this time all the way. YAY!! I did it......but I only got 1.
So I hit the PR, next step, drop down 10 lbs and try the pause. Well, silly me, I think the heaviest I've done with the pause is 135...DUH! So, once again, I only managed to hoist the bar up once. Last set, screw it, let's do 140, set of 3 no pause. Yeah right. I did 2...then on the 3rd one, my right shoulder/arm hitched up and did not want to go. Not sure if computer arm has kicked in or what - it's been on and off for a coupla months, but it's never affected anything I do...I did feel it this catching this time. Very peculiar.

Strangely enough, the highlight of my night, was when I was playing with pullups afterwards. I strapped myself into the red bands, got into my dead hang, and pulled...up, up, up and holy CRAP!! I was over - as in, not my hallucinatory over the bar that I usually have...I was really up there. I actually think the sore muscles in my shoulder area (not really sure what the technical term is for those), from KBHell helped me in that last little "ooompff". It was shocking and amazing....and DAMN I felt good!

Today, at Lisa's request we did full Cindy. With a bit of the hangover happiness of my pullup feat from the night before still pumping through my veins, I decide to go for it! Red band, high bar!
HA! Ok - I think I got a grand total of 2 maybe 3 good pullups in all 9 rounds. The vast majority of them, I ended up eye level with the bar, and on a few, even below that.
So much for the pullup euforia!! Pushups and squats, as always, not a huge problem - tiring after a bit, but not terrible.
Big bonus of the night - Lisa asking how much weight I've lost - Good to know some of all of this work is showing!

Crap and Halitosis!!

Hee hee - don't ask me what the subject means, it just popped into my delirious brain on the way home and I liked it! It's been couple of doozy days....days which left me feeling woozy!! (ha ha - look, I rhymed!) Ok - apparently my brain has turned into the mind of a 5th grader, if that tells ya anything!!

I stray......I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Kettlebell hell...I love the first 4 rounds of the Tabata intervals...not so much the next two, and hate the last 2 intervals with a red hot passion. Either way, once done, this particular joy always leaves you with the feeling of bulging biceps! Lowest score counts, which, I think I have figured out the key to. Know where you want to score and do that number - even the first couple rounds...it's the low score, so if you can stay at a consistent level, take your rest in the beginning, when you can - you can score higher than going big the first couple rounds and then hitting nothing in the end. I had the freakin' heavy ass - 16kg kettlebells again. I scored 5 on the front squats (those suckers were HARD yesterday!!), 2 on the clean and jerks (no improvement on that one), 8 on the rows, 8 on the floor press and 10 on the swings. Believe me when I say, the scores were more impressive than the form at the end!!

Annie - haven't done Annie in ages - in fact, my last score wasn't on any of the sheets it's been so long. I do recall, from the nether regions of my mind, that last time I did this one, I did burpees instead of DU's- and it wasn't so good. Tonight, I tried the double unders, as prescribed, because I can actually get them once in a while, and on a really good day, I can actually connect as many as 3. On the plus side, it didn't take me quite as long as I thought (I was thinking 45 minutes), it only took 26:55 or so. HAHA! Ok - so I finished 10 minutes behind everyone else....they were all done and I hadn't started my 20 round. Oh well!! All I can say is YAY! I did this one "as prescribed", or at least, kind of as prescribed. Now, when I say that, I'm not counting the 300 single jumps that I had to do to get my double unders (yes, I'm a dork and have to do 3 or 4 singles for every DU) not to mention the time, my mind forgot what I was doing so I did 7 or 8 singles, completely neglecting to spin fast or jump high. Seriously, that was not a very smart moment for me!

End result - I guarantee my pores have been cleaned thoroughly from the gallons of sweat, I knocked my knuckle with the weight thing on the rope (that kind of hurts!), I'm gonna have to ice the living crap out of my shin splints,......but I'm glad I did it!

Overhead how???....and Daniel's shocking revelation

I've come to the conclusion that I think I do better working out in a dictatorship type of environment. Yesterday, with the "get the weight overhead in any manner possible" kind of threw me a bit. Not sure if it was a low coordination day, or I was just given too many choices, so I couldn't make up my mind - or most likely a combination of both.
It was interesting, I know I can push press 120. Supposedly Push Jerks/split jerks a typical person is stronger. Not sure exactly what I was trying to do each time, in the end, for the most part it ended up being push press. I wasn't exactly exhibiting anything close to resembling good form. I did ....let me think..... 115, 125, 125, 125, 130, 130, 135 - I believe that was it. I don't know if I was still a bit tired from the Filthy 50, or what, but my confidence in hoisting that bar up just wasn't there. So, what seems to be my mantra lately?? Yes - it is - "Ah well, next time."

Today was Daniel. Ewww, Ick, blech. Running!!! ....and alot of it!!! Horror of horror!! Ok, that might be a bit melodramatic, but I really don't like running at all. In fact, have I mentioned that I believe people who enjoy running for distance are a bit batty?? I can see running around the yard chasing someone, playing a game, even practicing sprints....but running for miles as enjoyment?? Really, someone needs to lock those people up!!
But I stray.....onto Daniel.
- 50 Pull-ups
- 400 meter run
- 21 thrusters (95/65 lbs)
- 800 meter run
- 21 thrusters (95/65 lbs)
- 400 meter run
- 50 Pull-ups
For time

I modified - Red band, jumping pullups. Next time, I'll have to ponder this, jumping pullups, while they get tiring...they are nothing compared to dead hang pull ups. So, I need to figure out a way to work the pull up better, but not take 3 hours to complete.....
The running sucked as always...but it didn't suck quite as hard as it did last time. Yes, I still had to walk in parts, but really, there just comes a point when you have to catch your breath. I must say, the hardest part was trying to start running after doing thrusters - my legs and lungs just did not want to go there. I actually completed this one faster than last time, and I was in the red bands instead of the blue - 25:51. So I really don't feel too bad about it.

Shockingly, I am finding that I actually am starting to enjoy these punishingly difficult workouts....crazy as that sounds. I've always loved the powerlifting ones, BP, Squat, etc. (you can keep those frickin' olympic lifts - those really do kinda suck donkeys!) In fact, I was putzing around on the Crossfit website the other day....and I must say "Barbara" caught my eye and intrigued me (hint hint - subtle ain't I??)

Found another interesting thing - for anyone and everyone who has asked me if I am planning on competing anytime soon - on the CF website there is also a sheet showing barbell standards:
http://www.crossfit.com/cf-journal/WLSTANDARDS.pdf
(sorry, on my MAC, so I have no clue how to add a hyperlink)
According to this, I am squarely intermediate, so I think it'll be a bit.

Now, here is the amazing, fascinating, unbelievable revelation of the day: I think I actually liked Daniel (even with it's running!!) better than the Bear.....I know...shocking!

Snatches, Squats and a Filthy Foul Fifty F!@#!

Well, with everyone in town, writing is not going to be quite as frequent....trying to keep my obsessive behavior to a minimum, so the family doesn't realize just how crazy I can be!!

So, here I am...after several days, and several, so called "fun" workouts.. ...Where to begin, well, I've always been one to save the best for last. So, I'll start with snatch-day. 75 Power snatches for time. I didn't recall this one being that bad...I'm thinking, Randy, must be like they say child birth is.....you forget the pain. I did marginally ok on it, small, little, itty, bitty, bit of improvement - I knocked a whooping 4 seconds off my previous time. I think it was 10:04 ish. I holding onto the thought that my form had to have been better...so there was improvement, true or not, I don't know, but I like to live in my happy little land of denial. So, there it is.

Yesterday....Front Squats...3/3/3/3/ 3 for weight. Ok, not sure who the crazy yokel is who thinks these are fun, or natural, but these are total wack-a-doodle squatty things. As your shoulders are in a completely unnatural position, with the bar pressing down on your poor little shoulder muscles, you squat. Ok, maybe men find this relatively simple, but women have a couple protrusions in the front that just help tip the balance scale a tiny bit more. To the point that you want to topple over forward. Yeah, yeah..then the chant...."lift your elbows, lift your elbows" JINKIES BATMAN!! My elbows don't want to do that!! Despite the pure obomination of hell that was the front squat, I don't think I did too, too bad. 80/105/125/155/155x2.....Tried the160, but failed miserably, to the point that even with Jonathan spotting...kinda got stuck once...weren't quite sure how to get out of it...but get out we did! Ah well, today, my poor shoulders are feeling a tad bit bruised.

Now onto today's fun. I have to say, once I learned we were doing the Filthy 50 again, I was kind of excited, but kept dwelling on how best to do it, so that I would complete the freakin' thing. I still am not sure whether it's best to do the hard parts - the ones that take forever - first or last. I did them late in the game today. It started off ok - jumping pullups, low bar red band. Then onto box jumps, I probably could have done the 20" box, but it would have taken 20 minutes, so I opted for the 16" in my hopes of actually finishing. That wasn't super quick, but not so slow. Then onto Push Press, this was a light weight, so no problemo there! I think I did the walking lunges next, tiring, but not bad, then kettlebell swings, only 12kg...again, this was ok. Next move...Double unders. These took 982 years....ok, maybe it was only 15 minutes or so, but CRIPES! They took forever! Someday I'll be able to whip these babies out, but now....it's a slow, slow thing. Once I finally finished the DU's, went onto back extensions, these were ok. Then wall ball. Ok - new recommendation - don't do wall ball right after back extensions....I felt every toss of the ball in my back muscles! Ended up having to do these 10 at a time. Once I finished those, time was starting to run a bit short...we were a good 1/2 hour/35 minutes into it...and I knew I still had the burpees. I was hoping to start the burpees at 30 minutes - HA~! I still had knees to elbows. Because time was running short, I opted for situps....I can do those relatively quick, and I just wasn't sure about the actual knees to elbows, kind of wish I'd tried, but I'm also ok with not. Next time. I concluded with Burpee hell. I am SO slow and methodical - I just can't speed these babies up, and add in pure, unadulterated exhaustion, and they suck big time! Got through them, but didn't quite make the cutoff time. Finished the last of them with a time of 49:22. The bragging right, is that I did finish it. So, I now feel that I deserve to wear the uber-cool Filthy 50's shirt. Had I not completed it, wearing that shirt just wouldn't have been right!

That's it - it's been a hell of a week so far - I was debating on taking Thurs or Fri off....and I think Thurs wins! Now....off to sleep!!

A tiny bit of arm hell

Chore break! Phase one of Kitchen floor hell is done - (scrubbing the grout lines - YUK!) In a perma-squat for about an hour...ow...crampage!!
So, while the grout is drying, I'll tell you about the last coupla days.

Let's see - one handed Kettlebell ladder, went down on weight for this one, since we were giving blood within an hour of finishing. Can I tell you how odd it is to go down in weight? I did the 12 kg. Didn't feel bad at all, although I did get a cramp or two in the butt-cheek, which made me pause for moment. I think my time was just about 7 minutes or so...something like that. It doesn't REALLY count anyway because I went down in weight for what was an acceptable reason, but not really a good one. Either way, that day, I became a super hero "SUPER SWEAT GIRL!" - ok - not sure what a super-hero could do with excessive amounts of sweat, but sounds good anyway. BAHAHAHA - no, I didn't drink at lunch, must be the cleaning fumes!

After that, off to the blood drive where Patty kicked my butt. She is one speedy bleeder!! I thought I was going at a decent rate, but she was the Mario Andretti of the day! Woo hoo - way to keep the blood flowin' Patty!

Today was a new stations one - Cheri's stations..... I must say it was a tiny bit of arm hell. 3 rounds for reps...I think I got 274 total..something like that.
- Pushups - I did pretty good on these, round 1 24, round 2 18, round 3 17. I think I want to try to get to the point that I can do 20 or 30 in row. I have found that once you stop, the next set is much worse, so I think if you can keep going it's gotta be easier!

- Slamball (16) - Again, love slamball when it's played in a happy little circle of friends...it's ...ok...when doing as many as you can for time, in amongst 20 other arm things.

- Push press (55) - These weren't bad, just a bit tiring after pushups and slamball.

- Tornado ball - plain and simple - I'm a Tornado Ball idiot. Don't get it, can't do it. I think the most I got on this was ....6 or 7...and those were pretty pathetic.

- Dips - Did them unassisted....they were sorta dips....kinda. My arms did bend....then straighten, it just wasn't much of a bend. I got about 3 or 4 in per round. Not my finest dips by any means!

- 1-hand kettlebell swings (24 kg/16 kg) - These were the number getters, that kept me close to everyone else. Not sure what I did each round but it was in the 20 ish range I think.

Overall a good one, I can do without the Tornado ball though!!
Ok, break time over, time for phase II of kitchen floor....blech!