Hacking up a Quarter....BAD!

Hack Squats yesterday. These are the funky things - kind of like a trying to do a deadlift with the barbell at your heels instead of your toes.  Weird, yes.  Last time I did these, I kept getting the bar stuck on my thighs.  This time, not as much - not that the last couple were spectacular, but it wasn't quite the issue.  Did I suddenly lose 8 inches off my thigh circumference or something??? Hardly.  But - the form part of it clicked a bit more.   We did these 5/5/5/5/5  I did 115/125/135/145/165.  I got nowhere near Patty's 210....but I at least beat my last weight by 20 lbs.  Nice job Patty!

Today was Quarter Gone Bad - 5 round - 15 sec work/45 rest of Burpees, Dead hang pullups (supposed to be weighted, if you can pull your ass over the bar without being strapped into a bouncy band), and Thrusters.  With this one, because the actual work time is 15 seconds, the point is to go bigger, badder and heavier for the 15 seconds.

Burpees - well, burpees are burpees - no need to make them any more difficult - because they suck enough the way they are.   I got in 3 the first round, and 4 the remaining.

Pullups - well, HA!  My pullups are still off, but they are getting a tiny bit closer to where they were before vacation.  I ended up doing these in the red bands - from a complete dead hang - no floor action once I went up.  I got 4 the first round, and the next 3 rounds and 2 the last (I had a 1/2 in there, but 1/2 don't really count!)

Thrusters - I went for the fully prescribed weight on this one - 95 lbs. This was the first time I've done 95lb Thrusters - I'm ok with them at 65 lbs, and last time I did this one, I did 75 lbs. Let me tell ya - 95 - not so fun.  Shockingly much heavier than 65.  I got in 5 per round, with one round hitting 6.

Overall - my score was 60, 5 less than last time, but last time was blue bands and 75 lb thrusters.  So - pretty good. 

Vacation-Crossfit=UGHHH!!!

Well, I guess I'm back from vacation, but 11 days off is not such a good thing.

We will just start with the lack of coordination of Monday's Clean and Jerks. 3/3/3/3/3.

For some reason, when cleans get heavy, I can't figure out the lift off the floor without pulling thing.  I'm ok - not spectacular by any means, but can do them kind of ok until I hit about 95-100 lbs...then they start really turning astray.  I did these at 85/95/105/115/115.  Ah - the jerk part of the clean and jerk is SOOOO much easier!

Cindy yesterday about killed me.  I can generally do pushups - 10 in a row until round 5 or 6 - then break at 7 or 8.  Nope. Not yesterday.  Yesterday, at about round 4 I started having to break them up. I still got in 10 rounds plus pullups/pushups.  But that was a mere 5 pushups more than last time - and last time, I was really working the full ROM - even if it wasn't quite good enough, I was focusing more on "kissing the floor".  This time, I was just trying to survive - so I really didn't work hard on going down low low on them.  By the way - I've completely lost my pullup.  Before I left, I could do about 1-1/2 dead hang pullups in the minis.  I can barely do 1 in the reds. Not sure if it's the lack of sleep, bad eating from last week, weird eating this week (I thought I'd be eating out with a client for lunch/dinner/lunch - but this particular client says "I think we both have better things to do than sit and make small talk with each other" - WOW!!)  So, yesterday, I did not eat nearly enough, and when I found myself starving, I scrambled and ate crap.  So - Cindy nearly did me in.  Between sleep issues (did I mention I woke up at 330am and could not go back to sleep?), bad eating, and reaclimating to Denver and normal life, I've been feeling a bit off.

Tonight - DEFYght gone bad - 3 rounds

Wall Ball 16#

Sumo Deadlift High Pulls - 55#

Box Jump - 16"

Push Press - 55#

Double Unders

I about keeled over and croaked on this because I couldn't breathe!! I started with the Wall ball - otherwise I don't know that I would have scored as high.  Because I was able to do them after a rest each time, I managed to get in about 20 per round.   Which helped immensely.  I believe I ended up with 218 - I think it was 10 more than last time.. I could be wrong on that total though.  I counted the DU's the Patty way - only the ones I actually made - no counting the ones that got caught up in my feet.     I'm really surprised I did as well as I did - because I was toast....beyond toast.  Could not breath or catch my breath - THIS is where I definitely feel vacation took a hit on me!

Ugh - I almost think I'm gonna be off a bit until next week - when my body adjusts to mountain time, and I've had a couple days of normalcy.  We'll see.  Oh - and have I mentioned, that my body is more sore than it's been in a long long long time from these basic moves.  Yes, still not as sore as jumping squat days, and the pull to inverted hang day - but definitely worse for wear on these moves than I've felt in a while!

"workout" adventures in Kauai

Here's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

 I did manage to get to the gym once when I was in Hawaii.  Now, I was a bit dazed, lost and confused among the cardio and weight machines - just not sure where to go with them anymore.   They did have a bunch of dumbbells though - so I thought I would do something with Renegade Rows.  Well, these were some funky-ass dumbells - huge ends, which made the RR's really awkward.  I did 10 of them then moved on.  I did 25 goblet squats, 25 situps and 10 pushups. I can't remember if I did 3 or 4 sets - then did 5 TGU's per side.  That was the extent.  Did I have the "crossfit intensity"  ...ummm, not really.  But I was the only one working out on the floor and not on a machine - so I guess that's something.

While only getting to the actual workout facility once, I was able to get in little bits and pieces of workout here and there.  In the pool - there were bridges, I would jump up and try to do pullups - yep, looked like a fool, but that's ok. We all went to a local bar one night, and yes, liquid refreshment was flowing rather freely.  To top it off - this was a karaoke bar.  Ok - I don't sing  - but I am all about being a back up dancer.  Just call me K-Fed!  While a local hawaiian was singing away to "stayin' alive" , I broke out my best disco dance moves.  Yep, I did the backbend dance.  The only way to describe this incredibly awesome move is to say it's a backbend - then you alternately lift one arm, then the next as the music plays.   Apparently, I tend to be more flexible after some tasty libations too!!  After that nifty dance move, I attracted the local drunk guy - shocking, I know!!  He decided to do the stare you in the eye, wiggle his ass, and slowly move down thing until he's down low....  Did I do what any sane person would do, and say "YUCK" and run??  Oh, heck no!!  I knew this was a prime opportunity to show off my fancy squat moves, so I went with it.  Even when I got tired, and wanted to quit - did I quit?? Again, not a chance!!  This drunk wasn't gonna win - I'm a crossfit chick!  So, something to be proud of -  I was also able to out squat dance the local drunk.  AWESOME!  

Next comes the hike from hell.  The trail is 4 miles round trip - the guidebooks say to plan on 3-4 hours.  It's a rough uphill for the first part of it, after that it levels off.   Now - here is a caveat - at no time did this lovely guidebook say that you had to walk over a bunch of boulders, with a steep drop off waiting for you to plunge to your death at any time.  So, I naively entered the trail.  At first, just a bunch of boulders, and rocks ...almost like a cobbled walk that's been upheaved several times.   Not so bad - downright doable at first.  Then, it gets steeper.  Ok - still ok, although, I am not so good at playing mountain goat, so I scrambled up a bit on all 4, using hands and feet all at once.  The higher we go - the more steep the drop off on the right.  We cross the waterfall - yep, got through the part where there is a waterfall (albeit a small one), falling over the rocks and boulders that you are walking on - still with a steep drop a mere footstep or two to the right.  At this point, I was sweating profusely, not much to grip onto, because the rock wall to the left was all wet and slimy.  Still - I sucked it up and went on.  Moved past that a couple feet, I was getting to the point where it was getting difficult to supress the pure fright that was threatening to overcome me.  At this point, Sean says - "Do it for Patty! You can do it!"  So, I did - I moved up another 20 feet or so, I looked up, and it looked like this particularly nasty part of the trail was ending. Then I saw it.  A big monster boulder on the left - there was no way I could maneuver through it - the only way to get past it was to take the tiny little 6 inch path right on the edge of the perilous drop off.  That's it - the terror won.  I crumpled onto the nearest rock and wept in sheer terror.  I sat frozen on that rock for a good 5 minutes unable to move, just weeping and sweating profusely.  All kinds of people passed on by, checking to see if I was ok...did I fall? Nope....just that old fear of heights that I had forgotten about.  I saw 60 year old ladies hike on by, 12 year old boys, everything in between!  I just sat and wept.  When I was finally able to move, Sean walked me back down - very slowly to the bottom.  I don't think I have ever sweat so much in my life - not because it was hot, or hard work, but out of pure fear.  Let me tell ya - terror sweat - doesn't smell so good - I will not lie - the best deodorant in the world couldn't save that stench!

I have to admit, I kind of felt like a bit of a loser, and was beating myself up a bit about not getting to the top.  Sean and I were talking and he was pretty darn sure that now that I'd been on the trail before, if we did it again, I could make it.  I wasn't quite as sure as him, but I did start to believe it.  So when the opportunity came up to do it again, with some of the others on the trip, I was game - after all - I am a crossfit chick - I can do anything, right?

Well, apparently, not.  I didn't even make it to the same point.   I guess it had been quite a while since I've tested my fear of heights, and now that I had, it was going to come on bigger, badder and stronger than ever.   The second time, I did make it past the waterfall - but not by much. As my panic was rising to the top, I paused, hugged my rock wall to the left.  Then glanced over to see a gigantic, nasty ass spider right by my left shoulder. AKKK!!!  Normally in this situation, I would haul ass away from it...run top speed as far away as I could get.  Unfortunately, at this point, that wasn't an option - boulders on the up path, boulders on the down path and a sheer cliff drop off straight ahead.  So what did  I do??  Yep - just what any formidable cross fit chick would do.  I crumpled to the ground away from the offending spider and wept like a baby.  Back down the mountain I went.  Well, now I know.   There is not a chance in hell that I can take that trail to the top.   At least that question has been answered for certain.  I am glad that I braved the evil beast a second time, even if he destroyed me.  

These were my adventures in working out.  I think I'm far better at sipping MaiTai's on the beach!

Full Moon Fever

This week has been the perfect storm for going plum crazy!

Between  the full moon (and this one one wickedly nasty full moon!!) being overstressed, and over-hormonal, then add in an ever growing frustration with pullups and it's just a nasty combination.   To say I've had my evil crazy twin take over, would be an understatement.  However, I have come to the conclusion that when I get too close to the pullup, or it becomes too much of a focus, it's a bad thing for me.   I need to do the peripheral battle with them.   The last week or so, has been really frustrating.  I think the focus that the Melissa Byers blog has put on them is playing complete mental games with me. Pullups have the ability to completely screw with me.  When I focus on them too closely, I end up focusing on what I can't do, not what I can.  What I have yet to accomplish, as opposed to what I have.  The negatives shine through rather than the positives.  I end up going to a completely defeatist zone in my head which is not where I want to be.  When I left Tuesday night, for instance, I was barely able to do one decent pullup, the rest were just a bunch of "keep pulling", where I wasn't even close to getting to the bar.  I've been in this place before...over and over and over again.....for about a year now.  This is where the pullups bring you down.  Yes, last night I was in the mini bands, and not the big blues, but a band nonetheless. Yes, rationally, you can see there has been some improvement, but overstressed, overhormonal Ellen is not very rational, so frustation hits, as does self defeat.  On the other hand, if I keep them in my peripheral vision and they aren't the be all and end all... if they stop being the holy grail of CF, and the measurement that you are measured by (ok, again, rationally, not really true, but this is stressy/hormonal me)  then I feel better.  They simply become my nemesis - the thing I have to continue to work on, but not the be all and end all.  Despite the plethora of other factors affecting me this week, I know pullups have this effect on me, because I've been here before.......felt the frustration and the negativity come through, so I need to put the pullup back on the peripheral.    I'll still defeat the beast if it freakin' kills me - but the death of the beast will have to be a byproduct for the sanity of myself and those around me.

Last night was snatches.  Yesterday was a strange day.  My whole being was off.  I woke up weepy at 5am - before I had even gotten out of bed, and was in a very melancholy mood all day.   I'm chalked it up to the freaky hormones of a 40+ year old, until I saw Lisa V - who was basically in the same state.  So, it's got to be the moon - the dastardly moon!  In reality, it probably was the moon - there was not one person that I encountered yesterday, besides maybe Patty, that was their normal self.  Everyone was sad, or cranky, or quiet, or melancholy, or angry......no one was really in their right mind.   Even at the gym, normally an escape from the moodiness, a way to get rid of frustrations of the day, had a tension that was palpable.  So snatches didn't go so well.  I did 75/75/80/80 - but my form was all off. Residue from the moon/pullup negative mindset, I'm sure.

Tonight was a turn around, phew!! It's about time.  I'm not a big fan of moodiness, so when I'm around alot of it, or I know I'm moody, I don't particularly enjoy it.  Tonight was barbell hell.  Rich talked me into adding 5 lbs to my last weight (I was hesitant, just because I wasn't sure how I was feeling about things after the last couple of days).  So I did all of these at 70# except the DL's which were 140#.   We've rounded the bend.  Tonight I did better on everything except the SDLHP with an extra 5 lbs (last time 65#/135#):

Tabata intervals applied in turn to:
- Push jerks  - 60  (last time 56)
- Cleans  - 37    (last time 32)
- Floor presses - 60  (last time 55)
- SDLHP - 51  (last time 58)
- Deadlifts - 35  (last time 24)
With one minute rest between exercises.

So, at least I'm leaving on a high note.   Now, one last day of work, then I'm off to relax on the beach with a MaiTai and a cabana boy!  AH vacation!

This bear is ready to hibernate

Ok, I admit it I'm pretty much ready for a couple days off.  Between working out 6 days a week for the last 4-6 weeks, and work stress,  I'm just toast.    I don't really feel bad, but it was really apparent Saturday when we did Helen.  I got the suckiest time I've ever gotten - more than 17 minutes.  I don't think it was the run or the kettlebell swings, it was all in the pullups.  Yes, I was in minis, and I paused between each pullup long enough to know that I was actually working on them, and pulling each time.  But cripes, I added 3 or 4 minutes to my time!! So much for the days of vast improvements!!  My own fault.  Despite being REALLY good at resting on Sundays, it probably isn't enough.  So, I'll push through this week, then take some time off while on vacation.

Today we did the BEAR!! UGH!! Somehow, I've managed to only have to do this one once before.  The bear is a mishmosh of squats/presses/cleans.....all kinds of fun.  Basically you do a power clean, then front squat/overhead press, down to back squat, up to overhead press and back down.

Doesn't sound so bad.....for one rep.    The big problem with this one, is that you have to do that whole barbell complex 7 times - without ever letting the bar rest on the ground.   Then do that set of 7 - 5 times!! OY VAY!  I did 3 sets at 85 lbs, and 2 sets at 75 lbs.   I only cheated by sitting on the butt-ball once - the bad part - I couldn't figure out how to get back up - so that was a bit of a pathetic one.  My total score was 405. 

Could I have gone higher for a round or two....possibly, but I know for a fact that I definitely could have gone lower!!

Actually, next time, I am going to have to go higher, that skinny chick in the video Patty posted did more weight than me - so thinking about it, I'm a bit of a wuss!!

Lizzy turns a Turkish 50.

Another couple day - I'm slackin' bad!

Wednesday

Elizabeth - 21/15/9   Cleans/Ring Dips.  Again, Cleaning - not my favorite, but like the snatches with Randy, if I do enough of them that I'm tired, apparently they look ok.  Strangely enough form gets better the more tired I am.  Less thinking that way.  This one is a bit of a burner - much more so than you would think at first glance.  First of all, the Cleans were full squat cleans.  So you're throwing the bar up, catching it in the low front squat position, then standing up with it.  I only did these at 75#, this is one that I've never done before, so I wasn't really certain where to go.  Ironically the dips were the easy part.  The caveat though is that they were on the bars and with foot assist.   I can do one or two dips with decent range of motion (I wouldn't classify it as full by any means!), but need the foot assist for more.    Overall, I actually, surprisingly kind of liked this one.  I finished last, time was 13:03, and I believe I was the only girl doing more than 50 lbs in my group.

Filthy 50 done in stations - 2 rounds.  I have to admit, I think I like this version.  Although, in reality, to get close to the brutality of true F-50, we would probably need to add in at least one more round, but probably 2.   I did this one as prescribed I think......

I question the KTE's primarily because I know with pullups, when you put your feet down, there's always that bit of a jump that you don't even realize that you're getting - so I can't imagine it being different with KTE's.   I tried not to jump, but I can't be certain because my feet did stop on the box.  So, the jump or actually more of a push, may still be there..so, I don't know if I'm black, or just a dark shade of gray.

- knees-to-elbows - this is my questionable one....
- push press (35#)
- back extensions
- wallballs (16#)
- burpees - HATE THEM!!!  PURE MISERY!
- double-unders
- box jumps (20")
- jumping pullups
- kettlebell swings (12 kg) - I'm a nimrod, I did the 16kg - didn't even realize I did it wrong until today when Patty mentioned it!
- walking lunges

I screwed up my counting on the 2nd round - so I estimated - but on the low end.  End result was 257 ish....  Not my best performance, but that's ok.  

Today was Turkish Get ups for weight.  1/1/1/1/1    I did Barbell:

45 - ok

65 -ok - probably too big of a jump.  failed miserably at this.  Although it probably didn't help that when I was attempting the "getup" part, I kind of tooted, which made me giggle.  It wasn't a quaint little girly toot either - it was full blown noise making man toot.   Patty and Grace swear they didn't hear it, but I'm not sure I believe that!!  Anyway, once that took place it was all over, not a chance in hell was this happening.  Eventually I tried the right side, and again, the getup part was a struggle. I did some weird rocking thing before I got the silly thing up.  Ah well. Better days.

55 - ok - bit wobbly.

55 - better...

55 - I think this was better yet.

Not my best night  - or my best week overall.  But it's been a stressful week at work, and in reality, I know I need to take some time off.  Under normal circumstances that would be an extra day or two, but with Hawaii coming up in a week, I'll just wait for that.

Monkey "Barbell" Madness!!

As much as the thought of  "Monkey Bar Relay's" made me bust a gut when I pictured it, I'm glad it was changed to a functional day.   I know we can't do them often, but I think these days are the most under-appreciated.   The big leaps and bounds that are made are really significant.  I did my first attempt at handstand pushups against the wall, worked on pullups (I swear, I got to eye level on one of my kippers!!), and played on the monkey bars.   Far more impressive was Patty.  She took on mental challenges all night - took them on, and dealt with them.   The monkey bars:I showed her my "vision" of how the races would turn out, (AKA I had her balancing on my back as she was going bar to bar).  She decided that wasn't so bad, after that - the foot assisted monkey bar, was no problem.  Even the doing the pull ups monkey bar style, wasn't an issue.  The biggest fear she faced was the handstand.   It was stressful, she was shaky, nervous, on the verge of losing it - but she did it and the big kicker - not a tear was shed.  It was close for a while - could have gone either way...but no tears.  Without this functional day - these are things that she wouldn't have done - eventually the monkey bars, but with Patty's upside down phobia - no way would she have tried a handstand, at least not for a REALLY long time.

So, YAY for functional day and double YAY to Patty for going way outside your comfort zone - with no tears!

Today was bench press 5/5/5/5/5.  I did ok - not my best day, not my worst.  It's a bit hard to gauge since these are mixed up alot between 5/4/3/2/1 and 3's.  I did 5-125, 5-135, 2-145, 3-140, 4-135.    Like I said - not sure if that's good or bad.  My max is 1 at 155 - but I've never gotten more than 2 at 145, so ????  Hard to say whether I did good, bad or ugly.