Annie, Cindy and a coupla Snatches

Wednesday we hit Annie again -Annie -50-40-30-20-10-rep rounds of: Double Unders and Situps.

I actually had a moment where I strung together, 7 or 8 in a row - and they almost felt natural....normal.  It was strange.  I ended up finishing this one a couple minutes quicker than last time.  Out of the blue, I stopped having to jump 3 times before starting on the DU's.  Before this, I would jump 3 times, land one, single, double, single double (at least if I could string them together!!)  This time, I still have the single in between, but I started off on right away, no warming up into them.   I finished in 16:10, which is 2 minutes faster than my last time, and strangely enough, I probably could have taken more time off.  I stopped and had to retie my shoe a couple of times before giving up and kicking them off!  So - I'm quite pleased with the results on this one!

Thursday:  Snatches 3/3/3/3/3.

Let me start this off by saying, I have been asked a couple of times this week if I'm going to compete in an upcoming Oly lifting meet.  I was a bit surprised, because I didn't recall hearing anything much about it.  Well, after confirming with a couple people - apparently I have selective hearing when it comes to competitions.  I think I put my fingers in my ears and say LALALALALALAL!! ....if not out loud, then definitely mentally.  All I'm gonna say is, I'm not competing in anything anytime soon.  I believe this workout proved without a doubt that I just don't have the technique down once the weight hits a certain point - and that point isn't a heavy weight by any means.  I basically did a whole lotta reps at 60 lbs, and a couple that were not so good at 75 and 80.  I think it's the lifting off the floor part that's throwing me, but I'm not certain what to do about it.  However, I am glad that me thinking I'm not up to speed for competing level is not all in my mind.

Today - mini Cindy -  5 pullups/10 pushups/15 squats - as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes, 5 minute rest, then do it again.  This time the focus was definitely on working harder, not faster.  So pullups were dead hang - meaning before you start pulling your feet were off the ground, not a chance of pushing off if you wanted to.  I did them in the red bands.  Regular pushups and Squat as usual.  The pullups, I tried to get 5 good ones, where  I was over the bar.  Round 1 - I think I accomplished that.  By the end I think I probably averaged about 3 good ones a round, 1 -eh, otherwise known as not exceptionally fabulous by any means, and 1 that ended up being a whole lotta pulling, with bar at eye level.

The first set, I only got in 3 round, plus the pullups and 3 pushups.

The second set, I managed to eeek out...a whopping 3 rounds.

So - like I said - definitely not going for speed and the regular jumping pullups.  These were much slower. Do the first 2 or 3, then rest.......for a while - until you're pretty sure you won't be pulling for nothing.  Overall, I'm ok with it, because thinking about it - I just did 35 dead hangers in the red bands. - ok - so maybe only 24 (random number!) were of exceptional quality (heehee!), but it works.  Ironically, I have suddenly become more comfortable in the overhand grip - not so sure about the thumb around the bar though. I know it's a mental thing, but it was funky! Oh yeah - and it was even better since I imbibed a bit too much on the tequila last night!! OY!

Hey, get this - I met a girl, who goes to some gym downtown - I'm not entirely sure if it's crossfit or not...but this is the workout she did that day - talk about a freaking nightmare!!  It was Step ups (not sure how high the box was) and Burpees.  Doesn't seem so bad, huh?......until you hear they did it Annie style...50/40/30/20/10!!!! JINKIES BATMAN!! That's 150 burpees!!  I think it would take me a good hour and a half - and by about #75 I'd be laying on the floor twitching.  So, next time I see something wretched come up - including the plate drags, bear, KB hell, etc....I'm gonna have to remind myself that it could be much, much, much, much, much ..........much.....worse!

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!

Snatches and the girls...

I seem to be a couple days behind - shocking, I know!

Thursday, was snatches....3/3/3/3/3.  

Snatches are funky things, but for me at least, make more sense than cleans.  Apparently, my instinct is to throw things overhead rather that to my shoulders.  We did 5 sets of 3.  Last time, my max weight was 75.  This time I did 65/75/80/85/95.   I screwed up a bit on the last round, and put the 5 lb weights on rather than the 2.5.  Needless to say, that jump up 10 lbs, kind of threw me a bit.  To say it was "not so good" would be the understatement of the year.  So - it's up officially at a NSG 95, but I'd say 85 was the weight where they still looked decent. 

Yesterday, we met up with Diane - 21/15/9 Deadlift 155#, Handstand pushup.  I have a bit of a fascination with the handstand pushups - I think I can pin this on my love of the upside-down rubber band contraption.  Unfortunately, it's not really possible to do Diane in my favorite do-hickey, so I opted for hooked feet on a bar.  My time increased - I think by about a minute - I ended at 9:03 ish...if I remember correctly. (I need to get better at writing these things down right away!)  I'm ok with the increase because if I am estimating correctly - from my upside down view - I was probably at about 1/2 ROM - versus last time, when I would guess-timate I was doing about a 1/4 ROM on average.  Still have a hard time catching my breath from the inverted position after cranking through the DL's.

Today was Cindy....I love Cindy, not sure why but I do.  Last time, we did this, I got in 11 rounds+ 5 pullups.  I did the pullups, jumping on the low bar, no bands.   This time, I did them from the high bar, red bands, of course, there was still a jump.  I wasn't going into this thinking I would do be able to beat my last score for a couple reasons....

1. a tad bit too much wine last night (yes, I know - no sympathy - but it still factors into your performance!) 

2. back in the bands.  It is definitely quicker and more efficient to live the pullup life free of the bands.  You don't have that couple second pause of getting into/out of them.  I got a brief taste last time we did Cindy, and I must say - I liked it!

However, I proved myself wrong with my low expectations.  I actually got in 12 Rounds + 3 pullups - which is a PR.  The first 10 minutes, I actually got in a full 7 rounds.  It's that last 10 minutes that I slowed down.  My speed didn't exactly increase either when,  I had to bring my elbows in for the pushups.  That threw me a bit.

Overall - there were ups and downs time/score wise the last couple of days - but I think I like where I am and where I'm going with all this stuff right now.  Unlike a couple months ago - I think my eyes are more open to the small improvements.