Yikes!! A full week - let's test the memory!

Ok - BAD ELLEN!
I've been failing miserably at this...so here's a short synopsis of the last week.

Tuesday - we did Power cleans, kind of a functional focus.  Working on weight until form breaks down.  I actually did fairly well on these 95/100/105/110...110 is where my form started to fall apart.  The cure, I fear, might be a future of 115 lb cleans.....
I stayed after to do Annie.  Well, I did get 10 double unders in a row, but my feet paid the price.  My time ended up at about 15:34.  Well above my best time.   The bad news, I'm taking jump rope off for a bit, my left foot does not like jump rope one bit.

Wednesday was Bench......and I have no clue how I did.  It was unremarkable, as my bench has been lately  We followed that by 3 rounds of The Chief. (3 Power cleans, 6 Pushups, 9 Squats - as many rounds as possible in 3 minutes)  I ended up getting in 4/3/3, and I think there may have been some extra cleans in there, but I'm not positive.  I have this fond regard for the Chief...and I'm not sure why - the Chief kicks your butt something fierce! 

Friday- We did the ZAP workout - Zombie Attack Preparedness.  It was a mixed bag of fun done stations style.  Taking a sledgehammer to a Zombie's head (AKA sledgehammering a tire), whacking the head of a Zombie with a baseball bat (AKA hitting a punching bag with the bat), Swinging and kicking the head of a Zombie (kip and kick from the pullup bars), jumping on things to get away (AKA box jumps), and crawling through sewers to escape (AKA crawling under weight benches).  All the while kicking and screaming at the zombie attackers! Unconventional, yes.  A HOOTENANIE!  ABSOLUTELY!  It was a low key, fun time!

Saturday....was.  A full moon, hormonal typhoon came running through my system - the likes of which have been seen rarely.   We did backsquats.  Lots and lots of backsquat.  The storm erupted just after failing at 225 for the 2nd time.  225.....that is 10 lbs below my PR, and I couldn't get it.  That is when the whollop came....No PR's on anything in months......many, many months.  Then the WTF feeling of miser descended....why was I working so hard, changing my diet, being very good about everything...and my butt is still here, and to make matters worse, I seem to be getting weaker!! The haystack blew, and a mess ensued. It was ugly.....I cannot lie.    By Sunday, I was sick of the pity party, so I started telling myself to put up or shut up. 

Monday - a new day, and I really hoped I could master the emotional side with the mental side!  I went in with a new mindset. Did it work?? Yes and no.  Yes, I was able to workout without busting into an emotional hissy fit.  No, it didn't really help me do any better when lifting.
We did Bench Press - I did 5x115/ 125/ 130  then  3x 135, 2 x 140 fail on 2rd  twice (I may have only gotten one in on the last set, I don't remember for sure). Then we did one and a halfs. This was a new thing on bench. I started at 95 lbs. That was a tad bit on the light side, so the next two sets were at 115. The good news - despite the numbers above - up until I wrote them down, I was doing bad barbell math, so thought I was having issues with 130 lbs.  A good 25 lbs below my PR, and I still didn't fall victim to the full moon tears that seem to be striking women everywhere.  So, when I realized my bad barbell math, I was downright...not happy - but relieved that I don't suck as bad as I thought!

Tonight- we did  Heavy CrossFit Stations #2 - Three rounds
- Pull-to-inverted hang - In my case, it's Jump to inverted hang.  Round 1, I got in 6, round 2 - 4, round 3 -5
- Box jumps (20") - These were ok - I'm slow on the 20" box - I ended up getting in about 10-12 per round
- Weighted Pullups (25) - HA! Gotta be able to do a pullup before I add weight!  So these were dead hang in a red and a mini band. Well - I got a couple all the way over - but not as many as I would have liked.  As far as the ones that I counted, it was 3-4 each round.
- Thrusters (95#)  - I'm just gonna say it - these were kinda sucky after everything else!! I should be used to these by now....but they were kinda difficult.  Go figure!  I got in 7 or 8 of these each round. 
- KB Swings (24 kg)  - these were the money makers.  This is where I made up for lost time. I got in 14 or 15 each time. ...and don't be fooled this sucker is heavy!  I think it's 53 lbs to be exact!

Total score round 1 - 46, round 2 - 42, round 3 - 44 for a total of 132.  Not bad for a total ass-kicker of a workout! It was good - but difficult!

Gunning for greatness!

Oh what a week so far!  After the Celiac confirmation, I went to the nutritionist, and while the whole background, and info on Celiac was interesting, I just didn't really agree with the plan that she wanted me to take.  Don't you think common sense would say, if you have what basically amounts to a food allergy, and in many cases if you have one food allergy you have others....that you would need to change how you eat in order to figure out how different things affect you?  I was kind of taken aback that she didn't really want me to do anything but add in more dairy and "pseudo" grains (that's my term for the "gluten free" bread, pasta, etc...)  Just strange.  So, because what she initially said and what she told me to do, just didn't really jive in my mind, I'm going with my own plan, basically going paleo for a while, then I'll test the waters with dairy, legumes, etc.  Monday, really marked the beginning of my "take it all out" plan.  I gotta say, I have yet to be hungry...I feel like I'm constantly eating all day...but I did throw in an extra berry snack at about 11am, so that is probably why.  Ironically, I feel like I've been eating a ton, and the scale seems to have become unglued...in a positive way - I'm not hedging any bets yet though!

Monday we did Bench Press - 5/5/5/5/5
The really good news, is that these were not nearly as wonky as they were last time.   I did 125, 135, set 3 was supposed to be the "eye popping" round....so I went 145 - got in 4, then 1.  At that point I went down to 140, then 135 for the last set.  The good thing, is that I actually did 5 of all the weights that I set out to do, rather than getting stuck at 3.  YAY!

Tuesday - The Ass-Kicker - AKA -The Chief - 3 Power Cleans 95lbs/6 push ups/9 squats - as many rounds as possible for 3 minutes - 1 minute rest.  Do this for 5 times.
I know The Chief is hard, but I do not remember like this......
Going into it, I knew to beat the16 rounds that I did last time, I would have to kick butt.  I went in with the goal of doing 1 round every 45 seconds.  If I did that, it would be 4 rounds each time for a total of 20. I knew it would be difficult...in fact, I know Jimmie, Z and Jonathan didn't get in that many, so it was gonna be a feat if I did it! 
round 1 -I did it - I kept an eye on the clock and got in 4 rounds in the 3 minutes....but jumpin' jehosephat, this is going to be one heck of a pace to keep up!
round 2 - Not quite......3 rounds plus cleans and push ups.  I think this round, I may have been able to finish the whole 4th round, but the collar popped off the bar, and I took the time to put it back on.  That accounts for this round only - despite the collar popping off in other rounds, I think that excuse may only be valid this round.
round 3 - 3 rounds, plus the squats from the last round.  It was about this round that the squats were painful.  Very painful.
round 4 -3 rounds plus 1 clean.  Zowie - my thighs!! ...actually I think it was about this round that Jonathan started telling me to go lower in the pushups too - I swear my belly was touching on each of them!! (Now that being said, I think I also stick my belly out when I'm doing pushups.....go figure!)
round 4 - 3 rounds plus 1 clean.  I forgot I only had to do 2 cleans...and just started anew.
My total - 17  plus 2 power cleans - that is 1 full round and 1 power clean better than last time.  Not quite the 20 I was gunning for, but 17 is still a butt-load!  I was complete and total toast.  This kicked my butt harder and further than it's been kicked in a long time!   Thinking about it -this one is a creeper - other workouts, you are doing alot of reps, but you know it.  This one, it's one 3, 6, or 9 - and really you are striving for 4 rounds in 3 minutes.  But you are doing this 5 times - that's where the sneakiness comes into play.  Until well after the fact you don't realize that you just cleaned 95 lbs 53 times...you just did 102 pushups, and 153 squats.  Looking at it that way - I see the pain!

Tonight - Death by Pullups  - 1 pullup the first minute, 2 the next, and so on.
I did it with two red bands, kipping.  The first round I got through either 12 or 13, then 10.  Round two, I got to round 9, then did 5 in the 10 round.  My callouses ripped, and I'm just not tough enough to keep going, when I'm ripped and bleeding.  I may be a crossfit girl, but I'm still a girl - so I'm ok with that part!  Overall though, a pretty good week.

I also found out that I am apparently iron deficient, so, I'm now taking iron pills, which are pretty nasty - kind of like swallowing little metal pieces.  BUT, if I'm low on iron, maybe that is why I've been stuck for so long in my lifts...perhaps this will be the boost to bring me to where I should be - much stronger!!  Who knows what's on the horizon.....

Dips and "The Chief"

Sumo Deadlift High Pulls 65#/Ring Dips  10 reps of each for 7 rounds.  Hmmm...I can't remember how I did on this one.  I want to say 14 minutes and some odd seconds, but I'm just not certain.  I know the high pulls were cake walk, probably took a total of about 3 minutes. The vast majority of time was spent on the dips.  I did them on the bar, the first 30 in the red band,  the last 40 blue band assisted.  My shoulders were not diggin' on these, while doing them.  But they got over it.  Not my best time - I know it increased by a couple minutes, but the band assist is a bit  more difficult than the box assisted. There is no pushing up with your legs on it, and you have to go ALL the way.

Yesterday was "The Chief".  3-95# power cleans, 6 push ups, 9 squats.  AMRAP 3 minutes, 1 minute rest, for 5 rounds.  I have to say, this one is really high up on my list of favorites.  Why? you may ask, it includes the dreaded cleans!!  I think I really like the 3 on 1 off thing.  For the first time that I can really remember, I was able to "keep the intensity" throughout the entire workout.  First round, I got in 3 complete rounds.  Last round, I got in 3 complete rounds.   By the end, I usually fade away, so I feel like I totally kicked this one. Whether or not it's true, I don't know, but I'm quite happy with total of 15, especially for the first time ever doing it. It was definitely an ass kicker, but a really good ass kicker.  I don't think I've been quite as happy with my performance after a workout in a while, darn tootin' close to proud, I think.  So, YAY! Good one Patty!