whoops - never posted...

It dawned on me after Wednesday's workout that since the competition, I don't think I've been putting my all into things quite as much as I should be.  I don't think I've necessarily been sandbagging, I think I've simply let alot of things get in my head.  The back strain, and whole slew of other mental BS that is my issue that I need to get over.
However, I had not quite come to this conclusion when we did Wednesday's workout, and it suffered in large part due to the mental crap...and possibly it was also just a bad lift day.  The push part of this is Bench press - 3 rounds of 3 reps for weight.  I did 135 / 145x1 /140x2 - pure suckage when you consider my 1 rep max is 155.  LAME!!   Deadlift, I did 225/255/275.  275 is the weight that mentally says "Bite me!" ...but I got 3 in.  Again - with a 1 rep PR of 308 - these should be higher.  I think that's what struck me on my way home - I feel like I've stopped "going for it". 

Thurs - Stations # 2, which is Pullups, Wallball (16#), Slamball (16#), Sit ups and Box jumps.   3 rounds, 1 minute at each station.  Pullups I did in one blue band, with all the band set up, it was just going to be easiest, and I think it equates about the same as red+mini.  I did test though to be sure I could do a dead hang in it before the workout - rules is rules don't ya know!  I knew I scored pretty high last time, at 275, so I was gonna have to push it.
Round 1- 100  - what?  I have never scored 100 in a round before....ever.  This was something new...
Round 2 - 102 - again, 100??....AND I  went up in round 2?? I think this is another first!
Round 3 - 91 - ok - this time, I held true to my usual form.  But 91 ain't shabby!!
My total score was 293...7 measly reps away from 300.  DRATS! That would have been beautiful! But I think I did pretty darn good anyway!  Nice improvement, and I did go for it on this one.  Of course, I wouldn't have come close without the situps.....The situps took me there.

Today - a new one.  It's like a bright shiny new toy! Only this one wasn't so fun.  It was an ass-kicker through and through.   8 tire flips / 6 Handstand pushups / 4 front squats (125#), now here's the real kicker - 5 rounds for time, 20 minute cutoff. It was me and Jonathan.  I wanted to use the upside-down-rubber-band contraption (using green and green), we tried it - CRAP! I could not kick up into the handstand without assistance (I need to work on that, in a big way!!)  So I went first, using the girl tire (the big girl tire, not the little girl tire).  Ironically, the tireflips were the easiest part - they winded the hell out of me, and I will have bruises from the 40 flips..but in this whole thing - they were the easiest and least painful!  Let me just say this about handstand pushups after doing 8 tireflips - if it's possible to catch your breath upside down, I haven't figured out how to do it.  Short of breath, upside down, trying to breath and do a handstand pushup - just an ugly combination.    I ended up getting through them all - but they weren't pretty, I thought I was gonna collapse at several junctures, and my range of motion was rather pathetic - especially at the end.  From the handstand pushups - we go to the front squats.  125 should be heavy - but it's pretty far from my PR, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. What I did not take into consideration was the toll the tire flips took on my legs and the HSPU's took on my arms.  To say the front squats were painful would not be an exaggeration.  Legs, really didn't want to squat, and arms, really did not want to go up.  The sad part, we were only doing 4 of them, but it felt like 14.  I swear I almost dropped the bar several time, in the last round, there's not doubt, it was sliding off the sweat.  In the end, I DID actually complete all 5 rounds under the time limit - barely under, but it was under. My final time was 19:56.  Despite it's misery, I have to admit, I really like the heavy metcons, I think they are doing their magic, if I just let them, and get out of my head.
Oh one other thing took me by surprise, so I just have to comment on it!  I was reading all my various usual stops...on one of them, the writer has been doing Crossfit for 2 years, and just did her first snatches with a barbell.  I found that very odd, but it makes me uber-glad that my gym doesn't fear the barbell, sheesh how boring to do all of these with KB's and dumbbells all the time!! I would hate that!

back in the saddle

Saturday was a FANTASTIC day!! We did one of the all time funnest workouts ever, yes, that would be  the redneck fantasy workout of  Yoke walkin' car pushin' & tire flippin'!!  Pure fun! After playin' around a bit, and testing each one out, we did the course for time!  Before going into how I did, let me mention a couple things: 1. The yolk walkin' course is longer and 2. Although you can't see it, there is definitely more of an uphill on the car pushin', and I believe it might be a hair bit longer.
Believe me or not about the uphill and distance, fact of the matter is, I as well as everyone else, added a good 2 minutes to our previous times. Yoke walkin' I did with a 24kg kettlebell attached to each side.  Although the distance was longer, I think my time for that was still ok, probably a little over a minute.  Then came the car pushin'.  From the post to the last cone - first direction - not so bad, a bit long, but not terrible.   Then the other direction. This is where the shoe drops, and those very large hills, invisible to the naked eye, come out to play.  Car pushin' is where I spent the vast majority of my time.  I actually had to push the opposite way, with my butt on the car  for a while. OY! It really was a sleeper hill - you don't know it's there until it jumps out and grabs ya!  Tire flippin', I did the girl tire -2 up 2 back - not a huge issue.  Total time was 5:04.  Yep, just checked, at the old place, I finished in 3:02 - that is definitely a full 2 minutes added, not to mention, that I only had to do 2 tire flips each way this time instead of 3.  I'm telling ya - the level of difficulty was much higher on the car push!!  Either way - this workout still rocks!! 

Monday - Heavy Helen.  I LOVE this version of Helen. The weighty girls are so much better!
Heavy Helen is 200m run, 15 KB swings 24kg, and 9 pullups weighted (ok, for me in the bands, go figure!!)  3 rounds for time.  I did this using a mini and a red, probably should have gone a bit lighter, I just wasn't certain about my strength with the tail end of this cold and not having done pullups in a week.  The run was ok....my heel/plantar fascitis (my diagnosis) thingy was hurting a bit so I was running like a lopsided fool.  But I did it, then I powered through the swings - on these, I went to my happy place, so that I could just get through 15.  Then came the pullups. I did them in sets of 3 or 4.   I ended up finishing in 9:25, taking a minute off my last time.  So this was good - but I think I need to take some of the bands off for the pullups next time.

Today was Powercleans.  The uber frustrating powercleans.  I started slow on these, because form is always an issue.  I concentrated pretty hard on the "keep  your arms straight" part, trying to avoid the whole "you're pulling too early" thing that I usually hear.  I started at 75 - and heck if I didn't get a "pretty good"...huh?  really?? ok - so that was a light weight.  Next 95 lbs.  What did you say?? Do I need to clean my ears out? because that sure didn't sound like "too early"....Holy moly, what is this wave coming over me?? This fabulousness that says "by George, I think she's got it!!"???  I knew that feeling for a fleeting moment tonight.  Then we added weight, and I jumped right into 115.   Apparently my first one was ok - but it was heavier than I anticipated, and I acknowledged that weight.  That's when the weight beat me.  It got in my head and after several attempts, I managed to knock out 2 more really messy ugly ones.  Next round - went back down to 100 - these were good.  Then back up slowly - 105, I got in one decent one, the next two, I did some weird landing.  I think I need to start working these at 105 now.....since that seems to be where I lose form.   On the plus side, all of the 95 lbs Thrusters, Cleans and everything else I've been doing seem to have helped the form overall.  So that's good!!

workin' with some ripped hands!

Deadlifts - 3/3/3/3/3 
With my newly ripped, but not all the way callous, I wasn't sure what my grip would do.  I wrapped my hand to be safe though.  I started light, because the deadlifts were feeling heavy, but I did have  the intention of going up quick.  I started at 225, which was heavy, but fine.  Then 245, ok...still heavy, but ok.  265 - this one hurt the paws, and felt heavy.  Next round I went with 275.  I got in 1.  Partly because of my hands, but another part of me has a bit of a block on the 275 number.  275 is the number I was going for (I think) when I pulled my back muscle. Last round, I strapped on a weight belt, for that mental crutch, and sure enough - pulled the 275 three times. 

Saturday - Fight Gone Bad.  This was the real one, the charity event,  the full monty!  FGB is  5 stations, 3 rounds, 1 minute each, and 1 minute between rounds.  Stations are wall ball(14#), SDLHP (55#), Box Jump (20"), Push Press (55#), row.  We went to Foothills Crossfit, across town.  It was relatively early in the morning, but not bad.  There were about 25 people or so who showed up.  It was going to be a good day.    Off the bat, we had a quick training on the rower, none of us had really used one.  Then off to the warmup from hell - it was alot of running and weird running type things.  Just before the warmup, I did something to my right calf, not sure if it was a charlie horse, or a big knot - but it wasn't quite happy.  I wasn't going to let that get in the way.  We paired up, and Patty went first.  She did awesome, but let the box jump get to her.  I so wanted to help her get up the there, but I just didn't know how.  After that first attempt, my main job was to get her mind off of it.  When she had completed all three rounds, it was my turn.   I was going to start at wallball, so I could just progress down the line, but that station had already been taken.  Next option - I decided to start with the row, since that takes longest to get into - I could be prepared as time started.  That was the plan.
I started with rowing -took off like a banshee, and it felt good, I felt strong, and holy moly, I was rowing away the calories.  Of course, I was good for a minute MAX! When time was called, I was done. I had hit 20 on the row! YAY!   Next came wallball, I thought I would have no issue with these, since I'm used to using the 16 lb ball, and I think I usually get in about 15-20 per round.  I was wrong.   The main issue was 1. getting out of the rowing machine!! It was a contraption that locks you in...and it's not the easiest to get out of   2. To get to the wall ball position, you had to run to the other side of the gym.  By the time you got to the wallball station a good 20-30 seconds had passed.  So, I didn't get much time in to work the wall balls - I did manage to get 12 in.  Next stop, SDLHP - I got in 20, I did them in two sets of 10.  By this time, I was out of breath....sucking wind.  Then onto box jumps.   It takes alot of energy to jump on a 20" box....I got in 8. Not great.  Push press, again, I did in two sets of 10, for a score of 20.   Rest - 1 minute is a very, very short time. 
Round 2 - Rowing only lasted about 45 seconds, so I got in 15, a sad 8 on the wallball, 17 on the high pull, 6 for the box jump, and 20 on the push press.  The scores were going on a downhill slide! 
round 3 - Rowing lasted about 30 seconds, I got in 10, SDLHP - 18, Box jump  7, Push press - 17.  My final tally was 210, which is not bad. I'll take it.

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.....

Buffing that Kettlebell!

Ah, Kettlebell Hell, how I hate to say, I love ya so!   This workout is magnificent in it's pure torture. When it comes around you are filled with anticipation, yet with a sinking dread in your heart.   
 "Kettlebell Hell"
Innocent sounding Tabata Intervals of:
- Front squat
- Double clean-and-jerk
- Alternating floor press
- Bent-over rows
All with a 16 kg Kettlebell.   20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 8 rounds.   Doesn't sound so bad.....that is the evil, insidious nature of this one.  This time I wasn't sure if I was going to stay with the 16kg or go up to the 20kg.  I went to the "Gettin' Stronger" class,....which normally takes you out of your weight comfort zone, so I just didn't know.  My mental struggle?  The 16kg, I know I did ALOT the last time I did this, so I would have to kick it into major gear to beat those numbers....However...the 20kg - is freakin' heavy! No, I wouldn't have to get high numbers if I went with the 20kg, that's ok, but can I really maintain for all 8 rounds?  End decision - I used the 16kg, and I even managed to beat the last numbers I got in all categories.  I'm not certain of the exact numbers, but here is how  I believe they played out.  Total for 8 rounds:

Front Squats - last time -47  this time - 50

Clean and Jerks -last time -25 this time 27 or 28

Upright Rows -last time 49 - this time - 52 (?)

Floor Presses - last time 60 this time 64

Overall, I may not know  the exact numbers, but my grand total went up by 12, I believe it was....something like that.

Yesterday - 30 muscleups for time.  This sounds totally awful - but if you are unable to do a pullup, I guarantee there's no muscleup!  We tried all the different variations - to no avail.  All girls ended up doing the knee assisted practice.  Ironically we all kind of did them together...helping each other as needed.  Timewise I finished in 9:57 or so.  I'm not holding my breath that these are going to come to fruition anytime in my imminent future....





Today was "unilateral leg work"  AKA - standing on one leg and doing stuff.  We started with good mornings, then went to one legged deadlifts (funkiness!!) then onto pistols, aka one legged squats.   I have come to the conclusion that although my balance is better than it once was, I am still not exactly poetry in motion.....  It gets kind of interesting when you try to do a pistol, and you have that ol' "relax at the bottom of the squat" habit that I seem to have.  End result - not so good.  All in all so far it's been a good, tough week.  I feel like my extremities are tight and muscular (that would be arms and legs).  They may be, they may not be, but they are giving me the impression of buffhood.   However, my middle still qualifies as soft and mushy!!  

Barbells, barbells everywhere!!

Turkish Getups on Thursday. YAY!!! Much to Patty's chagrin, this is one of my favs. There's nothing cooler than a heavy barbell TGU!  All day, I visualized it - I was gonna do a 75 lb barbell TGU! It was gonna happen and it was gonna be pretty!  Before started, we embarked on a conversation weighing the difficulty levels of the TGU - kettlebell versus barbell.  I went with my beloved barbell.  I started light, at 45, then 55.  The at 65, the unthinkable happened,  I could not do the get up part of the TGU with the 65 lb barbell. What evil, dastardly plot is this???  I tried again -it just wasn't going to happen.  Off to Plan B - I threw the barbell aside and decided to try the 24kg kettlebell (aka 53 lbs).  It is completely different. Easier? perhaps. Harder? maybe.  Just different, amazingly different for basically the same move using just a different utensil.   For the last round, I stayed with the KB - obviously the barbell wasn't giving me the love that I had envisioned earlier in the day!  This time I did the 28kg, or 62 lb - it went ok - not fantastic, I failed at the very end of my last one. I am not sure which is harder, but, I must say - the KB is a heck of a lot scarier than the barbell TGU.  When you get to kettlebells that heavy - you're looking at a monster cannonball that can come down and smash into your face.  The good thing though, is that gives you a bit more incentive to hold that puppy high in the air! Overall, not quite what I had hoped, but I threw in some unexpected variety to mix it up, and was fairly successful at it.



Saturday we did Lynne - 5 rounds for max reps of bodyweight bench press, and pullups.  I wasn't sure how well I would do on these. 1. It was 7am.  2. I took a walk with the Captain the night before.....the walk was a bit long.  
For the bench, I did the same weight I've been doing with Lynne, 135.  Pullups, one red, one mini, kipping.  I cannot remember exactly what I did - I think the Bench averaged to 6 or 7 per round, and the pullups about 10.  I am doing some strange moves when it comes to my bench - my left shoulder is not staying on the bench and it's making me go all wonky.    I'm not certain what is causing that, but it's wrong, I know it - I can feel it.  However, I did end up doing better on this than I did last time, which shocked the heck outta me.



Today -High-intensity Stations
5 rounds of 1 minute each of:
Thrusters (95/65#)
Power cleans (95/65#)
Pull-to-Inverted Hang
YAY!! Only 65 lbs!!!  I can't tell you the last time I only did 65 lbs on something.  I was actually kind of looking forward to this one.  Although, in the pit of my stomach, I kind of had a sinking feeling that I would have to do this at 95 lbs.  I was hoping 65, but had a tiny inkling that 95 was going to be my fate.  Well, when it came down to it - it was a "95 is the Getting Stronger weight, but if you need to work on your metcon...."  CRAP! It was up to me.  Most people would think that would be a good thing...I'm not most people.  In general, I like knowing there's just no choice in the matter.  In reality, my options were to do the 65#'s - but I better do a heck of alot of them - or do the 95#, and see what that brings.  I went with the 95#'s.  Not sure if it was the easy way to go or not.  Here's kind of how it went.
Round 1 - Pull to inverted hang - I jumped and got 5 of them, then the power cleans, probably 7 or 8, and the remainder were Thrusters - to get to a final score of 17.
Round 2 - Michael wanted to switch rings - ok sure. I did one.......then tried about 3 more that ended up being knees to elbows. OK, one it is.  Powercleans, I wailed through - I believe I got in 9 or 10.  Then struggled through 5 or 6 thrusters for a total of 16.
Round 3 - Again -1 jump to inverted hang.  Yep,  one.  The rest I did about the same as round 2.  I scored this one at 15, but I forgot to add in my single JTIH...so in reality it was 16.  Not that it really matters.
Round 4 - I changed the box under the high rings.  This helped. I actually got in 3 of the pull-to-inverted-hangs.  The cleans brought me up to 11, so 8 of 'em.....and then 5 thrusters for a total of 16.
Round 5 - I got in 4 pull to inverted hang, 8 cleans (brought me to 12), and 5 thrusters.  Overall score - 81 or 82. Not spectacular - I should have been able to hit 90.  I agree with Patty - I gotta figure out how to dig a little deeper. 
However, today was definitely a sweat inducing doozy!!  It actually felt good to sweat that much...I think I'm nuts!!   

Wow...apparently I've been sandbaggin'!

Yesterday was a very interesting day.  It started bright and early with a 730am workout. OY!  The workout was a new one. 
3 rounds for time of:
- 12 pullups
- 12 jump squats (35#)
- 12 ring dips
- 16 kb swings (24 kg)
 Pullups were kipping in a red band and a mini band, Ring dips were using a blue band.  In retrospect, I probably should have gone with a lighter band on the dips...in fact, Jonathan pretty much said as much.  I went with the blue because I had recollections of doing multiple dips with a red band and getting through it - barely and half assed.  So I went with the blue, thinking full range of motion - but it was modified too much - I'll admit it.  I finished in 12:10 I believe.

Upon arriving home, my phone rang - it was the Doctor's office, wanting to know if I could come in early...HELL YES!  Less time to think about this whole procedure thingy and let my nerves take hold.  I took a quick shower and we headed to Louisville, for my, now 10am appointment.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think it was quite the surgical looking room that I got.  Then as I sat there, I was hooked up to blood pressure moniters, heart rate moniter, EKG, an IV, and oxygen (which actually kind of smells bad!).  It was very surreal.  As they injected the drugs - the "conscious sedation" drugs (which apparently means that I was awake and helpful during the whole procedure, but have zero recollectioin of the whole thing.), the said I should start feeling dizzy in about 30 seconds.  I laughed, and remember stating "30 seconds??  I'm feelin' that now"  End of memory.  Next thing I knew I was in the recovery room, Sean was there, and I was hiccuping like mad.  We got home and I slept....ALOT.  Other than a sleepy afternoon - no repercussions.  End result - nothing conclusive- not enough damage to make a call without the biopsy results.  So, another 7-10 days before we know the truth. The good thing is that at least I can take the gluten and crap out of my diet -  I no longer have the excuse that kicks the door open.  Gluten was my gateway drug to pizza and ice cream - now it's gone....whether for good or not, we'll just have to see.

Today we did Diane - 21/15/ 9 reps of Deadlifts - 155#, and Handstand pushups.
Deadlifts were no problem - I did the 21 in a set of 15, and 6, the 15 set I did in 10 and 5, and the 9 set was unbroken.  The handstand pushups were bar assisted. Not sure how I broke these up.  But, again, I was told we need to make 'em harder.  oh yay.... Not sure what that means other than trying to really do them...ZOIKS!  I finished in 9:19? ish....something like that.  Overall not bad, just not sure what Diane will bring next time she comes around in the handstand pushup department!!

So, 2 thing in two days that I went too light on - guess I have some sandbagger in me too!