Monday, June 18, 2012

Happy Monday!

Hey there.

I'll keep it short and sweet today. Here's what we had.

Happy Monday!! #crossfit #wod

I was happy to see cleans. We hadn't done them in a while... and I was happy to see power cleans. I didn't feel like squatting all that way. We had a good warm-up session and I finally settled on loading the bar with 70lbs. 

I felt good throughout the first few rounds. By halfway, I felt a bit tired but still strong. I was taking slightly longer breaks between the rounds. My first few cleans were good, but I had to really concentrate on the last two. Those were the hardest to get out. 

In the end: 9 rounds

I wanted 10, but it didn't happen. I was happy enough to be doing cleans. 

On a side note, some shots from my weekend.

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Took Hoku to the Loews Surf Dog Competition down the road from my house!

Shots from yesterday. World record for the most dogs (and a human) surfing on a single board. #dogs #surf #imperialbeach
World record for most dogs (and human) surfing at one time.

Noticed this nice lash mark putting my hair up. Damn those double unders. #crossfit
This nice lash was from double unders on Friday.

Breakfast today. I'm calling this black forest pancakes. Non-paleo choc chip pancakes with paleo cherry jam on top. Waaayy better than anything at Ihop!
Sunday breakfast... "Black Forest Pancakes" non-paleo choc chip pancakes with paleo cherry jam. 
Mmmm good.






















Thursday, June 14, 2012

Keep it UP!

And I don't mean just working hard, I mean literally... keep it up! The barbell that is. Don't want to be dropping that stuff on your noggin. Which I almost did once. Stress the almost, but I didn't.

Here's today's good time.

Almost forgot today's #wod. #crossfit

I woke up ten minutes late today and saw this. Definitely didn't motivate me to get out of bed any faster. I hate OHS. Yes, there are other moves that I'm not so fond of, but OHS is the one thing that I really just don't get excited for. Not one bit. 

But.

If you want to get better, you gotta practice. And that includes the things you don't like. Like OHS.

I set up 65lbs. I knew that was going to be tough. Especially having to clean the weight from the floor. That's just more stuff to get you tired and take more time. I knew with the weight and still having some aches from earlier in the week, that I would not be blazing through this WOD at all. Not that I blaze through any WODs. I was going to focus on form and take my time to get it right. 

I stuck to that plan. Just like yesterday, the first round went unbroken. The next two rounds the OHS went by fives and the TTB went by as many as I could do at a time (usually ~4). I still have no rhythm on TTB, but I was able to steady myself faster and not take so much time between each rep. I call that improvement. 

My time: 12:09 @ 65lbs

On a side note, day three of zoning is going well. I'm going to need to explore some more things this weekend I think. I can see how this would get really monotonous after a bit. Hopefully, I'll see some results. My plan right now is to see where I stand after a whole month. 

Day 3 of zoning. Here's my 2 block breakfast. Chicken and cherries. Surprisingly good combo! #paleo
Here was breakfast: chicken and cherries. Yum!
































Wednesday, June 13, 2012

(Almost) Helen

This is gonna be a quick one because it's late (for me) and I gotta get some sleep. Would have worked on this earlier, but I spent most of my night keeping an eye on this little one who decided to be a little terror tonight.

Protesting wearing her collar. Poor thing. #corgi #corgistagram #puppy
Don't let that cuteness fool you, it didn't last long!

The WOD this morning I called "Almost" Helen... known at our box as Hell-in. Today, I called it "Almost" because the run portion was shorted 100m. We only did 300m. Hey, I'm not complaining. Helen was the first non-Foundations WOD that I ever did and it sucked. Here's today.

*almost* Helen.

I really wanted to use the 25lb kettlebell today. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, however I was feeling yesterday's deadliest and box jumps a bit. J-Law wouldn't let up though and I grabbed a 35 pounder. Ugh. Getting that thing all the way overhead would be a definite challenge.

Overall, not bad. I got through the first round unbroken and felt good on the run. The second round wasn't as triumphant. Definitely slowed a little on the run and had to break the KBS into 11-10 and pull-ups into 7-5. By the last round, my run was sluggish for the first half though I managed to stride out the last half. Same deal as round 2 with the KBS, but this time the pull-ups went 6-6. 

My time: 11:55

My first attempt at Helen ended at 13:20 and that was with 25lb KBS (eye level only) and the green pull-up band. I would say this morning was a comparable effort. I can't say how much cutting the run down affected my time, but I'm happy with the results. 


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Happy (Belated) Birthday!!

Missed a few days again... sorry!!! Somedays just get busy you know? I've actually spent most of that time in the kitchen. I'm gritting my teeth and making a wholehearted attempt at zoning my meals. I had a few too many cheats during the past week and am trying to get back on track. I've tried (not very hard) in the past, but I'm always intimidated by the amount of measuring. Plus, I cook a lot of things that are complex (paleo spaghetti, beef stew, etc). How do you figure out zone portions for that? Nevertheless, here I go. So far my first full day is going well. Hopefully this time it will last and maybe I'll see some differences.

Anyways, on to the WOD.

Nothing like some deadlifts and box jumps to get your heart pumping in the morning.

I was excited to see this. I have a new fondness for box jumps. Don't ask why, I just started to like them. Weird. Whatever. And who doesn't love deadlifts? The only thing I didn't like about this WOD was that the reps increased. That just takes a toll on you mentally. Time to grit and bear it.

I loaded the bar and got ready to work. The first 10 DLs were good, but I knew by the end of that set that I wouldn't be able to do the next set unbroken. That was fine with me, I was using decent weight. The second set went by 10's and the last set by 5's. I had to concentrate really hard at the end on not sacrificing form. I kept wanting to pull with my back instead of my legs. I did on a couple and I can feel it in my back now. Not so enjoyable. 

My time: 9:09


On a side note, I celebrated my birthday on Saturday. Great day! It was a little ugly out, but still made the best of it. It was better than being on deployment last year for sure!

Here's some shots.

Round 2: chefs seafood special.
Pre-birthday dinner. It's not paleo, but it was gooooddddd.

Round 1: oysters with shrimp and spinach.
And of course some oysters. Yum!

Fuelband
My birthday present! It's awesome.

German choc cupcake
Celebratory German Chocolate Cupcake. 




















Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Jump Around

Today was another of those "it doesn't look so bad" days. Just like every other time too, I was horribly wrong. Guess that I'll never learn. It will always be bad.

My calves are not happy after this #wod. #crossfit

No weights, but tough work nonetheless.

I started the first two rounds not using a band for pull-ups, but I knew that wouldn't last. By the third round I was on the red band. The pull-ups were still a struggle. 30 seconds of max effort, even with pacing, is tough. I was exhausted after 20 seconds and really had to push to get in a couple more reps each time. 

The tuck jumps sucked, but once I got a pace going I felt good. I actually was able to get more reps at the end than in the beginning. Laura made us turn around and face the back wall away from the clock a few rounds in. Except my shin hurts now. Boo!

Lastly, the sit-ups. My game plan was to be consistent. I'm not very fast at doing them, but I held on and managed to get 15 almost every time.

Here's my breakdown at the end of it:
Pull-ups: 154 reps
Tuck jumps: 447 reps
Sit-ups: 158 reps  
Total: 759 reps

I'd say that's not too shabby.

On a side note, I wore my Reebok Crossfit Nanos for the first time today. Not too bad. They definitely need a break in period. I'll do a shoe comparison/review once I get a good feel for these. 

Finally busted these puppies out today for a #wod. #reebok #crossfit #nano! Verdict is still out while I break them in. Not too bad today though. Got me through my tuck jumps!
I got the black and grey ones.

Chillaxin' outside during momz lunch break. #puppy #corgistagram #corgi
Hoku chilling outside this afternoon.

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Check out this pic that Laura took this morning. My minions!

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Pull-ups!

















Monday, June 4, 2012

Mini-WOD Monday (and Friday)

Ah!!! With all the excitement happening Friday (I got promoted!! Wooo!) I forgot to post the workout. And man it was a good one.

Started my Friday with this. Finished in 8:40 and beat my trainer. Woo! #crossfit #wod #burpees

Did your heart just sink? Did you stomach turn to knots? Did an audible "ugh" just escape your lips? 

No? Huh... well you're sadistic then. All those things happened to me and everyone else who showed up Friday morning. I thought back to the Open and 12.1. I squeaked out 86 burpees in those 7 minutes, but it was hhhaaarrrddd. Like, crawling off the floor hard. Now, I have to do 100? I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. 

Our trainer Christa had done this workout before we showed up. How motivating is that?! Just so that we really didn't have any room to complain, she did the workout balls early in the morning to prove to us it could be done. Her time: 8:57. She said that she tried doing sets of 10 reps, but knew that would be too much. She broke it down farther to sets of 5 reps. 

I set out at the beginning with that mentality: 5 reps. While I was doing the first set though, I felt too good at 5 reps to stop, so I continued to 10 reps. It took me about 20-25 seconds to finish, then I would rest about 10-15 seconds before starting again. That worked for the first few rounds, but then I started to slow down. I kept good form, no peeling off the floor this time and I was certain to finish all 10 reps unbroken for each set. That helped me. The whole time I just kept thinking "don't stop." I made it to the end. And I beat Christa.

My time: 8:40


I was dead at the end. D.E.A.D. dead.

Now, on to today. It's the first Monday of the month which means... Mini-WOD Day!!!

Here's what we had.

I may have "lost" some weight so I could do this without dying. Heh. #wod #crossfit

When I walked into the box, I was hoping that I misread the 50 and it was actually 25 or something. Nope. 50 reps. 

With that confirmed, I um... *cough* may have instantly lost 15 lbs. Haha. I wanted to be able to get to 50 and as soon as I felt the 105 lbs I loaded up, I knew it wasn't going to happen at 120 lbs. Maybe, but I do have to get to work by a certain time. Can't stay there all morning doing individual squats. I experimented with both high bar and low bar back squats. I actually thought that I felt a little stronger with low bar, but I found it a little harder to balance. I probably did 60/40 high bar/low bar. That part of the WOD took about 17 minutes to get through.

Then I had to tackle the HSPU. I did it with one mat and sets of 10. A couple times I got off balance and accidentally pushed myself off the wall. Whoops. It was hard, but I made it. Sooner or later I'm gonna have to figure out kipping these. I've seen videos but can't seem to get myself to attempt it.

Lastly, the row was the row. I worked on form and keeping my stroke count low compared to the time. Okay... not my best time, but definitely better form rather than just hauling all out and wasting energy.

All in all, it took me about 35 minutes to finish the whole WOD, but that was with little rest between the different exercises. 

Hope that everyone has a great week!