All Over The Map

Some days, I'm just not moving as fast as I'd like in the morning. Today was one of those days. Went to bed at a reasonable time, but I was just so tired when I woke up.

Good thing Laura was around this morning. That meant some good DU practice before starting the WOD, which gave me time to get myself moving. I didn't do so bad. For some reason I would always trip up when I got to 9. Every time. Maybe I'll have better luck next time. 

On to the WOD.

It was a pretty long one. 
The HSPU were the worst, I think. I was able to do them with only one mat. By the end though I was only doing them for about 15 of the 20 seconds. 
I tried to work on my speed during the box jumps. It went... eh. Not super good, but better than before. I like 20 seconds of box jumps, they are doable before I get all exhausted. I will admit that I almost face planted into the box one time though. I survived it and recovered thank goodness. 
The L-sits were not a favorite either. I could only hold the "L" for about 5 seconds and spent the rest of the time in the tuck position. Watching the clock tick by while hanging on to the bar was the longest 20 seconds of the workout.
This WOD got me moving, but it wasn't a favorite. Hopefully, I'll have a better day tomorrow.
On a side note, here's my dinner plate tonight.

Paleo leftover meal. Garlic roasted pork, sauteed spinach with bacon, and asparagus. Mmm.

Life Goal... Accomplished!!

I have to start off this post with the most exciting news... maybe, like ever.

I did my first pullup!! And I mean, I kipped it straight up to the bar. Awesomeness. Too bad there isn't a video or anything. I'm rather low tech when actually working out.

Hells yeah! I never, ever, ever thought I would be able to do one and now... two months into CrossFit, it happened. Amazingness. And did I mention this was after this morning AMRAP? More awesomeness.

Ok. Ok. Now on to the actual workout.



For some reason, maybe tiredness... the first time I read this in the morning I thought it said only 3 kb arm presses, which I thought was weird. Why so little? Ah, because I'm an idiot and misread the board. Got it.

The AMRAP was a usual AMRAP, which means that it sucked. Three minutes into it, I couldn't believe I had to keep this up for seven more. And naysayers complain that you can't get a good workout in ten minutes. Ha! Kb presses were not the most comfortable thing for my wrists though. It just sucked to have the bottom of the kb hitting my arm the whole time. I think I have a slight bruise now :( oh well.

10 min AMRAP: 18 rnds + 10 +4

I just couldn't squeeze in those last few presses.

There weren't enough rowers for the whole class so I opted to wait and worked on some double unders and pullups. That's when I got those three glorious kips.

Double unders. They were a different story. I've already proved to myself that I can do them. The problem is once I get a little tired, my form sucks and I lose concentration... two things I need if I don't want to continually whip my toes or the back of my thigh. So what do I do? Blame the rope (which I do think is just a tad too long, made for people 5'0-5'6 and I'm maybe 5'0 on a super good day). I'm working on getting one custom fit. Just gotta make the (not too far) drive to El Cajon and pay a visit to Rx Jump Ropes.

That's it for now!


My dinner plate: spicy garlic long beans and asparagus (my recipe) and Chinese five spice slow cooker pork (from The Clothes Make The Girl). Yum!

Back at the Box

Finally no early morning meetings! That meant that I could get back to the box this morning. I took yesterday, which I feel guilty about but the afternoon's timings just didn't leave room for a WOD. Oh well, I'm not going to let it bother me... back at the grind today!



I looked at this and thought that it wouldn't be that bad. After all, it's only 10 minutes. Oh boy was I wrong!!

Considering that your arms were in basically the same postion the whole time (while also trying to hang on to some weight), you get pretty tired quickly. I thought that I was gonna be able to knock out 10 rounds. Seemed pretty good and the first round went quickly.

Then it was like WHAM! I hit a huge wall. That 20# ball felt like 50# and I had to use a lot of energy just to lift up the 25# KB I was using for the step ups.

And it wasn't because I had to take a day off... everyone else was sucking wind too.

In the end: 6 rounds + 4 ball slams

That's not quite 10 rounds. Whatever. It's cool.

For today's side note: See those 3 warm-up rounds? Where there are DUs?

I managed to get the last round unbroken. Yeah! I'm happy about that. It's only the second time I've done that many consecutive DUs. Through practicing I have learned that I am much worse at them, when I'm tired, lazy, and not concentrating on form. When that happens, I don't jump as high, jump with poor form, and forget to use my wrists. Still making progress though... I'm happy.

Second side note: It's National Sibling Day (it's either today or yesterday, there are conflicting reports). Anyways, here's a tribute to me and my sister.

(Good) Friday Fun

I don't know what it was about yesterday, but I was wiped out by 8 o'clock at night. I struggled to keep my eyes open during Missing and Grey's Anatomy (two of the few tv shows I actually try to keep up with). Afterwards, I immediately dove into my bed and knocked out.

Woke up this morning not looking forward to my long day of duty (means I have to stay late at work), but still looking forward to the WOD. At this point I was also crossing my fingers that there wouldn't be overhead anything today... my shoulders didn't feel up to the challenge again.

Luckily, my wish came true and we arrived to this.



I was hoping for a semi-fast time on this (less than 10 minutes) and still a little tired from the heavy lifting earlier in the week so I opted to go a little lighter on the DL weight.

I grabbed a 45# bar and slapped 15#s on each side... eh, it was a little too light. I added another 10# to take the weight up to 85#. Christa was suggesting 95# to 115# or something in the bodyweight range. Hahahaha. Right. I'll stick with my 85#. Right now, I could prolly 1RM my bodyweight, not 20 of them.

Turns out that sticking with 85# was the right choice. It was just heavy enough that I had to push myself, but I made it through the first two rounds unbroken with the last round in sets of 10.

I also made it through all the sets of pullups unbroken, kipping with the blue band of course. I'm pretty proud of that. Practicing the kipping technique has really been paying off. I'm hopeful of meeting my June goal of kipping with no bands.

Now if only my short, little legs would run a bit faster. I was the second person out the door in the first round and ended up coming back in the door at sixth. I know I'm not the fastest runner and I need to work on that. It just seems that everyone else has a much easier time going faster. I find it a little disheartening hearing someone trudge up behind you and pass you. Ugh. Did I mention that I hate running?

My time: 8:39

Not too shabby... but as always, could be better.

BUT

I did get a new PR today!!!!!!! After the WOD, I decided to do 5 rounds of "let-me-see-how-many-I-can-get" double unders. I've been working these for a couple weeks now. Up until now, I've only been able to get 3 before failing.

Today though... I GOT 11! My average today was also 7.

I'll take a PR when I can get it and progress is an amazing thing. Hard work pays off!



My veggies from dinner last night: spinach salad and roasted asparagus