Friday Fun (a little late)

Sorry for all the missed posts lately. It's been a crazy week around here. I didn't feel so well on Tuesday but was hoping that it was just allergies. After taking some zyrtec and realizing that didn't help at all and feeling pretty crappy later watching Totem, I resounded that I was indeed getting sick. Ugh, I hate being sick. I especially hate being sick while watching something as awesome as Cirque du Soleil. I stayed home sick on Wednesday and took Thursday off from CrossFit as well in order to kick this cold. Luckily, it worked and I was back at the box yesterday morning.

Here's what welcomed me back.

At the box, we just started something new, which I think is an awesome idea. In our Foundations classes, there are 3 WODs that we use at the end of each. Now, we've worked those WODs back into our programming and are using them as benchmarks. Sounds like a great idea to me. 

I decided to use this as training for when I eventually have to do Fran. After the warmups, I loaded up 65lb and got ready to start. 

For some reason, I always forget that thrusters are much harder than push press. It was doable, but I couldn't finish any of the sets unbroken. I had to go by fives in order to keep good form. The box jumps were actually my best part of this WOD. I had a good rhythm that I was able to keep up the whole time. The run portion was, well, a run. Like any other. Mostly I used it as an opportunity to catch my breath before getting back to thrusters. 

My time: 13:00 

That's actually 27 seconds slower than when I did this in Foundations, but considering that I did this in Foundations with just the 23lb bar... I'd say this is still an improvement. Looking forward to doing this again in the future and seeing how I fare.

On a side note, here's some shots from the week.

Push press on Tuesday.

The show was amazing! Can't wait to see another one.

This little pup keeps me pretty busy too. She likes getting into trouble. 

Foundations III

The last of three foundations classes today. I was so excited, mostly because I wasn't as sore this morning and I was ready to go.

Gary and I got started this morning with Drew (remember him? He's the trainer that signed me up). Like all the other trainers I've met, Drew is awesome too. So enthusiastic and practical. Today we learned deadliifts.

Day 3
Deadlift
Sumo Deadlift
Sumo Deadlift High Pull
Medicine Ball Clean
Kettlebell Swing

Then we got to WOD!

Foundations III WOD 17FEB11:

AMRAP 10mins
5 Kettlebell swings
10 pushups
15 air squats

I got 9 rounds in 10mins.

I think I have a wall at about the halfway point of everything. I was on a good pace until my 5th round. Averaging 1 round/minute, then after 5 my pushups started slowing down. I'm one of those girls that refuses to use my knees for pushups, so there was some sacrifice in time. Oh well, not too shabby.

I'm super excited and ready to start classes. A little nervous though. We'll see how the first one goes.

Foundations II (and my new worst enemy)

Had my second foundations class this morning. There was one other guy with me, named Gary, and our trainer was Jess. She was hilarious and taught the basic concepts while keeping us laughing and feeling good about what we are getting ourselves into. We reviewed the squats from FI and then learned the presses.

Day 2
Shoulder press
Push press
Push jerk
Split jerk
Thruster

Not as quad intensive as FI, but don't worry... today's WOD took care of that.

Foundations II WOD 15FEB12:

For time:
21-15-9
Thrusters
Box jumps
200m run

My time: 12:33

I did my thrusters with the 23# bar, which is a piece of cake for the first ten then not so much. During the last 9 reps, the bar definitely felt like it weighed double as much.

Now... about those box jumps. I am not a tall person and I don't have the best vertical. That box covers 1/3 of my height. The look on my face when we brought them out was not one of enthusiasm. It definitely takes a little momentum for me to get up there and the first 21 took what seemed like forever. Gary had already finished his first run by the time I was done with my first jumps. Luckily, Jess and Mark were very encouraging. Up and down I jumped. Finally getting to 21... great! only two more rounds to go...

The last run up the street was the worst. Thank goodness I paced my breathing and could keep my legs moving. There was one pick up me along the way... coming around the corner I almost got smacked by a guy walking his bulldog. At least the dog was cute and I got a quick pet as I recomposed myself to keep running.

At the end of the morning, I'm still alive. Sore, but alive. And I found what I hate most in life: box jumps.

the 36-48 hour hurt...

...is much worse than the 24 hour hurt. I feel like someone beat me with a baseball bat.

At the same time, I can't wait for Foundations II tomorrow and another workout.

When I think about it, the WOD I did in Foundations I, I could have done at any gym. I can guarantee, however, that if I did that on my own without someone pushing me and watching me I wouldn't have worked nearly as hard as I did. That's the kicker for me, the competitiveness and the fact that I want to work harder because I know someone's watching. I didn't join this to break a meager sweat, I came to work my butt off. I did just that and I'm going to strive for that everytime.

Foundations I

Yesterday was my first actual CF experience: Foundation I, the intro into the CF world. The class consisted of myself and two others, Sergio (who has no shame in letting the place know that he's here to get rid of his "chicken" arms) and Maggie, a former runner.

Our trainer, Mark, got us started. It was a fairly uncomplicated lesson. Since I have some lifting experience from my softball and rugby training days I knew each of the lifts we learned.

Day 1
Air squat
Front Squat
Overhead Squat
Burpee
Rowing technique

After practicing each of the moves, we went over to the rowing machines and did our first WOD (Workout of the Day):

5 rounds for time: 250m row, 10 burpees

I'm not gonna lie, I'm all of five foot nothing on a good day. That does not make for the best rower and I felt like I was working twice as hard to keep up with Maggie and Sergio, but I could catch them on burpees. That was my savior. I felt good for the first two rounds. Then I started sucking major wind for the last half of the burpees each round. I could knock out five no problem, but those last five I was peeling myself off the floor. Mark and another trainer were there cheering us on. Cheering might not be the best word... more like constructively egging us on. At one point I chuckled a bit and was sternly told, "if you're smiling, you're not working hard enough!" Ain't that the truth. Final time: 10:49. I finished second after Sergio. Ugh and I was damn tired. This is going to hurt tomorrow.

Taking the plunge...

note: this is a duplicate post from my personal blog

Well, I said I was gonna sign up and looky looky I did! I'm proud of myself, mostly because lately I've been saying I want/need to do a lot of things and then I just sit on my behind. I found CrossFit East Village and my trainer friend highly recommended it. Even though it was raining, I got in the car after work and took the "10" minute drive to the box.

Note: Box is CrossFit slang for gym and it didn't take 10 minutes to drive there because there is a bunch of construction and I had to navigate the one-way streets.

Needless to say, I found parking and made my way in. Thank goodness the "front desk" was near the door. I hate when you walk in to someplace new and can't find someone to talk to, I just feel like an idiot wandering around. Ya know? The guy at the desk was named Drew and very nice and helpful. He got me signed up and scheduled for my Foundations class. For those that know nothing about starting CrossFit, you have to take a Foundations class before starting Workouts of the Day (WODs) to learn the basic movements, then you can sign up for the daily classes offered. At CFEV, the Foundations class is three sessions over one week and cost $150. While that may seem like a lot, think of it and three (most likely) one-on-one personal training sessions. That's only $50 a session! Most outside gyms cost about $75-$100 per session. Then the monthly at CFEV is $75. That is the cheapest in the city. Maybe anywhere. I haven't found another cheaper in CA, HI, or CO. And you can attend as many classes as you want. At CrossFit Waipio back home in Hawaii, it's $100 a month and you can only go to two classes a week. I think I found a good deal and it's convenient for me. Double score.

I haven't been this excited for a workout in a long time and hopefully this is the change that I have been looking for to get where I want to be.