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.

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.

Pre-birthday dinner. It's not paleo, but it was gooooddddd.

And of course some oysters. Yum!

My birthday present! It's awesome.

Celebratory German Chocolate Cupcake. 

Back in the Box

Didn't go into the box yesterday cause I was so sore. Then I got guilt tripped by Oscar. Sorry!!!

Woke up this morning, still sore, but decided to go in. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad? Ha! It wasn't a WOD that I would consider difficult... no running, just rowing, but yeah, it still hurt. At least I put some weight on the bar.

I pressed 65lbs, which normally is a moderate weight for me. Today, it felt like it was 100lbs. For reals, I had to take some deep breaths and after the first round I had to break the set into 10 and 5. The best part about this WOD was the box jumps. For some reason, I am starting to really like box jumps. Idunno, I'm weird like that or something. 

My time: 13:41

Sorry for the pretty blah post, I'm tired and sore still. The good news is that I've got a few more pictures from Murph. I'll post those soon!

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. 

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.

35#? I don't think so!

Woke up to the lovely sight of this posted on facebook:



Hmmm... the reps increase in this WOD... must mean that Mark is opening up shop this morning.

Made my way in and standing there in front of the kettlebells I was weighing my options, literally. Ideally, I'd like to be able to do this with the 35# but who was I kidding. That was not going to happen. Maybe, MAYBE if it was only the one round of 15, not this whole workout. For time? I could def get an awesome time if I used the 15#, but that's only cheating myself. I resigned to choosing the 25#. I knew that the first round wouldn't be a problem and boost my confidenct, at least until I got around to the last round. That round I knew would suck. And it did.

The first round went smoothly, no problems. Second round, not so bad... I busted out the pushups again, but had to break up the squats into 15 then the remaining 10. Kb swings... managed to power through that.

gasping for air at this point

Third round. Pushups got broken into 10, 10, and 5. Same for the squats. Followed by more gasps for air... My mind is trying to tell my body to keep going, while my lungs vehemently protest. Kb swings... 10 done, rest, 10 more, rest... the last 15.

My time: 8:18

Thank goodness, I stuck with the 25#! There's always room for improvement.

I stuck around for a bit afterwards to work on my kipping pullups and ring ddips. Some of the guys stuck around and did another mini-WOD consisting of rounds of box jumps.

Crazy people





I apologize for the less-than-stellar photos... I took these with my phone.

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.