Little Behind...

WOD 122308:
Pull-up Challenge Day 12 - 12 Pull-ups

CFWUx2
HPC Warmup 3x5 @45#

Hang Power Clean 5-5-5-5-5
Weighted Pull-up 1-1-1-1-1

95#/95/115/115/135
30#/40/50/60/70 (PR)

----------------------------------------

Haven't worked out in a few days due to 1. travel and time with my daughter, and 2. pure laziness (especially yesterday, rest day #4). I have to make up for Pull-up days 13-17...that's 75 pull-ups to make up today. I think I'll hit up JT today, since I'm already doing so many pull-ups. Either that or something quick and easy, like 100 burpees for time. I'll decide later. For now I need to get to those pull-ups, and try to keep up better, since I'll also be taking on the 50 day HSPU challenge starting the 1st of the year. Also starting the 1st will be the cleaning up of my diet. I'm tired of bonking on metcons and just not getting the results I want with ME lifts, so I'm going to try to stick as close to the Paleo diet as I can.

WOD 122208 "Cindy"

Personal Pull-up Challenge Day 11 -
11 consecutive strict pull-ups (discarded the idea of using 20# extra weight pretty much just so I don't end up injuring myself)

Warm-up:
3x3 Rounds Heavy Bag
CFWUx2 (minus pull-ups and dips)

WOD:
As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

10 rounds + 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 10 squats

Finisher:
5x max reps HSPU
7/6/5/4/4

Still not fully recovered from whatever that bug was that I came down with, so this was harder than it should have been...I was having a bit of trouble breathing (well, more than the usual metcon-induced hyperventilations). Could have finished the 11th round, but my buddy who was timing me yelled "STOP!!!" so loud I fell on me arse and couldn't get back up until it was too late.

Yesterday - Heavy Squat Day!

Pull-up Challenge Day 10 - 10 pull-ups.
Still caught up. We'll see how long that lasts.

CFWU x 2

WOD:
OHS 5-5-5-5-5
Front Squat 3-3-3-3-3
Back Squat 1-1-1-1-1

Finisher:
50 K2E

OHS - 65#/95/100/105/115 (PR!)
FS - 95/115/135/165/170 (PR!!)
BS - 135/185/205/215 (PR!)/225 (F)

Getting better at OHS, but I'm still having trouble keeping the weight balanced overhead...plus my shoulder strength was a bit of a detractor. Front squat form was perfect, but wrist flexibility was a problem.

Eh...

Made up yesterday's 8 pull-ups, and 9 for today...and that's it. Recovery is killer for me, because I'm dying to get back in there and take another stab at the Filthy Fifty...or in my case, the Dirty Thirty...but I need to wait until I can actually muster the strength and intestinal fortitude to finish it (instead of nearly passing out halfway through). I hate being sick. There'll be extra stretching this evening so I can feel like I've at least done something....

KO'd by the cold...

Hopefully I'll be back on my feet in time to drive down to AK on Wednesday...might even do a couple bodyweight WODs while I'm down there. But for now I'm down for the count. I hate drastic temperature changes...it went from 30F yesterday morning to highs of 8F today. Ridiculous. I'll have to set aside my benchmark efforts until this freakin' bug goes away.

I saw the greatest quote on the BrandX forum a minute ago:

"So, i’ve come to a conclusion. My brother who’s in Army Special Forces, and myself have been reading and doing Muscle and Fitness for several years. I’ve only done Crossfit for 2 days. But I’m not that slow and I think I’ve figured it out. Muscle and Fitness is kind of like jogging to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream cone and Crossfit is like punching a hole through the Earth all the way to Hell and fighting 50 demons by yourself with no weapons and no armor… on an empty stomach."

=]

Benchmarks

As per our department's Combat Challenge team coach, I will be using a few CrossFit benchmarks plus some lifts and such to measure how well I'll do for the team tryouts in Spring. I have about 4 months to prepare for the tryouts...after 3 I'll hit all the benchmark workouts in the same order as I'll be doing them this time around, and then I'll compare results. This will be more to show the coach that I have the dedication to training that he requires of everyone on the team than for the actual tryouts. I'll be doing a CFT, Angie, Fran, Diane, Elizabeth, Murph, JT, 1 1/2 mile run, Clean 1RM, Snatch 1RM (not in that particular order). I'll use the same scaling for workouts that require it, regardless of whether I moved up a level during the next 3 months. I'll have to set a couple aside for now, since I still can't deadlift, but I plan on having them all done hopefully within the next two weeks.

Back in the game...WOD 121808

Pull-up Challenege:
Made up days 4, 5, & 6...plus today's seven = 22 pull-ups (no rings, no weight)
18 of those were consecutive...and strict! That's a new PR.

Warm-up/Buy-in:
3x 3 minute rounds on the heavy bag (fists & elbows only until the hip stops hurting)

2 rounds:
8 Pistols/leg
30 Mini med ball slams (8#)
10 Supermans
20 K2E

WOD:
Modified Lynne
5 rounds max reps:
Ring Push-ups
Pull-ups

23/25, 20/20, 17/17, 13/17, 12/16

Cash out:
Sledgehammer swings (similar to clubbell swings)

Dammit winter! You foil me again!

I feel like I've come down with something...I barely made it through my warm-up, then I started to do my first round of ring push-ups and pull-ups (planned on doing a modified 'Lynne')...and didnt make it to the pull-ups. My head is absolutely throbbing, like someone took a whack at the back of my skull with a blunt object. Never had this happen before, but I have a feeling it's because of the HUGE change in temperature outside the past couple days...went from high 60s to the teens almost overnight. Blech =[

We'll see how I feel tomorrow...maybe I can knock out some split jerks.

Rest Day

I was going to run 5k today, but it appears I tweaked a nerve somewhere in the butteal region, so just jogging to my truck on a call bothered it. I may have to lay off the lower body stuff for a few days. We'll see what tomorrow's WOD brings.

WOD 121408

3x 3 min rounds on the heavy bag
CFWUx2

5 rounds for time:
30# DB lunge, 10 alternating steps
30# DB swing, 15 reps

8:09

Finisher:
50 K2E

I really need to spring for a couple more pairs of dumbbells…all i have are 60# and 30# pairs right now. I felt really good through the whole thing, though I need to work on my swing form a bit…didn’t stay tight enough and felt it way too much in my lower back.

Yesterday: WOD 121308

Personal Pull-up Challenge Day 3:
3 Pull-ups (no weight, no rings)

Clean & Jerk Practice
5-5-5-5

95#, 95, 115, 115

WOD:
3 rounds for time:
20" Box Jumps, 25 reps
115# Deadlift, 21 reps
15 Pull-ups

16:91

Still not very strong on the C&J, but I've pretty much gotten the form down. I wasn't planning on scaling down so much for the WOD, but I could tell before I even went into the weight room that I wouldn't make it through a higher scaling. Still bonked at the beginning of the third round, but I got my second wind halfway through the deadlifts and finished strong.

WOD 121208

Today was punishment day for taking such a long break.

-This morning-

Personal Pull-up Challenge Day 2:
2x +20# ring pull-ups

Played with rings a bit:
2x 15 Ring Push-ups
2x 5 Ring Flyes

-This evening-

Buy-In:
3x 3min rounds on heavy bag
CFWUx2

WOD:
'The Magic 30'
3 round for time:
5 30# One-arm DB snatches per arm
5 30# One-arm DB swings per arm
10 Burpees

6:27

Cash out:
50 Pull-ups
50 K2E

I decided to go with this lovely little workout because it thoroughly thrashes me...it was originally supposed to be 5 rounds to equal 50 reps of each exercise, but I scaled it so I could get as much intensity as I could out of it. Starting to do the buy-in/cash out thing too.

Must punish myself...

For being lazy yesterday. I also didn't work out the day before, but that was for a legitimate reason...my body was telling me it needed more rest. Yesterday I chose to eat like sh!t all day, so I was in no shape to work out. Today I'll make up for it though. I'll post about today's WOD later.

I'm also starting my own personal pull-up challenge. It'll be a 100--day challenge where I'll do 1 pull-up on day 1, 2 on day 2, 53 on day 53, etc. I'm allowed to miss days, but I'll have to make those pull-ups up the next day along with the ones I'll have to do for the current day. This isn't unlike most BrandX challenges...but here's the twist. I'm adding a 20 lb. weight vest for every single pull-up, and if I have my rings up, I'll be doing weighted RING pull-ups. Warm-up and WOD pull-ups DO NOT count. I may need medical attention near the end of this =P

Today is day 1. 1x 20# ring pull-up. WOO!

WOD 120808

Just for fun I did a 5-mile march, loaded w/ ~70# (20# flak vest and ~50# pack). Jogged a good mile of it. Didn’t time it though…

Then:

Warm-up - 2x 50 jumping jacks & 10 ab wheel rollouts

AMRAP in 15 min.
10 Pull-ups
10 Ring Push-ups
10 Sit-ups
10 Back Ext. (due to lack of a GHD, I had to settle for a stability ball)

6 rounds

For the past 20 minutes I've been chanting 'keepitdownkeepitdownkeepitdown...'

Yesterday, WOD 120608

"Fran"
21-15-9 For time:
Thrusters (scaled to 45#)
Pull-ups

4:31

20x 35# Turkish Getups (10 per side)

Really thought I'd get a better time than that with just 45#...shows how much more intensity I need to add to my MetCons. I'm glad to be back in it though, after three days off.

Horrible, horrible, horrible...

Couldn't work out today either. It's upsetting, but my massage therapist said that since it's been such a long time since I've had a massage, I need to stay as relaxed as possible today. I've been extremely tense and haven't been stretching like I should (which is why my hip was hurting so much)...so tomorrow I'll get to 'Fran'. And as long as I get the money for it, I plan on getting a canvas heavy bag ASAP. Then I'll be adding about an hour of Krav training on the bag (and hopefully with a partner as soon as I find someone willing) every day off.

Still cleaning up the diet slowly. I'm eating better, more balanced meals now, with as little emphasis on grains, beans, and potatoes as possible. I'll eat some here and there, just because I have it and don't want to waste it. I can already feel the difference, though, between my clean days and my not-so-clean days.

Oh, and apparently, just by looking at me, my massage therapist said I'm about 6% body fat. O_O WOW! It's been quite a while since I've had my BMI measured, but that's incredible...last I had it checked I was somewhere around 10%. Shows how effective CrossFit is. Now I just need to start making more gains in the VO2 and strength/strength endurance areas.

Shameful, yes...

...but I had to take another rest day yesterday. I was too exhausted after three nights of horrible insomnia. I slept well last night, though. I'll probably head to base this afternoon, so I'll be able to finally knock 'Fran' out. If not, I'll look through that nifty little bodyweight WOD list I found, and find something equally horrible, haha.

Pain...

So I aggravated my tweaked hip doing those deadlifts yesterday. I think it's a strained tendon, but I'm not 100% sure. In true 'manly' fashion, I don't plan on going to the doctor just yet. It only hurts when I'm sitting up, perfectly straight...which only usually happens when I drive. I'm getting a therapeutic massage on Saturday to see if maybe that'll help. The last thing I need right now is an injury, though, so I really shouldn't put off finding out exactly what it is...

Yesterday's WOD

CFWUx3

Deadlift warmup 2x15 @ 135#

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3

185#
205#
225#
275#
295# (PR!)

Yesterday was supposed to be my rest day, but I really felt like I should work out anyway, since I was already at the station. I’m getting so close to double bodyweight I can almost taste it!

Today, I'm planning on loading for bear (relax, it's just a figger of speech), and doing a heavy hike. And maybe some yoga later this afternoon. Supposed to be a rest day, and I probably shouldn't do a damn thing, since I did a four-day cycle, instead of my usual three...but to hell with it. I'm still young, so I need to keep on movin!

Random Insertion of Deep Thought *GASP!*

So, now that I'm starting to get my CrossFit routine dialed in (not allowing extra rest days unless my body really needs them, actually driving to the gym instead of subbing other workouts, etc...), and am starting to clean up the diet (nowhere near Paleo yet...but cleaner than it's been since I got back from the desert), I'm really starting to feel a lot better...stronger, in a better mood, not in so much abdominal/bowel discomfort *eew!*...haha. On top of all that, I'm actually starting to see size gains! I usually wear small shirts (schmeedium for fire dept types, lol), just because I never liked feeling like I'm swimming in my shirts...especially when I'm in uniform. But the small black t's that I normally wear are almost too small for me.

Me - 1
Shirt - 0

In other news, my weight vest is still MIA somewhere in Germany, and they won't let me take any of the vests from the station anymore. It's upsetting, and I'm going to need to find another way to do uber-loaded hikes...

WOD 120208

CFWUx3
2x8 Bench @ 135#

"Lynne"
5 Rounds M ax Reps
Bodyweight Bench (weight scaled to 155#)
Pull-up

Bench/Pull
7/24, 6/18, 5/16, 4/16, 4/11

Not bad, if I do say so myself (wait, I just did...). Minor gains and I had a really good day to boot. Last time I did "Lynne" was less than two weeks ago: 6/23, 7/15, 5/11, 5/9, 4/9

My pull-ups were especially stronger this time. I'm thinking about strapping a 20# weight vest on for the pull-ups next time it comes around =]

WOD 120108: Yesterday at the Station

They decided to start redoing the walls in our computer room at work, so now I can’t post my times or loads except on my off days…

Yesterday:
Front Squat 3-3-3-3-3
Press 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Front Squat: 105#-115#-135#-155#-175#(PR!)

Press 95#-105#-115#-125#-130#(Fail)-115#-115#

Shoulder strength is still lacking. For some reason I’ve shown no progress at all with the Press in the last month…

I'll post today's workout later...gotta go back to base so I'll be able to finally get 'Lynne' knocked out. I think I may go 4 days this time to make up for the extra day I took for my back. Those deadlifts are calling my name :)