Got back on the Wendler train today

Press

3 @ 67.5
3 @ 75
>3 @ 85 (Finished with 3 reps!)

Then

15-12-9

Hang Power Snatch (55 lb)
Ring Dip (5 unassisted, then varying levels of band)

5:53

Did a whole lot of sitting on my can for a few days during the rest of the holiday break, so I was pretty pumped to get back in the box for:

5 rounds

10 power snatch (30 lb DB)
10 lunges (30 lb DB)
10 DB swings (30 lb DB)
10 goblet squats (30 lb DB)
30 sec handstand hold

Finished with 11:36, rx'd. Fun WOD, especially since it didn't lay me flat on my butt after my recent slackitude.

Tuesday before we left I squeezed in Wendler back squat work:

3 @ 120
3 @ 137.5
>3 @ 155 (Finished with 8 reps)

A little disappointed with 8 reps, but hey.

Then yesterday, we did 400 m of walking lunges, which took me 13:43. Terrible.

Quarter Gone Bad today:

5 rounds

15 sec thrusters (85 lb)
45 sec rest
15 sec kipping pullups
45 sec rest
15 sec burpees
45 sec rest

I ended up with 88 reps; thrusters were (6-6-5-5-5), pullups 6 reps across the board; burpees (6-6-6-6-7). Wasn't feeling great before the WOD, but enjoyed myself once it started and felt pretty good even though my kip is still rusty.

Tweaked shoulder a little yesterday, so just deadlift today:

5 @ 152.5
5 @ 177.5
>5 @ 200 (12 reps)

Wendler Press today:

5 @ 62.5
5 @ 70
>5 @ 80 (3 reps)

Then I punked out and went inside (25 is just not an acceptable workout temperature), and did 17 rounds of 1 ring dip on the minute before failing. Better than I thought I'd do, but there's work still to be done.

Woke up hella early this morning for:

Wendler Back Squat

5 @ 110
5 @ 127.5
>5 @ 145 (12 reps)

Then

3 rounds

30 box jumps (20")
15 pushups
1 minute handstand hold

10:54. My box jumps blew, partly because I had finished my Wendler >5 set 60 seconds prior to starting, partly because I stink at cycling box jumps when I'm tired. I am proud that I didn't have to come down early out of any of my handstands, although at the end of the 3rd set I definitely lost feeling in my arms.

Today was

5 rounds

10 pullups
20 burpees
25 kb swings
3 minute rest

I finished 4 rounds plus about 4 pullups before the tears in my hands got serious. I then did 20 burpees and tried a few KB swings before giving up. In any event, my first 4 rounds took about 2:30-3:00 apiece. Need to work on my pullup form - it's been awhile!

Today I worked up to a 1 rep max snatch of 77 lb. I missed a bunch of times at 82 but think I could definitely get it next time. We then did 12 minutes of 2 snatches every minute on the minute. I did it at 67 lb, which felt good (I only missed once, and it was because I was being lazy).

Tuesday all I did was work slightly below-depth HSPU negatives. Today I worked out at home:

4 rounds

Max reps ring dip
Max reps KB swing (1 pood)

Ring dips were sad (2-2-1-1), KB swings were pretty good (50, 40, 45, 40). Forearms are still numb.

Team WOD today:

2 rounds

1 lap around block with small sandbag

then, while each other team member does his or her lap, cycle through

KB snatch (25 lb)
tire flip, then hop into and out of tire for 1 rep
weighted step up (25 lb DB in each hand)

Back already felt a little saucy going into it, and by the time I got to KB snatches, I decided to do myself a favor by going a little lighter than the Rx'd weight. I got 42 and then 35 reps for KB snatches, in the early to mid-twenties for tire flips, and early to mid-twenties for weighted step ups (which easily were the hardest station for me).

Wendler Back Squat and Press today:

5 @ 122.5
3 @ 137.5
>1 @ 155 (Finished with 8 reps)

5 @ 67.5
3 @ 77.5
>1 @ 85 (Finished with 1 rep)

Farted around with OHS and snatch balance some, and then did

AMRAP 7 minutes

10 power snatches (65 lb)
5 HSPUs (1 ab mat)

3 rounds plus 12 reps. Glad I forced myself to do the Rx'd weight for snatches, and was even able to practice cycling, but I still have a lot of work to do in that regard. Going to work some below-parallel HSPU negatives to help me overcome my HSPU impasse.

Today was Wendler Deadlift:

5 @ 170
3 @ 192.5
>1 @ 215 (Finished with 6 reps)

Good confidence builder, given that my previous 1-rep max is 225. Then did:

3 rounds

6 deadlifts (175 lbs)
9 ring dips (on toes)
12 box jumps (20")

3:46, which I was happy about too!

Today worked on double unders in warmup, then did

Wendler OHS

3 @ 70
3 @ 80
>3 @ 90 (11 reps)

Then

2 x 40 yard sprint (rest 15 sec)
rest 30 sec
2 x 60 yard sprint (rest 15 sec)
rest 30 sec
2 x 80 yard sprint (rest 15 sec)
rest 30 sec
2 x 100 yard sprint (rest 15 sec)
30 sec rest
2 x 80 yard sprint (rest 15 sec)
30 sec rest
2 x 60 yard sprint (rest 15 sec)
30 sec rest
2 x 40 yard sprint (rest 15 sec)

Pain.

Over the past couple of days, did Wendler

Press

3 @ 62.5
3 @ 72.5
>3 @ 82.5 (2 reps)

Deadlift

3 @ 160
3 @ 182.5
>3 @ 205 (6 reps)

Back Squat

3 @ 112.5
3 @ 130
>3 @ 145 (11 reps)

Not bad considering the holiday, but need to get back into a more regular schedule in so far as lifting, metcons, and skillwork are concerned.

In the morning did Tabata sprints on the treadmill. Good times. In the evening started Wendler OHS, which was

5 @ 65
5 @ 75
>5 @ 85*

*Finished with 12 reps, which considering my cramped surroundings (the basement) wasn't bad.

Worked out today in the in-laws' basement (it's snowing here in St Paul!):

Wendler Deadlift

5 @ 147.5
5 @ 170
>5 @ 192.5*

*Finished with 12 reps!

I then ran a 5k on the ole treadmill. Kept a little over a 9 minute pace, which didn't feel super fast to me but my legs were definitely feeling it since I had only deadlifted about 30 minutes before.

Since we're leaving town on Saturday, I started my next Wendler cycle a little early:

Back Squat
5 @ 105
5 @ 122.5
>5 @ 137.5*

Shoulder Press
5 @ 57.5
5 @ 67.5
>5 @ 77.5*

*Finished with 15 back squat reps and 6 shoulder press reps, both of which I was psyched about.

Combined my Wendler press and deadlift back-off sessions today, all went well. I then did 20 DUs on the minute for 10 minutes, which went much better than I thought it would go (I channeled Alex, who is a DU savant). Got a little tired toward the end and things occasionally were ugly, but all in all it was an encouraging practice session (considering I haven't done DUs in at least 3 months). I then messed around a little with assisted pistols and handstand holds, both of which I need to work on more!

Saturday I played frisbee for the first time in a year. I was 1 of 3 women on the squad, and so played a lot more than I should have. I got through 2.25 games before hanging it up, and spent the rest of the weekend working out the extreme lower body soreness. Anyhow, I've been getting to bed so early lately that I decided this morning to hit up a 630 WOD before work! I did a Wendler back squat back-off week, and then we did

5 rounds of 3 minutes of

1 lap
10 pushups
10 toes to bar
(rest with any time left)

First couple rounds were fine, but the toes to bar got ugly in the last 2 rounds - I only managed 8 in the 4th round, and my range of motion was questionable on at least 3 or 4 reps per round. It felt good to run around, though!

Worked out at home, again:

2-rep snatch balance practice, staying very light and working on speed.

Then no dumbbells, so I did some volume work on some things I stink at:

1 ring dip on the minute for 10 minutes (failed on last one) and

5 65-lb thrusters on the minute for 10 minutes (finished all within 20 seconds, just wanted to work on form)

Wednesday was a work/rest day. Today was

Deadlift

5 @ 162.5
3 @ 185
>1 @ 207.5*

*Finished with 8, which was a good confidence builder. Then did 10 minutes on the minute HSPUs (feet on box, torso as vertical as possible), and then 10 minutes on the minute 10 box jumps (18").

Monday was a work/rest day. Tuesday I fit in

Wendler Back Squat

5 @ 130
3 @ 145
*>1 @ 162.5

Wendler Press

5 @ 65
3 @ 72.5
*>1 @ 82.5

*Finished with 1 rep on the back squat and 3 reps on the press. I'm going to recalculate my 1 rep max for the back squat starting with the next cycle, since I've obviously backslid some. Press was ok.

After a week full of 15 hour work days, travel, and a grad school interview halfway across the country, today's been the first day in awhile I've been able to workout! I did some HSPU skill work, using a scaled method but going to full depth, and then did Wendler deadlift, which amounted to:

3 @ 152.5
3 @ 175
>3 @ 197.5*

*I finished with 8 reps on the last set, which I was pretty happy with.

Today was Wendler:

Back Squat

3 @ 120
3 @ 137.5
>3 @ 155*

Press

3 @ 60
3 @ 67.5
>3 @ 77.5*

Finished with 2 reps for the back squat and 4 for the press. Disappointing, but I saw it coming during the warmups when my legs felt dead. I think it might have something to do with it being my fourth day on, so next week I'm going to shift these 2 exercises to Tuesday, after I've had a day off.

Today I did a slightly abbreviated version of the PCF metcon:

21-15-9

Hang Power Snatch (55 lb)
Pushups
400 m run

11:33

Did the snatches from the hang because of some lingering lower back soreness.

Triple T

I think I'm gonna watch this before every workout from now on:

Worked on 2 rep snatch balances to start. I stayed mostly at 62 and 72 lbs, but felt pretty fast (just a little nervous about my right shoulder bringing the bar back down in-between reps). I then did an abbreviated version of the metcon, which was 1 thruster and 1 pullup on the minute, 2 thrusters and 2 pullups the next minute, etc. I can't remember exactly, but I started with 82 lbs, then went down to 72 and finally 62 before throwing in the towel after 7 or so completed rounds (with a few rounds of rest in between). Quads and shoulder twinged, hands hurt, and thrusters felt slow and were hard to link. And yes, I realize I am whining. I will do better tomorrow.

Today was Wendler DL:

5 @ 142.5
5 @ 162.5
>5 @ 185*

Finished with 12 solid reps, which was what I did 4 weeks ago (I decided to restart this cycle after my big wedding break). We then did

5 rounds

7 DL (135 lb)
7 KB swings (1 pood)
7 Burpees

5:22 Rx'd. I went into the gym still feeling kind of icky, but I was happy with my deadlifting and my performance in the metcon, so good day at the box! Thanks to Kari for cheering me on during my third Wendler set and for pushing me through that metcon, and thanks to Brian for the solid lifting music (i.e. Bone Thugs).

Tuesday = unscheduled rest day.

Wednesday = scheduled work/rest day.

Today was my first day back at Wendler. I decided to reset to the first week of my second cycle, which means I did

Back Squat

5 @ 112.5
5 @ 130
>5 @ 145*

Finished with 7 reps. Not great but it's been at least 3 weeks since I've squatted anything (I did do a couple of squats in my wedding dress, but all I was holding was a champagne glass), so I'll take it.

Press

5 @ 55
5 @ 65
>5 @ 72.5*

Finished with 6 reps. Again, not awesome, but I'll take it, especially after doing Lynne yesterday. Monday's a work/rest day.

Today was "Lynne":

5 rounds

max bench press (90 for first set, then 85 for the rest)
max pullups

I finished with 64 reps, with a roughly even (after the first round), albeit declining distribution of bench presses and pullups. Poor hand care played a role.

Today was

10 rounds

30 sec OHS (first 6 rounds at 75, last 4 at 65)
60 sec rest
30 sec row
60 sec rest

180 reps. OHS were hard.

Today we worked on 3 rep cleans. I went pretty light, only getting up to a set of 105 that felt pretty good. In keeping with my taking-it-kind-of-easy-coming-back theme of the past couple days, I then did a scaled version of the metcon:

3 rounds

5 clean and jerks (75 lb)
7 pullups
9 box jumps (24 inches)

I finished in 6:50, which isn't great but I'm keeping a PMA. Clean and jerks felt great (including my shoulder, which felt fantastic throughout), pullups sucked, and box jumps were high for me and a little slow, but ok.

Monday was a work day. Tuesday I did

4 rounds

5 deadlifts (175 for 1st 2 rounds, 155 for rest)
20 pushups
400 m run

14:35

Still rounding back into form, blech. Wednesday will be a work day.

Finally back after the wedding and then some serious post-wedding sickness. It was awesome (the wedding), but stress + gluten + champagne + bad sleep definitely = trouble! Anyhow, we did Nate at the box. My version was

AMRAP 20 minutes

6 pullups
6 ring dips (1 small orange band, then 2)
4 HSPUs (ab mat)
8 KB swings (1.5 pood)

I had 6 rounds. I don't know if it was just first-day-back sluggishness or my morning massage, but I felt slow and weak. I was glad to be back, though!

Did some half-hearted volume work today on ring dips and HSPUs. Blech.

In New Orleans, where the weather is beautiful and the booze is aplenty. We took advantage of the lovely conditions and went down to the local park for a metcon:

5 rounds

15 burpees
15 situps
15 jumping lunges
15 pushups
15 KB swings (1 pood)

17:02

Burpees were the worst, by far.

Went in to the box with the intent of fully tackling the WOD, but after warming up and doing some light snatch balance practice, I decided that assaulting my shoulders further would not be in my best interest, and so I skipped the metcon. Tomorrow and Sunday will likely be travel days, as we'll be driving down to New Orleans!

Thought I had work today, but I didn't, so I was able to do Wendler deadlift:

5 @ 142.5
5 @ 162.5
>5 @ 185*

*Finished with 12 solid reps.

Then did the PCF metcon:

4 rounds

3 squat cleans (scaled to 105)
5 HSPUs (w/ 1 ab mat, although my ROM was questionable at times)
7 pullups

9:04

Hardest part was HSPUs, followed by cleans. Turns out not practicing heavy cleans makes doing them in metcons hard. First three rounds of pullups were unbroken; had I been at the gym I would have tried CTB, but the clearance over my pullup bar does not allow me to even attempt that kind of shenanigans.

Today we started things off with some strict pullup and HSPU work. We alternated on the minute for 10 minutes, meaning that I did

4-3-2-2-2 strict pullups
7-6-5-4-4 HSPUs with the skinny side of the abmat

Probably should just work on doing real HSPUs now. Anyhow, we then did

5 rounds

1 minute row
1 minute DB thrusters (25 lb)
3 minutes rest

149 Rx'd, although my thruster form was likely questionable toward the end. This one whupped me good!

Wednesday is a work day.

Friday I played golf instead of working out. Saturday (FGB day) was a frigging debacle - I DNF'd after 1.2 crappy rounds as a result of a combination of many factors, including terrible preparation (too much wine and not enough water and breakfast), inadequate sleep for the past week, and an oncoming cold. Later in the day I did the back-off workouts for press and bench press, and then laid around feeling woozy for the next 36 hours. Took the day off from work today and as a result of the extra rest felt much better this afternoon, so I did:

1 ring dip every minute for 10 minutes

Back squat:

5 @ 112.5
5 @ 130
>5 @ 145*

*Finished with 11 reps.

I then got 4 rounds through Death By Clean and Jerk (95 lbs) before becoming concerned about my shoulder, so I finished the day off with some more volume work:

10 box jumps (18") every minute for 10 minutes

The Daily Affirmation

This has been talked about a lot in the Crossfit blogosphere lately, and Stuart Smalley has been hammering this point home for nearly two decades, but I still find it amazing how much further a PMA can get me. Seriously, whether I'm dealing with a WOD, grad school applications, or the constant urge to consume a pint of coconut ice cream in one sitting, I've discovered that a little positive self-talk can go a long way. This especially applies to performance, particularly now that I'm well past the initial "I PR every time I set foot in the gym" stage. Not every day ends with a PR, but if I think positively, it can be an "I pushed myself further than I thought I could" or an "I learned something new" day, and that helps make the kind of cumulative difference I'm aiming for.

Today was Wendler deadlift back-off day:

5 @ 85
5 @ 105
5 @ 125

Then

3 rounds

10 DB power snatches (35 lb)
10 KB swings, American (1.5 pood)
10 pullups

Finished in 6:05. Grip was nearly gone toward the end, so the last round of pullups took about as long as the entire first round took me.

Monday was a work day. Tuesday I gave into being overwhelmed with a freelance project and only had time for

Bench
5 @ 75
3 @ 85
>1 @ 95*

*Finished with 6 reps. I then went into work for an overnight shift; thankfully there is a door gym here, so I did deadhang pullup volume training (1 per minute for 20 minutes) and 10 minutes of 5 box jumps per minute on top of 2 truck tires (which add up to about 18 inches). I haven't done deadhangs in awhile, so I was wary about doing any more than I did given my shoulder. But they felt fine and only really started to get difficult at the very end.

Wednesday I'll be at work all day, blech.

So this weekend I bacheloretted my face off. I did eat a few no-no foods and drink a fair amount of tequila/wine (thus giving Alex the lead in the 17th St N Challenge), but I was actually pretty proud of myself, considering.

This evening I squatted (back-off week) and then pressed:

5 @ 65
5 @ 82.5
5 @ 97.5

5 @ 60
3 @ 70
>1 @ 77.5*

*Finished with 5 or 6 reps.

Wednesday and Thursday were work days. I did make excellent use of the lax ball in a parking lot and ice machines at various ERs and gas stations throughout my shifts. Friday before the bachelorette party-esque festivities started, I deadlifted:

5 @ 157.5
3 @ 177.5
>1 @ 200*

*Finished with 6 solid reps. I could have maybe eked out a few more, but they would have been ugly.

We were then a little pressed for time, so I just did 50 burpees for time and blew my old PR of around 3 minutes out of the water with a 2:34. At least 15 seconds of the difference I attribute to my bridesmaids, who were yelling encouragement the whole time.

Today my shoulder felt pretty good, so I went in for the regular WOD. We did a few minutes of planche hold progressions, Brian fixed my too-wide pullup setup (which was causing some shoulder twinge), and then

5 rounds

5 power snatches (62 lb)
6 pullups
10 burpees
Rest 2 minutes

Finished in 14:33. I probably should have just done it Rx'd, but I'm glad I took it easy on the shoulder. Still need to work on snatches in general, and cycling high rep snatches in particular; also, I need to get back doing some pullup side work.

Today I squatted:

5 @ 122.5
3 @ 137.5
>1 @ 155*

*Finished with 7 reps (nearly got an 8th up, dang).

My shoulder felt pretty good, so I then bench pressed:

3 @ 70
3 @ 80
>3 @ 90*

*Finished with 6 pain-free reps.

I then made up Friday's 10:00 AMRAP, which was:

20 KB swings (1.5 pood, Russian-style on account of my shoulder)
5 burpees

I finished with 8 rounds + 12 reps. Felt pretty good, all in all - I think bumping up in weight to compensate for the Russian-swing was the right idea. Then, while watching tennis this evening (replay of Djokovic/Federer semis) accumulated another 2 minutes in the frog position on the parallettes.

Challenge Update

So the September 17th St North challenge is neck and neck so far: I'm up on Alex by 1 point, as he's missed 2 mobility WODs and I've eaten the forbidden foods on only 1 day since the challenge started. In the spirit of true competition, however, I've decided to up the ante by adding chocolate and white wine to my list of forbidden foods. I've been compensating with them a little too often during the past 2 weeks, and think it would be good to cut myself off.

Unscheduled rest day today; just couldn't get it together to work out after our day spent on the Eastern Shore.

Wednesday and Thursday I worked all day. Today I did some makeup Wendler:

Press
3 @ 57.5
3 @ 65
>3 @ 72.5*

*Finished with 6 reps.

Deadlift
3 @ 147.5
3 @ 167.5
>3 @ 187.5*

*Finished with 7 reps.

Later in the day I accumulated about 2:00 in the frog position on parallettes. Took me about 4 tries, and for part of the time one of my toes were touching a tiny bit, but it was definitely some work. Shoulder felt ok this evening, but a little sore.

In the morning I squatted:

3 @ 115
3 @ 130
>3 @ 147.5*

*Finished with 10 reps. Am getting a little more used to the idea of pushing myself on these sets.

In the evening I went to the Working Wounded WOD. Did 12 minutes of pistol volume work (1 per leg); Brian fixed my crappy depth, so things got painful in a hurry. I then did 20 minutes of 3 box jumps a minute, focusing on cycling. All went well, except that for a few rounds I had to redo the reps because I tried to go too fast and messed up. Finally, I did 20 minutes of 20 seconds of a one-armed plank.

Sunday and Monday turned into rest days. Tomorrow I'm hoping to squat in the morning and hit a Working Wounded WOD in the evening!

Shoulder still a little tweaked today, so instead of the PCF WOD, I did

30 KB swings, russian (1 pood)
30 situps
25 KB swings
25 situps...
5 KB swings
5 situps

6:18

I did this about 16 months ago (the last time my shoulder hurt) but with only a 25 lb KB, and was about 1 minute slower. This time around I wasn't even breathing very hard. Afterward I did some volume training: 3 pistols a minute (w/ red band for assistance) for 20 minutes. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to take this morning's leg soreness and double it by tomorrow...

Wednesday I worked all day, yesterday I took off because my shoulder is still bothering me. Today was

Deadlift

5 @ 135
5 @ 157.5
>5 @ 177.5*

Finished with 7 reps. I'm having a lot of trouble forcing myself to push through to failure on these >5 sets...

Metcon was

150 lunges
800 m run
100 squats

Finished in 12:05. Should have taken fewer rest breaks during squats.

The September 17th St N Challenge

Starting tomorrow (September 1), Alex and I are going head-to-head in a pre-wedding Battle Royale:

Every day he does a Mobility WOD dot com WOD he gets a point.
Every day I stay away from fruit, nuts, and coconut I get a point.

Only one point can be earned per day by each person; at the end of 30 days, we'll tally the scores up and the loser has to deep-clean the sinks and the bathtub once a month for 3 months. Ew. If that isn't incentive to git er done, I don't know what is.

Monday was a work/rest day. Tuesday in the AM I warmed up the still-slightly sore shoulder well and did

Wendler Press

5 @ 52.5
5 @ 60
>5 @70*

*Finished with 8 reps.

Just got back from the 7 PM WOD, which was about 5 minutes of work on the frog position (very early progression of front planche) and then

5 rounds

Row 200 m
5 hang squat cleans (85 lb)
10 burpees
2 minute rest

Finished in 18:43; this included a good 15 seconds stripping down from 95 to 85 lbs after the first rep of the first round (wanted to cycle faster than I knew I would at 95 lb).

Saturday was a work day. Today I started the Wendler 5-3-1 program; I usually work on Mondays, which is squat day at PCF, so Sundays will likely be squat and bench days for me.

Anyhow, after a warmup, my squat sets were

5 @ 105
5 @ 122.5
>5 @ 137.5*

*Finished with 8 reps.

I then did bench sets, which were

5 @ 65
5 @ 75
5 @ 85*

*Finished with 6 reps.

I was disappointed in my numbers for each of the third sets, but it's been a few weeks since I've done either movement and my shoulder is bothering me a little so I won't get too upset about it.

Today was

OHS 2-2-2-2-2-2

I worked up to 115, then failed twice at 120. Shoulders felt tired. I then took a big fat DNF on the metcon.

Wednesday I worked all day. Today we did

Squat Cleans 3-3-2-2-1-1-1

Then

4 rounds

1 Power Cleans
2 Hang Squat Cleans
3 Split Jerks

I worked up to 115 for the squat cleans - not very good considering my PR, but just wanted to get into a good rhythm. The metcon I did with the rx'd weight (95 lbs) and felt pretty good about finishing in 6:57 despite doing 5 split jerks in the first 2 rounds (I always have lots of mental trouble with multiple compound barbell movements), d'oh!

Monday was a work day. Today we did

400 m run
10 power snatches, 65 lb
400 m run
20 push press, 65 lb
400 m run
30 KB swings, 1 pood
400 m run
400 box jumps, 16"

I finished this pack version in 14:17, which I was reasonably happy with because I didn't want another slog of a workout like Sunday. I tried to counteract my not doing the Rx'd number of reps by pushing myself on the runs, and think I succeeded on all but the front half of the last one. Still dropped every snatch from the top, which is taking up too much time.

Friday was a travel day, Saturday was a work day, and today was

Skin the cat work (I think I managed 23 pretty decent ones before giving up)

Then

4 rounds
15 KB swings (50 lb)
10 ring dips (1st round negatives, last three w/ red band)
400 m run

20:02

KB swings and run whooped me. I'm still glad to be home and back at PCF, though!

Went again to Crossfit Crusade this afternoon, did

OHS 5x5 (95-100-105-115[3]-95)

Then

AMRAP 8 minutes
2 80 yard sprints with tire connected to harness I wore
5 pullups
7 pushups

I finished 3 rounds, 2 sprints, 5 pullups, and 2 pushups. Holy crap running with a tire is hard!

Missed Tuesday's workout, but made it into Crossfit Crusade this morning. The WOD for the gym was a variation on the Filthy Fifty; since I had already done a long-ish WOD on Monday, I decided to cut this one short at about 14 minutes. It wasn't pretty or fast, and good lord it's humid here, but I did 50 reps each of squats, pushups, 1 pood KB swings, situps, box jumps, and 45 lb push presses before calling it a day.

Friday through Sunday were more days of running around and eating. Today, I

a. started a new Paleo clean, to last from today to September 17, the day before my bachelorette weekend (I'm going nearly sans fruit and nuts/coconut for the entire period) and

b. went to Crossfit Crusade in Slidell, LA, near my aunt's house. We were supposed to do DT, but because of the torrential tropical downpour and crowding instead did a ridiculous string of Tabata exercises: bottom-to-bottom squats, pushups (I did games-standard pushups, rest in plank), dead bugs (rest in hollow rock or some pathetic version of it), burpees (rest in bottom of squat), lunges with 15 lb plate, and mountain climbers (rest in plank). It was more an exercise in managing muscle failure than anything else, honestly, but I'm glad I moved around some.

Sunday through Tuesday I ate my way across Louisiana and mostly sat on my can. It was delicious. Wednesday we did

On the minute

5x60m sprint
5x40m sprint
5x20m sprint

Then Tabata pushups (Games-standard) and situps. My pushup scores were 12-12-10-10-10-10-10-10, with slightly sketchy ROM in the last few rounds. Situps I did 10 for 7 rounds and then 9 on the last round.

Thursday we ran around doing wedding-planning stuff all day. This morning I went on a run: 2.32 miles in 20:17. I didn't push myself as much as I should have, but it was humid as hell and in the end, I was happy to average an 8:45 mile after not having run at all lately.

Did Fran today before we left for New Orleans. 10:06, rx'd, which was moderately disappointing but a. my range of motion was pretty legit, and b. I'm looking forward to improving my metcon abilities henceforth after a solid 3 months of mostly SS and then a week of laziness.

Took about a week off, partly because I was busy and partly because I was lazy. Oh well. On Thursday, though, we worked on snatches and I then did Isabel (30 power snatches for time) with 65 lb in 3:36. Overall it was painful and frustrating, mostly because my already shaky snatch abilities have gotten rusty.

Friday I did the CFT at home with Alex. I ended up with

Back Squat - 175
Shoulder Press - 85
Deadlift - 225

Which totals out to 485, while not a huge improvement over the total I did last September (450, I think), still movement upward which I'll take. All were technically PRs, which was kind of sweet. I failed twice at 185 for back squat, but feel like I can totally get it soon, so that's good.

Did Nancy today:

5 rounds
400 m run
15 OHS (65 lb)

I finished in 15:26, but then realized my turnaround point on the run (did it at home) was about 25 yards too short. D'oh! In all reality my time should have been a little closer to 16:30, but it's all good. OHS were unbroken first 2 rounds, and then I broke once on each of the last 3 rounds.

Monday through Wednesday were rest days. Starting today I'm back to Crossfit full time; greeting me this afternoon were

Cleans 3-3-2-2-1-1-1

Think I worked up to 1 successful lift at 125. Bleh.

Then Grace, which is 30 ground to overheads, for time (95 lb)

I finished in 5:18, and felt dizzy and out of sorts the whole time. Oh well, it was good to be done!

Saturday was a rest day. Today was:

Back Squat 3x5 (157.5)
Bench Press 3x5 (90)

Today was SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (155)
Shoulder Press 3x5 (77.5)

I then did some very unfocused kipping pullup work. Bleh.

Today was a PCF WOD. After a good chipper-type warmup, we worked on 2-rep snatches, making sure to keep the bar speed up. I think I ended up around 72 and was pretty happy with my bar speed, so good stuff. We then did

OHS 3x5 (85-95-105-115-120[1])

Mad about that last set because I feel like I lost focus and let the bar get away from me, but I'm glad I got that 120 up and got 1 rep!

Monday was a rest/work day. Tuesday was

Back Squat 3x5 (150)
Bench Press 3x5 (87.5)

I also worked a little bit on box jumps beforehand. Afterward I did a little metcon of

3 rounds
10 pullups
3 ring dips (1st round unassisted, 2nd and 3rd rounds with half a band)

4:30

Pullups really made ring dips hard. I did the first round of pullups unbroken, then had to break the rounds up (5, then 3 and 2). I haven't done a lot of time-dependent work recently, so it was definitely tough.

Tomorrow is a rest/work day.

Friday and Sunday were rest/travel/drink too much at wedding days. This afternoon I did

Back Squat 3x5 (145)
Shoulder Press 3x5 (75)

I then worked on box jumps and a little on pullups for about 20 minutes. Got 16 cycled box jumps twice before tripping up; want to try it fresh and see how many I can get.

Wednesday was a work/rest day. Today I did

Back Squat 3x5 (162.5;5-5-2)
Bench Press 3x5 (97.5; 5-4-4)

Then 3 sets of 5 of weighted (10 lb) kipping pullups.

Was kind of sad about failing on the back squat, but I'll take another crack at that weight next time. Am going to bump down on bench press next time it comes up, though.

Monday was a rest day. Today I did SS:

Front Squat 3x5 (120)
Shoulder Press 3x5 (72.5)
Deadlift 1x5 (190)

I then spent a few minutes messing around on the rings.

Friday and Saturday were unscheduled rest days.

Today I was back to SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (160)
Bench Press 3x5 (97.5; 5-5-4)

I then did a 1-10 pullup ladder, taking a relatively liberal amount of rest between sets. Last set of 10 was pretty hard, mostly because my grip was shot. Overall I was pretty happy about today's workout, especially after taking two days off for just not feeling it. I really just need to grit my teeth for a few more weeks of this SS, and then I'll get back to regular PCF programming in August.

Wednesday was a work/rest day. Today I wasn't feeling it, but decided to do SS anyway:

Back Squat 3x5 (157.5) Oops added up weight wrong so didn't do 160 as planned
Press 3x5 (80; 2-3-1) Egh

Today was SS:

Front Squat 3x5 (132.5; 4-1-3)
Bench Press 3x5 (97.5; 4-4-3)
Power Clean 5x3 (100)

I then did a few ring dips before succumbing to the ridiculous heat. Blah.

The PCF Fourth of July WOD was:

Quickly find 2 rep OHS max, then

4 rounds
5 OHS (85 lb)
10 burpees
20 situps

OHS 2 rep max was 115, which I'm happy about. Since my last 1 rep OHS attempt was in that neighborhood, it seems clear that my limiting factor is my ability to jerk that weight into position. Metcon I did in 8:04 with 85 lb instead of the rx'd 95, and it was way easier than I thought it was going to be - I didn't have to break once. Which is not to say it was actually easy, or pleasant, just not demoralizing.

Monday is a work day, so I'll pick back up with SS on Tuesday.

Friday was a rest/work day. Saturday was SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (157.5)
Shoulder Press 3x5 (80;2-3-3)
Kipping Pullups 3xfail (13-11-10)
20" Box Jumps 3xfail (7-11-10}

Moved to a slightly thicker bar for kipping pullups, which made it a little harder on my grip; also kept my rest times shorter. Psyched to finally be back on the "regulation" box and cycling box jumps quickly!

Early afternoon I did SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (155)
Bench Press 3x5 (95)

I then did the PCF WOD, which was work on your snatch and

12-9-6

Squat Snatch (43)
Pullups

Got up to 82 lbs on the 1 rep snatch, not good, not bad, then kind of glided through the metcon (finished in 5:24). Broke up the pullups more than I would have liked because I'm not used to the damn thick bars at the box.

Early afternoon was SS:

Front Squat 3x5 (130)
Shoulder Press 3x5 (77.5)
Deadlift 1x5 (205;1)

Wasn't feeling it on the deadlift (think my core was tired after the FS and SP), and didn't want to press it with bad form. I then worked on the rings; I got 3 dips in a row, then a few sets of 2 and 1.

Later in the evening I did a little sprint work:

4 x 20 m (15 sec rest)
30 sec rest
4 x 30 m (30 sec rest)
1 min rest
10 x 10 m flying starts (30 sec rest)

And then worked a bit on HSPUs. Got 10 in a row using the ab mat, and then worked a little on kips (got 1 and failed on a bunch more).

Flew to MN on Friday, so no WOD.

Saturday Alex and I did a team WOD at the cabin in WI, which consisted of 300 burpees for time; we decided that only 1 person could be working at a time, so we broke it up into 15 rounds of 10. We finished in 14:06, and it was pretty painful. I liked how the team aspect of it encouraged both of us to keep moving. I broke up a few of the middle rounds, but from round 11 on I gritted through the rounds unbroken.

Sunday I didn't do anything, boo. Monday my plans to lift were dashed by travel delays, boo again.

This morning I did SS, which was:

Back Squat 3x5 (152.5)
Bench Press 3x5 (95; 5-4-4)

I then did 3 sets of pullups with 10 lbs in the weight vest; got 5, 5, and then 4 reps. Am working toward getting 3 sets of 10 with 15 lbs on...

This evening I went in for the PCF WOD, which was

Do 1 clean every minute for 15 minutes.

I started around 105, worked my way up to a PR of 130, and then failed 3 times at 135 before jumping back down and eventually finished at 125. We then did Jon's Ab Challenge of Death, which was 1 minute right side plank, 1 minute regular plank, 1 minute pushup position, and 1 minute left side plank.

Oops, starting drinking wine after finishing the GRE this afternoon and wasn't able to workout. Managed a few tipsy ring dips while yelling at Alex during his WOD, though!

Monday was a rest day. Think I had a cold.

Today I did SS, which was:

Back Squat 3x5 (150)
Shoulder Press 3x5 (77.5; 5-3-3)

Back squats took some concentrating but were fine; presses were frustrating. I then promised myself that if I got 15 pullups without coming off the bar, I could stop there. And I did! Thirteen, then a quick reset for 2 more. Yay! I then worked on box jumps a little: on the 18" box, I got 2 solid sets of 15 in a row before getting 8 on the last attempt.

Originally this was going to be an extra rest day since I have a 16 hour shift tomorrow and won't be working out, but I felt better than I thought after bike riding and golf so I hit up the CF HQ WOD from yesterday, mostly because I'd never done an OHS strength WOD before:

OHS 7x1 (85-95-105-110-115-120f-120f-105)

The 2 failed attempts happened because I couldn't lock the bar out overhead, which was a bit of a bummer because I think I could have squatted them. Afterward, I messed around on the rings again and attempted 10 ring dip singles; I was successful on 7 of them.

As for the WODs I'm choosing other than my committed SS days, I know I'm cherrypicking a little. Later this summer and once I meet my goals for squatting and pressing, I'll likely go back to a more regular schedule at PCF and am also strongly considering CFE 2-3 times a week.

Saturday was SS:

Front Squat 3x5 (125)
Bench Press 3x5 (95; 5-3-3)
Power Clean 5x3 (112.5; 3-3-1)

Crapped out on the power cleans; don't know if it was the heat or my crappy attitude, but it wasn't happening. Spent a little time afterward on the rings and got 2 in a row plus 3 or 4 singles.

Friday was a PCF WOD:

5 rounds of 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off of

5 thrusters (75 lb)
10 burpees
15 KB swings (1 pood)

I finished 5 rounds plus 5 thrusters and 10 burpees. Was overall happy with my weight choices, although I probably could have womaned up and used a slightly heavier KB.

Wednesday was a work/rest day. Thursday I did

Back Squat 3x5 (147.5)
Press 3x5 (75)

Then 3 sets kipping pullups (10-11-10). Had trouble with my rhythm for some reason, maybe partly because of my hands hurting a bit.

SS today:

Back Squat 3x5 (145)
Bench Press 3x5 (92.5)

Then 3 sets of kipping pullups (12-8-2). The last one sucked because my hands sucked and I was trying out my gymnastic grips. Fail. I then messed around on the rings and did 3 set of 10 dips using only one side of the band as an assist.

Sunday and Monday = work/rest days.

Friday was a work/rest day.

Saturday was

Front Squat 3x5 (120)
Shoulder Press 3x5 (72.5)
Deadlift 1x5 (200)

All felt good. Then spent several minutes messing around on rings. Got 2 single unassisted dips, failed on another, and then did a bunch more on the band.

SS today, pre-birthday celebration:

Back Squat 3x5 (142.5)
Bench Press 3x5 (92.5; 4-4-3)

Then 3 sets of kipping pullups until I came off the bar (9-8-10). Getting better at these; sometimes I have to reset my kip mid set, but I am much better at being able to stay up on the bar even when this happens. Am feeling very positive about my ability to exceed 15 by the end of July.

Tried my hand today at Saturday's WOD, which was

21-15-9

Overhead Squats (65 lb)
Ring Dips (w/ red band)
Bastards

Took me 13:42, and it felt like I was moving at a snail's pace. Went 10 lbs lighter than the Rx'd OHS weight in the hopes that I could avoid breaking as much as possible (broke once in each of the first 2 sets). Red band felt too easy for ring dips, and bastards were just terrible and I need to cycle them a little faster.

Afterward, I joined in with Alex to do the "finisher" for today's WOD, which was:

5 rounds
30 sec handstand hold
30 sec situps

Finished with 78 situp reps. No problems with handstand holds other than a small kickup issue on the last round that delayed me by 1 second.

Monday was a rest/work day. Tuesday was just a little SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (140)
Press 3x5 (70)
3 sets kipping pullups (8-8-8)

Got my 8 pullups in a row! On the second and third sets I had to reset my kip, but didn't come off the bar so I counted it anyhow. Also got some Climb On in the mail and have already put it to use; hopefully it'll do some good things to my hands tonight.

PCF WOD today:

5 rounds of 3 minutes of

5 SDHP (75 lb)
10 box jumps (17")

Then rest 3 minutes

18 rounds completed. This was a doozy - I didn't get even close to doing the 95 lb Rx'd weight, instead opting for a weight that would allow me to cycle quicker. Same goes for box jumps - I'd say I managed to get a good rhythm going 75% of the time, which I was happy about.

Friday was rest/work day. Today was

Front Squats 3x5 (117.5)
Bench Press 3x5 (90) hell yes
Power Clean 5x3 (110)

Power cleans were kinda ugly at times, not gonna lie.

Today was

Back Squat 3x5 (137.5)
Press 3x5 (77.5; 3-3-2)

Back squats felt good, press wasn't great but I'll back off a bit now in weight, no problem. Instead of working on pullups afterward (hands still ripped up), I worked on ring dips. Surprised myself and got my first unassisted ring dip (yay, halfway there to end-of-July goal!), then did 2 sets of 3 with Alex holding my feet a little, and then a set of 5 toes on the ground (which felt too easy).

Still a little bit blowed up from Angie yesterday, so took a rest day.

Today I did the PCF WOD, which was

Angie

100 pullups
100 pushups
100 situps
100 squats

Did it as Rx'd for the first time, in 34:00. Not great, but I wasn't too upset, given that I haven't done a bodyweight WOD like this in awhile and I only tore my hand in two places!

Sunday was a work/rest day. Monday was

Back Squat 3x5 (135)
Bench Press 3x5 (90; 5-4-5)

Then 3 sets of kipping pullups (6-7-6)

Don't think I rested enough for that second set of bench presses, so I'm going to try again at the same weight. Happy with the kipping pullups, although I'm a little mad I couldn't get 8 (my end-of-July goal). But I will get 8 soon, and when I do, I will up my end-of-July goal to 15 consecutive ones.

Friday was a work/rest day. Today was

Front Squat 3x5 (115)
Press 3x5 (77.5; 4-4-3)
Deadlift 1x5 (195)

Then 3 sets ring dips with toes on the box (10-9-8)

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were rest days as a result of back pain, massages for back pain, and panicked biochemistry studying. Back's feeling better and test is this afternoon, so I'm hoping to get in some work tonight. After doing some research, I'm hoping to make some form tweaks (i.e. maintaining a better lumbar curve) to my back squat which should help prevent the pain that keeps cropping up.

Update - did modified SS, complete with backoff in weight for the back squat and form tweak:

Back Squat 3x5 (132.5)
Bench Press 3x5 (90; 5-5-4)
3 sets unbroken kipping pullups (7-4-5)

Pretty psyched about the new pullup PR - that 7th one was a little ugly, but I'm so close to my 8 consecutive pullup goal for the end of July!

Saturday I rested my back. Today I did SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (145)
Bench Press 3x5 (87.5)

Back still a little spicy, so I didn't do the deadlift work sets.

Today was SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (157.5; 3-0)
Press 3x5 (75)
Power Clean 5x3 (107.5)

Today just wasn't my day for back squats - they felt heavy and I felt weak. Didn't even try a 3rd set, blech. Will reset a little to rebuild my confidence and strength. Press and power cleans felt really heavy but I managed.

Wednesday was a rest/work day. Back was feeling extra spicy so I was happy I didn't have to carry anyone up the stairs all shift.

Thursday I warmed up the back well and then did the PCF WOD, which was

Work on 1 rep snatch balances, and then snatch. I surprised myself and got up to 102 lb for snatch balance (easily a 15-20 lb PR) and then 82 lb for snatch (a 2 lb PR) before I called it a day. I tend to have mental issues with this lift, so I was pretty happy with the workout.

At home, I then spent about 20 minutes working on kipping pullups and box jumps. Got 5 in a row on the kipping pullups after implementing a tweak on my form and managed about 3-4 on most of the other sets I attempted, which was a vast improvement over my recent sets of 1 and 2 and much closer to my goal of 8 for July 15! For box jumps I just did 5 sets of 5 on the 18" box, and they felt fine.

Warmed my back up really well, and then did SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (155)
Bench Press 3x5 (85)
Deadlift 1x5 (202.5)

Then did short Death By Deadhang Pullup (4 rounds plus 2). Arms and core felt dead. Back felt decent enough throughout.

Back's been acting up on me, so today's another unplanned rest day. Boo.

Friday was a work/rest day. Saturday was an extra rest day. Today was just SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (152.5)
Press 3x5 (72.5)
Power Clean (105)

A little tired and sore today, but Friday is definitely an off day, so I did

Back Squat 3x5 (150)
Bench Press 3x5 (82.5)
Deadlift 1x5 (197.5)

Squats and bench presses felt really heavy. Deadlifts felt better than the last time.

Today was

5 rounds
20 KB swings (1 pood)
10 ring dips (1 round with thin orange band, rest with red band)

9:40

KB swings were unbroken. 70% of my time was spent on the ring dips.

Monday was a rest day. Tuesday this afternoon was SS:

Back Squat 3x5 (147.5)
Press 3x5 (70)
Power Clean 5x3 (102.5)

Finally used my stopwatch to regulate rest periods in between sets; in the past, I think I was shortchanging myself big time on rest. Everything felt heavy once again, but I managed it better than I thought I would before the workout started.

In the evening, I worked a little on kipping (strung a bunch of twos together) and box jumps (did 5 unbroken sets of 10 on the 18" box). Been neglecting both skills so need to get back into them more often.

Today was "The Chief," which is

5 rounds of

3 min AMRAP

3 power cleans (95)
6 pushups
9 squats

then 1 min rest

18 and 1/3 rounds. Felt pretty good, although the squats were killer!

Friday was a work/rest day.

Saturday I had an all-day EMT thing in Baltimore, so I couldn't do the "pick your regionals" WOD like I would have liked. Got back late in the afternoon and did

Back Squat 3x5 (145)
Bench Press 3x5 (80)
Deadlift 1x5 (192.5)

All felt ok, not great. Heavy, though. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night and think I was a little more fatigued than usual, which made the lifts harder. Glad I got off my can to do them, though, and hope to be done with my Baltimore obligation tomorrow a little early so I can get home, rest for a bit, and then tackle a WOD with the proper amount of energy.

Today was

Back Squats 3x5 (142.5)
Press 3x5 (67.5)
Power Cleans (100)

Again, all felt heavy but good. Starting to lean back a bit on press, egh. Form on power cleans felt better this time around than last workout.

Today was

Push Press 5x3 (95-105-115(f)-95)

Then

2 rounds
5 power cleans (55)
10 overhead squats (55)
400 m run

5:42

Shoulders were sore, probably because of the HSPUs, making the push press hard (and why I cut it a set short). Metcon was fun but painful in a wind-sucking kind of way. I haven't done any running in awhile, especially one in which I was near max effort on the run (instead of the Crossfit shuffle that results during those longer WODs).

Sunday was a work/rest day.

Monday was a cortisol management day due to a severe lack of sleep, so no workout.

Tuesday I did some Starting Strength in the early afternoon:

Back Squat 3x5 (140)
Bench Press 3x5 (77.5)
Deadlift 1x5 (187.5)

Then 5 sets of 20 seconds of ring holds, with emphasis on turnout.

In the evening, I did a scaled version of the WOD at PCF:

20 HSPUs (1 ab mat)
20 pullups
40 KB swings (1 pood)
50 situps
60 burpees

16:09

I was surprised, frankly, to get so many HSPUs with the ab mat. Kip on pullups felt bad so I only did 20, need to work on that. KB swings and situps were fine (I should have tried to do them unbroken), burpees were a nightmare and I think took me 5 minutes. Ah well.

Today (Saturday) in the late morning/early afternoon I did

3x5 Back Squat (137.5)
3x5 Press (65)
5x3 Power Clean (97.5)

Then

5 sets 20 sec flexed arm hang

Lifts felt a little heavy but I was able to maintain good form. I was happy to be able to do all 5 sets of the flexed arm hangs (per Brian's goat instructions; previously I had only been able to manage 3 rounds of 20 seconds before things deteriorated). Elbows are a little sore, so I'll wait a few days before doing any similar upper body strength work.

In the evening while Alex grilled the meat outside, I did

10 rounds
5 burpees
10 unbroken double unders

9:51

Last time I did this workout my double unders weren't unbroken and I finished a little over 10:00, so I guess we'll call this an improvement.

Thursday was an unintentional rest day as a result of some last minute cramming for my immunology final. Sigh. Friday will be another rest day unless something miraculous happens, like the transmission falls out of my ambulance tomorrow morning. Dare to dream...

More Starting Strength at home today:

Back Squat 3x5 (135)
Bench Press 3x5 (75)
Deadlift 1x5 (182.5)

Good times.

Filthy Fifty

Today was my first real crack at this monster of a sexy metcon. For those who aren't in the know, it's 50 of

Box Jumps (20")
Jumping Pullups
KB Swings (25 lb)
Walking Lunges
Knees to Elbows
Push Press (35 lb)
Straight Leg Deadlift (65 lb)
Wall Balls (12 lb at 8')
Burpees
Double Unders

I did all but the last 38 double unders in about 29:00. The gym got super chaotic at the end, and I got frustrated and packed it in. Oh well. What really slowed me down in this was the knees to elbows. Mind you, my ability to actually do them has improved immensely - all 50 of my reps touched my arm, if not my elbows - but I was slooow. Everything else was fine, with the exception of the burpees and obviously the double unders.

Sunday was another inadvertent rest day.

This afternoon I did

Back Squat 3x5 (132.5)
Press 3x5 (62.5)
Power Clean 5x3 (95)

Then

Toe-Assisted Ring Dips 4x5

After I got home from class, Alex wanted to do the PCF WOD at home, so I worked on

Front Squat 5x3 (95-105-105-105-105)

Light enough that I didn't have any problems with it, but heavy enough that I had to focus. I then practiced a couple sets of 5 box jumps on the 18" box and did 3 sets of 20 second flexed arm hangs (while watching the Caps game).

Friday Alex's parents were in town so I was indisposed. Saturday morning I was working so I couldn't go into the box, but in the afternoon I did do

Back Squat 3x5 (130-130-130)
Bench Press 3x5 (72.5-72.5-72.5)
Deadlift 1x5 (177.5)

Then

4 rounds
10 pushups
20 box jumps (16")

3:59

All box jumps unbroken. Time to step it up a few inches.

Today's WOD was

Clean and Jerk 2-2-2-1-1-1 (120)

Then

5 4x10 shuttle runs (10.49)

Pretty excited about setting that clean and jerk PR; I actually did 120 twice: the first time wasn't pretty, the second still had a little press out, but it was much better. I then managed to clean 125, which is a PR for that! I'd love to be able to get a bodyweight clean and jerk by the end of the summer, so it was nice to make progress toward that end today. Shuttle runs were a little disappointing but fun. Overall, this was the most fun I think I've had during a WOD in awhile!

Tuesday was a rest/work day.

Wednesday I worked out at home with Alex and did a little box jump work (3 sets of 15 on a 16 inch box), then

Back Squat 3x5 (127.5)

Press 3x5 (60)

Power Clean 5x3 (92.5)

Wanted to do today's PCF metcon but ran out of time because Alex and I had to get to a screening of Fresh the movie (www.freshthemovie.com), which I highly recommend to anyone who takes a serious interest in their food.

Anyhow, after we got home, did

3x20 sec flexed arm hang

Don't know if I'm just weak or my abs are still feeling Annie from a few days ago, but these were hard!

Today I did

Front Squats 5x3 (95-105-115-125-125)

Annie

9:54

Front squats I took it relatively easy on since I did back squats yesterday. 125 felt kinda heavy because my back was a little tired but it was totally manageable for 3 reps. I beat my last Annie time (from a few weeks ago) by nearly 90 seconds, so I was pretty jazzed about that even though I still had trouble with the first set of double unders. Shooting for sub 9 minutes next time!

Saturday was in large part a rest day other than an upper body template workout:

3 rounds
3 20 sec handstands
5 support shrugs
5 pullup negatives (focusing on going as slowly as possible)

Sunday I didn't make it into the gym but did

Back Squat 3x5 (125-125-125)
Bench Press 3x5 (70-70-70)
Deadlift 1x5 (172.5)

And then a variation on a upper body strength template workout:

4 rounds 5 ring dips with turnout and using toes

4 rounds 2 skin the cats

Today was my fourth day on, but tomorrow's a rest/work day, so it's all good. I warmed up with

2 rounds

5 ring dips with turnout using toe support
5 skin the cats

We did a dynamic warmup as a class and then hit up

Deadlift 5x3 (175-195-215-205-195)

I haven't done heavy deadlifts for many weeks, so since I was able to get 215 three times (which I could only do once in January), I was pretty happy. Callouses were a bit of a limiting factor - planning to get a good pumice stone stat to take care of those bad boys.

Today's WOD was

Push Press 6x3 (85-95-105[2]-85-95)

Then

4 rounds

10 Power Snatches (65 lb first round, 55 lb thereafter)
15 Box Jumps (20")

9:15

Shoulders are tired from past couple days, so the push press felt heavy and snatches - still a personal nemesis - were a shit show. Decided to go with the Rx'd box jump height even though I can't cycle them with the bounce yet, but I focused on going as fast as I could. Finished everything off with 4 rounds of 5 toe-assisted ring dips, with an effort in the last few sets on turnout.

Today was

AMRAP in 15:00 of

3 HSPU negatives
5 DB squat cleans (25 lb)
4 pullups

7 rounds plus 8 reps

Really focused on working the HSPU negatives (i.e. going slowly) and trying to break vertical plane of bar with each pullup (succeeding probably 75% of the time). My ability to string together pullups has totally disintegrated, but now that my arms and chest feel better, I should be able to work on them again.

Sunday I was lame and didn't workout. Today I went to the midday WOD, which was

Front Squats 2-2-2-1-1-1 (105-115-125-135-145[f]-135)

Really tried to focus on form and keeping an upright back. I then skipped the metcon because I felt a little woozy after not having eaten breakfast in preparation for the WOD. D'oh. I went home, ate, studied for a few hours, and then started my upper body strength template odyssey. Don't have appropriate sized dumbbells at the house, so I did day 2 of Brian's recommended rotation, which was

3 rounds

5 ring pushups w/ 1 sec pause at top
3 10-sec flexed arm hangs
5 HSPU negatives

Maybe it's because I haven't done anything pullup-related since Sectionals, but the flexed arm hangs were definitely the hardest movement of the bunch, closely followed by ring pushups. It was a little disheartening to suck as much as I did, but I'm looking forward to making slow-but-steady progress in this arena.

Friday was a rest/work day.

Saturday I warmed up with a little dynamic stuff and box jump practice (3 sets 10 unbroken on 16") and then did Friday's PCF WOD, which was

10-8-6-4-2

BW deadlifts (140 lb)
Ring dips (toe assisted)
Burpees

6:37

In the interest of intensity, kept everything unbroken. I probably gave myself a little too much help on the ring dips, so next time we do ring dips I will endeavor to actually be at the box for it so I can use the bands.

Today was

Power Clean 7x2 (got 115 a few times, did 120[1] twice)

Then we were supposed to do

As many HSPUs as possible in 10 minutes

I can't do them yet, so I worked on handstand running for the 10 minutes. Did sets of 30-25-20-15-10-30-25-20.

Afterward I stretched and then did some halfhearted box jump practice before giving up because my ankles had tightened up.

Today was a make up from the other day:

find 1-rep max Back Squat, then back off to 80% and do 5-5-5

I got up to 165, which was a little disappointing given that my last 1RM was 170 and I expected a little better, but I haven't squatted in awhile so it's all good. I then backed way off and did

135(2)-125-105

I was pretty fried after a pretty lengthy warmup and 2 failures at 170 so that's the best I could manage. My friend then came over and we went on a 20 minute jog - she's a runner rehabbing a pretty serious case of plantar fascitits, so I was happy to just keep her company on a run.

Today was my first day back at the box in awhile. I did the "pack" version of the WOD:

400 m run
30 KB swings (1 pood)
400 m run
30 box jumps (about 17 inches)
400 m run
30 presses (35 lb)
400 m run

13:18

Focused on cycling quickly, and was relatively successful at this. KB swings were unbroken, box jumps were 15-7-8, and presses were broken 3 or so times. Think being in the back of the gym slowed me down, as I had to walk all the way back to my place each time (she who runs in the gym with 30 barbells lying around is looking for trouble). Unseasonably warm weather didn't help either...

Chest at about 80% now, so feeling better.

Sunday=work/rest/enjoying the beautiful weather day.

Monday=rest day. Too little sleep the night before to justify a WOD.

Thursday I did the PCF snatch WOD. It was

Snatch Deadlift 2-2-2-2 (not sure, hung out at 85-90 range)

Snatch Balance 1-1-1-1-1 (can't remember exactly, but worked up to around 70)

Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (only did about 5 sets of 1, stopped after I failed a couple of times at 75)

Chest muscles still really bothering me.

Friday was a rest day. Saturday my chest muscles still hurt (geez), so I didn't go to PCF for the big pullup/pushup/DL chipper. Instead I did lots of bouncing:

1 mile time trial (8:03)

rest

Annie (11:21)

rest

Box Jump practice - first 4 sets of 20 unbroken at about 13.5", then tried out 4 sets of 5 unbroken on my new 18" plyo box.

Time trial was ok, considering I didn't decide what I was going to do until about 2 minutes into the run. Will test this again in a few months. Annie time was a little disappointing, but still 90 seconds faster than my first attempt. I need to get a better rhythm going earlier. Box jumps were ok, but I could tell I was a little tired when I moved up to the taller box.

Wednesday turned out to be another rest day - my chest and rib cage muscles are still a little upset with me. Did a little work on box jumps this evening though - the "box" was only about 13 inches high, but I focused on cycling, opening my hips at the top of the movement, and keeping my eyes forward (which, turns out, helped me open my hips).

Sectionals Wrap-Up

This weekend I participated in the VA/DC/WV sectional, held at NOVA's Annandale campus. I'm still processing everything that happened and will probably have more to say in the coming days and weeks, but suffice it to say that it was a dramatically humbling, motivating, and educational experience. It was amazing to personally take part, but also to watch so many bad-ass men and women compete on such a high level. Props to all of the PCF folks that took part in the weekend (competitors, obviously, and supporters especially), and a special shout-out to Jen N, Erika, and Chris K for advancing to regionals!

Anyhow, onto the specifics of the weekend: WOD 1 on Saturday was Weighted Cindy, which meant

20 min AMRAP of

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

with a 14# weighted vest. This was easily the least pleasant workout for me - I got frustrated after failing on a couple of pullups in the first round and decided to take the weight vest off. I completed the rest of the WOD sans vest (and have no idea how many rounds I ended up with) , but this meant I got zero total points. Blah, right? In hindsight, though, it was a wonderfully crystallizing experience for me: pullups for me are still a weakness, and I need to spend more time developing both upper body strength and the coordination necessary to kip effectively.

WOD 2, about 4 hours later, was

AMRAP 3 min of

Clean and Jerks (115 lb)

I ended up with 3 as rx'd. Another rep was taken away because I didn't reset my feet after splitting (d'oh!), and 2 other reps weren't counted because I pressed them out at the end. Also it didn't matter for judging purposes, but my power cleans were kind of ugly (I didn't want to excessively tax myself by doing squat cleans). Despite my 3 failed reps, I was ecstatic after this - 115 lbs was my previous 1 rep max, so being able to do nearly 6 of them in 3 minutes was pretty awesome.

WOD 3, on Sunday, was

AMRAP 12 minutes of

20 OHS (75 lbs)
2 laps around court

I finished with 54 total reps, so about 2.75 rounds. Just as with the rest of the WODs, I placed pretty low here, but I was so incredibly amazed that I was able to do that many at all that I was happy.

And last, but not least, WOD 4, which was

AMRAP 7 minutes of

12 box jumps (20")
8 SDLHP (65 lbs)

I finished with 5 rounds and 8 box jumps, which ranked pretty low comparatively, but hell, I was just happy to have not dropped dead. Box jumps are a real weakness of mine: it's pretty clear that the women who had better scores tended to be much more efficient at cycling them.

All in all, it was a good weekend and it was great to get that kind of experience under my belt. I have already started compiling a list of obvious weaknesses and researching ways to help myself improve, but more on that later. Today and tomorrow will be off days - my upper body is so incredibly sore right now that it hurts to shiver, and my ripped hands are still pretty unhappy. Hopefully I'll feel better by Wednesday so I can get back into the box!

1 rep max snatch tonight at Oly Lifting class. I got up 72, which is still off my best of 80, but it's all good. I think I should tape my wrists next time.

Sectionals is this weekend, and I'm looking forward to taking part. All of the workouts will be wicked hard for me and I may end up scaling some of them, but it'll be a good experience and fun to watch everyone else from PCF do it up.

Wednesday = Rest day.

Tonight was Oly Lifting class. Our skill for the evening was dead-stop front squats, which basically meant we racked the bar at the bottom of our squat, and then pushed out from there. This was a really great drill for me since my front squat sucks. When I focused on keeping my head neutral and my back upright and tight throughout, the lift felt ten times lighter than usual. We then worked on full clean and split jerks. I worked up to 115 and ended up failing not on the clean, but the jerk, which was weird and disappointing. Back still feels pretty good.

Did today's WOD at home:

Back Squat 5x3 (105-115-125-140-150)

Then

21-15-9

Cleans (55 lb)
Pullups

14:01

Took it relatively easy on the back in both parts of the WOD. It's been awhile since I've done high-volume pullups, and it showed.

Today was

20 min AMRAP

20 unbroken wall balls (12 lb, 8 ft target)
20 unbroken double unders

7.5 unbroken rounds, which should have been 8, but I crapped out at 19 double unders with 10 seconds left. I usually despise long metcons, but this one was an exception. If I had to do it again, I'd probably try to shorten my rest times a little more, but not by much more until my double under abilities improve - I tended to be pretty conservative on rest before even attempting double unders, because I didn't want to have to start over.

Back's feeling pretty good right now - only residual soreness - but I haven't tested it with any heavy loads since the injury. I plan to continue to take it easy and focus on rehab for awhile longer; I really don't want to chance getting hurt again, given that a. it sucked, and b. I can't work if it happens again.

Friday was a rest day. Saturday we didn't make it to the box in the AM, so Alex did the WOD at home and I did some relatively light front squat and overhead squat work before doing

50 burpees

3:02

Then

3 sets 10 weighted back extensions

Another Oly Lifting day. Skills for the day were the "bounce" and the transition from front squat to jerk. Warmed up with some high bar back squats and front squats, and then spent the rest of the time working on hang squat cleans, with some occasional presses/push presses/split jerks worked in. Did a squat clean at 110 that felt pretty good.

Stretched before and stretched and rolled afterward in an effort to speed the back recovery. Really need to make sure I do this a lot if I hope to avoid any future back issues.

Tuesday I crept cautiously back into the world of olympic lifting. All we did were some behind-the-neck split jerks, and I did it with pretty light weights, but it felt good to move around.

Wednesday we did

Push Press 7x1 (85- 95-100-105-110f-110f-ran out of time)

Then

3 rounds

20 DB hang squat cleans (20 lb)
20 box jumps (4 45 lb plates and 1 25 lb plate, putting me probably at 18 inches)
20 DB push presses (20 lb)
20 box jumps

14:29

This was horrible, but it felt good to get moving. Back felt ok - I lowered the box jump height partially to protect it but also to work on cycling, and I think that was a good choice.

Tuesday through Monday has been a rest/ice/massage/sleep/get back closer to Paleo fest. Back's feeling much better as a result. Not sure when I'll be able to work out again, but we'll see.

So Tuesday started out with promise - I slept well, the weather was great, and I got up intending to do a morning WOD so I'd be fresh for oly lifting later. I decided to do a test run of Grace at 95 lbs - it was my first attempt at the Rx'd weight, but based on my recent oly lifting progress, it felt well within my reach. All went well until the 5th rep, when I felt a twinge in my lower back. Not exactly sure why it happened, although I suspect slightly sloppy form, residual soreness, and an inadequate warmup may be largely to blame. In any event, I'm not super optimistic about being able to do anything other than rest, ice, and massage for a few more days. Thank goodness I don't have to work anytime soon, because funky back + lifting patients does not equal fun.

Sunday was a work day. Monday was a suck day. WOD was

Back squat 3x5 (135-155-160[2])

Then

On the minute
20 double unders
3 strict pullups

2 rounds as Rx'd, 3 rounds with flexed arm hangs, and then DNF the final 5 rounds.

Back squat form was not perfect, but I didn't fail because of the weight - the positioning of the bar on my back was really bothering my shoulders, so I attempted to re-rack after the 2nd rep only to give up. The suck continued with the met con, where things went downhill quickly and then after giving myself a monstrous welt on the back of one of my arms, I just stopped and sat down. Egh.

Friday was a work/rest day that lasted way too long. As a result, on Saturday I woke up feeling like I had been run over by a truck, and did not make it to the WOD.

Oly lifting class tonight. We worked first on snatch grip deadlifts (first to below the knees, then to above the knees) both off and off blocks, then did a few snatch pulls at heavy weights, then did a couple 2 rep power snatches.

Afterward did another 5 sets of belly-to-the-wall handstand "running." Wrists were a little tired so I didn't do quite as many in the later rounds as I did in the first 3. Facing the wall definitely requires more core work than the other way around, so it poops me out a little faster than a normal handstand would.

Decided to take a rest day today, mostly because my upper body is pretty sore.

First day of Intermediate Olympic Lifting class. We did some talking about goals and then worked on full squat snatches. 55 felt good, as did 65. I got 1 or 2 at 70 and then missed out front 3 times at 75. Need to focus on a. speed during second pull, b. layback, and c. being tight at bottom of snatch.

I then did 5 sets of about 30 seconds of belly-to-the-wall handstand "running" as part of my HSPU/overhead work for the month. Being flipped around took some getting used to, but I got pretty comfortable pretty quickly. I'm going to work on this just a few times a week (3 times, max) and see if I can't work my way up toward doing it for 5 minutes straight.

Tonight's WOD was

Front Squat 5x3 (105-115-125-135-115)

Then

3 rounds

50 double unders

15 ring dips (first just black band, then black and red)

15 DB swings (45 lb)

12:54

Started to cantilever forward a bit on the 135 front squat, but I was happy to be able to do it at all! Met con sucked, mostly because of the ring dips.

Friday was a work day, Saturday was an extra rest day, and Sunday I did

5 rounds

5 power cleans (105 lb)

10 pullups

15 box jumps

14:06

Power cleans took some time as I was dropping the bar every time, but I was able to keep a decent rhythm on them and they felt relatively good, especially when I caught the bar a little lower. Looking forward to the day when I can cycle my pullups better - once that happens, I could finish a WOD like this a good 2-3 minutes faster or be able to up the weight on the cleans without going grossly over on time. Box jumps are nothing else but a gut check, as always.

Today was graduation day for Oly Lifting Foundations. We worked toward 1 RM snatch and 1RM clean and jerk. For the snatch, I managed to stick 70, and failed at 75 a number of times. All of my problems can be traced back to f-ing up the first pull and me getting in my own head. The clean and jerk portion of the evening went much better - I got one at 115, and caught 120 but couldn't get it out of the bottom of my squat. I'll get it next time, though!

Today was

Push Press 5x3 (85-95-105-110f-105[2])

Then

30-20-10

DB snatch (30 lb)

Situps

Box jumps

7:45

Push presses felt ok - I worked a lot on keeping a good "porch" so the bar didn't slide on me. Erika gave me a good cue about pushing my knees out that I think will help keep my torso more upright. My limiting factor during the metcon was the quart of milk I drank at about noon today. Ew.

In the interest of not overdoing it (given my crappy sleep on Sunday night), I decided to only do the Oly lifting class tonight. We worked on the split, which previously has terrified me but is now less scary. I then did a handful of a few clean and split jerks at pretty light weights and then 95 lbs, and they all went up easy!

Once home I did another 5 rounds of Death By Handstand Pushup.

Monday was a rest day due to an extreme lack of sleep the night before. I think I jinxed myself by bringing gym clothes with me on my Sunday shift, in the hopes that I could just go straight to the box after work...

Friday was a work day.

Saturday was Quarter Gone Bad, which was

5 rounds

15 sec thrusters (85 lb)

45 sec rest

15 sec deadhang pullups

45 sec rest

15 sec burpees

45 sec rest

My final total was 72. I ended up with 5 thrusters in the first round and 4 in the last 4 rounds, 4 pullups in the first round and 3 in the last 4 rounds, and 7 burpees every round. Considering I did this workout about 10 months ago with 65 lb thrusters and kipping pullups with a tan band, I feel pretty good.

By the way, I recently hit my 1 year mark at PCF. I haven't made as much progress as I might like in my first year, but I do recognize that a. I've made some pretty big strides despite at times not being as committed to training and nutrition as I wish I was, b. this is all a journey anyhow, and I'm really glad I've found an athletic outlet that I really enjoy, and c. PCF is a uniquely wonderful place!

Olympic lifting class only tonight. Worked on cleans - first second pull, then first pull, then some complexes, then full squat cleans. Did several squat cleans at 95. Felt good, once I worked on fast elbows and lay back (bar was hitting my boobs a lot). The only serious limiting factor (relatively speaking) when I'm really focused is my front squat ability.

Back in the box after a slightly longer than anticipated break. Did

Bench Press 3x5 (85, 90[4], 85)

and

5 rounds

30 double unders

20 KB swings (1 pood)

10 jumping lunges

12:11

Still getting used to the wider grip for bench press. Felt ok. Double unders still slowed me down more than I would have liked, but I was just glad that my teeth didn't hurt at all during the WOD so I'll take whatever I got today and be happy about it.

Last weekend was a marathon of work, as I had shifts Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Yesterday and today I've been dealing with a wicked abcessed tooth (and subsequent root canal). Hopefully the pain will have subsided enough by tomorrow to allow me back in the gym...

Today was

Power Clean 3x3 (hung out at 105 for all of these)

Clean 3x2 (85-105-110)

Really tried to work on a good first pull and fast elbows.

Metcon was

4 rounds

5 Front Squats (85 lb)

25 DUs (scaled down from 50)

6:26

More practice on front squats is always a good thing. Double unders were hard, especially because I was a. tired and b. I was doing them for the first time in WL shoes.

An hour later was Oly Lifting class. We worked on snatches, moving from OHS and behind-the-neck snatch-grip push presses to snatch balances, tall snatches, and then a receiving-position complex (muscle, power, half, full squat). Learned tonight that I really need to concentrate on a. pulling myself under the bar quickly, b. keeping a neutral gaze, and c. staying tight at the bottom. Put a little weight (55 lb) on the complex at the end and was happy to discover that it still felt good even though I was a little tired.

Tonight the box was closed (due to blizzard), so I stayed home and did Death By Assisted HSPU, in which Alex held my ankles and pulled when I needed help (which was often on the pushup part). Managed 5 complete rounds on that one. Whew. Then after a sizeable Caps-watching break, I did 3 sets of 10 second flexed arm hangs, and finished everything off with a little GFIT warmup work - namely, the tucked L sit and the straddle position.