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.