Back squats and metcon

WOD:

Back squat -- 5-5-5-5-5 working sets

Metcon: 4 rounds for time

• 6 handstand push ups
• 8 power snatch (95lbs/65)
• 12 star jumps

Results:

Back squat: 55-65-70-75-80

Metcon: 13:09 (55lb power snatch)

--

I took it easy on the back squats for two reasons. One, I haven't actually done that movement in a workout before. And two, it was sets of five. The method of holding the bar felt very awkward to me. I will be doing some research into proper form for that movement.

Side note: I would really like to take an Olympic lifting certification.

Metcon was kind of a grinder. The star jumps killed me, my quads were just giving out as I squatted down to do the next jump. Ack. I rested a little bit too much on the power snatches as well, even though I scaled the weight down a bit so I could get the heart racing with a faster pace.

But I hate to rush myself when I'm doing Oly movements. I don't like to just throw the bar around in a rush to get done, I feel like I'm gonna hurt my back and develop bad habits.

I applied a lot of what I learned my second night at Crossfit KoP, and I was once again glad I had the chance to train with Aimee there. A "tune-up" session, or sessions, with her is definitely on my Christmas list. Side note: It's fun to feel the bar fly up when you get all the little things right on an attempt. :)

Popped out a few pullups post-workout, but not a whole bunch because I was running out of time. Next week I need to get more squeezed in to prep for the Jackie re-test coming up in Nov.

Kip, throw, dip

WOD:

For time: 21-15-9

• pull ups
• wall ball shots (20lbs/14)
• ring dips

Results: 21:50 (I think? I might have the # of minutes wrong, it may have been 20...)

Scaled pullups by using the beige (smallest) band. Scaled ring dips by using beige band.

--

This was my first attempt at ring dips. It went a lot better than I thought. Honestly these dips felt more natural than putting my palms on the side of a bench and my feet up on another bench. I will always do these on the rings from now on. I had to break down to sets of 1 for much of the workout, but it is what it is. I'll gain stamina and get more comfortable with the movement over time.

My pullups kicked total ass today. I have been improving my kip and I think that is making all the difference. I can't wait to do Jackie again in a few weeks and see how I've improved from last time. I wasted a lot of time dicking around with the resistance bands on that workout, not to mention I couldn't do many pullups in a row.

Wallballs lacked leg power, until the end when my arms were too tired to take the lead and finally let my legs do the work. I already knew I needed work on these, this was a good learning moment.

Repost: Paleo-riffic!

Ok, that title is only fun if you say it out loud, and laugh because it sounds so much like "Paleolithic".

Yes, I am a dork, and my jokes are usually only funny to me. :)

Aaaaaaaaaaanyway...

What I'm trying to write a post about is my current endeavor to change the way I eat.

If you mingle in CrossFit circles or blogs long enough, inevitably you will hear about the Paleo / Paleolithic / Primal / Cave Man diet.

In a nutshell:

Plants (vegetables, fruits, seeds and herbs) and animals (meat, fish, fowl, and eggs) should represent the entire composition of your diet.

- Mark Sisson, The Primal Blueprint, 2009

What's different about this style of eating (I hate the word "diet", it makes me think of starvation and grapefruit...) is that it's not necessarily one that people seek out to lose weight. Most people who switch to eating Paleo do so because they want to improve their health, well-being, performance, etc.

For me, the most intriguing thing about Paleo is that it can help you discover whether or not you are sensitive to dairy (lactose) or gluten.

Sorry, but I'm about to go TMI.

I've had issues with digestive upset / diarrhea ever since I can remember. I came to realize as I got older that my "normal BM" was not the same "normal" as others. If I had ever gone to the doctor about it, I might have been diagnosed with IBS (inflammatory bowel syndrome). During particularly stressful times in college, I definitely thought I had IBS.

It is really freakin' annoying. And gross. And annoying.

'Nuff said. You get it.

At some point during college I noticed I had particularly acute reactions to eating milk with cereal, and sometimes from ice cream. So I eliminated milk and switched to soy milk for my cereal, and tried to cut down on ice cream. Those changes helped a little, but the general trend of digestive issues continued.

I've primarily initiated this change to find out how my body feels without any dairy and without gluten (wheat / grains).

I made my decision to try Paleo just before I left on my road trip. It's hard to make that type of change while on the road, and while I was eating carefully and mindfully while away from home, I didn't succeed in cutting out all dairy and grains.

What I immediately noticed was that anytime I did eat anything in those two categories, a digestive upset clearly followed. And when I was successful in avoiding those foods, things were OK in that department.

The biggest thing I learned from those slip-ups is that dairy clearly is not a friend to my digestive system. So, at this point I'm fairly certain that I'm lactose intolerant. I kind of already knew that, from my previous diet changes, but I guess I was in denial. I love cheese! And I will probably eat cheese in the future, just with the knowledge that it will make me sick after the fact. Which is a lot like most kinds of alcohol, so that's not so different, right? :-p

I'm still not sure about whether or not I'm sensitive to gluten. I want to stay strictly on the Paleo diet for a full 30 days before I experiment with eating anything in the grains category. During my first few weeks, any grains that I ate were always paired with dairy as well, so I didn't get a truly clear picture of the effect grain was having on my digestive system.

--

All that said, I have been feeling great since I got back from my trip a week ago today. Some of it I have chalked up to the energizing factor of visiting so many friends and family while I was away. But something tells me what I've been eating is a factor as well.

Obviously the improvements in my digestive system must be from the new diet. That is irrefutable. This is a freakin' life-changer people. Amazing. I am so happy about this.

But one other thing I know for sure is that I have lost weight. Between October 7th and October 27th I lost 3 pounds. That is huge for me, because even with going to CrossFit I have been hovering around the same weight for nearly a month. What is crazy about this is that I was primarily on the road, and not working out very consistently or intensely during those 20 days. (PS - Yes, this means that I did weigh myself after that post earlier this week about dreading it.)

Which is why I'm kind of amazed that I'm kicking so much ass in the gym. Today I did a set of 11 pullups in a row with the smallest resistance band. That was while completing the first round of a workout that included sets of 21, 15 and 9 pullups. I thought by the time I got near the end that I would have to switch to the middle band, which provides more assistance, but I didn't . That made me feel freakin' awesome. And I completed all the ring dips with the smallest assistance band as well. I had a slow time due to the dips taking forever, but I was still pumped. I haven't felt this kind of mental energy about athletics since my high school soccer days, or maybe my running days just around the time I met LT when I brought my mile time down near 8 minutes.

Anyway, that kind of got off topic -- the point is, I feel good.

And what I love is that I didn't make the choice to do this because I want to weigh a certain number of pounds, or because I want my upper arms to stop jiggling (don't get me wrong, I do want that!). I'm doing it because it's what is healthiest for my body.

In a way I feel lucky that I have these sensitivities / allergies - it's a built-in incentive to fuel my body optimally. It's a motivating factor that won't change with the season or with my pants size.

--

In closing, I just want to say that this isn't just a "crazy" diet for those "crazy people who do CrossFit". This diet would've benefited me at any point up until now, CrossFit or not. It just so happens that the CrossFit community is a primary source of information / anecdotes about this style of eating, and that's how I was informed about it.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. You may not like the idea of CrossFit, and you may have no desire to try it, which I totally understand. But I think a diet like Paleo still deserves your consideration, especially if you are like me and have even an inkling that you might have some undiagnosed food allergies.

There are so many other cool health benefits to Paleo, but I will leave those to the experts (hellooooo keeping blood insulin levels from spiking for one!). This is just an account of my experience so far. If you want more in-depth information, this post is a good jumping-off point: Getting Started: A Brief Guide to Paleo / Primal Living.

Happy eating!

Man makers

Was kind of a boring class this morning. My normal 8:30am workout buddy comes in the afternoon on Wednesdays, and I was the only one there. Blah. Oh well, at least I got my workout done for today. :)

--

WOD

3 rounds for time:

• 400m run
• 10 DB man-makers (35lbs/25)
• 20 sit ups

Results: 27:14, as Rx'd

--

See video demonstrating man-makers below. They are kind of a burpee variant. This week is really making me see that I need to make pushup work more of a priority -- that is really holding me back from good times on some workouts.

And OMG my 3rd run was soooooo sloooooow. Holy cow. This lady needs to do some major work on her cardiovascular fitness. It's really lame that I can power clean 125, but I'm slogging along so badly on the fast-paced workouts.

Overhead strength

WOD:

push press -- 5-5-5-5-5

Metcon: 3 rounds for time:

• 10 pull ups
• 10 push ups
• 150m sprint

Results:

push press -- 65 - 75 - 85 - 90 85 - 85

Metcon: 6:12 ??

--

My brain is gone, I have no idea what my time was for the metcon. I think just over 6 minutes? Or was it under 5? Whatever... Needed to run faster and do the pushups faster. I'm getting better on the pullups -- I did an unbroken set of 10 in the first round. My kip is coming along, though I'm back to using the blue band instead of the white. Based on a bunch of research I did, it is better for me to build up more shoulder strength before I really start kipping in earnest.

On the fourth set of push presses, I got 90 up once, and then dumped on rep 2. So I just went back to 85 and did two sets with that to finish. Though I think maybe I should've tried 90 again. I just didn't use enough butt when I dumped it -- it was on its way up, and I just couldn't straighten my arms. But I can at least bump my push press 1 rep PR up to 90, from 85. Woot! :)

Throwing heavy weights around

Today's WOD was a good one. I'm overall very proud of what I accomplished. I can't believe how strong I am getting! I love it!

--

WOD:

power clean 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Metcon*: 4 rounds

• 15 box jumps 20"
• 15 kettle swings (24kg / 16)

Results:

Power clean: 85 - 95 - 105 - 115 - 120 - 125 - 130 (attempted, but couldn't get it up)

WOOT! I felt like I was *truly* a CrossFitter today as I loaded 5 more pounds and 5 more pounds. I even garnered a little cheering section of a couple guys from the 4pm class. Good times in the gym. :)

Metcon: 7:42 Rx

I did awesome among the women who performed this as prescribed. I think I could've manned-up and done all sets of the swings unbroken. I broke the first set into 10 and 5. But all in all, great!

*Metcon = metabolic conditioning; in other words, a part of the workout specifically meant to be very high intensity

--

While I'm feeling stronger and faster in the gym, I'm avoiding weighing myself. I just don't want to know...

Sometimes I get so discouraged when I see the scale, and see that the number hasn't moved. That disappointment about my weight diminishes my pride in the athletic improvements that I've made in the gym.

It's like my brain says: "Well, it's all well and good you rowed 2k in under 9 minutes, but you still don't fit back in your jeans, nee-ner-nee-ner-neeeeee-neeeeerrrrrr."

I really don't want to perpetuate an attitude that all that matters is my weight, or an attitude that getting stronger and fitter is not as important as being thin.

But at the same time, one way to see if I'm doing the right thing with my diet is to check in with the scale.

Steamy Friday afternoon

Ick, it got hot today!

I worked out at 4pm because this AM I was attending Jane Wayne Day on base. I got a little warm-up there -- we did a modified version of the CFT. That stands for "combat fitness test". We did the "movement under fire" portion of the test. Scroll to the bottom of this article for a graphic. Husband wasn't there, he was in charge of a different station, so I drug and fireman carried a Marine who was about the same weight as him, 170lbs. Damn that 20 yard drag was freaking hard! Fireman carry was much easier in comparison. I was surprised at how well I could do that, my legs are definitely getting strong. :)

--

WOD:

4 rounds for time:

• 21 sumo deadlift high pull (95lbs/65)
• 15 hang cleans (95lbs/65)
• 9 cal row

Results: 21:03 RX weights

--

I'm not a big fan of rowing for calories. It's just weird. Maybe if the calories were shown in decimal increments, but they just go 1-2-3... Kind of annoying to see 8 and be waiting for it to suddenly flip to 9. I felt like it distracted me from just rowing well.

I probably could've done bigger sets, but after the first round, I pretty much stuck with sets of 5 for the hang cleans and the SDHPs. I was really dreading doing 65lb SDHPs before the workout started, but it wasn't that bad. Maybe it wasn't that bad because I only did 5 at a time? I dunno. :)

I do have to say that I hate that no matter what, after almost every workout, I'm still left feeling a little disappointed in myself. But my time was really good for RX weight, I did great. I need to start focusing on feeling satisfied with my performance. Being a perfectionist has some good results, but mostly it just makes you feel guilty or not good enough.

Blackjack

I got back in time to attend my Camp Swampy gym at 5pm, so I did their WOD.

WOD:

For time.

Start with 20 push ups and 1 sit up. Each round reduce 1 push up and add 1 sit up until you reach 1 push up and 20 sit ups.

Results: 26:?? (I have a bad memory for my times even though I check them as I walk out the gym door)

--

Even though I had a really slow time compared to others, I felt that I was really getting in the full range of motion on my pushups and situps, so I was OK with it.

I will push the envelope a little more on the pushups next time. My issue today was that when I would try to go for 2 or 3 in a row, I would crap out at the bottom, and then "waste" the downward movement effort. So I was doing them 1 at a time, and then pushing back into a child's pose kind of position to take the pressure off my arms.

This will be a good workout to use as a benchmark as I improve my pushups. I wonder if one day I will be able to do the whole thing with "real" pushups, instead of on my knees. That would kick so much ass. :)

--

For cool down, it was "work on something you suck at". So I did some pullups on the small band, overhead squats (worked up to 55lbs, woot!) and I worked on my headstand with my knees on my elbows. I have no idea what that's called, but it's the starting point I'm going from for handstand pushups. From that position, I'm working on raising my legs into the air and holding them straight up with no support. Then I'll move on to working on handstands against the wall, and then actually doing the "push up" part. :)

--

Video that I really liked from CrossFit Portland.

A tribute to women of CrossFit Portland from CrossFit Portland on Vimeo.

Vacation WOD in NC

Fell back asleep this AM when I was supposed to work out, so I had to fit in a quickie before getting my niece and nephew off the bus this afternoon. Tried to incorporate a warm-up into the workout by starting with low reps.

--

WOD:

For time. Each round increase reps by 5: 5-10-15-20-25

Squats

Push Ups

Alternating reverse lunges

Sit Ups

DB Push Presses (12lb dbs)

Results: 17:32, and sweaty :)

--

Heading home from my journey tomorrow AM. I think I'll do a run when I get back.

Filthy Fifty - DNF

*wham*

That was the sound of me hitting the floor during my workout yesterday, in the midst of a set of 50 walking lunges.

The coach took one look at me, and made me lay down on the ground with a cold bottle of water behind my neck. It seems my crappy diet (and resulting digestive mayhem) had come back to bite me in the butt -- I was definitely dehydrated. Instead of being bright pink, my face was pale. And I could feel my heart beating way too hard. Yuck.

I started back up at a slower pace after my rest, but unfortunately I had quite a bit of the WOD left to complete, and I ended up not finishing. But it's all good. I'm still glad that I made the effort to go to the gym on my way out of town. It's going to be a challenge to get any workouts in while I'm visiting my parents this weekend.

--

WOD: Filthy Fifty

• 50 Box jump, 25/21 inch box
• 50 Jumping pull-ups
• 50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood/1/2pood
• Walking Lunge, 50 steps
• 50 Knees to elbows
• 50 Push press, 45/35 pounds
• 50 Back extensions
• 50 Wall ball shots, 20/14 pound ball
• 50 Burpees
• 50 Double unders

Results: DNF

In other words -- Did Not Finish. Specifically, I stopped at about 35 wall balls, and the clock was pretty close to 40 minutes. Still a good workout, my legs (and especially calves) are sore today.

My setup: 21 inch box, 35lb KB, 35lb for push press, 14lb med ball

--

They posted a pic of me on the CFKoP site, and it's totally unflattering. But I have so few CF pics of myself that I'm posting it any way. :)

Vacation WODs from 2008

I knew I had posted some WODs from my vacation with Husbeetle last summer, but I just came across them today. Maybe I can use some of them at my parents' house this weekend.

CrossFit KoP visit - part duex

After pigging out with a friend on Tuesday night, I decided I had to hit up the gym on Wednesday, so I drove back from her place and just barely made it in time for the 6:30pm workout at CF KoP. Definitely worth it. Can I say again that I love love love the coaching at this box? Totally a great example that I would love to follow one day, if I ever coach CF.

Anyway, back to the workout recap...

--

WOD

Hang Power Snatch

3-3-2-2-1-1

2000M Row

Results: 45-55-60-65 and 8:52

--

I got a kick out of working on the hang power snatch. I realized from last Wednesday that the "hang" variants of the lifts are much more challenging in terms of using the power of your lower body. It's easy to get that hip extension in while coming from the ground. But when it's just a quick opening of the hips, it makes things a lot more difficult.

My form issues with the snatch were all over the place. On some I wasn't really shrugging and getting my elbows up and back, I was just immediately trying to drop under the bar. Probably very hilarious to watch. This also led to a lack of hip extension, and a crappy jump, which is a chronic problem of mine.

--

My row was an improvement over my last 2K, which I distinctly remember was 9:17. I am getting better at bringing my split time (right term?) down closer to 2:00. That seemed to be the ultimate goal of the other people at CFKoP, which would mean an 8:00 2k. Definitely my new goal.

I thought I kind of didn't try as hard as I could have on the row because I was thinking too much about form? It was weird. Maybe for one of my Sunday afternoon workouts when I'm back at home I'll attempt to 2k row again and really go all out.

CrossFit KoP visit

I checked out CrossFit KoP tonight, and it rocked. Why the heck couldn't they open before I moved away? It would have been a 5 minute drive from my house. Or it would've been a perfect stop on the way home from work. Gah!

Oh well, at least if I ever move back, I'll know there's a terrific gym to workout at. Plus I can hit them up when visiting Husbeetle's family, though it's kind of a pain in the ass to drive there from his mom's house.

--

WOD:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Clean and Jerks (75#/115#)

KB Swings (scale according to level)

Pull-ups

Results: 24:14; 65# C&Js, 16kg (35#) KB, medium band pullups

--

Really felt my cardio deficiencies on this workout. I need to just push myself more, but then my form suffers alot when I try to push through and not rest. I am at a loss... My strength is increasing much faster than my cardio-vascular fitness. Bah.

The main coach at KoP, Aimee, rocked this. We did about 10 minutes of coaching on the C&J movement between the warm-up and the WOD. Awesome. Got some truly welcome feedback on my C&J form.

First, I was not fully extending my hips before catching the bar. Need to work on the deadlift-shrug portion, and make sure I have the whole range of motion in my hips before I bring the elbows around to rack the bar. Also, my head is not neutral. I tend to tilt my head really far back. Odd, huh? Guess that explains why I have a sore neck pretty often. Definitely two things I can work on and improve. That's why I did 65# and not 75# as Rx'd. Stayed lighter to really focus on form. And according to Aimee and her assistants, I did improve as the workout progressed, so I'm really happy with that.

Overall it felt great, and I'm so relieved to have gotten a great workout in while on vacation. We'll see if I can squeeze in another 6:30pm class the day after tomorrow. It all depends on when I travel, and what time I get back to the area. I'm making an extra-special side trip tomorrow. :)

Quickie WOD

Friday ended up being a rest day as well, I know, boo to me, but I did do a quick workout on Saturday.

For warm-up I did a 10-12 minute run.

WOD: As many rounds as you can in 20 minutes:

10 Push-ups

15 Squats

20 Sit-ups

Results: Completed 8 rounds, plus some pushups.

This was really an easy day. Not exactly what I need to be doing to get my Jackie time down next month when we repeat. Plus I took off Sunday, and I'm not seeing a good chance of doing anything today. Eeek. I'm at least going to try to do some sit-ups and push-ups, maybe 10-10 for 10 minutes or something like that. Gah. Going on vacation really F's things up...

Fall break WOD list

Gonna use this post to link to workouts I find online that I can do while I'm away on my "fall break".

Crossfit Champions

• Squats, push-ups, pull-ups
• Variety, can accomodate most w/ vaca equipment
• Pull-ups, push ups, swimmers, sit-ups
• Filthy 50, can do most
• AMRAP thrusters, pullups
• Lunges, KB swings, push-ups

"Vacay" Fran -- 21-15-9 of thrusters and jumping pullups

TBD...

Some oly lifts, yay!

"Oly" is slang for "Olympic" -- I picked that up somewhere in my perusal of Crossfit blogs the past week. I like. :)

WOD:

AMRAP 8min of:

• 5 Clean and Jerk (135 lbs/95)
• 7 ring dips

3 min rest

AMRAP 4min of:

• 5 hang power cleans (135lbs/95)
• 7 handstand push ups

Results: 3 rounds (85lbs; bench and box for dips) and 1 3/4 (85lbs, ankles over bar for HSPU)

**AMRAP stands for "as many rounds as possible".

--

Wow, this workout was deceptive... I thought I would be throwing the bar up a lot faster than I did, after my first 5 C&Js I was sooooo out of breath, damn! And I was just barely able to get up the HPCs, after the jump my feet were sooo wide. It almost would've been easier to catch in a squat.

But it felt good, I'd like to do this one again sometime. And I'm happy that I learned another way to modify HSPUs. Put a bar on a squat rack, hook your feet over and hang upside down, and try to get as vertical as you can. I was really just bending my elbows a bit and then locking back out, but it's a start. I think at this point I'm going to be as excited about getting a true HSPU as I am about getting a true dead hang pullup.

--

This is my last workout in the gym for a while, I'm leaving today on my trip up north. I'm going to do my best to keep working out while I'm on the road, but I do find it challenging to "program" for myself. I think if I was ever a coach or affiliate owner, I would offer "vacation programming" packages to my clients as part of their regular monthly fee. This month I paid for the whole thing, not knowing how long I'd be gone. It would just be nice to still feel like I was getting my $$$$'s worth. And given a set of equipment available, it seems to me they could come up with 5-7 workouts for me to do easily. They are the experts!

I'm taking along my 12lb dumbbells for DB hang squat cleans, thrusters, push presses, front squats, DB swings. I can borrow a broom here or there to keep working on my form for OHS and snatch. And then I've got my in-the-doorway pullup bar that I can use for jumping pullups and maybe some work on negatives. My big focus will be pushups, I'm so damn weak on those. I had worked on them a while back, and got better, but now I'm sucking again. Gotta put some time and effort into that, 2 weeks is enough time to make some decent improvements.

Nancy

Today we did "Nancy".

5 rounds for time of:

• 400 meter run
• Overhead squat (OHS), 15 reps (95/65)

Results: 19:56, 30lbs on OHS

--

In hindsight, I maybe could have gone 5lbs heavier on the OHS, up to 35. But I was wary because last time I did OHS in a workout, I tried to use the 45lb bar, and I went over backwards onto my ass at least 3 times, maybe 4. Not pretty. So I worked up from the 15lb bar, and stopped when I felt like it was a good weight for 15 reps.

After the workout was finished I wanted to see how heavy I could go, so I worked up by 5lb increments doing 3-5 squats at each weight. When I hit 50 I felt like that was my upper limit, so next workout I plan to use the 45lb bar and master that weight before moving up any more. Good times.

My runs were kinda sucky. Blah.

--

Me and two new chicks at the gym worked on hand stands after the cool down. I made a total ass out of myself slamming into the wall and falling onto my head twice. After that I stuck with working on a head stand, and lifting my legs up from there. I'm going to stick with that til I've mastered it, and then try again on the hand stand position. I'm starting from the very bottom on this skill, so it's good that I'm getting started. :) Hopefully all the strength that I'm gaining in my upper body and abs will help speed up my progress.

Still no "naked" pullups, I'm gonna give it another go tomorrow AM. I know I have at least one band-less kipping pullup in me, if I can do 96 with bands!

Crappy 5k, Jackie

Well, Saturday we did our run, and I can't believe how much I sucked. I am so bummed, and kind of embarrassed, but I will post my results just so I can have the satisfaction of improving...

Chip time: 30:46

Gun time: 32:12

Pace: 10:22 min/mile

My Nike+ has been telling me that I'm running a nearly 9 min/mile pace, but apparently it has been lying to me. I didn't think calibration was really necessary, but now I'm seeing the error of my ways. I will hit the track on base today or tomorrow and run exactly a mile so I can get the calibration set and know exactly how slow I still am.

I just wasn't focusing during the race. My stride was short and I felt choppy. Blah. Husbeetle rocked it with an overall pace of 8:10, and he finished under 2 hours. He makes me proud. :)

--

WOD was "Jackie".

For time.

• 1000m row
• 50 thrusters (45/25)
• 30 pullups

Results: 14:21 (blue band on pullups)

--

Can I just say that I feel like I totally missed the boat on this workout?

The row went well, I did the first 250m pretty fast, and then settled in at about a 2:20 pace, which is normal for me.

Maybe I didn't row fast enough, because it wasn't my legs that were wobbly during the thrusters, it was my arms. I did 20-10-10-10. The last 10 were a bitch. I'm glad I chose to do 25 pounds, or I would've had to slow down a lot on those, and I was going for a fast, intense workout.

Pullups... I intended to use the white/beige band, but when I got up on the bar, I couldn't even get up for one pullup. I got down, rested, tried again, same result. So I had to waste the time of putting the blue band in place. I should've had it set up as a backup, lesson learned.

By the time I finished all my dicking around getting the pullups done, the intensity was totally gone.

I really thought I should've felt this one all over, but my legs still feel almost fresh. My arms are brutalized, though. My hand made it through OK, just a little ripping of the scabs from last week, I was really happy about that.

I'm looking forward to repeating this WOD in a month, and seeing improvement. I think if I can get my rowing down around 2:10 pace, that would rock. And of course longer sets of the thrusters, maybe two sets of 25 if I can gut it out. 10-5-5-5-5 on pullups would be awesome. We shall see.

Crossfit cripple

Oh yes, that is me today.

I skipped yesterday because I was super sore. But then today I told myself, "Self, if you go and do the workout it will loosen you up, and you'll feel better."

Um, yeah, so not true.

My armpits hurt. I had no idea I had so many muscles in my armpit area. And my chest muscles hurt. Not to mention my scabbed over hands are now cracking open. Tuesday is still wreaking havoc on my body. Ack.

--

WOD:

3 rounds for time

• 500m row
• 25 kettle bell swings (24k/16)
• 25 double unders (substitute 125 regular jump ropes)

Result: 20:48 (did regular jump ropes)

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Obviously this workout shows that I need to learn to do double-unders. Need to find some videos on learning that.

I felt like total ass swinging the kettlebell, and usually I really enjoy that movement. Maybe it was just a lot heavier than I've done in a while? Most likely. It felt like it was 50 pounds, and I thought it was just going to fly out of my hands. My form sucked, I couldn't get my hips to snap because my grip just felt so tenuous. Stopped to rest a lot. Definitely a workout to try again in a few weeks and see how I've improved.

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Tomorrow I'm running a 5k, and Husbeetle is running a half-marathon. He's such a sexy beast, and I love him for it. We'll do a 1/2 together sometime soon. :)