Running in circles

Since I missed the Mud Run training at the box yesterday due to my makeup WOD taking an hour (OMG!), today husband and I did our own version of the "Dyer" WOD that Joe put everybody through. It's supposed to be a team WOD, but we just did it individually. We also had to skip the pullups because there isn't a pullup bar near the track. Boooooo for Navy bases. A Marine base would've had a dozen.

"Dyer"

For time:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
pushups
situps
squats
400m run to finish each round

Result:  28:12

I think I was running kinda slow. Yikes.

But I found it easy to get all of my pushups in a row, and on my toes with good range of motion -- woot! Just a little work on pushups goes a long way.

That convinces me to get pushups into all of my warmups when I'm coaching WODs. I read in a CF Journal article (need to find the exact source) that body weight / gymnastics exercises are tolerated at much higher reps than weightlifting exercises. And it's also true that the more you do them, the better you get at them.

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On the way home from the gym I was talking to husband about how strong I am getting. It wasn't that long ago that I was frustrated going to the base gym because I didn't have my own bands, and couldn't do pullups there. This time I found a great spot to do my pullups -- on a squat rack, just had to remove the bar. And I got up there and kipped -- and muscled up the last couple inches -- 30 pullups to finish out my workout.

It made me feel really proud to be in there doing pullups -- you don't often see women able to do them. Many guys in there use the Gravitron.

During our conversation, husband made a good point -- it makes sense that I'm progressing so rapidly, when you consider that 2 1/2 months ago, I was basically wearing a 20lb weight vest.

As of today, I've lost 18.6 pounds since I started doing weigh-ins in August, which coincided with me re-starting at CF Camden. About 1 month into being back to CrossFit I started eating Paleo. I credit Paleo and 3-on-1-off WODs with how quickly I've been able to take weight off -- I even lost 4 pounds over the Christmas holidays when I wasn't even at home.

I'm no longer focused on weight loss, since I fit back into my clothes again, but it seems to still be coming off. I'm interested to see where I end up. I'm also curious if my PR's in some of the Olympic lifts will suffer if my weight drops -- from things I've read, a higher bodyweight seems to help translate into heavier lifts for things like deadlifts and squats. We shall see!

It's just a really nice feeling to look back and see how far I've come in just a short time. And in another 2 months I'll officially be CrossFit Level I certified! Hollah! :-D

My arms are toast

I was already feeling sore from rope climbs, ring dips and pushups yesterday, and then I decided that during today's open gym I would make up the crazy WOD from Thursday, which was my 3-1 rest day.

Oh. My. God. The finish time speaks for itself. A WOD hasn't taken me that long since I did Eva just after Thanksgiving.

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WOD:

5 rounds, for time:
10 DB hang squat cleans (35#/20#)
10 DB push presses
10 DB front squats
10 DB man-makers
5 pullups

 Results:  57:47 - as Rx'd

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Even though this took me F-O-R-E-V-E-R, I'm proud to say that this was my first "as Rx'd" WOD with pullups in it. I said I would be off the band for pullups by the end of the month, and as of today, I have officially given them up. I may be doing pullups one at a time for some WODs in the next few weeks, but I will be doing them on my own.

The worst part of the round for me was the pushup within the man-makers. I was happy to have done all my pushups on my feet yesterday, but today they weren't there, and I was back on my knees by round 2. I think I just need to do WAY MORE pushups to get better at them. It's not as sexy as working on your pullups after the WOD, but I think at this point it's holding me back and I need to pick a minimum number to complete each day. Grease the groove to get better.

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I brought some SunButter,  along with apple slices, carrots and celery, to share after the Mud Run training was over. A few people got a chance to try it. And we had some good discussion about what foods aren't part of a Paleo diet, and what foods you do eat. I'm hoping that the information we share at the new Paleo Challenge blog will get people thinking, and help keep everybody motivated about making a switch to Paleo, even if it's just for the next 6 weeks.

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Almost forgot to share the most hilarious part of completing this WOD. Smashing my chin off the pullup bar during round 4. Note to self -- it's cool to kip with all you've got, but look at the bar when doing so. I think I escaped relatively unscathed, considering I probably could've cracked a tooth or something gnarly. Considering this a warming to anybody reading this!

Up the rope!

Tonight was my first time the whole way up the rope! Hollah!!!!

In hindsight, I wish I had asked someone to take a video with my iPod. :)

Also just before the WOD I got 6 kipping pullups in a row! Woot!

It was an exciting night. I love the first day back after a rest day. I feel all fresh and wonderful and excited.

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WOD:

Complete the following for time:
3 rope legless ascents
400m run
25 ring dips
400m run
50 squats
400m run
60 push ups
400m run

Results:  27:32

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Obviously I used my feet on the rope climb. They made me so nervous that my heart was racing super-fast, and I had to take a lot of rest time between them.

Ring dips I did with the skinny band. Turns out I'm going deeper than I need to, so I need to work on that.

For pushups, I did them all on my feet, though by the end I had to do them 2 at a time.

Dirty South Chipper

Today's WOD came from the 2009 Dirty South (South Eastern Region) Regional Qualifier.

WOD:

For time:
1000 Meter Row
25 OHS (135/115/75)
150 Meter Run
50 Kettlebell Swings (24k/16k)
150 Meter Run
25 Burpees
150 Meter Run

Results: 18:01 -- 55# OHS, 16k kb

I meant to remember my time for the row, but did not succeed. I think I could've gone faster on it, but honestly I was scared about not having anything left for the OHS. I actually intended to use 60#, but after I snatched it up (prob ugly) I only got 3 1/2 before I dropped it. So I took off the 2.5's and just did 55. It's amazing how much difference 5# makes on those.

I stuck with my decision to start doing OHS from the ground during metcons / chippers (started that at Ultimate in early Jan). Can't remember how I broke down my 25 reps into sets...

Kettlebell swings rocked. I got 30 in a row, then 8 (weird issue @ top of the swing, dropped the bell) and then 12. Very happy with those.

Burpees -- did all proper pushups, but probably could've done them faster.

All in all, I was happy. I'm stinky now, so I must've done a good job. :)

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We're talking about doing a Paleo challenge for our box during the month of February. I hope we model it after this system at CrossFit Delaware Valley. It just sounds like such a good plan...

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Mandy wanted me to post my pullup video to the box's Facebook, so I decided to take a minute to put together a single video with all 3 kipping videos in it, to demonstrate my progress.

Kipping Pullup Progress - Nov 09 to Jan 10 from c wiss on Vimeo.

Deadlifts and box jumps

I have to say I wasn't feeling very motivated this morning, and I probably would've opted for 5pm or 6pm if I didn't have a class to attend tonight. I'm finally attending the "new spouse" class, just about 1 year after getting married. :-p

Strength:

Deadlift 4-4-3-3-2-2-1-1

Did same weight for each couplet -- 115-135-155-165

Sometimes I feel like I get wobbly when I start to come back down? I think I'll take some video next time I go heavy on deadlifts and try to see what the problem is.

Metcon:

As many 24'' box jumps as possible in 3 minutes.

Results: 47

Meh.

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During my warmup, I decided to do kipping pullups instead of working on my deadhangs with the band. All part of my goal of abandoning the band altogether by the end of the month.

To my surprise I did just about 3 in a row on my first set. So I decided to grab my iPod and take a video. And I got 4! Then I took another video, and got 4 again! Still had to do a tiny bit of muscling-up to the bar on the fourth one of both sets, but not as much as a few weeks ago. Hollah!

Kipping Pull-ups -- Jan 26 2010 from c wiss on Vimeo.

In the future, all of my videos will be found on the No Crying in CrossFit channel on Vimeo.

Getting moving on Monday morning

I woke up thinking about doing 100 burpees, but there was a break in the rain, so I headed outside for a run instead.

According to my Nike+, I went about 2 miles. First half was pretty much downhill, second half was pretty much uphill, with a finale of the giant hill my parents live on top of. Lovely. Living in the flatland is making my hamstrings deficient, I think. I need to figure out how to build them up for the 1/2 in 2 weeks -- sprints, I guess?

Then I did a shortened version of Blackjack, starting with 15 total and working down from there -- rather than starting from 21. Didn't run a timer.

14 pushups - 1 situp
13 pushups - 2 situps
12 pushups - 3 situps
etc

Not the most challenging workout, but better than nothing. Didn't want to take 2 full days off, and yesterday a workout just didn't happen, and today I'm flying home. Back to normal tomorrow when I'm back home. I need to decide if I'm going to continue with the 603 PTP now, or restart, or restart sometime in the future.

Bear-ish complex in da Burgh

Had an awesome time at CrossFit Pittsburgh this morning. I felt so nostalgic driving around my hometown, and then it was a crazy juxtaposition to go do some CrossFit. Fun times. :)

We did a bear complex kinda thing, with good mornings added at the end. Jenn said it was the CF Football version of the bear. Honestly, the good mornings freaked me out because I've only ever done them with PVC. So I started with a much lower weight - an empty women's bar -- than I would've without that added on.

WOD:

Complete 4 rounds of:

Complete the cycle 7 times per round:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Good Morning

Results: 17:11 -- 33-43-48-53

So, not only did I go light, I went really, really SLOW. Disappointing. I know I need to go easy on myself when I haven't done a movement before... But I've been wanting to try the bear complex for a while, so it's a bit of a letdown to have done it with such a light load.

I'll get some next time - heavy, hard and fast. :)

After the WOD we went through a fun little cool down with Jenn. Three static holds per round: handstand, wall sit and plank. 1st round - 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off; 2nd round - 1 minute on, 1 minute off; 3rd round - 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. It was great! That is exactly what I need to do on my own to develop my handstands, and getting comfy upside down.

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CrossFit Pittsburgh has a great vibe -- I really liked the space they're in (cool climbing hold on one wall!), and I met the owners Jenn and Mike and two other trainers and several members and they were all super-friendly and welcoming.

No group warmup -- this is the first box outside of CF Camden that I've been to that doesn't do the group warmup. I agree with the concept that Mike explained that each person has their own preferred way to warm up... but I also agree with Bryan from Ultimate that sometimes people don't do the best job getting warmed up on their own... Maybe the best strategy is to just go class-by-class, or person by person. Group warm ups for the less experienced, self-directed warm ups for the more experienced.

For some reason I was loving their pull-up bars. The width or the height maybe? I asked, and they're 1 1/2 inches wide. I just felt super stable in my grip -- that's the best way I can describe it. The height was just slightly above my reach, which I love love love love love.

Good news for the day -- I did 2 kips in a row that took me the whole way up over the bar, instead of my usual "most of the way there, then PUUUULLL" style. Woot! Progress!

One more note on their pull-up setup -- they have two bars setup at the height needed to do jumping pull-ups. What a great idea. Jenn explained that for beginners, it's so much easier for them to do the kip-jump from the floor. I totally agree, because I've seen how learning to do pull-ups and also standing on a box that you're afraid you might miss coming back down can complicate the learning process. And she made the point that Filthy Fifty calls for jumping pull-ups, and they're good for that too.

That's a perfect example of why I love my CrossFit fieldtrips -- those cool little adaptations that each affiliate discovers.

Next trip home I will definitely be back in the box for another WOD. For sure! And I will probably be hitting up Jenn with more training questions too. :)