Training 11/29/11 "Annie"

Regionals 2010 during my best workout. 

Sleep: 7:30p-4a
Sugar: none unless there was some in the 12 Bones "Damn Good Corn Puddin'" I had today w/my brisket.  :)

Training @ 8am
A1. Back Squat @ 30X2; 3-4 x 3; rest 20 sec
A2. Pronated Weighted Chin Ups @ 21X0; 2-3 x 3; rest 20 sec
A3. CTB chin Ups x 15; rest 5 min x 3
Rnd 1: 4x155lbs, 25lbs x 3, 15 x standard kip C2B pronated.  Missed chest rep 15. Felt hard with grip. 
Rnd 2: 4x165lbs, 30lbs x 3, 15 x standard kip C2B mixed grip R supinated. easier. 
Rnd 3: 2x175lbs F on 3. ARGH!, 35lbs x 2, 15 x C2B mixed grip L supinated. BF first 5 reps then standard kip.  Need to work BF on this.  
B1. Sand Bag R shoulder lunges - 20 steps tough; rest 1 min 
B2. Sand Bag L shoulder lunges - 20 steps tough; rest 1 min x 3
  50lbs, 75lbs, 75lbs.  After the fact I realized there were 3 25# filler in the casing when I thought there were two.  Which means this may have been 75, 100, 100. Need to pull out a scale. Hard but able to step through on most. 
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Coached the floor: 9am-10am
Training 10am
Annie
50, 40, 30, 20, 10
Double unders
Sit-ups (anchored) 
7:24
First 50 DUs UB.  Tripped once during the set of 40, about 3 times during 30 and once with 20 I think.  Sit-ups were uneventful.  I was still feeling Saturday's GHDs a bit, but didn't seem to be an issue.  Overall felt good and comfortable. Have a video which may upload by tomorrow. 


I have a heavy double followed by a heavy single back squat on Saturday.  I've been fighting my mental demons surrounding BS since I received this week's program last night.  I'm going to find myself a positive mantra and start owning it before Saturday.  I'm meeting with Kate tomorrow who is great at helping me to quiet my stingy voice. :)

Rest Day 11/29/11

Sleep: 8:30p-4am
Sugar: small glass of eggnog

Training 11/27/11 Dragging Tires on the Parkway Wk 3

Sleep: 10:30p-9:30a
Sugar: A few squares of chocolate covered toffee & a chocolate PB malt ball post workout

Training @ 3pm

Run 10 min easy warm up with hip warm up drills. 6 minutes uphill & ~5 back down. 

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Carry a load on shoulder for 1/2 mile - heavy enough where you cant run with it  Had a sandbag carrier w/50lbs in it & an additional 25lb sandbag w/out a carrier that I lugged around.  Took 6:10 to go up 400m & 5:30 to return.  Had to adjust the sandbags a couple times in each direction. 

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Drag something fairly heavy for 3 min forward

rest walk 2 min

Drag that same thing for 3 min backwards 

rest walk 2 min x 3

(constant pace, heavy breathing, little blood in legs, grinder efforts)

Used tire w/ 1 25lb sandbag.  Made it significantly farther than last time, but no real metrics on distance.  

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run 10 min easy cool down

Ran 15 minutes down parkway where Corey picked me up.  Felt really good.  Stride feels stronger each week.  Today it felt like my ass was actually firing while I was running.  Reminded me faintly of when I would race 400m & your ass is just on fire the last 100m only this time it is much more mild & not the lactate burn associated with the end of a 400m.  Perhaps a bad comparison, but that's what I was thinking about while running.  

Training 11/26/11

Sleep: 8p-4:30a woke up without alarm

Training 7:45
Warm-up: 150 DUs for time w/20s rest @ every trip.  3:10.  Again, almost sub 3, but tripped @ 148.
A. Back Squat with Bands @ 30X0; 4-6 x 4; rest 2 min
Used purple bands anchored by 65lb DBs. 6x88lbs, 98lbs, 5x98lbs, 4x98lbs (video)

B. BB Split Squat @ 3111; 6-9/leg x 3/leg; rest 1 min b/t legs - more weight than last week on average
Last wk was a bit of a wash being that I started with DBs. Also, had some slight ant R knee pain following these last wk.  Only lasted throughout the day on Saturday & good to go by Sunday, but was a bit hesitant to not stand slow & come off the heel today. 
9x45lbs B, 9x55lbsB, 7x65lbs B (video)

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5 rds for time:

15 GHD Sit Ups

15 back extensions

15 ring push ups

15 chin ups
Overall time: 14:57
Rnd 1: 2:19 RPU: 5, 5, 5. PU: 10, 5
Rnd 2: 3:06 RPU: 5, 5, 3, 2 PU: 15
Rnd 3: 3:05 RPU: 5, 3, 3, 2, 2 PU: 15
Rnd 4: 3:22 RPU: 5, 3, 2, 2, 3 PU: 15
Rnd 5: 3:05 RPU: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 PU: 15
GHDs & BE were all UB.  I'd say the BE were very evenly paced.  GHDs got a bit slower throughout. Was able to hit BF kip for majority of PUs.  All 15 for the last round although my midsection was definitely fried by that point & coordinating the motion was certainly challenging.

MT to UE following training.
Headed back to Max Patch for an evening hike with friends later!

Rest Day 11/25/11 Mini Hike to Max Patch

Sleep: 7:30p-4a
Sugar: a couple chocolate covered cashews

Lloyd on top of Max Patch just after sunset. 

The hike was only about 20 minutes today, as we decided to take a different route which ended up being an hr vs 30 minutes drive from home.  We were hoping to catch sunset, but arrived just after.  Any visit to Max Patch is well worth the trip.  It is this bald with 360 deg views of other mountain peaks & valleys in all directions.  No civilization in sight.  I love it...especially on a crazy day in our society such as "Black Friday".

Training 11/24/11 RDLs@3020 & MU Frustrations

Sleep: 7:30p-5:30a  Happy Thanksgiving!
Sugar: Yes!  Pre-training snacks of steak, walnuts, chocolate covered cashews.  Thanksgiving dessert involved: apple pie, expresso mousse, maple syrup ice cream, pumpkin pecan bar & cranberry sorbet.  Yum!

Training 10:30am

A. RDL - just below knee cap @ 3020; 4-6 x 4; rest 3 min

6x175, 185, 195, 200lbs. (video)

B1. Close GRip Bench Press Drop SEt @ 30X0; 3.3 x 3; rest 10 sec

B2. 1 muscle up/5 ring dips strict; rest 10 sec

B3. R KB Snatch - 1pd x 10 unbroken; rest 10 sec

B4. L KB Snatch - 1pd x 10 unbroken; rest 4 min x 3

Rnd 1: 105/95lbs, complete, complete (video) 

Rnd 2: 110/100lbs, complete, complete

Rnd 3: 115/105lbs, F MU, F MU, complete, complete 

I have a included the video round of today's workout.  It's a good display of me getting frustrated & a prime reason as to why I got myself a coach other than my husband!  He tells me after my 2nd miss that I'm not extending my arms on the turn out of the MU.  I give him a snotty reply of, "That's not my problem right now.  I need to get up in the rings!"  I hit the next one & apologized soon after my workout.  (Perhaps I should have kept the trucker hat on.  It seemed to work well for me. haha) 

KB snatches are not as smooth as they could be.  They are one of my least favorite exercises.  I've had to do them 3 different times in competition & only the first time (Sectionals 2010) were they an issue.  That was mostly because I tried them for the first time two days prior.  They came up again in Regionals 2010 paired with MUs & I took 3rd place in that workout & hit all KBs UB & smooth.  A few weeks later I tried doing them in the gym with a class & was sucking so much that I actually quit the workout.  One of the few that I remember not finishing.  I think that was the last time I did them in the gym.  They were programmed again last Dec for the Carolina Fitness Challenge & again were not a problem.  In this workout today it was definitely doable but felt like more work than I'd like them to be.  

The KB snatch is an example of how I tend to be a "gametime" person.  In that I thrive on the energy & focus I get in competition to be able to knock stuff out.  I know the better I get in training with consistency & fluidity then the more confident & consistent I will be when it is "gametime".  As such, I didn't even complain to Corey about these this time around.  :)  

Looking forward to Saturday's workout!  I have been itching during the week to not jump into some metabolic stuff, but am excited about where the strength training will take me! 

Post-training MT: 

Rest Day 11/23/11 JCC Kids Day

Sleep: 7:30p-3:45a
Sugar: none

Active rest: I had a group of kids at the gym this afternoon for an activity day.  We had an odd number so I jumped in for the fun for the partner workouts.  That consisted of some 20lb farmer's carries 25m at a time & 5 sets of 150m rows & about 50 burpees at a moderate pace.  Oh, and a couple muscle ups at the end.  

Training 11/22/11 1 1/4 Back Squats Day 3

C&J PR of 155lbs @ OPTathlon 1.0

Sleep 7:30-4a
Sugar: handful of chocolate covered cashews & rest of yesterday's glass of eggnog which I decided to put in the freezer yesterday.  Ate it with a spoon today.  Reminded me of those frozen pudding pops I used to eat as a kid & the eggnog lasted a lot longer eating it frozen.  :)

Training 9am
Warmed up with an easy 800m row (4:20) and did some sprint drills with double & single leg bounding.  Not feeling too crisp on the warm up & decided to roast a small coffee to get me motivated for some squatting.  The nice thing about drinking regular coffee sometimes less than once per week is that it does the job.  It was a great morning of training & coaching after that little cup.  I remember just a few months ago when it felt like coffee no longer gave me an energy lift.

A. 1 1/4 Back Squat @ 30X0; 4-5 x 4; rest 3 min

5x115, 6x120 (poor counting-video showed 6), 5x125, 5x130 (last couple were challenging. 

B1. Mixed Grip Chin Ups @ 21X0; 2-3 x 3; rest 10 sec  3x25lbs, 3x35lbs, almost 2 x 45lbs (not sure if chin cleared on the video replay)

B2. Mixed GRip Kipping Chin Ups - 15 x 3; rest 10 sec 15UB reg kip, 15UB started BF kip halfway through, 15UB BF kip.  A little shaky on the BF especially with consistency of height over bar.  Video of this 3rd round should be coming if I can get videos to upload from my husband's phone. 

B3. SandBag Lunges heavy - 10 steps R shoulder, 10 steps L shoulder unbroken; rest 3 min x 3. 50lbs 1st 2 rounds, added 10lbs plate with the SB to my shoulder for last round. Wasn't sure if I could do the 75lbs bag. Next time. 

Afterthoughts:  Squats weren't crazy heavy, but I felt much better about them today than previously.  Last week there was a great deal of hesitation & dread for that matter between reps.  So I was a bit concerned for the 30X0 tempo, but it wasn't a problem to go down & up today.  With a similar rep range I feel confident I'll be able to start & potentially get a bit heavier next time. I may even be starting to enjoy them. :)

MT following training to bilateral plantar surfaces of my feet.  Lower legs felt better today, but woke up with bilateral stiffness in my arches.  

Rest Day 11/21/11

Sleep 8:30p-4a
Sugar: handful of chocolate covered cashews & glass of eggnog so thick it is almost like pudding. yum!

30 minute hike with the dogs. Still feeling sore in the anterior lower leg.  Got some manual therapy from Dawn today so that was helpful.  Have been having a mild sore throat the past few days.  Making a point to down extra water! 

Training 11/20/11 Tire drags/Farmer's carry

Sleep: 10p-530a, nap noon-1:30

Corey was feeling fancy w/camera phone settings. 

Training @ 2:30

light run warm up - easy, strides, easy 12 minutes run + 4 10s strides

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reverse implement drag - 1 min @ grinder pace - toe/heel action with full knee extension on each leg drive

rest walk 2 min x 3  Tire drag w/25# bag this time.  MUCH better than with the 50#!  

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farmers walk - 150 m; rest 60 sec x 5 - should be able to handle load for 150 m each time  Marked out the distance & carried 2 35lb KBs. Splits were as follows: 1:37, 1:22, 1:14, 1:09, 1:05.  Motivated to move faster so that I could set those damn things down! 

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light run cool down - 5-10 min stride out. 5 min + 4 15s strides w/30s rest. Felt really good on 2nd run & strides at the end. 

Lower anterior legs are sore today evidently from split squats yesterday.  Also certainly feeling the squats in the posterior! 

Training 11/19/11 BS w/Chains Day 1

Sleep: 8p-5a
Sugar: ~4 chocolate almond truffles, ~4 chocolate covered toffee almonds
Alcohol: 1 beer

Training @ 8am

A. Back Squat with chains @ 30X0; 6,6,5,5; rest longer per set, start at 2 min

B. BB Split Squat @ 3111; 6-9/leg x 3/leg; rest 1 min b/t legs - engage glutes at ALL times, weight on outside of front leg in set

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for time:

2 rope ascents - 20'  (*subbed 3 14' rope ascents per set) 

10 HSPU

2 rope ascents

8 HSPU

2 rope ascents

6 HSPU

2 rope ascents

4 HSPU

2 rope sascents

2 HSPU

Results: 

A. Messed up with chain purchase.  They are probably only about 10lbs per side.  I'll get another set. 

Weights are what was on the bar: 6x135, 6x145, 5x150, 5x150 (video) 

B. Poor reading of directions. Started with 20lbs DBs & did 9/leg.  Then switched to a 65lbs BB which was 

significantly harder. 65x6L, 65x7R for last two sets. Slow coming out of the bottom. Videos to follow. 

C. Our rope is only 14' (we finally measured today). I tried some from a seated position warming up but was struggling to coordinate my legs. So I opted for 3 rope climbs per round. Did the first 10 HSPU strict & then switched to a mix of strict & kipping.  Overall time: 7:59.

Rest Day Hike 11/18/11

Dinner:Wild Salmon, goat chz crumbles, cashews,avocado

Sleep: 7:30p-3:10a woke up w/out alarm.
Sugar: 8-12 "truffle almonds" essentially chocolate covered almonds w/cocoa powder. yum!

Hike @ Bent Creek for 75 minute with Corey & dogs.

Hoka giving Trish some support!

Breakfast when groceries are low. 

Grocery shopping! Will last 3-4 days. 

The giant Ikea salad bowl!

Training 11/17/11 RDL Rnd 2 & Posterior Burner

Sleep: 730p-4a  Good morning energy.
No sugar yesterday, but a glass of delicious egg nog today.

Training 8am:
Warm-up: 150 DUs for time. Rest 20s with every trip.  3:17.  Thought I was going to go sub 3 today which would have been a PR, but then I tripped @ 149.  Doh!
~20m x 2: side shuffle, carioca, power skip, A-skip, bounding. 2x10m/leg single leg bounding.  Significantly more challenging on the left.
A1. RDL to just below knee cap @ 4111; 6,6,4,4,3; rest 20 sec
6x165lbs, 6x175, 4x185, 4x195, 3x205 (video)
A2. Seated DB Overhead Press parallel grip @ 31X1; 2-5 x 5; rest 2 min
5x35lbs, 2x40(F on 3), 2x40(F on 3), 5x35, 5x35lbs 35 felt smooth after attempts at 40.
B. Bent Over BArbell Row @ 2010; 8-12 x 3; rest 2 min 12x55lbs, 9x65lbs (Missed chest @ 10), 12x65lbs (video to follow)
C. SL Back Ext's @ 3022; 4-7/leg x 3/leg; rest 45 sec b/t sets - add weight as needed
7 each set. There was no adding weight. Made it to 7, but tough!

Rest Day 11/16/11

Sleep: 8:30-4 with interrupted sleep @ 2a. Had one of those extremely vivid dreams last night that you wake up & feel confused that it didn't actually happen.  Since the passing of my grandmother several people have randomly mentioned to me that she will visit me in my dreams.  That hasn't happened yet, but last night I was in her home.  She was moved from her home my first year in Asheville (2009) so I was unable to be there for the dispersal/mostly sale of her belongings.  Last night I found myself in her home and was picking out lamps & of all things potholders to take to my present home.  I'm in the process of "decorating" my place & trying to determine what items of furniture to purchase with the help of a client.  She was over yesterday & was asking if we owned any "keepsakes".  Corey and I are are not the most sentimental of individuals so quite frankly, no.  I lived with my grandmother until I was 5 & my mom re-married.  Then we ended up moving next store from when I was in 2nd grade through high school.  Needless to say we were very close & I remember many details of her home.  The whole point of this was that I never felt like I actually fell fully back  to sleep after that dream when the alarm went off @ 4am.  Despite that energy levels are good today.  Had some half-caf early this morning, but nothing in the caffeinated dept since.  Wednesdays are my 12 hr day at the gym with CF Kids ending just before 5p.  Will ensure I catch a nap before that happens even if it's 10 minutes on the gym floor.

Here is a photo of my husband, Corey aka CDDC, doing today's Big Dawg Function workout with the SB I carried for 800m on Sunday.  He's calling it 100lbs, but I noted it as 75lbs.  I think we need to pull out the scale.  :)

And some rest day fun.  It'd be awhile since I practiced handstand walks so I through a few in while the gym was slow today.  Here is a clip!

Training 11/15/11 1 1/4 Back squats & UB Stuff

Sleep 7-3:30a woke up fresh without alarm
No sugar

Training 8am:

A1. Medium Grip Pronated Chin Up @ 31X0; 3-4 x 5; rest 20 sec  

4x BW+15lbs, 4x BW+25lbs, 4x BW+30lbs, 4xBW+35lbs (vid), 3xBW+35lbs
A2. 1 1/4 Full Depth Back Squat @ 40X1; 8,8,6,4,4; rest 2 min

8x115lbs waay harder than remember 115 last time.  had to rest more like 3s between last 4 reps.  

8x105lbs.  Still felt hard last 3 reps, but more appropriate tempo

6x110lbs OK

4x120lbs (vid)

4x130lbs last two were tough, but doable.
B. Ring Dips amrap (-1) x 3 + 10# DB attached; rest 2 min  8, 7, 6
C. Muscle Up x 1/Static Hold 10 sec/L Sit 10 sec; rest 90 sec x 5

Had tape for the wrists this time so no rips.  Perhaps I should just start getting my wrists a bit tougher?? 

1, 1, F, 1, F, F, 1, F, F, 1 Rested 90s after each missed attempt.  F were always on MUs.  Ugh.  Just feel whipped & a bit of a challenge to focus in. 

The 115lbs x 8 took a lot out of me.  My legs felt almost achy for much of the morning afterwards.  Not sure why it was so hard, as I did 115x8 last wk.  Perhaps not enough carbs since Sunday's grinder/perhaps Sunday took more out of my legs than I realized?    My sleep has been about as good as it ever has been and stress is also about as low as it ever has been.  I felt fresh and crisp on the warm up with a 500m row and some quick spring drills with bounding that felt extremely powerful.  One day at a time. I'm not freaking out.  :)

11/14/11 Rest Day Hike & Old BS Vids

Sleep: 7p-4a
Active recovery: 1 hr trail hike Blue Ridge Parkway
Sugar: 1 chocolate caramel pecan cluster

Channeling positive thoughts towards my back squat.  Here is 195 from Jan 2011.  I'll get back there and beyond.  I was stuck between 150 & 160 from late 2008-summer 2010.  Finally started getting myself squatting more regularly after Regionals 2010 as it used to be months between squat sessions as well...it wasn't my favorite thing to do & when you don't follow a program you tend to avoid your weaknesses.  Had 1 rep of 160 June 2010 & brought my 5 rep max up to 180 by Nov 2010.  So, I must keep my progress in perspective.  I have definitely stalled in the past year, but exposure or at least consistent exposure could also be to blame. On a positive I can squat what was my max two years ago any day of the week.  It's my goal within the next two years to be able to squat 200lbs any day of the week.  I'm almost 5 years into CF type training now so unfortunately the maxes and PRs don't come quite as quickly or as regularly these days.  However, I appreciate them when they do.  Long term health & consistency is key!  I have had far fewer set backs over the past 5 years than when I was running I was constantly injured.  Literally after high school if I made it three months without an injury it was a positive.  Don't miss those days.

Training 11/13/11 Moving Heavy Stuff

Sleep: 6:30p-4:30a + nap from 11:30a-1p. My first Sunday at my new place without anywhere to go other than training!  Watched the sunrise over the mountains from the hot tub!  It's great to be lame & go to bed early.  haha

Day 4 no sugar.  But there was a Highland Brewing Co Porter following today's workout.  B vitamins. :)

No videos from today, but I did grab a shot of the overlook marker: Woodfin Cascades Overlook. Elev 4535. 

Training @ 2:30p:

Run 15 min easy warm up with hip warm up drills

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Carry a load on shoulder for 1/2 mile - heavy enough where you cant run with it

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Drag something fairly heavy for 3 min forward

rest walk 2 min

Drag that same thing for 3 min backwards 

rest walk 2 min x 3

(constant pace, heavy breathing, little blood in legs, grinder efforts)

Corey & I went up to the Blue Ridge Parkway for today's workout.  He walked the dogs on the trails & I did this workout on the actual parkway for a flat surface.  I only had two groups of people pass me that were not in cars.  The first group had this Cocker Spaniel dog on a leash that was barking at me like crazy as I was dragging the tire.  As they approached the woman said to me, "He's trying to tell you that looks odd."  And her male sidekick commented, "Are you doing some kind of training??"  Uh, you got it dude! 

The fun or not so fun part of the parkway at least where we were is that you're almost always either climbing up or down.  Very little level surfaces.  

The first 15 minutes I started out running down & turned & came back up for the 2nd half.  Tried to keep it easy, but not a whole lot that is easy about running about a gradual incline.  

I carried a 75lb sandbag over my shoulders.  Used the car beforehand to mark off 3/10th of a mile out so it was a tad longer than 800m.  Took me 5:10 on the uphill & 4:50 on the down hill portion back.  I had it on my shoulders the whole time.  

I brought a tired with me with a rope & yoke thing attached.  Tried putting all 3 of the 25lbs fillers from the sandbag into the tire, but it barely budged.  So I took 1 out and went with 50lbs.  This also may have been too heavy, but it was hard.  For some reason I had envisioned myself dragging that thing at least a portion of the way up the hill towards the 3/10th of a mile turn around.  Boy was I wrong.  It was definitely a grunt effort & I'd estimate that I made it 150m in 3 minutes.  It was a steady constant struggle.  My legs were burning & felt similar to a hard row effort with the breathing less intense.  Later in the day my legs were fatigued to walk the stairs in my house so I took that as a good thing.  Next time perhaps drag the tire with 25lbs so that I can cover more ground??

Fun times!  And ready for that rest day tomorrow.  My elbow flexors are quite sore from the pullup/burpee workout Saturday. 

Training 11/12/11 CF Construction Series #1/3

Sleep: 9p-5a 
Day 3: no sugar 
Weigh-in: 118lbs @ 5'3" 
Had 15 minutes of Olift practice programmed for before this competition, but was short on time with 1 hr to get in first 3 events before coaching 8am class. 


1.In 30 minutes determine your 1RM in the Back Squat: 185lbs (3x95, 125, 145, 1x165, 185 felt ez, 195F got caught too deep, 190F  I'm a headcase.  Video of F @ 190lbs.  Only video I had of squatting.) Posterior felt a bit fried yesterday after RDLs & back ext on Thursday.  Not sure if I was set up to squat heavy today or not.  At least I'm back to hitting 185 confidently.  I was not happy to miss that last week.  The next big obstacle is to wrap my head around a 200lb squat.  I felt doubt creeping in when I had 195 on my back today & while I felt more confident @ 190 I struggle with poor self-talk.  

rest 15 min (acutal 5 min)

2.

3 attempts at Standing Triple Jump in 5 min (#1, 19'8", #2 20', #3 20' 4") Not as good as the OPTathlon, but will take it for today.  (20'11" @ OPTathlon).  As I've mentioned I thrive off the atmosphere of a competition so I was happy to break 20'.  Perhaps I need to raise my expectations!  

rest 15 min (actual 5 min)

3.

Row 2500 m (10:36.6 overall splits of: 500m @ 2:06, 1k @ 4:16 (2:10), 1250m @ 5:22, 1500m @ 6:27 (2:11), 2k @ 8:34 (2:07), 2500m 10:3 (2:02 last 500m) 2nd 1250 in 5:14.  Felt good.  Set a pace boat for 2:05 pace which would have been a 2k PR (previous 2k of 8:27 from regionals '09...I don't do that shit for fun. haha)  Last 1k I realized I still felt fine so I was able to pick it up in the end and felt in control. Damper @ 3, S/R ave 32.  Much less of a miserable experience than I was anticipating.  

rest 120 min (actual 150minutes) 

4.

10 rounds for time:

10 burpees

10 COVP chin ups

9:25 overall.  All pullups UB.  Lost BF kip last couple reps of 80% of sets.  Rnd 7 I didn't have it from the start.  Got it back for last few rounds.  Here are the splits: 

1. 40s, 2. 1:30 (50s), 3. 2:25 (55s), 4. 3:22 (57s), 5. 4:21 (59s), 6. 5:20 (59s), 7. 6:28 (68s), 8. 7:30 (62s), 9. 8:31 (61s), 10. 9:25 (54s).  

My goal going in was sub 10 so I was happy.  Burpees were UB also, but at a 70-80% effort pace.  Worked on controlling breathing so that I could knock out pullups.  I rarely practice the BF kip & it has just kind of come to me in the last six months @ random times during workouts.  I don't like to use it too often as I feel it is unnecessary stress on my elbows/shoulders.  
Recovery was quick after both the row & this workout.  I was back on the floor coaching within two minutes of finishing the pull-up workout & was doing the warm up with the class within 5 minutes of the row workout.  My pacing has been my strong suit, but it's time that I learn to dig & push our of my sacred "comfort zone" too.  :)


Thanks to Amber for joining me in this last workout & to J$ for cheering us on and taking splits!  Thanks to Dawn for keeping me focused on the rower & noting splits!  


MT to left glute, h/s, quads. 

Rest Day 11/11/11

Sleep: 8:30-4am
Day 2 no sugar minus the dallop of chocolate milk Corey put in my coffee.  He didn't know I had cut out sugar. I take this as a good sign that it's no longer a big deal in my life to do so.  Once upon a time I would have felt totally deprived.  :)
Manual therapy for first time in 8 days to free up right median n. distally through forearm with work in R finger flexors of 4th & 5th digit.

Training 11/10/11

Sleep: 7p-4a I love daylight savings!  It's pitch black by 6p now & we were in bed by 6:45. Some sips of decaf, but never finished my travel mug.

Day 1 no sugar.  I'm not setting any specific goals here on how long I'm looking to not have sugar.  I just needed to draw a line in the sand for myself and despite this also being day 1 of my cycle I'm surviving just fine. :)

Coaching 5:30-8:00 PD floor, Each set was interrupted as we were short on help for coaching, but I did not want to wait until noon when clients cleared out.
Warm-up: 5 min row @ 2:20 pace (1070m). Felt comfortable.  I'm working to develop a better relationship with the rower.

A1. RDL to just below knee cap @ 4111; 4-6 x 4; rest 20 sec First time doing this so wasn't sure where to start. 6x135, 145, 155, 165lbs (video to follow).  I totally overlooked the 1s pause @ the bottom & not sure if they are slow enough to be considered a 4s ecc.

A2. Seated DB Overhead Press parallel grip @ 31X1; 4-6 x 4; rest 2 min. 6x30lbs, 35lbs (video), 35lbs, 35lbs.  Left arm struggles more.  Worked really hard for that 6th rep on the last set.  It must have been a 4s lift.

9:30am

B. Bent Over BArbell Row @ 2010; 12-20 x 3; rest 2 min

C. SL Back Ext's @ 3022; 4-7/leg x 3/leg; rest 45 sec b/t sets

Training 11/9/11 3200m Time Trial on the Track

Sleep 10p-4:45a Up late catching up with my cousin before leaving town.  Again woke up w/out alarm.  Moderate energy.
Food: Leftover smothered in cheddar cheese chicken breast & green beans from last night's Amish-style dinner. Handful of walnuts, latte & coffe w/lots of water.  Last ate around 11:30am.
Drove from Canton, OH home to Asheville from 5:30a-1:45p.  Went with Corey to track @ 2:30.

Hoka, tired on the drive home.

Kendall Hills in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Training: 3200m time trial.  

Something I would never do on my own unless told.  11.5 years ago the 3200m was my thing although I never enjoyed as much as the mile. Today I set the goal of trying to run 95s/400m or 6:20 pace per mile.   This would have put me about 20s faster than what I averaged for 3k @ the OPTathlon a month ago.  (12:14 for the last event of the day there.)  I was even hopeful that I'd run negative splits the 2nd half if feeling good.  Well, no "feeling good" on the track just yet for this girl.  All in time.  

My warm up consisted of foot drills & a few sprint drills at the gym while waiting for Corey to drive to the track.  One there the rest of the warm up involved a walk down from the car & about a 1:30 round trip jaunt to the toilet.  (I was at least well hydrated after my trip.)   


Even after a long absence from the rack my body knows what a certain pace feels like although I'll tell you that the first lap I was thinking, "I think this feels appropriate, but I hope this is a bit fast, as this doesn't feel manageable for 8 laps."  I wasn't being negative, but real.  I was accurate on both accounts.  Here are the splits: 

1. 1:34.7
2. 1:38.2
3. 1:39.4
4. 1:42.0  (6:34.4)
5. 1:42.3
6. 1:44.4
7. 1:44.9
8. 1:37.6 (13:23.5)

The old me would have been pissed to not be able to keep with my "game plan", but thankfully for the sake of my sanity & my relationships I don't walk around hating myself after the fact.  Rather I know what I can do differently with just lifestyle alone to have a better showing next time & training is only going to get better from here.   


Main limiters were breathing & inability to maintain cadence throughout.  


Two pics from Kendall Hills are from yesterday's last hike with Mom in Ohio.  I have been to this park many times, but this was the first time I walked (well, I ran a few hills for fun).  We raced here in high school on what is one of the hardest CC courses in Ohio & in college we would come here for training runs and sometimes long runs on Sundays.  Good times!  

Training 11/8/11 1 1/4 Back squats

Sleep 8:30p-4:45a.  Woke up without an alarm today & lots of energy!

Training 9am @ CrossFit Spirit 

A1. Medium Grip Pronated Chin Up @ 31X0; 4-5  x 4; rest 20 sec (Ended up being 30-45s for most)

       5xBW+10lbs, BW+15lbs, BW+20lbs, BW+20lbs (Rep 5 was tough w/20# so stayed there)

A2. 1 1/4 Full Depth Back Squat @ 40X1; 8,6,4,4; rest 2 min (Closer to 4 min.  I'm easily distracted.)    

        8x115lbs, 6x125lbs, (unsure about if making it 1/4 out of bottom last 2 reps), 4x 125lbs, 4x135lbs(hard)

B. Ring Dips amrap (-2) x 3 + 15# DB attached; rest 2 min 

       8 (2 min rest), 6, (3 min rest on mistake), 4 The extra rest bw 2 & 3 didn't help much with reps. 

C. Muscle Up x 1/Static Hold 10 sec/L Sit 10 sec; rest 1 min x 5

       This last part was deceivingly horrible.  Made the first MU & holds but holds immediately felt tough.  Missed next attempt @ MU a minute later, rested another minute & missed again, Hit it after the next.  On my third set I ripped my wrist to the point of blood w/out any tape.  So I pulled a box over & jumped up to the top & finished the last 3 with 10s static hold, 10s L-sit.  Horribly difficult.  I did get a video of the 2nd set so you can see my shake working to hold those positions (waiting to upload).  I never do L-sits or static holds for that matter and that was evident today.  

11/7/11 Rest Day Hike with Mom

Sleep: 8:00p-5:00a

Sleep has been good while at home.  Still getting to bed early and waking up early without an alarm.

Food on the other hand has been all over the place.  Still high quality of meats & veggies as the main meals, but many more "treats" than when I'm at home.  Started at the memorial service Friday with various desserts & since then there has been my nephew's Halloween candy, chocolate covered cashews, egg nog, pumpkin roll, wine, beer, chocolate bar, PB chocolate milkshake, two double cheeseburgers, numerous french fries, onion rings, fried zuchinni and more egg nog.  There will be at least one more serving of ice cream and Thanksgiving-style dinner at the Amish Restaurant before Mom and I leave Ohio.  After that I'll be ready to roll home & get back into my normal routine.  :)

I've been teaching my mom some exercises she can do on her own at home and taking her through some workouts at my sister's place.  As well, we have been taking Hoka on walks daily. Thankfully Mom and I have been blessed with some incredible Ohio weather with daily highs near 70!  Here are some pictures of me, Mom & Hoka at Plum Creek Park in Brunswick, Ohio.

Training 11/6/11 Swim 1k time trial

Sleep: 9p-4a (Corey to airport)
Food: Omelet w/chorizo, fennel, cheese @ 9:30a.

Training @ 11:30am in Ohio
Warm-up consisted of standing on the side of the pool and swinging my arms back 'n forth a few times.  Got in and started the clock.  Perhaps I should have warmed up more simply to practice how to count laps.  I stopped to check my splits @ what I thought to be every 250m, but I was definitely getting confused.  I thought I may have done an extra lap during the first 250 and then I felt like the next 250 was focused and accurate, but then I kept getting confused the last half.
I do not know anything about what swim splits should be and had no idea what to shoot for so that made it difficult to know where I was.  Next time I will take a partner to count laps and note splits.  :)  My husband loves that stuff (meaning my need for noting splits). haha

250m: 3:14
500m: 6:00
750m: 9:30
1k: 12:54

I didn't feel like I was slowing down.  Rather I felt great and felt as though I was able to take it up a notch each quarter. Flip turns at every turn except when I stopped for splits and breath @ every 3rd stroke consistently.  I guess I'll know more when I do it again.

Here is a video of a 55lb weighted pull-up I did August 2011.  Completed 60lbs in the past month.

Training 11/5/11 Max CGBP, 1 min row & HELEN!

Sleep: 10p-7:30a  Glorious!
Back to CrossFit Spirit for training @ 9am.  Fasted with exception of coffee & wh milk.

Post-Helen meal

Build to a heavy single close grip bench press (16"). (7x45lbs, 5x75, 3x95, 1x110, 1x125, 1x130, F @ 135lbs)

Rest 10 minutes

Max reps @ 85% (110lbs). Completed 10 reps. The 10th was a struggle to complete & felt R hammie twinge a bit on the final press so didn't attempt an 11th.

Rest 10 minutes.

Row max distance in 60s @ 110%: 295m/Averaged 1:41.4/500m, SR average of 40 & 37 last 10s.

Rest 20 minutes.

"Helen" 3 Rnds of: 400m run, 21 KBS @ 35#, 12 pullups
Rnd 1 1:48 run/3:00
Rnd 2 1:50 run/6:00
Rnd 3 1:50 run/8:56

Felt good overall.  UB on KBS & pull-ups.  Took 7-8s to get from pull-up station to door.  First point of significant discomfort came about half way into the final 400m.  I slowed up a bit as I wanted to ensure I could still go UB once I got inside.

Afterthoughts: Felt worse after the 1 minute row than after Helen.  Overall, happy with the day.  This was my first Rx'd Helen.

Training 11/4/11 Back squat single & max reps @ 85%

Sleep 10p-5:30a This felt like sleeping in for sure!

Training @ CrossFit Spirit in Hinckley, Ohio 6:30am. Fasted except for sm Starbucks w/cream.

Part 1: Build to a heavy single back squat. (45x5, 95x5, 135x3, 155x1, 165x1, 175x1, 185F)



Rest 10 minutes

Part 2: Max rep back squats @ 85% of today's best (used 150lbs). Completed 10 reps F on 11th.

Videos of max reps & miss @ 185 to follow.  (Uploading is slow.)

There was also a close grip bench press with max reps programmed for today, but will have to wait until tomorrow, as I am doing myself & my family a favor by not running late to the service which is an hour drive away.

Afterthoughts: A bit disappointed on the BS single, as I have hit 195lbs twice in the past year (Feb & June of 2011) and 185lbs for a double in June & single two wks ago.  Yet considering the long day of travel yesterday & emotional fatigue of losing my grandmother this week I will take it.  I have never attempted any max rep efforts @ 85% before so I didn't know what to expect.  It wasn't as horrible as I was imagining.

Rest Day 11/3/11 & 2010 AO C&J

Sleep 9p-3:30a Decent morning energy.  No sips of decaf, but little "need"
Coached 5:30a-10a PD floor, no leads.  Rowed 800m @ relaxed pace (3:40) for sake of warming up body around 8am.

Car ride to Ohio 10:30a-8:30p.  Longer than expected with some traffic delays along the way.  Corey & I split the driving. The last time we rode to Ohio together was for the American Open last December in Cincinnati.  As such, I felt like refecting on that day.  Here is the YouTube video of the C&J.  Can you tell who the CFer is?  I'm the only one (that I noticed) who power cleans. More comfortable with the pwr clean than my FS.

You can find my opener (65kg) @ 45s, 2nd lift (69kg) @ 1:30 and my last attempt (70kg) @ 2:30.  I recently hit a 155lb C&J at the OPTathlon in San Diego in a 10 minutes to max shoulder to overhead setting.  I prefer this over sit in a quiet room and lift 1 attempt at a time.

Training 11/2/11. Bodyweight AMRAP testers.

Sleep 830p-330a Good energy upon waking.  No coffee til 830a.  
Learned of grandmother's passing to start off day so emotions are running a bit high.  
Lead 5am CF class, coached PD floor 6a-1130a.  Low stress, good energy day with the exception of the emotional fatigue. I am fortunate to be part of an extremely supportive community. 


Food: GF steak w/various greens, EVOO & goat chz crumbles.  Some at 8:30 & 11:30.  Small handful trail mix w/cherries/pecans/cashews during warm-up. Coffee w/drop of chocolate milk sipping during warm-up & between sets. Only had about 2-4oz. 


Training @ Noon
AMRAP HSPU after good warm up
2 attempts - rest as needed b/t attempts (5 min)
1. 12
2. Failed on 11th.  Erectors felt quite fatigued following bilaterally.   



rest 5 min
AMRAP COVP chin ups -1 set - 35.  Previous PR of 40 in 1 minute Aug '10.  Abs felt fatigued early on. 

rest 5 min
AMRAP strict push ups - 1 set - 37.  Did 50 once senior yr in high school (2000), but certainly not chest to deck. Not sure if I've specifically maxed in recent years.  I'm not a huge fan of push-ups and hence rarely do them unless instructed.  :)
rest 5 min



sorensen test - max secs - 1 attempt.  90s which about ties my best from earlier in year.  Previous to that it was around 45s.  Bilateral anterior tib, glutes/hamstrings/erectors fatiguing fairly equally.  Ass and shins probably most irritating.  Next time I may try it with feet pushing against backstop rather than lifting toes against roller.  


Post-training assessment & treatment:
ROM: Reduced L elbow flexion, L c-spine lateral flexion, R Glenohumeral cross body adduction/internal rotation
MT to: L finger/wrist flexors, ulnar nerve tract elbow-writs, R posterior glenohumeral capsule, R axillary nerve tract nerve root-deltoid