Next week is go time....there have been many C2B pull-ups, WBs, DB snatches, pistols, rowing, thrusters, burpee muscle-ups, squat cleans rope climbs and all the other fun movements I'll get to complete at the MidAtlantic Regional next weekend in Landover, Maryland.
I'm feeling better than I can ever recall physically, mentally and emotionally. I feel very well prepared, supported and look forward to what I'll learn from this challenge.
.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
TnG Power clean 165lbs x 3
This felt really good, but my mind wasn't ready to get 170lbs as you can see...
Thruster/MU
5-1
Thrusters @ 100lbs
Muscles-ups
Got through all ub. MUs feeling better and better. I can still be intimidated by "heavy" thrusters. I had to keep reminding myself to just pick up the bar already. In time I'll learn.
The best part of this video is my sweet, entertaining mother. She comes into the frame to ask me a question and I give her the "Mom, I'm doing a workout" look. She hangs out to support and doesn't know she is on camera. Check out her dance moves at the 1:57 mark. :)
Love you Mom!
Thrusters @ 100lbs
Muscles-ups
Got through all ub. MUs feeling better and better. I can still be intimidated by "heavy" thrusters. I had to keep reminding myself to just pick up the bar already. In time I'll learn.
The best part of this video is my sweet, entertaining mother. She comes into the frame to ask me a question and I give her the "Mom, I'm doing a workout" look. She hangs out to support and doesn't know she is on camera. Check out her dance moves at the 1:57 mark. :)
Love you Mom!
Squat clean 170lbs
This is a home gym training PR. Meaning I've done more at OPT and/or in competition settings, but I have more zip & pop then so I was happy to hit this on an evening by myself.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Training May 6 & 7th. "Jackie"
6-May
OFF
7-May
A. Split jerk; 2 reps x4 sets @85% effort
135, 135, 140, 140. Off blocks. Dropped b/w reps.
+
EMOM for 15 min:
Min 1- 2 muscle ups feeling better & better.
Min 2- 3 squat clean 95-135# Dropped these from top. Didn't say TnG & H/S are tight.
Min 3- 6 burpees AFAP
8-May
Coached 5 & 6am classes. Walked home to take car into shop. Back around 8:30 for training. Had until 10:15 which should have been more than enough time, but I managed to procrastinate enough to run out of time before second coaching shift.
A. OHS; 3 reps x10; rest 45 seconds @ 70-80%% 1rm
1. 105lbs, 2. 105, 3. 110, 4. 110, 5. 115, 6. 115, 7. 120x2, 8. 120, 9. 115x2, 10. 125lbs (slightly exceeded 80% of my present max, but I'd like to think that my max is actually more than 150lbs. :)
Due to my procrastination it was now 12:30 by the time I set up for Jackie. Ate two hard boiled eggs & a banana at 5am then had recovery shake with Refuel & Dream protein (1 scoop each after OHSs). BCAAs beforehand.
+
"jackie"
The video is funny to watch my body language towards Corey. I had set up the camera to see the clock, row, thruster, pullup and when I asked him to start the clock he said, "no, just go" as he held the stop watch in his hand. He didn't want me worrying about the clock. I was already feeling really irritable so I definitely felt pissed, but used as practice to overcome unexpected distractions. :)
Row: 4:10 Had planned for ~4:07 in a 2:02, 2:05 fashion. First 500 was 2:02/2:03 then fell off to 2:05-2:07. Probably would have been fine to hold around 2:05, but got nervous that I was going to dig too deep and affect the thrusters.
Transitioned into thrusters by 4:20
Made it UB through the thrusters, but it was a bit harder than I had remembered/anticipated. I last did Jackie at the Optathlon 2.0 last May in 6:50 with 35lbs bar. The extra 10lbs was noticeable plus I didn't have the rush the competition setting gives me. Tried focusing on pushing a faster pace in the thrusters...seemed to slow a bit the final 15ish. Breathing fell off with about 5 reps left, but got it back together.
BF Kip did not feel fluid. Been doing a bunch of C2B BF and the regular felt funky. Need to practice to tighten this down.
Off thrusters at 6:00 and was on the bar w/in 5s.
Pull-ups were 10, 7, 6, 7
6:51
9-May
OFF
OFF
7-May
A. Split jerk; 2 reps x4 sets @85% effort
135, 135, 140, 140. Off blocks. Dropped b/w reps.
+
EMOM for 15 min:
Min 1- 2 muscle ups feeling better & better.
Min 2- 3 squat clean 95-135# Dropped these from top. Didn't say TnG & H/S are tight.
Min 3- 6 burpees AFAP
8-May
Coached 5 & 6am classes. Walked home to take car into shop. Back around 8:30 for training. Had until 10:15 which should have been more than enough time, but I managed to procrastinate enough to run out of time before second coaching shift.
A. OHS; 3 reps x10; rest 45 seconds @ 70-80%% 1rm
1. 105lbs, 2. 105, 3. 110, 4. 110, 5. 115, 6. 115, 7. 120x2, 8. 120, 9. 115x2, 10. 125lbs (slightly exceeded 80% of my present max, but I'd like to think that my max is actually more than 150lbs. :)
Due to my procrastination it was now 12:30 by the time I set up for Jackie. Ate two hard boiled eggs & a banana at 5am then had recovery shake with Refuel & Dream protein (1 scoop each after OHSs). BCAAs beforehand.
+
"jackie"
The video is funny to watch my body language towards Corey. I had set up the camera to see the clock, row, thruster, pullup and when I asked him to start the clock he said, "no, just go" as he held the stop watch in his hand. He didn't want me worrying about the clock. I was already feeling really irritable so I definitely felt pissed, but used as practice to overcome unexpected distractions. :)
Row: 4:10 Had planned for ~4:07 in a 2:02, 2:05 fashion. First 500 was 2:02/2:03 then fell off to 2:05-2:07. Probably would have been fine to hold around 2:05, but got nervous that I was going to dig too deep and affect the thrusters.
Transitioned into thrusters by 4:20
Made it UB through the thrusters, but it was a bit harder than I had remembered/anticipated. I last did Jackie at the Optathlon 2.0 last May in 6:50 with 35lbs bar. The extra 10lbs was noticeable plus I didn't have the rush the competition setting gives me. Tried focusing on pushing a faster pace in the thrusters...seemed to slow a bit the final 15ish. Breathing fell off with about 5 reps left, but got it back together.
BF Kip did not feel fluid. Been doing a bunch of C2B BF and the regular felt funky. Need to practice to tighten this down.
Off thrusters at 6:00 and was on the bar w/in 5s.
Pull-ups were 10, 7, 6, 7
6:51
9-May
OFF
(The clock in the video is NOT accurate of overall time...about 30s behind)
OPTathlon 4.0 Appreciations & Learnings
Rest day Saturday
May 5, 2013
OPTathlon 4.0
Bodyweight 125lbs
 |
| Top 3 ladies and gents |
Event 1: 10 min to max C&J
Appreciations: I was able to maintain focus and stick to my game plan despite poor warm-up. Warmed up to my opening weight (155lbs) and it felt horrid. Considered opening lighter, but stuck to my plan and it flew up…then had the confidence to jump 10lbs.
Had a few distractions throughout…had to run across the room to find another 2.5lb plate and my judge asked me three different times what was on the bar. In training I typically ask people not to talk about what I have on the bar, but this time I decided to just own it and not let it freak me out.
Was the first time that I was able to hit my goal (175lbs) and keep going. I have the habit of celebrating too soon and potentially limiting myself on that day for what else I may be able to get. When you celebrate too early sometimes it's like you check out for the day/event. I hit the 175lbs and confidently threw another 2.5lbs per side. From there I had this feeling of "hell yeah, 180lbs, let's do this! I'm ready to be hitting numbers like this!" vs the habit would be, "holy geez I can't believe I just jerked 175lbs….180lbs is so much weight." I was stoked about the 180 and felt a bit more doubt sneak in as I was loading to 185lbs. Caught the power clean a bit lower on my shoulders than the previous ones, but fought for it successfully. That zapped a bit out of my confidence to drive it overhead as time ticked down.....10lbs PR on jerk and 15lbs on power clean!
Learnings: I think I could have jumped another 10lbs from 165-175lbs but being that 175 was a PR I doubted myself and stuck with 5lb jump to 170lbs. Done over I'd keep the excitement and let go of the doubt. Would have enabled a bit more rest before 185lbs.
Event 2: Triple jump:
20' something...cannot presently find results online. Down over a foot from the fall.
Appreciations: I stayed positive despite a shorter jump than last fall
Learnings: My buffalo essence does not give me the natural ability to quickly rebound and instinctively be explosive off the ground. I must prioritize bounding and some jumping/running drills in my warm-ups to maintain/develop the ability. I've generally allowed myself to be lazy in my warm-ups recently and have not had the motivation to do explosive work…when I'm tired and it's not in my essence it's that much harder to prioritize. Would be helpful to simply include in programming or discuss how many days of week I should prioritize leading into these events.
Event 3 : Row Repeats
Appreciations: I have grown in accepting the task and wasting less mental energy thinking about how much I hate something or don't want to do something.
Improved from 1:52.5/1:53.5 to 1:51.5 & 1:53.1.
Learnings: Set the screen to where I can see "estimated finish time". The first one I hit my goal right on despite only being able to see the pace of each pull and not my overall average. I felt good doing it and although my goal for my second was 1:52.5 I opted to dig a little faster than that pace for the first few hundred meters around 1:47-1:51. I don't know what I was averaging, but I fell off and starting hitting between 1:52-1:55 and my overall time ended up being 1:53.1. I think if I had known what I was averaging I could have focused on keeping it in the low 1:52s vs digging too deep too soon and not being able to maintain.
Event 4: Mixed Modal
This time around it was
AMRAP in 8 minutes:
40 T2B buy-in, then
AMRAP of
10 DLs (115lbs)
10 burpees over the bar.
7 rounds + 11 reps
As soon as I heard this workout my first thought was, "I wonder if I can do 40 T2B ub?" The answer is yes, although I came down at 37 b/c I was starting to lose my grip. I know I could have held on for 3 more in an "AMRAP without dropping off the bar" scenario, but didn't want to risk ripping or wasting time with a slow kip. Had planned of 10 ub DLs, then burpees split into 4 fast, breathe, 4 fast, breathe, 2 fast…immediately back to DLs. Then I watched James do the workout and he was dropping DLs here and there and immediately picking the bar back up. I decided that made more sense so I started doing 5s and then into same burpee plan. Felt like I was resting a bit more than I wanted to b/w stuff so i was thankful when James came over and gave me a new game plan of deadlifts in 4, 3, 3 and burpees in 2s. Rest times shorted a lot at that point and I was able to keep my head down and just work.
Appreciations: I didn't let myself get distracted and start looking up at the clock. I responded well to coaching cues and changing game plan in the moment.
Event 5: Reverse shot throw (35'6")
Appreciations: Ended up going sooner than expected due to some changes in heats & I wasn't boggled by it.
Learnings: Similar to triple jump I need to practice skills to maximize my potential for relatively low-effort points here. (easier efforts than circuit/row repeats or 3k run)
Event 6: 3k run (12;25)
Appreciations: Found a groove and worked. Able to stay positive and focused throughout. Didn't know what pace I was running due to more laps on shorter track, but had fun with it and just focused on setting short range goals throughout the race….ie. when to pick it up, when to pass who, etc.
Learnings: I can maintain my ability to run long. I would have struggled to go much faster, but probably could have physically held similar pace for another 2-7k.
Although my jump & throw were less than in the fall I improved my overall best score from 6120 to 6261. It was a second place finish today, but also put me in second for the top scores in history of the event. I really appreciate this event for comparison time after time. It keeps me on track with where I am in various areas of my fitness.
Time to keep prepping for Regionals!!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Friday May 3rd Front squat 2RM
Training ~2:30pm....feeling pretty tired by this point in the day.
A. C&J: Build to 1RM
Below were loads in kgs:
Below were loads in kgs:
Jerks were not pretty today. 72 was the best I hit on jerk. 74 was best clean....should have had the second attempt at the jerk, but recovered back foot forward first and lost it forward. Duh!
B. Front squat; 2RM
70/75/78kgs F on first rep at 80kgs
This is a 2 rep max at 171lbs....4lbs off 1RM.
+
400m row repeats @ 90%
Rest 90 seconds x 6
I opted to put the screen on calories vs 500m pace to not get in my head and just go on feel. Didn't know what pace I was averaging until second to last interval. Knowing me the sub 2:00 pace would have mentally felt harder than 90%. This felt good.
Week of April 29th -2pd KBS & 50 Muscle ups
29-Apr
OFF
30-Apr
AM
A. Push jerk - build to a 1rm off blocks
Missed first attempt then hit 150lbs... Tough & not super pretty.
+
EMOM for 14 min
odd- 10 hang squat snatch 45#
even- 2-3 parallete hspu
Took the red mat away this week and went to the carpet. The extra 1/2" that may have given was tough, but still loving these!
+
EMOM for 20 min
odd- 2 muscle ups
even- 3 muscle ups
Had 1 miss on the 3rd rep of the second minute. All others were ub...then did 4 ub in final minute to complete 50 muscles up in ~19:12. That would be over a 2 minute improvement from a traditional "50 MU for time". I'll take it.
min 18
PM
For time:
30 wall walks
20 stone to shoulder 100#
100m farmers walk 90#/hand
The 30 WW were really tough! Opened with like 6 in the first minute, but then took over 8 minutes to complete 30...8:30ish.
20 stone to shoulder by around 12ish
Farmer's carry with handles....rested at 50m and then brought it back.
Either 13 or 14 minutes.
1-May
Feeling better from sickness standpoint, but then I start my cycle today and cramps were rough this time around. Had a few hours of coaching and then a break which I immediately went home to soak in tub and nap. Came back around 11:30 and did the following. Wasn't super.
AM
A. Front squat; 3 reps x10; rest 45 seconds @61% 1rm Done @ 105lbs
+
21-15-9-15-21
thrusters 65#
CTB chin ups
Moved through this. Took about 11:30. Got a bit faster as time went on. Just focused on getting in the work and not beating myself up over the result. Getting better and better at not getting caught up on individual workouts, but keep focus on the big picture & consistency over time.
Ended up doing this one the following day. Coached in the PM and didn't have energy to get in to knock out workout prior nor was I going to do it after, as I opened the next day.
PM (2-May AM)
Airdyne 2 min 47 (27 in first minute)
rest 1 min
For time:
3 rounds for time:
Run 400m
15 KBS 2 pood
10 toes to bar
All UB! Stoked about KBS. These were a bit intimidating and didn't expect to be able to go UB, but it was certainly my focus of the workout.
9:51
Rest 1 min
Airdyne 2 min
40 (21 in first minute)
Good learning in second 2 minutes on AD in that I tried working into the pace as I've done on the rower a few weeks ago in a similar format. But the rower and the AD are two different beasts. I had nothing left in the second minute for shifting gears....just gotta get after it from the start and hang on as able.
(scored as three events)
2-May-OFF
OFF
30-Apr
AM
A. Push jerk - build to a 1rm off blocks
Missed first attempt then hit 150lbs... Tough & not super pretty.
+
EMOM for 14 min
odd- 10 hang squat snatch 45#
even- 2-3 parallete hspu
Took the red mat away this week and went to the carpet. The extra 1/2" that may have given was tough, but still loving these!
+
EMOM for 20 min
odd- 2 muscle ups
even- 3 muscle ups
Had 1 miss on the 3rd rep of the second minute. All others were ub...then did 4 ub in final minute to complete 50 muscles up in ~19:12. That would be over a 2 minute improvement from a traditional "50 MU for time". I'll take it.
min 18
PM
For time:
30 wall walks
20 stone to shoulder 100#
100m farmers walk 90#/hand
The 30 WW were really tough! Opened with like 6 in the first minute, but then took over 8 minutes to complete 30...8:30ish.
20 stone to shoulder by around 12ish
Farmer's carry with handles....rested at 50m and then brought it back.
Either 13 or 14 minutes.
1-May
Feeling better from sickness standpoint, but then I start my cycle today and cramps were rough this time around. Had a few hours of coaching and then a break which I immediately went home to soak in tub and nap. Came back around 11:30 and did the following. Wasn't super.
AM
A. Front squat; 3 reps x10; rest 45 seconds @61% 1rm Done @ 105lbs
+
21-15-9-15-21
thrusters 65#
CTB chin ups
Moved through this. Took about 11:30. Got a bit faster as time went on. Just focused on getting in the work and not beating myself up over the result. Getting better and better at not getting caught up on individual workouts, but keep focus on the big picture & consistency over time.
Ended up doing this one the following day. Coached in the PM and didn't have energy to get in to knock out workout prior nor was I going to do it after, as I opened the next day.
PM (2-May AM)
Airdyne 2 min 47 (27 in first minute)
rest 1 min
For time:
3 rounds for time:
Run 400m
15 KBS 2 pood
10 toes to bar
All UB! Stoked about KBS. These were a bit intimidating and didn't expect to be able to go UB, but it was certainly my focus of the workout.
9:51
Rest 1 min
Airdyne 2 min
40 (21 in first minute)
Good learning in second 2 minutes on AD in that I tried working into the pace as I've done on the rower a few weeks ago in a similar format. But the rower and the AD are two different beasts. I had nothing left in the second minute for shifting gears....just gotta get after it from the start and hang on as able.
(scored as three events)
2-May-OFF
Training Recap:treat the bold as game time, food, fueling, etc...
Continue to feel sick. Not to wear I am unable to function, but with little to no energy to work out. Friday I did the A & B...skipped the 400s and then I ended up skipping both workouts on Saturday. Energy low.
26-Apr
A. Build to a 1rm snatch
B. Front squat; build to a 3rm
+
Run 400m @90%
rest 90 sec
x6
27-Apr
AM
6 rounds for time:
8 DB power snatch 70#
48 double unders
PM
20 min amrap:
5 squat clean 135#
5 muscle ups
28-Apr
Was finally starting to feel better today so I went into the gym.
PM
Squat clean x1/Hang squat clean x2/Front squat x3; build to a max of
the complex in 12 min (all reps must be completed within 30 seconds
from the first clean)
103, 123, 133, 143....was only at 10 minutes here, but called it. The first 3 took ~20s and then was ~30s for the 143.
rest 15 min
For time:
40 CTB chin ups
40 box jumps 30"
40 CTB chin ups
Decided to adjust these to 30 reps each.
30 C2B -47s (24 ub BF PB, 4, 2)
30 box jumps ~2 minutes....all step down
30 C2B 12 and a bunch of small sets.
4:05
Did yoga afterwards. Energy finally feeling better!
26-Apr
A. Build to a 1rm snatch
B. Front squat; build to a 3rm
+
Run 400m @90%
rest 90 sec
x6
27-Apr
AM
6 rounds for time:
8 DB power snatch 70#
48 double unders
PM
20 min amrap:
5 squat clean 135#
5 muscle ups
28-Apr
Was finally starting to feel better today so I went into the gym.
PM
Squat clean x1/Hang squat clean x2/Front squat x3; build to a max of
the complex in 12 min (all reps must be completed within 30 seconds
from the first clean)
103, 123, 133, 143....was only at 10 minutes here, but called it. The first 3 took ~20s and then was ~30s for the 143.
rest 15 min
For time:
40 CTB chin ups
40 box jumps 30"
40 CTB chin ups
Decided to adjust these to 30 reps each.
30 C2B -47s (24 ub BF PB, 4, 2)
30 box jumps ~2 minutes....all step down
30 C2B 12 and a bunch of small sets.
4:05
Did yoga afterwards. Energy finally feeling better!
Training Recap: 20 sets of 5 ub C2B pull-ups
Wednesday
24-Apr
AM
A. Front squat; 3 reps x10; rest 45 seconds @58-62% 1rm Done @ ~105lbs. Not feeling hot today.
+
20 sets of 5 unbroken CTB chin ups for time
Was happy to get in more C2B volume and practice BF kip, but was not feeling on fire for this one.
Last completed on 10/20/12. in 8:07 with no BF kip. Today I did about 8;15...halfway around 4 minutes. Felt better about the kip, but just not aggressive b/w sets today.
First 10 sets: ~
Second 10 sets:
Went home and slept. Ended up feeling worse later in the day. I coached the 5;30p class and opted to sleep longer vs going in to do the workout. Energy low. Was bummed to miss this one, but there will be other days. In the meantime I gotta get better!
PM
Run 400m
rest 1 min
For time:
30 power snatch 100#
20 burpee over bar
10 thrusters 100#
Rest 1 min
Run 400m
(scored as three events)
25-Apr
OFF
24-Apr
AM
A. Front squat; 3 reps x10; rest 45 seconds @58-62% 1rm Done @ ~105lbs. Not feeling hot today.
+
20 sets of 5 unbroken CTB chin ups for time
Was happy to get in more C2B volume and practice BF kip, but was not feeling on fire for this one.
Last completed on 10/20/12. in 8:07 with no BF kip. Today I did about 8;15...halfway around 4 minutes. Felt better about the kip, but just not aggressive b/w sets today.
First 10 sets: ~
Second 10 sets:
Went home and slept. Ended up feeling worse later in the day. I coached the 5;30p class and opted to sleep longer vs going in to do the workout. Energy low. Was bummed to miss this one, but there will be other days. In the meantime I gotta get better!
PM
Run 400m
rest 1 min
For time:
30 power snatch 100#
20 burpee over bar
10 thrusters 100#
Rest 1 min
Run 400m
(scored as three events)
25-Apr
OFF
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Training Recap Catch-up: 30 MU for time & 3RM push-jerk
Tuesday April 23rd.
Started feeling not so great over the weekend with waves of fatigue and sore throat. Then it very slowly started getting a bit worse. Achey body as the morning went on...barbell felt really heavy on shoulders in push jerk. But with that in mind this should be a 3 rep max.
AM
A. Push jerk - build to a 3rm 83, 93, 103, 113, 123, 133lbs...called it.
+
EMOM for 14 min
odd- 10 hang squat clean 65#-yes, done-definitely feeling fatigued.
even- 2-3 parallete hspu -Took these to no plates only small red mat of probably 1" thickness. Even feeling under the weather I love these!
+
30 muscle ups for time
Did this in the evening. Went home and tried to nap, but no a whole lot of deep sleep happening. So I pulled out the bright pink skirt in hopes of generating some energy for a little PM training.
Pr on 30 MUs 730. First time under 10/12ish. No big sets 2,2,3,3 (2:15 for 10) 3, 2 (3:30 @ 15), 2,1F, 1,1 (5:00 @20), 2,2 singles til finish in 7:30. Continue to surprise myself and build confidence here. All in time.
PM
5 rounds for time:
20 sandbag walking lunges "tough"
10 stone to shoulder 80# (med-ball)
30 meter walk with 80# stone
Started feeling not so great over the weekend with waves of fatigue and sore throat. Then it very slowly started getting a bit worse. Achey body as the morning went on...barbell felt really heavy on shoulders in push jerk. But with that in mind this should be a 3 rep max.
AM
A. Push jerk - build to a 3rm 83, 93, 103, 113, 123, 133lbs...called it.
+
EMOM for 14 min
odd- 10 hang squat clean 65#-yes, done-definitely feeling fatigued.
even- 2-3 parallete hspu -Took these to no plates only small red mat of probably 1" thickness. Even feeling under the weather I love these!
+
30 muscle ups for time
Did this in the evening. Went home and tried to nap, but no a whole lot of deep sleep happening. So I pulled out the bright pink skirt in hopes of generating some energy for a little PM training.
Pr on 30 MUs 730. First time under 10/12ish. No big sets 2,2,3,3 (2:15 for 10) 3, 2 (3:30 @ 15), 2,1F, 1,1 (5:00 @20), 2,2 singles til finish in 7:30. Continue to surprise myself and build confidence here. All in time.
10 min rest
1630ish for pm wod. Didn't push it just moved and rested a bit more than would have otherwise been necessary. Throat hurt worse immediately upon finishing MUs so kept it conservative and put the work in...somewhere around 16:30??
PM
5 rounds for time:
20 sandbag walking lunges "tough"
10 stone to shoulder 80# (med-ball)
30 meter walk with 80# stone
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