The Weakest Link

As I almost fell when I rolled off my bed this morning. I was quickly reminded about an old sports saying "you are only as strong as your weakest link". It still applies to my life now as a Crossfitter. My back has been healthy as can be lately. I've been setting new PRs left and right it seems like since December. The last few weeks I have really been lazy about getting my back work in to keep it nice and strong because I've been focusing on getting my shoulder healthy again. Just like that my back reminded me how important it is in everything I do.
I tweaked the nerve in my lower back again on Monday during my last set of Back Squats. I didn't think much of it, but as the day went on it got worse and worse. I've since been to the miracle worker to get jolted with my dose of electricity twice this week already. It's starting to feel better, but it is still very tender. It's not back to square one or anything, but it definitely needs some constant attention and rest, especially with the announcement of 12.2 last night, which I'm pretty stoked about.

Tuesday's WOD
Strength
Bent Over Rows
35# KBs-135(5)---155-185-205-225
Weighted Ring Dips (35# KB)
6-6-5-5
- Felt good and strong through the routine. Good work on the rings.

WOD
2k Row = 7:50       1:57.7/500m    28 s/m
- It was supposed to be a snatch OTM with 60% WOD, but my back wasn't having any part of explosive extension today. So up to the rower it was. I just wanted to get some work. I wasn't in the mood to go for any PRs, but just wanted to keep a pace stick with it and get a sweat going. That's what I did. Nothing special....time for some R & R the rest of the week.

Hanging In There

Got some good rest yesterday. Got my meals cooked for the week. Spent some quality time with the kiddos to recharge the battery a bit. Feeling good about this week. My throat and voice are still on the mend, but it'll pass soon enough. Really want to get some solid WODs in early this week and continue to work on skills and weaknesses at school.

Was in a pretty deep sleep when alarm went of this morning and hit snooze a few times. God gave me the nudge I needed to start off on the right track since my alarm wasn't cutting it. Sawyer started waking up because his noonie fell out of the crib at 5a. Just enough time to go get him and sent him back to bed and get up and out the door to the gym.

Strength
Back Squat --- 10@60%-10@65%-8@70%-8@75%
bar(10)-135(10)-185(10)-225(10)---275-295-320-342
- Today was rough. Back was a little tender from all the burpees yesterday and the heavy load didn't help any. Back was pretty tight and tender afterwards for a few hours. This is a mean cycle, but I'm definitely getting stronger. It's challenging for sure.

WOD
8:00 AMRAP
5 Ring Dips (all UB)
10 Ball Slams (30#)  (all UB, but some were slower than others)
30 DUs (couple UB, couple one miss, one multiple miss)
= 7 + 26
- Good WOD to start the week. Goal was to get 8+ and I just missed it. Slightly disappointed for making it to 8, but it wasn't for breaking down so I'm ok with that. I had one terrible round (2 or 3) on the rope where I missed 3-4 times. The others were UB or one miss. I blazed through the dips and I slowed on the slams, but not terribly I think. Throat gets pretty dry pretty fast right now. That makes it somewhat hard to breath after a few minutes in. Once I heal up, I expect to get a little bit of conditioning back.

School Work
Rehab work on back
- Like I said earlier...back was pretty tender. Did some rehab drills and it felt a lot better. Need to ice more frequently at night and be more diligent about doing my drills to keep my back strong.

4 HSPUs OTM for 10:00
5-4-4-4-4 (strict)/4-4-4-4-4(kip)
- Haven't done these in a few weeks so I wanted to get some work in early in the week. Felt strong on all the strict ones. The last set of kips got tough to lock out, but no misses. Happy with the work.

OPEN WOD 12.1

YEP THAT PRETTY MUCH SUMS IT UP!!

Well then now that I've got your attention...I'll add a little more too it! Dave Castro deserves a swift kick in jimmy for allowing that little number to be the start of the OPEN WODS for 2012! Yes it was terrible! Whether you got 30 something or 161...it was terrible! Obviously, the guy who got 161 is pretty darn fit...check out his other fitness highlights....(Thanks Chris for finding this gem!)

(ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! What are they doing in Russia for crying out loud!!! Just because Rocky beat Drago doesn't mean they have to make fun of the song by dancing like that to it!! )

Anyways..back on track...Reebok gave CF all the advertising power they needed to pump this thing up for a full year. They more than doubled the participation level in OPEN then last year. I'm not saying the WOD wasn't good...I'm saying it wasn't creative!!! You pump it up, pump it up and you can't even deliver a classic couplet/triplet to start the thing off with! 

I'm sure we will see some pretty good ones in the weeks to come...just had to get that off my chest!

OPEN WOD 12.1

7:00 AMRAP of BURPEES!!!

= 88

- If you couldn't already tell...I stunk it up on this one! I tried 2-3 rounds earlier in the week to try and find a "work & rest" pace and that didn't work. So my plan was to find a pace and stick as close to it as I could for the whole 7:00 without stopping. I did that as best I could. I don't remember taking any breaks. I did have to step up 3 times. I don't feel I left anything in the tank.

 Bottom line is my conditioning just isn't where it should be. I'm stronger than I was back in September-October, but I'm also about 10-15lbs heavier than I was then and that's when my conditioning and diet was at it's best. Hopefully, I can have a better showing in the next 4 weeks.

Getting out of the funk...

After a few rough nights of sleep my prayers were answered! I couldn't believe it...I finally got a solid night of rest without any wake ups from the kids, Mya, or my body. It felt great! A solid night's rest also meant I felt good enough to make it into the DP. I'm still in a post-competition funk I guess is what it is. The announcement of the first Open WOD didn't help me any mentally either. Trying to work out of it and get back into the swing of things. Hamstrings are still pretty tight from the back squats and that is making the lower back a little tender, but nothing bad. Wrist is finally feeling good again so the few days off really helped. Time to hit it...

Strength
Press  4 x ME UB @ 65% of 1RM(140#)
bar-95(8)---10-8-8-5

Old Fashioned Chin Ups  4 x ME UB @ BW
11-9-9-7
**alternate sets and recover, not a race**
- Another Push/Pull day, which I really enjoy. Press felt solid. Shoulder was a little tight, but loosened up rather quickly. Feeling better and better every week. Threw the chin ups in there just to change things up a bit to hit the pulling muscles a little differently.

WOD
4 rounds FT:
15 OH Walking Lunges (45#) (all UB, 1-2 no reps during the last 3 rounds)
10 Hang Power Cleans (135#) (UB, UB, UB, 6-2-1-1)
5 C2B Pull Ups (UB, UB, 3-F-2, 1-F-1-F-1-F-2)
= 7:31
- Not very happy on this one! I paced this one a little too slow between movements. Plan was to do everything UB. Arms were pretty roasted from strength, but I still thought it was doable. My walks to and from movements were used to catch my breath...I may have walked a little slower than I thought. Sub 7 I thought would have been a solid time for me. I got to the bar for pull ups at 6:44 and the no reps killed me. My grip just gave out on me during the last round of HPCs and never came back. I was moving pretty fast on lunges, but kept missing the floor once or twice within the first 4-5 steps...very frustrating. I don't know...just frustrated. Gotta figure out a way to battle back here and get fired up again to WOD. This whole pacing thing just puts me in a weird place mentally...I'm not a fan!

Catching Up...got some work in waiting around for Oly class to start
RDLs 4 x 5 *work up to a heavy 5*
bar-135-225---275-295-315-325
- I used straps. Felt good. I've missed these the last few times they came up in programming so I wanted to make sure to get some good work in on my POSC.  Trying to do everything I can to make sure the back issues are taken care of for good.

**Snuck some Snatch singles in as well. Working on a better receiving posture and lift off. Posture is getting better, which is taking the stress of the shoulder a ton. Last night the reps felt great on my shoulder. My lift off is still to forward though. Vid is 155# (70% of 1RM)

A Few Rough Days..

**Official Results from the Occupy Strength Competition**

I was pretty happy to see that I was 3rd in the metcon overall! Both guys ahead of me are solid crossfitters!

Since the comp, I've been struggling to get back into the gym. Wrestling season is coming to end finally and my son has been teething and getting his appetite back from being sick the last few weeks, so he has been up in the middle of the night a few times. Getting up early and making it to DP has been extremely tough. I'm hoping to get home early tonight from the Regional seeding meeting and try and make it in tomorrow finally. I've been feeling okay otherwise. My wrist has been bugging me all week from all the stress it endured on Saturday at the comp so it's probably a good thing I've been laying low. 

Even though I've been laying low I have managed to do a few things here in there at school. 

School Work

DUs

8-32-148 PR!!-30-109

- I was just working on my mechanics and trying to stay in one spot. I hit some nice strings though. Pretty excited about the 148!! Had trouble gettin' the hips going getting started. It's getting easier and easier to find a solid groove and relax while jumping.

10 Muscle Ups FT:

3-1-F-1-1-F-1-1-F-2

= 6:02

- These were rough with the wrist thing bothering me. Don't know if it was a smart move to do them or not. I had to work a little more to get em than usual. Couldn't really get a decent false grip because the wrist so there was a lot of movement in the hands. 

STC

2 x 5

- I was tired and these were tough today, which really showed me how tired I was. 

Snuck into Prevail...

Strength

Back Squat --- 65%x8x1, 70%x8x1, 75%x6x1, 80%x6x1

Bar(10)-135(8)-185(8)-225(8)-265(8)---295-320-342-365

- As if I was gonna miss a back squat day!! psshh!! I snuck in with the fam while Juls wodded. Got some strength in at least. This was heavy and I was tired, but it was solid work. I based the percentages off of my 1RM from Saturday since this was only the 2nd week of the the cycle. If I was further into the cycle I definitely wouldn't do that. Had to work for the last few reps, but definitely glad I did it. 

Back at School...

20m PACER test (cardio test we use for PE) = 66

- I've eaten like crap the last two days because I'm weak and can't say no a Chocolate cake donut from Morke's Chocolate factory or the ton of Jewish/Italian pastries brought in to the lounge this week. So in lieu of that I at least decided to do the Pacer test that my kids were doing today. My score was terrible in my book. My legs were stiff and heavy from squatting yesterday. I wanted to run to try and give my wrist a break and loosen the legs up a bit. The more I ran the stiffer and heavier they got. Oh well...something is better than nothing! 

DP....I'm coming baby...I miss ya!!

Occupy Strength

Prepped and ready to go! Super excited for the competition today! Got to CF Atlas a little early and hung out a bit with friends from CF Freedom and Carbon that were competing as well. My diet got a bit out of hand the last two weeks so I had to really dial it in this week to make sure I made weight for the middle weight (187-220) class. Very happy I made it with 4lbs to spare. I have a bad track record of not staying fueled and getting dehydrated at competitions(WCCF Oly meet & LifeAsRx tour) like these so I planned a little better this time and it definitely paid off. I felt super strong all day.

WOD 1
CF Football Total
Power Clean 1RM = 139k(305#) PR!!!
- This was my best attempt ladder of the day. I started at 280ish, then 292ish, and finished at 305! My cleans continue to get easier and easier. Going in I thought 285-290 was about as high as I could go at power. A few weeks ago I just got 305 for a full clean. I did not think it was at all possible for a power coming into today. My second attempt came up way too easy and I had to go for it. I came in with the attitude that this was going to be a PR day so why not. I wish I had another attempt because that came up way too easy, but this gets me excited for the future to see what I have in the tank at my next Oly meet, whenever that is.

Power Clean 139k

Back Squat 1RM = 455# PR!!!

 - This is the one I wanted more than anything. When we maxed out at Prevail a few weeks ago I thought I had more in the tank, but didn't want to stress my back too much. My back is healthier than it's ever been and I wanted to push it today, especially on this one. The warm up area was a circus so I jumped in kinda conservative despite wanting to push it. First attempt was 415 I believe, second attempt was 435(?). During the second attempt, there was a split second coming off the rack I let "man this feels heavy" slip into my head. I took a second to get rid it of before I descended and I was good. At this point I knew I felt good for more, so I made the jump to 455#. Heading under the bar, my thought was to get the feet set a little faster this time so the bar didn't have time to get in my head. Once I was under, I kept the lightweight running through my head. Coming up, it was about fighting to keep the knees out. Another PR and a yearly goal met...I'll take it!!

Back Squat 455#

Bench Press 1RM = 340#

- At this point in the day I was pretty mentally drained and so were my hips. My left hip was starting to tighten up pretty good so I was very happy to be able to give the legs a break at this point. My focus was very low at this point and I was finding it hard to get fired up for this one, especially since I believe the bench is nothing more than a "bragging rights" lift and haven't cared for it since I stopped playing football years ago. This would be the 3rd time I've benched in about 5 years. I got 365(the first time in five years) back in October when Prevail opened messing around with Bruketta. I opened with 315, second attempt was 340, and here was my slip up...kinda. I knew I had 360-365, but I came to PR and that meant on everything...so I asked for 370. My only missed attempt of the day and I missed it by about 4 inches of lock out. I would find out later in the day, that would cost me 1st place on the day. 

Deadlift 1RM = 500# PR!!!

- I can't even put into words how excited and happy about this PR!! The way my back has been this year I was hoping to hit this by Octoberish. I did not think I had this in me today at all. My hip was still tight. It had been about 2 hours since I had to use my legs last so they felt a little fresh. The warm up area again was a mess. I was jumping on bars left and right to see how heavy everything felt. I got up to 440 warming up and really thought that was about all I had in me. First attempt was 420ish(?), second was 445....oddly it went up way too easy...much different than it did in the warm up area. 

**Before I hit the platform for deadlift I knew I was in the lead in my weight class, but only by 10#s. I talked to the guy in second, who is NOT a crossfitter. He is a pure powerlifter. He said he was going for somewhere around 525+. 

My third attempt came up and I was troubled. I knew my competition had a big lift coming and my lead was slim. I thought about going for 470ish, but I thought that was kind of sissyish since it was only 20#s over my Back Squat at this point. I figured if I'm going down, I'm going down guns blazing. Papa Roach came on over the speakers...screw it..give me FIVE HUNDO!! Unfortunately, I had no one to video this one for me because I would have loved to seen it. I haven't DL'd this much since high school and that was on a trap bar, probably with straps. I remember pulling and actually feeling the bar break free from the ground and saying to myself "holy crap..I'm moving it"....next thing I know it was above my knee and gaining speed...I locked that sucker out on top and screamed...I was frickin' pumped!!! 

   

CF Football Total = 1600lbs (3 of 4 lifts were PRs!!)

WOD 2

Death By Ball Slams (35#)

Every :30, do 1 power clean @ 70% of 1RM(215#) + 1 ball slam

-- add a ball slam every round 

= 12 + 4

- I was very anxious going into this one. I was in the second to the last heat. I finished WOD 1 in second place so I know I had to finish well in this one to have a chance at first place overall. The cleans were easy. I was fine til my last round of ball slams. I somehow jammed my finger into the ball and got a no rep, followed by another no rep because I missed the catch. Gave a big "F@#K" and finished with 4 before time expired. The powerlifter in front me dropped out at 9 and some change. The guy in third dropped out around 10-11ish. 

Here is the only negative thing about the entire day...

They announce the places of the day and I find out that there was no WOD 1 & WOD 2, but actually 2 separate competitions entirely. The CFF total had separate winners and the metcon had separate winners. I was very disappointed to find this out because of two reasons...A) this was sold as a CF competition, not a powerlifting meet (or I completely misunderstood what I was getting myself into). I figured there would be some "specific" guys coming, but that the metcon would even things out. B) part of the CF mantra, as I understand it, is that "specific" exercisers may be good in what they do, but suck in other things, but CFers can compete in all realms at high level. Advertising and running the competition the way they did really disappointed me to say the least. This really was no different than me going to an Olympic weightlifting meet and getting my teeth kicked in by guys who train nothing but that (but I still sign up for those too).

Not wanting to end on a bad note....the HIGHLIGHTS of the DAY....

1. Getting to watch so many great lifts and compete with so many great guys and girls! 
2. I PR'd on 3 out of 4 lifts....2 of those 3 were goals I didn't think I could meet til the later half of the year!
3. My back feels great!!! I woke up Sunday, expecting to be in a bit of pain...absolutely nothing!! Thanks Dr Sing for fixing me up!
4. I didn't think much of the metcon. I knew it was gonna be short and quick and I would be put out of my misery long before it just got unbearably painful and exhausting (that is the way of Death By) BUT...the look on the powerlifters face (who thought that the metcon mattered in overall placing just as much as I did) every time I walked by him was priceless! He looked and sounded miserable. I was anxious to answer the bell when it rang and perform well, I don't think he felt the same when it came to the metcon.
5. Regardless of place....I HAD AN ABSOLUTE BLAST ALL DAY!!! I will definitely be doing it again next year...I'll just be a little more educated on how it works...BUT know this...I'd still go for the 370 bench...it will still be about PRs all day baby!!