Lots of Running & Heavy Deads

Took advantage of a some great Fall weather and jumped outside for some extra conditioning earlier in the day. Got some more of that great weather later at Prevail. Hamstrings are feeling it today.

Morning Conditioning
100m Sprints x 16 (1:00 REST)
1st half: 15.6 - 15.5 - 15.6 - 16.9 - 16.3 - 17.7 - 16.9 - 18.4
2nd half: 17.6 - 17.4 - 17.4 - 18.2 - 17.3 - 18.6 - 18.3 - 20.2
- Whew!! This was a lot rougher than expected, but very needed. I enjoy some good sprint work, but I forgot how rough they were. Got through the first 6 and thought maybe 10 was god enough. Got to 10 and thought...eh....only 6 more. Got to 4 and started thinking about stopping. Repeat same thought at 3.  At 2 left I was hurting and goal at this point was to stay below :20...failed on my last rep. My last year playing JUCO ball in 2001 this was our Fall conditioning test to get pads. I believe we had to make each one in under 15 or less. Oh what a decade will do!!

Hurdle Jumps - 6 hurdles x 4


Strength (PM)
Deadlifts - 20 mins. to est. 5RM
Clean Grip
bar(8) - 135(8) - 185 - 225 - 275 - 315 - 365
Trad. Grip
405
- Wanted to use the clean grip for all sets, but I couldn't bear the pain in my thumb any longer after 365. 5 reps was just too long to hold on to the bar for. 405# was good enough for me.

WOD
400m Run
  15 Pwr Cleans (115#)
400m Run
  12 Pwr Cleans
400m Run
  9 Pwr Cleans
400m Run
  6 Pwr Cleans
= 10:34
- All cleans were UB. Weight was easy. Never even thought of breaking up the sets. I thought about going up to 135, but was worried about my back being too fatigued from deads and the extra running to keep it together. I was wrong. Regret not going heavier. Think I still would have gone UB all the way through. Live and learn.

Cash Out
strict GH Raises - 4 x 6
GHD Sit Ups - 1 x 10

FGB

Finally did it! A year ago I hurt my back, prepping for FGB, being an idiot on SDHPs. I'm a lot stronger and smarter because of it. We hosted FGB at CF Prevail and invited the crew from CF Huntley to come join us. It was a great atmosphere with some good people.

Fight Gone Bad
3 rounds for reps:
1:00 Wall Balls (20#)   (26-21-21)
1:00 SDHPs (75#)   (20-17-15)
1:00 Box Jumps (20")   (35-30-23)
1:00 Push Press (75#)   (30-25-20)
1:00 Row for Cals   (16-11-13)
1:00 REST
= 323
- That was as tough as advertised. This being my first time I really had no goal, no expectations. The only thing going through my mind was be smart. Wall balls never got as bad as I thought they would. SDHPs were more like clean pulls. I was popping em off my hip and just tried to keep a steady pace. Box jumps fell apart in the third round. Push press was rough in the first round. I couldn't find a steady groove and was fumbling all around. I'm short...rowing sucks...enough said.

Falling Behind...

Busy, busy, busy...here's a quick recap...nothing special.

9.17.12

Strength
Press - 5 x 5 @ 80% (230 1RM)
bar(10)-95(8)-135(5) --- 185 - 185 - 185 - 185 - 185 w/ a spot
- Failed on the 5th rep of the 4th set. Charlie spotted for the 5th and I squeezed out all 5. Good work tonight.

WOD
4 x 500m Row (3:30 REST)
Damper @ 6
1:42.7/500m
29 s/m
Total Time: 6:50
- More rowing...yea me!!


9.18.12

Strength
OHS - 7 x 1
bar(10)-95(5)-135(3) --- 165 - 185 - 225 - 245 - 245 - 255 PR - 275 PR
- Very happy with 275! Running pretty low coming in and wasn't overly excited for OHS. The first crack at 245 was hilarious. I sank down into a squat and my heels came up higher and higher. I was on my toes by the time I was parallel. During that rep my shoulders loosened up some how and the next three reps were flawless. Felt so good at 275 I would have went for more, but time was out and I had to move on to the WOD.

WOD
3 rds of:
  12 Deadlifts (225#) (all UB)
  6 HSPUs (all UB)
then...
3 rds of:
  12 ball slams (30#) (UB-UB-8/4)
  6 pull ups (all UB)
= 4:44
- Great WOD! The second part really caught up to me. The ball slams seemed heavier than the stinkin' deads. Had to take a quick breather in the 3rd round and I just couldn't push through any longer. CT got me on this one by about :15...I was a little slower on those ball slams than I thought.


9.20.12

OWOD
Cleans - 7 x 3
bar progressions
135(2x3...full, hang, hang) - 185 - 225(2x3) - 245 - 265 - 265 - 265 - 265 - 275
- Pretty rough go tonight. PC was still pretty wore out from the deads two days ago. Wasn't my best work by far.

Clean Pulls - 3 x 3 @ 365
- Terrible work. Very sloppy. Attempted this too fatigued.

A Year Already

CF Prevail Anniversary WOD!!! Crazy...can't believe the gym has been open for a year already! I've watched a lot come and some go. I've shared some great times under the bar and some lows. I've been blessed that Prevail has given me the opportunity to not just WOD with others, but do life with others. It still amazes me how sweating together can bond people together.  I've always had a hard time selling the price of Crossfit. I still think to the motivated individual it can be easily be done for less at home. The one thing priceless about Crossfit is the community! Your "Box" community is worth every penny. Yes, coaching and programming is worth it too, but in this day and age, it can easily be substituted through cheaper means. The "box" community can not! The bond that you create with those you sweat with throughout the year can't be found on the internet...I don't care how big your social media network is. Overtime, we share more than sweat. Anyone and everyone you talk to has that "story" of how Crossfit has helped change them...truth is it's the community that you discover helped them in some way or another.

Anniversary WOD
12:00 AMRAP
 250m Row
 12 KB Swings (53#)
 12 Box Jumps (24")
 12 Wall Balls (20#)
= 4 + 267
- Great group to WOD with on this one. Bobby, CT, Alex, Brandon, Kir, and Milica were all in on this one. The WOD was great. Reps were just enough to stay moving and think about breaking, but short enough to still fight through it. The way the WOD was set up had a nice vibe to it too. The lead changed hands I don't know how many times. Great partners, solid push!! Great way to celebrate the year!

Are You Fitter Than a 6th Grader?

9/13/12
Another game day, which means another missed day at the gym. Put my students through a WOD for fitness day so I decided to see how I measured up to their whiteboard.

School WOD
 3 rds for reps:
 1:00 DUs (I had 5 of 140ish students able to do DUs in the WOD, the rest did SUs)
 1:00 Sit Ups
 1:00 Wall Balls (12#..heaviest one we got)
 1:00 REST
= 392
- I took 2nd of the 6 for those who did DUs. I had a 6th grade girl gymnast, who whipped out 30 UB the other day when I introduced DUs in warm ups, beat me by 3 reps. Being a 60# gymnast...her sit ups were much faster than mine :( My DUs struggled in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. I got 90 something in the first round, but only managed to get in the 70s the last two. The wall balls are deceiving. The ball is just light enough to keep you moving for a long time and to really bring on that lactic burn. Proud of the effort my kids gave today on this one. Not everyone's technique was perfect, but the effort all around was outstanding! Looking forward to introducing more throughout the rest of the year.


9/14/12
 End of the week is here and I'm excited for the weekend. CF Prevail Anniversary WOD on Saturday and relax for the rest of the 3 day weekend. Need to get some OH maxes at the gym tonight...looking forward to it!

Strength
Press - est. a new 1RM
bar(10)-95(8)-135(3) - 155 - 185 - 205 - 215 - 230 PR
- Always happy with a 5# PR on OH work. Steady progress...I love it!
Push Press - est. a new 1RM
225 - 255 - 275 - 300 PR
- Haven't maxed in this one in over a year. My last PR was at 275, but I've been using 300 as a training max this whole cycle. So I was happy I was able to hit 300#! My buddy J is at 305#, so I gave 310# a shot twice and just couldn't do it...next time!!

1st FAIL @ 310#

WOD 

4 rds FT:

 5 Ring Dips

 10 Ring Rows

 15 HR Push Ups

= 4:33 (Bonus 5th round = 6:29)

- Breezed through until the 4th round. Ring dips started to fail and push ups were rough! Wanted to WOD a little longer so I added one more round. 

Cash Out

2 x 10 T2B 

 - UB on both sets. Had a real nice kip going. Again, extra core work and strict work paying off. 

Back On Track

Had a much better mood going into the gym tonight. Feeling pretty rested. Over the whole back squat mishap and smarter from because of it! Ready to have some redemption on the Front Squat tonight.

Strength
Front Squat - est. a new 1RM
bar(10)-135(8)-185(5)-225(2)- 275 - 315 - 365 - 385 PR - 405
- Stoked! Added another 10# to my front squat! Probably had a another 5 in there, but wanted to give 405 a crack. I thought I handled it pretty well, until I tried to stand it up..haha. My goal gets closer and closer!!! Can't wait for the next few months of training! Just gotta keep working hard and stay out of my comfort zone!

WOD
3 rds FT:
 400m Row
 21 Wall Ball Sit Ups (20#)
 12 Power Cleans (115#) (all UB)
= 10:41
- Good WOD! Pushed it pretty good on this one. The whole WOD I was chasing CT's time from the class before, which I thought was 10:26. I was around 6-8 reps in to my last round of cleans when I past that time. I thought about dropping the bar at that point for a rest, but decided to fight through it. CT started counting down and I thought he was doing it to keep me sub 11. Once I was done he pointed out that I got him by :04 because I read his time wrong. Sweet!

PC Work 
Accumulate 3:00 Chinese Arch w/ 25# - 1 loooong set. Time to up the weight!

A Time to Remember...

Had my first game of the season tonight so I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to Prevail so I tried to choose a good school WOD to do to make up for it. My students run the mile every Tuesday at Woodlawn. Typically, I have a standard running warm up on the board for them to follow before they run. Today I decided to offer Option B as well. I put up a little 3-5 minute "9-11" styled WOD for them to do before their mile run.
The WOD was...
9 rds of:
 5 Burpees
 6 Sit Ups
Was it terrible? No, not to most that took part, but it was bad enough. Try to think like a middle schooler for a second. Most dread running the mile and doing any amount of burpees...much less 45 of them right before running the mile. Most of the kids I have now were too young to remember that day or weren't even born yet. To hear the discussions that took place over whether to do the WOD or regular warmups was very uplifting to my heart as a teacher and adult who experienced that day.

I was in my last Fall of JUCO football in So Cal. I remember waking up for class and walking into the living room and the TV on replaying the crash into the towers. My roommates had been up watching for a while already. I can't remember if class that day was canceled or not, but I remember going to practice and reality setting in on the effects of what took place. My JUCO was close to Twentynine Palms marine base. A good third of our team were ex-marines or reservist that our D-Line (who was a marine) coach recruited from there. It was the second week of the season and we had a big rivalry game  coming up. A lot of guys had to stay home near a phone for the next few days because they were put on alert that they might be deployed. Football wasn't a focus for them at that point...if anything it was distraction of things possibly to come.

I won't ever forget how this country operated before the towers were taken down. I got to experience America and it's freedoms beforehand. I hope the generations to come will learn to respect it the same way as those that experienced it as well.

School WOD
9 rds FT:
 11 Burpees
 11 Wall Balls (12#)
= 13:57
- Holy crap...I'm 32 and I hate burpees just as much as my students. It took a while to talk myself into this one. At one point I found myself pacing back and forth internally discussing how crappy this was going to be. By the 3rd round I was kicking myself for coming up with this WOD, by the 5th clarity hit and I was reminded of how terrible it was and why it should be. I finished seconds before the my next class came in. If I had more time I would have liked to add the 2001m run in before and after, but the way I run...I didn't have enough to get attempt it. 12# is the heaviest wall ball we have a at school. I'm ordering a 25# soon thanks to my bro in law's Bday gift! Plenty of suck and sweat to honor a day this country and it's people should never forget!

Too Greedy...

Here it is..Max Week! I've had some good sessions under the bar the last 8 weeks time to see if it's paid off. It has...it definitely has...not it's time to put my money where my mouth is. My legs felt pretty dead heading into the gym, but my energy level felt good.

Strength
Back Squat - est. a new 1RM
bar(10)-135(8)-185(5)-225(3)-275(3)- 315 - 365 - 405 - 455 - 485 - 475
- Greed...that's what wrecked me tonight. I'm usually a pretty good judge on what I can and can not handle...tonight though I was not. I hit 455 (only 5# under current PR) easy, which led me to think I had 485 no problem. I was wrong. Slightly depressed at my miscalculation I tried to go for 475 and failed there too. I truly believe 475 is there, probably should have given it one more try, but I ran out of time. I may take another crack at it later in the week depending on how the rest of the week goes.

WOD
3 rds FT:
 400m Run
 25 Walking Lunges
 10 K2E (UB-UB-8/2)
- Pretty easy WOD. I suck at running...we all know this. I pushed my runs as best I could. The lunges were no biggie. Probably my best performance on K2E though ever. I had a nice kip going on 3 rounds...very happy with that. Definitely felt all the core work I've been doing pay off on this one!

A Better Feel

Didn't get in as early as I usually do on Saturdays, but I managed to get a good row before coaching. Saw some great work from Tiny and Tara during Oly class, both are really coming along. Got in some high box work of my own after. 

Endurance Row

14:01.8 - 3395m - 2:03.9/500m - 24 s/m

- Had no goals in mind when I started...just row and get a good sweat going. I covered the monitor up so the only thing I could see was s/m. I just wanted to row until class got started. As much as I hate the rower...it's better than a two mile run any day of the week. Wish I had one for the basement...it would be nice in the basement before I head to work. 

OWOD

7 x 2 - Hi Box Snatch (@hip) - heavy as possible, REST 2:00

bar progression

75(5)-95(5)-135-155 --- 175 - 185 - 195 - 195 - 195 - 200 - 200

- Still trying to drill in getting tall, staying on the heels, and proper hip strike. My cock bone has really been taking a beating on low strikes of the bar, but when I get to tall and get my shoulders back...I can get that bar moving and it feels great!! I had some misses in the last 3 sets. I was usually forward in the 2nd catch a bit. The first rep of each set was great, but the 2nd one I would start to wind up and just wasn't bringing the hips through properly. After the miss, I would refocus and be okay. Not great work, but still making strides. 

Snatch Pulls - 3 x 5 @ 225, 235, 245 - heavy as possible, REST :60

- Pretty simple here. Focused on the sweep and keeping the weight on the heels. 

WS Style Sled Drag - 3 x 50m (6 cement squares down & 6 back) w/ 4 45's

- Not very good work here. Need to get a belt to wear during this so the sled doesn't bounce as much. Trying to figure out the weight was tricky too. Last time I dragged on asphalt with a metal skids. The fiberglass skis on the dog sled make that thing move pretty smooth. Load should probably be 5-6 45s next time. 

FGB Prep

My wife and I made it to the 630p class tonight and found out we were the only ones there. It was rather nice. We enjoy being able to WOD together and it's even better when we are the only ones sometimes. We skipped strength for the night so we could get out quickly though and grab a bite to eat with some friends. FGB is coming up so I was excited to have a little prep work tonight. Last year, I hurt my back prepping for FGB. I've come along way in a year and am excited to finally be healthy enough to go do the WOD.

WOD
4 rounds for reps:
 1:00 Box Jumps (20")  [40-37-32-40]
 1:00 Push Press (75#)  [35-30-25-27]
 1:00 Row (cals)  [16-15-15-16]
 1:00 REST
= 328
- Not bad. My goal was 330. I really wanted some volume and I got it. 350 was very doable. I recovered a lot better than I thought during the rest round. The 20" box makes a huge difference. In those middle rounds I had some weird twinge in my right ankle which slowed me down a lot. I stopped rebounding completely. Whatever it was it went away and I was fine again in the 4th. PP were hard to judge. I found a good groove, but staying back on my heels and getting a good rack position is going to be key. I didn't waste too much time on the row. I cranked the damper up to 10 and pulled hard, probably getting about a cal/pull. Once I got to 12-13, I coasted and managed the last few cals as active rest. I could make up some point here come FGB. Excited for a little more prep work this week. The SDHP and wall balls are going to be the death of me in this WOD for sure.

Tabata Blows!

Took a rest day yesterday from Oly work. Went to the gym to coach, but chose to get back to the fam and keep it a short night. Legs still a little tight, but feeling great overall.

School AM WOD
5 rounds for reps:
1:00 running clock
  200m shuttle run (:42-:50)
  AMRAP T2B (9-6-5-4-4)
1:00 REST
= 28
- Beautiful day out so I decided to work on some running and more bodyweight movements. Kip actually felt pretty good today.

Later that day...

Strength
Front Squat - 5 x 1 @ 80-85-90-95-90% (375 1RM)
bar(10)-135(8)-185(5)-225(3)-255(3) --- 300 - 320 - 340 - 360 - 340
- Posture felt very strong tonight. Legs felt good. Balance was good. Ready to roll for next week. Goal is gonna be 385-90...405 would make me extremely happy...we'll see!

WOD
Tabata
   Ring Push Ups -  14/12/10/10/9/5/4/5
   Wall Balls -  6/9/5/6/7/7/6/7
   DUs - 20/20/20/20/20/20/20/20
   Sit Ups - 11/11/11/10/8/9/9/10
= 4/5/20/8
- I was feeling strong in the push ups and then they were just gone. The first round of WBs killed me. I missed the wall or the short of the target 5-6 times. I had no accuracy at all. Legs were totally fine, arms were just flat gone. had a better 2nd round and then they were gone again in the 3rd. Evened off after that. My rope got all tangled to crap by the fan I think. So it ate up 8-10 seconds of my first round. I was able to whip out a fast 20 to save my score. I just stayed there the rest of the rounds. I was finishing with about 8-10 seconds left per round. Just tried as much as I could to keep moving on the sit ups. Abs were pretty sore from the sit ups and burpees on Tuesday and the T2B earlier in the day didn't help.

Cash Out
Strict GH Raises (w/ 10#) - 3 x 8/6/6

Right Around the Corner

Feeling well rested from the holiday weekend. Ready to get back in the gym and load up before max week. I got a CF competition about a month away so I'm going to steadily try and raise my weekly volume til then to get ready for it, but going to hold a majority of it back until after maxes next week.

School AM WOD
FT:
 50 DUs
 50 Burpees
 50 Sit Ups
 50 DUs
= 7:12
- In an effort to work on my weaknesses...burpees and sit ups seemed like a good place to start! Pushed my pace as best I could on the burpees. Got to the sit ups and my core was on fire from breathing so hard and the work already done. The DUs were basically a warm up for the burpees.

Later that day...

Strength
Back Squat - 5 x 1 @ 95% (460 1RM)
bar(10)-135(8)-185(5)-225(5)-275(5)-315(3)-365(1)-405(1) --- 440
...10 sec. Walkout @ 495#
- Felt very strong tonight! I had a lot of snap out of the bottom. Getting some good bounce and reengaging the hips well. Missed my depth on the first set so I dropped that set. Made sure I hit bottom on all the rest. Really hoping to break 500# next week or at least close the gap quite a bit. Heard about a this walkout trick a while back on lifting forum I troll, then saw Outlaw mention it again so I figured I would give it a try. Loaded 495# and stepped out of the rack and held it for a 10 sec. count and re-racked. Actually very happy with how my body felt under the load. Excited for next week!

WOD
15-12-9-6
 (squat) Cleans (135#) (5/5/3/2- lots of singles the last 3 rounds w/ a rare dbl)
 Pull Ups (UB-4/4/4-3/3/3-3/3)
= 7:23 
- Saw this the night before and thought of bumping to 155# initially, but stayed at regular weight after the back squat session. Little disappointed in this one...I really should have been sub 7 at least. Cleans are difficult for me to keep my hands on in the rack position. The breaks in the first round came from missing my re-grip. I tried a couple of times in the later rounds, but found it easier to just drop. Should have pushed the pace more here. Got off the UB round of 15 pull ups and just couldn't hang on. Fought hard to have the least amount of breaks in the rest of my pull ups. Would like to do this one again someday.

Great Weekend

Finished the month of August with another PR! I was pretty excited about coming into the gym today in hopes of following up Wednesday's Clean PR. Things went very well. September 1st marks the time of the year when things start to get a little crazy for me...HUNTING SEASON IS HERE!! It's a gonna be tough to get my workouts in during the next few months, especially once Oct.-Dec. come rolling around and the hunting gets good, but I'll do my best not to fall off. Stay tuned!

OWOD

Snatch - est. a new 1RM
bar progressions
75(3x3)-95(2x3)-135(3)-155(2) --- 175 - 185 - 205 - 215 - 215 - 225 - 225 - 235 - 245 - 245
- My hips and timing felt great from the start. Felt really fast and smooth the entire night. I kept my long sleeve on to keep the body temp up and I always think that helps to stay nice and loose. I was feeling really confident after hitting the 235# because it felt very fast. My bar speed on my lifts now compared to the beginning of the Summer is night and day. All the time spent in the gym and dissecting youtube clips of great lifters, reading this and that, and being super critical of myself is really starting to pay off. I should've stopped at 235#, but I was just too tempted. I'll just say 245# is very close!!

Snatch 235#

245# Miss

went home and got about 5 hours of sleep...walked to the bathroom and my hands and shoulders were just aching...laced up my boots and grabbed Mya and my shotgun...God rewarded me with this great morning!!

Lots of action, lots of laughs...can't ask for more!!

Snuck in this little at home WOD on Monday evening after some fun in the water...

WOD

3 rds FT:

 400m Run

 15 C2D Push Ups

 30 Squats

= 9:26

-  Nice little WOD to get me moving after a beer & meat filled night the evening before. Thighs were burning a bit on that last run. Those last 30 squats didn't feel good either! Gotta get a lot better.