Month: September 2012

Training Ground for Life

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” ― Sylvia Plath

First, I thought I lost my log book. This could not be. You never know what you have, till it’s gone. As soon as I realized it was missing the inner discombobulator began to represent.  For Part I of the WOD, Deadlifts, 4 x 4 x 4 x 4, I was simply lost.  All over the place. Suddenly couldn’t add, or subtract, or count apparently.

5 or 6 trips to the calculator on the wall, and I still wasn’t confident in my math. Learned tonight that I love to scribble stuff down during the WOD in my little book. It’s an integral part of the whole experience for me. Chicken scratches and roman numerals and addition and subtraction and little stick figures with x’s for eyes.

Found it!

WOD:

I. Deadlift

4×4

Completed: @ 195lbs., 205lbs., 215lbs., and 225lbs.

I remember not only two or three weeks ago 225lbs. was my One Rep Max. Now it’s my 80%. I don’t know what happened. But, there can be no greater feeling. Your body getting stronger from hard work. Try as you might, this, you simply cannot purchase.

And then along came Part II:

Going to admit right here; Part II of tonight’s WOD was bru-tal. Felt weak and didn’t know if I could finish. So goes the up and down of a Crossfitter. Which is what makes CF such an excellent training ground for Life

Scaled a couple (not all) of the Burpee rounds from 8 to 6. And was still last to finish. With about a minute to spare on the 15 minute clock. Total Burpees, going to estimate to be approx. 72.

II. For Time:

10 Rounds

10 Overhead Lunges with Barbell (45/35)

8 Burpees

 Completed: In 13:45 @ 35lbs. See rambling paragraph above. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Hodge Podge-ing

Train with Dean today, resistance deadlifts and push jerks. Then…

WOD:

I. For Time:

10 Clean and Jerks (185/120)

15 Muscle-Ups

Row 30 calories

Completed: in 10:13. Loaded up the bar @95lbs. for the Clean and Jerks. A manageable weight, I told myself. Till Ke-Ho changed the rep count to 15 Clean and Jerks for us slackers who didn’t load the bar for death. Felt as if, towards the end of the 15, all my hard work on form the hour before with Dean went out the window as I fatigued and tried as I might to focus on form. Just ended up doing whatever it took, including poor form, to get the damn bar over head.

II. 5 Attempts

Max Unbroken Double-Unders

Completed: Not really. Mostly a series of hodge podge single-unders. Originally forgot the jump rope in the car. Was pouring rain and blowing sideways outside and was not as motivated to finish out the WOD. Already been here working for 2.5 hours, I rationalized. Poor decision on my part.

Just rereading this post now. While I felt as if I was focused and working hard while training with Dean, its apparent I started to fall a part and make excuses for it during the WOD. If you commit to something, you should commit. Not hodge-podge it through, puttering out at the end. That will get you nowhere. I do this often. In many arenas. At least my commitment to hodge-podgeing is consistent.

3 and 3

“I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed!” ― William Shakespeare

Run 3.2 Miles. Avg. pace 9:53 / mile. And 3 Burpees. Christmas Day will be Day 100, of the 100 Day Burpee Challenge that my BFF and I have challenged one another to complete, via text, from MN to NY, across the great plains, and powerful Mississippi, and Facebook, and beyond. Burpees know no boundaries.

Today was one of those days when I woke up with tremendous anxiety. It can happen. For no particular reason, other than I’m pretty sure it is diet related. I indulged this weekend, not overly, but there was some wine, and chocolate dessert. And I think the body responds to the sugar, partly, with anxiety. It’s amazing I was able to get out for a run, but pushed myself to do so in the very least.

Then there’s this video on our food supply, about Seeds in particular, and Genetically Modified Food. It’s not a downer, but an eye opener, and ends positively as in that seeds of change are already afoot. Mostly, it’s ever more important to think about where our food comes from.

Hard to reach long term goals if you’re half-assing it along the way. As I am currently, at this moment in time in particular, with the dietary cheats. Tomorrow is a new day.

Saturday Mornings

After an epic week of some very good feeling PR’s, my body was slow and tired. Nonetheless:

WOD:

I. Back Squat

6 – 4 – 2

Completed: 6 @ 105lbs. 4 @ 125lbs., 2 @ 145lbs.

II. For Time:

30 Wallballs (20/14)

30 Ring Pushups

30 Toes-to-Bar

30 Overhead Lunges (45/25 plate)

30 Burpees

Completed: in 9:30. Wallballs @14lbs. Overhead lunges @ 25lbs.

100 Days – 5,050 Burpees

September 22, 2012, is the 266th day of the year. Which means, on that day, there are exactly 100 days left in the year. Which means, if you were to partake in the 100 Day Burpee Challenge, you would complete your final Burpee on New Years Eve, Dec. 31st, 2012. What better way to bring in the new year?!

That’s 10,000 Burpees!
Correction to this post, for anyone who is actually reading it, the 100 Day Burpee Challenge equals 5,050 Burpees total. Not 10,000. Omgg, my math sucks.

End of Summer Throwdown ~ Day 3 of 4

WOD:

I. End of Summer Throwdown WOD 3

15 Minutes to Estabish a Max Combined Weight for CrossFit Total

-1RM Back Squat

-1RM Press

-1RM Deadlift

*Cannot move on to next movement until both athletes have completed the same movement

*No limits on number of attempts, but must be completed within 15 minute cap.

Completed: With three awesome partners, Rich and Keith. And three PR’s! Back Squat @ 145lbs. Press @ 80lbs. Deadlift @ 245lbs. Our math, ie. our final totals, went by way of our enthusiasm, through the roof, but that’s okay. High fives all around.

II. AMRAP in 5 minutes:

Wallballs (20/14)

Completed: 74 total Wallballs. We ran out of 14lbs. Used the 10lbs. Which was fine. If you think about it, we ran out of 14lbs. because there were so many people in class. People showing up to be healthy!

Composition

“Composing gives me great pleasure… there is nothing that surpasses the joy of creation, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound.”

—Clara Schumann.
 
What is your Compostion?
 
Happiness is forgetting the clock.