Month: November 2012

Say Yes.

“Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later, because whatever you do, you will be sorry all the rest of your life if you say no.” ― Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

On Thursday I tried Kettle Bells for the first time. Amazing how the olympic movements with the barbell can translate into intricate movements with the Kettlebell. It is good to switch up the schedule, but then hard to know which if any of the days count to a ‘rest’ day, if you are working within the 3 days on, 1 day off mindset.

WOD:

I. Barbell Gymnastics:

Snatch – 10 x 1 @ 80%

*Rest 60 seconds between sets

Completed: at 70lbs. Love the Every Minute On the Minute rounds. Great method of focusing on form.

II. Conditioning:

21-15-9

Kettlebell Swings (70/53)

Toes-to-Bar

Burpees

Completed: in 9:57. Originally reached for the 35lbs. Kettlebell. But knew I was being a woos. So put the 35lbs. back on the shelf and used the 45lbs. So glad I said yes to the challenge of a heavier weight. All reps, while at max effort, still completed unbroken.

steel and stone.

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

Last night during Strongman we practiced reps and movements for our upcoming competition. If you have never seen what a posting for a Strongman competition looks like, take a look below. It’s like trying to decipher Morse Code. But, if you take the time to study it like a person who is registered to compete and wanted to know just exactly what it is you’re going to hoisting up off of the ground in feats of pure strength power and determination, well it all eventually begins to make sense. Let me know what you think:

Date: 12/08/12

Time: Rules 9:30am, 10am Start
Entry Fee: $30
Weight Classes: MEN <150, <175, <200, 201+ WOMEN <140, <165, 166+
Weigh-ins: Dec 7th 6pm – 8pm, Dec 8th 8:30am
…

Events:

1) 9-6-3 Stone 2 Shoulder/Tire Flip – 7 min time cap Stone/Tire Size: (115lbs/M<150, 130lbs/M<175, 130lbs/L<200, 150lbs/L 201+/ 60lbs/S<140, 75lbs/S<165, 90lbs/S 166+)

2) Max Axle DL – 3 Attempts (60 seconds to complete each rep) 20 pound jumps for all classes. Bar starts at: (280lbs<150, 300lbs<175, 320lbs<200, 340lbs 201+/ 120lbs<140, 140lbs<165, 160lbs 166+)

3) Log Clean and Jerk – Max reps in 90 Seconds (110lbs<150, 130lbs<175, 150lbs<200, 170lbs 201+/ 70lbs<140, 80lbs<165, 90lbs 166+)

4) Keg/Yoke/ Farmer Medley – 90 sec time cap (140keg<150, 140keg<175, 190keg<200, 190keg 201+/ 105keg<140, 105keg<165, 140keg 166+) Farmer Medley – Weights are per hand: (110lbs<150, 130lbs<175, 150lbs<200, 170lbs 201+/ 70lbs <140, 90lbs <165, 110lbs 166+) Yoke (330lbs<150, 380lbs<175, 420lbs<200, 470lbs 201+/ 190lbs <140, 240lbs <165, 290lbs 166+)

5) Keg over Bar – Max reps in 90 Seconds (105keg<150, 140keg<175, 190keg<200, 190keg 201+/ 75keg<140, 75keg<165, 105keg 166+)

RULES: No Tacky, No Suits, No Straps, No Sumo. Belt, Chalk, Sleeves OK. Control the apparatus or it’s a No Rep. More details day of.

After Strongman we move onto Ladies Night. These are my Wednesday nights now, right up until the I get home and its time for bed. Strongman then Ladies Night. In that order. CF bliss.

I PR’d on my axil deadlift at 251lbs. tonight at Ladies Night. The axil bar is much thicker than the Olympic bar. Very difficult to maintain a grip. It’s been some time since doing deadlifts. If I was able to inch up to 251 on the axil, I wonder where I am with a regular Olympic bar deadlift.

There’s a rumor our competition may be canceled. Not enough people signed up. Fingers of steel and stone crossed.

Lost and Foundations.

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” 
― Henry David Thoreau

I saw someone I have not seen in a very long time today. There they were just standing in the middle of the triple-wide finishing up the the 3pm WOD. Someone from a totally different chapter in my life.  Being totally out of context I didn’t recognize them but kept staring at them thinking, feels like I know that person from some how some where. And then moments later when my attention finally turned I felt a tap on the shoulder, to which I turned around and there was said person standing in front of me saying hello and do you rememeber me? I think so, I said with all honesty.

WOD:

I. Clean & Jerk: 10X1 @ 80% – rest 30-60 seconds.

Completed: at 85lbs. I like this exercise, conditions the muscles, builds strength and stamina.

II. Conditioning:

21 Burpees
5 Bar Muscle-Ups
9 Hang Squat Clean to Thrusters 135/95#
15 Burpees
7 Bar Muscle-Ups
7 Hang Squat Clean to Thrusters 135/95#
9 Burpees
9 Bar Muscle-Ups
5 Hang Squat Clean to Thrusters 135/95#

For time.

Completed: in 11:05 with 65lbs. After talking with Seevers who went at 80lbs. all the while marveling at my 80lbs. Bear Complex from yesterday, it occurred to me as it so often does after the WOD is over that I could have indeed gone heavier.

How convenient it is that this thought seems somehow lost on me at the beginning of the WOD.

And with that, my series of catch-up-posts is complete and I feel once again plugged in, punctual, and pertinent.

The Bear.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” 
― Maya Angelou

On Sunday we met for Strongman, to review some movements that will be featured in the upcoming Strongman Competition on December 8th. This will be my second competition. The first in my home box of ACF. I’m a little nervous.

Competing at my personal best in this Strongman Competition on Dec. 8 is my next goal.

The Dec. 8 goal is short-term but something positive to maintain focus as it is only a couple weeks out and the weights are manageable. Manageable enough that I feel I have a solid chance at respectably placing in the rank of competitors.

We practiced Yoke carry, at 280lbs. Competition weight will be 310lbs.

Then, onto the Bear Complex, as a few ladies and I decided a post Thanksgiving WOD, while none was officially scheduled, was the perfect way to end the Holiday week.

1 Rep Equals:

  • Power Clean
  • Front Squat
  • Push-Press
  • Back Squat
  • Push-Press

7 Reps equals 1 Round. 5 Rounds total working up to your max.

You can rest in between rounds. This is a great workout for concentration, determination, and strength. Completed: weight sequence as follows: 55lbs., 65lbs., 70lbs., 75lbs., 80lbs.

Cornucopia.

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” ― Ernest Hemingway

The Thanksgiving Holiday brought a holiday from updating my lovely blog. DuDs. I find if I let too many days pass by without writing anything then it all starts to slip away, that motivation to write and if too much more time goes by then the unthinkable occurs; catching up on blog posts seems too cumbersome and I’m tempted to stop altogether.

Isn’t that kind of the way it is with everything. Once you gain momentum in one direction it grows that much more difficult to put on the brakes and start in another. Particularly when it comes to being unhealthy. So, in an effort to recommit to the writing routine I’m here to post the last few days of WODs. Beginning with Saturday, through Monday.

On a side note, the diet has been, well, not on holiday, or rather, on a perpetual vacation. A full bore the gloves have come off and it’s time to partaay, since Thanksgiving Day. Speaking of unhealthy momentum.

It’s been a true cornucopia of no less then the following samplings: chicken wings (medium, extra crispy), blue cheese, Cape Cod potato chips, Cheesecake Factory chocolate and peanut butter cheesecake at 1,400 calories per slice, Sam Adams Lager, tuna melt with sharp cheddar, sausage stuffing, homemade gravy, D&D munchkins glazed and chocolate doughnuts, Joseph Carr Cabernet, homemade butternut squash soup with green apple and carrots, Pizzeria Uno Deep Dish pizza, Pizzeria Uno potato skins, house varietal pinot grigio, more hot wings (extra crispy), garlic wings (extra crispy with extra carrots and celery and blue cheese)…. And this is just a brief recap.

You get the idea.

Conditioning:

1) 2 Minutes Max Front Squats at 80% of 1RM

Completed: Round 1, 17 total Front Squats at 85lbs.

*Rest 2 minutes

2) 10 Minute AMRAP:

30 Double-Unders

15 Power Snatcthes (75/55)

*Rest 2 minutes

Completed: lost count on the rounds. 5 or maybe 6. RX weight at 55lbs. It’s just downright ridiculous that I do not have double-unders at this late date. So many goals, so little time.

3) 2 Minutes Max Front Squats at 80% of 1RM

Completed: 2nd round 14 total at 85lbs.

Thanksgiving Thanks.

At 7:14am on Thanksgiving morning I picked up a lifelong best friend and headed to Troy for the 65th Running of the Turkey Trot for what was to be my very first 10K. The sun was shining brightly, the coffee was especially soothing. The conversation shared during the short drive to Troy was nothing short of, we got this.

Me: I’m thinking a max 10:30 minute mile. If you want to go ahead of me, please do.

BFF: Don’t be ridiculous, the whole point of today is to spend the time together.

Some things in life are truly priceless. You can’t capture them other than in deep places of the heart and in those bright pockets of your memory from which you will then draw a warm inner joy and thankfulness for many, many years to come.

Completed: 10K. 6.29 miles. In 59:26. Avg. pace: 9:28 per mile. There is the purest joy found in the completion of a goal you’ve long set out to achieve.

Palpable.

“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

Strength:

Press – 4×4

Completed: at 55, 60, 65, and 70. My overhead remains stuck.

Conditioning:

“DT”

5 rounds for time of:

12 Deadlifts 155/105#
9 Hang Power Cleans 155/105#
6 Push Jerks 155/105#

Completed: at 65lbs. in 8:03. Murph mentioned I went too light. He was right.

The joy of Thanksgiving is palpable in the air. Very Thankful indeed. Hugs for everyone.