Month: February 2013

Beautiful.

“Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn’t exist and never shall. There is only now.” ― Christopher Paolini

It’s  pretty special when you have a WOD date. Even more special when you have two. When you know you’re going to be meeting up with some of your favorite fellow ACF’ers for an hour of torture and good times. There’s always sure to be lots of cheering and high-fiving and just all around sharing of good will, and especially, my personal favorite: ‘You CAN do this.’

Tonight I met up with Carmen and Lynn, two beautiful tall ladies who continue to amaze me with their willingness to try, to work hard, to encourage others to do so as well, and to be well, beautifully bright from the inside out.

I. Strength:

High Bar Back Squat

1X5 @ 80%, 1X3 @ 85%, 1X2 @ 90%, 2X1 @ 95%

* Rest 2 Minutes Between Sets

Completed: at 125lbs., 135lbs., 145lbs…… then ran out of time.  But, the best feeling of all was knowing I could have gone heavier for the 2 sets of 1. Have a feeling my 1RM may have jumped, and that’s the best feeling ever.

II. Conditioning:

5 Rounds For Total Hand Stand Push-Ups of:
2 Minutes To Complete –
Row 20 Calories
12 Lateral Box Jumps (20″)
Max Effort Hand Stand Push-Ups

* Rest 2 Minutes After Each Round.

Completed: 20 cal row for each round in just under the one minute cut-off (with Carmen rowing next to me cheering for me to reach the 20 each and every round), and a hodgepodge combination of stacked rogue blocks for lateral jumps and barely enough time to get in a couple scaled pushups at the end.

Box jumps make me nervous, like, ‘I really don’t want to hurt myself’ nervous. When I was training with Dean I jumped up to 28″ and I’ve used the 24″ during a WOD, but I dunno, there’s a fear there that’s sprouted after one Friday Night Fights in particular wherein I attempted max box jumps in three minutes.

That night I stepped up confidently for the team to complete the task but in the process of going to work the wheels of confidence came off and I was left in the middle of a competition WOD with a body that just wouldn’t go. Scary stuff.

In the days after FNF I tried to repeat the max box jumps workout in the quiet of an empty double-wide, just me and the clock, but even though my performance improved it felt as if the fear was there to stay.

So last night after max effort on the rower, it was interesting how unsteady I felt as I stepped up to face the box. I measured the risk (falling into the box and doing damage) vs. reward (pushing through the fear and using the box) and decided today was not the day to push this and used the soft stacked Rogue blocks instead.

I’m okay with this for now.

I workout.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ― Benjamin Franklin

I. Strength:

3 Sets of the Following:

5 Bent Over Row (Supinated Grip)

* Heavy As Possible Without Sacrificing Technique

Then…

Max Effort Push-Ups

** Rest 60 Seconds Between Sets

Completed: Bent Over row at 85lbs., 95lbs., 105lbs.

II. Conditioning:

5 Rounds for Total Repetitions of:

1 Minute to Complete: 5 Power Cleans (155/105)

– With the Remainder of the Minute Complete Max Effort Split Jerks

1 Minute Max Effort Burpees

Completed: at 85lbs. This was a creeper, much harder than it first appeared. I avg. 2 jerks per round, until the last round, when I completed a total of: 0. whomp. whomp. whomp. Was not channeling Hulk today. Perhaps Strongman pre-WOD was not a good idea. But today was a day I just wanted to get lost. Lost in the Crossfit workout, any workout. 2.5 hours plus spent at ACF is a good way to get lost. Still disjointed, head not on straight. More work to be done.

James did challenge me to start using the men’s bar: 45lbs.

It’s thicker, and, well, intimidating. It is the heaviest bar available in the triple wide. I’ve accepted the challenge and now will be reaching for the 45lbs. bar for WODs. Go Team.

Try.

“The right choice is to try.” – Alex, ACF Coach

I’ve been feeling distracted lately. Distracted from the one thing I enjoy even more than Crossfit, writing. The urge to write just simply hasn’t been there. It’s a sad feeling when you lose the desire for something you love. You feel lost… without the anchor you’ve grown accustomed to for comfort, for peace. I’m not 100% certain why the drive to write faded but I do know it can be scary when the feeling goes. It’s a kind of general overall; Meh. And Meh is not a good place to be. It lacks passion, it lacks love, it lacks hope. It lacks all those beautiful things.

Thankfully the motivation to hit WODs has still been strong. Except for tonight. While I still made it through the door to the triple-wide I couldn’t help shaking the feeling that all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap. But if there’s anything I’ve learned there is one simple absolute; no matter how much I may not feel like making it to ACF, there has never been a day when I regret going. Never. Simple truth.

Crossfit is hard earned peace. Ironically, it provides a much needed break in the day. You work your ass off during that break and it’s worth every drop. There’s a palpable calmness that takes over when the WOD is through. A feeling of accomplishment and exhaustion from hard work.

Writing can have the same effect. Sometimes it’s so hard to write. You can’t just throw words on to the page. Well, you can. But there’s no satisfaction in that. There’s a poetry to be discovered in writing and therein lies the struggle. It takes work! Which is probably why I enjoy it so much too. You have to earn its reward. Just like in Crossfit. Come to think of it, there’s never been a time when I’ve forced myself to write that I wasn’t in the end so glad I finally did put words to the page.

Stepping through the doors at ACF or filling up the blank page, at least I tried. No matter how indifferent or disconnected you may feel the choice is always, always, to at least try.

Writing, like Crossfit, is therapy. Private soul cleansing therapy.

I’m happy to report that after a couple weeks of loafing around this joint the Meh’s are finally vacating. I’m glad to see them go.

I. Strength:

First Pull + Hang Snatch 7 x 2

* Heavy As Possible

** Rest 60 Seconds Per Set

Note: This movement should be performed with a pull to the knees – First Pull, a 3 second pause at the knees, then a Snatch from the hang position (at the knees).

Completed: Working weight at 65lbs. focusing solely on form.

II. Conditioning:

3 Rounds For Total Working Time of:

Row 400m

25 Wall Balls (20/14)

* Rest 3 Minutes Between Rounds

** Each Round Should Be An All Out Effort

Completed: at 14lbs. wall ball. Didn’t look at the clock, not sure my time. Just know the lungs and legs were burning.

wall ball pr

“I heard a preacher say recently that hope is a revolutionary patience; let me add that so is being a writer. Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
― Anne Lamott

I. Strength:

Establish a 1RM Deadlift

Completed: up to 245lbs.

II. Conditioning:

CrossFit Open 12.4:

AMRAP in 12 minutes:

150 Wall Balls (20/14)

90 Double-Unders

30 Muscle-Ups

Completed: 150 Wallballs at 14lbs. in 8:57! 10 second PR from my last attempt. 280 single-unders.

patience.

“Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.” ― Lao Tzu

I. Strength:

7 x 1 High Hang Clean + 1 Push Jerk

* Rest 60 Seconds

** As Heavy As Possible

Completed: up to 95lbs.

II. Conditioning:

5 Rounds For Total Working Time of:

32 Split Jumps

14 1 Arm Kettlebell Swing  (53/35)  (7 Each Arm, In Any Order)

14 Chest To Bar Pull-Ups

* Rest 1:1

** Swing Kettlebell To Eye Level

Completed: Avg. working time, 1:30 per round.

BURPEES.

“…make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt… once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.” ― Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

Today was one of those WOD’s that you think about all day. You’re at work and the WOD just won’t let you be, it’s there lurking in the back of your mind as you start to do the math. Two rounds of 50 Burpees, well that’s 100 Burpees total. 20 Frontsquats at 70%, cleaned from the ground. I think my last front squat 1RM is 125. Or was it lighter. Probably lighter. It is 100 burpees.

Then rationalization: I’m tired today. Sore from yesterday. I should take a rest day. Work is really busy today. Not sure I’ll get out in time. I should take a rest day.

When I text the word ‘burpees’ my phone auto-corrects it to all caps, ‘BURPEES.’ Seems appropriate.

While Strongman is on Wednesday nights at 7 I was of a mind frame today to mix up the routine. Plus, as scared I was of today’s WOD, I wanted it that much more.

Then Acceptance: Just show up, I told myself. The rest will take care of itself.

So while I watched my Strongman peeps across the hall completing feats of incredible human strength, I relaxed into my own fate as it was laid out before me during the 7pm WOD, 100 burpees and 20 front squats at 75lbs. But first… back squats:

I. Strength:

High Bar Back Squat

1X5 @ 70%, 1X5 @ 75%, 1X3 @ 80%, 1X3 @ 85%, 3X2 @ 90%

* Rest  2 Minutes Between Sets

Completed: at 85lbs., 105lbs., 125lbs., 135lbs., and 145lbs.

 II. Conditioning:

For Time:

50 Burpees

20 Front Squat @ 70% 1RM

50 Burpees

* 12 Minute Time Cap

** Fronts Must Be Cleaned From The Floor.

Completed: at 75lbs., with my last burpee no. 100 just around the 12 minute time cap mark. Done. And Done!

A heart that never hardens…

 “Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.” – Charles Dickens

I. Strength:

Snatch Grip Push Press +  Overhead Squat 3 x 3

* Heavy As Possible

** Rest 60 Seconds Per Set

Completed: working with one of my favorite WOD partners, Nicole. 65lbs, then 75lbs., and 85lbs. At which point my strength failed on the down and I dropped the bar on the back of my neck. Yowzaaa. That didn’t feel so good. But after a good icing, ready for the week ahead. Nicole went on ahead to complete another set at 95lbs. She’s a total Rock Star. Always 10lbs. or so ahead of me and I love it, and her. She’s tall and gorgeous and strong and always encouraging and cheering the person next to her. A true gym beauty.

I don’t remember the last time I did an overhead squat, or the max weight. But I do remember a time when I first started trying them, it was with a green bar at 15lbs. and I could barely get into the squat.

II. Conditioning:

For time:
3 Power Cleans @ 185/120#
30 Wall Balls 20/14#
6 Power Cleans @ 185/120#
9 Power Cleans @ 185/120#
15 Toes 2 Bar
6 Power Cleans @ 185/120#
30 Wall Balls 20/14#
3 Power Cleans @ 185/120#
60 Double-Unders
* 10 Minute Time Limit
Completed: at 85lbs. in just under the 10 minute time cap, in literally 9:59. Woot!