Category: Toes to Bar

Team

“A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.” ― Mickey Mantle

Saturdays are the days when you just want to stay home in the morning and finish your coffee. After a work week of waking up and having to be somewhere, it’s the simplest of joys to wake up and not feel like you have to be somewhere. Even went to be early last night. Alas.

Today’s warm-up deserves to be included as it was a bear for this sleepy Saturday morning riser.

Warm-Up:

20 Push Presses with Barbell

10 Burpees

20 Overhead Lunges with Barbell

10 Burpees

20 Overhead Squats with Barbell

10 Burpees

Completed.

WOD:

Part I.

Back Squat

5 – 3 – 1

Completed: @ 105lbs., then 125lbs., then 145lbs.  With most awesome partner, Lynn. Who I’m pretty sure had a PR, but to date does not record her WODs. Given our awesome performance today, I think that’s about to change.

145lbs. is my current 1 Rep Max and it seemed more than doable. Next time am feeling will be able to go heavier and a new PR is on the horizon.

Part II. With a Partner, 15 Minute AMRAP:

15 Wallballs

10 Toes-to-Bar

5 Ring Dips

*1 partner moving at a time

Completed: 6 Rounds plus, 25. Great job today, Lynn. Thanks for working so hard.

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.

small select arsenal

I’m just going to go ahead and put it out there, sometimes I get pretty serious bouts of anxiety. They come and go, but when they hit, it’s like an unfriendly cloud of Dread that shadows me, always hovering near by, always poking at me and saying, ‘Remember me? I’m here to remind you that things will not turn out like you hoped, that you’re one step away from total ruin and failure, and your closest friends and family can barely put up with you.’

The Dread is a familiar foe having come and gone for most of my life for as far back as can be remembered. Like an old acquaintance that is not welcomed but still keeps showing up nonetheless. When I was younger I was ill-equipped to deal with it, succumbing to its heaviness and sinking into the totality of it.  The routine of it is very familiar. There were some moments of darkness you just wouldn’t wish on anyone. And you wonder if anyone has ever felt like this before. And feel terribly for them if they have, because you know you’re barely hanging on yourself.

As I have gotten older I’ve accumulated a small select arsenal of means to combat the Dread, because when I feel it creeping in like only total darkness can do, the trigger goes off in my brain to get proactive rather than succumb. And this is a good thing. Crossfit has become an integral part of my means to battle the Dread. It never fails. Today in point. I was feeling overwhelmed and not seeing any sort of finish line with particular goals that are held very dear. They all just seem so far away today. Totally unreachable and unrealistic and clearly only a fool could hope for such things (this would be the Dread talking).

It was everything I could do to get to a WOD today. I watched the clock tick and thought of every possible excuse why I couldn’t make it to the 6pm class: ‘It will be too crowded. You are not in the best mood, what if you snap at someone,. You should just go to sleep. Your body is tired. Give yourself a break.’

But I also knew what was really happening, I was ready to jump out of my skin from the fear and angst brought on by the Dread because there are physical symptoms as well, including the increased heart rate.  Sit next to me in a meeting, if my foot is shaking non-stop under the table as it was this morning, chances are the Dread is seeping in. In the end the only real thing that could save me from drowning into it was getting my ass kicked at Crossfit. Because when it’s 3, 2, 1.. Go! The only thing I can think about is completing the very tangible task in front of me, to exhaustion, and that’s all I need to turn off the brain, and shake free from the Dread.

Warm-Up:

Run 200m

20 Burpees

Run 200m

20 Pistols

Completed: one of those days where the warm up is almost as hard as the WOD.

WOD:

I. With a Partner: AMRAP in 10 Minutes:

10 Deadlifts (135/95)

5 Burpees

Completed: 15 rounds total with my awesome partner Carmen.   Great job today!  And at RX! Just going to say this here, I think burpees are getting a little tiny intsy bitsy smidgeon easier.  Shut. Up.

Rest 2 Minutes

II. With a Partner: AMRAP in 10 Minutes:

10 Wall Balls (20/14)

5 Toes-to-Bar

Completed: 17 rounds total. Again at RX.  Woot!

Rest 2 Minutes

III. Run 800m for time

800 meters equals a half mile. Completed: in 4:22.

The arsenal can be put to rest for now. I will sleep well tonight.

when every step needs persuasion

“If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.” ― Thomas A. Edison

WOD:

I. 7 Minutes AMRAP:

7 Power Cleans (135/95)

14 Burpees

Rest 3 minutes

II. 7 Minute AMRAP:

14 Wall Balls (20/14)

7 Toes-to-Bar

Rest 3 Minutes

III. Run 1 Mile

IV. Stretch and Foam Roll

Completed: Part I – 6 Rounds. Part II – 5 Rounds. Power Cleans at 75lbs. Wall Balls at 14lbs. Scaled to 7 Burpees per round in the first go. Wasn’t sure I could, fatigued and tired from yesterday. still completed the run in 9:40. Not gonna lie, every step needed persuasion. Amazing what the mind can do.

real

“Everything you can imagine is real.” ― Pablo Picasso

Warm-Up:

Split Jerk Review

WOD:

I. Rack Jerk

1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1

Completed: at 55lbs., 75lbs., 85 lbs. This was new. Do not recall doing this movement before. Felt pretty good.

II. AMRAP in 9 Minutes:

3 Push Jerks (155/105)

9 Toes-to-Bar

Completed: 9 Rounds at 65lbs.

Overall feeling stuck. Stuck in my fitness improvements, stuck in life. Not moving forward at a measurable pace, thankfully at least not moving backwards. Just stuck. Need to unstick. Not sure how, except in remembering the quote above. If you can imagine it, it is real. Everything we see as real was once imagined. Right down to your iPhone. I feel driven to create.

the drone of the engine

Work is so busy these days. Our team has gone from 5 to 2. And we are coming upon our busiest time of year. Feel like the second to last man standing at the Okay Corral and out of ammunition. It gets so busy, so many requests coming and going, so many different moving parts, layer upon layer of perpetual projects in motion, an all-encumbering machine that steams ahead one hefty chug after another, and I’m running around like a crazy person trying to grease the tracks, hoping nothing falls through the cracks. This is usually when the headaches begin. They are muted and can last for hours. I can still function when they appear, but they are there with me nonetheless throughout the day, reminding me of the drone of the engine and its eternal need to be fed.

Which is one huge reason why I Crossfit. Because when I step into the Triple Wide, and it’s 3, 2, 1… Go! The sound of the droning engine disappears, and with it the headaches, and all I can see is the lovely tangible task in front of me, the steel of the bar, the heft of the bumpers, my sweat on the floor, and my body getting stronger.

Warm-Up:

2 Rounds:

Run 400m

15 Situps to Straddle

15 Situps to Pike

5 Reps of “Inchworm”

WOD:

I. Complete 32 Intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for Max Reps:

Intervals 1 – 8 = Wall Balls (20/14)

Intervals 9 – 16 = Toes-to-Bar

Intervals 17 – 24 = Box Jumps

Intervals 25 – 32 = Russian Swings (70/53)

*There is no rest between exercises

II. Within 4 minutes of completing the final interval:

Run 800m for time

Completed: Goaled at 8 reps per round. The box jumps were extra tough, managed 5 on the low side, 10 on the high. The extra good news, RX on the Wall Balls at 14, and kettle bells at 53lbs. Still knees to stomach level on the T2B. All together with the warm up and WOD, we ended up running a mile. This was good as it reminded me that I signed up for a HALF MARATHON, and in case you haven’t heard, a HALF MARATHON requires RUNNING. Oh. Right. That half-marathon-thingy. We’ll get there.

I do believe it is time to look into getting Level I CF Cert. And while the Certification Classes are offered all over the country, they are sold out through September. Maybe the engine drones for others too.

I’m in!

“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss

I can’t stop signing up for stuff. Somebody help me. Run a 5K? I’m in. Join the ACF Endurance Group? I’m in. Sign up for the POSE Workshop on running form, I’m in! Run a half marathon? I’m in. Do something you said you’d never do like start posting and updating on Facebook. I’m in! Meet up at 8am on a Saturday for a running group? Err… alright. Alright. Fine. I’m in.

CF is taking over. One ‘I’m in!’ at a time. It’s a beautiful thing. I’d make an excellent foot soldier.

Warm-Up:

Practice for 15 minutes:

10 Hollow Rocks

6 Pistols (Each Leg)

3 Strict Pullups

1 Handstand Walk Attempt

*Focus is on quality and control, NOT for rounds completed.

WOD:

I. For Time:

15 Wall Climbs

30 Ring Pushups

45 Toes-to-Bar

*15 Minute Time Cap

Completed: in 9:33. Wall climbs are tough, and I can get maybe a foot or two from the wall. Further and further as the reps continue. Toes-to-bar scaled to knees to hips. Or thereabouts.

II. 3 Attempts:

Max Hold in FLR

Rest 30 Seconds Between Attempts

Completed: longest hold in the first round 1:03.

II. Stretching and Flexibility:

Hold Side Split for 5 Minutes

Hold Middle Split for 5 Minutes