I am back at work after five weeks off. Sadly, those five weeks went way too quickly. I'm missing spending my days hanging out with my dogs... I wonder if they are missing me too!
During my five weeks off I slowly but steadily fell further and further off my paleo bandwagon. Capital Ex, Heritage Days didn't help, but overall I just let things slide. I figured back to work day was as good as any other to start back into the swing of things.
If I'm going to compete in an Oly lifting competition come October (in a weight class I want to be in), I've got to get my weight down another 15-20 pounds. I'm also kind of tired of waking up every morning feeling sick, which seems to correlate rather well with the amount of gluten going into my system. I've also noticed I'm feeling a bit more sluggish in my workouts, which I'm not a huge fan of either.
One of the things I'm switching up this time to see how it goes is that I'm going to try and get my breakfast and lunch ready to take with me the night before (as opposed to the morning of). I don't really like morning and I also want to start making it to work more on time. Not spending 30 minutes in the morning preparing food should help with this.
Tomorrow marks four weeks since I injured my left leg again. I'm definitely making progress (my flexion has improved substantially over the last week) but I'm not 100% yet. I'm able to get deeper in a squat, but can't bottom out yet. I'm hopeful that maybe next week I'll be able to get there. I played hockey on it last week and that felt okay (but strange). I played ball hockey on it on Friday and I felt very tentative (particularly with direction changes and going full out) and was hella sore all the way up my quad on Saturday. But it's getting there.
Since ball hockey season ended on Friday and hockey season doesn't start up until October, I've got a bit of time to kill. I'm hoping to start back with Oly lifting soon (it was great signing up at a gym and injuring myself the very next day), and I'll keep focusing on CrossFit. I've been trying to improve all of my bodyweight movements - dips have been a big focus of mine lately. I'm going to try and get back into HSPUs again now too since I'm not as worried about landing on my leg and hurting myself or something silly.
Oh - and I bought a vest today. Going to try and push myself with some sprints and on the aformentioned bodyweight exercises.
Goals for August:
* 5 unassisted dips (bars)
* 3 unassisted pull ups
* 1 unassisted HSPU (full ROM, no kip)
* finish month one of C25K with vest
Monday, August 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Injury
I've had a lot of random injuries over the last few years. After having plantar fasciitis, ignoring it, having achilles tendonitis (and ignoring that too) and subsequently needing to take about six months off CrossFit before it actually felt better (and playing pretty much a full season of hockey in pain and unable to take a full stride) I learned my lesson about ignoring pain.
Ironically, this didn't end my bouts with random injuries. My achilles started getting better last March/April, when I got orthotics (I now don't use the orthotics, but that's another story). I was back at CrossFit and started off my hockey season not in pain. It was great. Then in November I was playing indoor soccer (my first game, actually) and another player ran through my leg along the boards. This was one of the few times that my incredibly tight muscles were of benefit to me, as my physio believed the tightness of my quad saved my ACL. Instead, I tore my meniscus and part of my quad in my left leg. I missed about three weeks of hockey and from there played in varying degrees of pain for the rest of the season. I returned to CrossFit in February (three months off). Man did I suck. One of our trainers, Jonny, told me it would probably take me as long as I was off to get my leg back to where it should be. That was probably an accurate statement as it wasn't until May that I started feeling comfortable with many movements again (pretty much any squat).
I've been trying to treat my body right and stay injury free, so my frustration level was pretty high that I've managed to get injured once again. We were breaking out of our zone in ball hockey and our centre tossed the ball up so I was trying to run onto it. Running, running, running, PAIN. I haven't actually felt that much pain from an injury before. I tried to put weight on it and it was excruciating. Thankfully the physio who also happens to go to SPARK had an opening the next day. A few needles later and I could at least limp along and we had confirmed that I hadn't done any structural damage to my knee. Instead, it was my quad and hamstring.
Fast forward a week and I'm walking a lot better and regaining range of motion every day. Laurie encouraged me to keep working out while it was healing and work within what I can do. This has meant a lot of rowing. I can't really do our dynamic warm up, or ladder work, or speed work, so while everyone else is warming up I'm typically rowing about 3k. If there's running in a WOD, that's more rowing. Lunges have been subbed for squats. Pull ups I've been doing on the shorter bar so that I don't hurt myself jumping down (which is annoying as I'm just tall enough that I can really kip into another pull up on the short bar without catching my feet on the ground, so my pull ups are pretty much one at a time). I've been able to do all the other movements that have come up. There's been a few comments about maybe taking time off instead of coming, but I would rather go and do what I can. It takes me a long time to get into a habit, but it really does not take me any time at all to break one. I'm used to doing 5-6 workouts a week. If I stop, I'll get used to doing none just as easily and then have to break that habit.
Not to mention that I don't want to take six steps back again. It's bad enough that I can't lift right now (particularly considering that I bought a membership at an Oly gym the day before I injured myself) but I don't want to give up everything. And finally, when I don't go to SPARK I miss the people. The community there is really great, and being around the people makes me laugh, smile, and generally helps me to just unwind. It's a great stress release, and I don't want to lose that either.
Ironically, this didn't end my bouts with random injuries. My achilles started getting better last March/April, when I got orthotics (I now don't use the orthotics, but that's another story). I was back at CrossFit and started off my hockey season not in pain. It was great. Then in November I was playing indoor soccer (my first game, actually) and another player ran through my leg along the boards. This was one of the few times that my incredibly tight muscles were of benefit to me, as my physio believed the tightness of my quad saved my ACL. Instead, I tore my meniscus and part of my quad in my left leg. I missed about three weeks of hockey and from there played in varying degrees of pain for the rest of the season. I returned to CrossFit in February (three months off). Man did I suck. One of our trainers, Jonny, told me it would probably take me as long as I was off to get my leg back to where it should be. That was probably an accurate statement as it wasn't until May that I started feeling comfortable with many movements again (pretty much any squat).
I've been trying to treat my body right and stay injury free, so my frustration level was pretty high that I've managed to get injured once again. We were breaking out of our zone in ball hockey and our centre tossed the ball up so I was trying to run onto it. Running, running, running, PAIN. I haven't actually felt that much pain from an injury before. I tried to put weight on it and it was excruciating. Thankfully the physio who also happens to go to SPARK had an opening the next day. A few needles later and I could at least limp along and we had confirmed that I hadn't done any structural damage to my knee. Instead, it was my quad and hamstring.
Fast forward a week and I'm walking a lot better and regaining range of motion every day. Laurie encouraged me to keep working out while it was healing and work within what I can do. This has meant a lot of rowing. I can't really do our dynamic warm up, or ladder work, or speed work, so while everyone else is warming up I'm typically rowing about 3k. If there's running in a WOD, that's more rowing. Lunges have been subbed for squats. Pull ups I've been doing on the shorter bar so that I don't hurt myself jumping down (which is annoying as I'm just tall enough that I can really kip into another pull up on the short bar without catching my feet on the ground, so my pull ups are pretty much one at a time). I've been able to do all the other movements that have come up. There's been a few comments about maybe taking time off instead of coming, but I would rather go and do what I can. It takes me a long time to get into a habit, but it really does not take me any time at all to break one. I'm used to doing 5-6 workouts a week. If I stop, I'll get used to doing none just as easily and then have to break that habit.
Not to mention that I don't want to take six steps back again. It's bad enough that I can't lift right now (particularly considering that I bought a membership at an Oly gym the day before I injured myself) but I don't want to give up everything. And finally, when I don't go to SPARK I miss the people. The community there is really great, and being around the people makes me laugh, smile, and generally helps me to just unwind. It's a great stress release, and I don't want to lose that either.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
I didn't mean to sound like that...
I contracted a case of whiny bitch-itis yesterday, and I'm not proud of it.
As I may have stated before, I am not a strong runner. In fact, every time those fated letters, "R-U-N" rear their ugly heads on the whiteboard, I pretty much resign myself to the back-of-the-pack. Actually, let's be really honest - I prepare myself for a battle wherein I fight valiantly to not be last.
Does it matter if I'm last? No, not really? It's not like everyone waits by the door to point, laugh, and kick me in the ass. But it's part of that same competitive nature that has you checking the board when you get to the gym, curious how everyone did in the morning on the WOD (or how everyone in the classes after you fared on yesterday's WOD). It's hard to claim that times don't matter when we time everything in the first place, and then go the extra step and write it down. But anyways, times on running WODs matter to me just a little bit more, if only because my pride would love it if I wasn't always huffing and puffing my way in miles behind everyone else.
And based on this wonderous pride of mine, the bitchitis reared itself.
The WOD was similar to yesterday - we had one 800m run, two 400m runs, and four 250m runs. Rest 3min after the 800m, 2min after the 400s and 1min after the 250s. For added fun, we had to do five squats at 80-85% of our 5RM before every run.
I found my way to the back of the pack right off the bat as my squats in the first round were hella slow. But, by the end of the second 400m, I had actually caught up to a few people. This is where things went awry. Instead of taking the 2min rest, a few took 1min. And I got mad, because all of the sudden I was back in the back for a reason that had nothing to do with my running. And I bitched. And as it came out I felt stupid and wished that I could cram it back inside, but my word vomit was already splashed across my little space.
It's a good reminder that I need to be there for me, not anyone else. I need to focus on myself. There's a way to be competitive and want to be better and achieve more that doesn't result in coming off like a petulant child. I'd love to say that running brought out the worst in me, but I can't blame it on running. I bring out the worst in me when I do dumb shit, and that's really what it all comes down to.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Goals (Mostly) Accomplished
We're not quite at the end of June, but it's fast approaching. Also, I've achieved everything I'm going to achieve this month, so here we go:
GOALS FOR JUNE:
* 5 toes to bar
* 1 dead hang pull up
* 1 handstand push up
* 2x400m runs every time that I'm at SPARK
* Alternate dead hang practice and handstand work each time at SPARK
* Get back off the Diet Coke bandwagon (sadly...)
I can now do 5 toes-to-bar (and knees-to-elbows, which for some reason I find more difficult!). I successfully pulled off 2 (!!) dead hang pull ups yesterday, and one handstand push up (although it wasn't strict; I made my way down and kipped my way back up). Since I didn't specify how I achieved said HSPU, so I will declare that one a victory.
I fell off the 400m run bandwagon. This is probably a combination of the rain and my hatred of running. I really do need to get on this one, though. My hatred of running isn't making my running any stronger.
I've been doing well at alternating dead hang and handstand work, so that's been a victory.
And I'm off Diet Coke. And no longer feeling the ill effects of caffeine addiction/withdrawal. I'm trying to be pretty careful about what I do consume so that I don't end up accidentally throwing myself back off. I'm not missing Diet Coke as much as I'm conditioned to expect to drink it in certain situations (going out to eat, etc.). It's actually been pretty interesting to consider these habits more than anything else. I've been drinking a lot of carbonated water/seltzer water/mineral water, as I really do like bubbles and I've found this to be a more than adequate replacement.
I'm trying to decide what my goals are going to be for July. I'm off work for the entire month, so I definitely have a lot more time to play around with and I'm trying to decide what I want to do with that time. I know Becky and I had talked about maybe doing a powerlifting meet in August, and if that's the case, I may go heavy for the month. If we're not doing the PL meet, I might try to build a better cardio base in July. I wouldn't mind doing some cycling, and I guess I should, as mentioned, probably throw in some running *sigh*.
Speaking of running - tonight at SPARK is supposedly a running WOD. In fact, from what I understand, it's yesterday's workout, except with running instead of rowing. Yesterday was:
* 1000m row (rest 3min)
* 2 x 500m row (rest 2 min between each)
*4 x 250m row (rest 1 min between each)
I am absolutely DREADING this as a running WOD. I did quite well on it as a rowing WOD, but sadly my work on the erg does not translate in any way to running. :(
GOALS FOR JUNE:
* 5 toes to bar
* 1 dead hang pull up
* 1 handstand push up
* 2x400m runs every time that I'm at SPARK
* Alternate dead hang practice and handstand work each time at SPARK
* Get back off the Diet Coke bandwagon (sadly...)
I can now do 5 toes-to-bar (and knees-to-elbows, which for some reason I find more difficult!). I successfully pulled off 2 (!!) dead hang pull ups yesterday, and one handstand push up (although it wasn't strict; I made my way down and kipped my way back up). Since I didn't specify how I achieved said HSPU, so I will declare that one a victory.
I fell off the 400m run bandwagon. This is probably a combination of the rain and my hatred of running. I really do need to get on this one, though. My hatred of running isn't making my running any stronger.
I've been doing well at alternating dead hang and handstand work, so that's been a victory.
And I'm off Diet Coke. And no longer feeling the ill effects of caffeine addiction/withdrawal. I'm trying to be pretty careful about what I do consume so that I don't end up accidentally throwing myself back off. I'm not missing Diet Coke as much as I'm conditioned to expect to drink it in certain situations (going out to eat, etc.). It's actually been pretty interesting to consider these habits more than anything else. I've been drinking a lot of carbonated water/seltzer water/mineral water, as I really do like bubbles and I've found this to be a more than adequate replacement.
I'm trying to decide what my goals are going to be for July. I'm off work for the entire month, so I definitely have a lot more time to play around with and I'm trying to decide what I want to do with that time. I know Becky and I had talked about maybe doing a powerlifting meet in August, and if that's the case, I may go heavy for the month. If we're not doing the PL meet, I might try to build a better cardio base in July. I wouldn't mind doing some cycling, and I guess I should, as mentioned, probably throw in some running *sigh*.
Speaking of running - tonight at SPARK is supposedly a running WOD. In fact, from what I understand, it's yesterday's workout, except with running instead of rowing. Yesterday was:
* 1000m row (rest 3min)
* 2 x 500m row (rest 2 min between each)
*4 x 250m row (rest 1 min between each)
I am absolutely DREADING this as a running WOD. I did quite well on it as a rowing WOD, but sadly my work on the erg does not translate in any way to running. :(
Monday, June 20, 2011
Week 1 Down
Been a crazy week. This one should also be pretty busy, but then I'm on vacation for a long-ass time, so I'll take it.
I'm officially a week off of Diet Coke, and with it, caffeine. I think I'm rounding the bend in terms of withdrawal symptoms. Lethargy was one of the biggest ones; even getting 8+ hours of sleep each night, I would wake up groggy. I think I napped on the couch before Fran last week. I wanted to nap on the couch far more nights, but I didn't have the time! Irritability wasn't too bad, but I realized it was there the day that it took way too long for service at a Boston Pizza and I was ready to blow shit up. Apathy was probably my number one symptom; I dragged myself to work and to SPARK, but everything else was a challenge. We ate out a lot last week.
Biggest challenge was probably going to the movies, which we went to on Friday and Saturday. We buy the ticket packages at Costco (well, Saturday we found a coupon in a puddle, but I digress), and they include popcorn and a drink. I ended up drinking iced tea (not paleo, I know, but at least no caffeine) because I didn't want to just not get a drink at all. Thankfully we don't go to a billion movies. :)
It was an interesting week at SPARK. After Fran, I kept waiting for something medium/heavy and legs oriented, and it never really came. Burpees reared their ugly head a couple times.
I was pretty unhappy with my performance on Wednesday. It was an AMRAP with double unders and burpees. The shorts I wore were too big and kept falling down, which messed me up on my double unders. Even when they were up I couldn't get a good rhythm, and I only pulled out 11.5 rounds.
Thursday was all rowing. Really didn't expect that, but I managed to beat my rabbit by 2 seconds on each of the four rows (two 1000s and two 500s). I think my rabbit must have been tired, because the last time we did rowing, she smoked me. My 1000s were 3:52 and 3:54 and my 500s were 1:52 and 1:54. By the time we got to the 500s I was cramping in my legs, which showed in my times. My best 500 is 1:43, and I'd really like to get 1:40 at some point.
Friday was one of the most hellacious workouts I have done in recent memory at SPARK. It was a BEAST. It was a partner WOD, but fun Friday forgot the fun part! It was a chipper of 100 body rows, 150 box jumps, 200 groiners, 250 AMSU and 300 squats that you and your partner had to get to (didn't matter if one person finished more reps than the other). One partner would go and run a half burpee-suicide, with 3 burpees at each line. While they were running, the other partner would chip. Continue this for 39:10 and that was our WOD. My partner saved my ass on the groiners. 100%.
Saturday was a deadlift/dip couplet. 5 deads @ 185# and then 15 dips (it was 10 unassisted, 20 on the boxes; I did 15 on the bar, but with a purple band for assistance). The deads were really easy for me (maybe 20 seconds, tops), so the workout pretty much felt like non-stop dips.
I gave a go at fixing my kip on Saturday as well. This was actually kind of anticlimactic as I just focused on not dying at the bottom and all of the sudden I was stringing pull ups together. I got a set of 12. My previous best was five, so I was pretty excited. I'm going to keep working my dead hangs because really, they've done more for my kipping pull ups than anything else ever has!
Sunday we got up close and personal with a kettlebell. There was a five burpee penalty for each time you put the kettlebell down over the course of the five round WOD. We did overhead squats with the kettlebell for the first time I can remember, and man were they hard! Holding a 35# kettlebell overhead in one hand and trying to squat is toooough.
I played around with a couple lifts after class, just seeing where I could get to. I got a 150# front squat, which actually came up pretty easily, so I figured I might be able to get 160. I couldn't get it in a comfortable rack though (apparently I have a bruise on my right shoulder!) and got stuck in the hole. I'll probably give it another try in a few days. After bailing out my front squat, I played around with power cleans and jerks. I was pleased to discover that I can now power clean 135# with no issues. I used to end up in a deep knee bend to catch it, but now I can power it up. My jerk still needs a lot of work. I "jerked" 135, but it was more of a push press. I cleaned 145, but my crappy jerk form ensured that one didn't get overhead. I need to do some jerk drills and then I think 145 would be easy to get.
I'm officially a week off of Diet Coke, and with it, caffeine. I think I'm rounding the bend in terms of withdrawal symptoms. Lethargy was one of the biggest ones; even getting 8+ hours of sleep each night, I would wake up groggy. I think I napped on the couch before Fran last week. I wanted to nap on the couch far more nights, but I didn't have the time! Irritability wasn't too bad, but I realized it was there the day that it took way too long for service at a Boston Pizza and I was ready to blow shit up. Apathy was probably my number one symptom; I dragged myself to work and to SPARK, but everything else was a challenge. We ate out a lot last week.
Biggest challenge was probably going to the movies, which we went to on Friday and Saturday. We buy the ticket packages at Costco (well, Saturday we found a coupon in a puddle, but I digress), and they include popcorn and a drink. I ended up drinking iced tea (not paleo, I know, but at least no caffeine) because I didn't want to just not get a drink at all. Thankfully we don't go to a billion movies. :)
It was an interesting week at SPARK. After Fran, I kept waiting for something medium/heavy and legs oriented, and it never really came. Burpees reared their ugly head a couple times.
I was pretty unhappy with my performance on Wednesday. It was an AMRAP with double unders and burpees. The shorts I wore were too big and kept falling down, which messed me up on my double unders. Even when they were up I couldn't get a good rhythm, and I only pulled out 11.5 rounds.
Thursday was all rowing. Really didn't expect that, but I managed to beat my rabbit by 2 seconds on each of the four rows (two 1000s and two 500s). I think my rabbit must have been tired, because the last time we did rowing, she smoked me. My 1000s were 3:52 and 3:54 and my 500s were 1:52 and 1:54. By the time we got to the 500s I was cramping in my legs, which showed in my times. My best 500 is 1:43, and I'd really like to get 1:40 at some point.
Friday was one of the most hellacious workouts I have done in recent memory at SPARK. It was a BEAST. It was a partner WOD, but fun Friday forgot the fun part! It was a chipper of 100 body rows, 150 box jumps, 200 groiners, 250 AMSU and 300 squats that you and your partner had to get to (didn't matter if one person finished more reps than the other). One partner would go and run a half burpee-suicide, with 3 burpees at each line. While they were running, the other partner would chip. Continue this for 39:10 and that was our WOD. My partner saved my ass on the groiners. 100%.
Saturday was a deadlift/dip couplet. 5 deads @ 185# and then 15 dips (it was 10 unassisted, 20 on the boxes; I did 15 on the bar, but with a purple band for assistance). The deads were really easy for me (maybe 20 seconds, tops), so the workout pretty much felt like non-stop dips.
I gave a go at fixing my kip on Saturday as well. This was actually kind of anticlimactic as I just focused on not dying at the bottom and all of the sudden I was stringing pull ups together. I got a set of 12. My previous best was five, so I was pretty excited. I'm going to keep working my dead hangs because really, they've done more for my kipping pull ups than anything else ever has!
Sunday we got up close and personal with a kettlebell. There was a five burpee penalty for each time you put the kettlebell down over the course of the five round WOD. We did overhead squats with the kettlebell for the first time I can remember, and man were they hard! Holding a 35# kettlebell overhead in one hand and trying to squat is toooough.
I played around with a couple lifts after class, just seeing where I could get to. I got a 150# front squat, which actually came up pretty easily, so I figured I might be able to get 160. I couldn't get it in a comfortable rack though (apparently I have a bruise on my right shoulder!) and got stuck in the hole. I'll probably give it another try in a few days. After bailing out my front squat, I played around with power cleans and jerks. I was pleased to discover that I can now power clean 135# with no issues. I used to end up in a deep knee bend to catch it, but now I can power it up. My jerk still needs a lot of work. I "jerked" 135, but it was more of a push press. I cleaned 145, but my crappy jerk form ensured that one didn't get overhead. I need to do some jerk drills and then I think 145 would be easy to get.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Progress and Fran
Today started off with an ominous Facebook post from SPARK about today's WOD, calling it an "old favorite". These ominous posts always freak me out because I know it's inevitable that Murph is going to show up sometime this summer and dammit, I'm not ready yet! I really want to be at my goal weight so that it's plausible that I do it fully Rx'ed - vest and all. Last time I did it (two years ago) I was Rx-no vest and I want the full deal.
Although realistically, if I put the vest on now, my weight would be less than where I started at the end of March, because I am officially over 20 pounds down. 21.4 to be exact, putting me just over halfway to my goal weight (20 pounds to go). I finally stepped on the scale this morning as a step towards ensuring I get back to being a bit stricter with my paleo. I had gotten very frustrated with weighing myself because unlike the first month of paleo, the weight wasn't pouring off. So I took a break from it, lest I become super obsessive and angry all the time. The problem with this, however, is that the longer I went without weighing myself, the more paranoid I got that I was actually gaining substantial amounts, thus making me not wanting to get back on the scale. Repeat x infinity. So, it was nice to know that my three week break from the scale didn't kill me, and I'm back on there 3 pounds lighter. I'm hoping that the great Diet Coke banishment, a stricter paleo diet (I've cheated a lot in the last while) and better sleep will help speed my loss up a bit more.
Speaking of Diet Coke banishment, this is day three. The wise internet tells me that caffeine withdrawal can last anywhere from two to nine days, so I may have less than a week to gut that out. I had a bit of a headache this morning, but not too bad (I've had worse coming off of caffeine before). Sluggishness has been my main issue so far. I was sleepy as all hell most of the day, and felt like I had to be super alert in the car this morning to make up for feeling out of sorts. I had trouble sleeping last night, which sucked. Hoping tonight's sleep is better. Last up is apathy/lethargy; I got through the WOD, and took the dog to the park, but actually having to cook dinner? Forget about it. That's why they have the pre-made meatloaf and salad in a bag at the grocery store.
Note to self: remember how much caffeine affects you (and ANYONE) before jumping back on this bandwagon again.
Finally - WOD. As mentioned, Fran reared her head today. It's been so long since I did Fran, I'm pretty sure last time I wasn't Rx'ed. I debated earlier today whether or not to Rx and decided to suck it up and go, with my goal being to come in under 10:00. The worst part was probably trying to do my pull ups on the S2 stand instead of on the pull up rig. At 5'8", I can stand flat footed on the ground and grip the bar, making it a little too short to get into my kip and cycle through pull ups (not that I can cycle that many). The nice thing was being able to easily get on and off the bar, and I actually like the coating on the S2 a ton better than the rig (I didn't need near as much chalk). Anyways, at the end of the day I came in at 8:43. Goal achieved. Next time, sub-8:00. And then, way off in the distance, the top time in our box of 3:29. Dude. Sick.
Although realistically, if I put the vest on now, my weight would be less than where I started at the end of March, because I am officially over 20 pounds down. 21.4 to be exact, putting me just over halfway to my goal weight (20 pounds to go). I finally stepped on the scale this morning as a step towards ensuring I get back to being a bit stricter with my paleo. I had gotten very frustrated with weighing myself because unlike the first month of paleo, the weight wasn't pouring off. So I took a break from it, lest I become super obsessive and angry all the time. The problem with this, however, is that the longer I went without weighing myself, the more paranoid I got that I was actually gaining substantial amounts, thus making me not wanting to get back on the scale. Repeat x infinity. So, it was nice to know that my three week break from the scale didn't kill me, and I'm back on there 3 pounds lighter. I'm hoping that the great Diet Coke banishment, a stricter paleo diet (I've cheated a lot in the last while) and better sleep will help speed my loss up a bit more.
Speaking of Diet Coke banishment, this is day three. The wise internet tells me that caffeine withdrawal can last anywhere from two to nine days, so I may have less than a week to gut that out. I had a bit of a headache this morning, but not too bad (I've had worse coming off of caffeine before). Sluggishness has been my main issue so far. I was sleepy as all hell most of the day, and felt like I had to be super alert in the car this morning to make up for feeling out of sorts. I had trouble sleeping last night, which sucked. Hoping tonight's sleep is better. Last up is apathy/lethargy; I got through the WOD, and took the dog to the park, but actually having to cook dinner? Forget about it. That's why they have the pre-made meatloaf and salad in a bag at the grocery store.
Note to self: remember how much caffeine affects you (and ANYONE) before jumping back on this bandwagon again.
Finally - WOD. As mentioned, Fran reared her head today. It's been so long since I did Fran, I'm pretty sure last time I wasn't Rx'ed. I debated earlier today whether or not to Rx and decided to suck it up and go, with my goal being to come in under 10:00. The worst part was probably trying to do my pull ups on the S2 stand instead of on the pull up rig. At 5'8", I can stand flat footed on the ground and grip the bar, making it a little too short to get into my kip and cycle through pull ups (not that I can cycle that many). The nice thing was being able to easily get on and off the bar, and I actually like the coating on the S2 a ton better than the rig (I didn't need near as much chalk). Anyways, at the end of the day I came in at 8:43. Goal achieved. Next time, sub-8:00. And then, way off in the distance, the top time in our box of 3:29. Dude. Sick.
Monday, June 13, 2011
315!!!
M and I went off to Becky's garage for a WOD on Saturday morning. It was a play on one that we had done earlier in the week at SPARK:
12 minute AMRAP:
3 power cleans (heavy)
6 push ups
9 tuck jumps / 9 ball slams
The AMRAP we had done earlier in the week was 3 pull ups, 6 KBS @ 35# and 9 tuck jumps. I wanted something different than tuck jumps again, which is where the ball slams came in. M went with tuck jumps.
I did my power cleans at 125 and the ball slams at 20. My push ups were Rx'd (yay). I finished with 8 1/3 rounds. Push ups were my slow down factor. Still working those bodyweight movements! This version was definitely a harder AMRAP than the other one, as I came in at 12 rounds before. But, more exciting than the WOD was messing around afterwards.
Becky's husband had a belt in the garage and unlike Becky's at SPARK, his actually fit me. So I figured, hey, why not try deadlifting with a belt? So try I did and boom, got my 315 DL. It was ugly (just like all my other PRs), but it actually came off the ground easier than when I got 310. I think if we hadn't done heavy deads on Thursday and I wasn't post-WOD, I could probably get to 320. I'll give it another try sometime.
In other PR news, I FINALLY got a 100# press on Friday. I was just messing around before class with some presses and decided I'd try it. 100 went up a lot easier than I thought it would, but I couldn't get 105. Hopefully someday soon.
Took a day off yesterday, back at it tonight. Yesterday was also day one off the diet coke; today is day two. Feeling a little bit tired, which I kind of expected. I imagine this week is not going to be the most pleasant, but it's a necessary evil.
I also need to mention that the room darkening experiment is going well so far. In the three nights that we've closed the roll shutters/blinds/added blackout shades, I feel that I'm sleeping a lot deeper. I am actually dreaming again! We'll see if this continues longer term.
12 minute AMRAP:
3 power cleans (heavy)
6 push ups
9 tuck jumps / 9 ball slams
The AMRAP we had done earlier in the week was 3 pull ups, 6 KBS @ 35# and 9 tuck jumps. I wanted something different than tuck jumps again, which is where the ball slams came in. M went with tuck jumps.
I did my power cleans at 125 and the ball slams at 20. My push ups were Rx'd (yay). I finished with 8 1/3 rounds. Push ups were my slow down factor. Still working those bodyweight movements! This version was definitely a harder AMRAP than the other one, as I came in at 12 rounds before. But, more exciting than the WOD was messing around afterwards.
Becky's husband had a belt in the garage and unlike Becky's at SPARK, his actually fit me. So I figured, hey, why not try deadlifting with a belt? So try I did and boom, got my 315 DL. It was ugly (just like all my other PRs), but it actually came off the ground easier than when I got 310. I think if we hadn't done heavy deads on Thursday and I wasn't post-WOD, I could probably get to 320. I'll give it another try sometime.
In other PR news, I FINALLY got a 100# press on Friday. I was just messing around before class with some presses and decided I'd try it. 100 went up a lot easier than I thought it would, but I couldn't get 105. Hopefully someday soon.
Took a day off yesterday, back at it tonight. Yesterday was also day one off the diet coke; today is day two. Feeling a little bit tired, which I kind of expected. I imagine this week is not going to be the most pleasant, but it's a necessary evil.
I also need to mention that the room darkening experiment is going well so far. In the three nights that we've closed the roll shutters/blinds/added blackout shades, I feel that I'm sleeping a lot deeper. I am actually dreaming again! We'll see if this continues longer term.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
All or Nothing
For the last 20 minutes or so I've been googling variations such as "Diet Coke and bad", "Diet Coke and paleo", "why I shouldn't drink Diet Coke", "is club soda paleo?" and others.
I love Diet Coke. Or Pepsi. Or the No Name brand you can pick up at the grocery store. If it's tar black, bubbly and comes in that telltale can or bottle, I love it. If I can pick it up for $1.00 all summer long at McDonald's, I'm down. I know it's bad - terrible, really - but I love the shit.
And I need to give it up. You see, at the end of March I did give it up. For the first six weeks of my paleo adventure, there were no diet sodas. I drank tea during the morning at work and then water the rest of the time. Then it started getting warmer, and the aforementioned dollar days kicked in, and the little voice in my head said "oh, just have one". And it's been getting worse and worse ever since.
Drinking the diets has made it easier for other crappy foods to slip back into my daily life. It's definitely affected my sleep. In fact, I would say that the manner in which its affecting my sleep is worse than it was before I started paleo - by the time I went to bed before, I was ready to just pass out, and I slept soundly, even with the caffeine. In the time I was paleo and off diet coke, I was ready to fall asleep by 10:30-11:00 and sleeping soundly, waking up pretty well rested the next morning. Now I'm still awake at 12:00 (or in tonight's case, 2am) feeling "tired but awake" and am definitely not sleeping as soundly. Last week on the days I was off work I slept in until 10:00 or so, but the last three hours didn't actually feel like sleep. I've been waking up blah. It sucks.
The no name brand soda has been giving me stomach pain. I ACTUALLY CONTINUE TO DRINK SOMETHING THAT IS ACTIVELY MAKING ME SICK. This is probably one of the most ridiculous statements in here, and I shake my head even writing it, but it's true.
The amount of times that "oh, I should just run through McDick's and grab a large, it's only $1" runs through my head is absurd. There have been times I think about altering my route on the way home so that I actually go by one.
I let it sneak back into my life and I am paying for that dearly.
And starting tomorrow, it needs to leave again. It's all or nothing, and I have to choose nothing. One little sip leads to one can, which leads to sucking back soda after soda (free refills!) wherever I happen to be. Food in particular and diet coke especially is one of those things that I really have to be all or nothing with.
You know, the weird thing is that it's not like I actively dislike the taste of water. I can suck it back like a champ too. It's just something about that fizz of the can cracking open, or the bubbles hitting the back of my throat. I am an addict, there's no denying it.
I keep having to remind myself that what I do with diet coke is not normal. Other people do not consume it in this fashion. It is not a water substitute. It is not healthy. The shit in there is gross. I really need to remember that. It's chemical after chemical after chemical.
This article was really good: http://brentscrossfitpaleolife.com/2011/03/09/can-you-get-hooked-on-diet-soda/
So yes, tomorrow once again begins my attempts to kick a horrible habit. This time I need to make sure it sticks.
I love Diet Coke. Or Pepsi. Or the No Name brand you can pick up at the grocery store. If it's tar black, bubbly and comes in that telltale can or bottle, I love it. If I can pick it up for $1.00 all summer long at McDonald's, I'm down. I know it's bad - terrible, really - but I love the shit.
And I need to give it up. You see, at the end of March I did give it up. For the first six weeks of my paleo adventure, there were no diet sodas. I drank tea during the morning at work and then water the rest of the time. Then it started getting warmer, and the aforementioned dollar days kicked in, and the little voice in my head said "oh, just have one". And it's been getting worse and worse ever since.
Drinking the diets has made it easier for other crappy foods to slip back into my daily life. It's definitely affected my sleep. In fact, I would say that the manner in which its affecting my sleep is worse than it was before I started paleo - by the time I went to bed before, I was ready to just pass out, and I slept soundly, even with the caffeine. In the time I was paleo and off diet coke, I was ready to fall asleep by 10:30-11:00 and sleeping soundly, waking up pretty well rested the next morning. Now I'm still awake at 12:00 (or in tonight's case, 2am) feeling "tired but awake" and am definitely not sleeping as soundly. Last week on the days I was off work I slept in until 10:00 or so, but the last three hours didn't actually feel like sleep. I've been waking up blah. It sucks.
The no name brand soda has been giving me stomach pain. I ACTUALLY CONTINUE TO DRINK SOMETHING THAT IS ACTIVELY MAKING ME SICK. This is probably one of the most ridiculous statements in here, and I shake my head even writing it, but it's true.
The amount of times that "oh, I should just run through McDick's and grab a large, it's only $1" runs through my head is absurd. There have been times I think about altering my route on the way home so that I actually go by one.
I let it sneak back into my life and I am paying for that dearly.
And starting tomorrow, it needs to leave again. It's all or nothing, and I have to choose nothing. One little sip leads to one can, which leads to sucking back soda after soda (free refills!) wherever I happen to be. Food in particular and diet coke especially is one of those things that I really have to be all or nothing with.
You know, the weird thing is that it's not like I actively dislike the taste of water. I can suck it back like a champ too. It's just something about that fizz of the can cracking open, or the bubbles hitting the back of my throat. I am an addict, there's no denying it.
I keep having to remind myself that what I do with diet coke is not normal. Other people do not consume it in this fashion. It is not a water substitute. It is not healthy. The shit in there is gross. I really need to remember that. It's chemical after chemical after chemical.
This article was really good: http://brentscrossfitpaleolife.com/2011/03/09/can-you-get-hooked-on-diet-soda/
So yes, tomorrow once again begins my attempts to kick a horrible habit. This time I need to make sure it sticks.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Closer...closer...
I am on a bodyweight movement crusade right now. Typically if I can not Rx a workout, one of these exercises is the reason why. Handstand push ups, dips, toes to bar, knees to elbows, and though it doesn't come up in WODs, dead hang pull ups. I also need to work on my standard push ups, although those I can do Rx (just not quickly in large quantities). I haven't started working on dips yet, though I really should. The rest I have been, and am making progress.
Dead hangs I try to do five sets of five at least three times per week. This week I switched from a blue (larger) band to a green (medium). I've tried to do a dead hang sans bands and I'm getting closer, but not quite there. Hoping to move to a purple (small) band next week, but we will see. The later reps will definitely be the issue.
I actually randomly discovered that I could do toes to bar, so I've continued working on that skill. I've gone from stringing two together (last week) to three (Monday) and then four today. I got close to five, but I couldn't get my toes to actually touch the bar. Damn. I think being able to do 10 in a row is a decent starting goal.
Annoyingly, I can do T2B but not K2E. I keep just missing my elbows. I'm close though, so I'm hoping to get this within the week.
My HSPU has progressed from handstand hold to learning to move. I started with three blue mats (very little ROM) and then progressed to two blue mats and an abmat, which I now feel comfortable with. Today after class I got rid of the abmat, leaving me with two blue mats. I didn't quite get all the way down, but a friend in the next class said I'm missing the mat by centimetres, so I'm fairly confident I can get this very soon. Then I'll move to one blue and an abmat, and so on. Getting there!
Dips are tough. I don't think I get full ROM when I try to do them without bands, so I will probably start incorporating dips with a purple band into my out of class work.
Push ups I've been trying to remember to do at home, when I'm bored at work, etc. Just need to "grease that groove" and just get used to doing them from the toes for more reps.
I also worked on front squats today in sets of 15. I'm typically strong for 2-5 reps of something and then I start to fade quickly, so I really want to get some work in on strength-endurance. This goes double for anything that's strength-endurance and legs related, since I'm probably 90% healed from my meniscus and quad injury in November. I feel like I've regained most of the strength in the leg (when I first started back at CrossFit I struggled with box jumps, double unders, squatting - especially overhead - really, just anything leg related and especially explosive) so I feel like I can focus in more on getting the endurance. It's all fine and good to be able to lift a high amount of poundage once or twice, but it doesn't do a whole heck of a lot of good when a WOD calls for 30 squats and I'm dying in the twenties (partner WOD with the Zercher squats, I'm looking at you!).
Dead hangs I try to do five sets of five at least three times per week. This week I switched from a blue (larger) band to a green (medium). I've tried to do a dead hang sans bands and I'm getting closer, but not quite there. Hoping to move to a purple (small) band next week, but we will see. The later reps will definitely be the issue.
I actually randomly discovered that I could do toes to bar, so I've continued working on that skill. I've gone from stringing two together (last week) to three (Monday) and then four today. I got close to five, but I couldn't get my toes to actually touch the bar. Damn. I think being able to do 10 in a row is a decent starting goal.
Annoyingly, I can do T2B but not K2E. I keep just missing my elbows. I'm close though, so I'm hoping to get this within the week.
My HSPU has progressed from handstand hold to learning to move. I started with three blue mats (very little ROM) and then progressed to two blue mats and an abmat, which I now feel comfortable with. Today after class I got rid of the abmat, leaving me with two blue mats. I didn't quite get all the way down, but a friend in the next class said I'm missing the mat by centimetres, so I'm fairly confident I can get this very soon. Then I'll move to one blue and an abmat, and so on. Getting there!
Dips are tough. I don't think I get full ROM when I try to do them without bands, so I will probably start incorporating dips with a purple band into my out of class work.
Push ups I've been trying to remember to do at home, when I'm bored at work, etc. Just need to "grease that groove" and just get used to doing them from the toes for more reps.
I also worked on front squats today in sets of 15. I'm typically strong for 2-5 reps of something and then I start to fade quickly, so I really want to get some work in on strength-endurance. This goes double for anything that's strength-endurance and legs related, since I'm probably 90% healed from my meniscus and quad injury in November. I feel like I've regained most of the strength in the leg (when I first started back at CrossFit I struggled with box jumps, double unders, squatting - especially overhead - really, just anything leg related and especially explosive) so I feel like I can focus in more on getting the endurance. It's all fine and good to be able to lift a high amount of poundage once or twice, but it doesn't do a whole heck of a lot of good when a WOD calls for 30 squats and I'm dying in the twenties (partner WOD with the Zercher squats, I'm looking at you!).
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
No Rep
There has been a lot of talk coming out of CrossFit Regionals, particularly with regards to some of the judging standards. Arguably the biggest issue thus far has been in the Mid-Atlantic over the kettlebell swing standard. AJ Moore, who finished 1st, 2nd and 2nd in the first three WODs, was “no rep”-ed approximately 60 times in the fourth WOD (100s) and ended up finishing in 30th (last place) for the WOD. He subsequently finished 2nd in WOD 5 and 6th in the final chipper WOD, leaving him in fourth place, four points shy of the final Games spot.
And here we arrive at judging. The wonderful, subjective world of judging. I judged once during the Open – during the clean, toes to bar, wall ball AMRAP. Toes to bar were easy to judge – did your toes physically hit the bar? Good. If they didn’t, no rep. The cleans were also pretty easy to judge – it might be difficult on a quicker athlete to really make sure that the hips and knees fully extend, but there wasn’t much here to be subjective on. Then came the wall ball. Gone was the medicine ball depth checker, ensuring that everyone had to get to full parallel and no one was able to use the med ball to propel themselves back upward. What entered, however, was subjectivity. It’s not like we’re talking about a squat at a powerlifting meet, where the athlete is not exactly moving a breakneck speed. We’re talking about 15 reps, done in about 20 seconds. You have less than a second to decide whether or not they were deep enough. Margin of error? Higher than the other two, for sure.
Most of the movements in the Open were easier to judge – power snatch (actually “ground to overhead anyhow), double under, deadlift, push up with hand release, jerk, burpee, muscle up, chest to bar pull ups. Squat cleans, overhead squats and thrusters have the similar depth issues I talked about above, but overall, it should have been relatively easy for a judge to give an accurate assessment of an athlete’s performance.
Enter Regionals. Really, for the first three workouts there isn’t too much that is super hard to judge. WOD 4 is where things started to go south. Namely, here:
At the top of the swing, the kettlebell must be fully inverted (bell over the handle), centered over the feet with the hips and knees fully extended and the arms straight. At the bottom, the wrists must touch the thighs and the bell must pass behind the heels. There is no requirement for flexing the knees.
Previously, the more common standard was this:
The KB must come between the legs and be raised above head at arms ext, ears clearly seen in front of the arms.
So essentially, for judging purposes, we’ve gone from needing to make sure the KB comes between the legs and goes overhead such that one can see the ears in front of the arms, to needing to make sure the bell is “fully inverted”. Consider this from the perspective of the athlete. They can’t actually see the bell above their head. When the standard was ears in front of arms, this was easy for the athlete to make sure they’re doing. With bell “fully inverted”, what can the athlete do to ensure this actually happens?
Problem. They can’t. And more to the point, someone now has to determine whether the bell is “fully inverted” in the short amount of time that it’s above the athlete’s head.
Here’s two examples from this week-end. First, Annie T in Europe. Second, AJ Moore in the Mid-Atlantic.
First, an accepted KBS. Second, one of approximately 60 “no reps”.
I’m not trying to pick on Annie, as she’s a firebreathing beast that could totally kick my ass. But what is different about these two reps? Look at AJ’s body position; how is he cheating the movement? That bell is as inverted as it’s going to get without ending up behind him. Look at Annie’s body position; her arms are extended above the head, her ears are visible (so she’s got the old standard covered), but that bell is definitely not vertical. Her judge even acknowledges as much throughout the video when he prompts her with “higher” after many of her reps. In one example, close enough was good enough. In the other, it demolished a top competitor.
I’m assuming that the goal of movement standards is to (a) ensure that everyone is held to the same expectations; and (b) to catch and outlaw the little tweaks and cheats that people innovate over time. I presume the goal was not to nitpick someone out of a spot to the Games.
If it’s a skill movement that an athlete cannot perform (like a muscle up, or a 95 pound squat snatch) then we are having a different conversation. But we’re talking about swinging a kettlebell overhead.
Every person is different and, unsurprisingly, every judge is different. It’s because of this that not only do we need to clearly outline standards, but they need to be standards that are easy enough to uphold. Let’s be realistic – there are 4-5 Regionals going on every week-end, each with a potential 60 male, 60 female and 30 teams competing. That’s a lot of required judges. A large number of your “upper echelon” CrossFitters (be it coaches, or athletes with certifications) are already competing, cutting down the potential pool of judges. This is a volunteer position, so if the Regionals are particularly far from where you live, you’re probably not paying out of pocket to go help out (good on those who can). That cuts the pool down even more. Recognizing who you are potentially left with, it would seem to be in everyone’s best interest to make everything as foolproof as possible. Are errors inevitable? Sure, look at the debates in any judged sport. But the goal needs to be eliminating as many of these questions of subjectivity as possible.
The Regionals KBS, in particular, does not achieve this goal.
My heart goes out to AJ, who by all accounts is a great guy. His quote about the entire situation got me teared up a little:
I'm not sure anything can be said to change what has been done, I've never complained at all about anything, but by seeing other videos out there of judges being more lenient than others I am kind of disgruntled. I just worked so long and hard to get to the games and sacrificed so much that I really did shed a few tears. And after realizing that someone formed this facebook page I shed some more. I am blessed to have so much support and love from so many people. I used to train for myself and get some kind of personal gratification from winning. I realize now and it came to me throughout the weekend of regionals after I was approached by so many young kids, ranging from 3 years old (I really had to hold the tears in until I was by myself when a little girl ran up and gave me a hug) to in their teens giving me high fives and hugs, from some I knew and some I didn't, that I wasn't doing it for myself, that I affected more than just a couple people and for that I thank all of the people out there for their support, but what is done is done, I gave it all I had at least.
The Facebook page mentioned is: https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_232519443431900
My Paleo Bandwagon
I began eating paleo at the end of March in the hopes of getting to a more ideal body weight. This goal is (primarily) twofold: I want to look better naked, and I want to perform better in physical endeavors (so at SPARK, hockey and ball hockey). This is my second time trying to eat paleo; I had moderate success the first time (it made me feel better), but I cheated a lot more. Essentially, M was away on a course and would come back on the week-ends. So I would eat paleo during the week and then cram away the carbs when she was back. My paleo eating choices the first time also weren’t so great. But hey, live and learn. That’s what round two was for, right?
So this time around, I follow a ton of paleo blogs so that I can have constant recipe inspiration. I have a better grip on the whys and hows of what I’m doing. The number that I started with on the scale was a huge motivator to get on the paleo wagon and stop hopping on and off because I needed to get that weight off.
Fast forward two months. I’m down 18 pounds. I’ve gotten comments at the gym. My dress pants fit again. The shorts that I bought at the end of April are getting a little too loose and the ones that I tried on then that didn’t fit I bought this last week-end. After spending two years buying my lunch almost every day, I have brought a lunch for eight weeks straight. I don’t feel tired or bloated after every meal. I am more clear-headed and the black cloud that I’ve felt follow me around as long as I can remember isn’t there anymore. What paleo has given me thus far, honestly, is nothing short of amazing.
But – and even as I write it I can see how ridiculous it is – thoughts keep popping into my head that I need to abandon ship because the scale has been stuck in the same spot for the last two weeks. Batten down the hatches, because now I will never reach my goal. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. If the pounds can’t continue to fly off, then obviously this paleo thing must be crap – and if it’s crap, why am I denying myself all the awesome foods I’m missing. Shit, I want my damn burrito and I want it right now! Stomach pains be damned, I want my chips!
This is the part where I ignore the fact that the last two weeks are also when I started to cheat a little bit more. You see, for the first six weeks of my paleo life, unlike some people, for whom there are cravings and hunger and assorted badness, me and paleo went on a wonderous honeymoon. I didn’t experience gnawing hunger (something I was quite familiar with). I felt full and sated an incredibly large portion of the time. Then, “that time” of the month arrived. I was no longer full. I ate my lunch at 10:30 in the morning and then scrounged for seconds by 1:00. By the time “that time” was over, well, it was time for the May 2-4 week-end. Off to a party at a friend’s place! Oh look, beans! I’ll take some of those. And this fruit dip. And maybe I’ll eat four hot dogs (in my defense, they weren’t all at once! Not much of a defense, but still…). And then my referee assignor called me last minute. No time to find dinner? It’s ok, I’ll eat a Builders Bar. And then I had to run from the gym to pick up my dog and go straight to agility. Well, the Builders Bar worked last time. Finally, McDonald’s started their dollar drink days again; what is one of my favorite things? Giant sodas for a loonie! Gimme my Diet Coke!
Two of these weeks are not like the others…two of these weeks are not the same. Should I really be all that shocked that my progress has stagnated a bit, given that I’ve gone from pretty strict adherence (and a pretty low carb count) to an aspartame and caffeine infused relative-carboload?
Maybe before I throw my paleo baby out with the bath water, I should be a little more realistic about what I’m doing and how what I’m doing may actually be making an impact.
And despite my perfectionist tendencies, 18 pounds in two months is really pretty decent. Maybe if I stop sabotaging myself, I’ll hit 25 in three.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Being Better
Today I had the pleasure of working out in a friend's garage. I'm pretty sure I even managed to get there this morning without getting a photo radar ticket (my memento from our last workout!). We did the first workout the Saturday before Canada West Regionals and took last week-end off (because one of our workout partners was at Regionals and the garage's owner was off taking her personal training certification exam). I think it might become a reasonably consistent thing, which would be great as training with them is awesome.
Who is them? Two of SPARK's resident firebreathers, 11th and 16th in the Open. D then went on to Regionals, where she finished 12th. Not only are they both amazing athletes, but they are positively great people. I love these workouts because they give me an opportunity to train with some of the best. They may beat me by five minutes on a WOD, but I think I get a little better every time I work with them. There's the physical element to this game, but I learn so much about the mental side too - I see them push and push and push, able to do set after set unbroken and it makes me think about my pace, my work. Did I put that plate down because I really couldn't do another rep, or because I didn't want to? How much harder can I push myself?
It's a similar feeling to some of the partner WODs we've done at SPARK. Fridays are often a partner WOD day and this makes it one of the days that I hate to miss. For one, it's something different (and it's always nice to change it up a bit) and for two, I really think working with someone else forces me, at least, to work harder. Our most recent partner WOD (Friday) I went with another one of SPARK's serious firebreathers, G. He is an absolute beast. Seriously. It was a three-part workout, the first part being a portion of Annie (30-20-10 of double unders and AMSU for time). It was set up such that one partner would start the double unders and when they were done that part, the other person would start the WOD and then you would both go straight through. Time stops when you're both done. I started. G caught me before the end of the 30 AMSUs. Our time was 2:48 total, so it's not like I was crazy slow. Like I said, he is a BEAST. Anyways, the third part of the WOD was a partner 10 minute AMRAP of Cindy. One partner would do 3 pull ups, then the other. Then the same with six push ups. Repeat for eight squats. Let me tell you, knowing that G was always there, always behind me, always ready to go, I knew I had to keep going. The hardest part was the push ups, although my pull ups were a close second given that (a) we had done pull ups the day before, too; and (b) I'm still struggling with my kip, but knowing he was there, I kept going. I didn't let the voice in my head let me stop until that clock was at 0:00.
Being pushed is a good thing.
Who is them? Two of SPARK's resident firebreathers, 11th and 16th in the Open. D then went on to Regionals, where she finished 12th. Not only are they both amazing athletes, but they are positively great people. I love these workouts because they give me an opportunity to train with some of the best. They may beat me by five minutes on a WOD, but I think I get a little better every time I work with them. There's the physical element to this game, but I learn so much about the mental side too - I see them push and push and push, able to do set after set unbroken and it makes me think about my pace, my work. Did I put that plate down because I really couldn't do another rep, or because I didn't want to? How much harder can I push myself?
It's a similar feeling to some of the partner WODs we've done at SPARK. Fridays are often a partner WOD day and this makes it one of the days that I hate to miss. For one, it's something different (and it's always nice to change it up a bit) and for two, I really think working with someone else forces me, at least, to work harder. Our most recent partner WOD (Friday) I went with another one of SPARK's serious firebreathers, G. He is an absolute beast. Seriously. It was a three-part workout, the first part being a portion of Annie (30-20-10 of double unders and AMSU for time). It was set up such that one partner would start the double unders and when they were done that part, the other person would start the WOD and then you would both go straight through. Time stops when you're both done. I started. G caught me before the end of the 30 AMSUs. Our time was 2:48 total, so it's not like I was crazy slow. Like I said, he is a BEAST. Anyways, the third part of the WOD was a partner 10 minute AMRAP of Cindy. One partner would do 3 pull ups, then the other. Then the same with six push ups. Repeat for eight squats. Let me tell you, knowing that G was always there, always behind me, always ready to go, I knew I had to keep going. The hardest part was the push ups, although my pull ups were a close second given that (a) we had done pull ups the day before, too; and (b) I'm still struggling with my kip, but knowing he was there, I kept going. I didn't let the voice in my head let me stop until that clock was at 0:00.
Being pushed is a good thing.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
New Month
So, another month has come and gone. I'm actually pretty thrown at how quickly April and May have gone by!
SPARK WODs: 24
Garage Gym WODs: 1
CrossFit 1MP WODs: 1
TOTAL: 26
Rest Days: May 1, 6, 9, 14, 25
Bad Idea of the Month: 10 straight days of WODs. I think doing work every day is good, but the volume and intensity of 10 straight SPARK WODs was a little much. By day 10 (May 24) I was absolutely spent. I am trying to go back to my 4-on-1-off split, but may increase what I actually do on that "off day". Overall - just listening to my body.
Accomplishments:
GOALS FOR JUNE:
* 5 toes to bar
* 1 dead hang pull up
* 1 handstand push up
* 2x400m runs every time that I'm at SPARK
* Alternate dead hang practice and handstand work each time at SPARK
* Get back off the Diet Coke bandwagon (sadly...)
SPARK WODs: 24
Garage Gym WODs: 1
CrossFit 1MP WODs: 1
TOTAL: 26
Rest Days: May 1, 6, 9, 14, 25
Bad Idea of the Month: 10 straight days of WODs. I think doing work every day is good, but the volume and intensity of 10 straight SPARK WODs was a little much. By day 10 (May 24) I was absolutely spent. I am trying to go back to my 4-on-1-off split, but may increase what I actually do on that "off day". Overall - just listening to my body.
Accomplishments:
- Rx'ed Cindy (20 minute AMRAP - 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats) - 10 2/3 rounds. I was nowhere near our firebreathers (24ish rounds) and I didn't even catch my rabbit (12 rounds), but bodyweight WODs are not my forte and I was proud of Rx'ing everything, the whole time.
- Double unders - May 26 we did 10 rounds of 250m row and 20 double unders. I did the majority of my rounds unbroken. It was a day when my double unders just clicked and felt right.
- Nancy (400m run, 15 65# OHS x 5 rounds) - 22:19. Not fast, but one I intend to do later in the summer and crush my time. My runs just need to be stronger.
- 500m row time trial - 1:45.0 - this actually isn't my best time (1:43.3 - done way back in July of 2010!), but it gave me a lot to think about for my next time trial. I came out of the gate at 1:31 and held that for 150m or so, but then I get self doubt about how long I can post that. I was in the 1:50-1:55 range from 150m until 400m and then I cranked it up again and was around 1:38. Next time I'm going to focus on maintaining one solid pace for the first 400m and then cranking it the last 100m. I think that's the key for me busting through the 1:43.3. If I could turn my brain off and just sit with the discomfort, I know I can break 1:40.
- I survived the 100m lunge/700m run x 4 WOD. It took me over 30 minutes, but I did it. I was so scared of this WOD beforehand - it was the first really big test for my knee/quad and it held up. This was my first WOD of May and after doing it I feel like I really turned a corner in stopping to mentally block myself with the injury excuse.
GOALS FOR JUNE:
* 5 toes to bar
* 1 dead hang pull up
* 1 handstand push up
* 2x400m runs every time that I'm at SPARK
* Alternate dead hang practice and handstand work each time at SPARK
* Get back off the Diet Coke bandwagon (sadly...)
There's WHAT in that burger?
Since I started eating paleo, I've been paying a lot more attention to what's in different products. Fillers, additives; really, there's a lot of random crap in mass produced products. The majority of the time I try to cook all my own meals and use simple ingredients, so I don't encounter a ton of crazy stuff. Last night, however, was a bit different.
My hockey team runs a booth at the football stadium in town. In addition to slinging beer, we also offer burgers, fries, onion rings - all your standard fried foods. With the onion rings, fries, popcorn shrimp, honestly - I expect them to be full of assorted crap. I'm about to drop them into hot oil; there's really no pretending that they're in any way going to be good for you. But man, was I shocked by the burger patties.
We sell four different burgers: hamburger, bison, chicken and soy. I was plesantly surprised by the bison burgers - they are made by this company and contained about four ingredients (ground bison and three spices). Good start, right?
This whole examination actually started because of the hamburgers. We happened to notice the caloric content label on the box and we thrown for a loop that the burger patty came in at around 500. Just the patty. And unlike the bison, these are 4oz instead of 6. Still need to add a bun, possibly some cheese, and some condiments. So we were like "hm, what the hell is in here that is jacking it up?" The answer? A crapton of chemicals, some random bread crumbs, yeast, maybe milk. Really, whatever they had laying around.
The box of chicken burgers actually freaked me out the most. I've never liked them, to be perfectly honest - they look creepy straight out of the box. What was the last ingredient on the huge list? Propylene glycol. Honestly, I don't care if something has been "approved" as a food additive; if it goes into antifreeze, I don't think I should be eating it with my dinner.
I guess I can take solace in the bison burgers. At least there's one product in our booth I wouldn't feel terrible eating. But if anything, the bison burgers make me wonder - is there not maybe an equivalent beef product that we could be serving instead of the patty of doom?
My hockey team runs a booth at the football stadium in town. In addition to slinging beer, we also offer burgers, fries, onion rings - all your standard fried foods. With the onion rings, fries, popcorn shrimp, honestly - I expect them to be full of assorted crap. I'm about to drop them into hot oil; there's really no pretending that they're in any way going to be good for you. But man, was I shocked by the burger patties.
We sell four different burgers: hamburger, bison, chicken and soy. I was plesantly surprised by the bison burgers - they are made by this company and contained about four ingredients (ground bison and three spices). Good start, right?
This whole examination actually started because of the hamburgers. We happened to notice the caloric content label on the box and we thrown for a loop that the burger patty came in at around 500. Just the patty. And unlike the bison, these are 4oz instead of 6. Still need to add a bun, possibly some cheese, and some condiments. So we were like "hm, what the hell is in here that is jacking it up?" The answer? A crapton of chemicals, some random bread crumbs, yeast, maybe milk. Really, whatever they had laying around.
The box of chicken burgers actually freaked me out the most. I've never liked them, to be perfectly honest - they look creepy straight out of the box. What was the last ingredient on the huge list? Propylene glycol. Honestly, I don't care if something has been "approved" as a food additive; if it goes into antifreeze, I don't think I should be eating it with my dinner.
I guess I can take solace in the bison burgers. At least there's one product in our booth I wouldn't feel terrible eating. But if anything, the bison burgers make me wonder - is there not maybe an equivalent beef product that we could be serving instead of the patty of doom?
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
I Can't.
"How many times do I shut down opportunity by saying that I can’t, when that’s not really the true story? I’m thinking about how much more powerful it is to say what’s really true, whether that means saying “I don’t want to,” “I want to, but I need help thinking about how to make that happen,” or “I’ve made a different choice that works better for me.” There’s power in owning our choices, and that’s what I want to do more of."
(from: http://thefivetribe.com/?p=3249)
I always love it when something that I've been trying to articulate for myself comes up in someone else's writings.
I was thinking about this a lot on Sunday, in particular. I was at SPARK and the WOD had running (the bane of my existence). Three 800m runs, to be exact. From the second I looked at the board, I was filled with dread (this is not uncommon for me when I see "r-u-n" on that board).
I got through my first set of box jumps well enough (they were actually fast! I rebounded off the ground without stopping! I made progress!). My pull ups were...pull ups. Then the run. Oh, the run. I slogged away at round one. I wandered back into the box for round two of box jumps and pull ups. Then came run #2.
Somewhere around 400m, the excuses came to the forefront of my mind. I let the run get the better of me. "My calves are on fire" (they were). "Fuck am I tired today" (I was). "I feel like absolute shit" (this positive self talk was obviously helping with this one). "I should have eaten breakfast" (maybe). "I cannot finish this run".
And I walked.
It didn't make me feel better. It didn't magically make the WOD easier. What it did do, was make it easier for me to walk several more times. Once you've done it once, what's two times? Three?
I have never been a strong runner, but I have not walked during a WOD in what has to be two years. I didn't walk during Murph, for fuck's sake! What happened was I let my mind get the better of me. It wasn't a matter of I can't. It was a matter of, "you know what, I just don't want to right now. Maybe later."
I don't say this to beat myself up, but rather to recognize it. In recognizing it, I can acknowledge and deal with what's behind it. One of the things that I love about CrossFit and SPARK is that it's not just about working out for me; through the experiences garnered there, I learn so much more about myself. That run isn't the only time in my life that I've had that conversation with myself. How many times do you think it's happened at work? At home? With anything, really.
Thanks for calling me on my shit, 800m run. 'Til next we meet. I will be ready for you. I may not want to run you, but I can run you. And I will.
Burpees, I'm putting you on notice too.
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