Oh HAPPY day!

AMRAP 20 min:

10 wall ball (20/14)

10 GHD sit ups

10  back extensions

Kick ass! 

2 steps forward, 1 step back

21-15-9 reps:

Deadlift (225/155) I did 105#

Overhead Squat (135/95) I did 35#

Can I tell you, everything felt really heavy today. I just can't believe that I did DL just last week at 127#s and I felt good and strong; then today, by the set of 15 I was hurting. I felt a tinge of twitching in the muscles around my butt bone. It was getting to be uncomfortable by the end of the WOD. I went really light on my Oversquat, but I'm glad I did because my wrists were about to go out on me in the last set of 9. I could really feel my mid-line stability cause it was my abs that immediately started to feel sore when I collapsed on the floor. I felt really good at the bottom of my squat, I was getting really deep; I'm glad that I got to work on my technique. 

It looked so easy on paper... it's those that kick your ass the most. 

Want to see something  AWESOME (sad for me)? Heather Bergeron's 10 year daughter is doing the 25#s for the OH squat weight, just 10#s less than me!!!! And mini-Bergeron SQUAT SNATCHED her first rep. Much respect. 

 

Tomorrow's WOD is run 5K. I hate to run. But I'm going to give it a shot. I don't think I"m going to time myself exactly. Here's the route I plan in my neighborhood. 

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4128107

I hope I make good on it, cause y'all know how much I love to run :)

PS- my foot ailment yesterday was a vicious internal foot cramp. I'm all better.

In a world of hurt

Ten rounds of:

1 Clean and Jerk

5 Pull-ups

10 Push-ups

15 Squats

I'm really happy with my time. I don't care if I'm in the bottom tier for times. I did it as prescribed!!! I don't think I've done any pull up WOD RX'd.  60#s being 80% of my 1RM C&J. The C&J was the most difficult of the quadruplet for. Cleaning the bar felt like it took all my energy; right before I would jerk the bar, I had a sense of self doubt- the bar felt heavy.  With the push ups, I went to muscle failure every round after round 2. The pull ups were Ok. I broke them up in 2s. The squats were my rest. I injured my foot during the pull ups. How, you ask? All the boxes were being used for some WOD Diso was doing, so I used a KB as step stool to get to the bar. Well, I think I pushed off of the top of the KB at the center ball of my foot with all my body weight and hurt it some how. Now I can barely put weight on it. It was painful pushing the gas pedal on the drive home. I'm really sad about it. It's a stupid fuckin' injury. It's throbbing right now. I should ice it. BRB. 

Ahhhh, the ice feels sooooo good. I don't want to be injured!!!!!!!!!!! I'm all whiney now. FUCK fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!!!!

In more positive news, I have graduated to a taller box for my box jumps- 20". I had been using 16" for the longest time; it really was a mental thing. Then the other day, during the warm up, we had BJs to do, and I attempted the 20" box and VOILA! I did it. Sweet. 

(All the muscles in my foot are cramping and seizing right now... it's so painful... Jesu-christo!) 

Going to lie down now and watch the Lakeshow kick off the new season :)

Sunday

Sunday was the 2nd yoga class being run by my lovebug, Courtneyrose. I left work after 4pm, so I arrived late. I gingerly walked through the class in session and got to my mat that was already laid out. CRose definitely pushed me. I had beads of sweat dripping from my chin onto my mat. At the close of instruction, I felt warm and relaxed. In the past, I've never felt comfortable doing yoga, but because I know everyone and I feel comfortable in my skin, I really enjoyed myself.

Afterwards, I decided to attempt to set a new PR with deadlift.

155-165-175-185F-180PR!!!!

200#s is in sight for me :)

Programmed

AMRAP 16 min: - Results

8 Ring Dips

8 Pistols

8 Deadlifts (185/135)

I'm really happy with the work I did in this WOD. I felt rushed in the warm up, and wasn't too sure what weight I would use for the dead lifts. I warmed up with 77#s and it felt really light. Zeb called 1 min until GO! time, so I hastily stuck on 25# plates. I did 2 reps and it felt good, heavy, but doable. At that point I hadn't done the math of what my bar weighed... 3-2-1-Go! 

The ring dips were worst part for me. I went to muscle failure every round. The pistols are never fun. I used a small box underneath me, since I can't get all the way to the ground just yet. When I got the the dead lift, it felt really fuckin' heavy. I wondered if I would be able to lift them in the future rounds. 

It was good, challenging WOD. I definitely had more energy to keep going when time was called, but my arms were dead, if that makes any sense. 

2 days later

"Brenton" - Results

5 rounds for time of:

Bear crawl 100 feet

Standing broad jump, 100 feet

Do three Burpees after every five broad-jumps. 

Scale-

3 rounds of:

Bear Crawl 50 ft

Standing Broad Jump, 50 ft. 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Thruster 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Not really sure if you can read my weight progression: 50-55-60-65-70F-55-55

50#s is the max effort I've ever attempted for thruster WODs, usually high rep, 55#s and beyond are all PRs. I'm very excited to be able to successfully thrust 65#s cause I'm this much closer to doing Fran rx'd. That is my immediate goal on the board: To do a benchmark girls' WOD rx'd. Now I just have to get stronger. To complement on chipping away at that goal, I decided to do a 2nd WOD tonight... the Pull-up Ladder WOD from a few weeks back:

With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

I don't think I did that hot, but not that bad for someone who just started doing unassisted pull up less than 2 months ago. In the eighth round I knew I was approaching muscle failure, as at each rep I found it more and more difficult to get my chin above the bar. I will do this again soon and see if I can beat myself. 

The past couple of weeks have been that of transition. I moved. I started a new job. My attendance to the box was nil. I did my best during the 2 week Zone intro. I would say that I was 90% compliant. 100% the first week, the 2nd week I started to slack on the measuring but made sure that meals were at least balanced with  P/C/F. I found myself eating 2-5block meals instead of 3-3 block meals and 1-1 block snack. I think it affected my sleep for worse. Or it could also be that I'm ending my days sometimes at 2:30AM and won't be in bed until past 3AM.  Either way, I think watching my food intake I was able to retain my strength during my lapse away from the box. Tomorrow, I start a new regiment of a SFH shake (Daily Balance) for breakfast, with frozen berries and almond milk. I've been skipping breakfast, then I get all crazy hungry and eat something that I don't zone. No bueno. 

After the WODs, I came home with one desire. To get inside of this:

Yes that is an IPA. I really wanted wine, but I had no wine key :(

And this is me in my braising liquid :) 

Good night!

Full Frontal

Front Squat 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

I'm totally surprised that I made a PR. Seriously. I went into the box not really feeling confident. I knew that 85#s was my 1RM record set back in April. We just did a WOD that included high rep front squat in September and I did 65#s for that and it seemed really heavy at the time, so I assumed that I'd stay around 85#s this day. 

When I got to rep 4 @ 85#s, it seemed easy. Diso said my form looked great, my depth was low and I kept my chest vertical and my elbows up. A big improvement from in the past when my chest would dip when I would fire up. 

Onto 95#s, I got low enough but my chest did come forward when I drove up. I stayed at 95#. On my second attempt, I was mindful to really drive my elbows up when felt myself tipping forward. It really helped, and I was able to keep my chest more vertical driving up the heavy weight. 

On my last rep, I loaded up 100#s and just kept focus on depth, keeping my stomach really tight and pushing my elbows way up. It worked. I felt good and strong and could feel myself battling the urge to lean forward. I was super happy. 

Now I can front squat my own body weight. Yay! That, in essence, means that I can potentially squat clean 100#s. That is now on my goal list. My squat clean PR is 75#.  

Now that my FS has gone up, it probably means I've gotten stronger and could potentially back squat more than my 110# record. I'd like to see if I could BS 130#, if the theory of being able to Back squat 30% more weight than your Front Squat holds true. There are similar theories for the Press progression: 

Shoulder press

So ya, I'd like to test out my Back Squat and my Squat Clean. 

Week one of Zone went great. I feel great. My workouts have been awesome. I can't complain. 

Pot calling the Kettle(bell) black

21-15 and 9 rep rounds of:

Left-arm Kettlebell snatch, 1.5 pood

Right-arm Kettlebell snatch, 1.5 pood

Pull-ups

I scaled to 15-12-9 using a 18# KB.

My left arm is very weak and I had a very difficult time controlling the KB when I punched out  mid-swing. I have a huge bruise on my left forearm because of it. The Pull ups were very difficult after the snatches, my forearms were not cooperating. Still stoked that I'm doing kipping pull-ups unassisted. While the workout was difficult I did not feel like dying. Yay!

Day 4 on Zone and I feel thin. I don't feel hungry, nor do I have dips in my blood sugar or feel moody. My sleep is somewhat regulated. I do sleep late, but when I do sleep it is restful. I did have huge flair up on my eczema earlier in the week, but it has so far calmed down. I do feel more clearheaded. I think this says a lot since this first week of zone is corresponding my period. Usually when I'm on my rag, I'm a loose cannon and an emotional wreck. High five, Zone!

Into the Spiritual Fire I go

Tonight is the mark of something new. I am born again to a new way of thinking. I will let go all preconceived notions of how things should be, and come to accept the way things are. I wholly embrace the positive energy that flows my way and no longer smite the good deeds that don't meet my inflated expectations. Tomorrow I will be grateful for the things that lift me up, and remind me that I am worthy of the kindness of the friends I keep around me. I hope to accept that receiving is as pleasurable as giving. I will try my best to not place conditions on my loved ones, and if I do, and they do no meet my condition, I will not punish them for it. How can they live up to something they do not know they were measured up to?

I am not disappointed in myself. I loved the best way I knew how. I hope you challenge my love and expand my horizons. Together we will learn so much about ourselves.

Take me. I surrender. I'm open to feeling everything inside.  


Even the bad stuff.

Warming the Bench for you

Resting 60 seconds between sets:

Bench press 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

45-45-45-45-45-45-50-50-55-55 ALL PRs!!!!!!

The last time I did bench press  with the intention of setting a 1RM was a really long time ago in January. So I've had some time to build on my upper body strength. I'm super happy. 55#s was really difficult. Pressing the bar for each rep felt like slow motion; and it was. 

Day 2 zone. I feel good. Not craving crazy shit. Feeling pretty disciplined. I think it has to do with the fact that I'm also "managing" Dakota's Zone program, so I feel responsible to lead by example, keeping my ass in check. 

So much transition is happening right now... When it rains it pours. 

Put your back into it!

For time:

95 pound Back squat, 50 reps

15 ft Rope Climb, 5 ascents

115 pound Back squat, 40 reps

15 ft Rope Climb, 4 ascents

135 pound Back squat, 30 reps

15 ft Rope Climb, 3 ascents

155 pound Back squat, 20 reps

15 ft Rope Climb, 2 ascents

175 pound Back squat, 10 reps

15 ft Rope Climb, 1 ascent

My Scale: 

45# Back Squat, 50 reps

20 Ring Rows

55# Back Squat, 40 reps

16 Ring Rows

65# Back Squat, 30 reps

12 Ring Rows

75# Back Squat, 20 reps

8 Ring Rows

85# Back Squat, 10 reps

4 Ring Rows

My time: 27:40

I love back squats, I really do. I came to the workout thinking I was going to scale back on the number of reps, but due to the frenzied pace of the 12 o'clock class, I just went for the full monty. 50 reps is a lot. So is 40. So is 30. What did I sign up for? I'm really happy that I survived, cause my round of 20 reps @ 75#s was extremely difficult, that I was unsure of my capability of bangin' out another 10 @ 85#s. I did those last 10 in sets of 2, accompanied with a lot of grunting and grimacing. My legs and hips were just gassed at that point. With Patsy watchin' my back, I got through it somehow. 

Yesterday, Monday, was the first day of the Zone Challenge. My starting weight is 104.6# and my body fat is 25.4% per my bathroom scale. Last year, November 2009, I was 119.4#s and 31.8% BF. 

Let's see what happens. 

Incomplete.

Snatch, 1 rep

Clean and jerk, 1 rep

As many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:

55 kg Squat clean, 6 reps

12 Pull ups

24 Double-unders

I did not PR my snatch, but that's cool.

My NEW Clean & Jerk PR

My score for the AMRAP is 3+3

Musculusque

"Ryan"

Five rounds for time of:

7 Muscle-ups

21 Burpees

Scale:

3 rounds for time:

7 "seated" muscle-ups

21 burpee

Each burpee terminates with a jump one foot above max standing reach.

I am super proud of myself for being able to do the seated muscle up. The scaled movement includes a 2" band under my butt, suspended from the pull up bar above. I'm seated on the ground with legs straight out in front of me. The rings are lowered so that they hover above my head, and I am able to utilize the false grip. Take a deep breath in, pull up, pop head through into the transition and into full extension on the rings. It felt awesome to have the strength to pull myself up and over into the ring dip position. This week was very upper body heavy... which is definitely what I need, being that my upper body needs the most attention and conditioning. 

I don't like Burpees, but this time, for some reason, it wasn't so bad. And I actually enjoyed the little jump to 1 foot target between each burpee. Most people would think I'm a sicko, but it's the truth. Maybe cause the seated muscle up was so taxing that the burpees felt like the rest. 

So I've graduated from the scale of pull-up and ring dips for one muscle-up to seated muscle up. That is pretty fuckin' cool. It's on my goal sheet, a muscle up... a secondary goal, but a goal none-the-less. 

I need to Zone. Bad. Shit has gone by the wayside and I feel lethargic and moody and "soft."