Double Time

2/26/2013 LP:
Back Squat: 110 lbs
Press: 50 lbs
Deadlift: 120 lbs

Because of a little dog sitting, my lifting day got moved to Tuesday, which I was totally okay with! I can't totally figure it out but 110 lbs for the squat still feels very heavy. Heavier than it did the last time I was making my way to 120. All I can figure is my not so great diet over the weekend didn't help. I'm actually looking forward to starting strict paleo again on Friday to see how it helps with the lifting. Goodbye sugar, hello heavy stuff!

In addition to lifting, I worked on pull-ups before the squat and again after the press. I'm alternating now between negatives and strict banded pull-ups. I've decided I'm done with jumping pull-ups in WODs because they're not really going to help me in the long run.

And then....with some time to kill after the deadlift I decided to take a stab at double unders. Low and behold I got one. Then another. Granted they were never consistent, but I sure as hell got a handful! And I have red whip marks on my arms and legs to prove it. So now in addition to working on pull-ups and push-ups, we'll add double unders to the list. Something I probably should have started working on months ago!

Bridal Season

2/22/2013 WOD:
10 min AMRAP
5 Back Squat (95 lb)
50 Single Unders
5 Push-ups
Rounds: 6

I was well on my way to getting back to my normal schedule but life happens and it didn't quite work out. No hard feelings here! I went in really hoping to work on pull-ups but the rig was being dominated by some high school guys training and our superstars getting ready for the the upcoming Team WOD.

That said I had to come up with another workout on the fly so I searched back through my app and found this one. I wanted to get some squats in so there you go. Best part is that I managed to squeeze in one more full round than I did last time! I just love when that happens!

This week's schedule will be slightly skewed again but I can deal. Back in tonight for some more progressions! Feeling super amped after reading an article on 70's Big about a man who just squatted 905 lbs. Just take that in for a moment. Then watch the video and have your mind blown!

Without much intention the theme of my weekend was girly-ness! Girls night at Mellow Mushroom with my PDCF ladies. Being facebook free got me a last minute invitation but I was happy to go! Then Saturday morning my mom, sister and I left were Charleston bound for her wedding dress fitting! I was really excited because it was the first time I finally got to see her dress in person. She is going to be a beautiful bride! We picked up the college kid and got lunch at Folly Beach. And laughed our asses off! On the ride home my sister was complaining her face hurt from laughing so much. Mega fun day! The girly-ness continued Sunday with her first bridal shower. Great weekend with lots of fun ladies! 

Get nasty!

2/18/2013 LP:
Back Squat: 110 lb
Press: 45 lb
Deadlift: 120 lb

2/19/2013 WOD:
"Nasty Girls"
3 RFT
50 Air Squats
7 Muscle Ups (4 jumping pull-ups & 4 box dips per MU)
10 Hang Power Cleans (45 lb)
Time: 21:55

Whoa buddy am I sore! And it's getting worse as the day goes on. I anticipate limited movement tomorrow.

Monday's squatting didn't go as I wanted but it went as expected. Lifting light last week and no second day of squatting I knew it was going to be a difficult lift. And I was right. I'm already planning to get a second squat day in on Saturday and will go for 110 again next Monday before working my way back up. I am getting past 120 this time, dammit! Being sore from sledding of all things I decided to press light again. However, I did move up on the deadlift. Heavy, but not difficult. Glad something could be easy-ish for me!

I very much enjoyed doing the workout with the class last night. Just the right size, didn't run too late. And a fun benchmark! I knew the cleans would be the easiest and the muscle up scaling would take me the longest, but I didn't expect the squats the be the most difficult. By round three I was struggling to do them in sets of 10.

For quite a few reasons, I have suggested my parents give the primal/paleo "diet" a try. I don't like to call it a diet because today that is associated with just losing weight. And while many people initially do drop a few pounds, I think their overall health would benefit greatly from it. As I said last fall after giving it a try myself, I've set a few exceptions that suit me and my lifestyle. However, to encourage them for the 30-day challenge, I'm going to throw my rules out the window and go strict again with them. Goodbye yummy cheese, delicious chocolate milk and the occasional cupcake. I'm excited to go through this with them and help them along. And I would LOVE to see them stick with it and to live healthier lives. Only 8 more days of chocolate milk and cupcakes!

Snow day

2/15/2013 WOD:
10 min AMRAP
10 Toes to Bar
30 yd Bear Crawl
Rounds: 6

Soooooooo.....I went in Friday with a hurt foot. I just couldn't stay away. I had come up with my own small 5 RFT row/push-up/sit-up workout that would keep me pressure off my foot. But then, I saw the words bear and crawl on the board. I couldn't resist! I still don't know what it is but I just love the bear crawl.

It was a night of firsts! Back track to pre-wod when I had a few minutes to kill I wanted to see what my max clean was. I haven't tested it since late summer. Guess who has a new PR? A 15 lb PR! My current max is 70 lbs!!! Second first, after the warm-up just before the clock got started, I was loosening up on the bar. Loosened up enough to finally get my little piggies to touch the bar! As I assumed, I was only able to maintain it for the first three reps or so in the first round, but either way, I can now do it!

Best part was I left the gym with barely any foot pain. I suppose the bear crawls stretched it out some.

All that said the best part of the weekend was yet to come. I knew we were in for much cooler weather but I hadn't really paid much attention to it. I heard on the radio a chance of snow flurries Saturday night but didn't think too much about it. Then late morning my mom called while out running errands to tell me it was snowing at their house. It flurried on and off for a few after mixed with some rain but nothing worth getting excited about. Then at about 8:30-ish after finishing dinner with the college kid and boyfriend, we got word it was snowing again. Opened my back door and the backyard was beautifully covered and the biggest snow flakes I have ever seen were coming down. My pups when crazy trying to catch snow flakes and running in circles in it!

Bundled up in my snow boots, ski pants and big coat we went for an early walk this morning before it could really start melting. The trees and yards were beautiful. I'm so glad we get snow so rarely so we can really appreciate it and enjoy it. Even managed to get some good sledding on at the golf course near my parents house. A perfect snow day! 

Down and Out

I haven't stepped foot in my gym since Monday night. It doesn't look like I'll be heading back until next Monday. And I'm not happy about it!

Tuesday night in the middle of a normal walk with the boyfriend and his pup, I noticed the outside of my left foot starting to hurt. As the walk and night progressed it got worse. So I stayed off of it Wednesday and by Thursday there was practically no pain. With the pain pretty much gone I thought it was okay to go for pre-Valentine's dinner walk.

I thought wrong!

It wasn't so bad during the walk but by the time I got back home and we started cooking dinner I couldn't barely stand on it. And today I'm having to keep my weight off it again. Of course I had plans to go into PDCF tonight to do a few things on my own but it looks like that's off the table. I hate having to take time off but I'd much rather it heal and be back in there Monday ready to go!

Despite the pain, I had a absolutely fantastic Valentine's day! I didn't eat quite as many heart shaped foods as I had hoped, but it was still wonderful. Easily the best one I've ever had, especially since it was always blown off as a Hallmark holiday in the past. No matter what any girl or woman says she thinks about Valentine's day, she's always secretly hoping to be surprised. And I was, cupcake and all!

Donut PR

The 2013 Krispy Kreme Challenge has come and gone and boy was it fun! As expected, I wasn't prepared for the hilly 5 mile run, though I made it almost to Krispy Kreme before my legs gave out from the hills. And I surpassed my goal of 2 donuts and dominated 3! Thinking back, I should have gone for 4. Next year!

The rest of the weekend in Raleigh was fantastic. Beautiful hike, the turducken feast, an easy morning of washing trucks, and a fun family dinner with my folks. It's nice to get away but always great to come back home. Especially after a busy weekend.

2/11/2013 LP:
Back Squat: 95 lb
Press: 45lb
Deadlift: 115 lb

The race on Saturday left my calves, quads and hammies pretty sore. Then the washing and scrubbing of trucks did a number on my biceps so I went light on the weights. I was ready to finally take on 125 lbs but knew my legs wouldn't have it. Even the first set at 95 lbs was tough. Luckily with each set I was able to get my depth lower and lower. And today I'm feeling pretty lose with most of the soreness gone. I think by tomorrow I'll have made a full recovery!

Stop and smell the sugar!

2/7/2013 WOD:
5 RFT
1 min Handstand Hold (1 round on wall, 4 rounds on tire)
1 min Front Squat max reps (1 round 55 lb, 4 rounds 45 lbs)
2 min rest
Reps: 61

I went into PDCF tonight knowing I had to do the class, not matter how long it was or how many heats we were going to have to run. I wanted to be part of the group again, at least for one night this week. Thankfully the class was on the smaller side and it was a workout I could get excited about too! Another fun surprise was that the boyfriend joined in on the class fun too. He's a lifter so he doesn't frequent the classes much these days. This was only the second time since I've joined that I've seen him in a class.

Simply for lack of trying at this point, I'm not able to kick myself on the the wall for a handstand so I have walk my feet up it. I managed to hold myself up the entire first round which surprised me, though I may have been muttering some profanities under my breath. After practically falling on my face to get off the wall once the first minute was up I decided I needed to move to the tire for safety purposes.

I knew putting 55 lbs on the bar was risky. Not for the squat but because I'd have to clean it first and I knew my arms and shoulders would be mush. I was right! In my first attempt to clean the bar I practically dropped it. Second attempt got it up but it wasn't sitting were it should have been so I could only squeeze out 6 reps. I quickly dropped 10 lbs to a conformable 45 lbs for the remaining rounds. Cleaning was a breeze and I somehow managed to increase reps with each round, not decrease: 12, 13, 15, and 15. Craziness!

Sadly I only was able to get in one day of lifting and one day of CrossFit in this week, but tomorrow morning I'll be waiting at the bell tower at NC State for the start of the Krispy Kreme Challenge. It's a 2.5 mile run to a Krispy Kreme where each runner has a dozen doughnuts waiting on them and then a 2.5 mile run back to the bell tower. To be a challenger and win the race you must eat all 12 before starting the trek back and finish in under an hour. Or you can be like me where my goal is to eat 2 doughnuts. I did the race 2 years ago and it's a blast! My favorite part is smelling the sugar in the air before you can even see Krispy Kreme. It's a glorious smell!

For the boyfriend's family, Krispy Kreme Challenge weekend also coincides with another annual event for them, Turducken! Last time I only ate the chicken and turkey, but this time I'm going crazy. I'm going to have some of the duck too! I'm trying to win over his family even more by bringing buckeye brownies. They're all Ohio State fans so it should be an easy win for me!

Cavemen ate doughnuts and brownies right?

Dead weight

2/4/2013 LP:
Back Squat: 120 lb
Press: 50 lb
Deadlift: 115 lb
Sprint: 8 x 40 yd

I must admit, after last week's failed attempt at squatting in general I was slightly anxious going into tonight's squat. I decided to add a short set of light weight squats (75 lb) to my warm-up and to go in thinking the bar would be light. It must have worked because while it wasn't exactly light, it felt much lighter than last week and lighter than when I hit 120 the first time around Christmas. I was able to get all 15 reps and I feel like my depth was better this time around too.

The press was still just as heavy. However, the second and third sets got easier with each rep instead of harder. Strange indeed!

After reading this article last week, I decided I was going to try the low bar position mostly to get my hamstrings a little work. I quickly realized low bar was not for me! That said I still wanted to give my hammys something to do. I can't be all quads or I'll fall forward, right? So I decided to add the deadlift into my Monday night lifting routine. Though I won't be doing a typical progression. I'll only do one set of five and I'll stick with that weight for a few weeks before going up about 5 lbs. My max a few months back was 135 so I'll slowly work my way back up to that and hopefully pass it by.

I can see a HUGE carryover from the squat and press to CrossFit so I imagine I'll see some improvement from adding the deadlift too. Or least I hope to!

Last night my new hiking boots finally arrived for the big trip to Whistler next fall! I accidentally stumbled upon them last week when looking at the new colour choices for the F-lite 195's. I adore my invo-8's and Zappos had them on sale so I figured I'd give them a shot. Worst case, I returned them and kept looking. And lucky for me my sister and her fiance gave me a gift card for my birthday specifically for trip purchases! The shoes fit perfectly, are incredibly light and comfortable. I'm taking them out for a walk tonight and cannot wait to get my first hike in!

Half Off

2/2/2013 WOD:
"Cindy" (1/2)
10 min AMRAP
5 Pull-ups (jumping)
10 Push-ups (knees)
15 Air Squats
Rounds: 7

I'm pretty sure Cindy will always no matter what kick my ass! We opted to do 10 minutes instead of the 20 minutes with the idea that you go all out the entire time and aren't completely gassed the second 10 minutes struggling with bad form. I kept that in mind throughout it. Kept my rests between reps as short as possible and only when my body wouldn't allow one more unbroken rep. I was shooting for 8 or 9 rounds but missed the mark. I do think it could have been possible except that somewhere around the end of round 2 my left knee had a sharp pain running through it thus caused me to slow my squats down to figure out a comfortable way to complete them. Thankfully the pain was gone shortly after the time ran out.

And because Cindy wasn't torture enough I decided to work on my pull-ups by doing negatives and strict pull-ups with the really small band. My arms and back will thank me tomorrow! Then for a little more agony I thought pushing the prowler at 115 lbs would be a grand idea. 120 yards later my quads were shot.

Had a pretty productive morning around the house and managed to hit up 2 of my 7 stops before lunch! I love my town, but unfortunately we don't have one grocery store/market that meets all of my picky needs. Thus on a weekend like this one, I'll travel to three grocery stores, local market, butcher shop, and Target to get everything I need. While I need more this weekend than usual, hitting up at least two grocery stores, Target and the market are pretty much the norm. It's slightly a bit insane but I make it work. Don't judge me!

Super amped to hit up Sweet with the college kid this afternoon and hangout with her some more over dinner and cards with the boyfriend tonight! Then tomorrow are the big games (Puppy Bowl and Super Bowl) with my fellow cult members the folks at PDCF! Another fun weekend in the books. Life sure is grand!

Options

1/31/2012 WOD:
15 Thrusters (50 lb)
200 m run
20 Thrusters (45 lb)
400 m run
30 Thrusters (35 lb)
800 m run
Time: 18:20

With my recent feelings toward the late start and larger classes I went into PDCF tonight with 3 potential plans for the workout:

1. Do the WOD on the board with the 5:30 class
2. Do a workout from CrossFit.com if the class is too large or the WOD is longer than 20 minutes
3. Do a workout suggested by the boyfriend if class is too large, too long and weather isn't good for plan #2. 

Option 2 is what happened! Class surprisingly was the perfect size and I wanted to participate for that reason alone, but the workout was pushing 20 minutes and they were taking too long to get started. AND....it involved 80 handstand push-ups which means I would have been doing 80 stinkbugs which I loathe with a burning fiery passion! 

Since I'm not the best at programming and tend to focus on a hand full of movements I enjoy I decided to browse the official CrossFit site to see if I could find a WOD that was going to be a challenge, not like something I've done recently, and fun. From the reaction of the trainers last night, I was the only one who thought it would be fun to do! I was through my first 15 thrusters and out the door after a little over a minute. I figured I was on pace to finish about 12-15 minutes. Then came round two of thrusters. My shoulders couldn't tell 5 lbs had been dropped whatsoever. I was struggling to do 5 reps at a time. Then thankfully the 10 lb drop in weight for the final 30 was noticeable. I got through the first 11 straight but then had to start breaking it up again. My wrists and shoulders were screaming! 

All that said I think I want to do it again in a month and see if I can improve my time. It was a great workout and I think thrusters are probably my favorite lift. Clean + squat + push press = fun times! 

I'm super excited to go in Saturday because we're doing Cindy! Well 1/2 Cindy to be specific. 10 minutes instead of the standard 20. Last time I did 14 full rounds so this time I'm shooting for 8 to 9 rounds since I won't have to pace myself as much. If I could get 10 rounds I might cry!

The rest of the weekend should be pretty great too! The college kid is FINALLY coming back home! I haven't seen her in almost a month which is unheard of. And the gym is having a team WOD and Super Bowl party Sunday night which I'm pretty stoked about. Yummy foods, good company, football and fun commercials! For no real reason whatsoever I'm putting my money on the Ravens. The boyfriend and I even have a friendly wager going on to make it even more interesting. Fingers crossed those puppies predicted correctly and I don't have to pay up!

Also if you live under a rock and don't know, the Puppy Bowl is also this Sunday and it's probably one of the most adorable things in the entire world! Animal Planet has had a live feed of locker room activity for the last week for a few of the pups. Do yourself a huge favor and check it out. I've had it on all week and my work place attitude has never been happier!