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Up to Speed Part 1

2010-05-27T12:33:00.002-05:00

Oh, so, here's a bit of catch up.

Just when I started feeling back to normal after the marathon and ready to hit the gym again, work started picking up. As you may know I was working for four tutoring companies, but that has since narrowed to two. One of these is a hospital tutoring company that only cares about money and the other is a test prep company that is really spectacular to work for. To the former I am only a body that meets with kids whose schools pay the bill. To the later, I have been deemed one of their top tutors and have become a hot commodity when it comes to subject tests. I stayed with the hospital company because it gave me a chance to work with patients in various hospitals. Nevertheless, both of these jobs started producing and the result was a 90 hour work week. That's right, 90 hours crammed into one week. That includes the 20 or so hours of commuting I do weekly around the great Boston region. After this 'marathon' work week (get it?!) needless to say I was pretty spent and ready for a night off, which leads to my first story.

Bruins Tickets

On May 10th, the Bruins were about to play Game 5 against the Phillies in a series that turned out to be one of the biggest chokes in professional playoff hockey history, and I was walking home from the local hospital where I work. It had been another day of busy tutoring and I was ready to call it a night and catch up on some much needed sleep. As I entered my building I noticed another man going for the door. He was several steps behind me, but I decided to hold to door nonetheless. After doing so I started my trek up the stairs toward to elevator. The man, who I later found out was also named John, turned an went toward the concierge, but all of the sudden stopped short and turned toward me.

"You wouldn't happen to be interested in going to the Bruins game tonight would you?" he asked.

"Umm...possibly," I replied turning toward him. "Are you selling a ticket or something?"

"Well I bought 4 tickets, one for me and three for my sons. However, one of my sons is sick and can;t make it to the game."

"How much?"

He handed me the ticket, which clearly said $152.00.

"I'm sorry, I can't afford that."

"Well it wouldn't be for face value, of course," he quickly spat back. "What do you think a fair price would be?"

"I can't pay what I think is a fair price."

"$40" he said before my words had time to echo.

"Done" I said just as quickly.

As I fished around in my wallet for what ended up being $38 dollars, he handed me the ticket and said, "Tell you what, if you come to the game tonight, just buy us some beers or something and we'll call it even."

" Are you sure? I can go to an ATM real quick."

"As long as your the one coming to the game and not selling the ticket, it's ok."

"Oh I'll be there."

After quickly changing into the only Bruins shirt I had, the one I got from donating blood at the arena, I went to the ATM and headed for the game.

Upon meeting John and his two sons, I immediately offered to buy a round of beers. However, his sons were both underage (one a senior in high school and the other a freshman in college). I offered pop, but both were fine and John was content. I settled into my seat to watch the first period. But this wasn't just any seat. The ticket was $152.00 for a reason. I was seated at center ice in the 14th row, just above the glass. I felt like I was watching a high school hockey game, except it wasn't high school. At the first intermission, John and I headed up to the concessions for a round of hot dogs and a few beers. Upon ordering the beers, the clerk asked for my ID, and I proudly produced my Minnesota ID. After a brief inspection, he said, "You have to be 25." After a brief moment of shock and disbelief I curtly asked him is this was indeed the United States of America to which responded with an unintelligible confirmation. To this I looked at John, who, by the way, had left his wallet and thus his ID at his house on Cape Cod, and simply shook my head. Upon paying for these thirst provoking hot dogs, John told me that we were even. I offered to pay for whatever else they wanted that night which turned out to be nothing. During the course of the evening I offered to pay John the $40 I promised, but he simple refused and thanked me for the hot dogs. The Bruins proceeded to play terribly and the Phillies walked away with an easy victory. Despite the loss, it was a great evening and I enjoyed every minute. All said, that is how I was able to sit at center ice for a playoff game for the price of three hot dogs.

Not Marathon Monday

2010-05-23T19:40:00.002-05:00

Well, as Angela said, it is no longer Marathon Monday. Alas, it is more than a month past marathon Monday, and what do I have to say for myself? Where have I been? Well, sit back relax and enjoy an overview of the last few weeks...

The week after the race I was suffering. It was a painful recovery. Not muscularly, that was gone in a day or two, but my left foot hurt like hell. It slowed me down and even forced me to walk on the balls of my feet for a few days. After about a week though, that went away and I was able to walk around normally again. However, with this hindrance now absent, I had a whole new set of challenges on the horizon. As I find time over this next week, I will do my best to relate to you the course of the last few weeks and highlight some of the more interesting events. Keep your eyes posted and hopefully you'll be in for a treat.

Marathon Monday!

2010-04-20T10:48:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I ran the Boston Marathon and what New Englanders in the Boston area call Marathon Monday. Since Patriots Day is celebrated here, most people have work off and have time to drink/line the marathon route. This makes for great motivation since there are few spots along the route without spectators cheering you on. The crowd helped substantially, but they did not lessen the pain in the final few miles. Here's how it went down.

Short Version:

Finished in 3:43.

Marathon Version:

We got up early (5:30) to be picked up by the rest of our group; we were running as 4. We then drove out to the start some 26.2 miles from Boston. We got there at around 6:30 and took about 15 minutes to find the start. The four of us were running bandit and had not registered to run, so we had to fend for ourselves to find the start and pass the time. Before leaving Boston, we found a registered runner who was lost, so we gave him a ride too. When we got out at the start, it was a little chili - mid forties or so. We didn't want to leave anything at the start, so we were in our running gear and went numb for the next few hours. To put the size of the event in perspective, there were 26,000 registered runners and about 5,000 bandits. The little town of Hopkinton was packed. After the elite men and women had gone, we hopped into a corral (sneakily so as not to be caught) and waited for the starter's pistol. From there it took 16 minutes to get to the starting line and the beginning of what would be a once in s lifetime experience.

We had talked ahead of time and decided to shoot for a 3:45 pace. That meant we would have to hold back in the beginning since there would be a ton of adrenaline. Since I'm used to explosive sports--crossfit, ski racing, etc.--it was a very anticlimactic start. The first mile slowed us more than we expected since we had to weave though literally thousands of people. After 1 mile we were already 1 minute 30 seconds back from our pace. We picked it up for the second mile and shaved that down to 30 seconds. We then held that pace for a while shaving off a few seconds here and there. Even from the beginning there were people cheering us on. Also, we found it funny that many people had what I like to call 'cocker spaniel' syndrome and were in the woods relieving themselves not even half a mile into the race. The first many miles were fun and kind of drifted by. One notable moment was when a spectator on a ledge was throwing orange slices into the crowd saw us running by. I motioned for him to throw one to me. When he did everyone I was running with thought it would go over our heads, but, in stride, i leapt up and caught it with left handed behind my head. I received many cheers and a delicious orange. Somewhere around mile 8 we lost one of our group. She was the only experienced marathoner with us, but she was having problems with her hips. She told us to go on and finished the race on her own suffering great pain and showing extreme determination.

For two of us, reaching mile 10 was the end of known territory. Over the next 16.2 miles, each step would be the furthest we've ever run. At about mile 12, one of our friends jumped into the course and ran with us a ways. She then jumped out and found the girl who had split off. At about this point we entered the halfway mark and Wellesley College. This is an all girls school where the students have been known to scream, flash, and occasionally latch on to runners. Most of the girls were holding signs saying 'Kiss Me' and were yelling. We saw no flashers. We had thought about slowing down for this section and really taking in the atmosphere and taking advantage of our surroundings, but when my two friends saw the line of girls, the both kicked it into high gear and got about 1000 high fives. One of my buddies had written his name and phone number on a few wrist bands that he planned on throwing into the crowd at Wellesley, but as soon as the moment struck him he completely forgot.

We continued to make time and eventually got ahead of pace. We were all feeling good, so we kept up our pace and cruised through several miles. Somewhere along this, probably mile 14 or 15. I stopped to use the bathroom (enough said). We had planned that I would run ahead, they would slow down and I would catch them after. Surprisingly this worked. I sprinted, so to speak, ahead, did my business, and kept a fast pace for the next mile or so. Luckily, I saw the tattered American flag boxers and Vibram 5's (that's right he ran in 5 fingers) my friends was wearing. He said the other guy had also made a pit stop. He caught up with us shortly thereafter.

The night before the race I was given the advice from an experienced runner, that BC should be thought of as the halfway mark both physically (body breakdown-wise not distance), and mentally. Unfortunately, I started getting sporadic cramps in my calves at about mile 18, 3-4 miles before BC. Once this started happening, I drank as much Gatorade and water I could get my hands on. This worked for a while and I was able to keep pace with my friends until Heartbreak Hill. My calves were cramping too much to keep up so I let them go ahead and I would face the next 8 miles alone. I didn't stop at any point on the hill, but the pain was getting pretty bad. Somewhere along the way my hamstrings joined in the fun and I would cramp up every third step or so. Nevertheless I pushed on. The rest of the race was mental. BC was huge. The student body has so much energy that they pretty much carried you through their section of course. A little while after that, at about mile 22.5, some of my friends were watching. They had beers ready and it was good. Then I hit the BU campus body, who had a similar effect to BC. I did stop to walk at some random water station to get my fill, but at this point, liquids did little for my legs. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and thought to myself, only a few more miles. At this point in the race, I drew inspiration from some of the runners around me. I saw many bands of soldiers carrying 50lb ruck sacks who had left hours beforehand, but were still en route. I also saw a man pushing a wheelchair, who had also left ahead of me, but was determined to reach the finish. Both of these sights spurred me on. For a few miles I found myself singing military running cadences, that I listen to running, half out loud half in my head. This was an emotional portion of the race and my adrenaline brought me through the final miles. When I rounded the last corner and saw the finish line, nothing could stop me. I ran as fast as my now hardly functioning legs would take me and crossed the line with a time of 3:43. The big clock said 3:59, but I later found out that we had crossed the start when it said 16.

They kept us moving through the finish area. Everyone got a heat blanket, a bag of food, water, water and more water. The registered runners got a medal and could receive medical attention if they needed. Us bandits just took whatever we were given. There were so many people at the end of the race that I was sure I wouldn't find my friends. I did a slow, very slow, walk around the meeting block and finally found one of my friends back at the beginning. He had finished in 3:35 and our other friend finished 30 second thereafter. However, this second friend, Dave, was given medical attention by his girlfriend who was working in the medical tent. We then sat and waited for the spectating crew to come pick us up. There were many congratulations and victory beers. However, someone had the bright idea to pick a bar over a mile from the finish. We set off at a slow hobble and finally reached the bar for a delicious after run celebration.

Tapering I guess

2010-04-15T12:23:00.002-05:00

As mentioned before, I did end up doing those treadmill sprints last Tuesday. They went a little something like this:

8 Rounds

30 seconds on 20 seconds off

12% grade

7.8 mph (7:41/mile)

It was a tad slower than the last treadmill hill tabata I did, and although it felt a little easier and I made it through all eight rounds, I did have to dig deep for the last three. Good news is that me feet and calves have learned to deal with POSE running. I wonder how long that will last on Monday.

Ang, as far as tapering, I feel the same way. I think I'll run today and tomorrow, but hold off all weekend. If it's not a hard work out it just doesn't feel right.

Taper? Oh and my Saturday Workout

2010-04-13T13:54:00.002-05:00

Saturday was a real world scenario workout, here's the link:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/highlight/x1661781181/Brookline-Police-Would-be-burglar-pinned-down-by-residents

So, yeah, it was an interesting Saturday afternoon.

I've been trying to figure out a way to taper before this marathon. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do, so I'm just going to rest a few days before.

On Friday I did:
500m row
150 DU's
50 Burpees

11:37 (nothing to write home about with that time)

In my defense, the rope was pretty heavy and I haven't done burpees in months. I can wait until the marathon/my shoulder heals so I can start some more intense sessions.

Yesterday I did:
5 rounds for time
10 Steps walking lunges with 65lb db's (I'm feeling that today)
250m row

10:30

Today I'm planning o doing sprint repeats on a treadmill. Like I said I'm not really sure how a taper is supposed to work, so I'll just wing it and hope it works out. I may do one more long run on Thursday.

Uphill + Pack = Hard

2010-04-08T20:13:00.003-05:00

Today's workout was a mile run at incline with a pack. The limitations were 6%-12% incline with a 10-20lb pack. I went with a 9% incline and an 11lb pack (it's all I had with me in my back pack). As I premeditated my attack I thought, "It's only 1 mile, I should be able to do that at a 7 minute pace." Then I thought, "Well, it's at 9%, so maybe I'll hold back to 7:30 pace and pick it up if I'm feeling good." Then I remembered the pack and though, "Hmm...this could be harder then I anticipated..." Well, it was. I started at an 8 minute pace, then quickly switched to 8:30. I held that for a while and had to pull it all back to a 10:00 minute pace. Even that was tough and twice I slowed down to a walk to regain my jello legs. I think I finished in just over 10 minutes and was drenched in sweat. Don't underestimate inclined pack runs.

WOD
1 mile at 9% incline with an 11 lb pack

10 minutes +

PT and 800m repeats

2010-04-07T17:48:00.003-05:00

I had PT today and it went well. My shoulder is feeling better each day. I just can't wait to get back to full ROM without pain. Hopefully that will be soon. I had electro-stim and ice for the shoulder today and tape afterward. I'll go back next week to learn a few exercises. All in all it was great. The physical therapist was awesome, so good deal.

After that I went to the gym and this beautiful day to run. No it doesn't make a lot of sense, but i wanted to make sure distance and speed were accurate.

WOD
5 Rounds
Run 800m (keep within 5 seconds of fastest pace)
Rest 90 sec

I just set the treadmill at 9.7 mph and let it rip. All 5 rounds at the same speed. The last 2 were tough, but it felt good. Each round was 3:05:57.

Ang- I know how that goes. My chain gets me just about every time. The big question is where in Omaha did you find a Sauna?

Saunas and Sore Feet

2010-04-06T15:42:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went to another branch of my new globo gym to check out their Sauna. I did a little workout and took a little sauna. Overall, I was pleased. It was nice to have a decently warm sauna (around 150 I think) to go to after a workout. Next time I'll bring some water to throw on the rocks.

However, I will also have to bring some water for myself. I didn't drink enough and felt the effects on my recovering joints later. My knees bothered me a little yesterday, but my feet (escpecially left) hurt the most and continues to hurt today. I'm taking a rest day today to let my body come back a bit from the past two days. My plan is to do several workouts this week and taper a bit next week so that I'm fully recovered for the run.

Monday
WOD 1
5 rounds
Max Rep 135lb Bench Press (7-6-5-5-5)
Either planks/bridges or dragon flags (?) something to get a core burn going

WOD 2
12x20sec sprints rest 2 minutes between sets

I'm not impressed with the bench press numbers and, as usual, need to work on that. However, the sprints felt pretty good muscle and lung-wise.

Even though my shoulder is not seriously injured, it has been extremely limiting in what I can to for exercises. I have a Pt appointment tomorrow so I hope to find out more.

Whoops

2010-04-04T15:44:00.002-05:00

Today I was planning on going for a nice long run to see how it feels. My original plan was to do just over a half marathon, say about 13.5 miles. I mapped out a nice run along both sides of the Charles River, filled my camel back and took off. I started with a pretty easy pace and, since I've never run more than 6 miles in one go before, didn't push it too much. What I didn't anticipate for was exactly where I was supposed to cross the river. I'd never been that far along the run path, so I wasn't sure which bridge it was. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun and took a bridge that was too early. This cut my run down to a 9.77 mile run. Still, it was longer than I've done and for the most part felt pretty good. I know my technique started to wain a bit toward the end, but I tried to keep pose as best I could. I think this will help mentally on marathon day.

WOD
Run 9.77 miles
1:19 (average 8:12min miles, three traffic stops)

Double Duty

2010-04-02T20:25:00.002-05:00

It was a double session today. The gym nearby makes it easy to get a regular wod in while having legs makes running something to be done every where.

Morning WOD
4 Rounds
7 - 225lb DL
7 - 135lb Power Cleans

Done for time, but not timed

My shoulder, or rather AC joint, is really limiting what I can do in the gym. Even doing cleans started to aggravate it toward the end. I'm going to take it easy with that type of lift until I the pain goes down, or I get a green light from PT.

Evening WOD
4 rounds
300m All out Sprint
rest 5 minutes

My splits were 45s, 47s, 51s, ??s. I was able to give a strong sprint until about 150-200m. That;s when it started catching up to me in both my legs and lungs. However, I did feel strong for the first bit. During the last round I passed someone on a bike. It felt pretty cool.

Shoulder Woes

2010-04-01T20:43:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went in t get my shoulder checked out. Luckily, the doc said it was only a sprained AC joint. He prescribed some PT which will begin next Wednesday. It is still painful but I'm happy to hear it's not torn or anything serious.

Consequently, I joined a gym today. The new gym is lacking ina a lot of areas, but to be fair, is better equipped for crossfit than the gym I worked out in last summer in Hibbing. It also has a combat conditioning class that I may try out as part of the membership. And the cherry on the top is that I can go to any of their several locations and one of them nearby has a SAUNA! Yeah, I'm definitely doing that soon.

I made up a little WOD today, modified for my shoulder.

WOD
5 rounds
3 185lb Front Squats
20 Push-ups
25 Sit-ups

Not timed

It felt great working out in a crossfit style again and I look forward to many of those to come.

A New iPod to keep the Beat of my Feet

2010-03-30T19:36:00.002-05:00

I went out and bought a refurbished second generation 8gb iPod Nano today. It was $75 and conveniently replaces the one I ruined while running with a backpack of water. It works wells so far, save for the fact that it doesn't play any music when plugged into an iPod stereo system (i.e. an iHome). I'll bring it back tomorrow and hope they can fix it. They said it has a 1 year warranty.

Anyway, I used it today for my run, which was a bit longer than the past few I've done. It was nice having something to occupy my mind.

WOD
Run:
2 x 800m holding best possible pace. Not slowing more then 3 sec. 2 min recoveries
2 x 1k holding best possible pace. Not slowing more then 5 sec. 2 min recoveries

I ran on a treadmill and kept it at 10mph for the two 800's (6:03/mile) and then lowered it to 9.5 mph for the two kilos (6:18/mile). I think it was a good pace, at least for the 1k's, because I was really hurting after the second one.

On a related not, my calves felt great today and during the run. I hope they have built up enough endurance to take the beating of a marathon, which is just under 3 weeks away.

Doctor's appointment in the morning for my shoulder...

Treadmill Tabata

2010-03-29T19:32:00.002-05:00

No time trial in last weekend. I am planning on running a long one this weekend...hopefully.

Today I did a tabata treadmill, or rather I attempted to complete said tabata.

WOD
Tabata Treadmill
Grade: 12%
Speed: 8mph

I made it to round 6 before my legs/lungs couldn't keep up. On rounds 6 and 8 I only ran 10 seconds, but did an extra round to make up for it. Room for improvement. I tried my best to maintain POSE form, but it was tough with such rapid fire. My calves are definitely building up endurance which is good.

I go in Wednesday to find out about my shoulder and hopefully join a gym the next day so I can get back at the regular WODs. I have spent too much time without those.

Sprinting

2010-03-26T13:51:00.002-05:00

I had some time yesterday and decided to fill it with a sprint workout from CFE. It went a little something like this.

3 Rounds of:

5 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 10 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 15 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 25 seconds on, 10 seconds off

This one was a real gasser since you could only rest for 10 seconds. I got a lot of funny looks from the slower runners on the trail when I would sprint past them then stop and they would jog past me, sprint past them, then get passed. It was sort of the tortoise and the hare type thing going on.

Hopefully, I can get a time trial in this weekend. We shall see.

Time Warp

2010-03-23T20:01:00.003-05:00

Some of you may think that I've been neglecting my blogging responsibilities. This is simply not true. What really happened was, I fell into a time warp and BAM here we are one month after my last post. Weird.

What really happened was well quite a lot actually. My three jobs realized that I'm an awesome worker and started using me a lot. As in 8-12 hours of work done over 10-14 hours each day. Not only was it quite stressful, but I didn't have any time to work out. Not good. In fact, I worked 18 days straight somewhere in there (mind you I was only working 4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, but it still counts). After this work spree, I went to Colorado for 10 days to enjoy a bit of the outdoors, family, and friends. To be specific we spent 7 days at a condo in Copper and the other time at my Uncle's new house in Parker (for you Omaha folks, it's the one they were building when we were there last year, and it is huge). After taking that much needed vacation, I'm back in Boston and about to step it up a notch with work again.

I'm still planning on running the Boston Marathon this April, but am not sure how prepared I'll be. I've been doing Crossfit Endurance WODs about 2 times a week, but I'm not sure how much that will pay off. I haven't done a proper WOD in quite a while and am missing it like a fish misses water or a cow misses grass or a space monkey misses space. I might be joining a globo gym around the corner, but I'm waiting to see what my schedule shapes up to be in the next few weeks. Hopefully, I won't have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to drive to a psych ward and tutor kids who, for the most part, would rather be doing anything other than tutoring. If this ceases, then I will begin my day properly with a solid WOD.

Another reason I'm waiting to join is because I hurt my shoulder in Copper skiing. As many of you know, I have a bad habit of dislocating my shoulder. Well this time it didn't dislocate. It just was slammed on the ground. I'm not sure if it's broken, but it has been hurting quite a bit since Friday. No need to worry though, I've got an appointment set up with a sports medicine doc. Next Wednesday that is. At least I'll know if it's serious by then. More to come on that.

On to workouts. As said I've been doing CFE WODs in preparation for the marathon. I've done a few sprint/interval workouts and once ran 5.25(?) miles in 40 minutes or so (nothing special). I did a lot of hiking in Copper since we built a kicker (jump) in one of the back bowls and pretty much hiked the hill and hit that most days. But, I didn't do any running there. Wait, I take that back, we did a drunk job back form the bars one night.

Here was today's
2 rounds for Distance
3x1min run, 30 seconds rest between
2x2min run, 45 seconds rest between
3 minute run, rest 2 minutes

2.93 miles (1.54 mi. in round 1, 1.39 mi in round 2, no walking during rests)

6:50 average mile pace

My form felt decent, so that's a bonus. My calves aren't as sore either, double bonus.

I plan on doing something Thursday and then again on Saturday or Sunday. I'd like to get a long run in this weekend to work on the mental aspect of the ordeal. We shall see.

Oh and for those of you who managed to read this whole mess, a little info on that awesome new picture at the top. Yes, that is me pulling a huge daffy. No it is not photo shopped. Yes, it is off of the aforementioned jump we built. and Yes, I stuck the landing. If there are no further questions, I will retire for the evening. Cheerio!

Intermittent Training

2010-02-23T20:03:00.002-06:00

Training has been rather sporadic for me lately. My jobs have picked up a bit and most day I've only got time to eat sleep and work. It's great to be this busy, but I'm definitely not working out enough. I have, however, been eating fairly well. I've been sticking to the 3 days of eating 1 day of fasting, and I have found my cravings for sugar have decreased. Not only that, but toward then end of the fast I feel myself go into survival mode a bit and become hyper alert. It's kind of cool. On the days I eat, I try to eat chicken and turkey in addition to 2 pounds of veggies, 2 apples, and some pineapple. Plus fats, almonds, olive oil, and fish oil. It's been treating me well thus far.

I haven't had time to further gather my thoughts on Avatar, but I hope to do that in the near future.

Workouts:

Friday 2/19
5 Rounds
Max Rep 275lb DL
Max Rep Chest to Bar Pull-ups

I liked this one. I think DL's were 11-10-9-8-5 and the pull-ups were 11-6-6-5-5 (not impressed). I was called out on bad DL form by another guy working out there and was happy for it. I haven't had anyone watching my form for almost a year (since Omaha) and I haven't been consciously keeping it honest. He called me out on the fourth set and I really focused on that for the final round. Pull-ups: needs work.

Sunday 2/21
10 Rounds
30 Seconds Treadmill Sprint @ 7% grade
2 minutes rest between rounds

Started at 11.5 mph and finished at 10mph. I'm going to start mixing in a few Endurance wods since I will be running a marathon is 2 months.

Catch Up

2010-02-16T19:46:00.003-06:00

Well, hello again old friend. It's been a while since we've last met and quite a bit has happened since our last encounter.

To start with I would like to commend all those who participated and subsequently rocked the Midwest Crossfit Sectional! Awesome work there!

Proceeding from there, I do have a bit of news that has lightened my days. Last Wednesday I was accepted to the University of Minnesota Medical School! I was starting to get a little worried there for a bit. Now I'm extremely excited and relieved to know that I do have a future plan. As it stands now, I will likely be in Minneapolis for the next 4 years. Minnesota was one of my tops choices, and is in fact the only school to accept me as of now. Even if I'm not accepted elsewhere, I would not consider this to be a school I settled for. It is well ranked, and they are implementing an exciting new curriculum this next year that looks awesome. Not to mention, there is a Crossfit gym not far from the school. It would be great to workout in a proper gym again. More information will come in this in the future as decisions are made and plans set. Exciting times.

On a less significant, but exciting nevertheless, note, I am planning on running the Boston Marathon this year. No I am not registered which means I'll be running rogue. My friend, Paul as some may remember from previous posts, has decided to run the marathon and needed a running buddy for its duration. He asked and I accepted the challenge. He recently adopted POSE running (at my suggestion), bought a pair of five fingers, and plans on running the whole thing in those. Crazy, but in a good way. As for my long distance history, I have never run more than 6 miles in one go. This is going to be interesting.

The race is April 29th, and until today, I had not been to the gym for some time. This week I have a little more free time than usual, so I plan on at least doing something most of the days. In an attempt to prepare myself for the physical and mental rigors or the event, I added a little challenge to my workout today. A 2.25 mile run before and after the WOD. This might not have been the best idea, but I did it. I know it would have been better for me to spread these activities out of the day in the sense of physical training. But as far as mental toughness goes, I'm not sure it would have been tougher to separate the two. This is one of the reasons I chose to do it as a delicious sandwich. The first two miles were really hard (due to the long break I'm sure). The workout also was brutal and I slugged through it (see below for times and whatnot). The second two miler, really didn't feel as bad as the first (my pace was greatly reduced). I also attempted to refuel with Gatorade instead of water during the WOD. I'll plan on drinking watered down Gatorade on the marathon and eating a few clif bars. I'm not a fan of the soybeans used in Clif bars. Does anyone have any suggestions for energy type bar that would be good for a marathon? If you do let me know. That along with any tips you can think of for simply surviving.

WOD
2.25 Mile Run 17:43 (with ~5 traffic stops)

Rest/Warm up 10-15 minutes

3 rounds
500 meter row
12 135lb power cleans
15 95lb thrusters
~27 minutes (all rows under 2 minutes, minor cramping in legs)

Rest ~10 minutes

2.25 Mile run 20:34 (with ~5 traffic stops)

Rest day tomorrow and likely Thursday because of schedule. However I may try to do the CF Endurance WOD on those days.

And for the cherry on top. I just bought a new pair of skis for $400 less than MSRP. They are beautiful 189cm 2009 K2 Kung Fujas. I can't wait to get the bindings mounted and a nice coat of wax on those bad boys.

That is all!

Wind out of my Sails

2010-01-28T19:58:00.002-06:00

Well, the wind has left me sails, so to speak. Work has picked up quite a bit and I have only been to the gym once this week. It doesn't help that it takes quite a while to get to the gym. Such is life. Since I won't be competing this year, it will not be as big of an issue, but I would still like to belong to a gym where I can do something every once in a while.

While I am physical at the horse latitudes or doldrums (vocab for you sailors out there), I have recently experienced gale force winds mentally. This Sunday I watched Avatar. This movie sparked such a philosophical string of thoughts in me that I was in a near trance until Tuesday contemplating the themes and concepts presented in the moving. I eve began writing down a few of my more prominent thoughts with the hopes of constructing an essay. Now bear in mind, Avatar was only the spark the landed on an already well fueled fire. Many of the ideas I've jotted down have been recurring thoughts in my mental ventures, but Avatar presented them in such a way as to bring them into a new light. If you have not seen it, go. It is well worth it in my opinion. Expect to see something in the future summing my musing on the movie and what it brought forth.

As for the one workout I did this week.

WOD
5 Min Rowing @ 50%
Tabata Rowing Increasing work
5 min rest
1 minute @90% rest 2 minutes 3 rounds (try and get exact distances)
5 minute cooldown

This was a fun one. I like rowing (quite fitting for Boston, eh).

Still Truckin

2010-01-21T19:45:00.002-06:00

Well, despite a crazy work schedule, I've been able to follow the 2on-1off schedule laid out by OPT. I was even able to get a double in today. I'm a bit sore (and know I will feel it tomorrow). I'm going to try and find a cheap was to get a solid post wod nutrient source (such as a shake or bar) in order to help boost my daily intake. Also, I don;t think I'm getting enough carbs, which could be leading to a high level of cortisol in my brain, and as we know, elevated levels of cortisol cause unwanted stress, which in turn could be the reason I've been having trouble falling asleep. I'll see what I can do about that.

Wednesday WOD
A Power Clean/Push Press/Push Jerk/ Power Jerk 1.1.1.1x5 rest 180 (160, 170, 180, 185(F PP), 190F (did 3 SJ))
B1 KB Swings heavy 15x3 rest 90 (2pood)
B2 HSPU close grip 21X1 amrapx3 rest 90
C1 GHD Raises 2020, 12x3 rest 60
C2 Toes 2 Bar 21x3 rest 60

Not happy with the strength cluster. It is worse than before. Not sure what was going on, perhaps mental.

Thursday WOD
15-12-9-6-3
Power Snatch 95lbs
Burpees

8:53

Rest 4+ hours (I did about 6 hours)

3 min. Sprint at 90%
1 min. walk
2 min. Sprint at 90%
1 min. walk
1 min. Sprint at 90%
1 min. walk
2 min. Sprint at 90%
1 min. walk
3 min. Sprint at 90%

I think I traveled about 2.5 miles in that time. My legs were really feeling the snatches on this one. Calves are now sore as I tried as best I could to stay POSE.

Friday happens to be a rest day and a fasting day. Should be fun.

Some Consistency

2010-01-19T19:08:00.003-06:00

Friday WOD

Sprint Row 30 sec @ 100% effort

Rest 2:30

repeat 7 times

150-156-154-156-157-158-157 (meters in each round)

Sunday WOD
A1. Bench Press @50X1 6-8x4 rest 90s (Worked up from 120-150)
A2. Snatch Grip DL @41x1 5-7x4 rest 90s (140-200)
B1: dips @ 4010 6-8x3 rest 75s
B2: GHD raises @2020 10-15x3 rest 75
C1: DB ext rot @3010 8-10/armx3 rest 60 (15lbs)
C2: Toes 2 Bar 18 repsx3 rest 60

Monday WOD
A1 Mixed grip chin ups 31X0 4-6x4 rest 90
A2 1 1/4 Back Squat 4010, 6-8x4 rest 90 (140-170 tougher than it sounds)
B1 Lean away supinated chin ups 4111 amrapx3 rest 75
B2 DB forward Lunges 1010 8/legx3 rest 75 (55lbs pood in each hand)
C1 Powell Raises 3010, 8-10/armx3 rest 60
C2Anchored Sit-ups 35x3 rest 60

With any luck I'll be able to make it to the gym tomorrow to begin a three cycle streak. The rowing I did Friday was kind of fun. With such a large rest I was able to keep the pace up for all the rounds. As for Sunday and Monday, these are the same workouts that I did two weeks except with a little more weight. Tomorrow will be the same as last Thursday's workout and Thursday will be a double WOD day (if I'm lucky). It looks like after this initial 'strength interval' portion the wods start mixing up a bit into the typical crossfit workouts. Hopefully I'll be able to keep on a steady cycle at the gym to keep up with the training.

Diet:
Here's a basic diet update.
Food eaten in a day:
Carbs
2lbs of Broccoli
2 Apples
Protein
~1lb of meat (chicken and turkey mostly)
2 Eggs (used to be egg white, but since eggs are cheaper I've switched back)
Fats
Lots of Almonds, some walnuts
Olive Oil liberally added to Broccoli
Fish Oil (~1700mg EPA, ~1100mg DHA) when I have it

I've also been fasting every fourth day. (dinner on 3rd day to dinner on 4th day)

I'm not sure I'm getting enough carbs and don;t know what to do about that. Also, I'm not really doing anything special pre and post wod. We'll see if that changes at all in the future. At this point, I'm not financially capable of much experiment or diversity. I plan to hone my diet in the future when it becomes easier to provide for myself. For now, I'm happy with my diet.

Haircut

2010-01-14T18:26:00.005-06:00

I got a haircut today. Now my hair is shorter.

On to business.

I returned to Boston the evening of January 4th and wrote an entry the 5th. Honestly I can't really remember what I said then since I hit the ground at a sprint and haven't really slowed since. After squaring away my gym membership I did the first two days of OPT's phase 1 as I've mentioned in previous posts. I believe that was last Thursday and Friday. And although the program is written as 2-on-1-off, I took 5 days off and returned to the gym today. It has been a busy week to say the least. Some of it was work, which is a great thing; and some of it was family, which is even better; but too much of it was trying to fix my computer.

In no particular order.

My computer got a virus and decided to stop functioning. I guess it's flu season for everyone. After trying to fix it myself, I finally gave in and brought it to some pro's. Two days and $175 later I had a working computer. When I picked it up the tech said my computer was ridiculously slow, and in a good humored way, made fun of me for it the rest of my time there. For those who wish to know more my machine is roughly 5 1/2 years old and will likely be replaced within the next 8 months. After getting it back from the chastising techie, I decided to try and clean up a few programs to increase speed. Bad idea. After doing this the blue screen of death became my screen saver. I think it popped up 7 times yesterday. Luckily I set a system restore point and now it is up and running. Success.

Work is good because I'd like some money. I think I made enough to live until the next pay check, but I'd like to be putting some away (not to mention enjoying Boston a little more).

Saturday even my Mother and Sister flew in to town or their way to Spain and stayed until Monday evening. It was awesome having them in town and sharing with them parts of my life as a Bostonian. We spent most of our time walking around, seeing different neighborhoods, and eating the local fare. It is always fun having visitors (wink, wink) and family visitors top the charts.

As I was saying, I went to the gym today. The first three WOD's I've done have been very precise with work to rest times. I'm not sure of the science behind it, but I can tell you that these workouts have been less metabolically taxing then what I'm used to. I'm assuming this is the most efficient way to build strength in the workouts and the metabolic conditioning will come later. Fun to be doing something nevertheless.

Here they are:

Last Thursday
A1. Bench Press @50X1 6-8x4 rest 90s (Worked up from 115-145)
A2. Snatch Grip DL @41x1 5-7x4 rest 90s (135-195)
B1: dips @ 4010 6-8x3 rest 75s
B2: GHD raises @2020 10-15x3 rest 75
C1: DB ext rot @3010 8-10/armx3 rest 60 (15lbs)
C2: Toes 2 Bar 12repsx3 rest 60

Last Friday
A1 Mixed grip chin ups 31X0 4-6x4 rest 90
A2 1 1/4 Back Squat 4010, 6-8x4 rest 90 (135-165 tougher than it sounds)
B1 Lean away supinated chin ups 4111 amrapx3 rest 75
B2 DB forward Lunges 1010 8/legx3 rest 75 (1.5 pood in each hand)
C1 Powell Raises 3010, 8-10/armx3 rest 60
C2Anchored Sit-ups 35x3 rest 60

Today
A Power Clean/Push Press/Push Jerk/ Power Jerk 1.1.1.1x5 rest 180 (155, 165, 175, 185, 190F on push press)
B1 KB Swings heavy 15x3 rest 90 (2pood)
B2 HSPU close grip 21X1 amrapx3 rest 90
C1 GHD Raises 2020, 12x3 rest 60
C2 Toes 2 Bar 15x3 rest 60

Also today I'm going to run 1.5 miles to my car. Fun stuff!

Long post, oh yeah and I got a haircut today.

For Angela

2010-01-05T19:27:00.002-06:00

Alright Anglea, this one's for you.

This break has been great not for working out though. I have done little in the form of workouts, I think perhaps one in Minnesota and nothing in Michigan. I did however cut and split a few logs at the cabin, punched a hole in the ice on the lake, and skied a few days.

My diet has been quite holiday, lots of sugar and high GI foods. I could really feel it most of the time and look forward to realigning this metabolic derangement. Which has gotten even more deranged as of late. Yesterday was a travel day, from Minneapolis to Boston, and the only meal I had (some sausage and coffee cake probably amounting to a lopsided 2-3 block meal) and that was it. Partly because I didn't have time in the airports to grab food and partly because I didn't have any food when I returned home. I arrived home at 11 last night and woke up at 5:30am to being one of my many jobs. Since I had yet to go shopping I remained in a fasted state. My day continued, without a food source mind you, until 6:30 this evening after returning from my final job of the day and gathering nutients from Whole Foods. I'd call that about a 37 hour fast with under 6 hours of sleep and a sinus infection to boot. That's right a sinus infection, it is awesome. However, many times during the day I was brought back to my college days. Pushing hard and doing a million things on little sleep and little food. It has been an interesting experience, but I have noticed my calves cramping ever so slightly. Hopefully with food that will go away.

From nutrition to gym. I am now an official member of Revolution Fitness. Alas, I cannot afford Crossfit Boston on my megre earnings, but RevFit looks like a satisfactory gym to continue my training. If I am feeling up to it, and have time, I will be starting an OPT designed program. It commenced last November and is Phase 1 of 2 from what I understand. I am excited to see what his style of Crossfit feels like. They will be providing me with two personal training sessions at the gym. I am excited to see what I can learn from them. It will be interesting comparing fitness definitions and goals. RevFit was once an affiliate so perhaps they are familiar in the traditional.

There you go Ang, happy?

Parking Ticket

2009-12-16T17:17:00.002-06:00

Strength
OHS (narrow grip)
175-180 (fx2)

Less than my pr, but I don't think I've done an OHS in quite a while. My shoulder started bugging me when I tried the wide grip, so i switch to narrow and although it felt stronger, I want to ultimately be able to perform the lift correctly. With time and practice I'm sure it will happen.

WOD
1.5 Mile Run

10:01

Not sure how that compares to my other running times, but it felt good. However, my knee now hurts. Maybe that car did a little damage after all.

Oh and I got a parking ticket while working out. Awesome. I am not favored in the traffic world these days.

Twice in one week...seriously?

2009-12-15T16:45:00.002-06:00

Strength
Split jerk 1RM
205-215(f)

I need to work on my mental game. I've been psyching myself out too much.

WOD
Grace
30 reps 135lbs from ground to over head

5:07

It was fun making a lot of noise and having all the body builders look in to see what the commotion was.

Well, today I was once again struck by an automobile while riding my bicycle. At first, due to shock, I was slightly made. But when I shoot it off I just had to laugh. Twice in one week has got to be a record. Too crazy. I will probably have to go out and buy a bright neon vest or jacket or everything for that sake. Maybe I should just buy some body armor, that would be even better. Better yet I'll get a suit of armor. Just imagine a knight riding around on a bike. Hilarious!

Monday

2009-12-14T19:38:00.003-06:00

Strength
DL 1rm
395-405(f)

Happy with that considering my training the past few months.

WOD
3 rounds
5 DL at 275
10 Burpees

1:57

When I started I thought I was doing the workout from the 2008 games. When I finished I thought, "wow that was easy." Then I looked at my stopwatch and thought, "umm does not compute" with a robotic accent and everything. Oh well, next time I'll do all 5 rounds.

Friday and Saturday

2009-12-13T17:26:00.002-06:00

Friday
Pull-ups Max reps
25 then 15 (poor showing, no excuse)

4 rounds for time
2 HSPU
4 36" box jumps
6 ring dips
8 24" box jumps
10 push ups
12 walking lunges

6:57 (I think)

I'm not happy with the pull-ups. I just wasn't into it probably because I was in the middle of a fast. The wod reps and exercises were written on the board and I figured 4 rounds would be fun.

Saturday
Snatch 1RM: 145

WOD
8 rounds for time
250m row
Rest 1 minute

All 8 rounds in the 51.2-54.1 second range.

the snatch was interesting. I was really protecting my shoulder and was just not comfortable with catching the bar in a squat. After a few attempts at this and a little frustration, I decided to do power snatch instead and was immediately much more comfortable. 145 is the most I've snatched in any form, so I'm happy with that and hopefully with a little practice at OHS, I'll be able to build some strength and confidence in the full snatch.

The other day I stumbled upon OPT's blog and found some cool stuff. He has created a two phase program for his athletes. The first will be finishing shortly and the second starting in January. His workout are perhaps the most precise I have seen as most of them account for just about every second of the workout. That is to say each second is planned for you. Kind of cool. With this find, I have decided that OPT is a better programmer than I so come January I will start with his first phase and record his second phase to begin when I finish that.

Well the 2010 Crossfit games are around the corner and they posted the ramp up to it the other day. As many of you know there's a sectional followed by a regional then the games. Unfortunately it looks like I will be missing the sectional meet and subsequently anything beyond that. The weekend they are holding the event in Mass. lands on the tail end of a ski vacation I have planned in March. We'll see what happens with planning, but it doesn't look like I'll be competing this year which is a little disappointing but that's life. We shall see.

Wednesday

2009-12-09T18:33:00.002-06:00

Strength
Back Squat 1rm
215-225-235-245-255(f)

I only gave one go at 255 simply because I was scared, and here's why. When I first started lifting for football in high school I had no instruction as to proper form or technique. As you can imagine this opened the door for injury. I was doing squats completely on my toes with my heals coming off the ground completely. U-G-L-Y you don't got no alibi. Anyway while doing squats like that, I think i ripped something in my lower right abdomen. Nothing was done about it, and it didn't cause any further trouble until I began lifting again a few years back. Now occasionally when I do squats I feel a tearing sensation in my lower right abdomen. For fear of hernia I refrain from pushing it too hard when it comes to squats. Instead, I'm going to take it slow (much like in the snatch) until I feel confident with the movement and am free of pain (the bad kind).

WOD
50 20lb wall balls (unexpectedly unbroken)
40 DU (broken- fatigue plus bad rope)
30 1.5 pood KB swings (broken-that was dumb should have kept going)
20 35lb db walking lunges (broken-5-5-10 hard stuff)
10 Burpees (unbroken)

6:57

Tuesday

2009-12-08T19:58:00.002-06:00

WOD
Push Press 1RM
155-165-175-185-190-195(f-head psych)-195(f)-195pr(there we go)

For time
Row 1000m (3:37)
21-15-9
GHD Sit-ups
Back Extension

Total 8:17

Second day at the gym, so far so good.

Here's an outline of the strength programming I'm going to start throwing in the mix.

Clean
Push Press
Squat (back/front)
Pull ups
Snatch
Push ups
Dead lift
Push Jerk
Overhead Squat

Round 1: 1RM
Round 2: 5x5@85%
Round 3: 6x3@92.5%
Round 4: 3x10@70%
Repeat

This is exactly what is posted on Ricky's blog under an undulating program. I know I'm not in peak lifting form, but I like mixing it up and will probably add weight when needed mid cycle. Also, the lifts will be performed in that order in hopes of allowing more time for recovery between similar lifts. My goal before Christmas is just to find the 1r maxes and after the holiday starting a regular routine.

New Gym

2009-12-07T20:49:00.004-06:00

Yay! I'm now part of a gym. It's not an affiliate but it'll have to do for now. For those who are interested here it is: http://revfitboston.com/. I'll be working out almost exclusively in "The Pit" where I can do oly lifts and wods. I'm excited to be able to get back on a track of sorts.

Today's Go Around
Clean Find 1RM
185-195-205-215-225(Fx3)

225 was my old 1rm (early this last summer). I was able to get under the weight but couldn't stand with it. This next week or two I'll be finding my 1rm and using those weights to follow a sort of undulating program in hopes of building some strength before the sectionals this spring.

100 DU's just working on the skill

Max reps push ups
50

Even though this is where I started it was after some heavy cleans and DU's so I'm not disappointed. Hopefully I'll be able to treat push ups like my oly lifts and create an undulating rep scheme of sorts.

I saw this advertisement today and thought it was a great example of how companies jump on band wagons in name and not spirit. The ad is for Jif peanut butter with Omega 3. How much you ask? 32mg of DHA and EPA. That's right a whole 32mg. I guess it's better than nothing, but I'm taking about oh 100 times that a day. Crazy stuff.

Last Friday

2009-12-07T12:33:00.002-06:00

Last Friday's WOD
15 - 50lb DB cleans (full squat)
5 Chest slap push ups
10 - 50lb DB cleans (full squat)
10 Chest slap push ups
5 - 50lb DB cleans (full squat)
15 Chest slap push ups

4:19

Two goals for today, Monday.
1. Join Revolution Fitness-a local gym that has all the equipment for crossfit. It is much cheaper than CFB and closer than Medford. the membership dues are a Christmas present from my folks so that is cool.
2. Push ups. I fell of the regiment over Thanksgiving and would like to see where I stand.

Cheat Week

2009-12-02T19:58:00.002-06:00

Well, as many of you can imagine, this past week (and a half) has not been the picture perfect paleo zone/crossfit block of time. My diet went to crap with all the traveling and eating all the Thanksgiving goodies. To boot, I didn't even get a workout in the whole time. However, I did and have been taking fish oil on a regular basis.
The silver lining of this fall from grace is that I could really feel my poor diet taking a toll on my body. This helped push me back on track. Nice to know that my body reacts appropriately to nutrients.
In addition to eating right I'm also going to be fasting every fourth day from now until Christmas (or there abouts). This is partially to save money on food and partially to see how I react. Fun stuff.

Wednesday WOD
3 Rounds for time
10 One arm DB Swing, right arm
10 One arm DB Highpulls, right arm
10 One arm DB Snatch, right arm
10 One arm DB Swing, left arm
10 One arm DB Highpulls, left arm
10 One arm DB Snatch, left arm

I used a 50lb db and finished in 12:45. I definitely could have pushed harder and didn't really get out of first gear, but I guess you could call it easing back into the swing of things.

This last week was a big one in terms of my pursuit of med school. I had two interviews: one at the University of Minnesota and one at Washington University in St. Louis. For those of you interested in following my progress, I posted a link (look to the column on the right) to a profile page that has my 'stats' so to speak. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

P.S. I answered Josh's fish oil question from a few posts ago with a comment to that post. In case you haven't figured that out already. Cheers!

Boring Week

2009-11-18T18:28:00.002-06:00

Seeing as I have four jobs now, you'd think my life would be quite busy. So far this week I participated in a 30 minute conference call. Um...that doesn't quite add up. Anyway, at least I've got push ups to fill the time.

Monday
Push -ups Max Rep
60

Wednesday
Tabata All out
21-20-12-10-10-8-9-8 (+8 I did an extra round by accident)
98

Progress. I'm thinking about adding another criteria to the Max rep effort. It will now be max reps completed with a max time of two minutes. I'm not sure how long it's taking me now, but I'm setting two minutes as the ceiling for time from hence forth.

I guess that makes 3

2009-11-15T21:07:00.002-06:00

Sunday
1.3 Mile Run with 50lb load (35lb sand bag and 15lb back pack)
11:10

In addition to the above fun little run, I went to the first 3 hours of Dr. Sears' seminar at Endicott college. It was quite informative and answered a lot of questions regarding why certain foods were bad and what we should be striving for. The main take aways were:
-inflammation is what causes the majority of chronic conditions in America today including obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and heart disease.
- daily high doses of purified fish oil (5g-15g/day) help reduce the risk of heart attack by 70%, cause depression remission 500% more than without, reduce the affects of ADHD, reduce tumor size, basically help prevent chronic disease
-Strict Zone diet is pretty much paleo zone diet with high dose fish oil
-if you don't want to change your diet at least take 5g-10g of fish oil a day
-strict zone diet helps the best athletes get better
-molecular baking is the next big thing in getting people in the zone

Based on what I've learned today I'm going to try and hone my diet a bit. This week, I will be eating 2 lbs of broccoli, 2 apples, about a pound of meat (turkey or chicken), and plenty of almonds, walnuts, and olive oil each day. Once my fish oil arrives I will start taking that too. After Thanksgiving I'm going to keep up with that diet until Christmas to see how I feel. I know I haven't been getting enough veggies and don't know what else to get. My meat quality will improve (mainly chicken, turkey, and fish) and my fruit intake will decrease (not by much, limited to two servings a day) . In addition my fish oil consumption will increase. Hopefully this change will stick and I'll be high as a kite all day. We shall see.

Weekend Fun

2009-11-14T22:33:00.002-06:00

Friday
Tabata Push ups Gamed
12-12-12-12-12-12-11-10
93 Total

Saturday
1.3 Mile Run
8:36

Sunday
Dr. Sears Nutrition Seminar at Endicott College

Wednesday Push-ups

2009-11-11T23:03:00.002-06:00

WOD
Tabata Push-ups (All out)
21-19-14-10-9-7-8-6
94 total

Like a bag of sand

2009-11-09T22:23:00.002-06:00

While walking home from a outstanding establishment, where I sampled the local fare and copious beverage, I came across quite a treasure. During this adventure, I was in Troy, NY reliving my college days. It might have been 4AM and I may have been walking up a large hill. Nevertheless, I stumbled across an unused construction sign. It was not the sign however that caught my attention but rather the sand bags that had formerly kept the sign upright. Being in a state of profound logic and quick thinking, I grabbed one of the sand bags, leaving the other for the sign and continued up hill. I thought, "this will come in handy in future workouts." Needless to say I carried the 35lb sack all the way back to an upstanding house with ample couches in order to bring it back to Boston with me. Nicely done drunk John! I plan to use the bag often.

Sunday WOD
1.5 mile sandbag run, 35lb sandbag
un-timed (from my car to my appt.)

Monday
Max reps Push-ups
55

3 rounds for time
10 pullups
20 box jumps
20 lunges
un-timed

Friday

2009-11-06T21:05:00.000-06:00

Tabata Push ups Gamed
12-12-12-12-11-12-11-9
91 total

Progress.

Chaos

2009-11-05T21:56:00.002-06:00

Yup, my life just a bit more crazy lately. I've seen three moose, two werewolves, and a yeti outside my window and I live on the 9th floor. Seriously. But not really, I've got a job or 5 and am trying to make all that jazz work. I'm now a part time hospital tutor (where they expect me to reserve full time hours for them), an independent tutor, and I'm training to teach an SAT prep course. Oh yeah and I'm on a list of tutors for another agency where I'm teaching the SSAT's. I don;t even know what those are. As you can imagine, my routine is not really that at all. I don't know when I going to work at the hospital until basically the day before and everything else comes at my on an as needed bases. This makes finding time to workout harder that it should be. Oh, I'm also in the running for a high school ski coaching position (not sure I'll be able to take that if I'm offered). Anyway, my workouts have been sparse and a bit random. However, I have been keeping with the push up scheme and am biking a lot since that is my easiest mode of transport around Boston. By the way a car was honking at me for biking in the regular lane instead of the turn lane (I wasn't planning on turning) so in true Bostonian fashion I flipped him the bird. For some reason he didn't see the beauty in that and miraculously found enough room to squeeze by my (which he should have done in the first place) only to try and cut me off at the light. He wasn't very smart because it is a well known fact that you can't cut off a biker, we are way to nimble and agile plus our maneuverability is to the max. I blew past him with ease when he stopped at the light because when I'm on my bike I'm above the law. Seriously, I can do the 1.5 miles to where my car is parked faster than any car (I'm almost certain of that). Umm...and now on with the workouts.

Tuesday WOD
5 rounds for time
Run 120yds (I think, distance is estimated)
10 Burpees
15 Sit-ups
25 Squats

9:15

Wednesday WOD
Tabata Push-ups All out
20-17-12-8-7-7-7-7
85 total

Oh, and one more thing. Even though I have a job per se doesn't mean I have money to join a gym. In fact I won't get my first pay check until Dec. 7th. Let's hope the $175 I have will last otherwise IF will become a necessity. Yeah life lessons/challenges! Despite this fact I am still overly optimistic, and can't stop typing now for some reason. Oh wait never mind I'm done.

More Push-ups

2009-11-02T21:12:00.003-06:00

WOD
Push-ups Max reps in 1 round

50

I guess that's a good starting point to have if I'm looking to double it.

I haven't had a decent workout though in a while, but I just started a job today. It sounds like a full-time job that is given a part-time title, we'll see. But I'll be a tutor for students who are spending time in a hospital for whatever reason and are missing school. It should be great prep for med school so bonus there. Once I get a routine going there, I will definitely have to find a new workout pattern. Until then I'll do what I can.

Push ups and a mustahce

2009-10-30T18:03:00.003-05:00

WOD
Tabata Push-ups (Gamed)
11-11-11-11-11-11-11-12
89 total

Gym was closed today so couldn't make up anything.

Later today I will be getting into character for Halloween. This year I will be going as Magnum PI. This means that I'll have to wear an awesome mustache for the duration for the weekend. I'm find any excuse to grow a mustache.

Fighting a Goat

2009-10-28T17:04:00.003-05:00

Started a new plan to get better at push-ups today. I've been fighting this goat long enough and came up with a plan to fix that. I figured the best way to get better is to do them. I recall Joe saying that the most efficient way of working push-ups was with tabata, so here is what I came up with.

Mondays-1 round max reps
Wednesdays-Tabata Push-ups All out each round
Fridays-Tabata Push-ups Game each round

Even if this isn't the most efficient program I'm bound to make progress through brute repetition. My goal is 200 on either tabata and over 100 on max reps. This should be a fun little experiment.

1st Wednesday
Tabata Push-ups All-out
20-15-12-9-8-8-7-8
87 total

Nate

2009-10-27T16:28:00.002-05:00

WOD
Nate
AMRAP in 20
2 Muscle Ups
4 HSPU
8 2 pood KB swings

13 rounds +1 HSPU

Once again I did bar muscle ups, it was easier than sharing rings. HSPU were tough after round 10 or so and took the most time to complete. The KB swings weren't bad. This was a fun one since none of the movements drained me too bad.

Lunges/Situps

2009-10-26T21:43:00.001-05:00

WOD
4 rounds for time
50 Steps walking lunges
50 Sit-ups

9:12

It was nice doing this one outside, but I think I found a puddle or something while doing sit-ups.

Friday

2009-10-23T20:28:00.002-05:00

WOD
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
155 lb Power Clean
C2B Pull-ups
1.5 Pood KB swings

17:51

This was a wod used in the northeastern qualifier...it had a 15 minute cut off. Coulda/shoulda/woulda gone fast if/but/because...No excuses.

Tabata Something Else

2009-10-21T21:51:00.002-05:00

Today I ran Tabata Something Else since I missed it yesterday and did a pack run instead (we'll get to that later). TSE went well and I pr'd but once again I was disappointed with my push-up performance. I'm going to have to do something about that. Here's how it went.

WOD
Tabata Something Else
Pull-ups 18-13-9-10-10-9-10-10 = 89
Push-ups 12-12-11-10-9-8-6-6 = 74
Sit-ups 13-14-15-14-14-14-15 = 112
Squats 21-21-21-21-21-21-22-22 = 170

Total = 445

Sit-ups were performed unanchored with the soles of my feet together. I came all the way up and touched my feet on each rep. Hopefully everything else was full rom (I tried to keep it legit). Also, I jumped the gun and did one pull-up round before the time really started. I got 19 on that round and nullified it since it was not on the clock. Not sure how much that affected total reps.

Tuesday WOD
1.5 Mile back pack run with 25->16.5lbs

Untimed but I pushed the pace.

Since I couldn't make it to Medford yesterday, I decided to through some weight on my back and run. I do not however have any weight so I improvised with three one gallon jugs formerly filled with chocolate and now filled with water to total 25lbs. It started out fairly well, but about a block into my run I felt a little trickle down the back of my legs which continued to swamp my shoes and leave a trail of my path. One of the jugs had lost its top and my 25lb pack slowly became a 16.5lb pack and I slowly became soaked. I didn't really care that much and continued the run. However, about .5 miles into the run my ipod stopped, once again I didn't care all that much and mushed on. As it turns out, my ipod is now a fancy paperweight since it apparently shorted out from being soaked. So, I am in the market for a new ipod and coincidentally a job to pay for the new ipod. How convenient.

Muscle up redemption

2009-10-20T12:02:00.002-05:00

Well, I still haven't gotten over that mental block for doing ring muscle ups, but I have redeemed myself for the poor showing on the 30 MU's for time I did a while back.

WOD
Tyler
5 Rounds
7 muscle ups
21 SDHP at 95lbs

16:15

That means I either squeezed 5 muscle ups and 105 SDHP into about a minute (based on my most recent 30 rep time), or I was more efficient. In this case, I think the latter is more likely. Ha. This was a good little wod. I was able to take the muscle ups (done on a bar) one at a time and rarely missed. I split the SDHP into 11-10 each round except the 4th which was 7-7-7 and the 5th which was 12-9.

This was my first workout in about a week. Last week I got sick while driving to Penn State, which by the way was a nice little trip/interview except for the nasty sinus infection I picked up. Luckily the interview went well and the sinus infection didn't hang on for more and a few days. However, last week had its ups and downs. The interview was an up for sure, but when I got back to Boston, I found out that I once again had to start from scratch on the job hunt since neither of the companies were offering me a position. So for the past few days I've been applying to everything I can. This time around I'm also going to try and find something short term that will start soon so I can start earning money (should have done this in the beginning). At least this job hunt is keeping life interesting.

Fran = Black Lung

2009-10-12T23:36:00.002-05:00

Today I went face to face with Fran. We hadn't crossed paths since last September (and I was just fine with that). I figure it is a good annual event. As usual it hurt afterward, a lot, but not as bad as I can recall from before, a good sign. I also felt much better during the workout, another good sign. Overall I was happy with the trial and was able to make a substantial pr.

WOD
Fran
21-15-9
95lb thrusters
pull-ups

3:50 (pr by 1:05)

Maybe next time I can drop another minute. Ha. That would be cool.

This will be my only wod for a few days. Tomorrow, I will b leaving of Hershey, PA for an interview with the Penn State School of Medicine. This will be my first interview for med school and I am really excited to get it underway. Now if I could only get a response from those jobs out here. I still haven't heard anything from Harvard or Cataldo Ambulance and it's over a week beyond when they siad they would contact me. In addition to these two companies going MIA, Tutor.com apparently doesn't see me either. I was supposed to have a mock session online today for this reputable online tutoring company. I scheduled the session last week for noon, and I'll be darned if they didn't show up, so after waiting for 15 minutes (like they said) I left with hopes of finding a gig at McDonalds or something. Seriously, does anyone else go through this when looking for a job. Is it common practice to interview someone and then just not follow up? I sure hope that I'm just an anomaly and that this doesn't happen to anyone else. Oh well. Everything will come together in good time, I'm not terribly worried about it. At this point I'm just trying to enjoy the free time.

Also, check out the video I posted under random thoughts. It's SFW, so no worries. I really liked his take on the attitude of many people today and the whole 'the world owes me mentality.' Something to keep life in perspective and maybe even find a little happiness in the small things.

5 for the 5th

2009-10-09T18:19:00.003-05:00

Well, today was my 5th day on and what better way to celebrate than a 5k? To add to a suiting wod, the weather was perfect-a light drizzle on an overcast day. I really do like running in the rain, so it was almost ideal.

Friday WOD
5k
22:22

Was shooting for sub 20 minutes, maybe when I'm not recovering. However, that's the name of the game, constantly varied (movements and conditions). Keeps it fun.

4th in a row

2009-10-08T19:45:00.002-05:00

Today was my 4th day on and although I am sore, I feel pretty good about it. I may even go in tomorrow and hit 5 in a row, who knows.

Wednesday 091007
Thrusters
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
155-160-165-170(pr)-175(pr)-180(pr)-185(pr)-190(pr)-195(fx3)

I haven't done 1rm thrusters since the end of January so I pr'd pretty hard. It was awesome. I just couldn't explode when I was going for 195. Next time.

Thursday
WOD
AMRAP in 20
250m row
21 SDHP 95lbs
15 pull-ups

5 rounds

I think I started out a little too slowly, but this one was tough. I was shooting for 5 and hoping for 6, so I'm glad I was able to hit 5 but as always need to keep pushing to get to that next level.

Mainsite 091004

2009-10-06T22:43:00.002-05:00

Today I did Sunday's mainstie WOD.

WOD
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
95lb Power Cleans
Sit-ups
Back Extensions

9:50

This wod felt great. All sets unbroken. I just took my frustrations from yesterday and went to it. I wasn't going to stop unless my arms fell off, and it was great. There were some faster posts on the mainsite, and I don't mean to discredit them, but all of my movements were full rom, so I'm happy with that.

I was looking for info on paleo diets and whatnot today and came across the Paleo Brands site. There is some good info on there, but I learned that a lot of the food I eat is not on their 'paleo' menu. This included bacon, sausage, and eggs (at least the amount I'm eating). I figure since their basing their lives around correct paleo info, I'm going to try and switch up what I eat so that it fits in with their parameters (list under paleo do's and don'ts). Now all I need to do is find some easy cheap recipes that I can make in bulk and eat day after day. Hopefully success will follow.

Muscle up? More like muscle down!

2009-10-05T22:11:00.002-05:00

I haven't done muscle-ups since the last time we did muscle-ups in Omaha, so 5 months give or take. As I recall, the last time I did 30, I felt like I should have gone faster. This time around I feel doubly so. For some reason I just couldn't pull off muscle ups like I'm used to. I spent the time between struggling on the rings and knocking some bar muscle ups out. As a matter of fact most of the muscle ups this time were done on a bar. Aggravating to say the least. The tough part of it was that I know it was a mental thing, not a physical one.

WOD
30 muscle-ups for time (and a little sip from the humble cup)
~15 minute

On a lighter note, I was able to string together 82 double-unders before the workout so that was cool.

I'm still waiting to hear back on some jobs and I'm dying for at least a little structure in my life. It may sound weird, but I think I function better when I'm busy. Right now, my diet is treating me oddly, so I'm going to have to tweak it. Having other crossfitters to workout with has been awesome, but I'm finding it hard to mentally get into workouts. I guess I'm just at a weird place in time. I'm sure it will all workout in time, but for now it's kind of funky and not in the cool 70's way.

The first of the tenth

2009-10-01T18:53:00.002-05:00

Howdy, today will probably wrap up my workouts for the week. That is unless I get some motivation tomorrow before Harpoon's Octoberfest. We shall see.

On Tuesday the mainsite called for snatch 1rm. As you may or may not know the snatch does terrible things to my shoulder. However, I am determined to find a way of making it work. While talking with the Medford crew about my dilemma, Danielle dropped some knowledge from the Burgener cert she went to the weekend prior by sharing proper shoulder positioning for the catch. I have seen many videos of people straining to keep the weight overhead while having their arms really far back. Every time I see that I cringe because that is where my shoulder is weakest. However, the tip she gave me was not to try and catch the weight that far back (fair enough, I try to do that anyway), but the fact of the matter is that further up the shoulder is actually held in joint by the scapula and the surrounding muscles. Your shoulder position should be similar to when you lift your arms overhead with palms raised vertically, like when you do the Y in YMCA. I worked on catching like that and sure enough it felt a lot better. With that in mind I went forth the tackle the mental barrier I had put in place to protect my shoulder.

Tuesday WOD

Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Got to 140 and failed at 145 4 times. That's a pr for me but in the end, I was simply not comfortable catching that much weight overhead. The mental block remains, however smaller than before.

Thursday WOD

Do each exercise unbroken
30 DB thrusters at 35lbs
30 sit-ups
30 goblet squats at 50lbs
30 push-ups
30 DB swings at 50lbs

6:07

This one was kind of fun. I liked the idea of trying to make 30 reps of each in an unbroken set (I was inspired by a workout posted on the CFB page which was inspired by OPT). The thrusters were tough, but the push-ups were by far the hardest. I didn't get out of the push-up position until I hit 30 but I did rest a bit. Even though it's not a lot of reps, I felt this workout after finishing.

Random Stuff

If you like music you should check out thesixtyone.com if you haven't already. I just found it the other day and it's full of stuff you've probably never heard. Enjoy!

The treemeister

2009-09-28T18:59:00.004-05:00

As the title says, I am excited to see what this week brings me. I am waiting to hear back on two jobs that I interviewed for last week. Hopefully I can finally start doing something and justfying my reason for moving to Boston. In addition to getting an income, this week will also be the most training I've done in a while. I will workout for 5 days in a row (which mill make up for my lack of weekend workouts). Also, I have start IF. I'll be on a 3 day on 1 day off cycle and see how that pans out. The one day off will be a 24 hour fast (dinner to dinner) instead of a 36 hour fast. I really don;t know what to expect, but among other things it will save money on groceries. One more bit of news, I'll be attending a free nutrition seminar hosted by Dr. Sears on Nov. 15. I'm a little excited for that.

On to workouts.

Sunday WOD
1.3 mile run
Go grocery shopping
1.3 mile run

I'm not sure of the first split, but the second run was 8:15 or so. Basically, I ran to my car to go shopping, then I ran home...in the rain...both times. I got splashed by water once., it was nice.

Monday WOD
AMRAP in 20
5 reps 95lb thrusters
7 reps 95lb hpc
10 reps 95lb sdhp

9round 16 reps

The high pulls were definitely the hardest part of that workout. Otherwise a solid/challenging wod.

Here's a little gem for ya, (audio NSFW). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skCV2L0c6K0

First full cycle in a while

2009-09-23T19:17:00.002-05:00

Today concluded my first three day cycle in quite a while now. It felt great too. A nice taxing strength cycle.

WOD
5 rounds
Max reps bw bench press
Max pull-ups
Max reps bw squat

BW-165
BP- 7-7-7-6-5
Pull-ups- 20-20-17-17-20
Squats- 10-11-11-12-15

I sweated like crazy during this one since it was probably 80 this evening. Just got finished gorging myself on chocolate milk and trail mix, in addition to a delicious Italian burger (no bun or cheese). I've been trying to stay paleo while in Boston and it's been going well so far. I've been eating a little dairy, like the chocolate milk and some cheese here and there, but for the most part I've been eating right. I can definitely feel simple sugars and even peanuts when I do eat them (like in the trail mix). However, I'm pretty sure I'm not eating enough. I usually only eat 2-3 meals a day totaling 15 blocks at a max. I'm hoping once I get a job and some money and a routine that I'll be more consistent but until then I'll make due. I might start IF to save some money, we'll see.

This Friday CFB is doing FGB, so I'll probably stop by and see how it goes. Good luck to those doing FGB this weekend!

400 lb Club!

2009-09-22T20:54:00.002-05:00

That's right, I'm now a proud member f the 400lb club! The mainsite wod was DL 1rm and that's what we did. Don't know what else to say. It was pretty awesome. Oh, I saw a squirrel get hit by a car today on the way to the gym. That is all.

WOD
DL
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
325-335-355 (learned how to add)-365-375-385-400

405 (fx2) I got it above my knees on the second attempt though

9/21/2009

2009-09-21T21:29:00.003-05:00

WOD
Press 1-1-1-1-1
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5

Press 125-130-132.5-135(f)-135(f)
Push Press 165-170-175-180-185
Push Jerk 165-170-175-180-185

I worked out with the Medford crew again. Lots of fun to hear about the cert they went to this weekend. Overall I'm pleased with my lifts today. My press till needs work but those are pr's in my push press and push jerk so bonus. Actually that press is also a pr so progress. Since we're following the main site wods, tomorrow is 1rm DL. My goal is to get that illusive 400. According to my 5rm, I've got it, now all I have to do is prove it.

Rocky Mountain Qualifier WOD 3 Video

2009-09-19T19:02:00.002-05:00

I stumbled across this video of the third workout we did in Denver. It was taken of someone else, but I made it in due to the angle. Enjoy.

The Garage Gym

2009-09-18T19:22:00.002-05:00

Today I ventured into Medford, MA to join a group of crossfitters who are stationed in their garage. I found them on the mainsite forums and am glad I did. It was awesome to be able to workout with some crossfitters again. They are so nice for letting me join them. I will probably continue to workout with them in the weeks to come and perhaps even into the winter depending on what their plan is (most of the workouts are done outside). Cool stuff.

I sort of did a double wod again today. My car is parked about 1.3 miles away, so I have to walk to it to go anywhere new or off the public transit path. About halfway to my car, I realized that I had forgotten my keys. Hard luck, so I turned around and got them. In order to save some time I decided to run to my car instead of walk. No worries there, just made the wod tougher.

WOD 1
1.3 mile run

time unknown

WOD 2
Daniel
50 Pull-ups
400m run
21 thrusters at 95 lbs.
800m run
21 thrusters at 95 lbs
400m run
50 pull-ups

16:42

I haven;t done pull-ups in a while so those felt a little rusty at first, but I hit my stride and was able to push through them. The runs were quite hard, especially after the thrusters. My legs were shot. All in all a great workout to meet some crossfitters and solve my gym problems. Thanks Danielle and Vinny!

Back in Beantown

2009-09-16T21:54:00.003-05:00

After a short sabbatical to the outer banks of North Carolina, I have returned to Boston with replenished motivation and ready to hit it hard, whatever it is.

The week or so vacation to OBX, as it is affectionately abbreviated, was awesome. About 25 friends from college were in attendance and a good time was had by all. For the most part I surfed (or tried to) by day and partied by night (and most of the day). Even though there is a Crossfit OBX, I was unable to attend and didn't even get in an official workout. However, I did a lot of paddling around on a surf board to fight the current, some swimming, and even wrestle someone for a short bout (I picked him up and body slammed him within a minute and he quickly surrendered, thanks Crossfit). The most exciting part of the trip though was probably after getting crushed by a huge wave (~10ft) while I was waiting for another to receive more punishment and test my lung capacity and underwater awareness. I was waiting calmly on my board catching my breath about 50 yd from the shore. When I looked over my shoulder I saw probably the most recognizable aquatic symbol known to man. That's right a shark fin. The fin was probably 15-18 inches tall representing a 10-15 ft shark (after further research my guess is a hammer head) about 30-40 ft away. As you can imagine I didn't wait for another wave. As calmly as I could I began paddling toward shore. I only looked back once and saw the ominous triangle still protruding from the water. As the shore neared, I caught a wave and rode it in. Even though I was done surfing for that day, I did return the next to further my surfing skill.

Anyway, here are the workouts I've been doing the past few day.

Monday
WOD
3 rounds for time
Run 100m
10 HSPU
25 Squats
Run 100m
20 push-ups
10 box jumps (onto a cement traffic barrier ~30 in.)

11:26

I came up with this workout while looking out my window. I was done on the green field in the bottom right corner of the above picture. It turned out to be a fun little wod. My shoulders were on fire and the box jumps were cool. I got a few funny looks, but it was no different than working out in a globo gym.

Tuesday-Rest Day

Wednesday
Morning WOD

Run 4.25 miles

34:18 (two stops for traffic and one for shoes)

Evening WOD
10 rounds for time
10 Push-ups
10 sit-ups
10 squats

6:38

All sets unbroken. I figured I'd throw two workouts in today just for kicks.

On Friday I'm planning on heading to Medford to meet up with a few crossfitters with a garage gym. From what I take, it's free and I'll be able to workout with a few fellow fire-breathers. It's been a while since I've trained in a group, so I'm really looking forward to it. Should be fun.

Elizabeth

2009-09-03T13:34:00.003-05:00

This was day two of my three day trial at Revolution Fitness. I'm still having trouble adapting to the techno/club music playing in the locker rooms. It feels a little too metro for me. However, for the price of free, it was bearable. On a side note, I accidentally stole a towel today. I was in an after wod zone (one of those oblivious ones), stuffed the towel in my backpack and didn't realize I had until I had already left the gym. Sweet deal free towel. That's what they get for playing that crappy music.

WOD

3 mile bike ride (had to find a place to fill my tires)

Dynamic Warm-up/Stretching

Elizabeth
21-15-9
135lb Cleans (yes squat cleans)
Ring Dips (full lock out and arm/shoulder touching the ring on each dip)

9:21 (pr by 1:28)

Foam rolling on my quads-delightfully painful

2 mile bike home (got lost but not as bad this time)

I know that I would have gone faster if I were in a group class, so my goal is to keep the intensity up even when I'm flying solo.

Revolution Fitness

2009-09-02T15:16:00.003-05:00

Today I venture to Revolution Fitness to begin a free three day trial. They are not an affiliate but they are set up for crossfit as in they have some of the tougher to come by equipment. They seem like a decent alternative to CFB, but I'm still looking for free until a job hits.

After a brief tour of the cardio room, spin room, and strength room I was brought to "The Pit" which contained everything you needed to do crossfit. I kindly thanked the trainer for the tour and got to it. While I was warming up another guy came into the Pit wearing oly shoes and started setting up for the snatch and clean and jerk. He even did the Burgener warm up. Maybe it was a good omen. Anyway, I made full use of their amenities.

WOD
2 mile bike ride to gym

1000 meter row
21 thrusters at 95lbs
21 pull-ups
750 meter row
15 thrusters at 95lbs
15 pull-ups
500 meter row
9 thrusters at 95 lbs
9 pull-ups

19:30

2.5 mile bike ride home (got lost)

The thrusters felt lighter than I expected but it was tough to transition from rowing to Fran. I rested way too much. I'll probably head back tomorrow and Friday but won't sign anywhere until I get a job.

Improv

2009-08-31T21:22:00.003-05:00

Resourcefulness is the name of the game. Without a proper gym, I'm required to create workouts that I have the means to do and fulfill the crossfit ideology. I am looking forward to being creative and finding fun ways for self torture (so to speak).

Friday 8/28
Didn't have a lot of time to workout because I was lazy so I just did Tabata Push-ups

Tabata Push-ups
12-12-11-11-10-10-9-9
84 total

It's not my best showing. Luckily my future workouts are likely to hold tons of push-ups.

Sunday 8/30
A friend of mine, interested in Crossfit, took me to his gym for the day and I came up with a workout. I'm not particularly proud of it but it spiked his intrigue.

3 Rounds for time
10 DB swings 75lbs
20 Push-ups
30 Sit-ups

5:55

Only had to break the push-ups on that one.

After that we took a little break and did Squats

Back Squat 5x5

155-175-190-205-225(pr)

I would have done one more set, but my friend was ready to leave and my body was telling me that 225 was good enough for now. I think I could have done more though.

Monday 8/31
Today I ventured into the world of running in Boston. Luckily I found a nice river run that is designed specifically for just that. To make it a little interesting a stuffed a few text books in my backpack and turned it into a ruck run. Not sure of the weight but if I had to guess it would be around 20 lbs.

5 mile run with a 20 lb pack

39:12

I really kind of enjoyed this run. I never felt out of gas and was the only guy out there with a pack on. Haha. It would have been faster too but I had to stop 4 times, twice to tie my shoe and twice for a traffic light.

Here are some possible future workouts.
12 story stair run (repeats or with an exercise on each level donkey kong style)
Sprint repeats on the green
Park Bench Jumps
Oly lifts when I find a place to do them

The Waiting

2009-08-27T15:22:00.003-05:00

Today I realize I am in the a waiting phase in my life. I'm waiting to hear back on jobs, waiting to hear back from med schools, and waiting until I have enough money to join Crossfit Boston. Hopefully this will build patience or something like that.

The above picture was taken from my apartment window overlooking downtown Boston. It's pretty cool but I prefer mountains and trees. Haha.

Today I tried the building's fitness center. I thought I had it rough in Minnesota, but this is much worse. The heaviest weight in the room is a 50lb db and there is no pull-up bar what so ever. However, I will not be deterred. I plan on going to parks to do bar work. Maybe I'll become a Bar-tenda or something like that. I'd also like to start some parkuor stuff, real primal.

WOD

50 Man makers with 50 lb dbs

11:53

I'm not sure if they were official man-makers, but I did a push up, then clean and jerks the weight. Most of them were clean thrusters. I'm not terribly pleased with that time, but it just felt weird working out with so many mirrors and in something that felt more like an office than a gym. When life gives you lemons...

Boston Crossfit Fitness Evaluation

2009-08-26T10:52:00.004-05:00

This morning I had what people here in Boston call a 'fitness evaluation,' which for me was an explanation of my crossfit experience, a dynamic warm-up, and the Petranek Baseline. My trainer was Alex Straus. We talked shop for a bit at first while waiting for another guy to show up for the eval. I hadn't told them I was in crossfit before but that was the first thing he asked so no real surprises...until the workout. The other guy was a marine who had been doing crossfit while on tour and was picking it up for the first time in an affiliate. Our warm-up was strangely familiar (but not surprisingly so). It included knees to chest, spiderman, walking lunges with a twist, skips, high kicks, and such very similar to Omaha. We then moved on to the workout and went over rom requirements. I was able to learn a few new things about rowing, but everything else was standard except sit-ups were done with the soles of the feet together and knees spread out. Not too bad though. Finally we got on with it.

My row time was 1:37.5 and I did all sets unbroken.

WOD
Petranek Baseline
500m row
40 Squats
30 Sit-ups
20 Push-ups
10 Pull-ups

3:51

I was pretty surprised when I heard the time and I think they were too. That puts me in the elite category for the baseline and a 24 second pr from last May! Unfortunately I don't have the money to feed the addiction so I'm going to refer people like mad and as soon as I get a job I'm going to sign up and show them what CFO training can do!

Boston

2009-08-24T12:27:00.002-05:00

After a summer of planning and hard work, I have finally arrived in Boston ready for another year. It took two days of solid driving totaling 25 hours and 1470 miles. Naturally I drove it for time. Also I cut across Canada, stopping in North Bay for the night, and spent most of my time converting kilometers to miles. It was a scenic route and better than taking the interstate through Chicago. But now I am officially in Boston and am beginning to adapt here. Yesterday a friend of mine took me out on a boat and we cruised the Charles and drove out to Hingham Harbor where we met another friend. It was a great way to be introduced to Boston and the surrounding area. Last night I moved into my new place and finished unpacking this morning. Later today I will go explore the surrounding area (for those interested here is where I live). I have already registered for a fitness assessment at Crossfit Boston and hope to get that underway soon.

Before I left Hibbing I did one last workout with my friend Trevor. Since he wouldn't have the chance for a team wod for a while, we did "Cheif-ette," the same workout from the superclass when the commercial was shot. Last time my partner was Zachr and we each got 15 total rounds. This time Trevor got 14 rounds and I got 16 so we still totalled 30 rounds we just gt there differently. I can;t wait to get back in the swing of things. My diet has been poor (well I actually haven't been eating a lot and am going to get food right now in fact). Cheers!

Post Camping

2009-08-19T14:49:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm out of the woods and back into the world of Internet and cell phone service. I must admit, it's been nice escaping the 'real' world for a while to relax and recalibrate the machinery. Now that I'm back things will start moving very quickly once again. This Friday I will begin the two day trek out to Boston. I'm contemplating taking the King's Highway route through Canada just because I have time and that might be a cool drive. Once I get to Boston I'm not sure what I'll do really. I've got two job interviews set up but they are a month apart, also I'm waiting to hear back from a phone interview I had last Thursday to see if they want to meet face to face. I did find a place to live in downtown Boston where I won't have to pay rent until I get a job, so I really lucked out. Hopefully jobs will pick up soon and I can get to work making moolah because then I can join Crossfit Boston and get back at it. This summer, although a great time to spend the word about Crossfit, has not been the best training-wise. My diet has been mediocre at best and my workouts have been limited and sporadic. But that's life and if nothing else I'll move to the woods and start lifting trees and rocks while living off the land. Haha. Anywho, here's what I've been up to.

Camping WOD
~2 mile run through the campground.
Time: Unknown but I was the fastest of 4 relatively fit individuals by a large margin

Today's WOD
4 Rounds
10 225lb DL
15 Burpees
(run down stairs and dodge the elderly)
200m run

12:39

Today's workout was great, a nice hard workout that keeps you moving. I was able not to stop once or break any sets. Overall I felt pretty good about it but the run could have been faster. Also, I did this at the tail end of an 18 hour fast. Fun stuff.

Precamping

2009-08-14T13:52:00.002-05:00

Just a quick one today since I'm hitting the road for a weekend of camping in Wisconsin.

WOD
5 rounds for time
15 Push Press 65lbs
15 K2E
15 Squats

8:08

Since today was my brother's last day up north I let him pick the workout. It wasn't too bad, I just need to work on k2e. Later!

Just another day

2009-08-12T16:41:00.002-05:00

WOD
10 rounds for time
8 DL 185 lbs
10 bar push-ups
12 ankles to bar

21:17

I let my brother pick the workout today and this is what he chose. DL and push-ups were easy, but the ankles to bar were tough. I'm still getting used to knees to elbows and motions like that. Those are what slowed the workout. Yesterday I read all the articles posted on the Games sites about Mikko and have made a goal of becoming tougher mentally. It sounds like he was almost unfazed by the reps that didn't count and just kept pushing. I've found that trait in some of my Scandinavian friends and wonder if it's just part of their culture. I would also like to up my training, but that may be easier said than done.

A funny story from the Williams Brothers

My brother, Jay, and I have been doing crossfit as best we can all summer. I must say he has come a long way. For example, he did today's WOD rx'd only a few minutes slower than me, but be started the summer not being able to do most wods rx'd. Anyway, this story takes place on our way home from the gym one day. As you can assume we were quite alert and our minds and bodies were functioning to their fullest. It was a tough wod that day and we all know what that feels like. As we causally drove home we began threatening each other in a way only brothers can do..."I'm going to crash this car into an embankment!" "I'm going to shove a peach pit in your nose!" "Well I'm going to punch you right in the ear!" Creative yet ominous these one uppers continued. As I said we were sharp as a tack during the drive and since my brother never mumbles he was able to dispense understandable insults as quick as than a frozen trout, quicker in fact. But from a fluke or perhaps some swamp gas reflecting the light from Venus, he stuttered out something illegible. What he said was, "well you'd better look up the definition of an ass beating!" But what I heard was, "mumble, mumble, mumble...ass beavers!" Shocked that I had never heard of these interesting mammals before I asked, "what's an ass beaver?" We began to expound on the nature of the beast and from where it originates. Finally we concluded that these 'ass beavers' if you will, live in your large intestine and regulate you digestion. At times they build dams resulting in, well I'm sure you can guess. Nevertheless we were able to not only discover a new species that day, but also drop a knowledge bomb on the medical world! Since then we have discovered various other beavers that harm you in various ways. Anyways, thought you might enjoy some of the random truth we have up north. Take care and watch out for those ass beavers!

Everywhere

2009-08-11T12:14:00.002-05:00

I mush say it is hard keeping up with workouts while traveling. At Lake Powell, I kept active, swimming, tubing, water skiing, hiking, climbing, and so on just about every day, but after taking a break like that from Crossfit coming back hurts.

Here is my first one back
WOD
5 Rounds for time
10 Back Squats 175 lbs
10 DB swings 75lbs

Just under 9:30

My friend and I were sharing a bar so I got a decent chunk of rest after each round as he did his squats. I was able to not have to break up any of the sets of squats, but there came a point where I couldn't swing the db high enough to count it. This was a tough one. That day and the following I spent hobbling around loading and unloading a uhaul for me folks. After two days of painful rest (didn't have time to workout) I returned to the gym to do a modified Jackie.

WOD
Mod Jackie
100 SDHP 45lbs
50 Thrusters 45lbs
30 Pull-ups

6:45

This was felt pretty easy and I probably should have pushed it harder. Hopefully next time I'll have a rower. I'll try and get another 2 or 3 wods in before I leave for camping this weekend. Maybe I'll even do something there (but probably not).

Time to Report

2009-07-27T16:45:00.002-05:00

First off I would like to congratulate Angela on her first muscle up! Nicely done!

Saturday WOD
AMRAP in 20
10 20lb DB Thrusters
10 Sit-ups
10 Back extensions

15 rounds

I think I could have done more but I had to share a back extension machine with 2 other guys. That meant if I was going to lap them I had to do it on the thrusters and sit-ups after they had a little head start. That was fine though, it kept the intensity up.

Sunday WOD
Lynne
5 rounds for time
Max Rep BW bench press (done just below body weight at 155)
Max rep pull-ups

Bench: 10, 9, 9, 8, 8
Pull-ups: 21, 20, 20, 17, 20

This work out not as fun as it could have been. Bench is probably my weakest lift and I really don't like the pull-up bar in the gym. I will have to come back to this one and put up some proper pull-up numbers.

Monday WOD
Cindy
AMRAP in 20
5 pull-ups
10 push ups
15 squats

22 full rounds

Pace felt good on this one. I still had to share the pull-up bar but that was not a big deal. The only thing I had to break was the push ups and that was into 2 sets of 5. This is a 4 round pr from my VERY FIRST wod at CFO. I'm quite happy with that.

Well, I leave tomorrow to go houseboating in Arizona on Lake Powell. This will be a family trip of sorts. My sister and I are going to meet up with a few cousins, aunts, and uncles (in fact for those who went to Denver it is that crew) for a week of fun. I will most likely swim a lot, but not much in the way of wods. We'll see though. Now some of you may be asking, " John...surfing in Rhode Island, Houseboating on Lake Powell, how can you afford to travel so much with essentially no income?" My answer to you is simply, " I can't." However, I have a feeling that in about a year when med school picks up I'll be glad I did. Anyway, maybe you'll get some pictures from this one, but then again maybe not. Cheers!

Annie

2009-07-23T17:04:00.001-05:00

WOD
Annie
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Sit ups

7:10 (pr by 2 minutes)

I found a jump rope and it just sort of happened.

Eva take 2

2009-07-22T21:56:00.003-05:00

WOD
Eva
5 rounds
800m run
30 KB Swings 2 pood
30 Pull-ups

40 Minute Cut-off

DNF- finished 4 full rounds in 40 minutes

Last time I did Eva was December 23, 2008 and I did it at the same gym I'm working out in now. At that point I did 4 rounds in 46:40 minutes so, progress. The pull-ups weren't bad except the bar is still a pain. For the swings I used a 75lb dumb bell, but would have much rather used a kettle bell. Luckily Trevor showed me how far 200m was on the road outside the gym so we were able to run outside today. Since we had to run downstairs and through the front door I was able to cleanly tackle one old lady and two old men (not really but I came awfully close to doing so). This was a grueling one. Glad to see all the great efforts at CFO! Awesome work people!

Well that's unexpected...

2009-07-21T17:05:00.002-05:00

It was a great day to be in the gym. Almost every crossfit site I checked had a registered strength day and, due to the activities of the night before, I could not complain. Moderately hung over and slightly tired, I proceeded to the gym to lift with a few friends. My brother, eager to do a quick workout, met me there as well and I quickly dispatched him to do WOD #2 of the Rocky Mountain Qualifiers (scaled to regular pull-ups and 155lb squats-pretty much body weight for him). While he cranked out a 7:17 on the workout my two friends, Trevor and John, and I started ripping out some dead lifts. Since Jay was using the only squat rack in the place we opted for deadlifts over squats. Neither Trevor nor John knew their 1RM so we just kind of played it by ear. John made it to 285 before his form destroyed him. We dropped it down to 225 and really focused on getting the correct technique. Trevor, however, held his own. And on his second attempt at a set of 345, set a hefty baseline from which to build. I know I have mentioned before that my strength lies more in multiple repetitions as opposed to one rep maxes and today really brought the point home. My 1RM from June for dead lift is 365, but today I was able to pull 355 for 5 reps. How does that work?!? That means my 1RM should be up at 405, right? Bizarre as that was I was pumped to be able to lift that much. To put icing on the cake though, as soon as I finished my huge pr a gym attendant came upstairs and scolded us for almost knocking the building down. Apparently the windows were shaking downstairs and he was concerned. I should have told that's what you should expect when people do some SERIOUS lifting in their 'weight room.' But I didn't, instead I just smiled and nodded.

WOD
Deadlift 5x5
275, 295, 315, 335(pr), 355(pr)

After the workout, Trevor asked for some help with his overhead squats. Being the local crossfit expert I complied and we worked on the progression from air squats with arms overhead to overhead squats with the bar and we even worked on the snatch. And wouldn't you know by the end of our drills his overhead squats started resembling overhead squats. Next time we'll add some weight. This got me thinking though, maybe Crossfit Boston needs another trainer...

6 in a row

2009-07-19T17:07:00.002-05:00

Today while working out I realized that it was my 6th day in a row. Surprisingly I feel pretty good. Now I know that there are some beastly crossfitters out there who never seem to get sore or tired and can workout for weeks on end (Angela), but i can't remember the last time I went for 6 days without a break. Anyway here are the last three days.

Friday 07/17/09
WOD
DT ( at 125lbs 56% 1RM)
5 rounds for time
12 DL
9 HPC
6 Push Jerk

10:27

Saturday 07/18/09
WOD
Tabata (8 rounds for each exercises)
DB swings 55lbs
Sit ups
Push ups
Squats

Lowest round/total reps
DB swings: 9/73
Sit ups: 13/81
Push ups: 10/88
Squats: 20/160
Totals: 52/402

Sunday 07/19/09
50 Box jumps (20")
50 jumping pulls ups
50 DB swings 35lbs
50 Walking lunges
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push presses 45lbs
50 Back extensions
50 DB thrusters 20lbs
50 Burpees

25:28

We did the best we could at the gym to do filthy fifty, but didn't have decent jumps rope, a 24" box, or 20lb wall balls, but we made do. Just for the record this was my first crossfit wod ever and I think I threw up during the burpees. Ah memories...

100 Burpees

2009-07-16T14:31:00.001-05:00

Today I finally got around to doing 100 burpees for time.

Time: 5:27

High School Gym

2009-07-15T16:36:00.002-05:00

Today I was finally able to get into the high school gym and work on some heavy cleans. First I worked with my brother on form and technique and then we began working toward a 1RM. We were taking it slowing and trying to perform each lift as best as possible. This was his first time with heavy cleans, so his technique was a bit off, but with time and more practice I'm sure he'll get there. We didn't really get to any work sets because the coach at the gym gave us a 5 minute warning when I just got to 175. I then jumped to 205 and got one last attempt in at 225. Those were big jumps so I expect my 1rm is higher than 225, but that is still a pr. Hopefully I'll have another shot at it before the end of the summer to give it a real go.

WOD
Clean 1RM
225

Awesome Job at the Games!

2009-07-14T13:47:00.002-05:00

Congratulations and a resounding Well Done to everyone who competed at the games! You did amazing and represented Omaha in the highest order!

I wish I could have been there to see you perform. With any luck that can be made a reality next year (keep your fingers crossed).

I took a little hiatus this weekend to drink some beers and then I did some doctor shadowing on Monday.

Tuesday WOD
21-15-9
115 Push Press
Lateral jumps over an 18" barrier
4:25

This one was short and sweet. Push presses were just tough enough and lateral jumps were challenging to do in rapid succession.

Once again congrats to everyone who was at the games!

Congrats CFO!

2009-07-10T13:06:00.002-05:00

Well I just looked at the affiliate cup results and am so excited for the affiliate team! Congratulations on an awesome performance! I wish I could have been there to see it. Well done!

As for me today, not so much. I did the running squats wod and missed my pr by 25 seconds. I've been training hard when I have the chance, but the facility up here is so restricting it makes it difficult to push it. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to some serious stuff out in Boston.
Also, my brother and a friend of mine did this wod today. It is always more fun to workout with other people.

WOD
4 rounds for time
400 meter run
50 squats

10:35

Someone out there is thinking

2009-07-08T11:56:00.003-05:00

When my brother broke into a 2lb container of organic yogurt today and said they were promoting a movie I thought it would be about how their product is the best. However, when I checked out the website I was delightfully surprised. The movie is called Food Inc. and talks about how the food industry is basically poisoning the world by ignoring nutrition and only looking to make a profit.

Here's the trailer: http://www.stonyfield.com/Food_inc/food_inc_organic.cfm

Perhaps this will be the start of a food renaissance, but that seems overly optimistic. At the least those who care enough about what they stuff in their pie holes will come out the wiser and live better lives for it.

As for today, my brother and I did the CFO wod with a slight modification. Instead of cartwheels we did burpees.

WOD
3 rounds for time
30 Walking lunges
20 DB Thrusters 35lbs
10 Burpees
9:43

My legs sure felt it today after the front squats from yesterday. Also I can;t wait to see what the wods will be for the games this weekend. Once again good luck everyone!

Out of the woods

2009-07-06T22:34:00.003-05:00

Just got back from a weekend of deep woods activity. I chop a lot of wood, moved some heavy things, and even came up with a workout one day. I meant to tape it but it just kind of happened.

July 3rd
Cabin Wod
Swim-10 strokes out and then back (one stroke included both left and right arms)
run up the hill to the wood pile ~100m
Clean and throw a log there and back ~75 ft one way (log weighed between 50 and 75 lbs)
400 m run to the end of the driveway with a 25lb log on back
10 log clean and jerks with same log used for clean and throws
run down hill to lake
10 strokes out and then swim back

No time but lots of fun

July 6th
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
power cleans 75% BW (I used 125lbs ~78%)
pull-ups
7:53

July 7th
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
165 lb FS
Sit-ups
13:50

Good luck to all those heading out to Cali for the games! You will represent CFO in the fullest!

Was that a crossfit class?

2009-07-02T13:51:00.002-05:00

Well, there were four of us today. It seems like people are crawling out of the woodwork for crossfit. My brother and his friend Mike did a scaled version of the CFFB wod substituting 225lb for the dead lift. They both finished around 22-23 minutes. Also John Steinbauer showed up and when given the option between a few workouts chose Elizabeth. He scaled with both the cleans-power cleans at 115- and the ring dips -some foot assist. This was his second wod of the summer so the fact that he finished and was pushing hard was good enough. I think his time was 20 something. All three of those boys started at the same time and I was there, stopwatch in hand, coaching (or trying to anyway) them through the wods. It was fun being on the giving and not receiving end of a workout but I got mine nevertheless. After they finished I also did Elizabeth rx'd.

WOD
Elizabeth
21-15-9
135 lb cleans
ring dips

11:09

The cleans were tough and since I was using iron plates I couldn't drop anything. I'm not sure how much of a difference that made, but I think it would have been easier to clean and drop than to clean and lower the bar. Anyway it was a good workout and I was fairly happy with it. We've got a pretty committed group of people now doing crossfit which is exciting. I'm doing my best to lead by example with form integrity and working with them on their technique. I just hope I'm leading them down the right path. My back is still feeling the DL from the other day so tomorrow's rest day with be great. Northwoods crossfit workouts this weekend. Should be fun.

Add two to the tribe

2009-07-01T20:57:00.002-05:00

Today I introduced two more people to crossfit, John and Natalie Steinbauer. John is a year younger than me and Natalie is four. With these two now doing crossfit that makes 7 people I have help convert over the past year (5 this summer alone). However I don't deserve all the credit since crossfit sells itself. Anyway today I had John and Natalie do a variation of my first wod at CFO.
4 rounds for time
400m run
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats
They don't quite get the hard push yet, but it will come and they both seemed to have fun. I've been tying with some ideas on how to successfully incorporate runs in the wods up here. the weight room is on the second floor which means stairs whenever you want to run, plus if you go outside (preferable to treadmills) you might have to plow through some senior citizens (pesky more than anything). However, that may be what it comes down to. I'll be meeting with the Steinbauers again tomorrow along with my brother and am doing my best to properly train these people. I'm just glad I have such great advice and coaching down in Omaha.
With this many people doing crossfit up here i think Crossfit Northwoods might not be too far away. Also, I'm trying to schedule an Oly day at the high school some time in the next two weeks. That should be fun.

Anyway down to business.
7 rounds
5 HSPU
10 1 legged squats
15 pull-ups
~18 minutes (forgot a stopwatch)

I would have done 10 rounds but John and Natalie had finished their wod.

After watching transformers today I was inspired to try a new type of workout. When the characters were running away from some decepticons I thought to myself, I wonder what I'd be able to do if some autonomic robotic creature were chasing me. Whenever someone is chased I think their mind reverts back to a primal setting and instinct outweighs thought. Actions are taken without hesitation and the body responds flawlessly. To test this I will have my brother chase me through the woods of our cabin this weekend maybe for 5 or 10 minutes and then I will chase him. A good old fashioned game of tag perhaps. We are also going to try to make a wod that combines swimming, chopping wood, and perhaps moving some logs. That should also be fun. What a great way to celebrate the Fourth.

And Back

2009-06-30T16:13:00.002-05:00

Well, after an awesome adventure to the surf paradise of Rhode Island, I am back in Minnesota's north woods. I may or may not write a few chronicles describing my trip and if I do they will be listed here. Keep your eyes open.

On to business. To wods on the trip and today hit me hard.

WOD
5-4-3-2-1
315 lb. DL
14-13-12-11-10
Burpees

5:10

I know this one was supposed to be scaled to 70-75% of your 1RM, but I wanted to push it weight wise. Anyway, I'm feeling it. It's good to be back.

CFFB Cindy

2009-06-18T16:06:00.002-05:00

WOD
AMRAP in 12 minutes
5 pull-ups
10 push-up
15 Box jumps 20"

13 rounds

As with regular Cindy I took all my rest during the push-ups. I wish I had a real box up here though. I was jumping onto a plate on a bench. Shaky at best and I had to abort a few attempts due to instability. Once again I was working out with Jay and Mike only this time we were doing the same workout. Since we were all using the same pull-up bar I always tried to go faster to get it while it was open and get through my 5 as fast as I could. This helped keep the pace.

Tomorrow is a rest day and I will be heading to Ames to meet up with a friend of mine. We will be going to the surf paradise of Rhode Island for a week. During that time I may look into a few affiliates out there otherwise I will have to come up with beach workout or perhaps a few swimming wods (like out swim a shark or something). It will be a fun trip and I look forward to a little break. The past few weeks have been lots of work. I'll try and take some picture and maybe I'll post as well. Who knows.

Until then hang loose!

Diane

2009-06-17T23:20:00.002-05:00

WOD
Diane
21-15-9
225 Deadlift
HSPU

8:05 Rx'd

I still need to work on my HSPU strength, but this is a pr by 3:37 from last fall when we did it at CFO. Dead lifts felt good and I only broke up the round of 15 (10-5). I was a little bummed when I checked the CFO WOD for Thursday since it had heavy dead lifts. That one looks more fun too. I'll just have to save it for a later date.

My two proteges are coming along quickly. Today I tried to teach them the clean and by the end of their wod it started to take a recognizable shape. Their wod was
AMRAP in 20
10-95 lb hang cleans (with squat)
12 dips
21 sit-ups
I think they hit 6 rounds and change.

Here is a video I found today that I thought could come in handy some day.
http://vimeo.com/4895278?pg=embed&sec=4895278
It's about how to properly tape your hands to prevent further rips and protect existing tears.

Plus 1

2009-06-16T20:17:00.002-05:00

Today my brother's friend joined us for our workout. I wasn't sure what to choose for a wod but ultimately fell back on a CFO wod from a while back that I had wanted to try.

WOD
6 Rounds
7 Burpees
8 DB lunges 40lbs
9 Thrusters 95lbs

10:55 Rx'd

My brother and his friend only did 5 rounds and dropped the thruster weight to 85 and then 75. I think it was a good intro wod for Mike (my brother Jay's friend) since it used some weight and some body coordination. He seemed to like it and is going to be working out with us for the rest of the week. Mike is planning on going into nutrition so after the workout, sweat still dripping and trying to catch my breath, I panted out some of the information I have learned and hopefully planted the seed for the Paleo Zone diet and even intermittent fasting. He seemed to buy it so with any luck he will look into it and hopefully convert.

I still need to find out when the high school gym is open so I can work some O-lifts.

Battle Scars Part Two

2009-06-14T21:31:00.003-05:00

Above is a picture of my brother's leg after the bad box incident. At first I was a little scared that such an experience might make him gun shy to box jumps, but I should have known better. The next day not only did he want to workout, but he wanted to finish what he started and redo the box jump/dip wod he skinned his shin on. Having learned his lesson the first time, we assembled a much more stable box. It wasn't as tall but served its purpose. We also added sit-ups in the mix and he plowed through in about 5:20.

Yesterday I did the main site wod:
WOD
Walking lunge 100 ft.
21 Pull-ups
21 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
18 Pull-ups
18 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
15 Pull-ups
15 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
12 Pull-ups
12 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
9 Pull-ups
9 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge 100 ft.
6 Pull-ups
6 Sit-ups

11:20

And today I did the CFO Wod:

WOD
Run as far as you can in 3 minutes. At the completion of three minutes, immediately delve into 30 Walking Lunges and 30 Air Squats.

At the completion of the lunges and squats, see if you can run back to where you started the first run, in 3 minutes.

On the first run I made it about .6 miles and only made it ~.5 on the return trip.

As can be seen I didn't make it back to where I started. In fact I was only one block short when the time ran out. This one was definitely a lung burner and I think I have the black lung yet again. It felt good to run though since it's been a while.

This week I will be working out with another potential convert. A friend of my brother would like to give it a shot. He's been following a traditional lifting regiment so I will be happy to shock his perception of fitness. Last night I spoke with a friend of mine who lives in Houston and is in northern Minnesota for the summer. He has done a few wod (including Fran) and is interested in doing more. With any luck he will join us for a few workouts as well and we'll have a real following. Right now all of my family except my dad is keeping current with crossfit, but with 2 more potential that would bring the following to 6. I also have at least two other people in mind who have sipped the kool-aid, so it's time to make another batch. Now if we could only find a decent gym...

Battle Scars

2009-06-12T22:25:00.003-05:00

Today's WOD was a recent CFO wod with a little addition and a surprise element.

WOD
21*-15-9
~34" Box Jumps
Dips
Burpees

*After the round of 21 perform first aid on your brother's 9 inch shin gash from missing the box (I will try and post a picture tomorrow)

8:20 Rx'd

My brother has been training with me this past week and I have enjoyed his company. He seems to like crossfit and I'm trying to get him to drink the kool-aid. Today, in our attempt to improvise with the crap they have in this gym, we took a foot tall wooden box, turn it on its end, stacked some mats under it, and put a dumbbell in it for support in order to create a ~30 inch box. It was hazardous at best. However, we proceeded undeterred, my brother on the shin splitter and me on a ~34 inch tall glute-ham-esk device. My brother was going to do 3 rounds of 15 and I was going to do 21-15-9 to see which one would be tougher. He beat me through the first round of jumps and dips, but I made up some time in the burpees. As he started his second round he pulled a classic crossfit mistake and missed the box. When he missed he caught his shin pretty good on the box and scraped a good chunk of skin off. Luckily I had finished burpees and was able to administer first aid. After that was taken care of he took a little rest while I finished the workout. On the up side he will now have an official crossfit scar. On the down side if we could have found a decent box up here in northern Minnesota, none of this would have happened...

Nothing like mixing real world scenarios into a wod to train yourself to perform under various conditions. This got me thinking about throwing a mental element into a wod to see how it pans out. You know, kind of like chess boxing. Maybe have a math problem or a riddle or something. It builds in rest and keeps the mind active. I know that I've zoned out mentally during workouts and I wonder if it would improve mental capacity... something to ponder.

I'm going to try and get into the high school gym a few days this next week since they have bumper plates. I would like to set a few new pr's in my o-lifts so I know where I stand and can focus on some strength building as well. Hopefully they will let me use the place.

Legs=jello

2009-06-10T13:30:00.002-05:00

WOD
10 rounds for time
3 DL 275 lbs
6 Ring dips
9 Knees to elbows

15:40

I tried to keep things moving through this one, but apparently not that fast. Some of those CFFB guys are beasts.

My homemade rings are holding their own, but I need to get some tape on the tops so they don't rip my arms.

Nothing new to report. Rest day tomorrow.

Business as usual

2009-06-09T23:46:00.002-05:00

WOD
AMRAP 15 min
7 front squats 185lbs
7 burpee pull-ups

7 rounds

This was a great little workout. I thought the squats would feel heavier, but I was able to manage fairly well or at least better than I expected. The pull-up bar was pretty low so I did chest to bar to make up for it.

I'm s little bummed that I won't be able to push my o-lifts this summer because I can't drop the weights if they get too heavy. Instead I guess I just focus on building strength just below the point of possible failure.

Nothing crazy seen today, except for the three bears, two moose, and a couple of loons that frequent the gym. Oddly enough their workout routine seemed to mimic crossfit. But as I said nothing out of the ordinary.

Copycats!

2009-06-08T22:54:00.002-05:00

So when I checked the Crossfit Omaha site today, as I always do, I noticed their posted workout was the EXACT workout I did on Friday. Coincidence? I think not.
But I really can't say anything since I just browse through various crossfit sites until I find a workout I like. It's hard finding something that works with the limited equipment I have available. Thus my workout for today was a CFFB wod from a few days back.

7 rounds
3 jerks 155lbs
6 pull-ups
9 push-ups
~9:35

Another thing I have noticed is that the bar feel much heavier when I'm not using rubber bumpers. With bumpers I know I can abort a lift if it is too heavy, but with iron plates I feel this mental block where I know I can't drop the weight. I think this also may add a little time to the clock since I have to worry about controlling the bar completely during a drop. I'm going to try and find or buy a bumper set in the near future if things don't pick up.

Awesome experience #2
So I was deep into today's metcon when I noticed a few college aged guys come into the room for a solid day's workout. They started with forearm curls both on a bench and behind the back and continued with calf raises. I thought it must have been a pretty funny sight for anyone to see me sweating and panting like crazy while these guys were working their forearms and calves. Talk about extremes.

Two days in a row.

2009-06-05T15:30:00.002-05:00

Things have slowed down for the time being and I was once again not only able to go to the gym, but also to post afterward. Today I did the .com wod of 1RM DL and I also threw in 5x5 press.

DL
135x5
225x3
275
315
335
355
365
375 (Fx2) (previous pr)

Press
95x5
105x5
115x5
125x5
130x2 (pr)
125x3

My DL is really starting to come back after getting my back fixed. I'm almost to my former pr and have set the goal of breaking that by the end of summer. Press is coming along too. My former pr was 125x3. Press has always been a bit of a weakness of mine, so I'm glad I can push 130 overhead without too much difficulty.

Lately I have been noticing that my all out strength isn't that great, but my work capacity at heavy weights is better than one would expect based on my max lifts. For instance my max DL is 365 but I did 330x5 and didn't break any of the reps during the qualifier wod 1. I don;t know if that is typical, but I'd rather have the stamina than the ability to lift really heavy only once. When time permits, I'm going to work on building strength with hopes of making everything that much easier.

North woods sighting #1
I expect to see some pretty interesting things working out up here, so here is the first of (hopefully) many entries of the bizarre world of northern Minnesota.
In between my sets on the DL, a mustached man in his mid to late forties wearing a pair of engineer glasses walked into the gym. He had been attacked by the sleeve monster on the way in and was rocking his pasty guns. At first I was thinking, "Woohoo! Free tickets to the gun show!" but then his whipped out his workout gloves-vintage, full fingered, leather, work gloves. Apparently the glove that can do anything from bailing hay to working out. And he wasn't messing around. He proceeded to grab a set of dumbbells and worked those guns like no tomorrow. Meanwhile I made a full pulls on the dead lift feeling that one of us was in the wrong place. Unfortunately, I think it was me.

I love working out up here, just to get the funny looks.

Up in da Nort woods!

2009-06-04T20:34:00.008-05:00

Well I FINALLY found some time to get an official workout in. The past few days have consisted of loading and unloading oddly shaped heavy objects on to and off of a truck. Talk about functional. The most challenging of which was a stand up piano weighing in at probably around 500 pounds or so. Loading it wasn't so bad since we had a ramp (still not easy), but unloading it was pretty intense. After rolling it down the ramp we had to go down a hill and around the house to the basement. All this on a narrow dirt path. Tons of fun, quarter tons anyway.
Until today the only other workout-esk activity I've encounter was cutting (with a chain saw) and splitting about 100 pieces of wood. The splitting was done using an 8-lb maul if that means anything to you (it doesn't mean much to me).
Anyway today's workout was the one posted on CFO and was pretty much the opposite of chopping wood.

WOD
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
KB Swings 75lb DB
Walking Lunges 50lbs in each hand
~7:30

I'm not sure of the time since I forgot a watch and had to use a digital one with no seconds. I know I would have pushed harder if I were at CFO, but I did get my brother out to give it a go. Try to convert, you know the drill.

Here are a few pics of the gym I'll be at for the summer. It is simply amazing. (Sorry for the poor quality, didn't know they were turning out fuzzy)

Here you can see a leg machine, inclined bench, regular bench, declined bench, cable machine, and tucked away in the back corner is the only squat rack which is also the only pull-up bar from which you could kip.

This one holds a good view of the inclined bench, another regular bench, lat pull-down machine, 3 DB sets, and 2 preacher benches(?).

This is probably THE MOST USEFUL investment this gym could have ever made. Even though they don't have a set of bumpers (that's right all cast iron weights) they decided to throw some money down on this extremely elaborate device used to work those all important biceps.

However, this gym isn't all bad and where there's a will there's a way. It's no Crossfit Omaha though.

Here's to you CFO!

2009-06-01T20:50:00.003-05:00

This one goes out to all the amazing people who comprise Crossfit Omaha. Thank you for everything: for training, for having fun, for inspiring. In all honesty, being part of the gym is what made life worth living. That hour of pain we shared was the highlight of my day everyday. I doubt I will ever do anything workout without thinking of you. I also doubt I will be able to find a gym community that is even close to having the caliber of members and social community that you do. Without a doubt, this has been one of the best experiences of my life and with any luck my path will lead be back someday so we can once again share the pain and sweat that defines Crossfit Omaha.

I haven't worked out since Saturday when I did four way Murph with Jeff, Tovar, and Becky. I think we finished in 14:2something. It was a good one.

This weekend I drove to St. Peter for my sister's graduation from Gustavus, and then drove the rest of the way home to good old Hibbing, MN. Today, I slept in a bit and really needed it. Then I spent the rest of the day disassembling furniture, moving boxes, and preparing the majority of our stuff to be loaded. We rented a 26 foot uhaul and will make the 4 hour drive to Michigan loading and unloads literally tons of stuff, so that will probably be my wod (naturally it will be for time). The following day will probably include moving and chopping about 25 years worth of wood, so that will be another wod down. Luckily I love chopping wood. As soon as I fall into a regular workout routine again, I will be sure and post it. Heck maybe I'll even get fancy and post some pics or if I feel real fancy even a video. You never know.

The After Glow

2009-05-21T17:08:00.002-05:00

Well, it's over. the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifiers have come and gone. Not in the way of a passing cloud, but like a thunderstorm with lightning bolts and a torrent of wind and rain. The utter intensity of the weekend is still affecting me as I sit here in the aura that follows such a cataclysmic event. Not only was the qualifier the culmination of months of training, but it rejuvenated my addiction to crossfit and brought me closer to the other warriors of CFO. This experience has made me want to push harder and get faster in preparation for next year.

Here is a brief recap of the events:
WOD #1
3 rft
8-300lb DL
400m Run
6:19

I tried to play it smart on the run for this one. First run, don't worry about anyone just keep your pace. Second run, pick someone out and keep his pace. Third run, pass as many people as you can. Also, I didn't break any sets of DL (I was pretty surprised, but I didn't) and I didn't waste much time getting back on the bar.

WOD #2
3 rft
10 C2B Pull-ups
10-165lb front squats
10 Burpees
5:25

My goal was not to break any front squat sets, and I didn't (niiice). The whole thing hurt though. My first set of pull-ups was crap as I looked like an uncoordinated monkey or something. I broke up the rest of the pull-ups into two sets of 5, and learned if you want to really know how hard burpees can be, do this wod. Toughest burpees of my life.

WOD #3
7000lbs from ground to overhead
74-95lbs clean and jerks
6:55

I thought I had a plan, but it didn't work. I was going to follow ZachR's countdown from 12-5 and then 6, but I kept thinking maybe I'll knock out the first two rounds in a row, maybe the first three... I started and the adrenaline really hit my around, I can't remember, maybe 12 or 15 reps, but it kept my going through what I thought was 28 and the counter said was 27. I wish I could have kept going because once I took a break everything slowed down. I got through the first 27 in about a minute and the next 47 in about 6 minutes. But I have never had such an intense rush of adrenaline, it was awesome. The rest was a fog, I would do a few and rest, then do some more and rest. Sometimes I thought I did 7 but the counter said it was 3 other times I thought I did 4 and the counter said 7. Next time I'll try to slow the initial pace down and see if I can keep it up for longer. Awesome WOD though, and the atmosphere made it a truly amazing experience.

Total: 18:38
23rd Overall

After coming back, I have not been able to get enough Crossfit. My body is still worn down a bit, but I just can't quit it. I've already done three wods this week and don;t plan on resting until Sunday. I'm also trying to get as much time in at the gym since my days are numbered.

The past three days

Tuesday:

42-30-18 reps for time of:

PVC Pipe Thrusters

Jumping Pull-ups (C2B)

Finish each round with a 400 meter run
13:24

This one hurt more than I expected, probably since I was still recovering from the weekend.

Wednesday:
5 Rounds
10-20lb Med Ball cleans
10 Burpees
Not timed, no breaks either.

Thursday:

4 rounds for time of:

7 Overhead Squats, 132/88 pounds

21 Dead-lifts, same weight/same bar

10 Box Jumps, 30/24 inches
10:04
I need to work on OHS, my shoulder has been feeling great, so I think I'll start widening my grip little by little. Otherwise a good workout. Those DL's got tough.

T minus 3.5

2009-05-12T11:51:00.005-05:00

No, I'm not going to be posting every half day until the games, but today really escalated quickly; I mean it really got out of hand fast.

We worked on the 2nd WOD for the games this morning and one again concluded it will be tough. I tried two full rounds with 175 lbs and mixed the order around to see how it felt. First round I went straight through (hello gut check). Then I took a break and did another round starting with the squats. Pull-ups were tough, but my goal it to do everything without breaking sets. I am still very excited for this weekend and know it will just be amazing. However, the only normal thing to happen today was crossfit...

Driving out of the gym's parking lot I heard a clunk, thought nothing of it and continued driving. As I was turning left on 88th street, another car was turning right from 88th and I heard a load screech. I thought, "Really, is it necessary to be showing off in a beat up truck?" Then the thought crossed my mind that I could have been making the screeching noise. I continued driving. After one too many corners I heard a whump whump whump coming from my tires. At first I thought one of them was flat. However, when I got out of the car neither tire was flat, they were just pointing in opposite directions. My driver's side tire pointed left and my passenger side tire pointed right. My car had become splayfooted. After investigating for a bit I found that the steering part of the car was no longer connected to the right front tire. It was almost as if a dislocation of sorts had occurred (hopefully not an omens of what's to come...). After a few clever maneuvers with a little rope and some duct tape, I temporarily fixed the joint with hopes that it would hold for the trip home. Luckily it did.

Once home I called upon my trusted friend and fellow crossfitter, ZachJ, inquiring about a good mechanic in the area. He responded quickly and with expert advice. The shop was trustworthy, quick, and had a good track record, but it was 7.6 miles away. The trouble wasn't getting there, my duct tape repair was holding surprisingly well, it was getting back. Normally I would ask my roommate to give me a ride, but today and for the past week I have been holding down the fort solo. My only option was to drive there and bike back, so I threw my bike in the back and got to it. I thought 7.6 miles should be no sweat, I'm a crossfitter, I bike regularly, heck many people bike ten times that in a single shot. Today I learned something about Omaha. It is not as flat as I once thought. The bike wasn't so bad and I averaged between 15 and 20 mph since it took less than half an hour to get home. In fact the bike ride was so great I will probably do it again this afternoon. So much for that taper I guess.

As if this wasn't enough to warrant a mid day entry, within 30 seconds of returning from the auto shop I hear the doorbell ring. My doorbell never rings. My door faces an alley, an alley where someone was shot last October. Why was my doorbell ringing? I cautiously peeked out to see who it was and opened the door. The tall man standing just outside my door knew mine name. Shortly after the door opened, I shared in the reciprocal knowledge. His purpose was to give me a subpoena. I was required to testify in the shooting case that had happen back in October. We exchanged stories and spoke for a bit as he worked out the details with the district court over the phone. As it turns out I am now required under penalty of the law to appear in court tomorrow at 10am to say that I saw the results of a shooting in my alley. This is going to be interesting.

What a day it already has been. All this activity before noon no less. I wonder what the rest of the day will bring, besides another 7.6 mile bike ride that is :)

The latest:
My car won't be done until tomorrow, so no bike ride later :(
Also, the defendant just plead guilty to attempted murder so I won't have to appear in court.
What started as an adventurous day has dwindled away into nothing more than a rainy Tuesday.

The Most Latest (for those who still care)
My car is done and the aforementioned honorable crossfitter, ZachJ, is going to give me a ride.

T minus 4

2009-05-11T20:15:00.003-05:00

So here we are. Four days out and ready for battle. I can't wait. Everyone seems excited and ready to go. I love it. I'm not sure what else to say except this is going to be amazing.

Workouts have been good. I'm glad my shoulder will not hold me back on Saturday and can only hope Sunday will hold the same fortune.

Another thing, as some of you know I have been talking about shaving my beard into a fierce mustache for the weekend. I am curious as to what the general populous thinks about this decision. This idea started as a team wide thing, but now it appears I would be doing it solo. This makes it not as funny. So what do you think? Beard or mustache?

Sorry for the short post, my mind is racing and I can't think straight. Let's Rock this thing!

Hola!

2009-04-16T14:34:00.002-05:00

Well I've returned from Spain and am ready to hit it hard again. I was able to get two workouts done at a small gym in Tomares (a suburb of Sevilla), but that is all I had time for. The gym had a spin class, aerobics, a handful of machines, and not a decent barbell in the whole place. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, here are the workouts I did including the one this morning (I would have been in yesterday, but due to delays and such I didn't actually get to Omaha until 2AM).

Last Wednesday?
5k
~20min (treadmill didn't have a timer, weird)

Monday
JT
21-15-9
HSPU
3xDips (no rings)
Push-ups

No clue on time, but I skipped the round of 15 altogether. 63 dips did a number on my shoulders I guess.

Thursday
DT
5 rounds
12 Deadlifts
9 HPC
6 Push jerks
all at 154lbs
19:33 Rx'd

This one was tough, but I'm a little pleased that this was about 5 lbs shy of BW for me and I was able to knock it out. Glad to be beack at CFO, but I think if CFO moved to Spain it would be even better.

Hello there Stranger

2009-04-06T09:10:00.004-05:00

Time to play catch up, I didn't realize I missed two (almost three) full cycles of posts. It's been a busy past few days, so here goes.

03/28/2009
WOD

21-15-9 reps for time:

Box Jumps, 24 inches

Dead-lift, 225/155 pounds

Slapping Pushups

9:57

Felt like death. I just couldn't breath.

03/29/2009
WOD

6 rounds for time of:

15 DB Power Cleans, 40#/25#

15 Wall Balls, 20#/14#

200 meter run

19:46

Still felt like death.

03/30/2009
WOD
Back Squat 10-10-10-10 reps
176, 176, 181, 186

Maybe I should have gone heavier, but those felt pretty good. Glad it wasn't another metcon.

04/01/2009
WOD

Tabata "Fight Gone Bad"

20 seconds on/10 seconds off x 8 for each exercise

Wall Ball, 20#/14# x 8

Rest 1 Minute

SDLHP, 2/1.5 pood x 8

Rest 1 Minute

Box Jump, 20 inches x 8

Rest 1 Minute

Push Press, 75#/55# x 8

Rest 1 Minute

Row for Calories

Record only the lowest round from each exercise and add these numbers up for your final score.

9, 9, 11, 8, 6
Total: 43

Starting feeling a little better today, still not the best. For some reason tabata and I seem to get along rather well.

04/02/2009
WOD

5 rounds for time:

3 Full Squat Cleans, 185#/120#

7 Burpee Pull-ups

9:34

Still not 100% but getting there. I really liked this one, but held back on the cleans to make sure I didn't have a failed attempt. Should have pushed it.

04/03/2009

WOD
As many rounds in 15 minutes

10 Turkish Getups, 45#/30#

30 Sit ups

3 rounds + 27 sit-ups

Nearly 4 rounds, so close.

04/05/2009
WOD
Power Snatch 3-3-3-3-3

Worked up to 132 (pr). I know I can go heavier, but I'm really focusing on protecting my shoulder. That kind of screws with technique, but I'm taking baby steps and I think snatch is strengthening my shoulder in all the right places. Nothing like a good power snatch;)

04/06/2009
WOD

Row 500 Meters

Rest 2 minutes

Three rounds of:

65 Air Squats

15 Kettle Bell Swings, 2 pood/1.5 pood

25 Push ups

In order for you to move on to the triplet, you must complete the row in under 1:40 for guys and 2:00 for gals. The person to complete the triplet in the fastest time is determined the winner, unless any competitors are within one minute of that time. The winner is then determined by the fastest row.

This includes competition across men and women, where sub 1:40 for the guys and sub 2:00 for the ladies is minute for minute. Example, a 1:35 row for any male is comparable to a 1:55 row for any female.

Row: 1:36.8 (pr)
Triplet: 11:55

The row felt good and if there wasn't a WOD right after I may have gone faster. Because my row time wasn't the fastest I knew I had to get a substantial lead on the triplet if I wanted to contend. Fortunately I did just that. I only had to break the squats once on rounds two and three; didn't have to break the KB swings, and push-ups were broken frequently. I really want to get to the point where 25 push-ups in a wod is not substantial.

Well, that's it, almost three full cycles of WODs. I'm still fighting a cough, but it's not affecting me as much. Tomorrow I will be leaving for Spain for a week. I'm planning on keeping up on WODs, but it will be tough. The gym over there is closed Thursday-Sunday, so it will be a lot of body weight stuff. I'll try and keep a post of what's going on. I hope this doesn't effect my overall training...

Tough cycle

2009-03-26T09:18:00.002-05:00

3/24/2009
WOD
5 rounds for time
Press .75BW 12 reps
Squat 12 reps
Lunges 12 steps

DNF
3 full rounds and 11 presses into 4

This was a very humbling workout. I started with .75BW which was 120 (my 4RM). And wouldn't you know I got 4 reps and had to drop weight. I think the progression went 120 (4), 110(?), 103, 98. My shoulders were shot, but my legs were fine, weird.

3/25/2009
WOD
7 RFT
15 Med ball cleans (20)
15 Pull-ups

11:31

Didn't to chest to bar, but I would have if I had known that is what everyone else was planning on doing that day. I got a pretty good blood blister on my left hand which is a bit unusual for me lately, but I guess we haven't done pull-ups for a while. I was able to do all cleans unbroken and only broke the pull-ups in 8,7 after the first two or three rounds.

3/26/2009
WOD
250 meter row in 50 seconds x8 (rounds over 50 do not count)
1:30 rest between rounds

48.5, 49.?, 50.3, 50.4, 50.7, 50.9, 51.4, 54.4,(rested for a few minutes), 50.3, 50.4

My legs were on fire during this one. Also, I have been fighting a cough, so I had to deal with that. Happy that I was held accountable to make up the rounds over 50 (I just hope that I don't owe another 2-6 rounds depending on technicality).

It has been a rough week or so for me. I've been getting 5-6 hours of sleep and have really been suffering from that. I try to get at least eight hours a night, but I can;t seem to fall asleep for hours. It's not fun. Also, this crud in my lungs doesn't help. My diet has been fairly good except for the occasional Girl Scout cookie, so maybe that's what's getting me, too much processed sugar? Who knows. Hopefully this rest day will get me back on track and ready to hit it hard on Saturday.