Basement WOD: MU Prep, AirDyne, 1km Row

Warm-Up

Three sets of:
5 deadhang pull-ups
5 ring dips


WOD

10 minutes of AirDyne:

I did 171 calories and "travelled" 3.40 km. 

That's marginally better than the previous best time I posted so far.  

Instead of having the watt measurement around 185 early on, I did my best to keep it above 200.  I was shooting for at least 225, but that got harder as time went on.  I did dial up the intensity in the last 90 seconds or so, but it was probably not quite as hard as earlier efforts when I expended less energy earlier. 


Bonus Nastiness

1km row. 

3:48. 

More Rowing

Back on the C2.  

I did about 600m as a warm-up.  It wasn't intended as a warm-up, but my daughter (age 3) took a tumble down a couple of stairs, so that interrupted things.  (She was fine, just a little upset about it)

Once that had been dealt with, I decided to do a couple sets of 1000m again with a two-minute rest between.  I also figured out where a stopwatch was on my new phone, so I didn't have to use the clock on the basement's cordless phone like I was some kind of reject. 

1. 1000m: 3:40   Not a PR, but a pretty good pace.  I think I started off a little slow. 
2. 1000m: 3:44   By the end, I was going hard, grunting, and looking for all intents and purposes like a total spaz.  I may have freaked out my in-laws (who live in my basement).

Father-and-son Jackie

A. Jackie

1,000m row
50 thrusters with a 45lb bar
30 pull-ups

When I got to CFR today, Kim Fly told me that everyone else had already started Jackie, so I'd be in a heat of one. 

The Boy was tagging along with me so I figured I'd make him do the workout alongside me, just modified with PVC thrusters and jumping ring pull-ups.  He wouldn't have to worry about counting reps, he could just switch when I switched. 

It was fun. I figured that I wouldn't PR this today, given that I'd be paying a bit of attention to him and not going up against anyone, but as it turned out I got a 20-second PR. 

7:56 (PR) 

B. 1 km run

Yeah... after doing Jackie, I wasn't going to be setting any records on this.  It was a nice little cool-down, I guess. 

5:04



The Boy didn't join me on the run, but did do a little sprint in the alley.  When I told him it was time to go home, he protested, "But I'm not sweaty yet!"

So he did a bunch of other stuff:
-headstands on an abmat, and handstand push-ups (his head comes up about 2 inches, but still);
-"atlas stone" lifts and carries with a 20lb medicine ball; and
-more jumping pull-ups.

I guess he got sweaty at some point, because he took off his shirt.  As Kim Fly noted, "You can do that here."

Finally, he and I also did a race to 10 burpees. He managed to eke out a win on that one and it was almost completely legit.

I was very proud of him... not just for the burpee win.

Earlier at home, I told him I was heading to CrossFit.  He had had a busy day already playing with some neighbourhood friends and looked like he was ready for a nap.  He told me he wanted to come to CrossFit with me.  I told him I wasn't sure he was up to it, but he insisted.  He said if he needed to nap, he could nap there.  (He's done it before.)

I'm proud that he seems to be grasping the idea that physical fitness is important. 

In the era he's living in, there are so many things that can derail a kid's happiness.  It would be great if one thing he and his little sister didn't have worry about were self-esteem problems stemming from weight, body image and athletic ability. 

It's a lesson I wish I had taken to heart a lot earlier in my life.   As I've noted here before, for most of my life pre-CrossFit,  I was overweight.  Maybe not obese, but ranging from chubby to fat.  It wasn't my parents' fault. They enrolled me in sports and prepared reasonably healthy meals.  But when left to my own devices, I'd spend hours playing video games or watching TV and consuming way too much junk food.  Genetically, I'm not predisposed to being able to eat whatever I want and still be lean. 

The results were predictable.  And I wrongly felt they were inevitable, that this was just the hand that I've been dealt.  I bought into the belief that I didn't have the capacity to change myself, because it was easier than getting off my ass and doing something about it. 

It definitely impacted how I saw myself, and not in a good way.  I'm not saying I spent every waking hour mired in a deep depression because I was carrying 20 or 30 extra pounds, but I wasn't always as happy or as confident in myself as I could have been.  Starting CrossFit five years ago definitely helped change that, though a lifetime of thinking of yourself as the fat kid is hard to completely undo. 

My goal for my kids is to encourage and enable them pursue healthy and active lifestyles.  If they achieve that through CrossFit, great.  I'd be just as happy if they did it through soccer, dancing, swimming, basketball, gymnastics or martial arts... or all of the above. 

Whatever activity they choose, they don't have to be the best.  I just want them to try hard and have fun being active. 

They shouldn't have to go through life thinking of themselves as the fat kid who can't. 

"Marathon Monday"

 5 rounds for time (30min time cap):

• 4 Squat Clean and Jerks (185/125)
• 15 Chest to Bar Pull-ups
• 13 Burpee lateral jumps (over barbell)

Then finish with 1km Row (once)

When I read this originally, I thought every round ended with a 1km row.  Even though that would be an insane amount of work, it didn't occur to me just how insane.  If I had taken some time to think about it, I probably would have stayed home. Fortunately, thinking too much is something I rarely do. 

Even as it was written, this was a very gruelling workout.  I was doing this by myself, as well.   The gym was full, but it was Strength Club on one side and  a youth soccer team doing a training session with Keenan on the other.  There was also the Sask Weightlifting Association guys, who - if they had paid any attention all - would have likely been amused by my struggles to squat clean and jerk a weight they would consider an inadequate warm-up weight. 

Ah, yes, the clean and jerk.  Before starting, I had to consider was whether to Rx this WOD with the 185lb squat clean and jerks or go with the 155lb intermediate weight.  My general rule of thumb is that if I can do it, I do it.  I can do a 185lb squat clean and jerk, but that's a fairly heavy single for me.

I went with the 185lb, realizing that it would take a significant amount of time.  I may have underestimated just how much.  Doing those four reps in each round took more time than either of the other exercises, due to the lengthy breaks in between lifts.  I just couldn't bring myself to get back to the bar.  Because I was doing a squat clean, I wanted to ensure that I was able to do the lift without failing every time. 

In the first round, it took me around two minutes to do the set of four.  I think by the later rounds, I was taking more than three minutes, maybe close to four to do those same four reps. 

The C2B pull-ups were fine.  I split them into two sets at the start, three sets at the end.  The burpee lateral jumps were okay.  I was moving pretty slowly by that point in each round.

I finished the five rounds in 28:11. 

It probably took me at least another minute, maybe more, to get strapped into the rower, and then I rowed the 1000m in 4:02.

1km row

Did this at home.  When I sat down, I was gonna do 2km, but I wasn't feeling great after 150m and decided to puss out.

3:39

Lost my nerve on Back Squats, found my mojo on "Jackie Lite"

A. Back Squats 3-3-3


I came into the gym thinking I'd try to break my three-rep record of 290, but for whatever reason, as I progressed through the lifts, I decided to stop at 275.   It seemed pretty heavy to me. 


B. “Jackie Lite”

For time:
1000m Row
50 Push Press 65
30 Pullups

Looking at the times earlier in the day, I was a little unsure about what kind of time I should expect to get.  Many of the times ranged between 9:00 and 10:00, with a few in the , but I thought I could break 9:00 if I finished the row in under 4:00, the push press in 3:00 and the pull-ups in 2:00. 

My goal with the rower was to maintain a good pace but not go so hard that it would wreck me for the rest of the WOD.   I managed to strike a good balance there. I was off the rower and started the push press by 3:50 or so. 

As it turned out, the push-press went a lot quicker than I expected.  I did them in sets of 25, 14 and 11, and it took a little over a minute to finish it.  I like doing relatively light push-presses.  I've got a pretty good rapid-fire technique down pat, plus my short arms give me an advantage because the bar has to travel less distances. 

Just don't ask me to get anything off a tall shelf for you.  #Midgetpower

I think I took right around two minutes to do the pull-ups. 

Final time was 7:07, which was briefly good for top EFS* score in the gym until Uncles and Chase beat it in the last session of the day.   Fuckers.  Where do they get off, being all strong and fast and in shape?

*EFS: "Except for Shae."  Shae's time on this was something ridiculous like 5:55.   

Cleaning my CLOC

A. Power Clean 3-3-3, Squat Clean 3-3-3


Power clean 155-185-205 (3-rep PR)

Leya did her best to correct my suspect form and shoddy footwork, and I actually had a couple of decent lifts at 185.  Then the weight got heavy and I started spreading my feet way wide on the 205s.  Got 'em up, though. 
Squat clean 135-155-175 (3-rep PR)


B. CLOC#1* 

*This WOD is part of the 2012 CrossFit Ladies of Canada challenge. 

2 rounds for time of:
1000m Row
30 Air Squats
15 Burpees onto a 45lb plate (guys)

We could have done a bonus third round, but I opted out, like most people.  This was plenty. 

I wanted to keep both my rows under 4:00.  I was well under that for the first one, probably 3:35 or 3:40ish but was just over for the second one.  Because the end was near, I think I completed the squats and burpees quicker in the second round, though. 

12:51

Like the salad dressing, hate the WOD

Looks delicious, huh? Well, the WOD that shares a name with this dressing sent me into a weekend-long shame spiral.

“Thousand Islands”

10 Burpees

1000m Row

10 Burpees

1000m Run

10 Burpees

1000 Skips

10 Burpees

33:47.  All I know is that it took FUCKING FOREVER once I got to the 1000 skips.  I couldn't do more than 50 straight without my feet protesting that I was hurting them, so there were a lot of breaks. 

I belatedly realized,after already doing more than 600 skips, that I could skip faster than I had been and it didn't seem to affect my cardio or discomfort (could still get 40-50 consecutive skips in a set before my feet started to call Amnesty International) so I guess that's something to keep in mind for next time. 

Sandbag Burpee Jackie

For time: 1000m Row
50 Sandbag Thrusters – 45lb
30 Burpees

8:30

.

Hang Squat Snatch / Ridiculously long 6 a.m. Metcon

6 a.m., baby. 6 A-motherfucking-M.

A. Hang Squat Snatch 3-2-1-1-1

95-105-115-125-130(F)-130. These are sort of fun, but then I'm not using a bunch of weight. I prefer singles to catching the thing on the way down. What can I say? I've got SISSY HANDS.


B. Metcon. Should've been called: "You know we have to go to work this morning, right?"

800m run or 1000m row
10 rounds of 10 pull-ups and 10 ring-dips
800m run or 1000m row

Something's going on with my left foot. It may have to do with the fact that I jumped out of a tree yesterday (don't ask) from a height that was probably unwise.

Anyway, it became apparent in the first half of the 800m that it would be unwise to continue running on it.

So I did a 400m run/500m row at the start and a 1000m row at the end.

Can I just say that 100 ring dips is a lot of fucking ring dips? Because it is.

A lot.

Of fucking ring dips.

My total time was 30:04, I think. I never actually looked at the board, but Harlan had yelled it out.

6 a.m. Bedroom Eyes: Turkish Get-Ups and "Oh My"

Second day in a row getting up in time for the 6am WOD. Partial credit goes to my son, who crawled into my bed at 5:14 to ask if he could go downstairs and watch TV.


A. Turkish Get-Ups 3-2-1-1-1

This is only the second time I have ever done Turkish Get-Ups. I like them, but am not that good with them.

3 x 40lb dumbell
2 x 55lb dumbell
1 x 45lb barbell (harder, because of the balancing
1 x 55lb barbell

I then failed three separate times with the 70lb kettlebell. Very close, though.

B. “Oh My!” 7 rounds for time of
7 Hang Power Clean
7 Front Squats
7 Push Press or Push Jerk
20 Double-Unders
Men 75lb/Women 55lb, Intermediate 65/45, Beginners 3-5 rounds with 45/33

11:25 as rx'd. All the DUs were uninterrupted. Not so much for the weight complex after the second round. I should have taped my right wrist, as I was still feeling that injury from a few weeks back on the cleans.

One of the problems with doing the DUs uninterrupted is that it doesn't give you much time for rest.


C. 1km Row for time

4:07. That's an approximate time. I took a break while rowing and the clock read 3:57 when I was done, but I realized at the end that the timer might have stopped when I was resting.

"Gwen"

Unbroken reps of "Gwen"
A. “Gwen” 15-12-9 reps
Clean & Jerk
Choose weight and use same weight for each round. Rest as needed between rounds as reps are unbroken, touch and go only on floor
Score for load not time

I did 125lbs.
That was plenty heavy for me for the first 15 reps, the next two sets got progressively less-awful, and it felt positively glorious when it was all over. I’d probably try 5lbs heavier next time.

B. Max Deadhang Pull-ups

10 DHPLU, which is more than I was able to do fresh a couple of weeks ago. I guess C&Js were a good warm-up.


C. 1Km row

3:39. Not a super quick time, but my forearms were pretty mad at me by this point.


Hey, here's a video of people doing this at CF Albany, with varying levels of skill.

Rowing/Burpees and Box Jumps

A. “A Burpee by any other Name”
For time:
1000m Row
50 Speed Burpees
500m Row
25 Speed Burpees

12:09 as rx'd It felt like this was harder on me than it should have been, but my time was okay.


B. Within 3 minutes of finish, do 30 Box Jumps – 20″

We were actually only supposed to START the box jumps within the three minutes of the end of Part A, but I misunderstood, started about a minute after the end of the WOD and finished in a bit less than two minutes.

Death by Pull-ups

A. 1km row for time.

3:30.2.

My grip and forearms were killing me after this. Good thing I won't need them for the rest of the WOD... oh, wait. Shit.


B. Pull-ups on the minute (first minute, do one, second minute, do two, etc. until you can't complete the required number)

12 rounds, plus eight.


C. Three rounds of 15 unbroken burpees, resting 120 seconds between.

Done.


D. Accumulate four minutes in the bottom squat position.

I did sets of 1:20, 1:00, 1:00, and :40.