CFR: "The Ghost"

Six rounds of the following:

One minute of rowing (for calories)
One minute of burpees
One minute of double unders
One minute of rest

My total score was 541.

VolkeFit: Kick you in the mush

Three rounds of:

15 bell swings (60lb)
Rest 15 seconds
10 handstand push-ups
Rest 15 seconds
5 squat cleans (155lb)
Rest 15 seconds
10 burpee pull-ups.
Rest 3 minutes
100 double unders
Running around the park (about 800m)
Rest 5 minutes

I didn't time myself to the second. Each took me between 12 and 13 minutes, including the three-minute rest period.

CFR: "Blackjack"

Warm-up
"Roxanne":
Play the song "Roxanne." Jog in place, and do a burpee every time you say the word "Roxanne."


WOD
"Blackjack"
First WOD since Spring Fling.  I wasn't back to 100%, and this isn't a WOD suitable for blasting through, anyway, so I just resolved to get through it. 

21 pull-ups
200m run
21 push-ups
200m run
21 squat clean and jerks
200m run
21 burpee pull-ups to 8'
200m run
21 calorie row
100m run

The clean and jerks took a little longer than I would have liked. 

18:22 rx'd

CFR Spring Fling V

TART (Tyler And Rankin's Team) finished in 5th  place out of 21 teams after four WODs.  We're happy with that.

WOD 1: Fatbar Squat Clean and Two Presses

After learning that we could alternate lifts, this altered our strategy a bit.  We had thought that I had to be done before Rankin could start.

I started with 160 on the bar, for a safe lift.

I put 180 on the bar, and did it.  Rankin lifted it too.

I completed 190, as did Rankin.

I put 200 on the bar.  I squat cleaned it, but couldn't get a press and had to drop it.

Rankin completed the complex and added 10 lbs.

He managed to clean it, but couldn't get a press before time ran out.

Our score was 390.2, which was good for 7th place in that event.


WOD 2: Two Five-Minute AMRAPs

AMRAP 1:
200m row
10 burpees over ERG

I don't want to be a complainer, but the judge on this messed me up by counting my burpees BEFORE I completed them. So a couple of times I stopped on the 9, only to be told that I had one more to do.  That confusion cost us a few seconds.

Really, though, it's on me.  I should have counted for myself from the start, which I did on the third round.



AMRAP 2:
20 double unders
10 bell swings (55lbs)

Rankin had to work harder with less rest on the first part, so I took the first three shifts on this one (DUs, one set of swings, and back to the DUs).  After that, we split the work with me doing the skipping and him on the swings.

Due to that, I failed after eight DUs when I got back to the skipping.

It was smooth sailing after that, with no more failures.  After a few more rounds, I took one more shift of the bell swings to give Rankin another quick breather.  I felt good about how we did on the second AMRAP. There was almost no wasted time.

Our score was 1243, good for 8th place.  The team ahead of us got 1244 and the fourth place team got 1266, so the the extra seconds on the row would have definitely upped our results a bit.  (Every metre counted as one point, so this competition rewarded rowing disproportionately... although if you were slow on the burpees, there was less time to row.)

Even though we finished in 8th in this event, we managed to move up to 6th place in the overall standings.


WOD 3: Pull-ups, Snatches, and Weighted Lunges


Five rounds of
12 cleans (95lbs)
12 pull-ups
4x40' 45lb walking lunges (alternating between partners)

(12 min time cap)

The competition was held at the Highland Curling Club.  One of my concerns was the fact that there were no mats on the lanes where we were expected to do the walking lunges on the bare concrete.  The movement standard said our knees had to make contact with the ground.

My lunging style is not all that controlled, so I was faced with either slamming my kneecaps on the concrete or going slow and tentative.

I chose Option 3.  During the break between WODs 2 and 3, I had to run an errand.  On the way back, I stopped into WalMart and bought a $10 pair of volleyball kneepads.   I would have bought a pair for Rankin, but there was only one pair left.

When I busted them out in the athlete's warm-up area, reactions ranged from a joking "That's isn't legal" (actually, it was; I checked) to "Fuck, that's smart" (correct) to "Pussy" (I imagine; no one actually said this to me, but I'm sure they were thinking it.)

During the event, the kneepads really made a difference.  Rankin and I hit this WOD hard.  We had noticed that some of the other teams in the previous heat had little urgency when tagging out, and we resolved to be quick.

We divided the pull-ups and snatches.  I did the pull-ups, and managed to do each set of 12 unbroken.

Rankin was an absolute beast on the snatches.  He did them all, other than asking me to do four in the third round.

I went as fast as I could on the walking lunges, but I have Marvin the Martian legs.  Rankin needed about four lunges to make each 20' length.

We ended up only 60' of walking lunges short of completing the WOD, which put us in 4th place in the event and 4th place overall.


WOD 4: Conga Line from Hell

The top 8 teams qualified for the bonus WOD, which was announced just before we did it.  They probably did it that way because no one would have tried to finish top 8 if they knew what what they were going to have to do.

This one sucked.  I hated it when I was doing it, I hated it when I was done it and I hate it as I'm writing this. In five years, I could re-read this blog post and I know I will think to myself, "I still hate that fucking WOD."  

30-20-10
Toes to Bar
Jumping squats onto a plate
155lb deadlifts

(15 minute time cap)

We each had to do these. Partner 1 has to complete his station before Partner 2 could start.  Partner 2 couldn't pass Partner 1

I went first, because Rankin said he was awful at T2B.

Well, T2B were terrible for me for me, too, although I managed to avoid tearing my sissy hands to shreds.

We DNF'd this one, and it was my fault.  I took WAY long on the T2B in both the sets of 30 and 20.  I was stepping up to the bar, which ate up too much time.  Jumping up to the bar sucked, too.  There were times I could only do one rep before dropping off.   I'm sure at least a couple of the teams must have lapped me.

We finished 7th out of the 8 teams in this WOD.

We finished in 5th place, and agreed that we were very satisfied with that result.

I was lucky to have Rankin as a partner.  He really carried this team, and I can't imagine too many other guys would have kept going after ripping up his hands like this.

I sure wouldn't have.

He and I approached the competition the same way.  We didn't go in expecting win the whole thing, but we knew we had a chance to do well and we came up with a plan to maximize our individual strengths.

I usually enjoy CrossFit competitions (by the end of them; I can be a sucky baby at times during), and doing the team version was even more fun.  There was less pressure and strategy was a factor, rather than just sheer athleticism  Also, I finished better than bottom three, which is nice.  I think this is how I will participate in CrossFit competitions going forward whenever possible.

.

CFR: More Spring Fling prep

Rankin and I met to discuss strategy and work on fatbar cleans

Unfortunately, I can't disclose more than that.

Basement: AirDyne sprint intervals

It was one of those times where I didn't have a solid plan of what I wanted to do.  Then plans changed after I got on the bike.  

First, I thought I would try to do five minutes at 300+ watts.  After a minute, I realized that was not going to happen, so I stopped for 30 seconds.  I did another minute, then rested.  After that, it was 30 second intervals until the end of the arbitrary 10 minutes I decided I was going to bike.   

Here's what it looked like: 

60 secs bike higher than 300 watts

30 secs rest

60 secs bike higher than 300 watts

30 secs rest

30 secs bike

30 secs rest

30 secs bike

30 secs rest

30 secs bike

30 secs rest

30 secs bike

30 secs rest

30 secs bike

30 secs rest

30 secs bike

30 secs rest

60 secs bike.  

CFR: Spring Fling Prep

CrossFit Regina released the WODs for Spring Fling V.

Rankin and I met to test the waters on a couple of the workouts.

WOD 1: 5 min to find a max axle bar squat clean and push press x2

The tricky part about this one is that the teams only have a total of 5 minutes, and that the weight on the bar can never be reduced.  So the first guy has to end at a number that the second guy starts with.

Rankin is stronger than me, so this should work out okay.  The number that I can confidently hit is a good starting point for him.



WOD 2: Five-minute AMRAPs

Five-minute AMRAP of:

• 200m row
• 10 burpees over ERG

One minute rest.

Five-minute AMRAP of:

• 20 double-unders
• 10 bell swings (55lbs) 

Basically, we just have to hit this one hard and fast. Rankin rowed. The burpees over the ERG were surprisingly quick for me (assuming I was counting correctly).   Transition time is going to be key in this one.

In the second part, the DUs were easier for me than the swings were for Rankin, so we switched up.  During the actual competition, we may switch back.



After the WODs, I did a single muscle-up.


Here's WOD 3, which we'll play around with on Thursday:

Five rounds for time (12min time cap)

12 power snatch (95lbs)
12 pull-ups
8 20-foot lengths of a sandbag lunge (each partner does four each)

Athletes may divide reps on the snatch and pull-ups as much as we want.

5 rounds for time (12min time cap)

12 power Snatch (95/65)

12 Pull ups

8 lengths (20′ lengths) of a sand bag lunge (45/20) – 4 each

 

In teams, you will complete 5 rounds of the above. Athletes may split reps and exercises (only snatch and  pull ups as they wish with only one athlete working at a time) each athlete must do lunges. 

VolkeFit: Bringing Sexy Back (Squats)

Warm-up

2km on the AirDyne


Workout

A.  Work up to a heavy (not max) triple

God, it's been so long since I squatted.  I started at 185 and went up in 10 lb increments. 

I went to 245x3 and decided to stop there. 


B. AMRAP of 75% of A. 

I used 185lbs.  I did 17 reps, which was more than I was expecting.  There were periodic rests (with the barbell still across my shoulders.) 


C.  Double unders and burpees

50 DUs
10 burpees
40 DUs
10 burpees
30 DUs
10 burpees
20 DUs
10 burpees
10 DUs
10 burpees

My legs were pretty tired after A and B,  so this was a bit of a debacle.

In the first set of DUs, I failed after every ten reps.  It didn't get much better in subsequent sets,

In the end, I finished in 8:38, which is way slower than I would expect of myself. 

Basement: 10 minutes of AirDyne

I've got a head cold and had just eaten some popcorn chicken from KFC.  No records tonight.

165 calories.

Basement: Rowing sprints

500m x 5, resting about three minutes between.

1:41
1:41
1:48
1:49
1:47

VolkeFit: This is why I don't have abs like a Spartan

Warm-up

30-20-10

• AirDyne calories
• Burpees (strict)

Workout

"300" 

Pullups - 25 reps 
Deadlifts with 135lbs - 50 reps 
Pushups - 50 reps 
24-inch Box jumps - 50 reps 
Floor wipers (135lbs) - 50 reps 
1-arm 35lb Kettlebell Clean n Press - 50 reps 
Pullups - 25 reps

I started strong but started sucking pretty hard by the time I got to the push-ups.  

There was some confusion on the floor wipers (L+R=2, not 1) which became a huge relief when I found out what it really was. 

18:20.  In Spartan days, a time like that would have got me kicked into a pit.  

CFR: Rockin' Robin

Warm-up 

30-20-10 of:
Bell swings
Sit-ups

Not for time.  I did each set unbroken.



WOD

"Rockin' Robin"

Three rounds for time of:
1 rope climb from seated
10 clean and jerks (135lbs)
100 double unders

I finished in 15:40

Judging from the other times on the board from today, I'm happy with this.     Most times were 20-plus minutes,  I wonder if that was due to some congestion at the climbing ropes? Or maybe they did a different WOD.

I didn't feel like I was going that fast.  Actually, I deliberately didn't blast through my clean and jerks on the first round, not wanting to burn myself out for the DUs and the rope climbs.

I finished the first round in about 4:00.

The second round was tougher.  I almost failed on the rope climb.  The clean and jerks felt like they took forever, and I think I had a couple of premature fuck-ups on the double unders. It took me more than 6:00 to complete the round.

I took a good 30-plus second rest before attempting the third rope climb.  I didn't want to climb halfway up and then fail, wasting energy and time.

The third rope climb went easier than the second.  The clean and jerks seemed to go faster, after Leya told me to not bother with the split jerk and just do a push jerk instead.  She also gave me a good tip about my breathing.  Basically, I was treating the 135lbs like it was 175lbs and it was slowing me down.

The double unders were okay.  I think I did them in sets of 36-34-30.

Basement: 10 minutes of AirDyne

Ummm... That's it.

181 calories.  A new PR.

Garage WOD: 400m runs, pull-ups, and box jumps

I needed to work out tonight. I also had a lawn that needed weeding, so hitting the gym was out. My garage is right there and I used a WOD adapted from a recent one on the CFR website.  I switched out the burpees for box jumps because my garage floor is gross.

Four rounds:

400m run (approximately;  I ran around my block)
15 pull-ups.
15 box jumps 24".

Rest three min between rounds.

My times were:
3:22
3:24
3:34
3:33

I did kipping pull-ups, focusing on form with the intent of not bothering my shoulder, so minimizing the swinging on the horizontal plane.