10/30 - Rx 'Grace'!

After two days of C&J’s and easily power cleaning 50kg I started thinking about Grace on the way to the box – more specifically ‘Grace Off’ which is happening this weekend at SF Gym as a breast cancer fundraiser.  I was thinking about whether I should do it and if so if I should register as intermediate or Rx thinking I could probably do Rx but knowing that it would take a  bit longer – I’ve been wanting to Rx ‘Grace’ for a long time and knowing I can now do it was really cool – I figured it’d be awesome to Rx ‘Grace’ on my 36^th birthday (Saturday conveniently).  As I was going through these thoughts I also vividly recalled watching Coach Match write both ‘Grace’ and ‘Isabel’ on the PR boards in the box on Monday night knowing that we’d (clearly) be filling them in soon – I thought we might do ‘Grace’ soon as we’d just done heavy C&J’s but didn’t think he program it the very next night – still, it was on my mind.

As I walked into the box I saw Tim doing some shoulder mobility and he looked at me with that twinkle in his eye and asked me to guess what we were doing – I got a bit excited then – knew I would like it – and as he was starting to say ‘what you did last night’ I was bursting forth with ‘grace?’ (and there may have been a little happy dance that followed).  I knew right then and there that I would be Rx-ing ‘Grace’ – I texted Cam to tell him exactly that – there was no doubt.  I was ready.  More than ready.

We did a warm-up.  There were burpees and shuttle sprints (and I didn’t mind the burpees again, what?).  I raced Tim a bit just for fun even though we were just warming up. Shonelle and I partnered up for some partner resisted sprints with the bands and we did other stuff – really I was just going through the motions super excited to meet ‘Grace’, full on this time.
 
WOD: Benchmark 'Grace'
 30 Clean & Jerk (45/60kg)
5:51 Rx(!)

Coach Match informed me that there was a 10 minute cut-off.  Ok, that’s three reps a minute just to finish – easy.  I checked out the times of the other girls who Rx-ed earlier in the day – there were only three – Kayla, Tash and Chriselle – and knowing Kayla (pretty much) warms up at 45kg and that Tash is the unstoppable energizer bunny in every WOD (superfast) I just hoped I could keep up with Chriselle.  Goal was under 7 minutes – that meant about 4 a minute.  Then I upped that a bit – figured I could do  probably do 5 every minute and if I did I could get under 6 minutes.  Game on though I knew it’d be tough.

Tim had told me to try and push jerk the reps if I could rather than split jerking which would take more time.  Noted.  Coach Match also suggested minimizing rest time between reps as this was the biggest hurdle in getting a good time.  Noted.  I heard Jack and Tim discussing a game plan and I made the comment that game plans were dangerous (you never know how things are going to go) but I clearly had one – 5 reps a minute until I was done.  Go.

The first rep I push jerked and it was tough.  I also tried to lower the bar back to the ground, also tough.  From then on I split jerked each rep.  I also did single reps dropping the bar every time.  The bar would take one bounce, I’d pat it down and pick it right back up again focusing on tightening my shoulder blades and getting a solid clean (ignoring the protest from my already bruised clavicle) and then part two – quick jerk with focus on locking out my arms over head.  I stopped for chalk after 15 reps but quickly got back on the bar.  I was racing the clock.  I managed to get up by two reps in the first minute (7 reps done) and lost a few somewhere after that – four minutes in I had 10 to go.  I could do this.  I was on track.   

Because I was dropping the bar every rep the collars became quite loose though in my mind I had no time to fix that – I needed to pick the bar right back up, the game was most definitely on.  I pushed through the last 5 starting them with one minute remaining. I worked really hard for every single one but hearing the others cheering me on really helped and as I dropped the bar one final time I burst out into the hugest grin.  I had won.  5:51.  Done.  Tim came over for a high-five and he got a hug.  I was beaming.  I truly was.  I still am.  It is a huge achievement for me – something that I’ve wanted for so long – I final made it.  I beat ‘Grace’.  All of ‘Grace’.  There is no looking back now.  Next up is ‘Isabel’.  I have a lot more work to get there but I’m eager.  Aiming high.

As a follow up – I was too excited for the follow up text with Cam to let him know I did it… he got a call as soon as I got home – the excitement that had built  all through my drive burst out at him.  The awesome part – he was just as excited for me and let me repeat my accomplishment a gazillion times.  Oh, and he reminded me of it again this morning – made me smile all over again.  Thanks!

Post-WOD
Once recovered, run 1 mile or  row 1km for time
4:00

After all the excitement and joy of finishing ‘Grace’ I didn’t have much left in me but knew I had to get this done.  I went for the row as I already have a mile run time on the PR board (even though it was from a day I was sick and I know I can better it).  It hurt.  That’s about all I can add here.  I wanted to quit many times though kept pushing through and tried to find a nice efficient rate/ combo of strokes per minute and 500m split time.  By the end my glutes were cramped and I crawled off the erg but I got it done.  Four minutes exactly.  Done.

Mobility (and gossip with Angie – and Jaimie)

Glutes

Pecs

Source

10/29 - More clean and jerks, more PR's...

So there were a lot of PR’s set yesterday at the box, more specifically there were a lot of PR’s published on facebook throughout the day which after many comments and iterations clearly outlined that we’d be doing C&J’s and there was a lot of time to pull off PR’s.  After power clean and jerking 50kg on Sunday at Tim’s I was ready to see how far I could go.  Needless to say I was excited all day and ready to do it once I got there.

Warm-up

300m run

Leg swings

Partner sprints (with resistant bands)

Air squats

Shoulder mobility

Air squats

Barbell warm-up

We spent a good 25 minutes on the warm-up which worried me a bit as I knew that trying to go heavy in only 20 minutes would be tough – need adequate rest between heavy reps and also I need to work up to heave and I didn’t want to be rushed – the benefit of strength in the Albert Street Gym – usually unlimited lifting time – you just go until you’re done not until time runs out.

WOD

1-1-1-1

Clean and Jerk

28-40-45-50-52.5-55-57.5(f)-57.5 PR

Did the warm-up with the 8kg bar and then knowing that I’d started at 35kg on Sunday started at a higher weight than I usually would (due to time as noted above).  I did a couple of reps at 28kgs just to get used to the squat clean aspect of the lift (the hardest part typically for me, especially with the lighter weight that I can easily power clean).  I knew that if I was going really heavy I’d need to squat clean and I also know that just jumping right into squat cleans at heavy weight doesn’t work either (watch the guys from the Crossfit Games clean ladder – I think Froning started with squat cleans from the start for this reason as did many others). 

I really tried to focus on my squat clean and keep this solid though as the bar got heavier it was the scarier part for me and took the most out of me mentally to just pick up the bar for phase 1.  It was odd as well that my hands felt like they were in the wrong spot on in the rack position but I think that maybe that was just because of the quantity of work that my shoulders had been through in the two days. 

I jumped up to 40k on the second set mostly because I was switching from the 8kg bar to the 20kg bar and it is just how it went.  As I progressed from there I started shadowing Kayla for a bit – going 45 then 50 but knew I needed to stop that if I was going to PR so I started taking smaller increases to work up.  The jerk portion never truly got that hard as I was going – it was more fighting through the squat cleans.  I dumped the 57.5kg on the first try as I didn’t get it balanced overhead though it was high enough (clearly) as it went behind me – I just stepped forward.  I think it looked worse to Kayla who only caught it out of her peripheral vision – it did feel like it dropped in slo-mo though.

Coach Match came by after that attempt and told me that while I am fast at dropping under the bar/ locking it out – I’m a bit too slow (fractions) in my dip/explosion, he said if I could get just slightly faster then there would be that extra tenth of a second of lightness in the bar that would make it effortless – and it did.  I knew I had the 57.5kg lift in me (I really wanted 60kg but my squat clean was getting tough even at 57.5).  At this point it was 5:45 (class ending time) but I was giving it one more go.  I pushed through the squat clean (barely) and as Coach Match instructed really focused on speed on the front portion of the jerk and it was solid – much easier.  I loved it and yes, there was more PR dancing and lots of hugs – specifically for Coach Tim who knew how badly I wanted it.  Also hugs for Jaimie who is finally back (woo-hoo) – haven’t seen him forever and still love that he calls me all things short.  Also for Bonnie who I haven’t had much time to catch up with lately and also more for Tim because he’s awesome… haha.  It was a pretty fantastic evening after being built up (in my head) all day.  Two PRs in two days… now I know why Tim lifts all the time – it feels amazing.

Mobility

Glutes

Shoulders

Hanging from pull-up bar

Beat swings (for fun – these feel so different/easier now)

WLC

Made a couple of new ‘recipes’ Sunday night for food for this week – first off was mango chicken (yay, mango season is back) with capsicum and sweet onion served to Brenda and Angie (tonight) with a side of roasted brussel sprouts (veggie challenge this week).  The other was stuffed capsicum – stuffed with a mixture of beef mince, onion, diced zucchini and mushrooms – cooked these in the slow cooker (beef mince was raw when stuffed) and they are fantastic – I added the extra mixture just into the bottom and it was so tasty.  Highly recommend both though they’re ‘recipes’ I don’t  have any how-tos… I just tend to wing it but it still ends up tasty!

10/28 - Sunday Strength

Week two of Sunday strength training at the Albert Street gym (aka Tim’s garage) happened yesterday and it was a lot of awesome.  We focused on the Olympic lifts snatch and clean and jerk and then had some back squats on the menu.

Jack, Tim, Angie and I all warmed up and got set to go – we were sharing a bar so we rotated through sets of 3 snatches with Angie and Jack doing power snatches and Tim and I focusing on squat snatches – my power snatch is currently higher than my squat snatch hence my need to focus on the squat aspect.  Starting at the lower weight into full squat snatches was a good way to go rather than just trying to change the movement when it got heavier. 

Snatch 

3x15

3x25

3x30

3x35 (power)

2x35

First off I need to give a huge THANK YOU to Shonelle for letting us use her 15kg women’s bar – the thing is a beauty and I’m pretty sure the reason that lifting seems effortless at the garage.  

Starting at a lower weight was really good to help me focus on dropping under the bar.  I think it was on the 30kg set that the first two reps were a little off (I was splitting my feet wider to compensate) but then on the third I had a better explosion through my hips and got easily under the bar – which Jack commented on – it actually felt easier too – with some much to think of during the movement I need to almost clear my mind and stop thinking or at least figure out what the most crucial aspects are for my focus in order to just do it.  I struggled with 35kg, a lot.  I was getting the bar up and getting under it even I just couldn’t balance it.  Big focus for me has to be OHS’s or at least sitting in the lower position with the bar over my head and just getting comfortable there.

As I mentioned above, my power snatch is stronger than my squat snatch and so after a few tries dropping the squat snatch I power snatched the 35kg, easily.  I then forced myself to try the squat snatch again and was happy to stick two reps though they weren’t at all pretty.

Angie's snatch progression

We took a lot of time on this mostly because we were all sharing one bar and Angie had to run off so she did her pull-up school (she’s so close to getting unassisted pull-ups) and then took off.  Jack had switche to cleans before we were finished snatching as he has some nagging body parts and then he bailed on us leaving just Tim and I to continue on… 

Clean and Jerk 

3x35

3x40

3x45

3x50

1x50

1x50

1x50

This was awesome.  I was a little unsure about my shoulder but figured I’d give it a go anyway.  So glad I did.  I power cleaned all the reps and it felt solid.  I remember not too long ago when I could clean 45kg but would have poor technique (feet out wide rather than dropping under it faster) to compensate for the weight.  Not today.  

Started at the weight I’d finished the snatch on and went from there.  After completing the set at 45kg I knew I had 50kg so made the 5kg jump.  My current (squat) clean and jerk PR (1 rep) is 52.5kg (done at the end of our lifting course with Luke).  I mentioned to Tim that I couldn’t remember the last time I’ve done C&J’s (I think they’re actually programmed tonight though!) so the jump was cool and not entirely unexpected as I’ve definitely gotten stronger since last fall (May).  

The reps at 50kg came easily and the last few single reps were purely for the camera… haha.  At the end of the video I posted yesterday I actually said ‘it’s easy’ and it really was.  It felt solid which is why I’m quite excited for tonight as I’m sure I can surpass my previous PR – I managed to squat clean 57.5 (during the oly lifting sessions) but couldn’t jerk it, I’m ready for it now.  I’m excited to see what I can get.

At this point we were a few hours into the day (no time rush clearly) but I wasn’t sure I wanted to do the backsquats at this point – mostly because my quads have been sore for eons and I didn’t really want to hammer them again before starting the week back at Cooee.  After seeing Tim rack his bar and load it up for his first set I knew I was going to do them.  I couldn’t just watch and I’m so glad I did them.

Tim racked the 50kg bar for me (they have two racks which was really convenient) and I started from there knowing that I was already adequately warmed up (from the workout and from the heat of the day – it was about 35°C at that point).

Back Squat

3x50

3x60

3x65 (PR)

3x70 (PR)

3x75 (PR)

This was the first day that I’ve gone heavy after hurting my back a few weeks ago doing deadlifts.  The biggest change since then has been the focus on activating my glutes which I know will make me stronger.  It’s still something for me to think about – my focus is on tucking my belly button down and back which gets my hips in line and keeps my back straight and strong and in turn activates my glutes (rather than quads and back).  It sounds way more complicated than it is – I think of tucking my belly button and the rest just works.  That’s it.  I love it.

The first few sets felt solid.  My previous 3RM PR was 60kg (my 1RM was 72.5kg from CFT back in September).  Tim started spotting me (or at least being near enough to) when I did the 65kg lifts and it was solid.  I remember him asking me what I was going up to next (2.5 or 5kg jump in essence) and I told him quite clearly that I had 70kg and he nodded as he knew it too.  And I did, no problem, and even better than just getting it I felt strong, I felt tight and was using my glutes and keeping my body upright, definitely all good.  The final set I made the jump again by 5kg both because of how strong I still felt at 70kg and also because I really wanted a new PR (though technically I had a new 3RM PR already).  The 3 reps at 75kg were a bit more sketchy and while Tim was close by for the spot he never had to help me other than his encouraging words in my head telling me to push up.  I could feel though on this set my form going out the window a bit and I was falling forward a bit more so I called it after successfully getting the 3 reps.  I was really stoked about it though – it was really awesome. 

 

It was a fantastic day and once again thanks to Shonelle for letting us use her bar (though I did use the big bar for the backsquats), thanks to Vini and Jack (and Mark) for letting Angie and I wake them up on Sunday morning to come and workout and mostly to Tim for providing the coaching and support and beast-mode that only inspires us to get stronger and push harder – it’s great to workout with him and setting PR’s isn’t so bad either!

I know there were some photos of me snatching (in my snatch is paleo shirt) but they might be on Angie's phone.  Guess the videos will have to do - and yes, that's my little 'I'm excited' dance after easily CJing 50kg the first time.

 

so this happened today...

10/25 - iWOD my quads...

Got to the box early and my legs were still achy from the pistols.  Did some rolling out of my quads then jumped on the rower for an easy 500m (who am I choosing to row on my own?).  I did some shoulder mobility with the bands and watched Glen do some handstand practice – he was killing it - and then it was time to start class.

Warm-up

15 burpee box jumps (20”)

row 300m

run 300m

30 deadlifts (20kg bar)

Coach Tim broke us into four groups and we rotated through the exercises above.  It was good though starting on the burpee box jumps was really hard.  My legs weren’t actually working very well on those.  Fun little warm up though followed with a bit more shoulder mobility then getting into the strength portion of the day.

Strength

3-3-3 deadlifts

70kg-70kg-70kg

Went light on these again and focusing more on using the correct form and muscle groups and it felt good.  I didn’t want to push it too much with my back still being a bit iffy.  I started at 40-50-60 then did 3 working sets at 70kg.  Not quite my 3RM of 90kg but I was feeling stronger and while I could have gone heavier I figured a bit more time would be good for me.  On my set up I really focus on ‘tucking’ my belly button down and back (yoga speak?) which engages my core and keeps my back aligned.  It’s working for me and also helping to keep my knees out at the same time as my glutes are engaging.

(i)WOD

9 mins, on the minute

8 KB thrusters front squats (2x 10kg)

Hand-release push-ups 20” box jumps

Score = number of hand-release push-ups box jumps

110

This was a really hard one – I didn’t realize it until after that Coach Match (who was helping me figure out a good iWOD without using my shoulder) was actually trying to talk me out of the KB front squats but I did them anyway – the compound work on my legs was an absolute killer BUT… I am stronger for it.  I used 2 KB rather than just one as it lets my shoulder have a bit more flexibility in terms of how it sits in the clean position and then just did squats.  I initially did a few reps with the 12kg KBs but went with the 10kg KBs and this was a very good decision and even at that I almost didn’t make it through the reps at the end – I was doing sets of 4 and they were a little sketchy at that – lots of focus on keeping my back in alignment/ knees out.

The box jumps were only 20” to ensure that I would keep a good pace throughout the WOD.  I almost stacked it a few times because of jelly legs but because the room was fairly quiet (only music, no dropping bars, etc.) it was pretty obvious when I was jumping (loud stomping) and therefore equally obvious when I would stop to breath so I tried to limit the stopping as much as I could.  Talking about it later with Angie she mentioned trying to keep pace with the sound of my jumps so that was cool.  I remember getting 24 reps in the first round and then nowhere near that thereafter – like maybe 10 reps by the end.  Killer. Quad killer.  Needless to say I slept in my compression tights (again) last night – I’m so sex-ay… ha!

AfterWOD

Tabata hollow body holds

Hard to keep my legs elevated after the iWOD but gave it my best effort mostly with bent legs.  Definitely felt this one but it’s good to keep working on the (ever elusive) six-pack.

Mobility

Rolled out quads (agony!)

Glute work with ball

Mostly just a gossip session with Angie with a bit of mobility thrown in to justify our sitting on the floor.  Haha.  It was good – bit of catch up on boys (me) and work (her) and all the other stuff that seemed to just come up.  Afterwards I watched her work through ‘pull-up school’ and come oh-so-very-close-pretty-much-there on an unassisted kipping pull-up.  Total rockstar (have I mentioned she looked beastly strong last night?).  So ya… a good night – especially as we didn’t actually end up leaving the box til almost 7pm even though our class ended at about 5:50.  Oops, good times. 

Taking it easy this weekend – not doing the Classic Paddle as my shoulder is most definitely not up for a 5km SUP race but do plan to do a bit of strength in the Albert Street Garage on Sunday morning though I might still take it a bit lighter depending on what we’re doing (I just put in a request for snatches and clean and jerks but who knows on that one).  Heh.

Friday Funnies...

10/23 - Today I loved the rower...

Another day at the box and another movement (that I used to dislike) I loved… what is going on this week?

Warm-up

3 rounds

Row

Run 300m

The row lasted for as long as the other group was running 300m and vice versa.  After our third row as we were on the run I was thinking ‘at least we’re finished rowing’ but alas, that wasn’t to be.  As we got back Coach Match had us get back on the rowers and row 500m for time.  For the 3 earlier rows we were rowing for watts which meant when we switched to 500m split times it was a bit weird to correlate the two.  When rowing for watts the goal was to keep above 200 (I presume average watts?) and I was steady at about 220 or so with about 29 strokes per minute.  For the 500m row I was on average about 1:50 (which makes sense as my overall time was in fact 1:50/500m) trying to stay around 30 strokes per minute.  I feel solid at that rate and able to maintain that pace over some distance without killing myself.  Baby steps as the rower has the potential to destroy me – as it was my glutes were already super tight and in agony every time I stepped (hobbled?) off the rower.

Row 500m for time

1:50 (PR)

 WOD

12 min AMRAP
10 pistols (alternating legs)
6 L-sit pull-ups or strict pull-ups

6 calorie row

8/3

Still on reduced shoulder week and therefore instead of doing the strict pull-ups (anything overhead or ‘crunchy’ in my shoulder is out for me this week) I subbed a 6 calorie row and actually loved it.  The muscle groups were similar to those that I would have used doing the pull-ups and the 6 calories was short enough to go full out on it – it was about 8-10 strokes I think for me to finish the work – about 20 seconds or so.  I really enjoyed it – I feel strong on the rower and need to incorporate it more I think going forward – it’s also a good focus for engaging my glutes (as will be more walking lunges Coach Match informs me… ugh).

The pistols were ugly.  I scaled with a 2.5kg plate in my outstretched arms but even then some would not have counted in competition.  My quads were on fire and holding up my leg was really difficult.  I slept in my compression tights last night and while I’m walking today I’m not quite walking normally.  It’ll be interesting to see how the stiffness progresses as I sit at my desk all day.

Also, although it's a week to preserve my shoulder I couldn't help but attempt to do some full ROM handstand push-ups after class with the boys.  I got 3 consecutive kipping HSPU's with my head fully onto the ground.  Super excited about this! 

Mobility

Rolling out quads (agony)

Rolling out IT bands

Physio Rehab

60 second one legged stands (one each leg)

WLC

Not tracking points but still on track.  Had Brenda’s awesome dinner last night – broccoli/beet/apple(?) salad with roasted chicken… yum!  Also have made ridiculously tasty trail mix as of late and am loving it – super easy…  throw a variety of your favorite nuts into a ziplock bag (almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews), add shredded (WLC approved) coconut, raisins (sultanas), pepitas, sunflower seeds and cacao nibs, mix up and inhale (um, eat).  I make up a bit batch and throw in the fridge and just pull from this when the need arises.  The cacao nibs take it over the top – I’ve always been one to aim for the chocolate in trail mix (who hasn’t) and thought I’d miss not having it but the chocolate undertone of the nibs add just enough to make me keep going back for more.