6/25 – Quick cleans and box jumps

WOD

3 rounds

7 power cleans (60/42.5kg)

7 box jumps (24/18”)

1:57 Rx

So we are now less than 5 days out from Primal Throwdown and should be fully in on the taper BUT… oh, but…  that wasn’t the case with this one.  I headed to the box planning to drop the weight to an easy 30kg and just go from there.  I don’t have much ability to ‘go slow’ in a WOD so my only way to lessen the work is to scale, scale, scale.  This didn’t happen, obviously. 

Through the warm up and mobility and set up both Naydine and Ali were commenting on how it’s just a quick WOD (less than 5 minutes) and 42.5kg isn’t that hard, and, and, and… ya, I succumbed to them and didn’t scale.  Feeling it in my shoulders today though especially after (not scaling) ‘Fran’ on Monday.  Oh well…

We partnered up and Ali went first (thankfully).  Then it was my turn.  I did I think 3 unbroken reps just to warm-up/ check the weight and it made me winded (a little) and hurt (a little).  I knew there wasn’t any room to rest on this one.  Seven is that horrid number that hurts more than 5 and is still harder than 10 because at least with 10 you can do 5-5 or 6-4.  When you get to 5 and only have seven in total you’re going to keep going.  This hurt more in the later rounds as well.

The first set of power cleans I was solid on – focused on breathing and going unbroken.  I was slower than those around me but I was trying not to focus on that.  I did however see Cam beside me and wanted to catch him.  I went unbroken on the box jumps, the first round feeling fairly easy and caught him there.  We came off about the same time and I knew I had some ground to make up on the bar (it didn’t happen).  I went unbroken but had to rest a few times (I did this in the rack position so I could still ‘touch and go’ at the bottom).  Cam beat me back to the box so I went hard at it though I did really start to feel my hamstrings – thrusters catching up.  I snuck ahead on the cleans and though I needed a few more ‘rests’ – my technique went to shit though and that’s an understatement.  Cam never caught back up, not sure what happened even though I still used this as fuel to push harder, I wanted to win – though it wasn’t even a race against anyone but myself – though was funny afterward to hear that Adam was also using Cam as a pacer.  Haha, funny how our minds work mid WOD and who we pace off of –for whatever reasons.

The last round of box jumps were a bit of a struggle but I managed to get them all out quickly, thankful that it was just three rounds and it was over.  All in less than 2 minutes.  I was happy with that – still not sure going with 42.5kg was the best idea but there’ll be a lot of rest built into the rest of my week.

We were talking during mobility after – a group of us – and about tapering, etc.  I managed to recall that we did a lot of this during the open – not pushing as hard as to save ourselves for the actual open wods each weekend and I think in many ways our training and our scores suffered a little bit for this – our bodies were actually missing the intensity especially over a 5 week period so perhaps this extra push 5 days out isn’t a bad thing.  Will be back at it tonight – scaled for sure with a bit of skill work and then I’ll focus on mobility and rest until the competition.

6/24 – ‘Fran’

Ah, the lovely ‘Fran’.  Nothing like some benchmark programming a week out from the biggest local crossfit competition – hosted by our very own Southern Crossfit.  The day that tapering was meant to start and ‘Fran’ graced the whiteboard, who can say no to that?

So many things were going through my mind as I showed up to the box – would I scale the weight, go a bit slower on the WOD? Could I push harder, briefly? PR?  It was a muddled mess but one that as flexible in nature.

I wasn’t going to scale the weight, 30kg is no longer that heavy for me so I loaded the bar.  I wasn’t sure though that my pull-ups would hold up – they’ve been missing lately, at least a little.  Shoulders niggly and aching.  The smell of deep heat and tiger balm my new perfume. 

WOD 'Fran'
21-15-9
Thrusters (42.5/30kg)

Pull-ups 

7:26 Rx PR! 

Going in I thought my biggest struggle would be on the pull-ups so wanted to push through the thrusters as fast as possible and use the rest on the pull-ups.  Funny how things change mid-WOD.

I started the first set of thrusters going 12-9 which worked well.  Always aiming to get one more rep that I’m aiming for to make that second set a little easier.  I focused mostly on breathing through the movement not wanting to get too gassy before the pull-ups.  I started the pull-ups and managed to not come off the bar for the first 6.  Game on.  I followed that up with three sets of 5 and was back on the thrusters for the dreaded round of 15.  My time as solid so far, not too much rest or slowing down, I started to wonder if a PR was on the agenda.

The round of 15 thrusters started to really hurt, I could feel the fatigue in my shoulders and wasn’t enjoying it at all, I tried to just keep pushing through.   I can’t remember how I split up the thrusters – I was aiming for 3 sets of 5 but pretty sure I did 8-7.  I do remember that the last one of each really did hurt, my shoulders going overhead were not happy and the weight felt incredibly heavy.

This is where my pull-ups started to fade as well.  I was aiming again for 3 sets of 5 but that didn’t happen.  There was a big ol’ mess in there.  I think I did 4 or 5 then 2 or 3 and two sets of 4.  No idea, might have even had to just jump back up for a single at the end (or perhaps that was the final round).  It sucked though I still tried to keep a big kip and minimize my rest time.  The problem was that I wasn’t able to keep active shoulders (they were burning) so linking my kip was a struggle.  Something to work on.

After the round of 15 pull-ups I looked at the clock and had a little over 90 seconds until my previous PR time.  I wasn’t sure I could make it but really wanted to try.  This urged me on more – when I wanted to put the bar down I didn’t – I went 5-4 on the thrusters then I think 3-3-2-1 on the pull-ups or something like that but it was merely just dropping off and getting right back up again, I wanted that PR badly.  When all was said and done I had knocked 5 seconds off.  I was happy to have done so as well given how I was feeling going into it, how my shoulders (and pull-ups) have been lately) and knowing how my training was going the last time I did ‘Fran’.  Definitely happy.  Definitely improvement.  Loved it.

6/22 - Saturday Sports Class

Last big hurrah before Primal Throwdown 2013 next weekend.

Skill work

Bar Muscle-Up Progression

Axel Bar Deadlifts

WOD

5 minute cut-off

400m row

30 KB clean and jerk (16kg – 15 per side, one side at a time)

20 pistols

10 c2b pull-ups

5:28 Rx

Note that there was scaling for all three primal categories – those listed above are what was written for intermediate women.

Was fun getting the skill work in.  I have only done bar muscle-ups once (jumping) and managed to get them (from the highest box) that day.  I got them again today and tried to increase the height from the box to the bar but couldn’t quite manage that.  It was fun though to see Steph doing them (scaled) – she faced some of the same challenges that I did the first time I tried – namely the fear.  She got one though!  Awesome.

Then we split into boys and girls and played around both on axel bars (more specifically larger diameter pipe) and on the barbells with the fat grips – infinitely harder than the fat bar as they still spun.  We eventually got up to about 80kg – all of us using a mixed grip before Coach Tara came around and told us to try using overhand grip on both hands ‘just in case’ – and only a couple of the girls could actually do it.  So hard.

We then moved onto the WOD in two heats.  I was in the first go round with Steph judging me.  I knew the row would take about 1:30 (which it did) and then it’d be a push to get through the remaining reps – I think that was the plan – this WOD had a similar format to the first WOD from day 2 of the Primal Throwdown last year – that was a 15-10-5 (row for calories, KB shoulder to overhead, toes to bar) with a 5 minute cut-off – I’m pretty sure no one finished but it was about the amount of work that you could complete hence the challenge.  This was much the same.  Only a few of the top guys managed to get through everything.  I was happy just getting to the pistols as the 16kg KB was heavy for the CJ’s especially as you had to do 15 on one arm then 15 on the other rather than splitting them up somehow.  Good to know.  I also struggled a bit with my left arm and while I got the KB up without dropping it on my head it was a bit sketchy – thankfully Steph was kind enough to give me the reps – might have been called a no rep in comp.

It was a good push – on this one and working into game day strategy – I had less than 10 seconds left when I finished the CJ’s and knew that any pistols I could get would make a difference on the ranking (if it was truly game day) and rushed through 2 quick reps without thinking and even though it hurt.  Mentally preparing as well as physically.  I’m also getting quite happy with my rowing – my stroke rate is staying low as is my power output (split time) so I’m getting the results without having to kill myself which is definite progress from the girl who used to hate the erg – don’t ask me to stay on there forever though – 1km is about my limit before I want to scream/ get bored/ annoyed.  Still.  Fun.

6/19 - 'Dirty 30'

Well, I was planning on taking yesterday as a rest day after ‘Diane’ and ‘Karen’ and the aching shoulders still from the weekend but I’ve never done Dirty 30 (or Filthy 50) for that matter and I always love me a good chipper so… I had to go to this.  I wasn’t sure about the wall balls, or the lunges, or really anything that required the use of my legs but I was game.

As a side note – I forgot to mention – when I got in the car after ‘Karen’ I almost didn’t think I’d be able to drive home – when I stepped on the clutch my leg started shaking uncontrollably.  It was a fun little journey with me sitting in neutral at all the lights and throwing it back into first at the last minute before having to accelerate.  Ah crossfit, the things you do to me.

We had a pretty quick warm-up and mobility session – the air squats were a killer but got through them then it was a whole lot of set up for the WOD – it was organized though – as much as could be – different areas for each movement with some of us choosing to throw our ropes outside to finish up out there (a good call overall).

WOD 'Dirty 30'

30 Box jump, 24 inch box

30 Jumping pull-ups

30 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood (16kg/12)

Walking Lunge, 30 steps

30 Knees to elbows

30 Push press, 20kg/15

30 Back extensions

30 Wall ball shots, 10kg/5 ball

30 Burpees

30 Double unders

12:38 Rx

I was in the first group to go and was planning on breaking up the box jumps into sets of 10 but the boys around me didn’t stop and so neither did I.  I think I almost ate it at about 14 reps – not so pretty – box felt really, really high – but kept going pretty much unbroken.  I got off the box jumps fairly quickly overall but that hurt me on the jumping pull-ups – my legs started to rebel.  I think I did three sets of 10 or something, just trying to get through them as quick as possible.  The kettlebell swings were super light which was amazing – I was trying to minimize use of my legs on this knowing that the lunges and wall balls were still ahead.  My arms felt good and I went unbroken quite quickly.  The walking lunges hurt way less that I expected – way less than they did the other week in sports class though then we had a 15kg plate overhead.  They were over fast and it was on to knees to elbow – I swear this is worse than toes to bar.  It was a painful struggle all around but got through them – broke them up quite a bit though – I think 10-10 then 5-5. 

Similar to the KB swings, I tried to minimize use of my legs on the push press – again, 15kg was light so it wasn’t too hard to strict press it mostly, tiny little dip-drive only.  I did them in two sets of 15.  The back extensions really hurt though I was pushing to get done in the time cap – knowing that the wall balls and burpees would take me some time.  I tried to minimize the rest and get done with them, moving on to the wall balls.  I wasn’t wearing my oly shoes or my knee sleeves which felt odd but there were only 30 reps.  My form wasn’t great – Coach Hayden at one point commented to both Ali and I to stay on our heels – good cue, not great follow through from me.  My intent was to do three sets of 10 but that fell apart rather quick.  10-8-4-4-4.  I was aiming for 8-7-5 but couldn’t hold on after those 4 reps.  It killed and so did the burpees.  I did three sets of 10 moving ever closer to the door between each, finishing the last set of 10 outside (thankfully it was cooler out there).  I then grabbed my rope for the DU’s which went quick thankfully though I did stuff up once.  It hurt but I’m happy that I did it, that I survived and that I came in under the time cap.  I can’t imagine doing this for 50 reps of each but I’m sure the day will come.

It was funny afterward both in thinking about the WOD and watching the next class go through parts of it – I mentally blocked some of it out – I know I did it but can’t quite remember doing it/ it was a blur.  I guess in some ways that might be a good thing?  Or perhaps the pain was just too bad.  Who knows.  Definitely earned tonight as a rest day.  My body needs it as I can barely sit down/ get up from my chair.   Ugh.

6/18 - 'Karen'

Some days I just wish I didn’t look at the WOD before heading to the box.  Yesterday was one of those days.  ‘Karen’.  ‘Karen’ is a bitch – not as bad when she’s not followed by DU’s and muscle-ups as in the open the past two years but still enough to make you not look forward to her at all.

Strength/ Skill

5 Rds

10 Chest to bar Pull Ups

Max L-Sit

Used the red band for the first 4 sets of c2b pull-ups then Coach Scotty yelled at me (nicely) to not kip with the band so finished up with both red and orange bands.  It was almost comical at the beginning (easy) then a struggle towards the end (so hard).  The L-sits were done hanging from the bar.  I think on average I was around 20 seconds for each.  It was fun partnering up with George for this one though I think us giving each other time increments on the L-sits didn’t actually help much – we both aimed for 20 seconds rather than going to failure – that being said my arms/ hands weren’t having much more anyway.  It was a good 20 minute warm-up heading into…

WOD ‘Karen’

150 Wall Balls 20/14lb

9:23 PR (14lb to 9’ line)

I have only done ‘Karen’ in the open WODs.  The first year (2011) I didn’t finish the wall balls in the 12 minute time cap.  This year I finished the wall balls (aka ‘Karen’) in 10:55 (the tie-breaker as noted on the games website score).  My summary from 13.3 noted that I did a set of 10 reps then sets of 5 for the rest with Coach Tara judging/ cheering me on.  It was nice to have a reminder of that going in.

Last night I just went with what felt good – even as the air squats in the warm-up reminded me of how sore my hamstrings were from ‘Diane’.  I started off just getting into the rhythm and found it feeling solid – I easily hit 15 reps and while I thought of going for 20 (especially as the boys on either side of me hadn’t yet stopped I knew it was still a long way to the finish and took a little break).  I didn’t want to get into sets of 5 until I had to so I picked up the ball again and did 10, it felt okay and I tried to stick with this number.  I remember at 45 reps in noting how hard it was starting to feel and how I wasn’t even yet halfway (the hard part is when you hit 75 and make that halfway realization).  Thankfully I never even noted 75, I was struggling to maintain sets of 10 and did through to 95 reps.  I wanted to hold on to the number but just couldn’t – that being said I also didn’t want to drop down to sets of 5 either as 10 (11) sets of 5 is still a lot to wrap your mind around. I decided on 8-7 pattern.  Which I followed through til the end.  The last few rounds were a struggle in forcing myself to both pick up the ball and go and also keep going even when I wanted to stop/ my form was getting a little wonky.

It was fun working beside Brendan – he helped me to minimize my rest times either because he was getting back to the ball/ still working or because Coach Scotty came around and was counting him down to get back at it and I used this cue as well.  My splits were fairly consistent.  I rememeber hitting 25 reps in the first minute then 50 at the 3 minute mark (approximately) and then 100 at 6 minutes in (approximately).  Finishing just over 9 minutes was fairly decent in my mind, a solid 1:30 faster than my previous PR.  I will definitely take it.

And for anyone questioning why I showed up for ‘Karen’ when I hate her so… it’s for a few reasons – trying not to cherry pick WODs and also because I’m fairly certain we’ll see wallballs in the Primal Throwdown and I knew I could use the practice.  The extra dose of confidence it gave me definitely helped.

6/17 – “Diane”

WOD “Diane”

21-15-9

Deadlift (102.5/70kg)

HSPU’s

10:19 Rx (almost)

First time I’ve done “Diane” Rx – or almost.  I scaled the HSPU’s to one abmat after the first 5 reps as my shoulders are still aching from Saturday’s sessions – and are being a little wonky.  Cam tried to tell me that I wasn’t doing HSPU’s at all but I just dismissed him.  Nope, I knew I could manage – definitely feeling them today though – pretty sure my arms are still shaking.

Initial plan was to break the deadlifts into three sets of 7 on the first round then 8-7 (or three sets of 5 depending on how I felt) then 5-4 if possible.  I was facing across the room and could see Brendo doing his heavy deads and when I got up to 7 no one else in the room had put the bar down yet so I decided to keep going.  I thought that 11-10 would be fine but then threw in one more rep before putting it down so I’d only have 9 to go when I picked it up.  Two sets done, not too bad.

On to the HSPU’s.  As I said, I had an abmat with the green plates and was going to try and go Rx but my kip was off and my shoulders were screaming – I did 5 reps then figured if I was to get anywhere near finishing in the 10 minutes that I’d have to scale.  Still I struggled but got them done – no big sets at all – I think 3’s at most when I could sometimes singles.  Like I said, my kip was crap.

The second round of deadlifts were solid.  One quick break as I was starting to feel it a lot – again still in my arms just from the hanging weight.  Back to the HSPU’s and agony, struggling through.  I think I had about 90 seconds or less when I started the round of 9.  Coach Scotty said that he’d let us continue over the time cap if we were almost done and I wanted to get there.  I quickly finished off the deadlifts then went straight into the HSPU’s, I tried to string two together and failed the second.  Oops.  I tried to get it done under 10 minutes but couldn’t.  I just needed to rest more in between reps in order to actually complete them which sucked.  I did however get it done and was quite happy about that.  I’d definitely like to try her again when my shoulders aren’t so fried.  On the upside though – pretty sure my shoulders are getting huuuuge… feels like it at least… haha.