12.3 Now we're getting into some real s**t

This is the type of stuff I was expecting when I signed up for the open.  A triplet!

18 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

15 box jumps (24")

12 push press (115 lb)

9 Toes to bar

I do have a question for everyone..who is worse at inflicting pain.  The folks at Crossfit HQ or the team from fear factor?   I think it's a toss up.

In the previous two workouts, I was able to do try once then have a repeat.  This time, I'm aiming for the one and done approach.  18 minutes is a long time, and 115lbs on the push press is a lot of weight for me.  My body will be toast for a while after this one.  I did one round on Thursday night and I know I'm in for a load of pain.  I will be officially completing the WOD tomorrow morning at 11am.

Observations & Tips

- The push press is killing people.
- People are taking their time on the toes to bar
- box jumps are a time to breathe
- The best are able to do everything unbroken
- 6 and 6 is a great way to break up the push press if needed
- Jerking is acceptable, so do it to save your shoulders
- You CAN DO MORE THAN YOU THINK.  You do NOT need to rest as much as you think.
- Push past your idea of uncomfrotable
- GET COMFOTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE


When Do You Workout?

This morning I decided to attend the 6am class to root on my wife and the other 6am competitors.  I know they are at a slight disadvantage  because they typically lose out on the atmosphere of 10's of people yelling (they might have 2-3).  I also think they deserved to have some photos taken to brag about the insane amount of work they put in.

In my experience, I've noticed that my WOD results are low when I attend the 6am.  This is ok during normal WOD's but these WOD's count for something.  I've even read several articles that said working out in the morning is best because that is when a male's testosterone is at it's highest which yields the best results.    I'm not sure how true it is, but I'll believe anything when it comes to working out.

of course, everyone needs to find that time which works best for them.  I usually just find the time that fits best into my schedule and allows me the most sleep.  Remember...sleep=recovery=best results!

Recent WOD's

Tuesday
10 to 1 thrusters and ring dips (10 of each first round, 9 the second...down to 10
13:51  (95lb thrusters) Missed doing the thrusters unbroken by messing up on the round of 5. Grrr.
Cash-out: 30 slam-balls for time-0:56  (30 lb)

Wednesday
5 min amrap (5 burpee box jumps 10 abmat sit-ups)
rest 5 min
Repeat
7+1 then 6+4

PA's Fittest Competition Overview

I now have my second crossfit competition under my belt.  It was a bit of a wild ride to say the least.  Lots of highs and definitely some lows as well, but overall it was a fantastic day.  Here is an overview.

WOD #1: The emergence of Senor Denos

600m Row, 30 ring rows, 30 ring dips

Journalmenu.com was there to take photos!  More on them soon!

I got a little thrown off mentally for this wod, I thought it would be 30 ring dips then into 30 ring rows…nope.  No excuses though, it is what it is so just go out there and try and kill it.

It started well enough on the row, I was averaging about a 1:43 per 500m so I didn’t kill myself and I felt good going to the rings.  Then it started to go downhill…. I did 7 fast at first, then I could only do about 4 at a time.  But I made it through them before most of the people in my heat.  Ring row time.  This is where everything started to go wrong.  My blood was already boiling from how poorly I did on the ring rows but then when I started to do the ring dips one of the rings started to slip lower than the other one.  It would have been ok if it was just a little bit, but during one of my dips, it slipped all the way down causing a no rep.

This is where senor denos came out.  I started cursing…loudly.  I was just angry.  Not at anyone in particular, more than likely I was just angry at myself.  When time expired, I had only completed 23 of the 30 rings dips and continued to curse loudly and walk away.  You see, when senor denos comes out, I get loud…I just don’t care.  Some people have quiet disappointment…not me or him (how do you type when you talk about an alter ego?), I turn into a foul mouthed 5 year old who didn’t get his way.

I want to note here, I’m not saying that I would have completed if the ring didn’t slip. There was no way I was finishing that wod in time whether or not that ring slipped or not. At the time I needed to channel my anger somewhere and the inanimate object seemed the best choice.

I believe I finished at about 15th in this event.  It goes without saying that I did not come close to my goal.

WOD#2 Victory for Senor Denos

Snatch time.  This is the event I was most looking forward to.  The Snatch Ladder.  I felt great warming up for this event.  When my name was called, I easily made it through 85, 95, 105 and 115 ….now time to hit up 125.  My nemesis the past 2 weeks.  I HATED 125!  I was angry again.  But this time, I was angry at the bar. I channeled that anger and I got 125 up…EASILY.  Woah..ok that was unexpected.  Surely I would fail at 135…nope.  Got 135.  I actually slammed the bar down at this point.  At a weight that was introductory to the rx division, I acted like I was Jake getting 245.

Senor Denos didn’t care.  It was a 20lb PR for me.  Ok time for 140, I was on a high, I could lift a house right now.  Boom.  140 was over my head like it was nothing.  SLAM!   I’m the strongest man on earth!    Bring 145 to me so I can make it look like a paper weight.  3-2-1 go!  Oh shit..this just got real.  Failed on my first attempt (I should note that I was close on this).  Second attempt, not even close.  Third attempt…I hit myself in the face with the bar.

Yes, you read that right.  I lifted and slammed my face into the bar.  Ouch.  Instantly I remember that there are 300 people here that just saw that.  Do’h.  I’m the dumbest man in the world!

Regardless I hit a 25lb PR on the lift.

Here I do have to say thank you to Jake for having his oly lift classes.  It was a huge help in preparing me for this.  His help along with some pointers from Mike and lifter Chris were critical in helping me get that weight.  My form is still a train wreck but it is miles ahead of where it was because of you guys.

Goal of 125 lbs was demolished.

WOD #3: “Fran” : Senor Denos Hates that Fran Bitch

I’m not going to go too much into this other than to say I sucked.  Plain and simple.  I was not mentally prepared for this workout.  Once I was done that snatch ladder I got too cocky or optimistic or something and just completely dropped the ball.  I finished with a time of 7:57, a full minute slower than just 3 days ago.  Terrible.  The only bright spot was doing the final 9 pull-ups unbroken (it was nice having Molly and Evan screaming at me…there was no way I was coming off that bar).  

This would be a silver on my original goal list but a non-medal on the new goals list.

Final Standing

In the end, I came in 15th place out of 36 competitors in my division.

I will have much more on this event in the coming days, including how I saw some athletes react to judging, the overwhelming support from those not competing, and a little bit more on senor denos.

A Glance at the Past, a snapshot of the present, and a peak into the future

2011

Wow..what a difference a year can make.  I never knew what I couldn't do until I tried to do it.  It started with me thinking I was an awesome athlete and strong enough to get by, then I weighed myself and realized I was at almost 190 lbs on a my tiny frame.  Then came "the biggest loser" through the ROC social club, one visit to a crossfit box later..I was hooked.  I still vividly remember telling Mike that Karen and I were gonna try the crossfit thing, his reaction was classic...him going without any doubt in his voice "you're going to win".  the confidence he had was kinda infectious.

Then came elements 1.  Which I puked during.  After I puked, while I was resting and thinking I was done for the day, he came up and said "why don't you hop on the rower now".  What?  Really?  I was hooked.  Elements 1 was the single most enlightening experience of my life.  Suddenly I knew what I didn't know.  And what I didn't know was that I was weak.  Both mentally and physically.

Here are some metrics on where I began crossfit at in 2011

Back Squat: 185
Push Press: 95 lbs
Bench Press: 110 lbs
Box Jumps: 20 inches
Pull ups:  I wish
Wall Ball: 10 lb
Double Unders:  haha right.
Clean: <95 lbs
HSPU: not even close but could do 2 abmats

Some of those numbers I'm being generous with myself on and I'm not putting the benchmark wods in there right now.

Present

Today I am in much better shape than I was to start 2011.  Although, I will say I'm not in the best shape of my life (that was right before Vegas) but I will be there soon.


Back Squat: 255+
Push Press: 145 lbs
Bench Press: 155 lbs
Box Jumps: 36 inches+
Pull ups:  Last try was 22 straight
Wall Ball: 20 lb
Double Unders:  114 in a row
Clean: 170 lbs
HSPU: got 11 in a row


Goals for 2012:

I'm going to stick with the cliche and put some goals for 2012 here.  I'll put 2 for each movement, one is a realistic goal and the second will be something I'd really have to push myself to achieve.


Back Squat: 300 (2x body weight)
Push Press: 175 (185)
Bench Press: 200 lbs
Pull ups:  30 in a row (50)
Clean: 200 (225)
HSPU: consistent in a wod
Shoulder Press: 135 (155)

Jerk:  200 (225)
OHS: 155 (BW)
2000m row: 7:15 (<7)
Snatch: 135 (155)

Annie: <7 min (6:30)
Karen: <9 min (8:30)

Helen: <8min (7:30)
Grace: <5 min (4 min)
Fran: <7 min (<6min)
Cindy: 20 rounds (22 rounds)
Angie: <20min (15 min)


There.  It is in writing.  It means I have to man up to these goals.  Notice there is not a weight goal or a body shape goal.  If I can achieve all of these, the looks and the weight will be a by product.

I am going to do a better job of tracking my wods both online and in this great journal I got from www.journalmenu.com.   It will help a lot to be organized and able to better track my progress.

WOD

6 rounds
30 seconds of thrusters followed by 2:30 of rest.

36 total was my score (6,7,5,6,7,5) @ 125lbs

Fight Gone Bad?

Why is it named fight gone bad?   What does that even mean?  Below is a video where the crossfit guru himself , Greg Glassman, explains where the WOD originated.



Obviously, fight gone bad has its roots in MMA with the 3 rounds of 5 minutes and a 1 minute break between rounds.  In the video he mentions working with BJ Penn to get ready for one of his first fights and wanting to come up with "a quantifiable metabolic match to the demands of the fight" .  But why not just do one workout for all 5 minutes, well that is because Glassman "did not want stamina to be a factor" .  What this means is that the workout was designed to have NO REST.  Using some scientific mumbo-jumbo that is described better in the video, he comes on that 1 minute per movement is ideal.  If you did one movement for the 5 minutes you would get tired fast and have to rest.  So breaking up the movements and muscle groups and keeping the weight manageable you are able to keep moving.  If you rest in MMA then you get knocked out, so constantly moving is really important in training for that sport.


 He is fun to listen to it so for a true understanding of everything be sure to watch the video.

I am about 10 hours from doing my first FGB and have decided to do the weight prescribed.  I want to have something to compare to in the future.  I set a goal for myself of getting over 200 reps.  I have no idea if this is too high or too low, I guess we'll see tomorrow.


WOD

Strength: 12 minutes to find 1rm front squat
WOD:
"Jackie"
1000m Row
50 45lb thruster
30 pull-ups


Strength: NEW PR!  200lbs
WOD: 9:38

DIET

Breakfast: Eggs, protein shake, apple
Snack:  Special K bar (it was delicious...but not even close to paleo)
Lunch:  Cashews, Snickers, Cookies.   really effed this up.  Work was busy.
Dinner: Wife Surprised me with a Birthday Dinner with my family.  Sushi as an appetizer, chicken and shrimp as the dinner.

Eye of the Tiger...

I wish I could do a Rocky montage of me from the beginning of crossfit.  It would be epic.  I can picture some great music..me puking here and there.  Then a scene that starts with me only lifting a bar..then fades into a bar plus small weight...then a bar with more weight and so on til now.  We could even put an old skull cap on Mike or Molly and have them yelling at me "FASTER!  SPEED SPEED!" like Mickey.



That's it..I'm being Rocky for Halloween!  Karen..you can be Mickey.


On another note...I did 100 95lb thrusters!   That is a huge accomplishment for me as I usually shy away from those types of weights in long WODS.  I am getting better...and I'm getting better Faster than I thought I would!

WOD

Yesterday's workout was especially brutal.  It was another HERO WOD but not a "normal" hero WOD.  It was a Football Crossfit WOD named after Robert James Kalsu.  He was a professional football player who played for the Colts for a few years before joining the military and being deployed to Vietnam.  Sadly, he was killed in action by mortar fire.  he was an offensive lineman which is makes sense when you read the workout.  Note: this was in the top 5 hardest workouts I've ever done.  Absolutely brutal.

WOD (08/29/2011)

"Kalsu" (note..it was modified from the "actual" Kalsu)

100 Thursters
4 burpees on the minute, every minute until you complete your thrusters.

Time:  28:39  at 95 lbs

WOD (08/30/2011)

20 min amrap
10 HRPU
10 T2B
169 m run with 45 lb plate

7 full rounds and 17 reps into 8th

Diet

Pretty good yesterday.  Got to the grocery store and got some Nuts and fruits for the day.  Forgot lettuce so I'm without my normal salad .