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

First WOD of the 2012 Crossfit Open aka 12.1

It is upon us.  The start of the 2012 Crossfit open.  Myself and more than 50,000 other people eagerly waited for the announcement about the first workout at 8p.m. last night.  Then it came....

7 min amrap (as many reps as possible) of Burpees.  

I knew it was going to be something simple, that even people who just started crossfit could do, but I did not think it would be THIS simple.

My thoughts immediately went into goal setting.  

What should my goal be?  I knew what it was almost immediately...100.  I want triple digits.

Then I watched the video on standards....a 6 inch target must be touched on each rep....

Uhh ohhh...this might be harder than I thought.  

The reaction on the social media outlets was not exactly mixed...in fact I think I read exactly one person excited for this workout.  And that is cause he destroys speed/body weight movements.  

Oh well.  It's time to go out and get at it.  Tonight I'll be doing my best to reach the century mark.  

Here is my strategy

1. Pace.  Not too slow but also don't blow it out in the first minute.

2.  Do.  Not.  Stop.   Keep moving no matter how tired I am. 

3.  Blow it out in the final minute.  This is much much easier said than done.

Simple.  Straight Forward.  

Here is my Athlete Page if you want to track my progress:  http://games.crossfit.com/athlete/5422

Other notes:  I can't wait to see the number Mike Abgarian puts up.  Also Chris Spealler will destroy this (I think)

Update:  Mike put up a 135 on his try today.  Awesome Job!  

WED WOD

1 mile timed run:  7:40  (after checking on google maps, it's actually 1.1 mile)

5 min amrap burpee pull-ups (figures)

3 min amrap ring dips

1 min amrap air squats

Total: 124

*UPDATE*  My wife (digital mustard) banged out 80 this morning!  I'm so incredibly proud of her.  She continues to surprise me in new ways every day.  I knew she had it in her to keep moving.  She has firebreather in her...just gotta find it and let it out!  Great Job Karen!

Why arn't you doing the open?  (Image stolen from: Here)

ROM and a PERFECT Crossfit Video

ROM

I used to associate this with computers (CD-ROM).  Now it means range of motion.  It is important in many crossfit movements, especially anything that is squat based.  To be counted as a rep, the squat must go below parallel.  So your butt must go below your knee. See image below.

 This is a constant struggle for me.  As I've stated in prior posts, I have no flexibility.  But recently I've been a bit more pro-active about increasing my ROM, through stretches gathered from the mobility WOD blog and asking some other members for help.  One thing I'm noticing is that I need to spread my knees.  Whenever I remember it it helps me a lot, but I need to get more in the habit of doing it.

Gotta keep WORKING.

BEST CROSSFIT VIDEO

My favorite quote:
"We will take something that is inherently challenging and make it a game"




WODS

Friday
"Karen"
Ughhhhhhhh

150 - 20lb wall balls for time
10:05

This workout OWNS me

Saturday

as a team of 4:
10k row
10k lbs dead lift
200 ring push-ups

Time: 22: something
I did 2,500m row and 12- 225  lb deadlifts and 50 ring push-ups.

Monday

Got to gym early so did a double WOD

wod 1: (made up by yours truly)
3 rounds
5 ring dips
10 ring push-ups
15 toes through rings

time: 6:40

wod 2:
10 min amrap
5 wall climbs
10 box jumps
5 pull-ups

6+2

Cash out: 5 min row total calories : 94

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.

No Pain..No Gain.

2 words for that statement.

FUCK. THAT.

Seriously, who said that?  I mean, I understand their intentions but if I know my body enough to know what is a "good" pain and what is a "bad" pain shouldn't I know to stop?   If I see a bone sticking through my skin and it hurts should I keep going so that I gain something?  no...no I shouldn't.  I should prolly go to the hospital or call an ambulance.

The reason I bring this up is because I had to quit in the middle of a WOD yesterday.  Yeah.  That almost hurt typing that.  But hear me out.  Even before the WOD began I had some discomfort in my left arm.  Nothing horrible, but it was certainly noticeable.  I started the WOD and the discomfort grew a bit and a few rounds in I started to feel some pretty horrific pain in it.  Again, I tried to fight through the pain and did about 3 more rounds and then it just got unbearable.  My arm went numb.  I tried bending my arm and it felt like there was a 10lb weight at the end.  Not good.  So I told Evan, “I’m Done”.

Unless the pain is chronic..then it's not temporary.

You may be asking…What is wrong with me?  Or you might be going “PAIN IN THE LEFT ARM..OMG YOU HAD A HEART ATTACK!”  no no no , not nearly that serious.  I have felt this pain before…actually I’ve felt this pain a lot..but always in my right arm.  And the pain always came when I tried to throw a ball too hard or too often.   So what did I do to cure that?  I took a day or 2 off from throwing hard.  I would do light tosses just to stay loose but nothing long or hard.  I have been going quite hard with my arms and shoulders the past few days and I think I just over did it. Pretty simple.  I’m going to ice hot my arm, take a day off from anything arm related and then go back on Friday morning and hope that it doesn’t hurt again.

In a way, I’m actually happy to be feeling it in my left arm, it kinda means that I’m working it hard and assuming I didn’t actually injure it, it might get stronger.

So I guess that statement is almost correct.  Let me restate it though.

No (educated) pain.  No Gain.

WOD

30 Minute AMRAP
10 to 1 power snatches
19 double unders
8 ring dips
1 rope climb

I got 10 rounds in with 7 minutes left before I had to shut it down.

Love this.  And as the person on fscebook who posted it mentioned.  You have to have the right diet.  

Row, Row, Row, your...uh Rower?

With the amount of rain we got here in PA over the past month or so, you'd think we could do more of our rowing in a real boat.  That was not the case at CF610 last night where part of the WOD was to complete a 2000m row.  Now, I am not a bad rower but I don't think I'm good either.  My goal was to get under my PR time of 7:48.  After the first 1k, I felt great and was well under my goal time, in fact if I was able to keep the same pace I would have been close to 7:15.   When I was done, I came in at 7:30.9.  A WHOLE 18 SECONDS BELOW MY PREVIOUS PR!    I was pretty psyched.

I've spent a lot of time on this torture contraption

I think I'm pretty good at it because of how much time Mike had me on the thing during the biggest loser competition.  I was doing 1-5k a day during that period.  Looks like it has paid off a bit.

I now have yet another goal.  I think I need to make a page that lists my goals and the progress toward those goals. Until that is made, here is me using theory in practice.  I am going to SMART this goal.

Specific
I am going to row 2k meters in under 7 minutes

Measurable
Ummm..its a time..that is pretty measurable

Attainable
I think this is attainable.  The best time at the gym was 7:16 and I need to shave 30 seconds off my time to accomplish it.  It will not be easy at all.  But it is doable with devotion.

Relevant
Yes, it is relevant to my overall fitness goals.  It is not just some random idea.

Timing
This is the tough part.  I need to choose a time frame that make the goal attainable.   I want to say the end of the year, but that means taking off 10 seconds a month so I am going to say by the end of February 2012.


Now for the questions part.

How?
I will try to row a 1k every day at the gym.  That means 4 minutes on the rower a day.  Which is nothing time wise.

Who will help?
That is what CrossFit is all about, I will have help from my wife, my trainers, and the rest of the box.

What is needed?
Just the rower and some devotion.

When?
Every time I'm at the gym.  And I will try to do a 2k row every 3 weeks to gauge my progress.

Why?
Cause it will make me pretty effing awesome on the rower.  I believe it will put me #1 on the box list as well.


Let's hope I can get this going!


WOD

2k row
100 ring dips counting the number of sets and number of time.

2k Row:  7:30.9  PR!
100 ring dips:  about 10 with no scaling, 90 with the red band.  12 sets in 12:25

DIET

So far today:

Breakfast:  Protein Shake, 3 eggs, Apple
Lunch: deli meat, strawberries, Peanuts