11/6/2013

AM:
30:00 airdyne @Z1
got off every 10:00 and did the ski erg for :60

PM:
3 sets of:
3 thrusters, heavy
100m sprint @ 95%
4:00 rest
+
3 sets of:
5 touch-and-go power snatches, moderate
:30 AirDyne @ 97%
5:00 rest
+
3 sets of:
7 touch-and-go deadlifts, light/moderate
:45 row @ 100%
6:00 rest

AM:
complete

PM:
complete @115
+
complete @95
+
complete @185
1:41.3
1:43.6 
1:42.7

11/5/2013

A. 1 squat clean + 2 front squat, 10 x 1 @ 145; begin a set every :60
+
5 sets of:
1 muscle-up
3 squat snatches, 85
1 muscle-up
:60 rest
+
3 sets of:
20 double-unders
6 kipping handstand push-ups
20 double-unders
9 toes-to-bars
:90 rest

A. complete
+
1:30
1:20
1:20
1:23
1:27
+
1:40
1:21
1:31


Muscle ups felt good today, surprisingly they got easier during every set, I think the first set felt the worst but by the end they felt nice and fast. I think each set took too long, probably because I put on my belt before I did the snatches. Errr....I probably don't need to be wearing a belt for 85 pound snatches. Come on. That definitely wasted time. Lesson learned for next time. I also wasn't going too fast on this one because I wanted to make sure I didn't fail any muscle ups. Looking back on this, I was being kind of a bitch about it and didn't go very hard because I think I'm still mentally scarred from two weeks ago when I failed every muscle up. The second part was fun, my handstand push ups are getting back to where they used to be. I'm not sure why my first round took me so long. I just felt like I was moving kind of slow today. 

11/3/2013

12:00 Z1 mixed warm-up of AirDyne, row, ski erg, and single-unders, keep it easy and stay moving
+
12 sets of:
200m accelerating run, start @ 70 and build to 90% for last 50m)
:60 walk rest (3:00 walk rest after set 6)
+
12:00 @ 80% of [5 handstand push-ups + 10 heavy Russian kettlebell swings + 5 CTB pull-ups + 30 double-unders]

complete, ski erg is fun
+
complete, runs between :45-:48
+
complete with 70# KB. Also finally learned how to do butterfly CTBs, woo!


I'm going to start doing more of the mixed Z1 stuff, that was fun to change it up. I really like the ski erg, it was cool to do something different. The runs were a lot harder than I thought they would be, definitely not as bad as last time but still pretty difficult. I think I started out too fast and wasn't really going 70% at first, it felt more like 80-85% but eventually I think I found the right pace. I was happy to have a 3:00 rest after the 6th run, and I was able to recover relatively quickly between each run which is a good sign. The 12:00 workout was good, I felt pretty wiped out from running so I didn't have much energy but I just tried to keep moving. I also finally learned how to do butterfly CTBs! I did regular kipping pull ups the first round, then the second round I just decided to go for it and see if I could do them butterfly and I got all 5, so I did that for the next two rounds as well. Very excited about this!! 

11/2/2013

A. Snatch pull clusters, 3 x 1.1.1 @ 105% snatch max
B. Hang power snatch, build to a max
+
6 sets for times:
2 squat clean & jerks, 75% 1RM
15 wall balls
450m row @ 2:05/500m
3:00 rest

A. complete @150
B. 130 (PR+15) (135 Fx2)
+
1. 4:00 (2:02 row)
2. 3:57 (2:03.2)
3. 4:10 (2:02.3)
4. 4:10 (2:02.2)
5. 4:16 (2:03.5)
6. 4:30 (2:03.4)
clean and jerks @145


Really happy with the hang power snatch PR, I was not expecting that. I wish I would have gotten 135, I came pretty close the first time but the second attempt was not even close. Oh well, I think I could get it next time. The clean and jerk/row workout was pretty terrible, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. The clean and jerks got pretty heavy after the 4th round and that's where I took the most rest. Wall balls were unbroken the first round, then 10/5 until the 5th round then it was 5/5/5 for the last two sets. All the rows actually felt really good and pretty steady, I'm happy with that and I was able to keep it under 2:05 each time. I'm noticing that I'm recovering much faster. Between each round I was able to recover enough to the point where I felt decent enough to start the next round, and after my 6th set it only took me a couple minutes to recover before I was feeling good again. Definitely pleased with this. 

10/31/2013

A1. Close-grip bench press, 6-4-2; 2:00 rest
A2. Pull-ups, 3 x AMRAP (-2); 2:00 rest
+
20:00 @ 80%:
750m row
6 wall walks
4 clean & jerks, 135
2 rope climbs

A1. 105-115-125
A2. 20-15-10 (stopped a little early on this one because I was going to tear)
+
complete


My butterfly pull ups are getting so much better, I think 20 is the most I have ever done. I had to stop a little early on the third set because I could feel I was going to tear soon. The 20:00 workout felt great, I tried to think about what James said about sustainability. I just tried to keep moving the entire time, quick transitions and steady movement. I thought back to the athlete camp when he drew the circle on the board, that's what 80% is supposed to be. Constant movement, steady breathing. Since the athlete camp, I see things so differently now. 

10/30/2013

3 sets of:
3 touch-and-go power snatches, heavy
100m sprint @ 95%
4:00 rest
+
3 sets of:4 touch-and-go power cleans, moderate
:30 AirDyne @ 97%
5:00 rest
+
3 sets of:
5 touch-and-go deadlifts, light/moderate
:40 row @ 100%
6:00 rest



complete @105
+
complete @135
+
complete @205
rows were 1:41, 1:44 (wtf?) and 1:40


Good day today, tried to keep all lifts fast and powerful. The snatches felt really good, I was trying to get more aggressive with my power snatch like Chelsea Kyle did when she was here. The run was a little slower than normal because it had just rained so all the gravel outside was slick and I didn't want to slip and fall but I was still trying to keep it at a relatively fast sprint. The most difficult part was the deadlifts right into the row, usually I don't do any lifts before my row sprints so I felt like my legs were giving out faster since I had to do deadlifts first. The row sprints were also making the deadlifts more difficult since I was fatigued. 

What I took away from the OPT Athlete Camp

James Fitzgerald came to CSC October 26-27 for an athlete camp. Over the weekend he discussed numerous topics from nutrition, to programming, to mental toughness, to the politics of CrossFit. He also had us do two workouts each day which tested us physically and mentally. I learned so much from him and learned a lot about myself over those two days, so I wanted to get all my thoughts organized and reflect on the camp. It is probably impossible for me to discuss EVERYTHING I learned because there was so much information, so here were some of my biggest takeaways from the weekend:

1. My warm up needs to change entirely. Usually I would come in, hop on an airdyne for five minutes at a Z1 pace, roll with a lacrosse ball for awhile, stretch, more lacrosse ball, and then I would start my workout. Nothing in this warm up got my blood pumping or heart rate up AT ALL. James told us when we warm up, it should be spending short amounts of time on everything. Hop on a rower and row for 60 seconds, then get on an airdyne, then run around the gym. Leave the mobility shit at home. The warm up should get your heart rate up. Look at what the workout is and do stretches/movements that mimic the movements that are going to appear in your workout. This sounds obvious but I was not doing this at all before, I was doing the exact same warm up every day. I am interested to see how changing my warm up affects my performance in my workouts. 
2. It's really ok if you are breathing heavy during a workout. Anyone who works out with me in the gym knows that breathing is my weakest area. Workouts longer than ten minutes basically kill me, I do not have a good engine. Granted, it has definitely improved since Stephen started programming for me (row sprints, amiright?) but I just do not enjoy long metcon workouts where I know I will be breathing heavily through the whole thing. Usually when I start a workout that I know will take me 15-20 minutes, I panic once I realize I am out of breath. I think to myself "I'm ALREADY breathing hard? Jesus, it has only been one round and I have four more to go. I am so out of shape, I hate this". This was the case during the first workout on the second day, a 5 round workout of toes to bar, wall balls, and double unders. I burned through the first round and then freaked the fuck out because I was already out of breath and I knew I still had four more rounds to go. Side note: I did pace this workout incorrectly, and that is something I also need to work on. I went out way too fast and flamed out pretty quickly. Afterwards, I told James how I tend to beat myself up over breathing heavy. He basically said "you're working hard, you are working out, it is normal to be breathing heavy. What YOU have to do is just accept it" Accept the pain and move through it. My body is working hard, and I am breathing hard. This is nothing to freak out about and it does not mean I am out of shape. I accept the fact that I am breathing hard and I continue to move and work. Quick transitions, steady pace, I never stop moving. From now on I will not panic when I start breathing hard, I will accept it and keep working. 
3. If you're going to do competitions, learn to detach yourself from the results. Those of us who do competitions know that we do them for fun but we also want to do well. In February I did a competition at CrossFit Conjugate. The first two workouts were completely in my wheelhouse. First there was a clean ladder (YES) and second was burpee muscle ups. The third workout, however, was rowing, rope climbs, snatches, and pistols. At the time I was terrible at rowing and rope climbs, and had JUST learned how to do pistols a few days before the competition. Needless to say I did not do well and my score from the third workout dropped me to a 7th place finish overall. I looked at the 7th place finish and thought "I suck. 7th place? That's pathetic" instead of celebrating the fact that I had just cleaned 180 pounds which was a PR at the time, and didn't fail a single muscle up. I focused on the negative, not the positive. We tend to think the results of competitions define us, when in fact sometimes shit just doesn't go well and it's not in our wheelhouse. James talked about detaching yourself from results of competition, placing poorly does not mean you're a bad athlete, it does not mean you're not "fit", it does not mean you're a bad person. Maybe you just had a bad day, or maybe it opened your eyes to shit you need to work harder on. Either way, it's only a competition so don't let it affect your view of yourself. A poor performance does not define you, so if you're going to do competitions you need to learn to separate yourself from the results.
4. You can train for sport or you can train for health. Training for sport means you have a specific goal, and you will do whatever it takes to reach that goal. It's the Rich Fronings, Sam Briggs, Jason Khalipas, Amanda Goodmans, the people who will quit their jobs, move across the country to train with people who will make them better, the people who will train four times a day, the people who live and breath this sport. They have their eye on a single goal and nothing else matters. Training for health is people like me, who do it for fun, do it to stay healthy, do it to improve skills and to be able to hold my own in competitions but that's about as far as it goes. I do it to learn about myself as an athlete, to become a better person, to compete, to learn new things, and to test myself. I have no aspirations to make the Games, or to make it to Regionals as an individual. I am only 23 years old and I have plenty of time to change my goals, but for right now my goal is to become a better overall athlete and to get strong. James basically said if you want it, you will do whatever it takes to get there. If that's not the way you think, then you're not doing it for sport, you're doing it for health. I think that was a hard pill for some people to swallow, but for me it just reaffirmed why I am doing this. I do it for me, I do it for fun, I do it to become better. I don't have dreams of making the podium, I just want to be happy with myself as an athlete and a person. 

These were just a few of the many things James spoke about over the weekend, I learned so much from him and came away from the camp feeling excited and inspired. As a person, James is just so cool. He knows the science behind everything but is also able to get in touch with the emotional side of training. He is hilarious and has a lot of great stories, and I could listen to him talk for hours and hours. I really respect his honest outlook on everything, and I appreciate the fact that he does not sugar coat things or try to tell you what you want to hear. He is straight up, honest, and tells it like it is, and I respect that. I feel very lucky to have spent time with him over the weekend, getting to ask him whatever we wanted and pick his brain about basically everything. This athlete camp was incredible and so extremely beneficial in so many ways, I will never forget it!