11/20/2013

3 sets of:
500 meter row @85%
2:00 rest
+
6 sets of:
:20 row @100%
3:40 rest
+
3 sets of:
500 meter row
2:00

2:02.2
2:02.0
2:01.7
+
1:34.4
1:34.4
1:34.1
1:32.5
1:33.5
1:33.0
+
2:03.4
2:03.1
2:02.4


I am really pleased with these numbers, I am getting so much better at rowing. I don't even hate it anymore. I feel pretty comfortable with rowing now and actually enjoy it sometimes. Progress! During the :20 sprints Stephen told me to play around with the damper a little bit, so I put it on 5 for the first set, 6 for the second, and then kept it on 7 for the rest. The second set of 500s were a bit slower than the first set because I was pretty tired from the sprints. Stephen said the goal is eventually to have the second set of 500s be the same as the first set. I also recovered pretty quickly between all the rows which is a good sign.

11/19/2013

A. Front squat, build quickly to tough 5
+
For 20:00:
Evens: 1 squat clean + 1 front squat @ 155
Odds: 1 muscle-up
+
AMRAP in 6:00:
25m heavy prowler push
2 rope climbs

A. 180
+
complete
+
2 rounds + prowler & 1 rope climb
70 pounds on prowler 


Front squats felt good today, I think the bees knees helped a lot. I think I could definitely get a new front squat PR soon. The 20:00 EMOM went really well, the squat cleans felt easy and I didn't have any misses on the muscle ups which is good, I am getting my confidence back with those, although I don't know if I can string two together anymore. The 6:00 AMRAP was alright, I was resting way too much between rope climbs though. The prowler was fast and only got difficult on the last round but it was definitely making me out of breath, especially having to turn the prowler around every time, that was a little bit of extra work haha

11/18/2013

35:00 airdyne @Z1

Gobblers and Gobblettes recap

Yesterday was the Gobblers and Gobblettes competition at CrossFit Covington. It was a male/female partner competition and there were three different workouts throughout the day. I have done a team competition before but this was my first partner competition and it was so awesome! I loved it. It was definitely a learning experience, and it's more pressure than competing as an individual because you don't want to let your partner down or end up having them do most of the work. Also strategy comes into play more, you have to figure out how to split up the work load and also how to communicate during the actual workouts. Here is a recap of the WODs:

WOD#1
In 10 Minutes: partner #1 will row 250m, while partner #2 completes AMRAP burpees. Then the partners will switch. They will continue switching until the 10 minutes is complete.
*When the rowing judge calls switch, the person doing the burpees must STOP and the partners switch immediately.
Score #1 – Total # meters rowed between the 2 partners.
Score #2 – Total # burpees completed between the 2 partners.

Total meters rowed-2280=23rd place
Total burpees-133=36th place

This felt like the longest ten minutes of my life. It was so tiring. I tried to do the burpees at a steady pace, I didn't want to go out too fast and burn out too quickly. I kept the row between 2:00-2:05 which felt pretty good, it was mostly the burpees that were killing me. Jeff and I had good transitions on this, I tried to start pulling as soon as I sat down on the rower and he would immediately start doing burpees. Looking back on it, we probably should have picked up the pace a little bit on the burpees but we did pretty decent overall on the row. We were both glad to get this one out of the way first.

Row/burpee workout!

WOD #2 – Deadlift, Hang Clean and Double Jerk Ladder
Women’s Ladder: 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195
Men’s Ladder: 185, 205, 225, 255, 275, 295, 305, 315
*You will have 1 minute to complete the complex. There will be a 10 second transition between each lift.
Score = We will be counting the women’s and men’s scores separately. We will also be giving partial credit for lifts.

Jeff- 275.03=14th place

me- 185.01=12th place

This was really fun, I love ladders. I didn't get as high as I would have liked, everything up until 185 felt very easy, I really thought I might be able to get to 195 and at least clean it, but that didn't happen. I got to 185 and failed the clean three times, arggg. Very disappointing. For some reason I was catching it forward and wasn't able to stand up with it. I think the minimal rest between the first and second workout was also a contributing factor. Jeff did really well, he took 14th place overall on the ladder which is great! We had a lot of fun doing this one.

WOD #3 – 3 Parts – **1 Minute Rest between each part**

Part #1 – You have 6 Minutes to complete as a team:

40-30-20

Deadlifts – (225/135#)

Alternating Partner Box Jumps (20″)

*On the deadlift, the partner must hold their bar at the top of the deadlift, while the other person is working on the deadlifts. You may switch at any time.

Score = Time to Complete the WOD

5:28=27th place

This was a lot tougher than we anticipated, the deadlifts were not heavy but very taxing, and the hold got very tiring. Jeff and I split up the deadlifts 10-10-10-10 on the first round, 10-10-5-5 on the second round, and 10-10 on the third round. We never got no-repped on any box jumps which is good. This one was definitely a breather. 

Part #2  - In 6 Minutes as a team, complete AMRAP:

100 Double Unders

12 Thrusters (135/85#)

*For the double unders, one person working at at time.

*For the thruster, the partner must hold the front rack position, while the other person is working on the thrusters. You may switch at any time.

Score = Total # Reps completed within the AMRAP

336 reps=15th place

This was definitely the easiest of the three workouts. We were able to split up the double unders 50-50 on the first round and then after that it was basically as many as we could do and then we would turn it over to the other person. We split up the thrusters 6/6 each round which worked really well, the front rack hold position was terrible though, it made it impossible to breathe. We had really good communication during this one which was cool. After this one was over I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through a third workout with only one minute to rest.

Part #3 – You have 6 minutes to complete as a team :

3 Rounds:

10 Snatch (135/85#)

10 Muscle Ups

*One person working at a time for both movements, you may switch at any time

Score: Time to Complete the WOD

6:16=16th place

Holy fuck. At this point, we were both so tired. I couldn't imagine gripping the rings to do muscle ups. The plan was for me to do all the snatches in the first round and then Jeff would start on the muscle ups, and I would try to do one or two when he needed a break. That plan kind of fell apart a little bit. I thought I would be able to do all 10 snatches unbroken but that did not happen. I ended up doing 5-3-1-1 on the first round (I was going to do a set of 2 at the end but the bar was so slippery it slipped right out of my hand). I walked over to the rings while Jeff was doing muscle ups, he was able to knock them out in a few sets so I walked back over to the bar and started doing snatches and he stayed over at the rings. When I was finished I walked back over to him and asked if he wanted me to do any, secretly hoping he would say no, and he said he could handle the muscle ups if I did all the snatches. That was perfectly fine with me, I was so tired I couldn't imagine doing any muscle ups at that point.  We were both dead. All of Jeff's muscle ups looked really strong though, and my snatches felt good but I wasn't able to do more than a few at a time by the end. Ugh. This whole workout was extremely tiring. I think we were both very glad when it was over. I actually had the most fun doing this last group of workouts because it required the most partner communication so Jeff and I got to interact a lot which was fun :) 

At the end of the day, Jeff and I ended up getting 21st place overall. We were a little disappointed because we wanted to get into the top 20. Before the final results were announced, Jeff said "I just want us to make it into the top 20" and I said "Yeah, watch us get like 21st place or something" and then we did haha. Oh well. There were a lot of really good teams there, the competitors were all very talented and strong.

Overall, it was a great day. CrossFit Covington put on a very well-run competition. All the workouts were challenging but not over the top, and the partner aspect of it was really cool. My partner, Jeff, was the best partner I could ever ask for. I never felt like he was disappointed in me or stressed about the standings of the teams. He was there to have fun and I had a blast competing with him. He is an amazing athlete and an awesome person as well. Also, congratulations to Megan, Stephen, Michael, Kathryn, Jessie, Jason, Heather and Cody. It was fun getting to compete alongside my friends from CSC. Now we look forward to the 2014 Great Lakes Invitational in January!

My amazing partner Jeff!

Team Gobble Squatters and Team Treat Yo Self after the competition

All the CSC competitors!

11/14/2013

A. Close-grip bench press, build to a max
B. Pull-ups, 1 x AMRAP
+
5 rounds for time:
250m row
15 burpees

A. 140 (PR+2)
B. 23
+
12:31


Really happy with the bench press PR, I was not expecting that today. 140 felt really easy but I failed 145. I am a little disappointed with the pull ups, I would have liked to get closer to 30. My grip is what failed me, I couldn't hang on to the bar anymore. 23 is the most butterfly pull ups I have ever done in a row, so that's good, but I still would have liked to get 30. The row/burpee workout went better than I thought, I figured I would be around 15:00 so I was happy with my time, but it was still too slow. I think I went out too slow on the first set of burpees, I was trying to pace myself since I knew I had 4 more rounds to go. I felt like I was moving the whole time and my transitions were quick but my burpees were too slow. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pace Saturday for the competition, I don't want to let Jeff down and have him end up doing all the work on this workout to make up for my lack of speed. 

11/13/2013

3 sets of:
7 touch-and-go deadlifts, 135
:25 AirDyne @ 95-97%
4:00 rest
+
2 sets of:
:30 row @ 100%
4:30 rest
+
2 sets of:
:45 row @ 100%
5:15 rest

complete, all sets around :43
+
1:36.2/156m
1:35.9/156m
+
1:38.2/229m
1:38.6/228m


Rows felt great today. I mean not great, I didn't enjoy them, but as far as my lungs and recovery go, it was great. I think that is the fastest pace I have been able to hold so far during the :45 sprints. I noticed my recovery is getting so much faster too, I don't feel like I'm going to die anymore after sprints. 

11/12/2013

A. 1 clean-grip deadlift + 1 hang squat clean + 2 shoulder-to-overhead ladder
B. Muscle-ups, 5 x 1; begin a set every :60
+
AMRAP in 6:00
50 double-unders
8 thrusters, 85

A. 175 for one clean and jerk, failed the second jerk. Arggg.
B. complete
+
4 thrusters short of 4 rounds 


Everything felt really good today, I am getting more and more excited for the competition. I am a little disappointed in how I did on the clean and jerk ladder, I was hoping to get up to 185. Everything up to 175 felt super easy. I failed a clean at 165, I was too far forward but I was able to make it up in the remaining time. As I was getting higher and higher in the ladder I noticed my bees knees were really bothering me, almost to the point where my whole leg felt numb. Once I got up to 175, I couldn't really focus on anything else other than how numb my legs felt, it was very weird. When I failed the second jerk at 175, I didn't even really care, I just wanted to take my bees knees off. Stephen told me to wear them around my ankles until I get high enough in the ladder to where I think I'll need them. I know I can get higher than 175 on Saturday, I just wasn't focused and I think I was also rushing my cleans. I know I will do better on Saturday. Muscle ups felt really good today, turnover was quick. The double under/thruster workout went well, I almost got 4 rounds. The thrusters felt really light, I just kept tripping up on the double unders for some reason, it was frustrating. I was happy to almost get 4 rounds though because Jeff got 4 rounds.