Shoulder Press, Back Extension,

Shoulder Press 4 X 5
Load: 130

Back Extensions 4 X 15
Load: 35

Weighted Pullups 4 X 5
Load: 25

Wood Chop 4 X 10 (each side)
Load: 80

Workout comments: Shoulder presses felt pretty tough. Tough to gauge whether I should be reeling back with the way my shoulder has been feeling. I don't think I'll ever be able to obtain a true 1RM, but working them regularly could defintley help with pushups and swimming.

6 mile run, Strength

Early morning

Can you believe it? A morning run with Brig. Once again, I'm reminded of why I hate morning workouts so much. My body is still groggy, achy, I've had no coffee, and I just love sleep too much. Brig told me it gets easier the more times you do it, but I'm still not sold on the idea. Many people argue that you should mimic race conditions and practice in the morning. Others suggest that working out before breakfast promotes greater fat loss throughout the day. All I know is that my intensity is always noticeable greater during an afternoon or early evening workout. Therefore I am producing greater fitness. End of story.

6.3 miles in 53 minutes along this route.

Late afternoon

Strength

Squats 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Load: 215

Dumbbell Bench Press 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Load: 75 X 2

Weighted Pullups 4, 4, 4, 4, 3*
Load: 30

All strength movements were performed as supersets, with 1 minute of rest in between workouts. I didn't finish the final pullup. Too much swing.

Strength, Rowing, Crossfit Inspire Metcon

Early afternoon


Workout:
4 X max strict weighted pullups (25#)

8, 8, 5, 5


Back Squats 4 X 5
Load: (210#)


Rowing: 30 minute steady state
2:02:3 split; 7358m


Late afternoon


Crossfit Inspire
Workout


Med Ball Cleans (20#), DUs, Push Press (#75)
25-15-5
5-15-25
25-15-5

23:36

Workout comments: I guess I'll make it a habit of working back squats and pullups right before a rowing workout. The rowing was just steady state, but I could defintely feel the squats and pullups about half way through. It's amazing how comfortable I feel after only a few sessions on the erg. I can almost hear the coaches yelling at me to keep my shoulders relaxed and accerlate through the drive. It took four years to pick up these skills and only 4 sessions to get back into the routine of incorporating them. I guess there is much to be said for the power of repetition. I've heard and read many times that it takes 10,000 reps of doing something in order to make it a habit. I guess after that it stays ingrained in your brain until you do it differently another 10,000 times.

The afternoon workout was another group workout at Crossfit Inspire. I wasn't sure what "dubs" were, but I quickly learned they were double unders and felt much better about the workout, especially since they had a huge stock of speed ropes. These are infintely better to swing around then the traditional jump ropes I have been using. The med ball cleans were the limiting factor in this workout, surprisingly, because they essentially require two squats during the movement. I wasn't getting any criticism for locking the push press up overhead, but was hearing some for not locking out my hips during the cleans. I'll take it. I should have glanced up at the leaderboard before the workout, and I would have realized that the best time of the day was close to 19:00. It was tough to gauge where everyone else was in the workout, because there were so many different cycles and sets, so I just went off myself. I was pretty pumped when I finished to find out that I had recorded the third best time of the day.

This is pretty much it for the week trial at Crossfit Inspire. Ultimately, I would love to workout there, but I'm just not sure I can afford it. With the new house and potentially a new car soon, I'm going to need to save up every penny to waste down in Avalon. Maybe I could write a letter to the mayor urging him to lessen the cost of a beer from $5.50. It really takes a toll on your wallet.

Front Squat, Weighted Pullups, Short Metcon

Late afternoon

Front Squat: 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3

Loads: 125, 155, 175, 195, 205, 215 (failed second 2 reps)

Weighted Pullups: 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3

Loads: 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 (failed 3rd rep), 55

3 rounds for time:

40 DUs
30 Box Jumps (18in box)
20 KB Swings (50#)

10:32 (3:27, 3:36, 3:29)

Supplemental: 20 min light stretching

Workout comments: The major limiting factor on the front squats was the soreness in my wrists as I fought to keep the barbell racked. I just don't know if I have enough flexibility there. I used a Smith machine for this workout, so I'm not sure if my balance was totally centered either.
General comments: My ankle has felt light years better since the chiropractor. I didn't wear the ankle brace for the workout today and felt minimal discomfort. It does start to sore up after walking on it all day, but that's to be expected. Maybe this is the beginning of the end.

Boot Camp, Afternoon Run

Early Afternoon


Workout: Weighted Pullups (5, 5, 5, 1, 1, 1)


Loads 30#, 30#, 30#, 50#, 55#, 70# (failed this rep)

Boot Camp

Partner workout: One person does a finite number of reps on the first exercise, while the partner works continuously until the first person is finished those reps. 3 rounds of each exercise before moving on to the next station.


20 HSPUs (Lateral lunges)
20 Wall Balls-20# (KB Swings-40#)
40 DUs (Walking Lunges)
20 Box Jumps (Pushups)

20 Throw Downs

Total Time= 31:24

Late Afternoon

An easy run along this route. About 3.6 miles. 32:46

• Workout comments: A few milestones today. First, I got 10 consecutive HSPUs in a row, which I have never gotten before. It's defintely the adrenaline of being in a competitive atmosphere. Second, I got two sets of 40 DUs in a row, both after doing about 30-40 walking lunges without rest. I have been doing these usually in front of a mirror, because I thought keeping my eyes up and focused on form would help out. Wrong again.


• General comments: ankle is starting to feel much better. After the hill workout on Saturday and the spring/wall ball workout yesterday, I'm feeling pretty solid on it. Walking around doesn't hurt very much, although I still feel a twang every now and then. I went for a run after work, probably something I shouldn't have done. I even decided to go out without the brace. I took the Vibrams with me because they force me to land on my forefoot and I have to say, I didn't feel so bad. The pace was under 9 min/mile, and this included a few walking breaks I took just to make sure I didn't over work things. I think things are finally starting to pick up.


• Nutrition: Good
  
• RHR: 46 BPM

BW Bench Press and Weighted Pullups

Early afternoon

WU: 3 rounds
Shoulder dislocates, 15 pushups, 15 situps, 15 back extensions

Workout: 5 rounds (record max reps)
BW Bench Press (195#)
Weighted Pullups (25#)

Bench Press: 6, 7, 6, 5, 5
Pullups: 4, 5, 5, 4, 4

Then, AMRAP (situps) in 3 minutes: 96

Equipment: Used a Smith machine for the bench press and a 25# DB for the weighted pullups. My feet were anchored during the situps.

I sprained my ankle on Saturday while snowboarding in the Poconos. It didn't hurt that bad at first. In fact, I continued snowboarding on it for the rest of the day. It sounds weird, but it hurt more to take weight off of it than it does to put weight on it. Once I start walking, I forget my ankle is sprained. Still, I did not want to risk delaying the healing process, so I did no further workouts on Saturday and Sunday, and I focused on upper body today. This is also a poor excuse for not working out on Friday, but we spent nearly 5 hours driving up to the Poconos after GPS failed us miserably. I don't know if I'll throw in another workout today. It's tough to come up with stuff when you have to exclude your lower body.