Heavy Legs=Time for a Break

Today had to have been one of the slowest runs in a while. I'm sure that the miles and workouts racking up, in addition to the little water and food I had this morning, and the sudden increase in temperature outside all had something to do with it. I wasn't trying to push either, so I ended up walking up many of the steep trails I would otherwise press up. It was fairly uneventful, but I did take notice of the nighttime presence in the area. At the top of the Cut is a huge bonfire pit with a multitude of beer cans around it. The kicker is the 1970s style that has obviously been hauled up to the top of the hill manually. Access to this location is too treacherous for even a four-wheeling SUV. There are bonfire pits strew about at other locations along this 2-3 mile trail as well, maybe from dirt-biking outcasts who were deemed not cool enough to be included in the party.

6.5 miles in 78 minutes

Late afternoon

I'll be out of town this weekend for the AOR race to DC, so I wouldn't be able to participate in the final scheduled WOD at CBCF. Tonight was pretty much my only free night. The WOD for this week was unveiled two weeks ago so people had plenty of time to practice or at least lament over it.

AMRAP 7 minutes

3 Barbell Thrusters (100lbs / 45kg)
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
6 Barbell Thrusters (100lbs / 45kg)
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
9 Barbell Thrusters (100lbs / 45kg)
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
12 Barbell Thrusters (100lbs / 45kg)
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
15 Barbell Thrusters (100lbs / 45kg)
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
18 Barbell Thrusters (100lbs / 45kg)
18 Chest to bar Pull-ups
* If you finish the round of 18 pullups and thrusters, continue with 21, 24, etc.

Again, no idea how I would do it this workout. It was especially hard since there was no one else around performing it and I had no other benchmarks to go by. I finished with 82 total reps (ie. finished the round of 15 thrusters and did 7 C2B pullups). I would have liked to reach 18, but it felt pretty tough.

Mike asked me if I wanted to stick around for the daily WOD that they were performing that day:

Part I

For Time:

21 Deadlifts (225/150)

Run 4 CBCF laps (760 meters)

15 Deadlifts

Run 4 CBCF laps

9 Deadlifts

Run 4 CBCF laps

13:26

Part II

Tabata Hollow/Arch Holds

Was expecting to feel EXTREMELY wiped afterward, but I slept pretty well that night and didn't notice any lethargy. Tomorrow is a rest anyway.

Strength

Bench Press 5, 4, 2, 2, 1, 5X3
Load: 125, 155, 175, 185, 195, 210, 200, 200, 200, 200

Thrusters 3 x 5
Load: 120

Dips 3 X 10

Dumbbell curls 3 X 10
25lb

Chinups X 40

Workout comments: I'm pretty sore in the abs and hamstrings this morning. Walking around bit seems to loosen things up. I've fallen off my original intention of keeping my strength training up. I would normally have included squats today, but there is the final week of the Crossfit Open and the AOR this weekend. Honestly, I don't feel like being sore all week either, since it's going to be the highest volume of running to date as well. Plan for the week is to try and include as much protein as possible (both whey and natural) to keep muscle breakdown as minimal as possible. I will also attempt this weekend to see if it helps cut down on muscle soreness, both during and after the long run.

Pullups 9, 13, 9, 9, 8

Thrusters 4 X 5
Load: 120, 140, 140, 140

4 X 800 meter intervals, 400m rest (treadmill)
3:00 for all

Late Evening

About an hour of basketball. Started feeling frustrated with the lack of "team" play and the quality of the referees. Came to the stark realization that it would be better to enjoy the time for what it is rather than expecting others to elevate themselves. Still, it's tough to play in a game where the whistle is blowing every 30 seconds and you know you're team could be so much better if they trusted each other.

Workout comments: I'm not understanding the final set of pullups. I haven't done pullups since last Wednesday and took nearly 4 days off from any exercise whatsoever. Might be the structure of the pullup bar I'm using. I might be moving my body too far away from the bar during the pullup. Or I might be doing too few reps before a hanging rest and then completing the rest of the pullups. Doesn't make any sense. Next time I might try to avoid a superset, even if it does work complementary muscle groups.

Light Weights, Basketball

Early afternoon

Pullups
6, 9, 6, 6, 9
Bench Press 5, 3, 5, 5, 5
Load: 205, 205, 175, 175, 175

Thrusters 4 X 7
Load: 120
Situps 4 X 20

Late Evening

Basketball
Our work team took on the Sweetness, a team from McNeil who apparently knows how to recruit people over 6' 3". We only trailed by a few points for the majority of the game and lost only by 6 points, but the deficit seemed much greater than that. We need more structure on offense.

Workout comments: The soreness in my knee all but disappeared in the late afternoon today and I decided to play in the game. I had minimal soreness afterwards so it wasn't a bad decision. Registration opened today for the North Face Endurance Challenge at Bear Mountain, NY. I signed up for the 50K last year, but had to drop out because of the ankle injury. The race is only open to 350 participants, but it doesn't seem to be selling out fast. It's only a week or two after the Tough Mudder, which might serve as a great practice race. Broad Street is mingled in there as well. It would be a hard month of racing.

Cleans, Situps, Press, Metcon

Early afternoon

Cleans 5 X 3
Load: 140, 150, 160, 160, 170

Incline Situps 5 X 15
*Supersets

Barbell Press 4 X 5
Load: 120, 130, 140, 140

Metcon

AMRAP in 10 minutes
400m run
10 DB Thrusters (right arm) 45
10 DB Thrusters (left arm) 45

3 full rounds, plus I just missed finishing the 4th 400m. I finished the run anyway and finished in 10:21.

Workout comments: Surprisingly good feeling on the run. Set the treadmill at 6:30 pace, and this wasn't too difficult. Cleans were also a shock, although I'm still hesitant to increase the weight much more for fear of dropping it in the fitness center. Really need to start looking for my own set.

No soreness today.

Short Trail Run

Early afternoon

Short Run around Malvern, through the quarry and following the stream, skipping the nature preserve. Maybe 4.5 miles in 40 minutes. Very slow pace to alleviate some of the ankle pain I felt after the run on Friday.

Late afternoon

Metcon

For time:

15, 25, 35

Double Unders

Swings (30#)

Thrusters (30#)

Box Jumps

Situps

Then, untimed:

2 Rounds (AMRAP 30s)

Dips

Decline Pushups

V Sits

One-legged squats (each leg, one leg elevated behind on box)

Plank hold

Workout comments: Unbroken double under rounds (except for the first round when the rope was too short). Did not expect this, but it was almost easier than I remembered. The second rope I used was definitely too long.

Metcon, Hill repeats

Early afternoon

For Time:

15, 10, 5 reps of

DB Thrusters (2 X 50#)
KB Swings (#53)
Pullups

5:30

Short rest

1 mile warmup
2 X 3/4 mile hill repeats (treadmill) 7% grade
3 min rest between repeats

6:46, 7:23

Short cooldown

Daniel

WU: 1000m row

Workout: Daniel

50 PU (sub 30)
400m run
#95 Thruster, 21 reps
800m run
#95 Thruster, 21 reps
400m run
50 PU (sub 30)


14:34

Workout comments: Searching through the Crossfit database, there is such a huge library of workouts that involve some combination of running intervals mixed with moderate weight movements. These are the workouts that I like the most, because they mix up a bit of everything. Pullups and thrusters were not too bad, but I wouldn't sign myself up for a PR in Fran anytime soon.

On a side note, the ankle injury that has been plaguing me for 6 months now is back. It really feels no better or worse than it has in last 30 days, and that's where the problem is. I had followed the doctor's advice and not run on it for over a month, and just started to again recently a few times a week. Never feeling any real pain during exercise, it is usually very tight and moderately sore in the morning, and I will occasionally feel a sharp twang of pain if I step on it the wrong way. I had received both X-rays and MRIs, but the doctor could not say conclusively what my problem was. He suggested some sort of scan, then possibly rehab, and surgery if all else fails. I love his methodolgy: I can't tell you what the problem is, so I'll prescribe everything in the book and see if I get lucky. Great.

I'm going to try a new doctor, someone recommended in the annual Phillymag TopDocs issue. I hope they can treat this issue better.

Bench Press, Pullups, Long Metcon

Early afternoon

Strength
Bench Press 5 X 3
Load: 215

Pullups 5 X 10
*Bench Press and Pullups were done as a superset, with three minutes rest taken at the end of the pullups for each round.

Metcon

5 Rounds for Time:
15 Thrusters (95#)
500m Row

~20:20 (Approx breakdown of rowing splits: 1:45, 1:44, 1:46, 1:48, 1:51)

Workout comments: I felt pretty good during the bench press sets and the first 3 or 4 sets of the pullups. Felt like I could do a few more sets. The metcon really gassed me out. First two rounds were done with pacing in mind, but the thrusters eventually caught up to me, and I could not hold pace for the final 2 rounds. It was a good workout. There was approximately 15 seconds of rest taken to walk from the erg to the barbell station each time, but who's to say I wouldn't have rested that time anyway. I forgot to check my watch at the end of the workout, but this is a pretty accurate time.

Metcon

Early afternoon


Metcon
100 Double Unders then
4 Rounds:
10 Thrusters (95#)
20 KB Swings (53#)
30 Situps


13:59

Late afternoon

Went for a short run with John W. down in the park after work. It was a little humid, but a great afternoon not to get out in the park. Stuck mainly to the lower trails and then back on Forbidden Drive on the way back to NorthWestern. Should have made this return trip a tempo run but I think our legs were still pretty heavy from the afternoon workout.


Workout comments: I finished the double unders in about a minute and a half and averaged about 3 minutes or so on the four rounds. I finished all thrusters without dropping the weight, and resting only once during the KB swings. I broke during the 3rd round of situps for a few seconds. I was disappointed that I couldn't string together a more consistent stretch of double unders. I'm convinced that this skill comes and goes. You can have good days and bad days. I had previously thought that the Vibrams were providing an edge, but they didn't really help today.

Deadlift, Pullups, Back to Back Couplets

Early afternoon


Workout


Strength: Deadlift 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3


Loads: 207, 257, 277, 297, 307, 317


3 X 10 Pullups


Metcon 1: AMRAP in 12 minutes
SDHP (77#)
Thrusters (77#)


5 + 13


Metcon 2: AMRAP in 12 minutes
25 Situps
25 Double Unders

8 + 19

Workout comments: I felt considerably better than I did during yesterday's workout. Even after the deadlifts and pullups, I still had a lot of energy to do both metcons. It was probably the best consistent strings of double unders I have ever put together. I only faulted on a few of the rounds, and it was only 1 fault per round. I honestly think the difference was the Vibrams I was wearing for the workout today. I felt like wasn't losing any momentum by landing on the cushioning of a normal sneaker. The situps were defintely the limiting factor on this workout.

Squats, Moderate Metcon (Malvern Boot Camp)

Late afternoon

WU: 1000m row, squats (loads= 105, 155, 195, 235)

Workout:
Strength: Squats 1, 10, 1, 20, 1, 30
Loads: 255, 205, 245, 175, 245, 145

Approximately 3 minutes rest between sets.

Metcon: 5 Rounds, 5 Stations (45 sec on, 15 sec off). Complete AMRAP during the 45 seconds at each station. I had no way of recording the number of reps during this workout, so I treated it as a Tabatta workout: lowest score at each station recorded.

Box Jump-18 in. 27
Thrusters-25lb dumbbell 17
Mountain Climbers 40
Med Ball Situps-8lb, ball touches floor overhead and then touches the wall 17
Upright rows-30lb bar 22

Workout comments: I'm not sure if I would call this squat workout one of the hardest ever, but it was defintely up there as far as difficulty. It has "strength" written across its face, but my heart was defintely pounding out of my chest during the longer rep portions. Ideally I would have gone for clean-depth, but I'm still feeling the tightness in my hamstrings, hips, and calves that prevent me from keeping a straight back that low to the ground. I was very sore on my way home and tried to keep eating as much protein as possible: Greek yogurt, steak, almonds. I was worried I would wake up unable to move, but I was actually less sore this morning when I woke up. Doesn't change the fact that I was still pretty groggy, even after 8 hours of sleep.

For the metcon, I tried to keep the weights lighter than a normal workout, since it was immediately after the squat workout. The higher reps and quick turnover accounted for several pools of sweat on the gym floor, and a few odd looks from some of the other participants. I should have brought my gym towel.

Thrusters/Burpees

Morning
Easy jog over to Sutcliffe Park for:

4 X Max rep Pullups
9, 7, 7, 6

Late evening
WU: 2 Rounds
15 Squats, 15 Pushups, 15 Situps, 15 Back Extensions, Samson Stretch

Workout: For time
100 Thrusters (45# DBs)

*Every minute on the minute: 3 Burpees
13:56

1 Mile Uphill Treadmill Walking: 15% Grade
18:16

Workout comments: Continuously frustrated with the pullups. I'm wondering if the thick bar at the park has anything to do with the strict pullups I've been doing. I did the thruster workout a while back at Central Bucks Crossfit with 40# DBs and I think my time was a bit faster. Still I was pretty happy with this workout. My average heart rate was close to 180 for the entire workout and I don't think I could have forced it any higher than that. I rested during the 10th minute without doing any thrusters.

Paleo faults: Some cream in my coffee, salad dressing, a few pieces of chocolate. Otherwise good.

Tabatta Situps, Barbell Complex

Late Afternoon

I haven't done an honest Crossfit weighted workout since last Wednesday, and I wasn't sure if I would be well rested, or just out of shape.

WU: Shoulder dislocates, ankle stability on Bosu ball
Tabatta situps: 13

I was hoping to hit 14 again, a number I reached a few weeks back. Despite the speed at which I thought I was moving, I just seemed to run out of gas after about 3 rounds.

Workout: Barbell complex

AMRAP in 20 minutes:

5 Thrusters (95#)
7 Hang Power Cleans (95#)
10 SDHP (95#)

My goal for this workout was 10 rounds. I figured I could easily average 22 reps in approx. 2 minutes or less. Boy was I wrong. The first round flew by in 1:39, which was surprising, but it was all downhill from there. I lost count of the rounds at some point, but I'm pretty sure it was either 7 or 8 complete rounds. I'm leaning towards 7 rounds, because that averages just under 3 minutes per round, which is what I was clocking some of my later rounds to be.

This was a really tough workout, probably should have been even tougher had I attacked it has hard as I should have. I still have to work on mental toughness and get "comfortable" in the anaerobic "red zone."

Uneven Metcon

Late afternoon

4 Rounds for time (82#):

15 Thrusters
15 Deadlifts
15 Push Press
15 Power Cleans

* an extra 5 pounds was added to one side of the barbell. I switched sides for each round.

21:48

Avg heart rate during the workouts: 153 BPM

Workout comments: no energy for this workout. Nothing else to report.

Thrusters, SDHP, Push Press, OH Squat

Early Afternoon

WU: Toy soldiers, OH Squat practice (30#)

Workout: 4 Rounds

20 Thrusters (77#)
20 SDHP (77#)
20 Push Press (77#)
20 OH Squats (77#)
5 Burpees

29:26

• Workout comments: This was one of the hardest MetCon workouts I think I have ever done. None of the movements were done to muscular failure, but my lungs were burning so bad that I could hardly breathe through most of the workout. I have been physically drained for the past few hours following the workout. This morning I consumed cereal, skim milk, a banana, and orange juice, but did not have a chance to consume much water before this workout.
• General comments: I originally stopped by to see the workout, with the intention of participating only if the majority of the movements focused on the upper body. I took one look at this and couldn't resist. I had the ankle brace on and it hadn't hurt once during the day. It didn't hurt at all during this workout, but I'll keep off of it during the rest of the week as well.
• Sleep: 7.5 hours
• Body condition: I felt physically fine prior to this workout. Maybe slightly tired, but that was it. Following the workout, I feel fatigued, but nothing is overwhelmingly sore.

Thrusters and Double Unders

Early Evening

WU: 5 mins of steps
2 Rounds:
10 Squats, Samson Stretch, 10 Pullups, 10 Pushups, 10 Situps, Shoulder dislocates

Workout:
10 Thrusters (135#)
50 Double Unders
8 Thrusters
40 Double Unders
6 Thrusters
30 Double Unders
4 Thrusters
20 Double Unders
2 Thursters
10 Double Unders

9:59

5 min rest:
Timed dead hang: 59 seconds.

Workout comments: I finished all the thruster sets without dropping the weight except for the second set. I was having some real trouble finishing the double unders, something I usually don't struggle with. I would say this was the major limiting factor in this workout. I saw a video posted on the Crossfit main site of Chris Speal finishing this workout in 3:54. Another guy had finished the workout in 7:58. I always watch these videos and think, "I could hit that time." It's just funny how you notice 3:54 going by on your watch while you're only crawling through the second set. Still, I was happy with the time. I know I can improve my dexterity while in exhaustion.

General comments: Nothing to report. I felt rested. My diet has been pretty good during the week. Weekends are a different story, but I'm making every effort to control the content and quality of food I eat. Hopefully the volume will take care of itself.

This past week...

Monday (2-8-10)
Main site WOD

"Stephen"
30-25-20-15-10-5

GHD Situps (Incline Situps)
Back Extensions
Knees to Elbows
Stiff Legged Deadlift 95#

28:59

Tuesday (2-9-10)

Boot camp
WU: 1 mile run, Jumping jacks, squats, shuffle

5 Rounds
Alt. Shoulder Press 30# DBs
Box jump (24-in box)
OH walking lunges (45# plate)
Squat thruster w/ mountain climber
Situps

Could not keep track of the number of reps in each station. 1 minute spent at each station with 1 minute rest in between rounds.

Wednesday (2-10-10)
"Angie"

100 Pullups-13:48
100 Pushups
100 Situps
100 Squats-2:40

25:01

Snowed in today by the third major snowstorm of the season. Over 18 inches of snow hit Conshohocken and it was enough for work to give us the day off. I was confined to the house and figured I would try this workout again.

Thursday (2-11-10)
WU:
2 rounds
10 Shoulder dislocates
10 OH Squats 20#
5 Power cleans 27#
5 Thrusters 27#
5 Pullups

Main site WOD

400m run
12 Power cleans 135#
15 Thrusters 95#

33:47

I've been having some trouble with the Olympic lifts. I really didn't think I had the shoulder and wrist flexibility to properly execute these lifts. But today felt pretty good. I was getting through all the power cleans and thrusters without having to stop much for air. Same didn't really go for the later rounds. Overall, felt really good about this workout.