Clean & Jerk and "OPT Chipper"

Clean & Jerk 85% x 1, 90% x 1, 95% x 1

90-95-100

The last lift felt really great. Front squat felt a little heavy but doable. The jerk felt awesome. Didn't feel any struggle at all. I see a potential C&J PR on Monday.

"OPT Chipper"

• 30 Wall Ball - 14lbs
• 80 Double-Unders
• 20 Bell Swings - 45lbs
• 30 Toes to Bar
• 50 Walking Lunges
• 50 Pull-ups
• 20 Burpees

24:10

Didn't take the star on this one. I went with a lighter weight for the bell swings. I attempted 55lbs and that was not happening this time. Wall ball felt great. I'm usually only able to do three or four in a row and lose the rhythm. I finally found the rhythm. Now I just need my strength and endurance to be with me. Double-unders weren't as bad as this time since I got to use the magic rope. I was able to string together five or six DU at times. I was still slow but I got them. Must be the rope.

Toes to bar need work. In the middle of the set, Shae tried to give me some advice but I couldn't comprehend what he was saying at the time. I need to try and get my pull-ups back. I was only ever able to do eleven in a row once and have not been able to repeat that since. I continually lose my grip, even with chalk, after six. Butterfly kipping pull-ups are another option but again because I haven't done them in a while, I lost those too. Lots and lots to work on.

I work this weekend so no CrossFit for me. My quad hasn't been the same since we did our sprints last Saturday. I may have strained it a little. So no kind of exercise this weekend. I want my body to be well rested for the Olympic Total on Monday.

Snatch & "54321"

Snatch 85% x 1, 90% x 1, 95% x 1

68-72-76F

Didn't have the final snatch in me. Traps are pretty sore from yesterday's WOD.

"54321" From Mid-Western Sectional

• 5 Minutes Rowing for Calories
• 4 Minutes of Box Jumps - 20"
• 3 Minutes of Hang Squat Snatch - 45lbs
• 2 Minutes of Wall Ball - 14lbs
• 1 Minute of Handstand Push-ups - 2 Purple Bands

65 cal + 42 box jumps + 10 Snatch + 12 WB + 3 HSPU = 132

Rowing felt good and consistent. After I tripped on the first box jump and regained composure, I was able to break them up into 5s. The snatches were definitely the most difficult part of the workout. I felt I lost my form. I don't know if it was because we didn't start from the bottom or if we just did heavy snatches before the met-con. I actually dropped the bar on my head on one rep. Wall ball felt alright. It's not one of my strong points. Another thing I have to work on. I did my three HSPUs then came down to rest. After that, I couldn't get back into a handstand.

I think I should really start my warm-ups with the exercises that I am weak in. The only way to improve is to practice.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Not looking forward to Friday...double-unders. :(

Double-Under Fran

21-15-9 reps of:

• Thrusters - 65lbs
• Pull-ups
• Double-unders x2 (i.e. 1st round - 42)

I wasn't too happy with this workout. I got really frustrated with my double-unders. I'm normally pretty calm when it comes to practically anything. My coworkers are surprised when I've had a busy day and I have not fallen apart. I know that more mistakes are made when you overreact, so I try to be calm when it gets crazy.

I lost my cool today at CFR. I was the last one. I was in the middle of my second round of double-unders and was only able to do one at a time. I got so frustrated, I swore, threw the rope on the ground, and walked away. I eventually finished. I was not happy. I did the WOD as rx'd but took my time off the white board.

I did not want to talk to anyone but Nolan stopped me. He told me he was very proud of me for finishing. He said my pull-ups and thrusters were awesome. He said, I may have struggled with the double-unders but I did really well with 3/4 of the workout. He said he knows it's frustrating but at least I know what to work on.

Christine also told me she was very proud of me for not giving up and that most people would've have quit. I wanted to quit but I knew I couldn't because I wouldn't let myself quit. I knew I would beat myself up if I DNF'd.

After hearing some encouraging words, I decided to let it go. I may continually struggle with double-unders but at least I know what I need to work on. Paul said doing double-unders as a part of 'Fran' isn't easy in the first place. I just don't know what happens. I am able to do them as a warm-up but as soon as they are in a workout, I must panic. I have to learn to relax. It make take a really long time but I will get them eventually. At least this time I didn't rip my hands up. This time I just have lashes on my right arm and a bruise on my left hand from the double-unders.

Need update more often...

After two much needed rest days and a swim day, I was ready for some CrossFit. I'll start off with my swim on Thursday. I'm not much of a swimmer. I only took lessons as an adult in January 2009, but it is something I want to get better at. I actually get pretty nervous about being in water ever since I went snorkeling in the Dominican last April.

Anyways, I joined Christine for a swim after work. I forgot my goggles and thought I would be fine but I was never able to swim one length of the pool because I was always nervous about swimming into something. After Christine lent me her goggles for some laps and I remembered to breathe out underwater, it made a huge difference. I was able to swim one and a half lengths of the pool. I tend to lose my breath on the way back. I am definitely going to try and go more often.

• 10 laps - front and back stroke

Friday, February 19:

• Snatch 58% x 3, 83% x 2, 85 x 1x5
  46-66-68
• Clean & Jerk 58% x 2, 78% x 1, 83% x 1x5
  61-82-87

Heavy Metcon:

5-4-3-2-1 reps of:

• 
  
  
  Power Cleans - 100lbs (80% BW)
• 
  
  
  Deadlifts - 188lbs (1.5 x BW)

6:05*

During the workout, I was getting pretty warm. Next time, take the pants off BEFORE the workout. Just stupid. I probably could've gotten sub 6 minutes. Those deadlifts sure were heavy!

70 double-unders *not consecutive

I added a video of me doing the last set of snatch skill work on youtube.com. The first one looks good. The rest look pretty sloppy.

Saturday, February 20:

CFR had a two a day workout planned for ComTeam. First WOD was at CFR:

• 
  
  
  4 minutes Tabata Rowing - 80m
• 
  
  
  4 minutes Tabata Push-ups - 5
• 
  
  
  4 minutes "The Bear" Complex @ 75lbs - 2
• 
  
  
  4 minutes "Fish Game" - 180/10 = 18

Total = 105

Tabata is 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Of those 8 rounds, our score ended up being the lowest number. I stayed pretty consistent with the rowing. I stopped doing the push-up challenge for a couple weeks and my push-ups didn't feel as strong. I'll try to go back to that eventually. I was consistent with the push-ups until the last three rounds when I just had nothing else in me.

"The Bear" complex is a sequence of exercises. The actual workout is 7 sets of the sequence for 5 rounds. You are only allowed to let go of the bar between rounds not sets. We just had to do the complex. Power cleans and front squats were fine but as soon as the push press came, I had nothing left. It took me maybe five tries before I finally was able to jerk it up.

"Fish Game" is on the rower. Your fish is at the bottom of the screen and depending on how fast you row, determines the position of the fish on the screen. The point of the game is to eat the fish smaller than you and avoid being eaten by the big sharks. So the faster you row, your fish moves to the top of the screen. When you stop rowing, your fish slowly moves down the screen. There was a glitch on my rower. It was fine until the last two minutes of the game. I would do one pull on the rower and my fish would shoot straight to the top. I would stop rowing but my fish would not move down the screen. While people were getting a score of anything from 600 to 1200, I get a score of 180.

Second WOD was sprints at the fieldhouse. We weren't timing ourselves but this was our workout:

• 
  
  
  100m sprints @ 80% x 5
• 
  
  
  400m brisk run

Sunday, February 21:

It was my first time wall climbing at the Science Centre. I really liked it. I may have only gotten half way up, approximately 30 ft, but I still had fun. I actually got really nervous because I couldn't figure out the next way to go up.

Hero, Olympic Lifting and Resting

Monday was a busy day for me when it comes to exercise. Good thing it was a holiday. Started off the day with watching CFR doing the hero 'Stephen' WOD that Paul picked. It looked like it hurt but I enjoy workouts that involve the core and back muscle groups. I decided to do the workout with Paul and Shae after the 10 and 11 classes were done. What was I thinking? Going up with a couple of the elite CrossFitters of Regina.

"Stephen"
30-25-20-15-10-5 reps of:

• GHD Sit-ups
• Back Extensions
• Knees-To-Elbows(K2E)/Knee Raises
• Stiff-Leg Deadlift - 65lbs

37:33

Wow. That was really hard. The hardest part of this workout were the K2E. The first one would be a knee raise, then I would get enough momentum to get my elbows once or maybe twice. Oh well, something to work on.

Setting the GHD also took time. I just found out that the back extensions had to be a further distance than sit-ups. This is because if the front of the pad was not placed on the iliac crest for the back extensions, we end up doing hip extensions. We each had our own GHD. I took the old one and I had trouble setting and resetting the machine.

This sure made me nauseous after I was done. I'm not much of a amusement park ride person so all the up and down motion really got to me. Paul and I went to Safeway for lunch and I could barely eat. On my way home, I let out a huge burp and that seemed to make me feel a little better. :)

I decided to join Robin and Christine at the fieldhouse at 3:30 and watched them do their sprints. I almost wanted to join them but I don't think my stomach would've let me. I only went to join them in the hot tub after. The hot tub always feels great after a workout. Wish I had my own one day.

I went to Moose Jaw right after the hot tub to join Paul and Jaron for some Olympic lifting at Unparalled with Jamie Jamieson. I really enjoyed it there. Not only because I was the first woman to break into their new womens oly bar that they bought 5 months ago but because they gave us some tips that will help us with setting PRs.

Lots of work on the body but it was a great day. I haven't slept that well in a long time.

Tuesday was a much needed rest day. When I woke up, my throat was feeling a little scratchy. I drank some water and that seemed to help a little. On my way to work, I started coughing. I think I may have over done it on Monday. It sure didn't sound healthy. I really don't want to get sick. Woke up today and it didn't sound nor did I feel any better. I'd really like to do the ComTeam WOD but I think I'll see how I'm feeling later in the day.

Valentine and Burpee WOD

Saturday, February 13:
Paul and I partnered up and did "Partner Helen" with Steve and Carmen.

"Partner Helen"
12 rounds for time:

• 250m Row
• 11 Bell Swings - 35lbs
• 6 Pull-ups

35:28*

That was pretty fun. 25lbs was rx'd for women today but 'Helen' is actually 35lbs so I opted for that. I'm glad I used that weight. I did one bell swing and it almost went over my head. It felt light. It was awesome. I think I might start using 40 or 45lbs for bell swings now. Work my way up to the 55lb kettlebell.

Sunday, February 14:
Robin used my burpee WOD as the CFR workout today. I was so excited to see a workout I created on the blog. Of course, I had to do it.

"Where Did All The Regular Burpees Go?"
5 rounds for time:

• 5 Burpee Deadlifts - 123lbs (BW)
• 5 Inverted Burpees - Modified version
• 5 8 Count Burpees
• 5 Burpulls - 7'

16:15*

It's exactly 8 weeks from today that I did this WOD. My time in December was 21:40. Sure the bodyweight deadlifts were a little lighter than the last time but that's still a big improvement. Next time, rx'd inverted burpee. I practiced a kip-up before I did the WOD. I was really close a bunch of times and was actually able to get one but that was it. Something else to work on. :) HUA!!

Update - HUA!!

Here are my workout updates:

Thursday, February 4:
Rest day

Friday, February 5:

• Clean & Jerk (75% x 1, 80% x 1, 85% x 2) x 2
  80-85-90
• Snatch 70% x 2x2, 75% x 2x2, 80% x 1
  55-60-65
• Romaninan Deadlift 33% of Wednesday DL x 8x2
  61lbs

Hands were still healing so I didn't do a met-con. Attempted day 2 of week 3 of 100 push-up challenge but I couldn't reach the max of 25 on the last set. I'm going to try to keep repeating this until I get my max.

Saturday, February 6:
Rest day

Sunday, February 7:
It was mine and Christine's Sunday date and I did a workout at the fieldhouse after my night shift that Christine created. I don't think she came up a name for it.

3 rounds for time:

• 880m Run
• 50 Lunges
• 50 Sit-ups

30:09*

I ran the entire thing. I could've gotten sub 30 if I hadn't walked to fix my hair. Geez, I can be such a girl sometimes. Anyways, great workout, Christine.

Christine and I went to West Harvest Inn for brunch after the workout. Mmm, so good. I had a lot of waffles. I paid for it though. I was starting to feel sick right when we left the restaurant.

Monday, February 8:

• Overhead Squats 3-3-3 @ 88-91%
  80-81-82
• OHS 1-1-1 @ 92-94%
  83-84-85

Thank goodness for the half and single pound weights.

I did the CFR WOD instead of the ComTeam WOD because it had pull-ups. Again, hands still healing.

"Power Elizabeth"
21-15-9 reps of:

• Power Cleans - 95lbs
• Ring Dips

17:47*

Did all my ring dips. Heck yes I did!! Felt good about that.

Tuesday, February 10:
Rest day

Wednesday, February 11:

• Snatch 55% x 3, 80% x 2, 82% x 1x5
  44-64-66
• Clean & Jerk 55% x 2, 75% x 1, 80% x 1x5
  57-79-84

"12 Minute Cindy"

AMRAP in 12 minutes:

• 
  
  
  5 Pull-ups
• 
  
  
  10 Push-ups
• 
  
  
  15 Squats

8 rounds + 5 pull-ups + 1 push-up

I am extremely happy with my met-con results. Thank you Christine for making me do the WOD. My "Cindy" results back in November which is actually 20 minutes was 9 rounds + 5 pull-ups + 10 push-ups. I almost tied it!! I credit it to the 100 push-up challenge.

GHD Sit-ups - 30x2 - It was supposed to be 3 sets but I started to get dizzy so I stopped.

Thursday, February 11:

"Christine"

3 rounds for time:

• 
  
  
  500m Row
• 
  
  
  12 BW Deadlifts - 123lbs
• 
  
  
  21 Box Jumps - 20"

16:17*

"Christine" is my benchmark Paleo girl. I did this December 29 with 130lbs deadlifts and got 17:24*. Chris of OCD Get Fit or Die Trying said taking a minute off this benchmark is really great improvement. He's been doing CrossFit for three years and has taken 3 minutes off. Thank you Paleo and ComTeam training!

Sorry for the long post. I will try and keep up with the blogging again. Ghetto out! HUA!! :)

More updates to come...

So I've been slacking off on blogging lately. I'm just finishing my last night of a six night stretch. I've been doing WODs right after work in the morning which felt great. However, I don't get as much sleep as I'd like and my diet hasn't at all been 80% Paleo. I am hoping to get back on the Paleo wagon real soon. The foods I've been eating have been given me stomach problems. For example, all the waffles, french toast and pancakes I ate at West Harvest Inn brunch with Christine on Sunday. So good but I was feeling it as soon as I left the restaurant.

As for mood, it sucked. I'm feeling a whole lot better now. I realized the reason why I may be in a funk and I know that I am the one who has to do something. There's only so much your loved ones can do to cheer you up. The rest is always up to you. Anyways, I hope to do a full update tomorrow.

Back Squats and Deadlifts

My hands were pretty torn up from "Groundhog Fran" yesterday and I didn't want to miss any strength work. So I taped up my hands and was ready to go.

• Back Squats 3-3-3 @ 88-91%
  135-138-141
• Back Squats 1-1-1 @ 92-94%
  143-145-147
• Deadlift x 5
  185-205(2)

The WOD also included pull-ups but I thought it was a good idea to give my hands a break.

After the Paleo weight loss, I thought I was also going to lose a little strength as well. As I was doing the back squats, I felt strong. I wanted to try 150 for my last single but Robin suggested I stay with what's planned. I think Paleo may be the way to go. I may not be strict but I'm going to try my best. I would like my occasional latte.

No more cookies...

I had my first non-paleo food today, two cookies. I then went to CFR. I did not feel good when I got there. Man, I guess I could've been nervous about "Groundhog Fran" but I just felt sick. The same sick I get after eating a really sweet dessert before going on Paleo. I was already at CFR so I thought I would just do one round.

"Groundhog Fran"
3 rounds for time:

• 21 Thrusters - 65lbs
• 21 Pull-ups

DNF with 13 pull-ups remaining.

I tried to do the full WOD but I ripped partway through. Nolan taped up my hands so I could finish. I was really struggling with the last few pull-ups so Robin asked if I wanted to owe her 13 pull-ups. I wanted to keep going but I just couldn't get a good grip on the bar. So I had to DNF (Did Not Finish). :(

I do not recommend eating cookies after paleo and before a workout. I kept the puke bucket very close to me. There were a couple times when I just needed a moment to just breathe or burp.

Check out the rest of the pics on Facebook.

Day 1 of Week 3 of 100 Push-up Challenge
14-28-14-14-20 (60 second rest in between sets)

Workout and Paleo Update

So it's been a while since I've blogged anything. This is going to be a long one. I'll start with the workouts.

Wednesday, January 27:
After work I showed some of my coworkers a CrossFit workout at the Y. I was going to join them but I wanted to make sure they were doing it properly instead. They were doing back and abs that day so I had them do with a swiss ball:

5 rounds for time:

• 30 Sit-ups
• 25 Back Extensions

I really liked coaching them through the workout. However, one of my coworkers said I was mean. Meh. I would like to coach one day but that would require me to get my CF Level 1 certification. We'll see how my money situation is after my trip to Greece in April.

Went to CFR later in the evening and did some rowing intervals:

• 2 x 500m @ 80% - 2:13.2, 2:13.3
• 1 x 500m @ 90% - 2:06.0
• 1 x 500m @ 80% - 2:13.9

Handstand Push-ups:

• 5 reps with green and purple band
• 4 reps with two purple bands + 1 with Harlan pulling me up

Thursday, January 28:
Today was supposed to be a rest day but because I didn't do my push-ups on Wednesday, I did them on Thursday. Probably not a great idea. I didn't reach my required max number. I think I wasn't in the right mind frame to be working out. So I'm going to redo my week 3 of the challenge starting tonight by redoing my exhaustion test at CFR.

Friday, January 29:
Still didn't feel like myself but did the CFR wod:

"DOTCOM2"
3 rounds for time:

• 50 Double-unders
• 50 Good Mornings

15:15*

Yay! Finally I was able to do double-unders for an entire workout!! My arms got tired after the first round because I was using the magic rope. I switched to Tiff's speed rope but was only able to do two at a time.

Weekend:
I had to work so I took the weekend off. It was nice taking two full days off. I really needed it. My lower back was sore from the good mornings. When I went to sit on a chair, I had to do it very slowly. Feeling better today though.

Today, morning:

• Snatch 75% x 2 - 80% x 1 - 85% 1x4
  60-64-68 (Above top: Snatch Triple Extension; above bottom: Squat Snatch)
• Clean & Jerk 70% x 1 - 75% x 1 - 80% 1x4
  73-79-84

Came back in the evening to finish the workout:

100 Push-up Exhaustion Test: 35

Thanks Lexi for counting. I can't believe I missed 36 by an inch. Oh well, I tied the gym record for women!!

Mini-Metcon:
"Power Magic 50"
3 rounds for time:

• 5 Power Dumbbell Snatch L/R - 35lbs
• 5 Dumbbell Swings L/R - 35lbs
• 10 Burpees

8:36*

I did most of the burpees as 'hitting the deck', where you just drop to the ground. Hurts the wrists a bit but it's a lot faster. I still tried to maintain my form by doing standard push-ups.

• GHD Raises x 8
• Toes-to-Bar x 10

I was able to do the raises all the way up. My hamstrings hurt but it's a good hurt. First time doing toes-to-bar. It was pretty fun. I felt like a little kid. :)

Paleo Update

Before I start this, I want to mention that I did not go on Paleo strictly to lose weight. I know I did not need to lose any weight. I did it mainly to see if it would improve my athletic performance and generally just to eat more healthy foods. I get a little annoyed by the word diet and how it is associated with weight loss.

So yesterday was the last day of the Paleo challenge at CFR. I did a final weigh in this morning. I don't know if I mentioned this but my weight before Paleo was 127. I stepped on my scale and it said "ERR". I thought, "Wow, I weigh so much I don't register on the scale. Haha!" So I stepped on it again...121. I thought, "that can't be right." So I tried a third time...121. I lost a total of 6 pounds!! I didn't think I was going capable of losing any more weight.

I'm not going to say Paleo is for sure the reason I lost weight. There were other factors that contributed: paleo diet, increase in exercise and getting more sleep. Except, for last week when I got about 5 or 6 hours a night.

I'm feeling pretty great today. I still don't know what to have as my first non-paleo meal but I'm sure there's something out there that I want. As for strength, I'll get back to you on Wednesday when we do back squats, deadlifts and pull-ups. "Christine" was the benchmark girl we did at the end of December. I figure it's a good one to see if Paleo has done its job. Leya said she would join me when I do that.

During the challenge, I would say I was 95% Paleo. I'm going to try and continue with 75-80% Paleo. Today I was finally able to have non-paleo food but I didn't feel like I needed it. I think I can make it work for the most part. Harlan recommended I slowly introduce non-paleo foods. My body will not like me if I were to eat a big plate of pasta right away.

Unfortunately, I don't have a before and after picture of myself. Paul formatted his laptop and forgot to backup our pictures. I guess we could just take the after pictures in our bathing suits and post those...