Pre and Post Saskatchewan CrossFit Challenge

So it's been a while since I've updated the blog.  The last post I had was about the two-a-day...

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!! :)

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...

Back Squats and One More Week of Paleo

I started out my workout day by doing the 100 Push-up Exhaustion Test in the afternoon. The website asks to reevaluate what your max good form push-ups is. I ended up doing 26. I'm quite happy with that number.

Paul and I went to the base and did the ComTeam WOD:

• Back Squats 5-5-5 @ 82-87%
  125-130-130(3)
• BS 3-3-3 @ 88-93%
  130
• 30 Towel Pull-ups - subbed for 3 rope climbs (Should have been 15 pull-ups for each rope climb but the first 5 were quite a struggle)
• Deadlifts 5 + 10lbs - 195lbs

Day 1 of Week 3 of 100 Push-up Challenge:
14-18-14-14-20 (60 second rest in between sets)

I don't know if it was because I didn't bring my oly shoes or if I just didn't have the energy, but those back squats were tough. Not just the back squats but the towel pull-ups as well. It was the first time I had tried them. It was mainly the grip that was the most difficult part.

It seems strange that I only got sore after the workout tonight. I did 150 push-ups on Saturday and would usually start to feel sore Sunday evening. When I woke up this morning, I wasn't sore. I don't know if it's the paleo eating or the challenge but it feels great.

Speaking of paleo, I have one more week until I am able to reintroduce the foods I used to eat. I'm not going to gorge on anything. Heck, I don't even know what the first thing I want to eat is. I did have the dreams and the occasional cravings. However, I don't know if it's because I don't want to eat it or if there is just so much I want to eat I can not decide. It doesn't matter anyhow. I'm almost there!

Paleo Pizza & "Loonies for Haiti"

We made a paleo pizza tonight. It was really good. We got the idea from Hardcore Ange and the recipe from here. We ground up the almonds in a coffee grinder and our toppings were pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, caramelized onions and goat cheese. I was nervous about the goat cheese because I hadn't tried it before. Thankfully, it just tasted like cream cheese.

After the pizza digested, I did the CFR WOD, "Loonies for Haiti":

• 200 Push-ups for time (I did intermediate which was 150)
• Everytime you take a break, you need to do 20 squats (intermediate=15) and donate $1

I incorporated day 3 of week 2 of 100 push-up challenge into the workout. Here was my rep scheme:

• Push-up Challenge: 16-17-14-14-(10-12)
• Remaining sets: 11-11-11-11-10-9-4

25:19 & $12

I wasn't able to do a max of 20 push-ups for the final set of the challenge but I never did take the full 2 minute rest and did do squats in between.

This was a great idea. However much money everyone donated today, CFR was going to match up to $500. Plus the government will match the total donation. So far on the CFR website, $428.65 has been raised. Don't ask me where $0.65 came from. There are still people who have to do the WOD. Hopefully, CFR will reach the goal of $500.

Snatch Skill Work #2

I showed up to CFR this morning not feeling so great. I think it was the combination of working nights and having a busy morning run that gave me a dull headache. Then seeing the dentist right after work may have made my headache worse. It felt worse on the drive to CFR. So, I took some ibprofen and waited. I started to go away after a few minutes. I started late but I still did the workout.

Because I just got off nights, I wanted to take it easy.

• Muscle Snatch @ 65% - scaled to 45lbs 3x3
• Snatch Balance 1-1-1-1
  33-45-55-55
• Snatch High Pull @ 105% - 85lbs 3x3

Those muscle snatches are harder than they look. I was supposed to do 52lbs but I just couldn't get it over my head.

Mini Metcon:
3 rounds for time:

• 5 Power Clean @ 80% of Tuesday max - 73lbs
• 10 High Box Jumps - 24"

3:17

Those box jumps sure didn't feel so great on my knees after the first round but I still finished with a good time.

Day 2 of Week 2 of 100 Push-up Challenge
14-16-12-12-17 (90 second rest between sets)

There was actually a second metcon as well, 150 burpees for time to be done in 3 hours. I decided to sleep instead.

Clean & Jerk Skill Work and "1/2 Angie"

Day 1 of Week 2 of 100 Push-up Challenge 14-14-10-10-15 (60 second rest between sets)

• 3 Power Cleans + 3 Front Squats + 3 Split Jerks @ 65% - 70lbs x 3
• Push Press @ 80% - 75lbs 3x3
• Clean High Pulls @ 103% - 113lbs 3x3

"1/2 Angie"

• 50 Pull-ups
• 50 Push-ups
• 50 Sit-ups
• 50 Squats

14:11 as rx'd

Woohoo!! My first mini-metcon as rx'd. I thought my time was not bad. I wonder what my "Angie" time would be now.

"Balboa"

Saturday,

Day 3 of Week 1 of 100 Push-up Challenge

11-15-9-9-13 (2 minute rest between sets)
I did all but the 13 reps unbroken. So far so good.

Today,

"Balboa"
4 rounds for time:

• 100 Single Skips
• 400m Run (The lane I was running in ended up being approximately 430m.)
• 20 Burpees

29:00

It was actually supposed to be 10 body blasters (burpee-pullup-knees to elbow) but I didn't have access to a pull-up bar near the track. Christine recommended this workout to me. She did it with Nick yesterday at the fieldhouse. She was right. It was pretty tough and it's all cardio. I even tried to pace myself through it but I still tired out really quickly. I wanted to stop at round 2. I did, however, do this right after a night shift.

I actually ran the entire 400m, no walking. I broke up the burpees into 5s except in round three where I was able to break it up into 6-7-4-3. I decided to do a cool down and stretch my legs. I really need to do that more often.

After the WOD, I met up with Christine to relax in the hot tub. CFR really needs to get one of these. So relaxing. After the soak, Christine and I went for Sunday brunch at the West Harvest Inn. It was the more wiser choice than Denny's or Smitty's. Great suggestion. I was able to pick my own food and stay paleo. Thanks for a great start...I mean end to the day, Christine. I will sleep well in my cave today. ;)

Snatch Skill Work

Snatch Skill Work

• Power Snatch 2x3 @ 75% - 60lbs
• Snatch Push Press + 3 Overhead Squats 3-3-3 @ 60% - 50lbs
• Snatch High Pulls 3-3-3 @ 97% - 75lbs
• Deadlift 5 + 10lbs - 175lbs

AMRAP in 2 minutes of:

• Box Jumps - 20"

40 box jumps

Day 2 of Week 1 of 100 Push-up Challenge 10-12-8-8-12 (90 second rest between sets)

I trained on my own today but had Leah watch at certain exercises. Workout felt pretty great.

I started taking the vitamin D after work yesterday. I felt pretty good in the evening. Today, I took one at breakfast and mid-afternoon. It could all be in my head but I feel great. I didn't feel I had to try to be happy.

Phillip, I don't think I know who you are but thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my blog. Same goes to you too Tiff and Robin!! Thanks for the wonderful feedback.

Anyone who reads this, feel free to leave comments you may have. :)

Overhead Squats and Quick Paleo Update

Monday:

Day 1 of Week 1 of 100 Push-up Challenge 10-12-7-7-max of 9 (60 second rest between sets)

Warm-up: Finally, I was able to get at least 5 consecutive double unders with the magic rope. Tiff let me try out her speed rope and I was able to do 2 consecutive. I may have to reintroduce my speed rope every now and then. Heck yes!!

• Overhead Squats (OHS) 5-5-5 @ 72-79% (scaled from 80-85%)
  65-68-71
• OHS 3-3-3 @ 82-91% (scaled from 86-91%)
  74-78-82
• Pull-ups
• 3 deadhang pull-ups + 2 negatives x 3 (Tried a fourth deadhang on the third set and missed it by an inch. Dang!)

Mini-metcon: 21-15-9

• Kettlebell swings @ 45lbs
• Wall Ball @ 16lbs

approx 11:45

That was a tough mini-metcon. I couldn't finish with the rope climb. My arms were just dead.

Quick Paleo Update

After a week of paleo, I have noticed a change in my mood. I feel depressed, moody and have no drive. I really just feel like crap. I had a chat with Carla and Jess, who mentioned it could be my change in diet. Or more, it is my change in diet. They also mentioned this is the time of year some people develop seasonal depression. I'm going to be taking more vitamin D3 (2000-3000 IU) to try and convince my body I'm getting sunlight.

I'm hoping this is just part of the cleansing process because it sucks.

"Take A Number" and One Week of Paleo

Because I didn't do the mini-metcon on Friday, I decided to do the workout today.

AMRAP in 10 minutes of:

• 10 Front Squats @ 65lbs
• 10 Pull-ups

4 rounds + 10 front squats (Man that sucked. I did this at the same time as BrianB. Not someone you want to try and keep up with. He pretty much did this on the minute.)

Rest 5 minutes.

AMRAP in 5 minutes of:

• 10 Jumping Lunges
• 10 Push-ups

4 rounds + 10 jumping lunges + 5 push-ups

As always, my push-ups need some work. I was going to start my 100 push-ups program last Monday but something stopped me. Tomorrow will be the day I start. I did the first three weeks last November and it seemed to really help. In "Angie", I was able to break up my push-ups into sets of 5 until rep 60 or 65. I didn't need to do single push-ups until the final 8. Here is a link to the program if anyone may be interested:

http://www.hundredpushups.com/

One Week of Paleo

Today is officially one week of strict paleo. I actually started on New Years but I had a coffee with cream and sugar on one of my nights. But right after I went strict paleo. So far so good. I haven't felt weak. There were a couple times when I was still hungry after a meal but it was bearable.

When I tried to go paleo back in June, I was tired and weak all the time. I don't think I lasted a week. This time, I've been eating reasonably healthy in the past couple months so the transition hasn't been too terrible. Even over Christmas, I never felt I ate too much or too unhealthy. Except for the two a day lattes.

I haven't had to cut too much from my diet. There were some times when I've had a craving for some non-paleo food but it doesn't last very long. It seems to be going well for me so far. Well, except for the dreams I've been having. Is it normal to be dreaming about eating cereal and pizza?