"1/2 Angie"

I did this WOD back in January.  CFR has "Angie" as the WOD but I wanted to compare times and it's day four...

Back Squats and "Grace" attempt

Day 6 = 12 Push-ups

Day 7 = 14 Push-ups

I seem to have messed up my right shoulder after my warm-up and push-ups.

Back Squats 85% x 5x3
2 sets + 4 reps @ 130lbs

Trying to hold up that weight really bugged my shoulder. I just couldn't get back up after that very last rep.

I was going to attempt "Grace" with a really light weight but Harlan said he'd be happy if I just did 30 cleans, which I decided to do.

I used two different weights:
11 reps - 75lbs
19 reps - 63lbs

I had to drop the weight because of my shoulder. I'm not sure what to do. I really should rest it but I don't want to fall behind on the training. I did just recover from a strained quad as well. Sigh, I think I might have to take a full week off just to rehabilitate everything. Boo!!

I decided to go back on the Paleo wagon today. For the month of February, I went crazy with grains and dairy. They tasted good at first but I really didn't like the after effects of everything. I seem to always feel like crap after eating some sort of grain. Except for cereal. Cereal was great!! Anyways, I know I'm going to have to go through the second week slump again but I'll be better prepared for it. At least I'll know what to expect.

I almost forgot to mention my new Vibram Five Fingers. We went and picked them up this past weekend in Saskatoon. I tried mine on there and found my right baby toe seemed to be too big. I figure it'll stretch out. I put them on again Saturday evening and was pretty disappointed because it wasn't getting any better. I didn't know what to do. Escape Sports was closed on Sunday so I couldn't try on a bigger pair. Plus, I didn't think it would make a difference if I got one size bigger if only one toe didn't fit. So, I wore them again on the trip back home.

It was still too tight but tonight I put them on before CrossFit and just maneuvered that toe part of the shoe and it felt a lot better. Put them back on at CFR, did the same thing and still felt better. Took them off for back squats and the toe didn't look all deformed. Yay!! They are the best. They are so cute. I don't know why I was so shocked at the size. I know I have small feet.

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.

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!! :)

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)

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.

"Annie"

The WOD at CFR was "Annie Ladder".

50-40-30-20-10-20-30-40-50 reps of:

• Double-unders
• Abmat Sit-ups

We did this at the base in Moose Jaw. We brought a couple abmats and parallettes for handstand push-ups. Yep, we brought a gym to the gym.

Double-unders are one of my weaknesses. A double-under is when you are skipping, you spin the jump rope twice in one jump. I was able to crank them out a couple months ago in a warm up. However, when it was finally time to actually doing them in a workout, I lost them. In the past couple months, I would work on them in my warm ups. I wouldn't be able to get one.

One day, Paul recommended I try using one of the bigger ropes instead of the speed rope and work on single skips until I got my rhythm back. I used the ropes at CFR and was able to get one. On Sunday, I was finally able to do single-double-single skips. I was pretty excited.

Tonight, I used Paul's old rope which he called "the magic rope". The first 50 and 40 double-unders were difficult. I had to get use to the rope as it's heavier than the other ropes I've used. I finally got my groove going the 30 reps. I was pretty happy. I think I was in my 30 sit-ups, when Paul finished in under (sub) 16 minutes. Jerk. That's right I said it. Anyways, since my double-unders needed work, I or we, thought I should do "Annie" because I don't have a time for that benchmark girl. It's 50-40-30-20-10 without the ascending reps. I finally finished with a time of 21:16 as rx'd for "Annie". I was really proud of myself for finally finishing a workout with double-unders. I guess I'll have to thank Paul for giving me his "magic rope". It definitely was magic.

After the met-con, Paul and I worked on handstand push-ups on the parallettes. Well, he worked on negative handstand push-ups and I worked on handstands on the parallettes. We did 8 reps and on my last rep I did a negative.

To end off, I was quite happy with my results. Yay, double-unders!

So it begins...

I'm a day behind because of nights but it's my last one. Yay!! Back to the real world with some sunlight!

Monday's workout was day one of phase one for the competition team. We focused mainly on snatch skill work tonight. I partnered up with Tiff, which is great because we are at pretty much the same fitness level except for running. I'm no where close to her on that.

• 3 Position Snatch (Floor-Knee-Thigh) @ 60% - 45lbs x 4
• Snatch Balance 1-1-1-1
  45-55-65-65 (Didn't squat low enough on the first 65lb attempt so I repeated it)
• Snatch High Pull @ 95% -75lbs 3x3
• Romanian Deadlift @ 65lbs 3x8

This was the first time I've tried a romanian deadlift. It's different. Basically, when you have the bar on the ground, you are bent over with your bum sticking out. As Tiff quoted Shae tonight, "it's a stripper deadlift".

Then came the mini-metcon (met=metabolic, con=conditioning),

"Heavy Jackie"

• 1K row
• 30 Push Press @ 75lbs
• 15 Pull-ups

17:12

Robin called it "Short and Heavy Jackie". It definitely wasn't short for me. The rx'd weight for women was an 85lbs push press. I tried it...no way could I do 30 of them. Tried 75lbs...felt alright. I could do it. By the time I actually got to the push presses, 75lbs was a lot heavier than I should have done. I was able to do it in sets of 2s but halfway through I had to do it one at a time. Aaron told me these mini-metcons are supposed to be 5-10 minutes in length. In order for me to achieve this, I need to scale down my weight. I should have dropped the weight even more to 65lbs. I probably could have been able to do my push presses in sets of 5s. Side note, always put your head back a bit when doing push press. I pushed the bar into my chin part way through the workout. Not a pleasant feeling.

I didn't get my star today but that's alright. It was a good first day back. Today's workout, double-unders...ugh.