A lot of workouts

Happy Holidays to all!

It has been a really long time since I have written and I need to catch up on posting my workout information. So here it goes.

12/12/08 - Rest Day. Thank god because the workout at the was a gnarly one and didn't look like fun!

12/13/08 - Freddies Revenge: 5 rounds 5 push jerks, 10 burpees. Time: 11:27 weight was 111 CF Coronado weight.

12/14/08 - 5 rounds: 400m run 5 jumping pull-ups, 10 situps, 15 squats. Didn't keep time since it was Sunday and I was just getting in a workout.

12/15/08 - 3 rounds: 50 box jumps (24'' box), 21 deadlifts @ 135#, 30 pull-ups. This workout sucked. The box jumps were really hard for me and it really affected the deadlifts. Plus grip strength was tough going from deadlifts to pull-ups.

12/16/08 - Rest Day

12/17/08 - 1 rep Max Push Jerk - 131# Cf Coronado weight (122# everywhere else). Regardless of how you calculate the weight it is a new PR

12/18/08 - Tabata squats, ring push ups and one arm snatches. Total score was 26. 14 on squats, 5 on push-ups (was on my knees) and 11 on snatches - 30. Then we did 8 200m sprints. Yuck!

12/19/08 - "McFlurry" 400m run, 21 Power cleans (95# CF Coronado weight, 86 everywhere else), 21 pull-ups, 400m run, 15 thrusters (65# CF Coronado weight, 56 everywhere else), 15 pull-ups, 400m run, 9 power cleans, 9 pull-ups, 400m run. Time was something near 17:00. This was a tough one but I liked it a lot.

12/20/08 - rest day

12/21/08 - AMRAP of 15 wall ball (10#), 30 sit-ups, 15 push-ups. 6 rounds plus a little more

12/22/08 - Missed this workout because I had a date in Escondido.

12/23/08 - 21-15-9 push jerks, ring dips, burpees (89# silver bar true weight) I think my time was near 16 something. Went a little heavy with the push jerks to build strength in my shoulders.

12/24/08 - meet up with Matt Peace to do the workout at the local school. 400m walking lunges and every 5 knee touches 5 push-up for first half and 5 sit-ups the second half. I think we finished this around 22 minutes.

I will try to get in a Christmas Crossfit workout. I think last year I did 150 burpees. I think it took me like and hour so I might do it again and see how I do. Unless Andy posts something better.

Squat Clean

So the WOD for Wednesday was 1 -1 - 1- 1- 1 Squat clean. This was good. i was going to be able to use the knowledge that I had gained at the Oly cert and see if I could improve on my one rep max. I checked and my last PR was 121. I was really looking forward to getting this one all day. Got to the gym, warmed up, went through the movement and then hit it. 89 - 99 - 111 - 121 - 126. So I got a new PR of 126. Very happy about it. I wanted to see what 131 felt like and it was a lot heavier. When I tried 131 I was so concerned about pulling myself under it that I didn't get full hip extension or a big shoulder shrug so I wasn't even able to get it up onto the shoulders. Oh well. 126 is good. I would really like a body weight clean. That would be cool.

On another note I just want to say how much fun it is to workout with the girls at the gym. They kick ass. I was fortunate to workout with Kelly last night and she really went hard. 5 months ago she didn't like to do weights because she felt like she wasn't strong and that weights were not her things. But something has clicked and now she really looks forward to the strength days and she has been getting new PR's ever time she lifting. It is really cool to see how someone can change and make huge accomplishments when they just change the way they think about things. Congrats Kelly, nicely done!

Oly Cert

I knew that I was going to be a lot more on top of this blog at the beginning and it would taper off but I feel like recently I really haven’t put a lot of time into it. I will try to better. I promise.

Thursday was a rest day for me. Really trying to do the 3 on 1 off routine. It is nice to have a day off when I can get things done around the house and walk the dog before it gets dark.

Friday WOD: 1 – 10 – 1 Hang power snatch, strict pull-ups. Prescribed was 45# but I decided to go heavy. Really the only reason I went heavy was because we had a few top crossfitters visiting the gym that night. Maggie was one of them. She is a really good crossfitter and I think she finished 5th at the games. Well she decided to do it with 75#. Holy shit 75#, and strict pull-ups the whole way. Impressive! So it was nice to have another girl in the gym go heavy because it makes me get a little more competitive and go heavy. Since I am not able to do strict pull-ups I did kipping the whole way. At first Ben wanted me to go 2 – 1 but that only lasted a few rounds. I don’t remember what my time was, but overall a good workout.

Saturday and Sunday I attended the Olympic Weightlifting Certification. There was a group of us from the gym that attended. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I hope I don’t forget all of it. We did snatch work all day Saturday and then clean and jerk work all day Sunday. I was exhausted by the end of the day Sunday. My body was tired. But overall I had a really good time. Here is the picture of the group that went from Crossfit Coronado. Minus Evan who was taking the photo. Coach B was a wealth ok knowledge and I was really impressive with his teaching capabilities.

Monday was a rest day but the gym was doing squat snatches. Bummed that I was going to miss this one but I knew that I was in no shape to try to workout. So I went to the class just to watch and help where I could. It was a small class and that was nice. Plus the number of girls there that night was twice as many as men. So I was able to work a little with the girls. Snatch is a really tough one and you could tell that the girls were frustrated with it but progress was made. I think all of them got PR’s.

Tuesday was tabata Diane. Deadlifts and hand stand pushups. 8 rounds of each exercise 20 seconds of work 10 seconds of rest. I did 153# deadlifts and neg handstand push ups. My total score was 65 but broke out 44 deadlifts and 21 neg handstand pushups. I went to the 9am class and they were a lot of fun to workout with. They are funny women who make me laugh. It seems like this is the time that they get to be away from the kids and the house so they are a bit out of control. Props to Ben for tackling this class. I could not handle all of these women.

Here's a lot to read!

Tues WOD: 100 OHS 15#, 100 DL 111# 20 burpees, 50 OHS, 50 DL, 20 burpees, 25 OHS, 25DL, 20 burpees

Yeah you read that right. Can you believe that shit. It was absolutely miserable. It crushed a lot of people at the gym. It was hard and the deadlifts sucked. The OHS were such light weight you thought you would be able to get through it pretty quick and then get to the deadlifts but even with the light weight it still sucked. My time was somewhere around 32 min.

Wednesday I was traveling up to Burbank to hangout with mom for the holiday and I decided to stop by Crossfit – Elite Fitness Academy to get in a workout. I met Eric the owner and he was a really cool guy. He has a really good gym and I really like the way that it is set up. All of the space outside is really nice and it would be cool if we could do some more workouts outside. The WOD was AMRAP of 55# SDHP and 16# wall ball at 8 feet. I completed 7 rounds. It felt really good to come into the gym and get the same number of rounds as the highest girl. That’s where my competitiveness comes out. Plus I also feel like I am representing Crossfit Coronado and Andy so I make sure to get some and go hard.

Thursday I spent the day with mom and had Thanksgiving dinner. We had Cornish Game hens and some veggies, rolls and a slice of pie for dessert. It was good and not Zone friendly!

Friday the gym had one workout for everyone. It was a tabata mash up with HSPU, Wall Ball, Ring push ups and SDHP. You keep score by counting only the lowest number rep at each station. Mine were 2 at the HSPU (I did negs), 6 at wall ball (20#) 6 at ring push ups (did them from my knees so that I could get full range of motion) and 10 on SDHP (65#). So my total would be 24. Had the day off of work so I took care of things around the house and got ready for the trip out to the desert that I was going to go on with Josh and Jes from Washington.

Saturday and Sunday I was out in Anza-Borrego again with Josh and Jes. We camped in Hawk canyon and did a few hikes near camp the first night. Then on Sunday we went to Blair Valley and hiked Smugglers canyon and looked at pictographs, and then did Cool canyon to look at the plants that like in the canyon. Both hikes were really cool and we had a really good time. The H’s were in town for a conference and it was really good to be able to hangout with them. Here is a picture of the three of us in The Slot at Anza-Borrego.




Monday WOD: 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 burpee pull-up and the 2 power clean in between each round. 95# Time: 14:40 I really liked this workout. I am strong on the cleans and one pull-up is really easy for me. So it was just the cardio of the burpees combined with the pull-up that took awhile. But overall a fun and that was challenging but fun!


Tuesday WOD: Front Squat I was pretty disappointed with my weight on this one. I feel like I should be able to do more and went home pretty distressed. Oh well you can't get what you want all of the time. My series went 129 - 139 - 149 (f) - 144 - 149 (f). FUCK REALLY WANTED 149! This is a PR for me anyway. Last time it was 133#. So an 11# increase is pretty good.



Wednesday WOD 5 rounds of 5 reps (push jerk, right lunge, left lunge, push press, right lunge, left lunge) 15KTE. 45# I really flew through the OH Lung progression and should have gone up in weight but I knew that I would be slow on the KTE. That was the case but I was still able to do the 45# pretty easily. So my time was fast 13:44 but I should have gone up in weight. I need to push myself more.

In the desert!

So I went out to the desert for the weekend and haven't had the time to write until now. So here is the workout scoop:

Wednesday WOD: Fran Gone Bad: 90 seconds max effort thrusters (65#), 90 seconds max effort pull-ups and 90 seconds max effort burpee box jump 20'' box. 3 rounds. Just like fight gone bad you had a 60 second rest in between each round. This workout totally sucked. My arms were spent from Monday's workout and deadlifts. My total score was 144.

Thursday was a rest day

Friday WOD 21-15-9 Hang squat cleans 75# and ring dips. 7:04 Still have to do ring dips from the toes. Which sucks but i still can't do ring dips. The cleans were easy and I should have gone up in weight.

Saturday and Sunday I went out to the Anza-Borrego desert. I wanted to check out some of the washes and the desert. This was the first time I have been out there and it was really cool. I really like the desert. I want to go back. I had a kit fox come right up into my camp and drink from the water bowl. I saw a trantula and had to deal with cholla and Max. But all in all it was amazing and the scenery and the stars were just amazing. I really like the desert and I just feel drawn to it. Here are some good pictures from the trip.

Monday WOD: Fran 6:14. Hell ya mo fo's how do you like that time! This was just about a 2 minute improvement from last time I did Fran and I feel like I could have cut that down a bit. I need to continue to work on that butterfly kip and get my rhythm and I think I can get it to under 6 pretty easily. Overall it felt really good and I was stoked to see my time when I finished.

Back in SD

I have to say first and foremost that the friends that I have made since going to Crossfit Coronado are amazing and have become people that I want to have in my life for the rest of my life. It was really nice to come back to the gym on Monday and feel like I was coming home. All of the faces and the hugs were great and it made me feel like I am creating a great community of people in my life here in San Diego. Crossfit has done a lot for me in a lot of different ways but the most amazing thing that it has done is brought amazing, caring and supportive people in my life. Not only in San Diego but also in Portland. I can still go back to my gym in Portland or workout with my old trainer and its like we've been hanging out since I left. That's cool and there are not a lot of other things, places, exercise programs that can't say the same.

I took both Saturday and Sunday off. Needed the rest, traveling and had a football game.

As for working out...it was fun to come back and get into the grueling workouts designed by Andy Stumpf. Oh how I have missed them!

Monday WOD: "Isabindy" (Isabell and Cindy) 3 rounds 10 squat snatch, 5 rounds of Cindy (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats)

So let me do the math for you. That is 75 pull-ups, 150 push-ups and 225 squats plus the 30 full squat snatches. This one was brutal in many different ways. First: It was a long one. My time was 34:00. That is a long workout and a mental challenge to continue to push through it. Second were the fucking push-ups. Damn those were hard. I was only good for straight 10 for the first round. Then it became 3 - 3 - 2 - 2 or 3 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 and lastly sets of ones at the end. Yuck. What was a positive note to all of it is that I was able to work in the butterfly kip and I'm getting it. It will take more time to get the flow but it totally helped speed up the pull ups of cindy. NICE!

Tuesday WOD: Deadlift 1 -1 - 1 - 1 - 1 going for max weight
I had to go to the morning class on Tuesday and it is nice to get the workout done and have the rest of the day to be able to do whatever you need to. But I go to the gym in the morning without looking at what the workout is so I don't have the opportunity to look at past pr or times from other workouts. So I went into this one not really sure what my PR deadlift was. I thought it was 231 but it ended up being 237. Doesn't matter because now it is 246. Nice. That is a good increase for me. I know that the lift was not pretty and it took awhile for me to get the bar fully up but it got up. Like Lori said "as long as it gets up we are happy." Oh Lori. You crack me up.

Starting to feel pretty sore tonight. My sholder and elbow don't hurt from doing butterfly kips. Something I have been told to watch because a lot of people have gotten hurt from doing them. My legs are tired and a little stiff. We'll see how they feel tomorrow morning .

Working out in Portland

I am very lucky that I know people up here in Portland and that makes it easier for me to get workouts in while I am away from the gym.

Wednesday WOD: 3 rounds 10 push jerks, 20 hang power cleans, 30 deadlifts 65# Time 11:34 When Nichole said that this was going to be the workout and the weight that I was going to use I thought that it was going to be lite. But my forearms and grip was killing me by middle of round 2. It was hard to hold on the the bar while I was doing the cleans. Overall a good workout. I like it because my grip strength is weak and by working on that it will help with pull-ups and kettlebell swings.

Thursday WOD AMRAP in 10 minutes of 250m row, 12 slam balls (16#) 5 and a half rounds. This was a good short one to get the heart rate up pretty quickly. I don't get to row as much as I would like and this workout just reminded me how much rowing sucks. But a good one.

Friday: Rest day

It sure is green up here

It's fall in Oregon. The leaves are different colors, the air is crisp and there is just a bit of rain in the air. It is really nice. We went to the Japanese Gardens today. Here are a few pictures.





This week is going to be busy but I am going to be able to get in some workouts. Monday was a rest day. This morning I went back to Recreate Fitness and did a workout at the old gym with Nathan and Tina. I am going to try

Tuesday WOD: 45 sec on 15 sec off 4 rounds hand to hand KB swings, box jumps, sandbag cleans, figure 8's to hold with KB, renegade lungs. It was a lot different then I usually do but it was enjoyable and I am glad that I did.

Hopefully tomorrow I can workout with Nichole at Crossfit Clackamas after the conference. It will be good to get a workout in with her. I know she is strong so it will be interesting to see how I hang.

In P-town

On Friday I traveled to Portland for a couple of reasons. I am working all next week and attending the NAI conference. It is going to be a great conference and I am excited about what I can potentially learn. The conference is Tuesday thorough Saturday.

I came up early to attend a level one cert for Crossfit. I was interested to see how much more I would learn at the Cert. There was a lot that I had already learned through the work that I have been doing at Coronado but there was some other stuff that was really interesting. I don't really know a lot about programming or parts of the nutrition concepts but these were covered and I got a lot from them. Plus I was able to talk to a lot of other people and ask them a bunch of questions. Nadia was there and my goodness that chick is strong. Something to strive for that's for sure. So I think above all the thing about attending the cert is that I get excited about Crossfit, the programming, the workouts, the people and everything about it. Plus it also gets me excited to go back to the gym that I workout at and do these crazy workouts with all of my friends. The people that I workout with and sweat with and push the boundaries with are people that have become a real piece of my life and I miss them.

One of the major highlights that I am going to work on is the butterfly kip. I was able to do a few at the gym and I think that I like these a lot more then regular kipping. Just the fact that I was able to do a few was exciting and I can't wait to get back to the gym and practice more. This is where I want to go with pull-ups. If butterfly's are fast and more efficient why spend the time learning kipping. I was able to get the rhythm on a few but was not able to get above the bar. So I like these and am going to continue to work on them.

So back to the WODS
Thursday: Helen 3 rounds 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings and 12 pull-ups. Time 12:31
So this was a minute and a half slower then my last time. Here are my thoughts on that. Last time I did helen it was a Monday. So I was fully rested from the weekend. Where as this time I did it on Thursday. My fourth workout of the week. I also think that my pull-up times were slower this go around. So something to think about.

I am going to start to do a 3 on 1 off routine as much as possible for the next month or so to see how I feel. This was something that was talked about at the Cert and I see the logic. So I am going to apply it to my life for a bit and see how it goes.

Friday - rest day for travel

Saturday: FRAN yup that's right. They had us do Fran at the Cert. My time 8:11. Not bad. The fastest prescribed girl time was 7:24. So about 40 seconds slower. I went 21 straight thruster, 8 then 7 thrusters and then 5 and 4. The pull-ups are still slowing me down. I hate them and this just made it very clear that I need to work on these more and more.

Sunday: I am tired and I can feel my legs. But a workout was needed to be done. It was AMRAP of 7 med ball cleans, 7 burpees. I was able to get 11 rounds. My legs are tired!

I am going to go and workout tomorrow to start the 3 on 1 off routine. I get to workout with Nichole and that will be fun. I think we are going to be doing some back squats. We shall see.

Start of November

So it looks like I am resorting to a once a week posting…oh well

Workout data

Thursday WOD: AMRAP of 20 Double Unders, 10 HSPU, 5 squat cleans – 7 rounds
Double unders have gotten a lot easier for me and that really helped with this workout. I was able to get through those pretty quickly. I decided to do HSPU from a box instead of negatives, and went with 99# for squat cleans. Squat cleans are a comfortable movement for me and I like them so I tend to go heavier when I can. Plus all of the smaller weights were being used by the other ladies so it was just easier to use the 10K’s and 5lbs.

Friday WOD Fight Gone Bad – Heavy
So the usual weight for women on FGB is 55# and this time it was calling for 65# SDHP and PP. I have done FGB with the men’s weight and my score was 220 so I was shooting for 300. That didn’t happen. I wasn’t able to start with wall ball and I hate to admit it but that right there was a mental block for me.

Here are my numbers
Round One: SDHP 28, BJ 21, PP 20, Row 15, WB 19 = 103
Round Two: SDHP 20, BJ 20, PP 13, Row 15, WB 15 = 83
Round Three: SDHP 17, BJ 19, PP 11, Row 13, WB 15 = 75
Total 261

So my number was 40 points higher then when I did it with 75# but I would have liked to seen a higher number. It is the PP that really kicks my butt. Need to work on those. My row numbers were higher when I did it with 75#. Interesting.

Saturday I had to work and then Sunday I had a football game and then Max and I went on a hike at Cottonwood Creek. Here are two pics from the trip.


Monday WOD: Squat Snatch 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1
Still stuck at 90# BUT the depth that I got when I did 85# and 90# was really good and got me pretty happy. I got all the way down into the full squat and had to stand to up. That was cool.

Tuesday WOD: 5 400m sprints
YUCK times ranged between 1:27 - 1:35. Good cardio work.

Wednesday WOD
SP 1 – 1 – 1 – 1
PP 3 – 3 – 3 – 3
PJ 5 – 5 – 5 – 5

This was one of the workouts that I did when I started the blog. The bad thing is that I have been going to the morning class and that means I don’t know what my PR’s are or what my time was because I don’t have the time (or make the time) to check out my notes before I head to class. This is something that I am going to have to change because for me there is a lot of mental motivation that goes through on in my head when I know what my last times, PR’s were and that I want to break them.

So not knowing what I did last time I am not really happy with these numbers:
SP: 65, 75, 85, 90 (f),
PP: 95, 100, 105, 110,
PJ: 110 (3), 95, 100, 105

Compared to my last numbers.
Shoulder press: 85# is PR
Push press number went up from 95 to 110 (awesome)
Push Jerk still at 110

So some progress and some things to still work on. That’s the thing about Crossfit. Always something to work on.

As for diet…well it has been pretty bad. I have had a hunkering for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies lately. This has resulted in me fluctuating in weight. Right now I am near 150. I know that if I went back to Zone hardcore I would drop a quick 5 pounds. Knowing that I think I don’t worry about it too much. But in terms of workout times and how I progress the extra weight does not help. Ideally I think I would like to be around 140 but that would mean that I would have to be a real hardass about diet. One of my goals is to be able to do a body weight overhead squat.

Feeling strong

Thursday WOD: 200m run, 50 KB swings 35#, 400m run, 40 KB swings, 600m run, 30 KB swings, 800m run, 20 KB swings. Time 18:11. This one sucked really bad. I thought I was going to throw up. I think it was just the mix of KB swings and the running. We only ended up running a mile and a half but all of the KB swings just do a number on the body. I was spent. After 20 minutes of recovery I felt good. Overall a good workout.

Friday WOD: 5 rounds 5 reps, 15 pull-ups (1 power snatch, 3 OHS = 1 rep) Time 18:11 I know that I am good at doing OHS and snatchs are hard but not grueling so I thought about going heavy but ended up sticking with 65 to get the pull-ups in all kipping. This was a tough one but one that I really like because it makes me focus more on my technique rather then going for a PR.

Monday WOD: Back squats – really didn’t workout much today. I had fun sort of training and working with a group of girls. The classes have been really crowded and I wasn’t really their mentally for the class when it is that big. It was fun to work with the girls and push them to try to get more weights on the back squats.

Tuesday WOD: Easy Fran 21-15-9 95# thrusters and weighted pull-up (12#) I was able to do the 95# thrusters but wasn’t able to get the weight to stay in between my legs and I really use my legs to get up to the bar so I just decided to do strict kipping the whole way. My time was 12:50. Not too bad. I am happy with that. It makes me really interested to see what my Fran time will be when we do it next.

Wednesday WOD: 5 rounds 400m run, 30 sit-ups 25 push-ups Time: 23:01 Push-ups kill me. I have to break those up into set of 10 then 5 and then 2’s by the end. I was happy with the speed at which I was running. I think that I am going to get a watch so that I can see how I progress through a workout. I would like to have known how long the thrusters compared to pull ups took me or what were my split times on the run. This information would be useful.

I have been thinking a lot lately if I would be interested in training. A few Friday’s ago I was at Priscillas house and we had a conservation about the need to have more female trainers at the gym. She said that she thought I would be a good trainer. I had thought about it a bit but really wasn’t too sure. But then later the following week Melanie and Claudia both asked when was I going to start to train. Then last night I was hanging out with Kelly and she said that I would be a good trainer because I have gained a lot of respect from both the females in the class as well as the males. I think about it a lot and think that I would be good and I really like to see the other people in the gym get strong and work with them to help achieve their goals. But at the same time I am a little hesitant because of the amount of time and the commitment that it will take. I love Crossfit and w it has done for me but I don’t want it to be who I am or consume all hours . I don’t know. I think I will talk to Andy about it when he gets back into town and also see how the OLY-Cert goes

New PR's

Tuesday: Tabata one arm dumbell snatches and ring dips. Did the snatches with a 25# dumbell and the dips from a box. These are not my favorite workouts because (to be totally honest) I don't push myself. I'm not being timed, I'm not competing against anyone and I'm only accountable to myself. So for the first round I went hard and was able to get in 10 snatches and 8 ring dips. From there I tired to continue to get that over the course of the workout and almost did except for a round or two of ring dips.

Wednesday: OHS 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 I was excited when I saw this on the blog. I like overhead squats and it has been awhile since I have gone for a one rep max. I was able to get 134#. Which is not only a new PR for OHS but also for my push jerk. So it was a good day.

Wednesday afternoon I headed up to Los Angeles to meet up with my buddy Frank from Oregon. He was in town to see Martin Sexton at the House of Blues and asked if I wanted to come along. I like Frank. He's a good guy and I have a lot of fun when I hangout with him. The concert was good and it was a nice trip to LA.

I need to stay on top of this!

This would be so much easier to keep on top of if I had internet in my room. But no! I have to do this at the kitchen table and it's just not very comfortable. But here you go.

Wednesday: Deadlifts 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 Shoot for a new PR. Set a new PR at 237. I think the series went something like 207, 217, 227,232 ,237. Not a bad showing. Worked with PW and that was fun. I think we both push each other pretty hard.

Thursday: I had to work in Seal beach so I checked the CrossFit main page and found that crossfit laguna beach had a 5pm class that I could get to in time. So I gave them a call, talked to Jimmy and he said it would be fine if I came to the class. So I did. I really like checking out other gyms. The workout for the day was 7 rounds of 4 snatches, 4 OHS, 4 ealking lunges, 21 sit-ups. Not a very hard workout. I was the first one done. Time was 9:54 and I used 35#. Should have done 45#

Friday: I wanted to check out John Welbournes gym in Newport Beach so I went to that gym Friday at 9am and worked out with Max. Great gym to workout with and a fun coach. He had some really good cues for me while I was doing deadlifts and yalked shit with me every though he barely knew me. I liked that. The workout was deadlifts 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3. Try to get your max three set PR for deadlifts. Mine was an even 200. Even after the early deadlifts in the week. I felt a little tired but was happy with 200. Then we did a met-con that was amap of push-ups and sit-up. 5 rounds. I don't really like these types of workouts because I don't push myself hard enough. I need a goal or a time to shoot for. Or even someone to compete against.

Saturday and Sunday were rest days. I had a football game and went on a 5 mile hike with the dog. Good times.

Monday: 5 rounds of 6 deadlifts, 6 hand cleans, 6 front squats, 6 push presses, 6 back squats and 6 push-up. Bar cannot be put down anytime during the workout. I went heavier then prescribed and did 75#. Time was 11:54. I really felt this one in the shoulders. My arms were screaming when I went from the cleans to the squats and then into the push presses. Oh it was painful. But a good one!

Here you have it

A new week has begun. And here is how it has started....

Monday: Front squat 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3. Try to get your 3 rep max and nit your one rep max. Here's how I went 89 - 109 - 114 - 119 - 124. Not bad. The last set of 124 was a challenge but I was able to get all 3.

Tuesday: Partner workout 10 rounds of 7 wall ball (12#) and 7 burpees. I worked out with Kelly and Laura. This one was pretty deceiving. It doesn't sound too hard but around round 4 "oh god." Our times was 11:32. I pushed Kelly to use the heavier ball and she hurt afterwards but was glad that she went heavy.

So I was programming I think I would do something like Tabata Something else. That's squats, push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups. This would engage the legs that are going to be sore from the squats on Monday and the wall balls today but it's tabata so not too bad. Plus it would get people on the bars for pull-ups and I think the gym as a whole needs these. Who knows. We'll just have to see what we have in store.

As for diet. It has been pretty bad. I have been eating out a lot and eating a lot of sweets. I have been craving cookies and ice cream lately. So I need to get on the wagon and jump back into Zone hard this week and next and see how different I feel. Oh it's just so hard at times!

IT'S BEEN A KILLER WEEK

Week in review!

Monday "Helen" 3 rounds 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings and 12 pullups. Did 35# KB and all KPU. Time 11:20

Tuesday "Diane" 21-15-9 Deadlift, HSPU's 143# DL and toes on Mt. Whittney Time: 5:10

Wednesday 21-15-9 Squat Clean, ring dips. 95# squat clean and ring dips with toes on box. Steve had a stopwatch issue so time was uncertain.

Thursday
Find you 3 rep max of push jerk 3 - 3- 3 - 3 - 3. Kayla and I paired up and found our 1 rep max 125# and went down to 105 - 105 - 105 - 105 - 110. Good stuff

Friday
Tri by Fran: 21-15-9 thrusters pull-ups but the weight went from 45# first round 65# second and down to 45# for the third. This was a tough one but a really successful one for me on the kipping side of things. Really starting to get the hang of them and able to string more and more in a row. Was not able to do the whole workout kipping because I did not want to rip. So the last 15 and 9 were jumping.

What a fucking week!

I'm busy

This is going to be quick because I want to go to bed. I have been working a lot lately and I had to get up really early today so i am going to try to get to bed early tonight for a few extra hours of sleep. I need it.

Workouts
Thursday: Squat Snatch 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1. I went 65 - 75 - 85 - 90 - 95(f). So I'm still stuck at a 90# snatch

Friday: 3 rounds with a partners of: 50 HSPU's, 50 Deadlifts, 50 KTE's, farmers carry and 800m run. Weight was 143# deadlift and 35# farmers carry. 45:53. I partnered up with Gene and we had a good time. A touch workout in celebration of Steve's b-day.

Took the weekend off. Stick to the diet at about the 75% level. I'm interested to see what I will way in the morning.

Catch up

So I haven't posted in a few days so I need to catch up with workout information and a few food details. So here it goes!



Monday WOD: 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 -3 Back Squat. The point was figure out what is your three rep max. Not a one rep max but what weight can you successfully get 3 squats in. I started with 133 and 143. Tried 151 and was only able to get two, So I dropped down and got 3 at 141 and then 3 at 146. So that is what my 3 rep max is. Crazy that 5 pounds made such a big difference.



Tuesday WOD: 4 rounds: 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings (35#) 21 knees to elbows. KTE suck. But this workout really worked grip strength and my forearms were really sore. From swinging the kettlebells and then holding myself on the bar. Time was 20:11



Wednesday I had to go to the morning class because Andy has a ceremony in the evening that a lot of people from the gym are going to. So I rolled out of bed really early and trekked over the bridge. The WOD was "BEAR" 5 rounds: of the sequence power clean, front squat, push press, back squat, push press. 7 times. So for one round you do a total of 35 of each of those exercises. It was a partner workout where you get to rest while the other is working. The bar can not get set on the ground or else you have to start at zero. I worked with Carrie who is a ton of fun and a good workout partner. Our time was 31:49. It was a grind of a workout to get through but we did it.



I have not been really good when it comes to diet. I had half an kit lat bar and some M&M's yesterday. I really don't know why but I was craving sweets all day. The candy was really good. I did feel a bit crummy with the workout on Tuesday. It could be because of the candy, or the heat, or the lack of water. Who knows.



The thing about the Zone is that it's not hard to figure out how to eat within the diet. The hardest thing is just sticking with it. You just really need to stick with it. That's the hard part. I don't need a lot of variety in my diet and I eat at home most of the time so I am able to control what I eat. It's just that I wanted candy yesterday and I made the decision to eat it and not stick within the diet. That was the decision.



Since Sean is out of town I decided to put up my rings and play with them a bit on the front porch. I have been practicing ring dips, negatives and the transition for the muscle up. It is nice to have them set up and be able to walk right outside the door and play around with them when I get back from taking out the garbage. So hopefully this will improve the areas where I need a lot of work.

Christine!

So on Saturday I did Christine. 3 rounds: 500m Row, Bodyweight Deadlifts (143#) 21 box jumps (20'' box). My legs were screaming and I had to break up the deadlifts 7-5, 4-4-4, 4-4-4. Time was 12:30. It is tougher then it looks. It always works out that way with CrossFit workouts. You see the WOD and it doesn't look too bad but then when you get into the first rounds you start to think "what did I get myself into?"

As for the rest of the weekend. Had to work a lot of Saturday here and there throughout the Complex. Saturday night went out with Christy and her brother to a Thai restaurant downtown and then a 30th birthday party for someone I don't know. Lynn from flag football invited us and we thought it would be fun just to go for a bit. The party was in this fancy bar. They rented it out for his birthday. Open bar, cake, cheese and Breakfast at Tiffany's playing on the wall. As ore and more people started to show up Christy and I realized we went not in fashion and the 80's tights are back. We saw a girl wearing them at the bar. Crazy! But glad that I went out and had a fun night hanging out.

Sunday we had our first flag football game for the season. We are going to be good and there are two people on the team that played with us in the past that are back on the team. I really like them. They are fun and add to the team. We killed the other team this morning. 33 - 0. It will be a fun season!

Push press with a little something something on the side!

Today was a good workout at the gym. WOD: 5 rounds - 5 power cleans, 10 push presses, 15 deadlifts. 80# I could have gone heavier weight. I was able to do all of the cleans and the deadlifts without breaking them up. I was able to do the first 10 push presses then I broke it up 7 - 3, 5 - 3 - 2, 4 - 3 - 3, 4 - 3 - 3. So I think if I had gone up at least to 90# it would have been more diffcut for me on the push presses but in a good way. Push presses are a weak spot for me anyway. So something to think about when we do a similar workout. Time was 10:01. As for food I was okay. I had a cookie at the Slough that was really yummy but not in the daily plan. So I ate less carbs at dinner and didn't eat a snack before I worked out. It was a really good cookie!

Tomorrow I have to work here and there but I am going to take a break during the day to get in a workout. I am not sure what I am going to do but thinking Christine might be a good one. I have to check on what prescribe weight is. You know a little rowing, deadlifts and box jumps. The good stuff.

Here are a few pictures of the hikes that I went on while I was in Oregon. I sure do miss rivers and lush green forest!

How about them Beavs!

Once again the Beavs knock off USC! This time the Trojans were ranked #1 and once again the Beavs beat 'em. Man it was a good game. I have to be honest and say there was a point when I was worried that the beavs were not going to be able to hold on to the win but they did it. Sure wish I was still in Corvallis. Man it is going to be one big party in C-town tonight! Here is a picture from the wedding. The reception was at the football stadium and I was able to get down onto the field for some pictures. You can't tell but I am still in my heels!

It was hard to leave the northwest. It is just a pretty time of year and I miss all of my friends. They are such great people and I am lucky to have them in my life. I was able to go on a few hikes, pick chanterelles, and enjoy some good wine. All in all a great trip.

While I was in Oregon the diet was not too bad. I tried to stick with at least two Zone meals. I didn't drink as much as I thought I was going to so that was good. My weight didn't fluctuate too much. Nothing more then a crazy weekend down here. So I consider that a huge accomplishment.

Now I'm back in SD. Glad to be home to sleep in my own bed (even though the air mattress that Steph set up for me was comfy) and happy to spend time with Max. I sure did miss him while I was gone. Also bad to the gym. There were a few workouts that I was bummed to miss while I was gone and a few that I was just fine missing. It feels really good to be back at it full time.

Here are the last two WOD's
Wednesday: With the clock running do one pull-up one minute, two pull-ups at two minutes and so forth. Do kipping until failure and then switch to jumping. Go until you can not get the necessary amount. I was able to get to 9 kipping and then 33 jumping. It made a big difference when Andy pulled some plates off of my box. I had to use my upper body a lot more and couldn't rely on my legs.

Thursday: Max effort for 30 seconds of push-up's, sit-up's and turkish get-ups. Rest 2 min
Max effort for 1 min ".....". Rest 1:30 min
Max effort 1:30 min "......". Rest 1 min
Max effort 2 min "......". Rest 30 seconds
My numbers were 22-15-3, 23-30-8, 24-45-9, 30-55-12
I am glad to see that I was able to increase my number for push-ups each time. I am getting stronger here and it feels good to see that improvements.

On vacation

So for all of you that are following my blog (Mom and my Crossfit friends) here is a quick update.

Been in Oregon now for over a week. Got in a CrossFit workout at Recreate Fitness on Friday Sept 12 and then went and worked out with Scott at Crossfit Portland on Saturday. Monday I did kind of the same workout as the gym but had to do hang cleans (instead of power) and jerk. Got to 11 and then went down to 0 on the minute (11, 10, 9, 8...) with full squat clean with no press. Tuesday went on a 9 mile hike. Wednesday did tabata ring planks, air squats, sit-ups and burpees with a guy named Ryan. Thursday went on a hike and picked chanterelles and Friday morning (today) I did 400m lunges.

I have been okay when it comes to food. Not horrible but not great. Drinking a lot of beer and eating freaking good apple crisps and cake. Definitely not Zone. But I have been getting in some workouts and that makes me feel better. Tomorrow I am going to get up early, before the wedding day festivities begin and get in a good one: 5 rounds: 400m run, 20 squats, 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups. We'll see how it goes.

Pirates in the Bay!

So I went to the 6am workout this morning. It wasn’t too hard to get out of bed but I think it took a little longer for the muscles to warm up. The drive over sucked. I was surprised at the number of people who drive over the bridge. It was traffic at 5:30am. That’s just nuts. The people in the class were great and it was nice to workout with a new group.

The morning WOD was 5 rounds: 20 pull-ups, 30 push-ups and 40 sit-ups. Rest 2 minutes between rounds. My times were 3:55, 4:44, 4:41, 4:59, 5:01. The first round I did all kipping. The rest of the rounds I did 10 kipping and 20 jumping (Andy made us go 2:1 jumping) push-ups on toes and ab-mat sit ups with anchor. The push-up were the piece that took the most amount of time. 30 push-ups are a lot and I hate them. It was nice to get the workout in though. Now I’m off to Portland. While I am in Portland I am going to workout at the old gym on Friday night and check out CrossFit Portland on Saturday morning. Sunday will be a rest day. I am going to try to stay with it while I am gone. Andy is going to give me a few workouts to do and told me to bring my rings. So I just need to make sure to motivate myself to actually do the workouts.

Yesterday’s WOD was nasty…SPRINTS
Partner workout: 10 200m sprints, 6 400m sprints and lastly 4 800m sprints. Man I am not a sprinter. I much prefer to go long distances over long periods. Francis and I partnered up and I know that I made it harder for her then she did for me. I had a lot more rest time. But she pushed through it and it will make her stronger!

The picture is what I saw this morning as I was coming into work. It reminds me of a pirate ship. I think it is really pretty. I would like to see what it looks like on the inside. I bet it has a lot of nice woodwork.

Fight Gone Bad. Need I say more

This one is killer. No matter how many times you do it or how many ways you try to rationalize it in your head it sucks. I mean really sucks. Last time I did this I went with men's weight so I decided to do it again prescribed men. There was a fleeting second or two right before we started that I thought I should go with female weight but nah! Here are how my numbers looked:

Round One: WB 25 SDHP 17 BJ 19 PP 12 Row 18 - 91 total
Round Two: WB 15 SDHP 12 BJ 20 PP 8 Row 17 - 72 total
Round Three: WB 10 SDHP 10 BJ 15 PP 8 Row 14 - 57 total
Total: 220

So this is a 4 point increase since the last time I did this back towards the end of July. So that is good. Plus this is the first time that I have done it jumping onto the box. So I am really happy with my number. I need to use the heavier wall ball more often cause that is what sucked the most. If I could get that number up as well as my Push Press. Oh the things to work on.

Dinner was a salad with tomatoes, pepperjack cheese and this tofu taco meat that Sean made up. It was tasty. To get a balanced carb block I had a slice of the homemade bread with a little honey on it. Probably more carbs then needed but it is high in fiber and really tasty! I mean you can't pass on homemade bread.

Quick and easy

So tonight I wasn't really in the mood to cook and I am trying to get rid of the odds and ends in the fridge before I head out of town so I quickly made these egg burritos.

2 corn tortillas (3 blocks carbs. These were ones that Sean had and high on the carb side. Not ones I would buy), 2 eggs (2 blocks protein), 1 oz pepperjack cheese (1 block protein, 3 blocks fat) and some salsa.

Not a very big dinner so I am interested to see how I feel in a few hours. I will be headed for bed in a few hours so it might really not make a difference. Since I have gone down in total blocks I don't have a snack before I go to bed. It really hasn't been that big of an issue.

Strength day at the gym today. Back squats 3 -3 -3 and Front squats 3 - 3 - 3 I went 119, 133, 153 on the back squat and 119, 129 and 139 (for only one) on the Front Squat. Overall a good day. The gym was packed and it was good to see some new people in the gym on a strength day. Overall a good Monday!

Aaron is placed on the DL!

So Aaron never did make it back to the gym. He felt okay on Friday but I guess on Saturday he was really sore and had to roll out of bed. He said he had a really hard time walking to the bathroom. That made me laugh. He said maybe when he felt better he might come back and get in another workout. I said that's cool and let him know to check 0ut the CrossFit site and see if there are gyms up there that he might want to check out. I said that I would even go up there with him if he wanted.

As for eating....I am dialed in during the week. When I can pack my lunch, eat what i have at the house, and snack on the "packages" that i have put together. When I put myself in situations where other food is available to me that is not Zone friendly is when I fall off target. This usually happens on the weekend when I go to concert in the park, or have drinks with friends. The choices that I make during this time are not horrible for me but they are just not what i should be eating. Like I'll have a handful of trailmix with cherries and chocolate. I'm just talking about a handful but the number of nuts, dried fruit and chocolate that comes in that handful puts me over the top in terms of carbs and fat. And we're talking about just a handful.

The workout at the gym on Friday was miserable. It was called "WTF." This one was a tough one. AMRAP in 20 min of 15 deadlifts, 10 back squats and 5 overhead squats. Since it was Friday and I pushed myself all week I decided to stick with it and went with 75#. Man it was tough. I really felt it in my lower back and abs during the squats and then my shoulders were screaming on the overheads. I got 8 rounds and a few deadlifts. On Saturday Mike M. ran the course and we did a king of low key not too intense 3 rounds of 10 burpees, 15 wall balls, 20 box jumps, 25 sit-ups and a farmers carry down and back. I did 12# wall ball, 24 inch box and 35# farmers carry. Time was something like 18:27. It was a good one and I felt pretty strong.

Then I went and watched the Beavs get crushed by Penn State. UGLY. I spent more time sitting in the yard getting sun then watching the game because I just couldn't take it. Oh the Beavs continue to break my heart!

Aaron comes to the gym!

So yesterday Aaron (my brother) came into town and we were going to do dinner at 6pm. Well I thought it might be fun for him to come to the gym and check out what CrossFit is all about. I checked what the WOD for the day was going to be and it was pretty scaleable and pretty easy. The only complex movement was the kettlebell swings. So I asked if he was interested and he said sure. It made me smile because I really don't think he knew what he had just committed himself too. I met him at the house and we carpooled over to the gym together. I introduced him to Andy and the first question he asked Aaron was "have you ever done CrossFit before?" Aaron said no and then the next thing he was told to do was fill out the release form. That's the first thing you do when you start CrossFit.

So the WOD was a partner workout: 3 rounds of 25 push-ups, 15 wall balls, 25 kettlebell swings and 15 box jumps. A partner workout means that each person has to complete all of the reps but only one partner can work at a time. So we broke things up. Like I'd do 10 push-ups then he would do 10 and so forth. He pushed through the push-ups and wall balls but I think it was at the kettlebells that he realized that this is really going to suck. He finished the swings and started to do jump ups onto the box but that quickly turned into step ups. Start of round 2 he was already hurting. It became knee push-up and broken wall balls and kettlebell swings. He was grunting through it. It actually was good for him and I kind of enjoyed watching him push through. Not only are the workouts challenging for the body but there is also a mental toughness that goes along with all of it. There are points were you seriously question if you can keep going and it takes a lot to convince yourself that you can. It's tough. We did the prescribed weight for women 10# wall ball and 35# kettlebell. Time was 23:21. Not bad for someone who has never done CrossFit and had me next to him the whole time encouraging him on.

As the rest of the night progressed he started to get sore and walked a little funny. But he said it was a good sore. Today he sent me a text and said it was hard for him to get out of bed but he is interested in coming to the free Saturday workout. So that's a good sign. I know he won't join the gym or anything but at least he is doing something active and it's kind of a kick in the ass to show you that your not in great shape and there is a lot more that you can be doing. I was there!

thunder, thunder, thunder clouds

So about 60 miles east from where I work is a desert. Which is kind of weird to think about since I practically work on the ocean. But the Imperial Valley is only an hour drive and right now they are having temperature near 110 degrees everyday. So that means every afternoon these really cool thunderheads form to the east. I like to sit at the picnic table at work and just watch them develop. They are cool. Big puffy white things that rise up. They are always calling for flash flood warning and rain showers in the afternoon. It would be nice for us to get a thunder storm here on the west side but I don't think it is going to happen. Sean says every once in awhile we get them but they are pretty rare. Would be cool!

WOD: NANCY 5 rounds 15 Overhead Squats and 400m run. Went heavy today with 75# Was going to do only 65# but a girl in the gym needed the 10# plates so Andy switched mine and I got the 15's. I wasn't too grumpy about it. I am strong when it comes to overhead squats and my legs were not too tired from yesterday's workout. So why not....go heavy! Time was 18:29. I could have shaved off some time here and there but overall I am glad with this time. Can't wait to see Nancy again later in the year. After the workout we did a little extra credit L-sit work. This was something I kind of requested. We never to them and they are something that I want to get better at to eventually be able to get the L pull-up. Tabata L-sits yikes. People at the gym were not happy with me but I think they secretly enjoyed it!

P.S. I'm eating tortilla chips!

Oh Carbs how much do love thee.....

I could go for a big bowl of chips and some salsa right now. I like chips that are salty and let's be honest the ones that a little on the greasy side are the best! Oh goodness. It is interesting to see how you body reacts and what it really craves when you start to regulate what you give it. I had to walk behind a bagel shop today to go to the ATM and as I walked past a truck was delivering the bagels to be cooked for tomorrow morning. All I could smell was fresh bread and that yeasty smell. I started to salivate a bit. Then I started to make a list in my head of all of the bread like things that I have not had in a really long time. Garlic bread (you know the kind you get from the Olive garden), bagels, thick and homemade french toast, cinnamon rolls, and donuts. Oh a glazed donut or a maple bar. Wow, I could only imagine what that would do to my glycemic index and blood sugar. Sometimes I wish computers had a key to represent huge amounts of sarcasm because I can't believe I even wrote the last line.

So Steph if you're reading this the following story is for you. I hope it makes you giggle.....

Yesterday around 5:30 I was bored and I really didn't have anything to do at the house so I decided to go to Eddie Bauer in the Fashion Valley Mall to try on some Cords that I saw in the catalog and really liked. So that was the plan. Go to EB and try on cords. That's generally how I shop. I know what I want or what I'm looking for, go to the store that has it, try it on and buy it. Go home. I really have never been a shopper. Shopping really is not something that I enjoy doing. Well for some weird reason I was in a shopping mood yesterday. Even though I wasn't going to buy anything because I'll wait till I'm in Oregon and won't have to pay sales tax. So really I was just going to go and try them on. Which is even more bizarre.

I parked on the far side were the crowds were less and had to walk through Nordstroms to get into the mall. As I was walking through I saw that they were having their big Labor Day Weekend Shoe Sale. Oh I though this might be fun! So off to the sale rack to see what kind of crazy heels I could try to break my ankle in. It's even better for someone like me because the shoes on sale are already organized by size. I found these black stilettos that were really sexy. Why not. Then there were these cream colored small one inch sandal things that were cute and totally more practical but that was not was I was going for. So I pick the leopard print open toe number with some straps that go up my leg. We all know how I handle weird straps. A sales rep caught me attention and he asked if he could get something from the back for me to try on. I gave him the two I had picked and he was off. I had a seat and took a good look at what I currently had on my feet. Reef sandals that are worn down to the point were if I step on a rock just in the right spot it hurts like a mother because I have worn all of the cushion.

Well the nice man came back with the shoes I had chose and then left. You know I really don't get the whole high heel thing. Who thought that it would be a good idea to walk in something that picks her heel off the ground 4 inches and have her balance on the balls of her feet. So I put the first pair on and I'm telling you I wish I could have seen myself get off the couch to go see what they looked like in the mirror. I think it probably looked like a mix of a 8 month pregnant lady trying to stand with someone had been on a horse for the last two days. It is really hard to stand. The 60 year old lady on the couch opposite of me laughed and said (I'm not joking here) "oh darling you need to get out of those flip-flops and into some heels. You can't be seen walking around in heels like that. You must practice to look good"

I said thank you for the advice, took the shoes off, slipped on the flip-flops and went to EB. Of course they had closed early for Labor Day!

As for the WOD for the day ....

5 rounds: 10 L pull-ups, 15 ring-dips and 20 lunges (each leg)

So since L pull-ups are not an option it was more like jump to a holding L at first (the first 2 rounds) then bent knees and slowly lower. Slowly lower was at times a mildly controlled drop but it was mildly controlled. Ring dips were jump up and control down to the starting position of what a true ring dips would be. These were hard and I was hurting in the chest and triceps area a lot. These really sucked. Then lunges. Lunges are lunges. You just get through them. Time: 21:59. I am guessing that we will do a strength day tomorrow that will work the legs. Over head squats or potentially deadlifts? Well see what good old Andy has for us! Should be fun.

Off the Trail

Since I had to work yesterday the plan was to go on a good long hike this morning. I had scoped out which one I wanted to do. had food packed the night before and woke up early to get a good start before it got too hot. While the first one I went to was in Cuyamaca State Park and didn't allow dogs. So that was a bust. But I had a plan B. Pine Creek Wilderness. It was only about 6 miles away and was a good distance hike so I thought I was good to go. I should have known from the beginning that it was not going to be a good hike. The flies were unbearable. They weren't biting or anything they were just all in my face and flying into my nose and ear. I could stand it. But we also went the wrong way and when I finally found the right way the trail was all overgrown with poison oak and I just went through it. There was no way around it and by this point I figured that I probably already had gotten it so why not. I did reach a point were it was too much and decided to turn around. Which was a bummer because the creek had water in it and I think would have been a cool hike if it was better maintained. I am going to get a topo and check it out to see if possibly I was on a cattle trail (yeah a cattle trail in a wilderness) or actually on the trail.

I wanted to get a hike in so Max and I headed to a small piece of open space in the Cleveland that they call Miller Ranch. It is right off the 8 and it actually was really nice. More open and oak savanna habitat with big stately Englemann oaks. These are some big trees. I will try to get some pictures the next time I go and post them. It is a place that I think I could pitch a tent and just hangout and explore for a night. Pack it all into my backpack and just do an overnighter. Something to check into when the weather cools off a bit.

Max was good and tired by this point so we headed home. So I went to Coronado with Sean and Ricardo (his friend visiting from New York.) As much as I feel guilty for going to the dog beach without Max it is nice to be able to just go to the beach and not have to watch the dog and be constantly playing with him. I took a little nap on the blanket. One thing that I wanted to mentioned was that Ricardo was wearing a nice tight red speedo. It actually surprised me when I first saw it. But I was impressed with the fact that he could care less what other people at the beach might say or think. That's what he was wearing. You have to give the guy props for that.

Above is a picture I took of Max recently at the small grassy area that we go to in Kensington. He likes to roll around in the grass and throw the ball into the air. I think it is funny and he loves to do it.

Quads, hanstrings and a side of glutes!

So the last two days at the gym have been pretty leg focused. Thursday was 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 back squats and then tonight was a thruster, pull-up mix. So my legs are tired. The back squats went well. My series was 89 - 99 - 119 - 139 - 149. It is nice to see that I am squatting more then my body weight. It was tough. I have a hard time with the weight low on my back. But I know that I need it there to be able to get up from the squats.

Today was a good one. A mix of thrusters and pull-ups. This was how it worked. I pull-up the first minute, 2 thrusters the 2nd, 3 pull-ups the third, 4 thrusters the 4th and so on. so at first it really doesn't seem that hard. Until you get to round 12. The it take some pushing to make sure you get all of the thrusters in. I was able to do kipping pull-ups until the 13th round and then started to do jumping. I was able to get the round of 20 thrusters in but just could not get 22 thrusters in 1 minute. I did the math and I did over 100 thrusters today. Man that is a lot. The thing that is crazy is that thrusters are not a complex movement but it takes a lot out of you. Actually they are killer.



Not sure what my plans for the long weekend are. I have to work tomorrow and kind of want to go camping since I have Monday off. So I might head up into the mountains or maybe not. It will depend on how I feel tomorrow after work.

Balboa Park

So I have been taking Spanish Classes. My boss said that he would be willing to let me go to class during work hours so that I can become fluent in the language. In a lot of the places that I work Spanish is the primary language. It actually has been pretty eye opening. There have been times when I am in South bay and feel like I am in Mexico. People are speaking Spanish not English. Once I went into a store in Chula Vista and the guy at the counter started talking to me in Spanish. He saw the blank look on my face and then started to speak English. So I need to learn the language.

The picture above is of the Casa de Prado Theatre in Balboa Park. This is the view as I walk from my truck to the Spanish Class every Wednesday morning. The sun comes up just right and shines right on the face of the building and I think it looks really pretty. My Spanish class is held at the Natural History Museum within balboa Park. Balboa Park is in the heart of San Diego and has a mix of things within it. Anything from the San Diego Zoo, the Museum of Man or the World Beat Drum Center. You could spend days within the park and not get to everything. Plus it is a hub for all kinds of activities and events that take place during the year. So it is nice to be able to go to class here in the morning.

As for my workout today. We did Diane: 21-15-9 deadlifts and handstand push-ups. I did 135# for the deadlifts and did the HSPU from Mt. Whittney. My time was 4:57. I was able to get through the deadlifts easily without breaking up the sets. It was (once again) the HSPU that I struggled with. My quads were getting pretty tired and my shoulders and triceps were screaming as well. I had to break up all of the sets. I think that I could have done heavier weight with the deadlifts but I am glad that I went with 135#. When we do this again I might go with 155# to really get a challenge out of the deadlifts and the HSPU. I really would like to be able to do the HSPU against the wall. That will come in time. Last time I did Diane it was with 115# and HSPU and toes on a 24'' box and it took me 4:56.

As for diet. I have not been 100%. It is really important for me to make sure that I have the food I need to eat in the house or else I end up eating bad things. I have been eating a lot of carbs recently. Overall they have been healthy carbs (kashi cereal) but still things that are 30g of carbs for a one cup serving. Not something that I would usually eat because the little amount that you get it's worth the amount of carbs. But I did go shopping today and now I have a fridge full of healthy Zone foods. So tomorrow I am going to be back on it 100%. I will have to throw away the cereal tonight so that it is not even an or available for me to have.

Snatches

So we did snatches at the gym tonight. Probably the most complex move that we do at the gym. It's a tough one. For me the hardest part is pulling myself under the bar and getting into the squat position. I am strong enough to get the bar up to eye level but have a mental block when it comes to getting below it into the full squat. For some reason my mind does not think that it is a good idea to throw weight above my head and try to squat with it in the position. I don't know why. Sounds like fun to me.

So instead of going for a PR today I wanted to get in more reps so that I could really start to build the muscle memory of getting under the bar in the full squat. This meant that I did lighter weight. I was able to do 85# but dropped down to 75# to practice the movement. I like having a video to watch because it tells a lot about what I am doing. I am lifting the bar off the ground well and the pull up looks good. I don't think I came to full extension of the hips but I'm close. I need to focus on really shrugging the shoulders and then pulling myself under the bar. Practice, practice, practice.

A Suite at Petco

So last night I watched the Padres play the Diamondbacks from a suite box. You know the kind that have a lounge area with two flat screen TV's and then have two rows of seating that overlook the game and an additional flat screen to watch the replays on. The ticket was given to me from Andrew. He is one of Seans friends who won the suite at a charity silent auction. Man it was really cool. Food and drinks were not included by Andrew always seemed to be handing out drinks left and right. I got downtown early and went to the East Village Tavern to have a few beers and dinner. I sat at the bar and watched the Chargers play. I chatted with the guy sitting next to me a bit. Nice guy. His name is Shane. He kind of reminded me of Steve V. A little awkward and quirky but overall a really nice guy. I had a 22oz beer and a pint before I went to the game. For dinner I has these small steak sliders. They were toasted Hawaiian rolls with skirt steak and Gorgonzola cheese. Overall I thought they were pretty good.

Then I headed to the stadium. Picked up my tickets at will call and met up with Sean and the rest of the group at the suite. Man was it nice. While I was at the game I ate my weight in peanuts, had two more beers and a rum and coke. I figured that since this night was a once in a lifetime thing I wasn't going to not enjoy it by eating only 3 nuts (1 block fat) and only having one beer. The night was a cheat night. As I walked out of the suite around the 7th I saw that the next suite over was getting desert. I can't remember the last time I had cake so I thought why not, it's a cheat night. I found the place that had the sweets and ordered two chocolate chip cookies. Then I was able to sweet talk the nice lady to put some soft-serve ice cream on one of the cookies so that I can have an ice cream sandwich. OH MY. As I walked back to the suite people smiled at me because they saw how happy I was licking up the sides of my ice cream sandwich. It was good. Padres won in the bottom of the ninth with a walk off homerun. A great game and a really great night!

Went home, played with Max a bit and then went to bed. Around 3am my stomach decided that it was pissed. It was not happy with the amount of fat (my weight in peanuts) and the carbs (the beer) that I had eaten all night. I could not sleep. I had a really bad stomach ache! I spent some time in the restroom and was paying the price. If I hadn't parked in the no parking zone after 8am I don't think I would have went to work. My stomach still does not fill right and all day I've felt icky. I've read posts about people who are on the Zone and then have a cheat meal and feel so bad the next day they decide that it is not worth cheating. I thought they were crazy.....until today. I feel horrible. I know that when I go to the gym this evening I am going to be off and feel like crawling into a ball on the rubber mats! Maybe I'll post a picture of that!

Weekend Update

Overall had a really good weekend. Saturday I had to work from 8 - 3 but hung out with two of my co-workers and got to know them better. It was a fun day. After work I had to get home, get max some exercises, shower and then head over to Coronado for Mike W. 30th B-day BBQ. The plan was to meet at their house, eat some pulled pork sandwiches and then head downtown to a dueling piano bar. We ended up just staying on the island and playing Wii. Oh man is that game fun. I had a hard time learning how to play the baseball game but I was good at bowling. I can see how people can play it and work up a good sweat. Again one of those things you want to know someone who has it so you can play it here and there but you don't really want one at your house because you know you would end up spending a lot of time playing.

Sunday Sean and I went on a hike. We were trying to find Boden Canyon but never got there. We ended up doing another trail. It was hot and we got a lot concerned about max so we backtracked and hung out in the San Ysabel River. Not much of a river this time of year but it was a good 10 degrees cooler in the creek bed and max was able to cool off and dig in the mud. It was fun. It was nice to go on a hike with Sean. he seemed like he enjoyed it and would be interested in going on more in the future. So that will be nice.

Sunday night I had a football game at 5pm. We killed them. We have a really fun team and the guys on the team are fast. It really like to watch them run. They are quick and can make cuts and plays that still surprise me. Kevin played ball at Iowa and ran track so he is really good. Plus he is an overall nice guy so that's cool.

Today I went to the 9am class to workout because tonight I am headed to a Padres game. The women in the class are fun and sure do have a lot of kids! The thing that I do like about the class is that it is mostly women and strong women who want to be strong. They really push themselves to go hard and not rest. I do think that there is a slight increase in intensity level in that class compared to the 5pm. I am not really sure why but I do feel it.

The WOD was 3 rounds: 400m run, 50 squats, 25 pull-ups. I was able to do it prescribed without ripping my hands. That was the huge success for the day. No tearing! Time was 20:02. Not bad. Still need to get more of those pull-ups in a row instead of breaking them up. I also need to work on pushing away from the bar when I get to the top. Really too much to have to think about when I am that tired. I really did push myself on the run and that felt good!

Weak shoulders!

I really need to work on my upper body strength. It is so frustrating sometimes. I barely can shoulder press 85# over head. Frustrating! It totally makes sense though. Weak shoulder, means not great in terms of pull-ups, and push-ups. Once I can engage my legs all bets are off and I can get a lot more weight overhead. I think the next time I am able to get to one of the Saturday workouts I will make sure that I do something that really focuses on shoulders.

WOD
Shoulder Press 1 - 1- 1 - 1- 1
Push Press 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3
Push Jerk 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5

My numbers were low because I really wanted to dial in on my technique rather then try to but a lot of weight overhead.

SP - 65 - 70 - 75 - 80 - 85
PP - 75 - 80 - 85 - 95(2) - 95(3)
PJ - 85 - 95 - 100 - 105 - 110

I missed Fran!

So yesterday I missed the dreaded workout Fran. I had to work up in Carlsbad yesterday and I thought that I had given myself enough time to get back to Coronado by 5pm if I left by 4:00pm but I was wrong. Dreaded California traffic. It took me an hour and a half to go the 40 miles. Gotta love it. The best part was that there was no accident or garbage in the road. There was just too many people on the freeway. Crazy really. If I had known that I would miss the workout I would have just stayed in Carlsbad and done a workout at one of the CrossFits in Oceanside. That would have been fun. It is always cool to go to other gyms to see what people do and what the gym looks like. Every gym is different but they all have a lot of the same features.

So yesterday I was hungry! Usually if I am working out or doing something and not thinking about food then it really doesn't bother me. But since I was sitting in the car and didn't get in a workout my stomach was letting me know. But I didn't cheat! I went to my football game at 6pm and that bought me some time. I usually like to eat between 7:30 - 8:00pm. So by the time I got home from the game I was back on schedule. I found this cool blog that Crossfit Santa Cruz Central has that gives a lot of recipe's. I am going to plan out my meals and then go shopping. http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/

Right now I am tyring to eat everything that I have in the fridge and cupboards before I go shopping. I think I spend A LOT of money at the store just buying things here and there when I want something instead of using the things that I have already. So I made a pack to try to use everything before I go shopping. Somethings will be impossible to go without but it is actually kind of a challenge to myself to get creative!

Here's the Gym

So this is it. CrossFit Coronado. I spend a lot of time here. In this old garage on the island. That's exactly what it is. An old garage that was gutted, added some rubber mats, pull-up bars, and some equipment. Put it all together and you have a CrossFit gym. You don't really need a whole lot more then that. But it is amazing how such a little space can cause so much pain. Go figure.

WOD was "Cindy" - 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats

Was able to do it prescribed for the first time. I have done it before at Recreate Fitness but had to do jumping pull-up and then did it before at CrossFit Chula Vista in January and did assisted band pull-ups and push-ups from ky knees. I know that when I did it in Portland I was able to get 12 rounds in. So know doing it prescibed I was able to get 11. Pull-ups are getting better. I now need to work on stringing more in a row instead of breaking them up. Push-ups still suck. For the first 2 rounds I was able to go 10 straight. Then for the next 5 rounds it went 5 - 3 - 2 or 4 - 2 - 2 - 2. I really tried to get as many as possible for the first set and then break the rest up as needed without ever going to failure. But overall this puts me at a good point to be able to judge progress in the future. So that's exciting.

I wonder what tomorrow might bring. Maybe a strength day.

Full Squat Clean

I thought I would put this picture up from the CrossFit Games. This is Simon. I met him while at the games. A great guy and a stellar competitor. He pretty much does the WOD from the main site in his garage, comes to the games, sleeps in his rental vehicle and finishes in top 20! Impressive. He is doing the last workout of the competition...full squat clean and jerk with 155#. That was the mens weight. The women had 100#. The fastest men finished 30 reps in under 3 min. That's nutts! I like this picture a lot because Simon has really good form. Weight on his heels, elbows high and torso straight up. When you are doing this much weight your form has to be dialed or you won't be able to get the weight where you need it to go. Plus he does not have weightlifting shoes on!

So today's workout was.... "Sage's Revenge" - as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

10 ring push-ups

10 Hang Squat Cleans 75#

10 Hollow Rocks (4 count)

I did prescribed and was able to get 6 rounds in plus 10 hang squat cleans. I really like squat cleans. I really like them because I am good at them. 75# was not heavy for me. I was able to get in the set of 10 each time without putting the bar down or taking any rest. What killed me in this workout were the hollow rocks. YUCK. My back is going to be sore tomorrow. Also the ring push-ups. Those were tough and by round 3 I was breaking them up into sets of 3 or 2. Not fun. But I really like this sort of workout because it is a mix of something that I am good at and somethings that I need to work on. This way I get a little positive reinforcement from the squat cleans and then some horrible pains from the push-ups and hollow rocks. A little good and a little bad. But at least it is not all bad!

Diet was good today. I pretty much stick to the Zone during the week and weekend days. Weekend night are hit and miss. I think I am eating too many carbs. Even following the Zone block system I think it might still be too much. I think I will do a little research tomorrow on-line and see what I can find. I have heard that some people do cut back the amount of carbs while on the Zone but I want to know why and how much do they cut back. I would say the majority (80%) of my carbs come from fruit. I know it says eat meat and veggies but during the summer in California the fruit is just so tasty. Something to ponder!

It's a pretty rough life!

Yesterday was a hike in the morning and the beach in the afternoon . Today was a nice walk in the morning to the coffee shop, flag football at 10am, then hike with the dog in Tecolote Canyon. Head home to clean the house a bit and then concert in the park in Coronado. Pretty rough. I took this picture on Friday. Kensington is the little community I live in. The sign for the city is right on Adams and is the main drag through town. The library, coffee shop, Burger Lounge and other shops are right on this road. Max and I walk past this sign at least three times a week. I like the old school charm of it. It is neon pink at night and actually says "sington" due to blown out lights. Whatever.

Weekend eating went as usual. Saturday stuck to the Zone and all day Sunday as well. Concert in the Park is my cheat meal and it usually means a ton of carbs! Crackers, beer, yummy garlic spread and some lemon bars goodness! Oh it was so good and now my belly is so full. But it was so good!

As Sunday night comes to a close I look forward to Monday but at the same tme I don't look forward to Monday. Work is good and I have some fun projects that I need to work on. Brian will be out of the office all week so that means I will have the office to myself. Which is nice. Maybe bring Max to work once or twice.

It's always a little scary to think about what Monday might have in store for us at the gym. You really never know. The last two Mondays have been strength days. I don't think we will get one of those. There are rumors about Fran making an apperance but I think Andy really wants to be there to see us do her and I guess he is out of town. So I'm not sure. Classes have been a bit on the thin side so maybe something not too bad to get people back to the gym. Or a "sage" workout since her birthday was last week. This is what I think about Sunday night. Not so much the other days of the week but mostly on Sunday.

Then at work tomorrow I turn on the computer, sit at my desk and the first thing I check is the WOD. I don't open my work email or check the phone for messages. I go to the gyms website and see whats waiting for me at 5pm. I read the workout. Usually one of the following comes out of my mouth.....

That's going to suck!

You have got to be kidding me?

I think Andy is out to kill us!

Is he nutts?

Sweet strength day!
I should go back to bed!

I pay to do this?

Then I think about all day. I check the website and see other people's times both in the morning class and then around 11am for the afternoon class and then usually again around 2pm to see if anyone else has posted. Based on the times and what people are writting I can tell just how bad it is going to be.

So now it's off to bed to read a bit. Can't wait to see what the workout for tomorrow is. The best thing about it is, I know that there are other people in the gym (not to name names!) who do the same things I do when they get to work or on a computer come Monday. You know who you are!