Fran.

Fran is pretty much THE crossfit baseline workout. 21-15-9, barbell thrusters/pull ups. RXed weight for women is 65lbs, for men it's 95. Ridiculous people do this in under three minutes. Really jacked people do it in under 5. Most others are somewhere in the 6-11 minute range, with appropriate scaling and all that jazz.

Before tonight, I had never done Fran. I've done Sandy Fran, which was an unmitigated disaster (over 13 minutes with an average band and a 40lb sandbag). I've done Heavy Fran, which was...well..heavy (15-12-9 of thrusters (135/95) and deadhang pull ups (+45 for men, bodyweight for women).

Since the last time we did any variation of the deadly thruster/pull up combo, I have been working REALLY hard on my pull ups. Every single day, I do at least one or two pull ups on my guest room closet door mounted bar. At first, all I could do were jumping pull ups. They got easier and easier, and I started messing around with my grip. Now, chin ups are almost easy, and I can do a couple pronated grip pull ups. And that, my friends, brings us to today's Franathon.

This may not be the most flattering picture anyone's ever taken of me, but it's fast becoming one of my favorites. In my last couple reps of thrusters:

YOU SEE THAT TIME?

10:24, 65lbs/mini band. MINI BAND. That's over three minutes off of my Sandy Fran time - and I used a substantially stronger band for Sandy Fran. I am so happy with this. Fran, you and I are going RX'ed next time. Promise.

Post-Fran, I was ravenous. (OK, PRE-Fran I was ravenous. The last of my BCAAs staved off the "I'm going to barf" hunger headache, but that shit is NOT food.) Observe the laziest dinner ever: 4 ounces of smoked salmon and an entire avocado (halved and sprinkled with kosher salt and pepper) over a "salad" comprised of the last of my container of baby spinach, a bunch of grape tomatoes, a little handful of crumbled bacon, delicious olive oil, rice vinegar and granulated garlic. Served right in the container, so as not to dirty a dish.

And after I inhaled this and I was still hungry, I ate a leftover pork rib. CFCC BCCC, day one down.

Yesterday's stuff: gymnastics (! hooray), followed by intro to oly (frustrating!). Gymnastics was freestanding handstand practice followed by iron cross ring work. I'm getting much better at ring support, and was able to move my hands out the tiiiiiniest bit. Skipped the metcon to conserve energy for oly, where I spent the entire hour and a half working on my snatch. (I don't even have the energy to make a joke there, because the third pull of the snatch is such a source of frustration for me. it's my latest nemesis.) Couple sets at 53lbs, a whole bunch of sets at 63lbs, and then a lot of drills (snatching from blocks and snatch balance) with 53lbs.

Somebody's Getting Stronger

Forget what I said about gymnastics. Deadlifts are my favorite.

Miracle number one: I managed to find knee high socks that fit over my gargantuan calves.

(No, seriously. My calves are a good 16.5" around. Tall boots - much like front squats - are my nemesis, and I was concerned I would need to find plus size knee socks.)

I learned quickly to wear something that covers my legs when I do deadlifts, because otherwise you end up with banged up shins. Hence, the three-for-$20ish deal for colorful tube socks at American Apparel.

Miracle number two:

Oh, what's that? Oh, nothing. JUST A NUMBER IN THE 200'S NEXT TO MY NAME.

For the last handful of weeks, I end up running out of time before I get anywhere near my max, so I hadn't been sure exactly what I was capable of with deadlifts. I know they're my strongest lift, and I know my grip starts to get shaky around 160lbs, but that's it. Tonight, I lucked out. I started higher - 95lbs - and made bigger jumps, so I got up to 215 before I had to stop.

95, 125, 155, 195, 215. YES. 215lbs. I'm stupid excited about this.

(Check out Fran and Josh. Now THAT is some deadlifting.)

(Oh, and that 14? It's because I fell out of the same handstand TWICE in 20 seconds. Fail fail fail.)

Small Progress!

Why am I excited this morning?

Maybe it's because I've been sleeping like.a.rock since starting P90X. Head + pillow = OUT.

Maybe it's because it's sunny and gorgeous and is going to be in the 70s (!!!!!) today!

Maybe it's because I don't have to come into the office tomorrow.

Maybe it's because getting a second dog was the best idea we ever had:



(Blurry blackberry picture. They wrestle and dance and talk to each other -- I love it!)

Or maybe it's because I'm wearing a pair of pants today that were definitely too snug just a few weeks ago. Over the winter, Nordstrom clearanced out several colors of my favorite pair of suit pants ever made, Theory's "Emery" trouser. At 40% off, I obviously needed to stock up, yes? But sizes were limited (hence, "clearance") and so I got one pair in a size down from what I'd been wearing, figuring that I was, after all, "going to" lose weight.

And holy crap, I did it! Months later, of course, but who's counting? All I know is that today, I really, really wanted to wear this gorgeous bright blue spring-weight cardigan that's been lying dormant in my closet, which was just the perfect shade to pair with grey pants. So, I crossed my fingers, tried the pants out, and...BAM! They fit!

Great sleep, fitting into my super-score trousers...I can live with this.