Vietnam, Varga, Vici

so I'm a big fan of LMFAO, at least while I'm working out...but seriously, "I'm runnin' through these hoes like Drano" is disturbingly vulgar.

Just...ew.

We headed to Chinatown for dinner with some friends last night.  I love Vietnam, but the last time I was there was the night before the Broad Street Run back in 2010.  I remember carb-loading with a crap-ton of rice with my usual salt and pepper squid.  My, how times have changed.

Started with an extra-dirty martini upstairs at Bar Saigon while we waited for our table.

It's pretty easy to stay generally Paleo here.  I wouldn't be surprised to find out the sauces contain a decent amount of cornstarch and soy, but I'm just not strict enough to worry about something like that when I'm only eating it once every couple of months (or, in this case, once every couple of years).  I didn't snap a pic of my appetizer, but I started with grilled octopus (topped with crushed peanuts...see previous sentence).  Entree was the pork claypot.

That shit was fucking delicious.

After a short and overwhelming stint a couple doors down at Yakitori Boy (holy seizure-inducing lights, batman), we headed home...since I had an early date for a double session at CFCC, followed by an essential refeeding session at Varga.

Steak and eggs for protein, potatoes for leptin refeeding, bloody mary for essential horseradish replacement.

I've spent most of the rest of the day lazed the fuck out on my couch.  I just watched three episodes of Khloe and Lamar (not even remotely ashamed of this) and am on my second King of Queens now.  Something about the rain makes me plant my butt under a pile of fleece and refuse to move...except to do this.

Judge away.  Matching yellow raincoats may be undignified, but it beats the hell out of trying to dry Sophie off before she runs upstairs and rolls around on my beautiful silk rug.

Workout log:

Monday April 16: My quads were very sore and tight after the 80 medball slams at the Rumble, so I spent an extra 10 minutes or so before class making sweet love to a foam roller and lacrosse ball.  Box jumps for height - worked up to 33" - which may not seem like much, but it's more than half my height, so I'll take that.   Front squat for a peak of three. 85x5 to warm, then sets of three: 85-115-140-155x2, dumped the bar on my third.  Metcon: 100 American kettlebell swings for time.  My left shoulder is still a little wonky, so I did russian swings instead.  With a 24kg kettlebell, 4:27.  I don't suck at kettlebell swings.

Tuesday April 17: snatch.  Getting much, much better at this. 53x2, 53x2, 63x2, 73x1, 78x1, 83x1 (PR).  I still pull with my arms a little bit, but I'm actually dropping down under the bar, so that's a big improvement.  Metcon: Four Leaf Clover. For time, four rounds of 20 jump squats/250m run.  My legs were still sore and were absolutely screaming for this.  6:44.

Thursday, April 19: squat cleans. 73x2, 88x2, 103x2, 118x1, 128F, 128F, 128F.  GAAAAAAH.  I was so close on this - it would have been a five-pound PR - but I just CANNOT stop myself from cranking with my arms.  Next week this is mine.  Metcon: For time, five rounds of 30 walking lunges with a plate overhead (45/25), 15 burpees to a plate.  I started this barefoot, since I just ripped off my oly shoes.  Surprisingly, the burpees and the lunges were kind of murderous on my toes, so I wasted a good minute after finishing my second rounds of lunges putting my other shoes back on.  15:23 as RX'ed.  Woof.

Friday April 20: beach muscle Friday.  Bench press, peak of 3: 45-75-90-100-105-110F (two reps, then stuck at the bottom of the third).  Metcon: 5 rounds of 30 unbroken double unders followed immediately by max strict pull ups.  Lynne-style, so no time component, and score was total pull ups.  Uhhh...yeah.  I intended to do this RXed, but after being unable to complete more than 20 unbroken DUs during my first three attempts, I decided to call it a day and scaled to 15.  Score - 15 total pull ups (supinated grip; 3/3/2/4/3).

Saturday April 21: Mindy.  20 minute AMRAP, 3 strict handstand pushups - 6 strict pull ups - 9 pistols.  Scaled with partial range of motion HSPUs and single-leg squats to a white box.  8 rounds plus three pull ups.

Sunday April 22: gymnastics followed by regular session.  Gymnastics - handstand walking.  I don't really do this well, but I managed to get a few steps a couple of times.  Metcon: 

15 minute AMRAP of 20' handstand walking, 5 toes to bar and 5 candle rolls to tuck jump. 

Score: 5 rounds plus four toes to bar.  

This was fun, but I was saving it a little bit for the next metcon.  Regular session - farmers walk.  My grip was a little weak from the toes to bar, but I completed three 30' passes - 200lbs, 280lbs and 320lbs.  I dropped the right handle twice during the 320lb walk, which is frustrating, but whatever.  

Metcon:  

Took a third crack at the Open WOD 12.5 - an ascending ladder of thrusters and chest-to-bar pull ups.  On my first date with 12.5, I no-repped a crapton of pullups, mainly because I got high enough but didn't touch my chest to the bar.  On our second date, I figured out that the tiny amount of energy I expended doing a second kip to make sternum-to-metal contact was far more efficient than doing extra pullups, and got 51 total reps, or through the round of 9, plus 12 thrusters and 3 pull ups.  

Today?

I managed to beat my actual score from the open by four reps - making it to 7 pull ups, for a total of 55 reps.  I earned my brunch, bitches.

Too Cold to Bike

I don't know how I managed not to mention this on here, but last month - after five and a half years of living in the city - I FINALLY got a bike.



(Pictured: the bigass Victoria's Secret freebie bag my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas two years ago, since it came for free with the multiple pairs of sweatpants she bought me. It's the best grocery bag I have.)

Recently, I'd started to feel like my digs in G-Ho were just too freaking far from everything. I work at 18th and Market, I work out at 13th and Locust, I go to the grocery store at 9th and South. You get the picture. The worst was rushing out the door from work around 6pm to rush into the house, walk the dogs, rush them back upstairs, rush to change my clothes, rush to get them fed and back into their crates so I could rush right back out and make the 7:30 class at CFCC...and then either walk home (getting me in around 9pm) or cab it home (getting me home closer to 8:45, but at $10 a pop).

This is life-changing. I don't love the hot pink handlebars, but whatever. At first, it was a little weird getting used to riding a bike regularly for the first time since I was about twelve. For real, on my first ride, I had an overwhelming sensation that I was supposed to be wearing a seatbelt (um...what?). And it was a little freaky to get used to being passed by cars. But I got accustomed to it pretty quickly, and WOOHOO! It no longer takes me 25 or 30 minutes to walk from home to CFCC, or 20 minutes to walk to work.

However, there are certain things I'm still learning. Like my regular winter gloves, which do a great job of blocking the wind, don't really do a great job of actually keeping my fingers warm when I can't put my hands in my pockets. Last night, when it was about 25 degrees, I thought my fingers were going to fall off on my ride home. Note to self: buy puffy gloves for bike riding, even if you look like an asshole.

So, when I woke up to walk the dogs this morning and saw that it was 14 degrees, with a zero degree wind chill, I made a very quick and easy decision NOT to ride my bike today. And to go out at lunch and buy some puffy gloves.

Cosmo was not pleased with his morning walk in the cold, and immediately jumped back into bed when we came back in.



Recent workouts:

- Sunday, January 1: couple of pronated-grip jumping pull ups in my guest room. My forearms and elbows were REALLY sore from Saturday's toes-to-bar/clean & jerk extravaganza, so these HURT.

- Monday, January 2: one pronated-grip guest room pull up to start the day. Elbows still sore, so I left it alone after that. I went to the 4:30 class at CFCC, which was a fun change from my usual late evening sessions. Started with some box jumps - Amber and I made it to 30", which I'm happy with. Would have liked to get higher, but mentally I have issues jumping onto a single plate - the surface seems too small, so I get all weirded out. Back squats for a peak of 1: 85x3, 115x2, 135x2, 155x1, 175x1, 180F. Got stuck just out of the bottom. I suspect I may need to push harder. Still sticking with my goal of 185 for the total in a couple weeks. Metcon was really embarrassing. 3 rounds for time of 15 box jumps (24/20), 30 double unders. 11:43. FAAAAAAAARK. I don't know what happened to my double-unders - I had gotten pretty good at them (easily able to do 10-20 unbroken), but the last couple of times we've done them in a metcon, I've barely been able to eke out one or two at a time. I was incredibly frustrated with this one, but whatever - I finished it.

- Tuesday, January 3: weighted pull ups! light band x3 to warm up, followed by singles: light band + 5lbs, LB+7.5, LB+10; mini band; MB+2.5; MB+5, MB+7.5, MB+10. I sort of regret not just going for a bodyweight one at the end, but since I can JUST manage to do one, I was worried that the lighter sets beforehand would have been enough to tax me out of it. Metcon was tough but enjoyable: "liquid cocaine." 5 rounds for time of 5 clean & jerks (155/105), 10 chest-to-bar pull ups. 13:11, with 85lbs/light band. I should have warmed up with 65 first, because that first 85lb clean felt REALLY heavy, but I'm happy with my time (and with the fact that I can do 50 chest-to-bar pull ups with the light band, even if most of them were one or two at a time).

Happy Wednesday. No gym for me tonight - evening classes are cancelled for a nutrition seminar. I wish I could go, but there's no chance I can make it there by 6:30...so instead, I'm spending the evening coming up with some specific goals for the next CFCC BCCC, which starts on Monday.

A Very iPhone Christmas

back to work on this post-Christmas Tuesday...

(note: I managed to WAY oversleep, by a good hour, to 7:12. between my scrambling and my husband being kind enough to drop me off at work, I made it in by 8. and then not a SOUL was to be found in the office besides me until at least 8:30. oh well. I gots things to do, you know?)

I hope everyone's holiday weekend was fabulous. Continuing my trend of never using my DSLR anymore, here's how ours went:

Packed up the pups and some gifts into the sleigh to head up to the in-laws' on Saturday morning.



We went to a seriously packed Christmas Eve mass. And PhillyGuy and I MIGHT have sat in a corner on folding chairs and played Words with Friends. MAYBE. After that, it was back to the inlaws' house for Christmas Eve dinner and gift exchanges.



PhillyGuy's awesome aunt and uncle got us this adorable wine and cheese picnic basket. I told him we were going to take it to the dog park.

Same awesome aunt and uncle also got his parents the most ginormous box ever. Cosmo DID NOT trust it. I think he thought there was a great dane in there.



After we did the extended family gift exchange, PhillyGuy and his sister drove his grandparents home (they live a few streets over) and spent a few extra minutes setting up their new TV in their bedroom. It was late at this point - they didn't make it back until almost midnight - and Cosmo, overwhelmed from the excitement, passed the f out in my lap.



(Those are my preferred Christmas pajama pants. I picked them up during my 2L year of law school and they've served me well for the last...ugh, SIX years. They replaced a pair of flannel pants with Christmas trees on them that I had for all of college. I am nothing if not a creature of habit.)

We were up late doing the immediate-family gift exchange - we didn't go to bed until about 1:30am, which is pretty much the latest I've been up in years. Everyone woke up super-slowly on Christmas morning and lazed around. Like Sophie with her braided bully stick.



PhillyGuy's parents were far too generous with us, as always, and we headed home yesterday afternoon with a new crockpot, TWO pieces of Le Creuset cookware, and a new flatscreen for our bedroom (!!!!!!!!).

He set up the new TV while I was at the gym last night, and we spent the rest of the evening in bed playing Words with Friends on our phones watching CSI: Miami on demand with the dogs curled up between us. It was the perfect way to end a weekend.

Fitness-and-health-related recap:

- I managed to avoid going off the rails completely over this holiday. I didn't work out Friday, Saturday or Sunday, which was not ideal - I had planned to do a quick workout at least once over the weekend. I figured 50 burpees for time would be fast, inconspicuous (well, if I did it in the basement, anyway) and require zero equipment...but then, well, I just didn't do it. Oh well.

- I didn't have enough jerky stores to bring some with me. I should have, but in a pinch, I got through with a couple bags of the gas station stuff (which is SO not as good as my favorite buffalo jerky) and a bag of salted cashews. That served as my breakfast and lunch on Saturday (everyone else ate pizza when we got in), and my lunch on Monday on our way home.

- When questioned by PhillyGuy's mom as to whether I was "still watching my carbs," I just told her I wasn't eating gluten anymore. Which is true, though not the whole story. I don't like being scrutinized about my diet, and I don't like to debate stuff like that with other people lest they think I'm scrutinizing them. So, no pizza or pasta or breaded tilapia or broccoli casserole with cream-of-something-soup and a couple sleeves of crushed saltines on top. LOTS of prime rib and roast pork and salad and antipasto. I did eat more cheese than I usually would, but PhillyGuy's uncle always has the hookup with this incredible sharp provolone and I am NOT going to avoid that.

- I DID, however, indulge in some christmas cookies. My usual favorites are the peanut butter ones with the hershey's kiss in the middle - I had two or three of those over the weekend, and frankly would have had more but this batch was a little bit dry. The real crack for me was these hairy ball looking cookies that his mom makes. They're basically like a Larabar, but with rice krispies mixed into the date and nut "dough," and rolled in shredded coconut. She said something about frying them in butter too, but I'm not sure if that was a joke. Regardless...I ate like eight of those. Over three days, I understand that 10 or 12 small-ish cookies is really not that much, in the grand scheme of things, but holy CRAP was I (really, AM I) feeling it.

- Monday afternoon we made it back to Philly in time for me to make the 5:30 class at CFCC. I knew this wasn't going to be my finest performance, but I was feeling so sluggish and blech that I really needed to do SOMETHING.

Back squats, peak of 2: 85-100-120-130-140-150-160. In retrospect, I would have started heavier, made bigger jumps and done fewer sets. 160 was stiiiiiiiiicky through the middle. This doesn't bode super well for my goal of 185 at the total, but we'll see. Metcon was half Mary (15 minute AMRAP of 5 handstand pushups, 10 pistols (5 each leg), 15 pull ups). 5 rounds + 6 SLS, subbing regular pushups, single leg squats to a box (some assisted, some not - "assisting" by grabbing a pole doesn't really "assist" me, so I just kind of suck at these no matter what), light band. My pull ups have improved SO MUCH. I can rep at least 10 with a light band now - this is leaps and bounds better than where I was at the beginning of October.

and now back to work....

So Much

to post about (sort of). So little time (totally).

I have a bunch of great stuff backed up, like the amazing lamb shanks I made last week from "Make it Paleo," which I picked up when Bill and Hayley from the Primal Palate joined us at CFCC for our Halloween party/WOD.

And this weekend's Rittenhouse Run, where I did a bunch of double-unders and turkish get-ups in public, in 30-degree weather, while wearing red lululemon shorts and green knee socks (this is seriously a fabulous combination of a lot of the things that make people want to punch crossfitters, I think).



(Thanks to CFCC and Mike Mackintosh for the pic! Which I stole. Without permission.)

BUT since it is December 20 (HOLYCRAPITISDECEMBER20!!!!) and I have a lot (a LOT) of crap to finish this week, I will just leave you with some workout logging and promises to make more fun posts later on.

Saturday December 10 - little WOD named "faceplant" to get me moving before Mama PhillyGirl's wedding. AMRAP 5 minute row for calories, 4 minutes of squat cleans (155/105), 3 minutes handstand pushups, 2 minutes box jumps, 1 minute kettlebell swings (1.5/1p). Scaled with 95lb squat cleans (and WOW those are a WHOLE LOT HARDER after rowing like crazy for five minutes) and regular push ups (by the way, I rep these "for real" now!). Score: 138, though I suspect it may have been a bit higher since I found myself very uncertain of my rep count on at LEAST three different occasions during the workout.

Sunday December 11: intro to oly. Didn't drop a bar on my foot this time (woo!). Snatch: 53x2 (hey where's your pull?), 53x2 (what third pull?), 53F/53, 58x2 (OH, right, PULL UNDER), 58x2, 58x2 (landed super high, but whatever), 63x1 (muscled up, dumped at top), 63x1. Clean & jerk: focusing on that goddamn third pull and putting my feet where they belong in the jerk. 63x2, 73x2+2j, 73x2+2j, 83x2, 93x1, 98x1, 103x1. Some pull up work - 2 unassisted chins, ALMOST one unassisted pronated pull up.

Monday December 12: back squats, peak of 5. 75-85-105-115-125-135-145. Dear body: why do you insist on folding in half when you squat? Metcon: 2 rounds, AMRAP 2 minutes each of back squat (185/135), burpees to plate, row for calories. 11/28/25/4/26/26 = 120 total, as RX'ed.

Tuesday December 13: weighted pronated pull up, peak of 3. Last time I did this was over the summer and woo boy have I improved. At that point, peaked at average band + 7.5 (maybe 10). This time - average band, average + 7.5, light band, light + 7.5. Metcon: Angie (100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats). I did half-Angie using a light band and otherwise RX'ed. CRAPFEST, those push ups killed me - took me more than 8 minutes to complete the push ups, but glad I chose to do them legit. 20:34.

Thursday December 15: I am putting this in here because I am so sad. I've been looking SO FORWARD to deadlifting...but Wednesday night I gave Cosmo a rib bone and let's just say it was too rich for his blood. SO, instead of deadlifting for 5 on Thursday night, I washed my dog. And all of his bedding. And fed him pepto-bismol.

Friday December 16: Strict press, peak of 5. Um, I have gotten a WHOLE LOT STRONGER. Previous max, from the last CF Total back in August, was 75 - and that was a true max, since I failed at 80. This time: 45-55-65-70, and then 75 for FOUR. Yes, I did my previous max for a set of four, and came SO CLOSE to getting it for five. BAM. Metcon: 3 rounds for time of 250m row and short loop run, with option of subbing 30 double-unders for short loop run. I foolishly chose the double-unders since I haven't run on my foot since busting it. BAD choice. Would have been faster for me to walk the short loop. 11:05 (everyone else finished in like...6 minutes. and cheered my on during my last round of jumping rope. wherein I subbed 90 singles because I did not want to be there until midnight).

Saturday: couple pull ups, followed by a brutal partner WOD. 3 rounds of 50 wallballs (20/14), 50 overhead squats (95/65), and 50 pull ups. Each round for time, rest between rounds as needed. Mel and I went RX'ed, except that I used a light band for the pull ups. 10:38, 10:31, 10:38. Um, and during the third round I sort of dropped a barbell on my face. I...I just have no excuse.

Sunday: Rittenhouse Run. Will explain later.

Monday: some pre-class pull ups (3 or 4 with mixed grip, 1 pronated with some serious kicking). back squat, peak of 3. 85, 105, 125, 145, 155 (baaaaaaaah). 155 didn't count, because while I did get the weight up and down, I did that thing where I fold in half and then on the third one didn't get anywhere near the right depth. Metcon was fun: 5 rounds for time of 5 back squats with 50% of your peak set, 60' bear crawl, 10 russian kettlebell swings (2/1.5p). 6:20, as RX'ed (73 pounds), immediately collapsed on to the floor next to my bar afterwards.

And now I leave you with a picture of my dogs, sharing a dog bed that I set up next to me in the kitchen while I was working. They were great officemates.



Tell me a funny story.

My Nuts Rule

Thanksgiving break has been kick ass.

I started my turkey day with my standard (and killer) weekend breakfast (over-easy eggs, Whole Foods black forest dry rubbed bacon, wilted green of choice - this was spinach) and an iced coffee with grassfed heavy cream.

Sophie and I watched the Macy's parade during breakfast (she loved the Rockettes, and loved the AKC dog show afterwards even more) before it was time for me to get down to business with my Thanksgiving contribution: baked bar nuts.

This is OhSheGlow's recipe, which I've made before. It's become my go-to contribution when I'm not sure what to make and need to bring something to a dinner party. I needed enough nuts for two Thanksgiving dinners, so I started with about four pounds total of raw, unsalted almonds, cashews, walnuts and Brazil nuts.

I spread the nuts out on parchment paper-lined baking sheets and baked them for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees. While they were baking, I started to assemble the sauce.

Butter, maple syrup, dark brown sugar, a little cayenne pepper, lots of fresh rosemary, and kosher salt. Melt all but a couple tablespoons of butter together with the other ingredients and whisk together. When the nuts are done toasting, let them cool for a couple of minutes while melting the rest of the butter.

Pour the nuts into a large bowl and toss with melted butter to coat before adding the rest of the sauce and tossing well with a wooden spoon.

Yeah, these babies are amazing.

After everything is coated well, spread the nuts back out on the parchment paper-lined baking sheets and put back into the oven for another 10 or 12 minutes. At the risk of stating the obvious, whatever you do, DO NOT try to taste them as soon as they come out. Hot sugar is REALLY hot. Don't ask how I know this.

These are delicious while they're still warm, but are just as good later on once they've cooled off. And they are addictive. They're definitely not paleo, but they ARE fabulous. And they provide so many opportunities for people to make "that's what she said" jokes. Which we all know is the real goal at Thanksgiving.

Between my gimp foot and my insane work schedule, I hadn't made it into the gym since Sunday's ill-fated intro to oly class. Yesterday, I strung together a little at-home WOD in my guest room - 5 rounds of 5 jumping pull ups, 10 pushups, 60 second handstand hold.

This took me for-freaking-ever, and not just because Cosmo was concerned and had to scope out the situation.

He doesn't really like seeing his parents upside-down, I guess.

This morning I headed to CFCC for a very welcome class. Today was "Heavy Fran" - 15-12-9 of thrusters (135/95) and strict pull ups (+45 for men, deadhang for women). I can bear weight on my foot without an issue but still can't flex it, so I subbed 85lb push presses for the thrusters. God, this was still hard. 15:52, with light+mini bands.

PhillyGuy and I are planning to put our tree up this weekend, and unfortunately I've got to get into work one of these two days...but for now, I'm going to continue to laze around with my pups by my side and keep plugging away at the Marriage Plot while PhillyGuy and I watch football. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Grilling Machine

One of the things I'm most grateful for about the CFCC BCCC is that it won't interfere with my favorite night of the week:



STEAK NIGHT.

PhillyGuy and I are fortunate enough to have steak night about once a week, though some weeks it doesn't play out. It's pretty much replaced our previous tradition of a weekly (pricey and indulgent) meal out. True story? PhillyGuy's steak is just as good - if not better - than the steaks we used to shell out for at places like Butcher & Singer (which is still my favorite steakhouse in the city, I think), AND it's about 1/5 of the cost, AND I get to eat it in my sweatpants. Win.



PhillyGuy is in charge of the grill. I'm pretty sure I've only used the grill like...three or four times since we got it. It was life changing, though - no matter what anyone tells you, a George Foreman, while it has its place, is NOT the same.

Cosmo constantly supervises. (And also, LOOK AT THAT FAT BUTT. It's amazing...he was so emaciated when we got him, and now he's my little tank. Or sausage. Whatever.)



We get our ribeyes at Costco. Sometimes we change it up and get strips, but usually, it's ribeyes. They're USDA Prime and they're about $15/lb, anywhere from $50-70 for a pack of four. They're a couple bucks more per pound than the USDA Choice ribeyes there, but it's worth the investment. Not cheap, but they are substantially better than any other steak I've picked up anywhere, including much pricier grassfed ribeyes/delmonicos from Whole Food and DiBruno's. I'm not sure what it is.



So while he grills his steak (and sears mine - baby, I like it raw) (ugh sorry), I'm in charge of this.



And this.



The veggie varies between brussels sprouts, broccoli and green beans, but I always roast them with salt, pepper and olive oil. The sweet potatoes get a bath in olive oil, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon and cayenne pepper, and then dusted with kosher salt when they come out of the oven.

The only thing I need to eliminate with the BCCC is the beer. And that's not a big deal to me - I really don't drink much, maybe a glass or two of wine or a beer once or twice a month. In fact, PhillyGuy and I SPLIT these two beers on this particular steak night a few weeks ago. I love me an ice cold dirty martini with my steak when we're out, but I never bother with that at home.





So, yes. It's Friday and it's steak night in the PhillyGirlRuns household. And here is a quick recap of this week's workouts (kind of meh - it's been a busy week, I have a shoulder injury and I haven't had a ton of time to get to CFCC):

Saturday, 10/1: Before I got my bake on, I got my partner workout on. In teams of three, 20 minute AMRAP of 15 front squats (135/95) and 75 double-unders. My team went with 65lbs for the front squats - they were easy for me but I think RX'ed would have been REAL tough. The double unders were the suck factor, at least for me, though I was able to complete 10 or 15 at a time by connecting them with singles. We completed 4 rounds + 3 front squats...outside in the middle of 13th street.



(Picture credit to Kimberly, heisted from CFCC's blog. I'm in the unflattering squat in the pink.)

Wednesday: Sandbag shoulder turkish getups. 30-40-60-70-80 (right side only, ran out of time). Metcon: 8 minute AMRAP, 8 single-arm overhead squats strong side, 8 SAOHS weak side, 8 jumping goblet squats (1.5pood/1pood). I hurt (NOT tore, thank goodness) my left rotator cuff last week doing knees-to-elbows, so I didn't add weight on my left arm - instead I did squats with a 40lb sandbag over that shoulder for that side. Otherwise RX'ed at 1pood/16kg/35lbs - it was tough but felt good, and I am very glad I did the 16kg instead of 12kg. 4 rounds even.

Thursday: sumo deadlifts, peak of 1. I do not like sumo deadlifts - I always feel awkward, AND the bar scrapes up the top of my knees due to the wide stance (wah, wah, wah). Nonetheless - 115-155-175-205-225-235 (fail)-235 (ugly but up). My form on the last lift was horrendous - I was somewhat surprised to find the bar off of the ground, so the rest of me was like - LOL WUT - and there was a lot of side-to-side shifting. That would be a 5lb PR - WOOT. 15lbs left to get to my 2011 goal. Metcon: 5 rounds for time, 10 russian kettlebell swings (2pood/1.5pood), 20 double unders. My DU's have improved significantly in the last two weeks, and I'm now stringing 5-6 together unbroken pretty consistently, without the need to do singles in between. This was still the suck factor in this workout, though. 6:40 as RX'ed.

happy weekend all! And happy first-week-through-the CFCC BCCC. I feel good.
Soooo that's it this week.

my life, via iPhone

coffee and dogs and laptop and bed...weekend mornings are the best. Sophie's getting scruffy again.

dogs do NOT appreciate being walked in the rain, but they love their sweet coats.

I LOVE DEADLIFTS.

I also love steak. Costco's prime ribeyes beat the CRAP out of DiBruno's though, and for a couple bucks less per pound. Bah.

This is the real reason I got a nook color: I subscribe to US Weekly, but if anyone comes by I can quickly minimize it and pull up, say, something by Jeannette Winterson and be all like "yeah, I read postmodern literature while getting a pedicure. I find that it relaxes me."

Last week's workouts:

Monday: turkish getups. 2-3 each side, 12kg kettlebell; 2-3 each side, 16kg kettlebell; 15lb bar, 2 each side just to see how it felt (TWSS). Metcon: AMRAP 12 minutes, 2 TGU (one on each side), 30ft overhead walking lunges left, 30ft overhead walking lunges right. 3+2TGU; 1 pood kettlebell.

Tuesday: DEADLIFTS!

Thursday: Gymnastics. Front lever and strict handstand pushups. WOW, these are hard. I did a bunch with the assistance of the "average" band and it whooped me. Metcon was like...four thousand handstand pushups and four thousand strict toes-to-bar, which for me are strict hanging leg extensions.

Saturday: more gymnastics. Brutal ring work, various pieces of a muscle-up - working on false grip, ring support, ring dips and the transition. Metcon was 20 rounds of 5 seconds ring support, ring dip, 5 seconds false grip hang. I had a crapload of trouble falling into a false grip to hang - every single time I thought I was going to get it right and every.single.time I looked up to see my hands gripping the rings normally. I used a mini band for assistance and my left thigh is covered in nasty black bruises from where it kept snapping up and hitting me...at least 17 out of 20 rounds.

I had big plans to do hot yoga on Sunday morning, but I was BEAT.UP from the ring work and ended up taking an extra rest day.

Wrestling

This week's training was a nice balance of "shit I'm good at" and "shit I'm not that good at."

Monday: turkish getup (12kg kettlebell; meh), 50 burpees for time (4:05 - meh)

Tuesday: conventional deadlift, set of three (95, 115, 125, 145, 165, 165 - getting heavier!); tabata box jumps (20# box, not that many jumps - I think 58)

Wednesday: broad jump (77.5" - not so hot); AMRAP in 10 minutes of 60' broad jump, 30 second handstand hold (7 rounds exactly)

Friday: front squat, set of three (75, 95, 105, 115 (failed on third), 85, 85); tabata squats (139)

Things I am decent at: deadlifts, tabata squats, handstand holds. Things I am not great at: broad jump, doing lots of burpees without resting in between, front squat. I suspect I'll be OK at turkish getups next time. But holy shit - between the (really ugly) box jumps and the (less ugly but it takes a million of them to get me 60') broad jumps and the (much better but still brutal) tabata squats, my quads are raging this week.

I'm hitting up my first gymnastics class today. We're scheduled to work on "rolls" (forward? backward? who knows - either way I'm going to have to work my ass off to stand up at the end instead of getting stuck) and freestanding handstands. Which I think I'll be okay at. I'm looking forward to starting to work on handstand pushups, because that seems like a pretty sweet party trick.

Yesterday, PhillyGuy and I trashed our old, sorry-looking shag rug and replaced it with this gorgeous silk oriental-style rug my mom gave us. That involved a lot of rearranging of furniture, and a lot of vacuuming.

The dogs don't really like when we move furniture around, and they REALLY don't trust the vacuum.

But they do like the rug.

It's a great surface for wrestling.

And taking a break.

I know it may be lame, but I love my little dogs.

Camera Dump

I misplaced my memory card reader at some point between vacation and now. As a result, I've had a lot of iPhone pictures on here, and a lot of pictures building up on my (real) camera. Still no sign of the reader, but I did track down the data transfer cord that came with the camera.

And, yeah. Lots of pictures.

Like from when we climbed a lighthouse in the Outer Banks.










And when PhillyGuy and I took the pups to cheer on runners (and bloggers) at Broad Street.






Cosmo wasn't the biggest fan of the crowds.



Sophie wasn't the biggest fan of the walk. A two-mile round trip is a little much for those short little legs.



"Oh ma. I quit."

Still weeding through these pictures. I wonder what else I'm going to find on here.



Looking forward to my second CrossFit class tonight. According to the website, tonight's skillwork is Russian kettlebell swings. I'm pretty pumped, even though my legs are STILL sore from squatting a piece of PVC pipe the other night.