BOOM.

and it's not even peak week yet.

That's my PR face.  For when I back squat 200lbs for a double.  I Beyonce'd the second one a little bit, and definitely made some really fun faces (and noises - pretty sure I screamed "I'm GETTING THIS"), but yup.

rest of my log:

Saturday May 19: ran to the gym - 1.57 miles in 12:36 easy.  Apparently, not running more than 400m repeats EVER has been pretty good for my running abilities.  Gymnastics: muscle-up work.  I am getting this in a year for sure - maybe even in 2012, though that seems a little ambitious.  Dips are getting stronger and my jumping muscle-up is easy.  I did a couple attempts at kipping a muscle-up, and my biggest problem is that I slip out of false grip VERY easily - which makes the transition a billion times more difficult.  Metcon: 15 minute AMRAP 5 false grip pull ups, 5 push ups, 10 toes-through-rings.  Kipped the pull ups after round 2, and wasted a good minute or 90 seconds on busted rings.  5 rounds plus 4 pushups, as RX'd.

Sunday May 20: "Hope."  This year's variation on Fight Gone Bad.  3 rounds of 60 seconds each burpees/power snatch (75/55)/box jump (24/20)/thruster (75/55)/chest to bar pull ups/rest.  184, as RX'ed - better than last time but still an ass-whooping.  Stayed for Croga and got supple.

Monday May 21: this was my eighth day of training in a row without rest and I was feeling a little tired, but...you know...gotta squat and stuff.  Back squat, peak of 2.  95-125-145-165-185-195-200.  BOOM.  Glad I went.  Metcon: 3 rounds of 60 seconds back squat (135/95), 60 seconds row for calories, 60 seconds rest.  Scores - 29/29/31, as RX'ed.

Poconos Weekend

i spent this past weekend here:

doing a lot of sitting and relaxing and hanging out in the hot tub and watching the boys grill lots of meat.

It was awesome.

I really needed it - I've been super burnt out lately and my work was starting to show it. So, four days off - it's not quite as good as a "real" vacation, but it sure did the trick. We got a four-bedroom cabin in the Poconos and had a few friends come and hang out with us. Even though Mike had to work Thursday, I booked it for the extra night, and spent the day catching up on some errands.

Like taking Cosmo to the vet. Not even the fabulous seasonal window display could distract him.

Poor dude hates the vet.

But anyway - I highly, highly recommend the random long weekend. I actually felt recharged when I got back in on Monday. Fancy that.

Training log - lots to catch up on here:

Friday March 9: sumo deadlift, peak of 2. 135-165-195-225-245. Metcon: ten minute partner row for calories, alternating on the minute. Total calories - 159.

Saturday March 10: CrossFit Games open WOD 12.3. 18-minute AMRAP of 15 box jumps (20"), 12 push press (75lbs), 9 toes to bar. 4 rounds + 3 toes to bar. Fuck me, that was rough. Toes to bar destroyed my forearms.

Sunday March 11: intro to oly. Snatched up to 73lbs - I'm getting much better but still so far from being good. Clean & jerked up to 113lbs. Jerk is getting really strong.

Monday March 12: Overhead squat, peak of 1. 45x5-65x4-80x3-90x1-100x1-100x1-105x1-115x1. Having never worked up to a max on my overhead squat before, this was an automatic PR. Metcon: grip destruction. 4 rounds of 60 seconds each barbell overhead (135/95), farmers' carry with kettlebells (2/1.5p), plank. Score is one point for each time you dropped whatever you were holding, and NO CHALK ALLOWED. 1 point, as RXed (dropped the kettlebells with less than 10 seconds left in the last round...womp womp womp).

Tuesday, March 13: strict band-assisted handstand pushups. These were TOUGH this week - I worked up to a couple with light bands and one with light + mini band, with plenty of fails in there. Metcon: Nate.

20 minute AMRAP of 2 muscle ups, 4 handstand pushups, 8 American kettlebell swings (2/1.5p).

Scaled with strict pullups instead of muscleups and average & light band assisted HSPU's - 10 rounds + 2 pull ups.

Thursday, March 15: CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.4. Fuck this WOD. AMRAP 12 minutes, 150 wallballs (14lbs, 9' target), 90 double unders, 30 muscleups. I mean, FUCK. I hate wallballs but plugged through these OK - after about 30, I started breaking them into sets of 5 and just chipped away. I finished the wallballs with about 4 seconds left and couldn't make it to my jumprope in time. Also, I could barely walk for three days afterwards.

Tuesday, March 20: muscle-up transition work - I did four or five with a mini band. Metcon: 21-15-9 front squat (75lbs)/pull ups. As RX'ed, 8:53. Happy with that - front squats were easy and I only failed one pull up, right at the very end. Time for me to work on stringing more than 2-3 together - I'm going to get much faster at these.

Wednesday, March 21: intro to oly. Snatched up to 79.6lbs (weird mix of pound and kilogram plates); failed at 81.8. regardless...PR! Clean & jerked up to 51kg (about 112lbs); failed three times at 53kg (about 116lbs). One day, these lifts are just going to come together for me, I'm going to keep my chest up and not pull with my arms and drop under the bar...and I will do a bodyweight snatch and PR my clean by like 50lbs.

Fran Again

I know I must be unbearable these days, since pretty much all I ever do is brag about how much progress I've made, both strength-wise and body-comp-wise. But this is my blog, and I get to do whatever I want.

So we're going to brag again.

From my workout log: here are the six-month goals I set for myself in January, aiming to achieve by the end of June - approximately a year since I started at CFCC.



We haven't deadlifted in a while so I have no idea how I'm progressing to pulling 300, but I'm feeling good about most of them - though maybe 5 deadhangs is ambitious. That shit is tough. But anyway - there are two goals there related to Fran, both made on the heels of my last Fran about a month ago. That time, I completed it in 10:24 using a mini-band for the pull ups.

Last night, we Franned again. And I decided to go RX'ed. There was a 10-minute cap, so I figured that I probably wouldn't finish, but at least I'd give it a shot. You know what's coming.

I FINISHED, BITCHES. 45 thrusters and 45 pull ups in 9:47. And it wasn't that bad - I have a lot more in me, especially once I can string together more than two or three kipping pullups. Sub-9 next time.

I am so goddamn proud of myself. I've gone from taking over 13 minutes to do this with a green/"average" band - and being unable to complete more than one pull up at a time with that band - to RX'ing it in just a few months. AND I killed both of my Fran-related goals months ahead of "deadline." Dear everyone: eat Paleo, do crossfit, and be super-badass.

And now a few gratuitous pictures, since I have no further content at all.

On Sunday, I was all bitter because I had to spend the afternoon at work after intro to oly. And the heat isn't on here on the weekends. So there I sat, at my desk, in an earflap hat, flashdance-style cutout t-shirt, and super-baggy sweatpants, praying that no one else was in. (And wow, my eyebrows need a weed-whacker.)



Breakfast this morning (and almost every morning): chicken sausage (found a great brand at Costco - roasted red pepper and spinach flavor, no added sugar or funky ingredients), two over-easy eggs, and a handful of raw spinach.







BAAAAH I rock.





Workout log:





Tuesday, 2/14: Skill work with strict muscle ups. False grip bodyweight pull up; got a muscle-up with two mini bands; many attempts with one mini band and mini+micro bands. GOD THESE ARE SO HARD. Metcon: 30 burpee pull ups for time, 3:40.





Wednesday, 2/15: Front squat to peak of one. 65x3, 95x2, 115x1, 130x1, 145x1 (PR!), 155x1 (PR!). I have more in me - starting heavier next time. FRAAAAAAAN. 21-15-9 thrusters (95/65) and pull ups. 9:47, as RX'ed.