Tuesday 30 April

sleep: 1130pm to 730am (no alarm)

830am: bacon and eggs with half avocado

12pm: deli turkey with tomato and half avocado

5pm: opt-she

7pm: eggs, rice, avocado

9pm: blueberries

-----

A1. Press; 12-15×5; rest 30 seconds
A2. Weighted chin up clusters @50×1 1.1.1.1.1×5; rest 15 seconds/rest 3 min
B1. Bench press 5, 5, 5; rest 10 seconds
B2. Incline DB bench press 10, 10, 10; rest 10 seconds
B3. Static HS hold; amsap unbroken x3; rest 3 min
C. Bent over supinated grip barbell rows @41×2, 6-8×4; rest 2 min

A1. 64(15), 69(13), 69(12), 69(12), 69(11)
A2. +5, +7.5, +10, +10, +10(3)
B1. 114, 124, 129(3)
B2. 20s, 30s, 30s(7)
B3. 0:40, 0:35, 0:30
C. 64, 74, 84, 94

Shouders. Are. Smoked.  Everything felt fine while doing it until the last round of B - just had had enough by that point.  Supinated barbell rows are weird, and I have a feeling I wasn't doing them 100% correctly... 

Friday 26 April

sleep: 1130pm to 630am (no alarm)

9am: opt-she

1030am: eggs, rice, avocado

rest of the weekend will be filled with alcohol and poor choices.

-----

A. Power snatch; 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1; rest 3 min
+
Airdyne 30 seconds @85%
Airdyne 30 seconds @50%
x20

A. 85-95-105, 90-100-110
+
Complete - 204 calories

Snatches did not feel awesome today, but no misses.  Ready for a weekend off!

Thursday 25 April

sleep: 12am to 7am (no alarm)

730am: bacon and eggs with avocado

12pm: spinach salad with tomato, avocado, chicken, tessemae's

5pm: opt-she

730pm: leftover steak and sweet potato sauteed in coconut oil

930pm: avocado

-----

A. Front squat; build to a max
B. Squat snatch; build to a max
+
10 min amrap:
25 Snatch 45#
25 Snatch 70#
25 Snatch 95#
25 Snatch 110#
(power or squat)

A. 220 (PR +25) (previous testing = 195)
B. 115, 120Fx3 (previous testing = 95)
+
64 reps, all power, no misses (previous testing = 52)

Front squats felt great today.  205 was really easy, 215 was only barely a stuggle, but 220 was the ugliest front squat in history - actually surprised that I didn't lose it.  Snatches felt nice and smooth.  Had a mental fail at 105, then hit 110 and 115 easily.  Two of the attempts at 120 were closer than usual, and I think I'll get it soon.  Really happy with the 10 minute AMRAP - flew through the 45s (15+10), and went quickly through the 70s (a bunch of doubles and triples in the beginning, then quick singles).  Took my time with the 14 reps at 95, and didn't miss at all, which is a HUGE improvement over December.

Wednesday 24 April

sleep: 11pm to 630am (no alarm)

730am: bacon and eggs with avocado

830am: chiropractic adjustment

12pm: spinach salad with chicken, tomato, avocado, tessemae's

5pm: opt-she

7pm: leftover steak and sweet potato sauteed in coconut oil

8pm: strawberries

-----

Airdyne 3 min for max cals
Rest 10 min
x3
No pacing, all out efforts

57, 50, 54 (previous testing = 58, 52, 48 on a different bike)

These.  Were.  Awful.  Went out way, way fast on the first 30 seconds of the first one, and barely hung on for the rest of the workout.  Took almost 1 hour to stop feeling like I was going to die.

Tuesday 23 April

sleep: 11pm to 7am (no alarm)

8am: bacon and eggs with avocado

12pm: spinach salad with roasted chicken, tomato, avocado, Tessemae's

5pm: opt-she

630pm: progenex with coconut water

730pm: leftover steak and sweet potato sauteed in coconut oil

9pm: strawberries

-----

A. Build to 1 RM incline bench press
B. Amrap ring dips in 5 minutes (begin the 5 min with 1 amrap unbroken set and record score)
+
10 rounds for time:
10 toes to bar
10 hand release push ups

A. 115 (same as previous testing)
B. 5 unbroken, 20 total (previous testing = 17)
+
15:07 (previous testing = 16:35)

Incline bench press is so awkward.  Not my favorite.  Ring dips felt terrible today - had a really hard time locking out at the top in the last 2 minutes.  Lost my kip on the TTB much sooner than I would have liked, but still happy with the improvement since December. 

Monday 22 April

rest day

sleep: 10pm to 7am (no alarm; so sore that I woke myself up every time I tried to roll over, which was a lot...)

730am: bacon and eggs with avocado

1pm: out to lunch! chips and salsa, guacamole, 2 shrimp tacos; 2 margaritas

7pm: grilled steak; steamed broccoli; roasted sweet potato; 4 glasses of sangria

9pm: strawberries

Sunday 21 April

sleep: 12am to 8am (no alarm)

weight: 168

9am: eggs, rice, avocado

11am: opt-she

1pm: bacon and eggs with sweet potato

6pm: roasted chicken (legs and thighs); kombucha

8pm: strawberries

-----

A. Build to 1/3 bodyweight in each hand and perform 1 amrap set @30×0 tempo rear foot elevated split squat
B. Take 10% of CGBP from yesterday and perform 1 amrap set @30×0 tempo on each arm of:
-Elbow on knee external rotation
-Powell Raise
+
“Karen” (14lbs to 10′)

A. with 55/hand: 7R/7L (previous testing = 6R/7L, same weight)
B. with 15lbs:
-external rotation: 9R/10L (previous testing = 8R/8L, same weight)
-powell raise: 7R/6L (previous testing = 5R/5L, same weight)
+
12:03 (previous testing = 11:39)

I hate wallballs.  Especially wallballs to a 10' target.  I had an easier time hitting the 10' target today than in December, and the first 100 actually felt pretty good, but the last 40 felt almost impossible.

Saturday 20 April

sleep: 11pm to 730am (no alarm)

8am: eggs, rice, avocado

9am: opt-she

1030am: progenex with coconut water

1230pm: steak and sweet potato sauteed in coconut oil

530pm: grilled salmon; steamed broccoli; roasted sweet potato; kombucha

7pm: frozen yogurt

-----

A. Power snatch; build to a max
B. Close grip bench press; build to a max
C. Power clean build to a max
Rest exactly 2 min
D. Power clean; amrap in 8 min @90% of C

A. 105, 110Fx3 (previous testing = 100)
B. 140, 150Fx3 (previous testing = 145)
C. 145, 150Fx3 (previous testing = 135)
D. 26 @ 130 with 3 misses (previous testing = 17 @ 120)

Mediocre training day... just felt kinda "meh" the whole time.  Also, I really prefer squat snatches and squat cleans to power... I have a really hard time thinking of "getting under it" while not squatting to get under it.

Friday 19 April

rest day

sleep: 11pm to 8am (alarm; tossed and turned all night and was up from 130-3)

830am: bacon and eggs with avocado

12pm: spinach salad with chicken, steak, avocado, tomato, Tessemae's

6pm: grilled salmon; steamed broccoli; steamed rice; kombucha

8pm: strawberries

Thursday 18 April

sleep: 11pm to 7am (no alarm)

8am: bacon and eggs with half avocado

12pm: spinach salad with chicken, steak, tomato, avocado, Tessemae's; 2 paleo no bake cookies

430pm: opt-she

630pm: progenex with coconut water

8pm: leftover steak and sweet potato sauteed in coconut oil

9pm: strawberries

-----

A. Back squat; build to a max
B. Amrap back squats in 1 attempt @30×1 tempo with 85% of A
C. Squat clean; build to a tough single
+
30 squat clean for time @70% 1rm

A. 245 (PR+5), 250Fx2 (previous testing (December 2012) = 235)
B. 3 @ 208 (previous testing = 2 @ 200)
C. 155, 160Fx3 (previous testing = 135)
+
6:48 @ 115 (1RM is 165) (previous testing = 4:50 @ 95)

Back squats felt really good.  245 wasn't much of a struggle - probably could have gotten 250 if I jumped there from 225 or 230 instead. Something was seriously wrong with my squat cleans today - even the light weights warming up for part C felt off, and I wasn't catching the bar in a good position (including one epic fail at 155).  The 30 reps @ 115 were way, way harder than I expected.  All singles. Overall, though, happy with the progress since December!

Wednesday 17 April

sleep: 11pm to 730am (alarm)

8am: 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

12pm: spinach salad with 2oz chicken breast, 3oz grilled steak, tomato, half avocado and Tessemae's dressing

2pm: 2 paleo no bake cookies (generous gift from a coworker)

530pm: workout

730pm: 8oz leftover grilled steak and 5oz roasted sweet potato sauteed in coconut oil

9pm: 15 strawberries

-----

Airdyne 15 min
Run 15 min
Row 15 min
All @z1 pace

Complete.  Felt good just to sweat today!

Tuesday 16 April

sleep: 11pm to 8am (alarm)

9am: 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

12pm: spinach salad with 2oz chicken, 3oz steak, tomato, half avocado and Tessemae's dressing

5pm: opt-she

8pm: 6oz steak and roasted sweet potato sauteed in coconut oil

9pm: 10-15 strawberries

-----

A1. Strict press; build to a max
A2. Weighted chin up; build to a max
B. Amrap strict chin ups unbroken- 1 attempt
C. Amrap CTB chin ups unbroken- 1 attempt (rest well from B to C)
D. 30 strict hspu for time
* if can’t perform above complete 30 hspu negatives NOT for time- 4 second eccentric and controlled
+
500m row for time

A1. 105 (PR+5)
A2. +27.5 (PR+7.5)
B. 6 (PR+2)
C. 10 (PR+4)
D. negatives complete
+
1:43.8 (PR by 4.2 seconds)

Should have gotten the 110 strict press - 105 went up easily, but 110Fx2.  Really happy with the pullups!  And the row! Held 1:42 for the first 300m and never went above 1:50. Also practiced a few pistols in between the HSPU negatives, and finally got a couple on each leg!  Fun day :)

Monday 15 April

rest day

sleep: 10pm to 7am (alarm)

8am: 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

12pm: spinach salad with 2oz chicken, 3oz steak, tomato, half avocado and Tessemae's dressing

5pm: 4 pints of cider, bunless cheeseburger with avocado, french fries with aioli (out at Yard House)

Sunday 14 April

sleep: 12am to 8am

830am: 2 boiled eggs, rice (1/4c dry) and half avocado

930am: opt-she

1030am: progenex with coconut water

12pm: 2 sliced of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with roasted sweet potato

4pm: 90 minute massage

7pm: roasted chicken (drumsticks and thighs), 10-15 strawberries, kombucha

-----

15 min amrap @85%
10 wall balls
5 toes to bar
Row 250m
10 power clean 55#
5 burpees
Airdyne 20 calories

Complete. Everything unbroken but slow and steady pace (not sure if that's what 85% means, but whatever).  3 rounds on the buzzer.

Saturday 13 April

sleep: 7pm to 8am (no joke)

2pm: pistachios

3pm: hardboiled eggs with rice and avocado

4pm: opt-she

530pm: bacon and eggs with sweet potato

730pm: frozen yogurt

-----

Run 10 min z1 (3:30/400m)
+
Run 400m @85% (2:17, 2:08, 2:02, 1:53)
rest 2 min
x4
+
Run 10 min z1 (3:10/400m)

complete (at Withrow). Really, really did not want to run today, but it was a beautiful day and once it was done I felt so much better.  Had a really hard time figuring out how fast 85% should be.  I think 2:17 is closer to 75% and 1:53 was closer to 90%.  Completely arbitrary guesses.

Friday 12 April

rest day

sleep: almost none (was in bed from 2am to 7am, but really didn't sleep much at all)

food: many poor choices, including hash browns and ketchup, a sandwich on GF bread, cheese, chips and frozen yogurt.

worst hangover in a long, long time.

Thursday 11 April

rest day

sleep: 10pm to 530am (alarm)

630am: 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

1230pm: assorted lunchmeats and sliced tomato (catered work event)

6pm: roasted chicken, steamed vegetables (catered work event)

+

9 pints of cider, 4 glasses of wine

Wednesday 10 April

Sleep: 10pm to 630am (no alarm)

7am: 60:00 walk

830am: 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

11am: chiropractic adjustment

12pm: spinach salad with 3-4oz chicken, 3-4oz steak, tomato, half avocado and Tessemae's dressing

5pm: opt-she

6pm: progenex

8pm: bacon and eggs with sweet potato; kombucha

-----

airdyne sprint 15 seconds @100%
rest exactly 1:45
x10
(rest 5 min bw sets 5/6)

complete.  these felt good today - hard, but 15 seconds was definitely manageable.

Tuesday 9 April

sleep: 11pm to 7am (no alarm)

730am: 60:00 walk

9am: 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

1pm: spinach salad with 3-4oz chicken, 3-4oz steak, tomato, half avocado and Tessemae's dressing

5pm: opt-she

630pm: progenex

730pm: sauteed ground beef with butternut squash and spinach; kombucha

-----

EMOM for 20 min:
Odd- 3 tough power snatch
Even- 30 double unders
+
EMOM for 20 min:
Odd- 3 burpeees + 3 CTB chin ups
Even- 6 thrusters 65#

complete
+
complete

used 95 for the power snatch for 2 rounds, then dropped to 85 for the remainder.  double-unders were not fantastic today - was concerned about doing them in Oly shoes, but I don't think that was the problem.  overall, this was a much more challenging workout than I anticipated.

2013 CrossFit Open recap

The 2013 CrossFit Open is over.  I set a lofty (and somewhat arbitrary) goal of finishing in the top 250 in the 2013 Open in the Central East Region.  I based this goal off of my 477th place finish in the 2012 Open.  What I did not take into consideration was the huge increase in participants this year.  So, perhaps percentages are a better way to gauge my performance this year, and improvement over last year.

2012: finished 477 of 1215 women in the Central East (top 39%)

12.1: top 49%
12.2: top 24%
12.3: top 36%
12.4: top 57%
12.5: top 48%

2013: finished 472 of 3074 women in the Central East (top 15%)

13.1: top 12%
13.2: top 18%
13.3: top 37%
13.4: top 12%
13.5: top 16%

Overall, I'm quite pleased with how these last 5 weeks have gone.  I wish I had gotten a few more 100lb snatches on 13.1 and finished the double unders on 13.3, but other than that I met or exceeded my expectations for myself.  (Funny how the 150 wallball event was my worst event both years... something I obviously need to work on).  It's barely over, and I can't wait for 2014.  Top 5%?

Monday 8 April

sleep: 12am to 730am (no alarm)

8am: 30:00 walk

9am:2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

12pm: spinach salad with 3-4oz chicken, 3-4oz steak, tomato, half avocado and Tessemae's dressing

230pm: banana

430pm: opt-she

530pm: progenex

7pm: ground beef sauteed with butternut squash and spinach; kombucha

-----

30:00 row at z1

5551 meters – kept it around 2:40/500m. This felt nice and easy today.  And much less stressful than the first time we did this!

Sunday 7 April

sleep: 12am to 8am (no alarm)

9am: 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

1030am: recovery workout

12pm: sushi, grapes, kombucha

6pm: pistachios, roast chicken

8pm: grapes, almond butter

Saturday 6 April

sleep: 11pm to 7am (no alarm)

8am: eggs with avocado and rice

10am: workout

11am: progenex

1230pm: bacon and eggs with sweet potato

6pm: chili, cider, assorted paleo goodies

-----

Fran
7:34

Previous time was 10:33 in February 2012.  Thrusters felt really good, but pullups got really hard, really quick.  Grip was shot and forearms refused to work.  Hoping to go sub-7 this year.

Friday 5 April

sleep: 11pm to 7am (alarm)

730am: 60:00 walk

9am: 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs scrambled with half avocado

12pm: spinach salad with 3-4oz chicken, 3-4oz steak, tomato, half avocado and Tessemae's dressing
4pm: cider, pistachios

8pm: banana with almond butter

Thursday 4 April

sleep: 10pm to 7am (alarm)

730am: 60:00 walk

9am: bacon and eggs with avocado

12pm: spinach salad with chicken, steak, tomato and avocado

4pm: larabar

6pm: 13.5

630pm: progenex

730pm: leftover steak and sweet potato

-----

Workout 13.5

4 minute AMRAP of:
15 Thrusters (100 / 65 lbs)
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
*4 minute bonus for every 90 reps (3 rounds) completed.

52 reps.  

Perfectly okay with this number, considering last year I spent 7 minutes just trying to learn CTB pullups.  Thrusters were surprisingly hard.  CTB went to singles quickly.  Breathing was challenging.  This has me wanting to do Fran, considering I have only done it once more than a year ago right when I learned how to do pullups.

Wednesday 3 April

sleep: 10pm to 715am

730am: 60:00 walk

9am: bacon and eggs with half avocado

12pm: spinach salad with roasted chicken, steak, tomato and half avocado

330pm: opt-she

430pm: progenex with coconut water

6pm: leftover steak and sweet potato

-----

A. Squat clean; 2 reps on the 45 seconds for 8 sets @75-80% 1rm
B. Front squat; build to a 5rm in 3 sets
+
3 rounds for time:
20 wall balls
10 CTB chin ups

A. Complete with 130 (1RM is 165)
B. 135, 155, 165
+
9:35 (9')

Squat cleans got really heavy, really fast.  Every 45 seconds came too quickly, but no misses.  A little too conservative on front squats.  Wallballs felt easy. Couldn’t string together CTB very well.  I'd call this 75% effort.

Tuesday 2 April

7am: 60:00 walk

5pm: opt-she

A. Deficit deadlift (2-3″ platform) @31×1, 2, 2, 1, 1; rest 2 min
B. Push jerk; build to a tough triple
C. Amrap strict dips x5; rest 1 min
D. 7 burpees AFAP x5; rest 1 min

A. on 55lb plate: 275(2), 280(2), 285(1), 290(1)
B. 145(3), 150(2)
C. 6, 4, 3, 3, 3 on the bars
D. complete

Deadlifts felt good today - ready to hit a big PR soon, hopefully.  Push jerks felt okay - the hardest part is always returning it to the front rack position.  Dips felt good for the first round, then got progressively harder and harder.  Burpees felt really fast; no complaints here.

Monday 1 April

7am: 60:00 walk

pm: too much wine and sugar.

Sunday 31 March

11am: 13.4 redo

69 reps

Everything felt easier this time.  Probably could have pushed just a bit harder, but overall quite pleased with this second attempt.