Friday

AM
3-5 sets very easy:
2:00 bike
:20-:30 handstand hold
2:00 bike
:30/side plank
+
15:00 mobility work of choice

PM
A. Alternating DB reverse lunges, 2 x 16-20 total; 2:00 rest
B. Strict pull-ups, accumulate 15-30 solid singles according to feel; rest as needed
+
For time @ high effort:
1000m row
50 thrusters, 33
30 ring rows, strict w/tough set-up
+
8 sets:
:45 Assault Bike @ 90% aerobic
:45 Assault Bike @ 50%

AM

4 sets, subbed FLR for side plank

+

skipped the mobility

+

shoulder stuff, 2 sets, same as yesterday

PM

A. 50, 55(20)

B. 2 singles, DNF 

+

10:12 at half-assed effort 

subbed goblet squats, 35lb

+

complete

Denial: "I did a handstand push-up, and it didn't hurt nearly as much as last week! Let's cancel the appointment, it'll heal on its own." 

Anger:  "This is fucking stupid.  I literally JUST recovered from knee surgery, oh and also I broke my thumb in a freak accident, and now my shoulder is fucked up, like really fucked up, like it-won't-stay-in-its-goddamned-socket fucked up."
Bargaining: "Well, if I need surgery anyway, maybe I can just train on it through the Open? I did that with my knee and it turned out fine!"

Depression: "Training while injured is lame and I can't imagine being healthy enough to compete in the Open in 3 weeks, I may as well just stop trying." 
(I think we're going to be stuck in the Depression stage for at least the next 5 days)


Today was awful.  Long and shitty day at work, and didn't get to the gym until almost 7.  Came really close to blowing off the whole day - my shoulder was aching and I had zero interest in anything high-effort.

Lunges were okay, limited by grip (duh).

Shoulder pops out at the initiation of the pull from a dead-hang.  Shoulder also pops out when raising my arm to just past my ear (although it does not on the static handstand holds...those are totally fine).  Two reps and called it, this is scaring me.

Shoulder pops out at the top of the thruster.  No pain at all in the press, but can't lock out at the top and keep my humerus in place.  Two reps and called it, this is really scaring me.

Felt sorry for myself on the baby Jackie piece, and just didn't feel like giving high-effort.  Row done at 4:09.  Dropped the kettlebell at 15/30/40/50 (lame).  Initially set up the rings way too challenging, after 10 reps I ditched the box and put feet on the floor (still tough, sets of 3).  No pain or popping out of place with the horizontal pulling, shoulder tolerated the row and ring rows just fine.

The Assault bike and I are becoming friends, though.  90% aerobic is a solid 62-66 RPMs.

I didn't notice my shoulder popping out at ALL last week, I wonder if the tape from Balza was actually doing something?  Can I just construct a shirt out of KT tape?  Or, because it hurt a fair bit worse last week than it does right now, I just wasn't moving it around as much.  Or, Emily suggested that perhaps Tim's maneuvering it around made it more susceptible to move around... except that the first time I noticed it was on the pull-up before I saw Tim.  I'm glad I tested the pull-up, I think it gave Tim important information.  It would have sucked if I tested a pull-up the day after I saw Tim and then had to make a repeat visit a week later, and this whole process of waiting and not knowing would just be delayed.  Bottom line: this is alarming.

Monday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A1. Wrist flexion stretching, kneeling w/top of hands on ground and fingers facing toward feet, rotate locked elbows forward and lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
A2. Wrist extension stretching, kneeling w/palms on ground and hands supinated so fingers facing toward feet, lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
B. Clean thruster, build quickly to a heavy single
+
AMRAP in 6:00:
1 muscle-up
3 heavy thrusters - you pick the weight
+
3-6-9-12 for time:
Hang squat snatches, 65
Toes-to-bar
+
10:00 easy cool-down of choice

AM

45:00 of Assault bike, shoulder pre-hab, row, handstand walk

PM

A1/A1. complete 

B. 153

+

7 with thrusters @ 105

+

3:20
+
Assault bike complete


Feeling pretty beat up from Saturday, even with being off yesterday.  Back is tight and shoulders aren't happy.

The clean part of the clean thruster felt good, but the push-press part of the thruster was tough at 153, so called it there.  Definitely qualified as heavy for today.

AMRAP was tough.  Muscle-ups were just okay, only caught one rep on the high side, the rest were fairly low catches.  Had 0:10 to attempt a muscle-up at the buzzer, and couldn't turn it over (not surprised).  Not super happy with this, was hoping for 8 rounds.

For time piece was great through the 9's (all unbroken), then the 12's fell apart.  Broke the snatches 6/6, and broke the TTB 6/3/3, with the final 3 without a kip.  Happy that I was able to cycle the bar pretty fast, I wasn't sure if you could bounce the bar at the hips like you can for hang cleans, but turns out, you can!  I could tell my shoulders were just done though, they were turning over at different speeds from each other... that shouldn't ever happen, but especially not with 65lbs... 

Monday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A1. Wrist flexion stretching, kneeling w/top of hands on ground and fingers facing toward feet, rotate locked elbows forward and lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
A2. Wrist extension stretching, kneeling w/palms on ground and hands supinated so fingers facing toward feet, lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
+
Every :90 for 8 sets:
1 muscle-up
4 unbroken thrusters, 85
+
For time:
20 squat snatches, 85
+
10:00 easy cool-down of choice

AM

40:00 mixed AirDyne and mobility

PM

A1/A2. complete 

+

complete

+

1:49

+

row complete

Today was super quick, which actually worked out well since I'm working back to back to back 11 hour days... Ugh. 

Muscle-ups felt awesome yet again. All high catches without much effort. Thrusters were fine. Had about 1:15 to rest each time. Today, I felt like I could have done doubles throughout. 

I feel like I should have moved faster on the snatches. 5/5/2/singles. I videoed the whole thing to make sure I was actually squat snatching (I was!), and what I thought were "quick singles" were not as quick as they felt, and I kept taking two steps back then reapproching the bar. The two sets of 5 were done at 0:40, so stringing reps together was a lot faster. Blah. 

Friday

AM
5 sets very easy:
2:00 bike
:30 handstand hold - can be against wall
2:00 bike
:30/side plank or 3 wall walks
+
15:00 mobility work of choice

PM
A. Front squat w/no sleeves, build to a tough single in 15:00
B. Axle Pendlay row, 3 x 5-7, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
For reps:
2:00 cleans, 135
2:00 muscle-ups
+
6:00 rest
+
For reps:
2:00 thrusters, 95
2:00 toes-to-bar

AM

4 sets complete, but sat on the bike until 30:00

subbed 0:60 FLR for the side planks

PM

A. 245, 255F

B. 100(6), 100(7), 120(6)

+

18 cleans in 1:35

2 BMU (+3F)

+

22 thrusters in 1:45

29 TTB


This week has been simply the worst.  The last 2.5 days were the most stressful work days I've had in a very long time, and I have 4 very large tasks on my to-do list for the next 6 days, and somehow all 4 are equal priority.  Also, I still don't feel 100%.  This is stupid.

My right shoulder is starting to bug me a little - side planks are always the first things they complain on.  Going to religiously start doing all the Drew Cook stuff and nip it in the bud before it becomes an issue.

Front squats felt good.  The 245 really wasn't that tough.  Didn't fight very hard for 255, as soon as I started to get stuck I just dumped it.  Anxiously looking forward to the triumphant return of knee sleeves.

Axle pendlay rows were limited by child-sized hands.  I find it much easier to hold on to with my thumbs on the same side as my fingers.

Chose the bar muscle-up piece today, mostly because I haven't done bar muscle-ups since before Christmas.  Hit two easily while warming up.  The cleans at 135 felt really easy, and I moved really quickly through the first 10-12, then started to panic that I would be useless for the bar muscle-ups.  Slowed down the last 6, then walked over to the bar at 1:35 and borrowed the rest time from the cleans.  I'm guessing it will be a little different with a partner... but I felt ready to hit the first BMU as soon as the 2:00 clock started, and made the first one!  Then I got a little cocky, and barely rested at all before attempting another one, and failed.  Then I said to myself "well, I didn't make it, so I didn't really expend any energy, so I'll just go again now" and of course, I failed that one too.  So then I made myself take a full 0:15 rest and hit the second one, then rested until 1:50 on the clock and failed at the buzzer.  Meh.  I've spent so much more time working on ring muscle-ups, so I'm interested to see if that will go any better.

Thrusters started off feeling great; did 5/5/5/5/2.  Took way too much time before picking up the bar after 15, and that last set of 5 was rough.  Had time on the clock but decided to eat the transition time from the thrusters.  Forearms were fried almost immediately on the TTB.  Opened with 5, then 4's, then 3's, then 2's, there was a 1 in there somewhere, and lost the kip at the end.  Ugh.

Monday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A1. Wrist flexion stretching, kneeling w/top of hands on ground and fingers facing toward feet, rotate locked elbows forward and lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
A2. Wrist extension stretching, kneeling w/palms on ground and hands supinated so fingers facing toward feet, lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
B. Squat snatch gauntlet, 1 every 2:00 starting @ 75 and adding 10 every 2:00
+
Every 2:00 for 7 sets:
1 muscle-up
5 unbroken thrusters, 75
+
1500m row easy

AM
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1
+
10:00 mobility

PM
A1/A2. complete
B. 125, 135Fx2
+
complete
+
complete


Meh.  

Snatches felt super easy through 125.  Videoed the whole thing, and observed that these were entirely power snatches.  I even wore knee sleeves, just in case I was subconsciously shorting the depth, but it didn't seem to make a difference.  If I dropped into a full squat, I would have had the first attempt at 135, it was just an inch in front.  Set up weird on the second attempt and just deadlifted.  This makes me sad.  One of my goals for 2016 is to seek Oly instruction.  This is getting ridiculous.  I snatched 125 in 2013.  2013!  It's 2016!  Fucking A.

Muscle-ups were just okay.  Only caught the first one pretty low, the rest were better than last week, but still not great.  They're not difficult, I just don't know what to change to catch them higher consistently, and I don't know what's different on the days where they feel super easy.  First time doing thrusters since May, and I didn't miss them.  Although, I found it comical that 5 thrusters at 75 were specified to be unbroken...

Friday

AM
5 rounds for time:
9 deadlifts, 165
9 CTB pull-ups, mandatory sets of 3 unbroken throughout

PM
For 21:00:
1st: 7 muscle snatches, 55
2nd: 1 rope climb
3rd: 5 thrusters, 75
+
20:00 AirDyne @ Z1

AM

8:35

PM

complete

AM session was more like 5 rounds @ 80% - all deadlifts easily unbroken, and butterfly is coming along nicely.  Took quite a bit of time between sets of 3 - was more interested in hitting quality butterflied sets than the time. Only two sets of 3 throughout the whole thing that weren't in rhythm (one was Conner's fault, he jinxed me). 

EMOM felt good, plenty of rest between movements. I still think the muscle snatches are the worst part. 

Tuesday

shoulder prep
+
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 5 thrusters @ 75 + 1 rope climb

complete

Crazy to think that this time last year, 1 rope climb every 5:00 stressed me out.

Friday

AM
On an 18:00 running clock:
Every :60 for 9:00: 5 unbroken deadlifts, 165
Every :60 for 9:00: 5 CTB pull-ups, unbroken for as long as possible

PM
For time:
45 power snatches, 55
5 rope climbs
30 thrusters, 85
+
20:00 AirDyne @ Z1

AM

complete

PM

12:22

+

complete 

Deadlifts were easy.  CTBs were okay - butterfly wasn't as good as it was the other day, but still hit maybe 5/9 sets with all 5 in rhythm.  All sets unbroken even if I had to reset the kip.

Found it impossible to care on the PM piece. Just not interested. 

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 5 thrusters @ 85 + 5 CTB pull-ups

PM
A1. Snatch, 1-1-1; 2:00 rest
A2. Handstand walk, 3 x 50'; 2:00 rest
+
3 sets:
400m run hard
20 wall balls, 14 to 10'
3:00 walk rest
+
10:00 AirDyne @ Z1

AM

complete; CTBs were butterflied!

PM

A1. 125, 130F, 130F

A2. complete, unbroken 

+

2:53 (1:56)

2:52 (1:54)

2:52 (1:53)

+

complete 

I've gotten fairly proficient with sets of 5 kipping CTB pull-ups, so I wanted to use this morning to practice butterfly - great success!  4 sets of 5 in rhythm, plus a 4/1 and a 3/2 (without dropping off the bar, just reset the kip). This is very exciting.  Just like everything else, it's all about patience and using the hips.  Funny how this is the recurring theme.

Snatches felt great, even with a men's bar! 125 was easy (jumped 95, 115, 125); caught the first 130 but lost it behind; just pulled the second 130 and chickened out on getting under it. 

Handstand walking was totally easy, even with lifting shoes and wrist wraps on for the first 2 sets. 

Paced the run slightly better than I did on Saturday, this was maybe 90-92% effort. This definitely qualified as hard, but I could have run a little faster (story of my life). All wallballs unbroken and fairly easy. Other than pulling up my knee sleeve, I had no problems immediately picking up the ball. 

Nice day :)

Friday

AM
9 rounds @ easy effort, I just want you to get in the volume here:
5 unbroken deadlifts, 165
5 unbroken CTB pull-ups
+
3 sets not for time:
10 glute-ham sit-ups

PM
On a running 15:00 clock:
Every :60 for 5:00: 10 power snatches, 55
Every :60 for 5:00: 1 rope climb
Every :60 for 5:00: 7 thrusters, 75
+
20:00 AirDyne @ Z1

AM

complete

PM

complete

Had to be at work super early today, so did the AM at 2:30 and the PM at 5:30.

Deadlifts and CTBs were nice and easy.

10 glute-ham sit-ups at a time are perfectly reasonable; not looking forward to 50 for time on Sunday...

On the 15:00 EMOM, my expectations of which pieces were going to be worst was completely backwards.  I was dreading the rope climbs, but this was by far the easiest movement.  Thrusters were totally easy.  Those power snatches though - those were not pleasant.  I think one of my least favorite movements in CrossFit are light weight, high rep power snatches.  They get me every time.

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 7 thrusters @ 65

PM
For 12:00:
Evens: 1 muscle-up
Odds: 4 tall box jumps
+
For 12:00:
Evens: 2 strict handstand push-ups
Odds: 6 alternating pistols
+
For 12:00:
Evens: 8 tough kettlebell swings
Odds: 8 wall balls, 20 to 10

AM

complete

PM

complete
30" box
+
complete
+
complete
70lb KB


Solid day! Everything felt great.  

Kind of a rude wake-up call to have thrusters first thing in the morning, but after the first set, these were fine and easy.

No fails on the muscle-ups, and these felt better on the fat rings than they have in a while.  Box jumps were really tall on the first couple of jumps, but got used to it once I got into it.

Strict handstand push-ups continue to improve.  2 sets of 2, and only one fail (trying to go for a 3rd set of 2).  Pistols were mostly great.  Knee continues to behave.

Kettlebell swings were tough but no issues.  Wallballs felt pretty easy for the most part.

Saturday

AM
For time:
12 unbroken thrusters, 95
3 rope climbs
9 unbroken thrusters, 95
2 rope climbs
6 unbroken thrusters, 95
1 rope climbs

PM
9-6-3 for time:
Strict handstand push-ups
Hang power cleans, 110
Bar-facing burpees

AM

5:00

PM

16:50 

Home @ CSC!

Thruster/rope climb workout was good.  I think I paced this pretty well... was forcing myself to jump up for each rope climb before I felt ready.  Some of the thrusters got a little slow (pausing at the top), but these weren't bad at all.  Didn't get in trouble on the rope until the very last climb... forearms were SHOT.

Annoyed that things I'm very good at (hang cleans and burpees) are always paired with something I'm very terrible at (strict handstand push-ups).  Stupid CrossFit.  This was approximately 0:50 of work and 16:00 of staring at the wall.  The first round wasn't bad, was back at the wall for the round of 6 at 5:45, but then the 6 strict handstand push-ups took 8 or 9 minutes to complete - an enormous amount of fails.  Hang power cleans were super easy; burpees were easy, too, but I didn't really push the pace on the 9 and 6 because I knew I'd be resting at the wall anyway. To be fair, I did better on this than I thought I would - not sure if I could have even done 18 strict handstand push-ups at this time last year.

NEXT.

Thursday

A. Squat snatch, take your time and build to a max for the day
+
15-12-9 for time @ 100%:
Power cleans, 85
Burpees
+
12:00 rest
+
15-12-9 for time @ 100%:
Thrusters, 85
CTB pull-ups

A. 130, 135Fx3

+

4:27

+

7:38

Had to train in the AM again due to another work commitment... 

Super happy to snatch again!!! Seriously, this is very exciting.  Matched my current PR (130) on the first attempt, and was pretty confident about getting 135 today.  Caught it overhead 3 times, but with soft elbows all 3 times and lost it.  It'll happen next time.  Felt super fast under the bar today.

The power clean/burpee thing was really fun!  I slowed down during the 12 burpees, but other than this, moved pretty well throughout.  PC broken 9/6, 6/6, 9UB, and felt super easy.  Probably could have gone unbroken throughout, looking back.

On the other hand, the thruster/CTB thing was AWFUL.  Jesus.  I felt pretty much recovered after the first piece, but for some reason this whole thing was still terrible.  The thrusters today went much better than the thrusters in that shuttle run thing from last week, there wasn't nearly as much pausing at the top.  Broken 9/6, 6/6, 9UB.  CTBs felt good today, but I stood around way, way, way too much in between sets.  Broken 5/5/5, 4/4/4, 3/2/2/1/1.  I just couldn't make myself jump up to the bar, I don't know what my deal was with that today.  It felt like 100%, but the time ended up being pretty pathetic.

Saturday

AM
For time @ 70%:
1000m row
50m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
750m row
75m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
500m row
100m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
+
10:00 shoulder mobility


PM
10:00 bar muscle-up practice
+
A. Front squat, 3 x 3-5, 20X1; 2:30 rest
+
10:00 legless rope climb practice - don't die
+
For time:
15 burpees
30m shuttle run (15m out & back)
200m row
30m shuttle run
20 thrusters, 80
30m shuttle run
200m row
30m shuttle run
15 burpees
+
10:00 AirDyne @ Z1

AM

16:58

+

complete

PM

complete - none today :(
+
A. 155, 175, 195(5)
+
complete - also unsuccessful
+
6:05
+
complete

AM piece was a really fun change of pace!  Loved it.

Timing was off on the bar muscle-ups today - I wasn't being patient and letting my hips come up and was trying to turn over too early.  Meh.  This is annoying.  They felt so easy last week!

Front squats felt excellent; started on the conservative side, but knee feels great.  

Legless rope climbs were kind of disastrous today.  I feel like my fingers aren't strong enough to do these.  It's not really grip strength, or at least what I think of as grip strength, it's like the actual finger muscles that feel weak.  Made it 3-4 pulls every attempt but then just couldn't hold on for another pull.  Also annoying.  But, I didn't die! So there's that.

The for time piece was SO FUN! I should have gone faster in the beginning, but had a really nice negative split.  The thrusters were surprisingly terrible, this was by far the worst part of the whole thing.  Broken 10/5/5 with too much resting in between sets.  I think the 20 thrusters took 2:00 exactly.  Rowed at a 2:05 on the first row and 1:55 on the second row.  Last 15 burpees done AFAP, just over 0:30.  Breathing was really high throughout the whole thing, but it was kind of fun to push through the high breathing and just keep going.  Except for during the thrusters.

Monday - 15.5 redo

AM
shoulder prep
+
10 sets:
:30 AirDyne @ high aerobic effort
:30 rest

PM
15.5 re-do

- 950-1000 cals/hr throughout
- 12/9/6, 12/9, 8/7, 9 on the barbell, keep rests short and transitions quick

AM

complete

PM

9:41 (0:18 faster than Friday)

Well. The Open is over! Planning to recap in another post. 

Today's 15.5 felt like a completely different workout than Friday's 15.5. Not gonna lie, I was very nervous going into this. I felt a lot of pressure to improve and had a better strategy, but was worried that it wouldn't be good enough. I'm very pleased with the improvement over Friday, but still not satisfied. I don't know if this is another instance of overestimating my abilities or what, but I want more. I want to be better, and I know I'm capable of it. 

Made a conscious decision to pull back the pace on the rows to something more sustainable and push it on the thrusters. Held 1000 for the 27, then 950ish on 21, 900ish on 15, 950ish on 9 (I think? It's kind of a blur). Broke the thrusters 12/9/6, 9/7/5, 5/5/5, 9. These felt much better than Friday, I think I did a much better job of picking up the bar and limiting the resting at the top. And I tried to just turn off my brain and listen to Stephen (and Conner, thanks buddy!), I was pretty much blacked out for the duration and left the decision making up to them. 

Wasn't nearly as wrecked as I was on Friday. It was still extremely unpleasant, but nothing like the first attempt. So of course, now that I'm sitting here with my gelato (finally!) and watching the leaderboard (ugh), I wonder if I could have pushed harder. I wonder if I could have rowed a little faster and kept the same speed on the bar. But I really don't think it would have happened today,  I think I really did my best and made the right call to guarantee an improvement. It would have been very risky to try to maintain a faster row pace, I'm 99% certain that this would have resulted in a repeat of Friday with way too much hesitation at the bar.  But it's that nagging 1% that has me writing all this. 

Anyway. I'm very proud of myself and of the entire group of athletes at CSC. These people make it fun. Onward! 

Friday - 15.5

AM

mobility @ home

PM

15.5
27-21-15-9 reps for time of:
Row (calories)
Thrusters
M 95 lb. F 65 lb.
+
10:00 AirDyne @ Z1
+
10:00 mobility work of choice

15.5: 9:59

+

Complete 

+

Complete


Eeeeeeeeesh.  This was one of the most unpleasant workouts I've ever done, perhaps only second to the row/KBS/burpee tester from OPT.  I haven't felt that messed up after a workout in a very, very, very long time.  Mentally out of it and nauseous and a little Fran cough and quads are fucking toasted.

I made a series of moderate errors that all added up to result in a pretty poor performance toward the end.  Stephen and I decided that I should hold a 1000 cal/hour pace for all the rows, and kick it up a notch in the 9s if I had it, and that I should do all the thrusters unbroken.  This is exactly the plan I had been thinking of all day, and I felt really confident going into this.  I expected to end up in the low 9:00s and turn in a solid score for the team.

The row felt okay on the 27 and 21, and I held just over 1000 cal/h for pretty much the duration of these.  27 thrusters unbroken, but when I got to maybe 24 or so I started to panic that going unbroken was a bad idea.  Slowed down quite a bit on the 21 thrusters, started pausing at the top a lot, so Stephen told me to drop it once.  Got back to the 15 calorie row and was fucking done.  I legit almost gave up, going just a hair hot in the first two rounds completely kicked me in the gut.  I don't think I ever made it over 900 cal/h on the 15.  Broke the 15 thrusters 8/7 but these were really slow and transitions were terrible.  Found a bit of a gear on the 9 calories, bumped the pace to 1080-1100ish, but this was a terrible idea because then I took a good 0:20-0:30 before picking up the bar for the 9 thrusters.  It really felt like physically I couldn't pick up the bar, but I know that's not true and this was a complete mental fail.

Extremely disappointed in myself and I feel like I disappointed Stephen, too.  I know I can do much better than this.  I'm a little afraid that, now that I know how much it's going to hurt, I won't go there again on Monday.  I think a better plan for me will be to break the thrusters once in the first 3 rounds, row at a very slightly less aggressive pace - I was working hard to keep it above 1000, but if it drifts to 980ish and feels like a better rhythm, I might just go with that - and fucking pick up the bar for the set of 9 without hesitation.  I need to listen to Stephen when he says to go.  He's always right.

Wore just the one knee sleeve and pulled it up/down for every transition except the 9 calorie row.  Knee felt okay while I was doing the thrusters, but it's pretty pissed off now.  Icing and ibuprofening and mentally preparing to attack this thing again on Monday with a slightly better plan and visualizing giving my best effort to end the Open.

Wednesday

AM
3 sets:
5:00 AirDyne easy
5:00 scap activation & t-spine/anterior shoulder mobility - switch it up set-to-set

PM
A. 1 power clean + 1 thruster, build quickly to a tough set
+
For time @ 90-95%:
30 thrusters, 65
30 bar-facing burpees
+
2:00 rest
+
AMRAP in :60:
Row calories @ 97%

AM
complete

PM
A. 160 (thruster PR +5)
+
3:07
+
20

Awesome day!  Everything felt excellent.

Power cleans were very easy.  The thrusters were weird starting from the top (as opposed to a squat clean thruster) and I kept wanting to adjust my feet before starting.  Felt like I maybe could have gotten 165, but 160 was definitely tough so I called it there.  Didn't realize until I got home that it was a PR.

Really enjoyed the thruster/burpee workout (WHAT?! this is starting to get weird).  Thrusters easily unbroken in 0:55, steady on the burpees.  Wore one bees knee on the left knee only, which was a little weird and imbalanced when starting out but it ended up being fine, and I had very minimal pain when doing the thrusters.  It didn't take any time at all to pull it down, so that's a viable option for the future.  Hopefully 15.5 won't be something where I would have to pull it up and down multiple times...

Errrrr... went out WAY hot on the row.  I still don't really know how to pace properly when watching calories.  Held 1400-1500 cal/h for the first 0:35 and then completely hit a brick wall, my legs just stopped working.  Finished it out around 1100 cal/h.  That hurt.

Monday - 15.4 redo redo

AM
shoulder prep
+
20:00 AirDyne @ Z1

PM
A. Power clean, build quickly to a single @ 155
+
15.4 re-do re-do
+
3 sets for even times:
20 row calories
15 box jumps or step-up step-downs, 20
10 burpees
5 thrusters, 85
3:00 walk rest
+
3 sets not for time:
10 strict pull-ups
:30 glute bridge hold

AM

complete

PM

A. complete
+
46 (3:10) - worse than Saturday
+
3:03
3:08
3:09
+
complete

Totally demoralizing third attempt at 15.4 - failed (what felt like) dozens of handstand push-ups today, including the last one in the set of 6 (major warning sign).  My kip was absolute shit today, almost every rep was a struggle to lock out, and went to singles in the set of 9. Had just under a minute left when starting the set of 15, only got one good rep and 3 fails. This felt worse than it did on the first attempt, even though today's score beat Friday's.  Blah.  Moving on.  

3 sets were tough, the burpees were the easiest part (what?!).  Rowed right around 1000 cal/h, did all box jumps but legs were shaky after the row, so these were pretty slow.  Burpees were nice and fast.  Thrusters were murder on my knee - the weight felt light, it was just stabbing which made me hesitate before every rep.  Shit.  I know they're coming this week so I'm just gonna have to put my head down and deal. Wore the black knee sleeves throughout all the movements, no issues with the other pieces while wearing them. Gonna have to make a decision soon about whether to go back and see Tim...

Felt nice to do some strict pull-ups today! It's been a while.  The pulling felt really strong but I was swinging all over the place.  Glute bridge hold was weird, I think I was doing them correctly? Not challenging at all.

Wednesday

AM
3 sets:
3:00 AirDyne easy
3:00 t-spine/anterior shoulder mobility - switch it up set-to-set
3:00 AirDyne easy
3:00 light scap activation

PM
A. Overhead squat, 3 x 3-5, 2011; 2:00 rest
B. Muscle-ups, accumulate 6 solid reps; rest as needed
+
10-8-6-4-2 for time @ 97%:
Thrusters @ 65
Burpees w/2-hand touch to 6" target
+
10:00 rest
+
1 set for calories:
:60 AirDyne @ 97%

AM

complete

PM

A. 155(5), 165(5), 175(4)
B. complete
+
3:44
+
35 calories on Betty


Overhead squats continue to feel good.  Wrists don't like them, but that's too bad.  Knee feels fine with heavy weight as long as I have the bees knees on, but warming up with just a bar or even a PVC pipe was pretty unpleasant.  Now that it's been a few days, I'm pretty sure I fucked it up almost back to square one with the heavy squat cleans on Friday.  God-fucking-dammit.

Muscle-ups felt very easy today, didn't time these but all were done within 5 minutes or so.

The thruster/burpee thing was nasty.  I really wanted to smash this, and I'm kind of disappointed that I wasn't closer to 3:00.  Mehhh.  This was the first time doing thrusters since Gobblers in November, and I was shocked at how much my knee hurt as I was warming up.  I changed into the black knee sleeves, but they weren't really doing the trick today.  I don't really know what to do about this, there's no way I could have done this workout with the bees knees on, but I think that's the level of support I need for my knee to cooperate.  This sucks.  Anyway.  The round of 10 was nice and fast on both movements, but the rounds of 8 and 6 slowed down considerably.  I was having a hard time keeping balance on the thrusters and paused at the top quite a few times, and the burpee speed slowed way down.  Also it was really quiet in the gym, which I honestly didn't mind, except I could only hear the sound my my breathing and then I was concerned that I was really out of shape and I'll never be good at this type of thing and then it was over.

The AirDyne sprint was much more difficult this week after doing the thrusters/burpees (last week I wasn't tired going into this at all), so I'm happy to be within 1 calorie, but this hurt a helluva lot more.  Went out hot and lost it with about 0:20 remaining.  Blah.

Saturday - Gobblers and Gobblettes!

EVENT 1: Squat clean speed ladder

2 minutes to clear as many bars as possible; burpees as a tie-breaker
Men's Ladder: 185/205/225/250/275
Women's Ladder: 115/130/145/160/175

Cleared the ladder twice + 145. Made it to 160 with a lot of time to spare (0:20 or so, which I never got in practice), so I took my time to set up properly, pulled, caught it, and fell backwards with it. I literally don't think I've ever done that before. Somehow had the presence of mind to roll over and do one burpee before time ran out. Very happy with this. Obviously it would have been better to make the 160, but I can't complain. 15th. 

EVENT 2: Thruster/HSPU floater
1 Minute of Thrusters (135#/95#)
1 Minute of Handstand Push-Ups

24 thrusters (14/10)

0 HSPU 

I really wanted to hit the floater between the ladder and the row/jump/snatch workouts, mostly to save Cody's shoulders for the muscle ups. I didn't get as many thrusters as I would have liked. Maybe because I felt like I wasn't quite recovered enough from the ladder. UGH I don't know why I dropped it at 14, I don't think I was even slowing down, I just felt like that was a good place to take a break. Only attempted one HSPU at 1:55 and failed. Shitty. Looking forward to lots of improvement here in the coming year. Bring it. 

EVENT 3: Row, jump and snatch
In 10 Minutes, complete the following:
750m Row Per Person/150 Double Unders Per Person
AMRAP Snatches (155/95#)

21 snatches (I did 18)

We knew as soon as the workouts were announced that this was going to be our weakest score. 155 is right around Cody's 1RM, and he was unable to make it when he practiced on Thursday, so we had pretty low expectations heading in. I started on double unders, hit a big set of 67 to start then chipped away. Had a little bit of a rest before the row. Row pace bounced a bit - the first 250 was at about a 1:57 (adrenaline), the middle 250 slowed to 2:04ish, and the final 250 was 2:01ish. Finally got to the snatches and just felt exhausted. I was moving pretty slowly. I told Cody to basically just rest until he felt like he wanted to try one, and I'd just hit single after single. He failed his first 2 attempts, but then hit 3 throughout the course of the workout. I was so proud of him!! I was really excited that he hit a few, we really weren't expecting that. I kind of mentally checked out of this one because I knew we wouldn't score well. Should have had at LEAST 20 reps on my own, if not 25. I looked at the clock at 2:00 remaining and just groaned because I was so over it. Not my finest moment. 

EVENT 4: Double AMRAP

In 6 Minutes, complete as many reps as possible of:
3 Muscle Ups
9 Deadlifts (275/185#)
6 Muscle Ups
18 Deadlifts (275/185#)
9 Muscle Ups
27 Deadlifts (275/185#)
12 Muscle Ups
36 Deadlifts (275/185#)
etc.

(2:00 rest/transition)

In 6 Minutes, complete as many reps as possible of:
10 Pistol Squats
10 Toes-to-Bar
20 Pistol Squats
20 Toes-to-Bar
30 Pistol Squats
30 Toes-to-Bar
40 Pistol Squats
40 Toes-to-Bar
etc.

Midway through the round of 12 muscle ups 

+

Midway through the round of 30 pistols 

Just like we planned, Cody did all the muscle ups and I did all the deadlifts. Cody's muscle ups have improved so much in the past year! He did 3 and 6 unbroken, then 8/1, then singles on the round of 12 I think. I did 54 fucking deadlifts. Ugh that hurt. Did 5/4, 6/6/6, then the plan fell apart on the round of 27 - wanted to do 5/5/5/5/4/3, but I think I did a single somewhere around 18, and a couple of doubles, then 3 to finish. We didn't think it would be worth it for Cody to grind out a rep or two, and decided that would only hurt him for the muscle ups. 275 was far too heavy, and not on the same scale as 185 for women. Ugh. This felt horrible, like 14.3. High volume deadlifts are not my favorite. 

It was pure torture to watch Cody struggle through the pistols and just stand there, unable to help. I know it was an unfortunate circumstance and it was for the best, but I felt like such a dick for just standing there. Did 10 ttb unbroken, then did 8, Cody did 4, I did 8. Very happy with how these felt, they have come a long way. Not the best end to the day but it is what it is. 

Overall 

This is such a fun competition. I really love that we had so many people from CSC competing!  It was very nice to see both Cody's and my improvement over last year in all areas, especially in strategy and communication. Felt like I never really had a chance to relax throughout the day, I was constantly worrying that we should be warming up or would miss our heat, but it all worked out. Super fun day. My back hurts. My knee hurts. My legs are jello. Competing is an awesome experience but I'm ready to get back to regular training.