Year: 2013

Keeping Pace

2.28 mile run in 18:23. My running pace is slacking. Last summer I could run an 8:00/mile pace for 3 or 4 miles without any problem but I was pushing it to keep that pace today. Could be the extra 15-20 pounds I’m carrying compared to last year.

Heading to Vancouver

My abs are still a little sore, which tells me I’m not doing enough sit-ups. Next week I’m in Vancouver for work and it’ll be all running and body weight stuff, so I’ll make sure to get in a bunch. Trained at 3pm for a couple of hours. Hit the barbell hard since it’ll be a week without it.

Warm-up

1,000m Row

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 1 Week 3

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 110# (75%)
  • 3 @ 125# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 140# (95%)

Knocked out 5 reps on the last set for an estimated max of 163#, which is just under my 165# PR.

5/3/1 Front Squats – Cycle 1 Week 2

I wanted to get in an extra squat session for the week so decided to just pick this even though I hadn’t done week 1.

  • 5 @ 105# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 135# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 160# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 185# (70%)
  • 3 @ 210# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 240# (90%)

Trying to do a big set of front squats isn’t the easiest because it get’s really hard to breathe with the bar there for so long. I managed 6 reps, putting my estimated max at 287.5#, shy of my 295# PR. Felt good to get in some more squats for the week though.

Olympic Lifting

Trying to put a lot of time into snatches. Kevin’s help with some position stuff to work on meeting the bar with my hips and it’s really paying off.

Did about 10 minutes of position work with 45# on the training bar.

5:00 EMOM

  • 3 Snatches (95#)

Rested for 5:00.

5:00 EMOM

  • 2 Snatches (115#)

Felt great at 95#, so I wanted to see if I could keep it going with more weight. I was able to! I was getting such explosion behind some of them the bar got so high that I didn’t even have to drop under it and I ended up doing a power snatch. I did have one miss on the 2nd set, but stepped right up and ripped off two makes. I think I hit the hips on every rep in both EMOMs, which is probably more times hitting my hips than total before today. Need to keep doing this. Here’s one of the 115# lifts…

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 150m Run
  • 20 Pull-ups
  • 5 Curtis P (95#)

Wore the gymnastics grips to protect my hand. Felt pretty good. I split pull-ups down to 14-6, 10-6-4, and 10-6-4. Definitely need to add in more high rep pull-up sets. Finished in 9:06.

Garage Thirty

My abs are still sore from Tuesday! Walked 18 holes of golf this morning.

Had an itch to sweat, so jumped on the Air Dyne in the garage just after 8pm for a solid 30 minutes of work. Kept it steady at 67-70rpm to get 699 calories (I know, just one more!) and 16.27km.

Solo Session

My abs are sore from deadlifts and “Annie” on Tuesday, otherwise feeling good. Trained at 10am, but all alone today.

Warm-up

  • 600m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 3:00 Air Dyne
  • Bottom Squat Hold

Strength

5/3/1 Back Squats – Cycle 1 Week 3

  • 5 @ 115# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 145# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 175# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 220# (75%)
  • 3 @ 250# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 280# (95%)

Squats felt better than Saturday. Recovery is crucial and hit the legs way too much last week. I stopped after 3 reps at 280# because the last one was a slow rep and I didn’t want to push it with nobody else there to spot or help me if something happened. On that last set it was the first time I’ve ever felt my hamstrings engage like that. Pretty cool! The 3 @ 280# puts my estimated max at 307.5#, which is low but I’m ok with that for this week, considering the situation.

5 Rounds NFT

  • 8 Font Rack Walking Lunges (155#)
  • 5 RDLs (205#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups

Felt really good. On my chin-ups I really tried to accelerate during the 2nd half and got my chin way above the bar.

20130801-121042.jpg

Olympic Lifting

10:00 of Snatch Position Work with 45# training bar

It didn’t feel as good as yesterday overall, but I did get some really good hip pops in there. My timing seemed really off. Maybe it had to do with my legs being fatigued from the strength work.

WOD

4 Rounds

  • 500m Row
  • 2:00 Rest

Went all out on the first 500 and set a new PR with 1:34.4. Obviously couldn’t maintain that but kept consistent on the next 3 with 1:44.9, 1:45.5, and 1:44.6. I need more of this stuff because I was really dying. Jason Khalipa rowed a 6:31 2k in the Games and I couldn’t even hit that with two minutes of rest between each 500m.

20130801-121050.jpg

While tearing out a stump, the landscaping crew snapped an AT&T line that went right though the stump. So without Internet, I headed back to the box at 6pm for open gym. Warmed up with about 3:00 on the Air Dyne.

OHS

  • 5 @ 95#
  • 4 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • F @ 180#
  • F @ 180#

I was actually going to do 5 with 135# but lost it in the bottom of the last rep. I should have known right there it wasn’t going to be good. My abs are still wrecked from the deadlifts and “Annie” so I think that may have been a big part of it. This is 2 OHS sessions in a row that have been terrible though, with the last one being while I was still recovering from the Tough Mudder Crud.

Did a 1.02 mile sled drag with 115# in 26:14. Switched directions 3 times I think and took a minute or so to help Ellen strap up a sled.

A Big Retest

My low back isn’t feeling the greatest from yesterday’s deadlift session. Otherwise feeling good though. In at 10am.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Air Dyne
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

5/3/1 Bench Press – Cycle 1 Week 3

  • 5 @ 85# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 105# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 135# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 160# (75%)
  • 3 @ 180# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 200# (95%)

I used the Reactive Slingshot again for the working sets. I got 8 reps on the last set, but had a little issue with my right arm flaring out again. Gives me an estimated max of 253#, down from the 271.5# last lift.

Pullovers

3 x 15 with 60# DB

Olympic Lifting

I loaded up a training bar so it was only 35# to work on my snatch technique. Worked on keeping the bar close on the first pull and then getting to the hips on the second pull. I need to do this type of stuff a lot more often. I think we did 5-10 minutes of work.

WOD

  • 10 -> 1 HSPU
  • 10 -> 1 Ring Dips
  • 30 DU

Kevin had planned out just the first two movements and I remembered an almost identical WOD I did back in Phoenix, so we modified it for a retest. Back in January it took me 24:24 to finish. It’s the only WOD to ever put me in bed for the rest of the day and make me think I had rhabdo. I’d never done that many HSPU in a day before. Today I finished in 17:49 and feel great! Broke the HSPU up into 2 sets each round until I got to 4. Ring dips were 3 sets for most of the way and then some sets of 2 before doing the last 3 sets unbroken. Too many misses on middle rounds of DU. Huge improvement though and shows how far my strength has come.

Too Much?

I walked 18 holes of golf yesterday morning and was pretty exhausted most of the rest of the day. No idea why. I got in an hour nap and was in bed early to get 9 hours of sleep. In at 10am this morning.

Warm-up

  • 450m Run
  • 100m Sled Drag (160#)
  • 25/25 Band Walks (Red)
  • 10/10 Flamingos
  • 10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)

Strength

5/3/1 Deadlifts – Cycle 1 Week 3

  • 5 @ 165# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 205# (50%)
  • 3 @ 245# (60%)
  • 5 @ 305# (75%)
  • 3 @ 350# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 390# (95%)

To beat my previous best estimated 1RM I needed 7 reps and I ended up getting 8 for a new estimate of 493#!! Probably still quite a bit higher than my real max, but I’ll take it. I might have pushed a little too much though, because I felt something in rep 5 or 6 and then in rep 8. Hopefully it was nothing, but low back was pretty sore almost immediately, although it did hold up in the WOD.

Kroc Rows

3 Sets of 15/15 with a 53# KB

Actually did these after the WOD, but wanted to group them up here in the strength section.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 20 Deadlifts (135#)
  • 15 Back Squats (135#)
  • 10 Push Jerks (135#)

First longer barbell complex in a while and it showed. Took me 11:37 to finish. I went 19-1, 10-9-1, and 14-5-1 on the deadlifts, back squats all “unbroken” (never dropped the bar), and 5-5, 6-4, and 6-4 on the push jerks. If we hadn’t just done heavy deadlifts I would have been able to get them all unbroken each round I think. I was starting to feel pretty rough trying to recover after this.

Finisher

“Air Dyne Hell”
10 Rounds

  • 15s at 100% (20s at 100% on the last round)
  • 1:45 Rest

Kevin and I got 273 calories, down from our last time with 287. No idea how we managed that before!

I got home and thought I was going to pass out for the next 20-30 minutes. Slamming a lemonade helped right away though. I think that might have been too much intensity after the heavy deadlifts.

I went back at 6 since my legs were already feeling the morning session and my back was pretty lit up. Figured it would be good to flush things out a bit.

0.5 Mile Sled Drag (forward) with 115#

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

  • DU
  • Sit-ups

Smashed my old PR of 7:41 with a 7:08. I missed my first DU on the sets of 50 and 40, but otherwise did them with 50, 2-38, 30, 20, 10. Could have been sub 7 without those misses, but I have no idea how people do sit-ups so damn fast. I never stopped moving.

0.5 Mile Sled Drag (backwards) with 115#

Ugh, backwards is so hard on the hip flexors. I wanted to stop after 2 of 6 laps, but kept on truckin’.