Month: March 2017

I Sat Down & I Can’t Get Up

It was rough moving around the rest of the day yesterday, but sleeping wasn’t too bad, which is usually a good sign. Today is pretty terrible too, especially when I get up out of the chair from working. It takes me about a minute to fully stand up straight. Drying off my feet and putting my socks on was quite the chore this morning. Definitely was not making my way to the gym because I didn’t know if I’d be able to get out of the car. After finishing up work, I needed to move, so headed out to the garage to see what I could do.

I knew the Airdyne would be a go, so I tried to use Pi AD2, but it wouldn’t launch properly on my Raspberry Pi and when I tried to run it from my Mac it wouldn’t track the spinning of the flywheel. I need to spend some time on it and get intervals programmed anyway.

7 Rounds

  • 2:00 Airdyne (AD2)
  • 20 Push-ups

I did 10-10 on every set of push-ups. The second 10 got rough after the second round, but I kept each 10 unbroken, with some short pauses at the top of later reps. Finished in 20:35 and tallied up 423 cals, holding RPMs at about 75 and then picked it up for the last couple of rounds.

Quick Redo

My ass has been sore from the 55 deadlifts and my shoulders have been a bit fatigued. Had some plans to get through the wall balls quicker by doing 15-15-15-10 and not be a pussy on the rower for the redo of 17.4

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Airdyne
  • Shoulder stretching
  • 2×10 Heel Drives
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Deadlift
    • 10×45#
    • 2x5x135
    • 5×185
    • 2x3x225
    • 3×245

Well, I did my first set of 5 reps and then tweaked my back when I picked up the bar for my next set. Shortest Open workout ever! 😦 Glad my first attempt was a PR.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 8×125
  • 6×155
  • 4×185
  • 4×215
  • 4×235
  • 3×255 (PR)

Figured I could still bench since it doesn’t require moving my back. Had to gingerly lay on the bench each time. Didn’t realize it, but that was a 15# PR for a triple! Maybe I’ll do a bunch cycle or two after the Open and try to get to 300.

Conditioning

“300 FY” – 10:00 AMRAP

  • AirDyne Calories

Been a long time since I’ve tested this. Wanted to breathe hard in something since I didn’t workout yesterday and who knows how much I’ll be able to do over the next few days with this damn back. I started out at a much better pace than my previous PR and did well at holding above 80 RPMs, then picked it up in the last 60-90 seconds. Ended up with 357 calories (AD2 model), which is only 1 calorie under my best. Seemed much easier than my previous attempts.

17.4 is 16.4

This week I remembered to check the leaderboard after score validations closed. Even though I didn’t improve on my redo, 17.3 may have been my best placing ever in an Open workout. After a weak 17.1, I’ve been able to make a nice climb up the overall leaderboards with the last two workouts.

17.3 Results

  • Open Division: 19,602/167,143 (11.7%)
  • Masters 35-39 Division: 2,268/31,768 (7.1%)

Overall Placing After 3 Weeks

  • Open Division: 26,201/201,248 (13%)
  • Masters 35-39 Division: 3,282/36,980 (8.9%)

*I only count athletes who have submitted at least one score.

Many people were predicting 16.4 as the repeat workout for this year. Since it was my best workout from the 2016 Open I was happy to see Castro select it. We’ve been working a lot on HSPU and I recently improved my score on 15.4 by 9 reps, so I wanted to do a retest on this one. Even last year I felt I left some reps on the table by pacing too much.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Airdyne
  • 2×10 Heel Drives
  • Deadlift
    • 10×45#
    • 5×135
    • 5×185
    • 3×225
    • 2x3x275
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Shoulder stretching

CrossFit Open Workout 17.4

13:00 AMRAP

  • 55 Deadlifts (225#)
  • 55 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 55 Row (calories)
  • 55 Handstand Push-ups

Last year I scored 192 reps, which is 27 HSPU after finishing the row at 8:34. Little bit of a strategy change this year…

  • Deadlift: 11 sets of 5 with short rests (count to 2 or 3 and go)
  • Wall Balls: 5 sets of 11 with about 10 second rests (I count to 8 and get going)
  • Row: 1,100-1,200 cal/hr
  • Handstand Push-ups: Sets of 3 with 10-15 second rests

Rests may have gotten a bit longer at the end of deadlifts, but wall balls were on pace. I needed to push on the rower as I was just under 1,000 cal/hr most of the way, which is not good. I picked it up for the last 10+ calories. Again like last year, I decided to camp out on the seat for probably a good 20-30 seconds before getting up. So much wasted time when I could have knocked out at least a set on the wall. For some dumb reason I decided to set the damper over 6, which I never row at. I usually am in the low 5 area, so not sure if that was enough to make any kind of difference.

I was done with deadlifts at 2:27, wall balls at 5:18, and rowing at 8:47. There weren’t tiebreakers except for finishing the row last year, so I only know that I was 13 seconds slower this year. Not good. 😦 When I finally got up on the wall I was having no problem with triples. Somewhere under 90 seconds I decided to do a set of 4 and it came back to bite me when I got 2 no-reps in the final minute. I didn’t have to do doubles until at the end. Even though I had less time this year, I still set a PR by 5 reps with 32 of the HSPU for a score of 197.

17-4.jpg

Deadlift Wednesday

Went to the Chiro at 5. Scheduled it after 3 weeks since it’s the Open. Will go back to about every 5 weeks now.

Warm-up

  • 2×10 RH Heel Drives
  • Dead Hang (feet on ground)

Deadlift

Supposed to be 4×4 @ 90%. Not a chance.

  • 12×45#
  • 8×155
  • 6×265
  • 4×315
  • 4×345
  • 4×375
  • 2x4x405

Conditioning

E3M – 5 Sets

  • 10 Burpees Over the Rower
  • 20 cal Row

Was supposed to be 20 cals of Assault Bike, so we threw in some burpees to get tired for the row. My first and last round were both 1:15 and the other 3 were 1:24 or better.

Chipper

  • 20 Deadlifts (275#)
  • 50 DU
  • 20 KBS (70#)
  • 50 DU
  • 20 Burpees
  • 50 DU
  • 20 C2B Pull-ups
  • 50 DU
  • 20 Box Jumps (24”)
  • 50 DU
  • 20 DB Full Cleans (50#)
  • 50 DU

Was programmed with 400m runs and I originally had the idea to do 100 DU. We decided to go with 50 instead and it was a good call since it still took me 18:01 to finish. Bryan and I shared a bar for the deadlifts and alternated every 5 reps. I did 10-10 on the KBS and 10-5-5 butterfly chest-to-bar pull-ups. When I got to the cleans he was 10 reps in so we alternated 5 reps each until he was done and then I took another rest before my final set of 5. I missed 2 dubs in round 1, got the next 3 sets unbroken and then started missing a lot in the final 2 sets after the movements that blew up my legs.

Interference

My back is a little tight from yesterday.

Power Clean + 3 Front Squats

  • 45#
  • 95
  • 95
  • 135
  • 165
  • 185
  • 205
  • 225
  • 235
  • 245

We got in the lifting from yesterday that was programmed for people not redoing the Open workout. Felt heavy today.

Conditioning

The programmed workout had a bunch of pull-ups and a ton more snatches. No thanks so I whipped up an idea using movements we still might see in the Open. Kept with the mash-up theme that’s been going on Tuesdays.

  • 10:00 AMRAP
    • 10 HSPU
    • 20 cal Row
    • 50 DU
  • 10:00 Rest
  • For Time:
    • 12-10-8 DB Thrusters (50#)
    • 9-7-5 MU

I went for it today on the handstand push-ups and surprised myself by doing 4 sets without coming off the wall! The first set was fast and smooth. The other sets were a bit slower with some short pauses resting on my head. Couldn’t believe it! I only missed one dub at 47 in the second round. Finished exactly 4 rounds with 2 seconds to spare.

Yep, dumbbell thrusters are still terrible. Didn’t realize how much they interfere with muscle-ups too. Did all of the thrusters unbroken. Wanted to go for it on that first set of muscle-ups, but I had to come down after 5. Went 2-2 to finish the 9. I think I got a double to start the round of 7 and then failed on the next double, so I stuck to singles the rest of the way. The thrusters got my heart racing so much I had to take long breaks to make sure I made each muscle-up. Finished in 9:50.

Good Bye 17.3

Warm-up

  • 4:00 Air Dyne
  • Banded Shoulder Mobility
  • Snatch
    • 5×45#
    • 3×95
    • 4×95
    • 2×125
    • 2×145
    • 1×165

Was feeling smooth.

2017 CrossFit Games Open 17.3

  • Prior to 8:00, complete:
    • 3 rounds of:
      • 6 chest-to-bar pull-ups
      • 6 squat snatches, 95 lb.
    • Then, 3 rounds of:
      • 7 chest-to-bar pull-ups
      • 5 squat snatches, 135 lb.
  • *Prior to 12:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 8 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 4 squat snatches, 185 lb.
  • *Prior to 16:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 9 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 3 squat snatches, 225 lb.
  • *Prior to 20:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 2 squat snatches, 245 lb.
  • Prior to 24:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 11 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 1 squat snatch 265 lb.

*If all reps are completed, time cap extends by 4 minutes.

I wasn’t sure what to change from my first attempt, even up to when I was warming up. I ended up keeping 3-3 pull-ups for the first 3 rounds, but did 3-3 on the snatches instead of unbroken. Finished 13 seconds faster. Then I kept all 3 sets of pull-ups at 3-2-2 instead of going double with singles on the 5th and 6th round. Kept that 13 second gain so would have a better tiebreaker. Did 8 single pull-ups to try to bring my heard rate down. Rested before grabbing that 185 and made sure I really got into it. Made it, so now I was way ahead of pace. I was fucking gassed though. Was just a bit forward on my next two attempts to miss them. Did not want to pick up that bar because I couldn’t breathe, so I called it quits after I got to 11:00 on the clock since I wasn’t going to even match my 92 at that point.

Since the 3-2-2 on those 2 other rounds didn’t make me faster, I guess I should have ketp to 2 + singles and maybe I wouldn’t have been so gassed. Oh well, had to try something.

17-3-redo.jpg

We decided to do some lifting.

Behind the Neck Jerks

  • 5×45#
  • 3×95
  • 3×135
  • 3×165
  • 3×185
  • 3×205
  • 3×215

Good enough for the day.

Still Got ‘Em

When I workout late, I’m hyped up and can’t get to bed, so I was up until like 1:30 last night. Made it to the gym at 10am though. Hybrid had a bunch of heavy snatches programmed today because they didn’t adjust after 17.3 was announced and some long AMRAPs, but we didn’t feel like doing any of that stuff.

12:00 EMOM

  • 10 Pistols
  • 7 Strict HSPU

Have had doubts about pistols lately because my left quad has been bothering me a bit during squats. Once I got in a few reps they were feeling great though. Went for an increase on the handstand push-ups from what I’ve been doing and made every set. Was fun doing these two movements back-to-back.

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 5×155
  • 5×205
  • 5×245
  • 3x5x275

Felt heavy and I could feel my low back a little bit so didn’t push the weight.

Bench Press (pause)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95
  • 5×135
  • 5×165
  • 5×185
  • 5×205
  • 5×225
  • 5×230

I couple of weeks ago I did 225 for a triple with the pauses so this was a big jump. My 5RM without pauses is 240, so wondering where my max is these days.

Conditioning

  • 500m Row

It’s been too long since I did this for time. Had it going good with the average pace down to 1:22/500m at one point, but died in the last 150 meters. Finished with 1:24.1, which is only 0.6 seconds off my best.

2017-03-11-500m-row.jpg

17.3 Fresh Off the Plane

I forgot to check overall standings before week 3 scores starting showing up on the leaderboard. My ranking on 17.2 was much better for me though.

  • Open: 25,442th
  • Masters 35-39: 3,129th

Nearly moved halfway up to the top of both overall leaderboards from where I was after week 1, but can’t really get exact numbers due to not looking last night.

Flew home from Austin today, but wanted to get in that first attempt. The plane landed at 7:15 and I was at the gym by 8:30.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Airdyne
  • Banded shoulder mobility
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Snatch
    • 4×45#
    • 3×95#
    • 2×135#
    • 1×155#

2017 CrossFit Games Open 17.3

  • Prior to 8:00, complete:
    • 3 rounds of:
      • 6 chest-to-bar pull-ups
      • 6 squat snatches, 95 lb.
    • Then, 3 rounds of:
      • 7 chest-to-bar pull-ups
      • 5 squat snatches, 135 lb.
  • Prior to 12:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 8 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 4 squat snatches, 185 lb.
  • Prior to 16:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 9 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 3 squat snatches, 225 lb.
  • Prior to 20:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 2 squat snatches, 245 lb.
  • Prior to 24:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 11 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 1 squat snatch 265 lb.

*If all reps are completed, time cap extends by 4 minutes.

Wasn’t sure how to attack this one. Changed my mind a couple of times throughout the day and changed again at the gym after hearing how Bryan did it.

I went 3-3 for the first 3 sets of C2B and touch-n-go on all 3 sets of snatches because 95# really bounces all over the place. Had a solid split at 2:49. First set of 7 pull-ups was 3-2-2 and then a double followed by singles for the other 2 sets. All single snatches with 135#. I really hate doing single pull-ups because I take more break than you can afford. Made it under the 8 minute cutoff with 13 seconds to spare. Not great. I did 8 single C2B trying to calm myself down for the 185#. Took some breaths before giving it a pull and I was not prepared for it. That bar felt heavy as hell, I “Clarked” it, and nearly blacked out. So then I had to waste a bunch of time recovering and getting my head right before stepping back up. I made my next 4 attempts and went 3-3-2 on C2B. I was getting ready to take a pull on the snatch with less than 10 seconds left but my head wasn’t there so I didn’t even try.

So I ended up with a score of 92, which I was surprised by. I remember thinking last night that 90+ would be pretty good for a first attempt. I’m happy to have gotten the 4 reps with 185# because that’s around the load where my squat snatch starts to get really inconsistent in the catch. Will probably try a redo on Sunday or Monday.

17-3.jpg

Looks like 17.3 will move me up nicely too. This is ranked as a level 87 on BTWB, which doesn’t even account for people doing scaled and I should be able to improve on my redo.

Back to Sleep

I set my alarm and planned to do this workout before heading to the conference. Wasn’t happening so I did it before I head out for some Texas BBQ.

30:00 AMRAP

  • 14 Hand-release Push-ups
  • 14 V-ups
  • 28 Air Squats
  • 28 Bicycle Crunches
  • 14 Lunges
  • 14 Leg Lifts

Why 14 and 28? Because as I was picking movement, I got down to 15 lunges and that just doesn’t fly with me. I hate doing an odd number of reps on a movement that alternates sides of the body.

Kept a steady pace and picked up the pace on the air squats in the last 3 rounds. Finished 7 full rounds plus the push-ups, v-ups, squats, bicycles, and 1 lunge.

Rest day tomorrow and then I fly home Friday and hopefully will do a first attempt at 17.3 late that night.

Austin Run

Arrived in Austin today and will be here for a few days. Went for a run since I’m not used to weather like this. It’s a bit hilly in the area near the apartment I rented and not so sure bringing Nike Metcons was a great idea for running. My calves were killing me later in the evening tonight walking to and from dinner.

On the run I went 2.69 miles in a blistering 31:05. Felt good to be outside though.