9am and the 3 Bears

Actually woke up this morning. Of course in a few days I’ll have to adjust timing by another hour with DST bull shit.

Warm-up

  • 3 Sets
    • 10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
    • 10 Toe Touches
  • Zombie Kicks
  • High Knees
  • Butt Kicks
  • Bar Hang
  • Deadlifts
    • 6×45#
    • 6×155#
    • 6×225#
    • 6×265#

Strength

12:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 6 Deadlifts (295#)
  • 5 Strict C2B Pull-ups

Turned into cardio read quick! 5 was the perfect number on those pull-ups because I was almost missing my last one each set. I touched the ground between every rep and kept a solid hollow body position.

Conditioning

6 Sets

  • 3 Bear Complex (unbroken)
  • 1:00 Rest

I started with 115# and went up 10# every set. Was pretty smooth and steady through the first 5 sets. When I got to the end I would have had 5# sitting on the sidelines so I slapped them on the bar too for a 20# jump. Shit balls! The thrusters in back and front were a struggle and I had to take a second or two to take a breath in a couple of positions. Got through though. I think it took me just under 7:00 to finish all the sets. Didn’t get much rest time with changing the plates.

6 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 4 Burpees
  • ~1:00 Rest (while someone else did their row)

I didn’t strap in my feet for the first 5 rounds and got 156-160-160-160-162 meters. Strapped in and went hard on the last one and got 176 meters, so a big difference transferring power into the machine. My burpees were pretty slow every round.

30s

Planned to get up and hit the garage in the morning, but that didn’t happen. Got to Intuition at 3:20.

Warm-up

  • 3×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Back Squats – 5×45, 5×155, 5×225
  • Shoulder Press – 5×45, 5×95, 5×115

Strength

10:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 5 Shoulder Press (125#)
  • 5 Back Squats (245#)

Can tell I haven’t been squatting much. That felt much tougher than it even should.

Rowing WOD Week 13 Session 1 – Intervals

Next phase is going to focus on rowing for CrossFit.

Part A: 15 rounds

  • 30s Row (calories)
  • 30s Rest

Strokes/minute Prescription

  • Round 1 – Rate 18
  • Round 2 – Rate 19
  • Round 3 – Rate 20
  • …
  • Round 11 – Rate 28
  • Round 12 – Rate 29
  • Rounds 13-15 – no rate cap, max effort

Screwed up and started out at 19s/m. Figured that out after a few rounds and scaled it back. It was hard to get into a rhythm with the stroke rates in such a short period of time (as you can see from the log). I forgot to keep track of calories, but using the cal/hr (and rounding down) from the log I came up with 9-9-9-10-11-11-11-12-12-12-13-14-16-16-16 for a total of 181. Those numbers seem about right.

Rest 5:00

Part B: Row 25 calories for time

I was hitting over 2,400 cal/hr and even over 2,500 for a brief moment! I don’t ever remember getting 2 cals in a pull and I did it many times. Took me about 0:39.

Hung around for a bit as the 4:30 class got going. Did 5 or 6 sets of ring swings, working on my hollow/arch positions.

HR Run

Weather looked decent for today so figured I could get in a recovery run when I planned out my workout week. Took a break from work around 1:30. Put on my heart rate strap and headed out with no plan for distance. I actually turned off the pace, time, and distance cues in RunKeeper and set it to alert me about HR every 1/4 mile.

Didn’t feel like I started out fast, but my first mile pace was over a minute/mile faster than the rest of the run, where I settled in at about 11:00/mile. I think the heart rate reading were jacked at the beginning of the run when I had a few apps open that were all fighting for the HR data. I shut those down about 3/4 mile in and then the HR seems to have leveled off after that around 115-120 bpm and slowly increased over the run to the low 130s.

I went 4.63 miles in 49:49.

Before the end of the year Garmin is coming out with a new watch that has some nice features, including HR monitoring built-in, with the ability to set HR zone alerts. I’m going to get one when it comes out mainly to use for running, but will be nice to be able to also use for other HR training on the Air Dyne, Ski Erg, rower, and maybe even during some MAP workouts. Excited to learn/try some new things after running with Automattic’s very own crazy running guy in Park City. My aerobic system can definitely use the work.

Team Up

We moved Super Sunday up to 11 and I got out of bed on my own at 7:45, so just the one day with the alarm yesterday has set me back in the right direction.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Ring Hang

Strength: Overhead Squats

3-3-X-1 Tempo

  • 2×15# (demo)
  • 2×45#
  • 2×75#
  • 2×95#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×165#
  • 2×175#
  • 1×185# (lost it trying to stand up 2nd rep)

Started out with jerk grip again and moved out each weight change. I was still a ways from being at snatch grip with 175# but it was pretty shaky so I went full width for 185#.

Gymnastics & Explosive

Warmed up with 5×20″, 5×24″, 3×30″, and 3×34″ jumps.

12:00 EMOM (alternating)

  • 10 C2B Pull-ups
  • 5 Box Jumps (38″)

Can’t believe I was able to do all 6 sets of the chest to bars unbroken with the butterfly. Putting a focus on my hollow body and arch positions in all pull-ups is paying off. Should have gone higher on the box jumps.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

*Team of 4: Do a round and rest while the other 3 do their rounds

  • 3 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 2 Power Cleans (155#)
  • 1 Thruster (155#)

Couldn’t turn the 2nd clean into a squat clean thruster and gave the option to do a front squat and some type of shoulder to overhead instead of the thruster.

Teamed up with Michelle, Weston, and Bryan. We kept a pretty steady pace the whole time and even got a little faster as we nailed down the transitions between movements in the complex. We each did 17 rounds, then Michelle and I each got in a round, and Weston got 1 deadlift. I thought it would end up getting a lot tougher than it did. Fun workout though.

Almost Sally

Had to set my alarm to make sure I’d get up this morning to go in early at 9am to lift with the guys. Been sleeping in since I got back from Utah. I also wanted to make sure I had time to put a beef stew in the crock pot before heading to the gym.

Warm-up

  • 2×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Ring Hang

Snatches

  • Doubles: 20-40-40-50-60-60-70-70kg
  • Singles: 75-75-80

I used the straps starting around 60 I think. Used them to help force me to not pull with the arms. Didn’t feel very strong today. I went for a double on the first 75 but missed rep 2. Missed an attempt at 85 and called it there. Wasn’t feeling it.

Class Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Zombie Kicks
  • High Knees
  • Butt Kicks

Clean & Jerk

  • 5 Muscle Clean + 5 Shoulder Press (45-95#)
  • 3 Muscle Clean + 3 Shoulder Press (135#)
  • 2 Power Clean-Jerks (165-185-205#)

Nothing crazy.

Conditioning

“Bring Sally Up”

  • 135# Back Squats

The song came on during the early part of class so my big mouth had to suggest we do this. I’ve always missed out on it being out of town or having plans. I put on the shoes and belt. Really started feeling it on my back so I dropped out with about 30 seconds to go, but I’d hit every rep up until that point. Nice leg burn too. No sense tweaking my back over something like this. I still got good work out of it.

15:00 AMRAP – Partner with Weston

  • 10 Push Press (75#)
  • 10 Russian KBS (53#)
  • 5 Pull-ups

We alternated every movement and it worked out great. Teams that alternated rounds started dying as they neared 10 minutes and it seemed like we were getting faster. We went on the light side with the push press, which felt good. Finished 22 rounds plus 5 push press, so since I started I got through 11+5.

The 2k

Today was the big day. Glad I rested yesterday. Still kind of sore in my legs from the 500 double unders and 100 wall balls. Got to the gym around 4:30.

Warm-up

  • 3×8 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • 4x150m Row (bursts, getting faster each time)

Rowing WOD Week 12 Session 2

This is it! Second phase of the program has been leading up to the big test.

  • 2,000m Row for time

During the first week we set a pacing goal based on a 500m interval workout. I went with what felt like an aggressive 1:41 pace at the time for my goal, knowing that would be a pretty big PR. After doing a 1,500m race pace simulation on October 12th, I felt confident it was possible. I stuck to the race plan that had been laid out for us and came home with an average pace of 1:40.8, a time of 6:43.3, and a PR by 18.6 seconds!

I think the fast start actually hurt me and if I had to do it again I’d dial it back more in that first 200m. When I got past the first 500 meters I was having a hard time generating enough power to stay on the 1:41. 1:42-1:43 was more of the pace I was hitting. At 1,000m I was still averaging under the goal, but it kept creeping up more and more, eventually getting up to about 1:41.3. Luckily that’s when it was time to kick it in gear for the final 300. I was able to reign it back under 1:41. Pretty stoked to make my goal. This rowing program has been awesome and I’m seeing a lot of carryover in my conditioning. Here’s a Beyond the Whiteboard chart showing my 2k rows over time.

Here’s my ranking on Concept2 for men’s 30-39 heavyweight.

concept2-2k-rank

Even though that hurt like hell and my legs are still burning 2 hours later, I’m excited to take a shot at my 1k row time now. Hell, my first 1k of that race was 3:21.1, which is only 10 seconds off my best.

Conditioning / Accessory

After recovering, Bryan and I did this little I Go You Go style workout. We didn’t use a clock but kept moving throughout.

7 Rounds (each)

  • 4 Strict HSPU
  • 7 Goblet Squats (53#)
  • 10 GHD Sit-ups

We said we’d start out shooting for 5 rounds and go from there. Was getting close to failure on the HSPU so went for 2 more rounds. We each went through an entire round and then rested while the other guy did his. Went better than expected, but was a little light-headed after the rowing.

Recovered

Enjoyed the last couple of days away from work after spending an awesome week with everyone in the company out in Park City, Utah. Did a lot of relaxing by pulling double days in the gym. Thought about testing the 2k row today, but with all of the work I put in, I’m feeling a little beat up.

After sleeping in again, I went straight out to the garage and jumped on the Air Dyne (AD2) for an easy 20 minutes, covering 6.08 miles.

We have about another 1.5 weeks in the gym challenge, and I’ve seen a nice decline in my weight over the trip. After a couple more days from getting home, I’m down 5+ pounds over 10 days. Weighed in at 198.3 this morning. I haven’t been this light since April.

Fun Garage Sesh

Slept in again. Out to the garage around 11.

Weightlifting

  • 5 Squat Snatch + 5 Snatch Press (45#)
  • 4 Squat Snatch + 4 Snatch Press (75#)
  • 3 Squat Snatch + 3 Snatch Press (95#)
  • 2 Squat Snatch (115#)
  • 2 Squat Snatch (135#)
  • 1 Squat Snatch (155#)
  • 1 Squat Snatch (165#)
  • 10:00 EMOM
    • 5:00 – 1 Squat Snatch (175#)
    • 5:00 – 1 Squat Snatch (185#)

Planned all 10 minutes at 175# but it was feeling pretty good, so after 3 I decided I’d bump it up for the back end. Got a little iffy on the last couple with 185#, but no misses = a good day. I miss doing stuff like this.

I wish I had set the camera better so I could get the full bar path. It looks like it gets out a few inches from the starting point, but pretty good for not working on it in months.

Conditioning – “Flight Simulator”

5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50-45-40-35-30-25-20-15-10-5

  • Unbroken Double Unders

I’ve been wanting to test this one out for a while since I haven’t done it in more than 2 years. Perfect day for it. Went all the way up with no misses. Started taking breaks after sets around 30 or 35. On the way back down I missed once on the 40 and twice on the 30. Cruised home with no rest when I got to 25. Finished in 9:30 which is a PR by 4:05!!

That was a fun session.

Went to the chiropractor at 5 and then to the 5:30 class at CFi.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 400m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • PVC Good Mornings
  • Air Squats

Strength – Deadlift

  • 10×45#
  • 5×155#
  • 5×225#
  • 3×265#
  • 3×295#
  • 3×325#
  • 3×355#
  • 3×375#
  • 3×395#

Haven’t really pushed the weight with deadlifts in months. Wore my belt for the last 4-5 sets and figured I’d see how it felt. I survived.

Conditioning

  • 100 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • EMOM – 5 Burpees

Also known as Wall Ball Kalsu I guess. First minute was free for all wall ballin’ this time, compared to starting with burpees back in March, when I did 5:54. My minutes ended with 28-45-62-80, so I had to bust my ass with 20 reps left in the final minute. I usually get 10 reps in a Tabata round so I knew it was possible, especially if I was already descending into the squats as the ball hit my hands. The 100th rep was in the air as time hit 5:00 so that was good enough for me. 🙂 My rep counts during burpee minutes were 2-3 reps higher than that version we did earlier in the year.

Accessory

3 Sets

  • 14/14 Kroc Rows (70#)
  • 14 Ring Push-ups (feet on short box since rings were up about 6-8 inches.)

14 Kroc rows at a time is rough if you’re trying to keep a solid back position. I was sweating more from these than the metcon.

Back in Michigan

Got home yesterday from Park City and planned on going to the 9am class. Didn’t wake up until 8:45 though. Was great to sleep with some humidity after it being so dry in Utah and in my own bed as well. I went in to CrossFit Intuition around noon.

Rowing WOD Week 12 Session 1

  • Part A – 4 rounds
    • 2,000m
    • 5:00 Rest
  • 5:00 Rest
  • Part B – 2 rounds
    • 500m
    • 3:00 Rest

The 2k rows were done at 20-22-20-22 s/m, making the 2nd two faster. Kept up with increasing the rate 1s for every stroke/minute. The 500s were set to be done at the 2k race pace. Since I started them off as the start of the race, the average pace is below my 1:41 goal, but I settled in around 1:40-1:41 after 200 meters or so.

Could definitely tell the difference being back in Michigan with so much more oxygen available. Looking forward to enjoying the effects of the altitude for the next few days or week and excited to test the 2k later this week.

Went back to the gym for the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 2×8 Reverse Hypers (210#)

Strength: Shoulder Press

  • 8×45#
  • 6×95#
  • 4×125#
  • 2×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • F – 175#
  • 1×175# (PR match)

That’s a couple times recently where I’ve matched my previous best from last November. I haven’t been consistent on a lot of my strength work though and have put a lot of focus into rowing over the last 12 weeks, so I guess keeping steady should be okay. I also held that last rep overhead for a count of 20.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 7 Deadlifts
  • 7 Power Cleans
  • 7 Push Jerks

I used 115# and set a goal to do unbroken rounds. I then took probably 30-40 seconds of rest after most rounds. After doing that for 6 rounds, I took a shorter rest and did the cleans in singles. Ended up with 7 rounds plus 5 deadlifts. The cleans and jerks started to get hard in those unbroken rounds. Good challenge after not touching weight other than some thrusters last week.

Midline

Weighted Planks (45#, on hands with straight arms)

  • 5 x 45s
  • 1 x 2:00

Went for broke on my last one. I was shaking like crazy. Probably had about 1:00-1:15 rest between attempts alternating with a partner.

Look What I Found!

Headed down to the fitness center this morning and was surprised to see this…

That changed plans and I got excited to knock out the second rowing workout of the week.

 Rowing WOD Week 11 Session 2: Engine

6 Rounds

  • 2,000m
  • 3:00 Rest

Start at 19 s/m and go up by one each interval. When I went to set the damper for the drag factor it was an eye opener. Much different at 7,000 feet. I ended up between 7-8 on the damper for a high 120s. The air is much different up here. Due to that, I dialed back my pace. Total time in the seat was 51:03.8.