“Rest” Day

My legs are smoked from yesterday. Slept in for once and I really needed it. Making today a lighter day.

Went out on the road a little after 9am. Warmed up with a 0.3 mile jog.

10x

  • 100 yard hill sprint
  • Walk back

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That was fun! I paced it out twice so the distance should be pretty close. Then I walked 0.3 miles back to the cottage.

Got out the sled at 8:30. Went 1.04 miles in 28:59 with 115# of weight. I started out walking forward, the switched to walking backwards after a quarter mile and switched every quarter mile. Longest sled work so far. Wasn’t 135# but felt good.

A Morning Run

Hard to sleep at the cottage because it’s so hot and there is no AC.

Went for a run before 8am to beat the heat. Wasn’t going for any 5k records, just an easy jog to get the heart beating. Didn’t expect to go as ow as a did, but I’m okay with that because the goal was to build up aerobic capacity, not kill myself for the rest of the day. Ran 3.01 miles in 33:09.

Just before noon I started some OLY work and strength stuff.

Snatches

  • 2 x 3 @ 95#
  • 3 @ 115#
  • 5:00 EMOM of 2 @ 135#
  • 2 x 1 @ 145#
  • 1 @ 155#
  • F @ 155#
  • 1 @ 155#

I felt good early and got a little shaky after 135#. Noticed in the 155s that I started jumping forward. First time ever hitting 155# twice in one fay though! Here’s the final snatch.

Back Squats

  • 10 @ 135#
  • 10 @ 155#
  • 10 @ 175#
  • 10 @ 195#

No rack made this tougher than it needed to be. Having to clean the bar and get it to the back uses a lot of extra energy. Not sure I’ve dropped more than 165 on my back before.

3 Rounds NFT

  • 8 Front Rack walking lunges (135#)
  • 12 Weighted Sit-ups (two 5# plates behind head)
  • 8 Front Rack reverse walking lunges (135#)
  • 12 Air Squats

Solid 2 hours of work without killing myself.

Jumped on the Air Dyne at 8pm for some sprint intervals. Warmed up with 5:00 at a solid pace.

6 Rounds

  • 30s @ 100%
  • 4:30 slow to recover

I was going around 34mph and 110-115rpm during the sprints and 15mph and 50rpm when recovering. Including the warmup I racked up 614 cal and went 9.73 mi in the 35:00 (did the final recovery as a cool down).

I’m definitely feeling much better because that’s 3 hours of training on a day when it was about 90 degrees out.

Playground as a Box

Drive over to Hinks School a little before 8am to beat the heat.

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For a warmup I did a 400m run, band pass-thrus, Band pull aparts, and band walks with a red band.

Then I was going to do a bunch of muscle-ups and try stringing 2 together. But on my first try at a double a had an awkward fall out forward and got scared to commit after that. Only managed to do 3 total MU. Just not my day for them.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 Fat bar chin-ups (strict)
  • Evens: 10 Bar dips (feet on ground)

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“Brenton”
5 rounds

  • Bear crawl 100 feet
  • Standing broad-jump, 100 feet.
    Do three Burpees after every five broad-jumps.

Did this in a field next to the school and measured out 100 feet with a tape measure. Was starting to heat up so hurried to get it over with. Finished in 9:23, besting the 10:16 from a year ago. Big difference being able to go 100 feet straight Instead of looping back and forth on 25 feet. I only had to do 6 burpees each round.

This was the first WOD where I felt normal since the Tough Mudder.

Around 3pm I jumped on the Air Dyne for some intervals. Warmed up with 5:00 easy first. This is another form of MAP.

10 Rounds

  • 30s @ 90-95%
  • 30s @ 50%

At high intensity I was going 90+ rpm and 45-50 at low intensity. Racked up 286 calories and 3.5 miles.

After golfing 9 holes with Dad (we ride due to heat), I went out for a sled drag after 8pm. Only loaded 125# because the 10# bumpers were on the bar and I didn’t feel like messing with it. Went 0.58 miles in 17:03 with only a short water break at the turnaround point. Was much easier than a couple days ago.

Vacation Monday

Does a vacation officially start before this first week day? I never work weekends anyway. Legs are feeling a little sluggish from yesterday. Went to bed at 10 because I was exhausted from all of the sun and 3 training sessions. Still have night sweats though.

Jumped on the AD2 just after 7am.

  • 5:00 warmup
  • Reverse Tabata (8 rounds)
    • 10s Sprint
    • 20s Rest
  • 5:00 cool down

My best calories for a regular Tabata was 77 and I got 107 here, which is another one in the books confirming the AD6 is much harder to rack up calories on. Nice workout for being so quick. I really like switching up interval periods. Hopefully it pays off.

Around noon I setup for the big training session of the day.

Warm-up

4x

  • 50m Run
  • 50m Run backwards

2x

  • 20 Good Mornings (green)
  • 20/20 band walk (red)
  • 10 press band (red)
  • 10 band pull aparts (red)

Strength

Shoulder Press

  • 5 @ 75#
  • 5 @ 85#
  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 105
  • 5 @ 135
  • ME @ 145 (3)

WOD

A little max aerobic power (MAP) training in the hot sun. Object is to go at 80%. Three minutes of rest between each AMRAP.

3:00 AMRAP

  • 135# Bear

8

3:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Front Rack walking lunges 135#
  • 8 OTB burpees

2 full rounds

3:00 AMRAP

  • 10 HR push-ups
  • 15 Russian KBS 53#

3 full rounds

3:00 AMRAP

  • 6 OHS 95#
  • 12 sit-ups

2+3

3:00 AMRAP

  • 5 thruster 95#
  • 10 sumo deadlift high pull 53#

2+12

Much harder than expected!

Open Gym Friday

Headed in at 5:15pm today for a long spaced out session. Feeling pretty good after the last few days.

Warm-up

  • 450m Run
  • PVC pass-thrus
  • DU

I got streaks of 40+, 70+, and 60+. Ordered the thinner cable from Rx, so I’m excited to see if it fatigues my shoulders less.

Conditioning

Easy 20:00 row. My pace was between 2:15 and 2:20/500m pretty much the whole way and about 20spm. Made it 4,420 meters and felt good.

Olympic Lifting

Warmed up with some C&J at 135#.

5:00 EMOM

  • Squat C&J (185#)

Rest 3:00

5:00 EMOM

  • Squat C&J (205#)

I was planning to do another round with 225#, but at the end of the 205# reps I could tell I was starting to hit a wall. Just not anywhere close to being back to myself yet, so I shut it down there and did a couple sets of back squats.

Strength

Back Squats

2 Sets of 5 with 205#

Strongman / Road Work

Laura, Brent, Kevin, Ellen, Casey, and I did a big circuit. Just kept moving, nothing too intense.

2 Rounds

  • 150m Sled Drag (135#)
  • Plank (while partner does sled drag)
  • 150m Wheelbarrow Push (200# first round, 230# second round)
  • 10/10 DB Curls
  • 150m Prowler Walk (210#)
  • Grip Twist with a 5# plate hanging on it

We paired up the push/pull with a stationary movement and paired up in teams. Each team did both movements in the pairing and then rotated to the next spot. Took us about 30 minutes to finish

The Road Back

I made it through 2 naps today without any sweats, so figured I could get back in the gym. Went it at 8pm for open gym.

Warm-up

  • 450m Run
  • PVC pass-thrus
  • Banded Good Mornings (green)

Strength

Warmed up with 5 deadlifts at 135#, 5 Pendlay rows at 115#, 5 deadlifts at 225#, 5 Pendlay rows at 135#, and 3 deadlifts at 315#.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 3 Deadlifts
  • Evens: 5 Pendlay Rows

The plan was to use 85% of 1RM for the deadlifts, so I threw 385# on the bar and used 145# for the Pendlay Rows. Got through the first round and the first deadlift of round 2, but had to drop weight. Went down to 345# the rest of the way, which was plenty hard enough. I need to get back into deadlifting more. Being sick has some to do with being weak, but my body just isn’t used to the weight either.

5×3 OHS

  • 3 @ 95#
  • 3 @ 125#
  • 3 @ 145#
  • 2 @ 165#
  • 2 @ 165#

Ugh, so frustrating! Nowhere near my 3 rep max and I failed on it in two attempts.

Core

5 Rounds NFT

  • ME Ring L-hold (knees up)
  • 10 V-ups

Felt pretty good on these but could tell I was getting a little tired. It’s hard, but I have to realize it’s probably going to take a week or two to get myself back to pre-MudCrud fitness.

Monday Blues

These damn night sweats are killing me. Can’t get a decent night of sleep. Canceled golfing early this morning because of the lack of sleep, but went in at 10am to train. Kevin had to bail for work after the shoulder presses, but Ellen stuck around and did everything with me.

Warm-up

  • 450m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

Shoulder Press

  • 5 x 45% Training Max (1:00 Rest)
  • 5 x 55% (1:00)
  • 5 x 65% (1:00)
  • 5 x 75% (2:00)
  • 3 x 85% (3:00)
  • ME x 95%

* Training Max is 90% of 1RM.

I based my numbers off my 165# shoulder press. The percentages were a bit goofy, but I ended up using 75#, 85#, 95#, 110#, 125#, and then 140#. I managed to get 5 reps on that last set. Tried to get a 6th, but just didn’t have it.

HSPU

10:00 EMOM

  • 5 Hard HSPU

I went with 25# plates for a deficit. Had to switch to kipping in the 5th round and then ran out of gas, only able to get 4-3-3 in the last 3 rounds. Shows how weak I am now because a few weeks ago I did all 10 rounds.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 20 DU
  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 10 KBS (62# KB)

Don’t have the gas I’m used to having. Way too much resting. Was only able to get the first round of pull-ups unbroken. Finished in 8:12.

Finisher

5 Bent Over Prowler Drags Between Legs, about 25m down and 25m back. I used 225#, 240#, 255#, 270#, and 300#.

Solid session. I can feel myself coming back each day, so hopefully I’m back to normal by the weekend when I’m heading on vacation, because I plan on doing 2-3 workouts a day and becoming a metcon monster for that week.

Morning Air Dyne

Golfed with a buddy yesterday, so took a rest day.

Conditioning

Did 20 minutes on the Air Dyne at about 9am. RPM was steady at an average of 72. Never saw a number lower than 69 or higher than 74. Totaled 520 calories and 11.41km. Felt good!

Went to Survival Fitness at 8pm for open gym and worked out with Brent.

Warm-up

  • 300m Run
  • 2 Rounds
    • “Cindy” round (strict and quality reps)
    • 3/3 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)

Strength

Super Squats! I warmed up with 8 @ 45#, 5 @ 135#, 3 @ 185#, and 3 @ 215#. Then I used 245# for the set of 20, up 20# since starting 2 weeks ago. That first week was definitely the hardest though. Really taxing today on the breathing. A couple of hours later I’m feeling tight in my lower back and my neck.

Then I did 3 sets of 20 pullovers with a 60# DB to stretch out the ribs, with the added benefit of working on my chest.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 10 Ring Push-ups
  • 10 T2B
  • 10 Weighted Step-ups (24″ box, 45# DBs)

Originally planned for 5 rounds, but decided to keep it shorter after the super squats which are pretty taxing. Right before we upped to 20 step-ups too, but as soon as we got into them, I quickly made the executive decision that was a bad idea because of the big box. I finished in 4:59. Was able to do all of the push-ups and T2B unbroken, but had to break up the 2nd set of step-ups into 6-4 because of grip, but then powered through the last round. Could barely squeeze my water bottle after.

Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown – 1st Place

Competed at the 3rd Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown, held at CrossFit Worthy in Mount Pleasant today. Teamed up with Michelle, Casey, and Breanne. We brought home first place!

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Tons of fun!

Event 1: Clean & Jerk Ladder

Each team had a bar and enough weight to total 250#. You started with the 45# bar and each person had to lift each weight, increasing by 5 or 10# each lift. Team order stayed the same, but once you missed a lift, you were done.

Michelle set a PR with 135#, then Breanne was out after making a 155# PR. Casey and I had hoped to finish and our timing couldn’t have gone any better. We both finished off the ladder by making 250# PRs, the only team to have 2 guys finish. We took first place in the event!

Event 2: WOD Relay

Each team member completed:
2 Rounds

  • 10 Plate Burpees
  • 8 Pull-ups
  • 6 Clusters (65/95#)

We rocked this one too, taking 3rd place.

Event 3: Run, Row, DU

  • Run 800m as a team
  • Each team member must complete a 300m row, while 2 other members hold a plank, and one rests
  • One attempt at a max unbroken set of DU in a 1:00 time window. Each rep, subtracts a second from overall time

We took 2nd place on this event, only getting beat out by a team that had 4 people just kill the DU. I hit a set of 55 and was pretty happy with that.

We ended up with 6 total points, second had 11, and two other teams tied with 12 points. Long day, with a lot of time out in the sun, but it was a blast.

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Greek Fest Recovery

20130616-123932.jpgHad a bunch of people over last night and went to Greek Fest down the street from my house. Good times, but tired this morning even though I slept in. Went at 11am to get my sweat on.

Warm-up

Tabata of choice. I picked DU to work on them for next weekend.

WOD

  • 50 Front Squats (95#)
  • 50 Sit-ups
  • 50 Thrusters (95#)
  • 50 HR Push-ups
  • 50 Upright Rows (95#)
  • 50 50m Runs

All about pacing in this one. Finished in 32:28 with runs taking about 12 minutes, which isn’t surprising since it was about a mile and a half.

Extra Credit

If we finished early we could work on anything we wanted. So I did 2 sets of 5 wall walks and then some double unders.

Around 7pm I went out to the Soap Box Derby in Buena Vista to run some hill sprints. Jogged a lap around and up the track to warm-up and then did the side hill 10 times up and walked down each time.

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