02122014

Today's first WOD was called Strength Accelerated
E2MOM for 10 Min
3 Front Squats and 3 Clean Pulls at &75% of Clean.
I used 65#.


WOD 2 was called Shoulders, Knees and Toes (3 Rounds For Time) 14:36
3 Snatch Push Press (RX 95/135) 65#
15 TGU w/ 30#kb (1st set was 30#; 2nd & 3rd was 20#)
3 Pistols


I worked with Kristi on the 2nd WOD.  She added 10# to her Push Presses.

Snatch

WOD #1 today called I love Snatch (Weight)

It was E2MOM (Every 2 Minutes on the Minute) at 70% of your Snatch

1 Power Snatch, 1 Snatch, 1 Snatch Balance

I did the first two sets with 55#.  55# was heavy, I think because I'm not sure of the Snatch position. Then I pulled the plates off and did the remaining sets with a naked bar.  Basically working on the movement.

WOD #2 Do Work ( a12 minute AMRAP - Rounds and Reps) 4 Rnds, plus 100 meters

200 m row

10 kipping chest 2 bar

5 ball slams 30#

I'll just be honest.  I don't have pull-ups.  I do my best. I don't do ring rows unless Coach says to.  otherwise I'm at least on the bar trying.  Sometimes he has us doing strict pull-ups; for those I do "negatives". (I get my chin over the bar and slowly release until my arms are fully extended)  When we kipp, I kipp as high as I can. 

My goal for now is Pull-Ups.

02102014

We started with the Dynamic Warmup, Foundations, and the Maverick Warm up

WOD #1 = “Feel the Burn”  For Time with a 15 minute time cap

Back Squat – 15 reps@ 80% (in as few sets as possible)  I did this at 100#

Push Press – 15 reps @ 75% (in as few sets as possible) I started this at 70#, halfway through I lowered the weight to 65#

 

I worked with Daria.  She’s a real nice girl. She looks as though she’s been lifting and healthy for years! Her shoulders and upper back are incredible!  She has the back I’m working toward.

She added weights in between my sets and since she is working through a shoulder injury she did a different movement while I did Push Presses.

WOD #2 was called Three 2 Three - 3 Rounds for Time.  My Time was11:15

3 Snatches (RX was 95/135) I used 65#

10 T2B

3 Rope Climbs (1 W/ No Feet)

I did pretty well with this WOD. My snatches need ALOT of work.  I need to get WAY under, I'm not right now. T2B weren't bad.  I'm getting better at those.  Rope Climbs; just a brief thing about Rope Climbs. 

The Box was closed the day before Thanksgiving.  But Coach opened and set up a random WOD for us; it included rope climbs.  I couldn't get up the rope. I'd never done it before that day.  Coach showed us how to wrap the rope between

our feet and that was that!  I wore a Zensa calf sleeve to minimize the rope burn on my left leg; that worked pretty well. So I climbed the rope 9 times Monday!! I didn't do the Legless part though.

Yoga and Group WOD

This morning was my first Yoga class at The Box.  It was wonderful! I haven't been able to find a yoga class at a time that I could go or an affordable price.
Coach has an agreement with a lady that owns a Yoga Studio in town. She comes on scheduled Saturdays and the cost is $10. SOLD!
I did my best. I didn't have the balance for a few movements. I'm sure I'll get better. The crocodile pose was tough. But all in all it was a great class.  Dave told me after class "Wow, Tess, you're pretty flexible!"
I planned to stay for the group WOD and for PRs. The group was small there were 8 people plus Coach Tommy. Tommy broke us up into teams of three. Dave, Alex and I on one team. Kristin, Ben and Steve on the other.
We did one of the same WODs that the Comp team is doing today in Greensboro.  It was called Heavy Jackie. Tommy insisted I use 65#.
Here's how it went:
1500 meter row
80 thrusters
60 pull-ups
Split each movement between the three of us until we're finished with that movement. While one person is doing the row or the thrusters the other two people are holding their bar in the front rack position. When you are doing the pull-ups the other two people are holding the bar overhead.
It was a great WOD. I finished feeling energized and ready for more.
I stayed and tried for a heavy single on the Front Squat.  It didn't happen today.  I couldn't get 115# back up.
Still a good day.

Comp Team WOD

Members of The Competition Team will be going to their first meet tomorrow. I really wish I could've gone, but there's still some debt to be brought down first.
Tonight Coach talked about nutrition.  I know that I really need to get mine dialed in.  He also said he wants us to drink an ounce of water for each pound we weigh. I've only been trying for 80oz. So I need to work on that.  
We warmed up and did a short WOD.
I partnered with Kristie. We loaded two bars. One 65#; One 95#.
This was a 5 minute AMRAP.
6 Deadlifts
6 shoulder to Overhead
2 20 meter "down and back" sprints.
It was a great WOD.

WOD was ME 2

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore, Dream, Discover.”

 

This was the Mark Twain quote on written on today’s WOD.   I can honestly tell you I am disappointed that I never played a sport in my youth.  I am disappointed that I never learned to swim. And probably a few other things if I were to think about them.  But the things that I did do, whatever that might be, I consider a learning experience.  I’m not disappointed that I did them; I just learned from them and moved on.

 

My hip is feeling better.  I’ve noticed there’s a bit of tightness and ‘give’ at times but nothing like a total ‘pop out’.  During the WOD today Amy suggested that I start taking my Glucosamine.  So I’ll start that today with the Fish Oil and Vitamin D.

I got to The Box a little late so I missed a few bits of the warm up.

Dynamic Warmup.

I noticed when I first begin my skip there’s a twitch in my ankle at the point of push off.  I’m going to research this for stretches, etc.

Foundations

Maverick Warm Up

2 Position Cleans (5@ 75%) from Position #4 (the floor) and Position #2 (mid thigh); I worked with Amy we used 65#.  It was EMOM, 5 sets

I was queued to squat during the clean, I left it out on the first one. Also to keep my chest up throughout the movement.

Muscle Snatch (3x3@75%) We dropped to 55#.

 

WOD = ME2 (AMRAP 14 min)

2 min ME wall balls (14#)

2 min ME double unders

2 min ME push ups

2 min rest

 

Must work on double unders. My rope is curled.  So when it’s in my hands there are still twists in it.  Maybe it’s not hurting my performance but it’s bothersome.

Friday evenings are Comp Team workouts at 6:30PM, So I’ll be logging another workout later today.

Active Rest

Thursdays are active rest days at The Box.  Here's how today played out.
Dynamic Warmup
Bring Sally Up (the song is called "Flower" by Moby; everyone knows it as Bring Sally Up) Thrusters 55#   I'm not gonna lie.  That was rough, especially with my hip hurting from yesterday.
There was a scheduled Make-up time. If you'd missed any lifts from the beginning of the week this was your shot to get them done.  Coach Olivia also gave us that same time to "work on something you suck at."  I worked on Snatches and Double Unders. 
I used the same 55# bar that I already had.  Olivia queued me to bring my elbows up higher.  I adjusted and continued.  I have trouble getting under the bar. I seem to insist on omitting the squat all together.
My Double Unders are coming along.  I'm not really consistent with them though.  I can get them one at a time and sometimes I can string together up to three.  But, then I get excited that I've strung them together and lose it. So I'm trying to use the queues that the coaches have given me. "Keep your hands in your pockets", "use aggressive wrists", "jump steady, turn quick".
After our "suck work" she created a Coaches Choice WOD.  5 stations, 45 seconds work; 15 seconds rest, 4 rounds.  
3 pushups into Wall Walks (it's a handstand progression where you start in a plank and walk your feet up the wall behind you as you walk your hands closer to the wall; till you're in a wall handstand then walk both back to the floor)
Jumping Lunges (I asked to not jump because of my hip; instead I did weighted walking lunges)
Ball Slams 30#/50#
Rolling Tucks (not sure if that's the name; it's a Pistol progression. Starting on your back, bend your knees, tuck into a ball and roll forward onto your feet.  Once you have that continue but roll forward onto one foot with the other leg stretched out into a Pistol position.
Alternating Planks - alternate from forearm planks to straight arm planks.


It was a very active Rest Day.

Me a.k.a. Wonder Woman

I've come to the conclusion that I have unrealistic expectations. Mainly for how much I can get done during the evening after school/work!
I'm not ready to cave on the belief at the moment. But, instead it's all about planning, right?!

WOD'ing through the Pain

Yesterday toward the end of the work day, I somehow turned wrong and popped my left hip out of joint. It used to happen all the time when I trained or ran half marathons. I would get to the 11th mile and it would just pop out or I would jam it up in my hip joint. But it hasn't happened in a long time and I thought it was over. Well yesterday it happened again; I could barely put any weight on my leg it all!
Last night my leg didn't hurt to move around or stand to cook so I basically forgot about it. Until I stood to undress. It was achy to stand on my left leg to take my jeans off of my right leg. This morning when I woke it hurt to press on my hip to roll to the right.
I went to The Box anyway. I was hoping that maybe someone would be there that could pop my hip back in or manipulate it somehow. No luck. Instead I foam rolled it and used light weights for the WOD.
WOD #1 E2MOM 10 min
4 Front squat @ 75% then ME Turkish get ups. I got no where near my 75%. I used 35# bar
WOD #2  15 min AMRAP 135/95
5 Snatch push press + 5 OHS+5 Pendlay Row + 400m Run
For this WOD I used the same bar and rowed instead of running.

Always More To Learn

 

Does it make sense that I’m constantly researching?  Constantly reading. Consistently trying to learn as much as I can about the things that interest me.  Facebook groups, Blogs, Sites, Debates, Discussions, Magazines, Youtube Videos…  

It’s creating blocks of time to learn.  My own little school.

 

If there was someone (I wish) that said “Here is the meal plan that you need.  Here is the path that I want you to take to achieve your goal.”  I honestly think I would still research and gather other people’s knowledge on it.  If nothing else but for the excitement of hearing their view and experience.

 

Muddled Thoughts

Some of the other things on my mind right now. 
 * Snapchat - I probably wouldn't use it at all if it weren't for my son.  He's had a phone for years and I've talked to him more through Snapchat than any other avenue.


* Sugar - I really need to tighten up on my meals.  I felt really good during the Lurong Challenge. So I know that I need to make some changes.  Because right now I feel bloated and weak.  Sure it could be the week or more I was sick.  Or it could be that my meal plan has included one too many indulgences.  Frankly, I'm blaming the indulgences. 

* Housework - I'm trying to do a little bit everyday.  Today, Supper was the one thing that I did.  But it was wonderful.  Pork Chops with a Cherry sauce.  Delicious!

Full Range Chicken

We start our workouts with various types of warmups. Today we started with the "Dynamic Warmup" which is a sprint at 60/70/80/90%.  Followed by high knees, butt kickers, up and out, out and kick back, fast skip, high skip, long skip, broad jump (which, by the way, I must not be doing right because my toes bang against the inside front of my shoes), frankenstein, karaoke (which is a grapevine but the back knee is crossed high in front), lateral lunges, duck walks

During the week that I missed Coach started something called "Foundations" and "Maverick Warm Up".  I was literally dripping sweat before we even got through the warm ups! Nuts! 

Our lifting for today was working on Snatch Balance. We went for a 10 minute heavy single.  My previous max was 65#.  I started at 45# and worked my way up. I was able to get low into the squat up until 65#. But when I went for 70# I didn't squat as low as I wanted to.

A few months ago Coach told us that we shouldn't use a naked bar for lifting.  So I got used to using the 15# bar and adding weight from there.  Today when we were lifting Lauren saw me using it.  She told me that I need to get used to start using the woman's bar (35#).  I explained to her that the woman's bar seems to teeter on either side of me but that the smaller bar seems to "fit" me better.  Lauren explained that she understood but when I start competing I won't be allowed to use the 15# bar.  Kinda sucks!

The WOD today was called "Full Range Chicken".  It was a 12 minute AMRAP.
15 Chest 2 bar pull-ups
10 box jumps
10 sandbag touch and go
(1 sec pause at top)

For the pull-ups I used the hollow rock position and did my best to pull as high as I could.  The box jumps weren't that bad; I'm getting better at not being terrified of face plants. The sandbag was heavy. Touch and go meant that we had to pick it up on one side of our body, take it over our head and drop it on the other side. At some point during the WOD or just after I ripped the skin off one of my knuckles.  Youch!

Before our workout began I used the 35# bar and did 3 sets of 10 rows.  Coach said that's one of the moves that will help build back muscles for pull-ups. I also worked on double unders.  One of the guys gave me some pointers on my getting better at them.  He said that I'm jumping too fast.  He said that he used to have the same problem.  He said he would jump too quickly and wouldn't be able to spin the rope fast enough to jump it. He told me there's a pattern to it and that once I learn the pattern it'll be easier for me. So, I'll be working on stringing those together. =)

Goals

Coach put us on notice at the end of the year; he will be asking us to set a goal for ourselves.  Just one movement. He said he will take our picture with our goal and post them.
I'd decided my goal already.  I'm not crazy about having my picture taken in my gym gear (no makeup, hair not done)but the goal is accountability not perfection.
My goal is either strict pull ups or pushups. I'll talk to coach and get his input.
I can't go full range of motion on either of these movements right now.

Back at The Box

Today was my first day back to the box in nine days. Nine long, sick, not well nourished days.  Thank god he didn’t have us doing FRAN or something wretched like that!  Instead, WOD 1 was
5 HBBS
5 Push Press
RX weight was 115#
I quickly realized there is no way I can do both movements with the same weight. I can back squat 115#, but that’s heavy for a Push Press right now.  I started lifting with Amy. We grabbed 35# plates; mostly thinking about the HBBS. But then “Wait, there’s no way I can get this over my head!” That’s 105#!  So, we quickly switched out 25# plates. My HBBS was fine but I tried (like an idiot) to get the bar from behind my head into Push Press without reracking.  Needless to say it didn’t happen. Before it was my turn at the bar again Elizabeth told me her weight was lighter at her rack and I could come work with her if I wanted.   She had 15# plates and I busted out the WOD no problem.  She gave me coaching queues “keep your elbows in tighter for the push press; it’ll change where you’re pushing from”  I did, and it made it tougher. Good queue!
WOD 2 was
5 Snatch High Pulls
10 Toes to Bar (unbroken)
20 Unbroken Double Unders
(Burpee penalties for everything after the first break)
I have single double unders and sometimes can stretch them into three strung together. I need more work to get to 20.  I knew there were Burpees in my future but I didn't know how many. Thankfully we ran out of time and I only did 7. I owe myself 50 more.  I think I'll make it a game and let the girls count for me tonight.

Unfinished

I was raised the first child, a tomboy, of a simple family. My dad worked basically wherever he could find work. A mechanic out of high school, a factory worker after that and now I'm not sure. My mother was a housewife until I was 15. Then, she became a cook at a local family owned restaurant and I joined her. I washed dishes. 
I had moved out of my parent's house after turning 14. I lived next door to them in my paternal grandmother's home. It was a small bit of freedom and enough to feel on my own.
I didn't learn a lot growing up. Nothing that I can think applies to my life as a wife and mother that works outside the home.  I find it difficult, at times, to juggle the demands of my life.
I taught myself to cook and do so from recipes. Without recipes I'm lost.  We weren't allowed to help in the kitchen as children. It was all part of the "Go Play" mentality. I can only imagine the same was the case for my mother. I'm trying to change the pattern for my daughters, getting them involved whenever I can.
I wonder if women who are raised by parents living lives that they also then live feel more "put together". I almost always feel overwhelmed. That no matter what there is always something that is left unfinished or worse not even started.