Truth!!

Evaluate and Improve Self

Today's WOD

Tabata Unders - still working

Thacker Warm Up - used pvc, tight today

Clean and Jerk (15 min Heavy Single) 65#, I’m  working on form and becoming more fluid in my movement.  I checked the posters a few times, Coach was helping others.  After I did a few he asked me to come look at the posters with him.  He explained that if he were to take “snapshots your form is perfect. But you pause here (with the bar between my knee and hips) and you shouldn’t.  You need to work on it being one fluid movement.  The pause should be between the Clean and the Jerk.”   That made sense to me. I was pausing at the wrong time. Got it! So I went back to work.  I kept the weight at 65# because I want to get the form right before I start adding weight.  Coach approved of my cleans after instruction. And I have to admit it felt totally different.  I didn’t really feel the pause at my hips.  But when I concentrate on the movement and pause after the Clean; the Jerk feels heavier. I’m going to keep working with this weight for a while I feel.  Until I get the foot placement in the Jerk better.

Front Squat (3 RM) I used this to do more form work. Coming off of an injured wrist; I’m still a little timid.  My hips felt good; I didn’t hear any popping and neither felt like it was gonna pop out like they do sometimes. I started at the 65# that I had with the C/J and did 2 squats.  Then added weight.  I got to 105#.  Coach said earlier in the week that he wants us to work with the bigger plates for now and not add the smaller plates for extra weights.   I don’t completely agree or disagree.  I will do what he asks but it does keep me restricted from seeing if I can go up by 5# at a time (with 2.5# on each side) instead of 10# (5# on each side).

Coaches Choice, we made up our own WOD. "When I call on you; say the first movement that comes to mind."  Automatically my mind said "Burpees!" I tried to think of something else, anything else.  I went totally blank! I looked at the floor trying to think... nothing! (dammit!) And then he called on me...(dammit!) Burpees!  Three others were called on… Handstand walk, Pull ups, Flutter kicks.

And the WOD went like this:

Teammates (that could) would handstand walk from one end of the sprint track to the other, there as a group we would do pull ups, then 100 sets of 4 flutter kicks each(OMFG!). The Burpees would've been used as a penality. (love'em, hate'em, they're still good for you!)

No one did Burpees… whew!  I’m good with them sometimes, then sometimes my stomach gets woozy.

Some of the guys joked with the guy that said Flutter Kicks before the WOD but after they were agreeing with him (and so was I)  that crap was difficult!  Especially with the ‘zombie arms’ he had us do.  I’ll explain, we’re laying flat on our backs, feet off the floor, doing a 4 rep flutter kick.  Usually my hands are tucked between my tail and the floor for support.  (this movements kills my lower back)  The ‘zombie arms’ means we are supposed to extend our arms toward the ceiling.  KILLER!! Really!  WOW!!

Final Lurong WOD

Today’s WOD was the final Lurong WOD and I have a feeling Coach is gonna start hitting us hard when this week is over… but that’s just me.

Coaches Choice = Relays;
Lunges (down and back, knee to floor, 25# plate overhead, locked elbows)
Sprints (down and back, touch the floor and turn)
Hallow Rock - focus, lower back touches floor, biceps behind ears
Thacker Warm Up - keep the bar tight to your legs, load thighs, sit back
Lurong Challenge WOD 1 (Time) 13:52 RX'd Level one
18 Min Time Cap:
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 of:
Wall Balls (10#)
Deadlifts (55#)
Box Jumps (16")

A completed workout is 252 reps total

 

Lurong WOD and a little about home life

Yesterday was a totally busy day.  Got loads done at work.  Got home and my oldest daughter was in tears the entire time she worked on her homework.  Work… erase… cry!  Work… erase.. throw pencil to table in disgust!!  I have a difficult time getting through to her.   Try as I might she still has a “I hate this, I’m no good at it” attitude.  I provide positive reinforcements. I try to change things up for her. Ask her to change into more comfortable clothing before settling down to finish homework.  Maybe take a shower first, sort of “get the funk of the day off.”   Yesterday, I offered the change of clothes but through in why don’t you put your hair in pigtails or grab a favorite hat or something.  Just anything to cheer her up.  She changed clothes and got a giant elf hat and wore it for a while. And she was happy and smiling for about 45 seconds. Then back to tears.  I tried talking with her about it, she finally said “I’m just bad at everything!”  which isn’t true!  But it’s a real feeling for her.. so it needs to be addressed.  We talked more and she acted as though she felt better. I hope she does. She’s such a good girl and so smart and funny.  I hate for her to feel “less than” anything.

 

Yesterday’s WOD was the 2^nd of the three final Lurong WODs.  The day went like this:

Tabata Unders = double unders 20 sec work; 10 sec rest
Hallow Rock = positioning
Thacker Warm Up = w/ pvc, as I get more comfortable bring in the barbell
Bring Sally Up = today was body weight squats, down on "down"; up on "up"
Lurong The Hang Power Clean Sprint into the Sunset (Time) 4:23
5 Min Time Cap:
Decending Ladder of Hang Power Cleans 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
Ascending Ladder of Shuttle Sprints 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 (meters)
I competed in the full Level 1 today, I don't think I used 45# the first go round. But today I did.

 

 

Lurong Challenge 9

Today we warmed up with Tabata Double Unders.  I have yet to master the DU but I'm working on it. So, the tabata was 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. We did the Tabata for three minutes. We worked on Hallow Rock positioning. Then we did a warm up to the Police song "Roxanne". When Sting sings "Roxanne" we do a pushup; when Sting sings "put on the red light" we do Burpees. The WOD was a repeat of a Lurong WOD we did at the beginning of the challenge.

100 Kettlebell Swings
100 Burpees
with a 12 minute Time Cap

I wasn't able to do the WOD the first time through.  I did one arm Kettlebell swings but I can't remember what I subbed for Burpees.
I finished today with 95 Kettlebell swings and 10 Burpees left to complete.
I was trashed at the end of the WOD. I dropped to the floor exhausted. Coach walked through encouraging everyone, he knuckled me and said "You look a little tired, Tess." 
"Yea, just a little Coach."
When I'd caught my breath I noticed a girl beside me finishing her WOD. So, I hopped up and finished mine.
Coach didn't plan anything else for today because he wanted us to be fresh for the remaining to Lurong WODs tomorrow and Thursday.  He gave us the floor and said we could stay and work on something or go.  I stayed and did HBBS and Front Squats at 85# (3sets of 3 each). 
Then I talked to Coach on the way out.  I want to make sure that I'm doing what I should be doing.  So I told Coach "sometime I'm gonna need you to tell me what I'm doing wrong."  (Which is a silly thing to say because he always does.)  But he asked me what I meant..   I just mean am I not lifting heavy enough, or am I doing something wrong, or am I just being impatient?   He told me I'm being impatient.  I know I am. But it's hard not to.   It's gonna take time. And lots of hard work. 

Opening Day

We arrived at the box this morning to start class at 0515.  Several of my teammates came to the earlier class rather than 0530.  I think everyone is trying to get a feel for the location and if they can get to work or, like me, back home in time to deal with children’s bus schedules.  Which reminds me, when my little one doesn’t have school and I don’t have work (rare) I can stay longer !  YAY!!

The set up of the new box is Fabulous!  Our previous box, which was the location for 2 years, was basically two cinderblock rooms in an “L” shape.  It had served it’s purpose and now Coach had found the opportunity for bigger and better things. 

Last weekend Coach Jessica asked for volunteers to help finish up some odds and ends.  I went in on Sunday, with my daughters, and I painted for a few hours.   It felt great to donate some time to help out!  Although my kids got bored fast… but they would since they didn’t really have anything to do except play with their Kindles and fight with each other.

This morning we started our morning with warm-ups. There was nothing on the board of how to warm up so we basically went about our own thing.  Later Coach mentioned that he “doesn’t stretch to warm up.” That if his plan for the session is to lift then he lifts lighter for a warm up.  (As a runner we didn’t do any ‘stretching’ prior to the run either, unless it was dynamic stretching. So this makes sense to me.) 

The first warm up Coach had us do was “Tabata Unders”; 20 seconds of work w/ 10 seconds of rest. Then we moved into demonstrations; Coach Tim showed us where he plans to demonstrate moves.  The he and Coach Tommy did just that.  Power Cleans, Power Snatches, HBBS.  He demonstrated the Hallow Rock. Then we practiced the Hallow Rock on the floor.  We also did Thacker Warm Ups and then moved into our Lifting.  The three demonstrated lifts were on the board.  I worked with Janet today.

HBBS today was 2x3 @ 85# and 3x3 @ 95#

Power Clean was 3x3 @ 65

We didn’t make it to Power Snatches.  Instead we went straight into the WOD.

I’m in the final week of babying by left wrist after the sprain and steroid shot. So when Coach RX’d 65# Thrusters for the WOD… I politely decided I would take an empty 35# bar and not try to injure myself, again.  Looking back I probably could have put 20# on it and still been fine.

Opening Day (For Time)

10 Thrusters

1 sprint

20 pushups

1 sprint

5 Thrusters

1 sprint

10 pushups

1 sprint

I finished this in 2:16.  But I used only the barbell and modified the pushups. Now I’m not happy with that because a stronger girl finished later than me.  That’s when I decided I need to forget about racing my teammates. I need to race myself and work harder than myself. 

I know that I RX’ing a workout at the competitor level is out of the question right now for me.  I’m not lifting that standard of weights or doing Muscle Ups, etc.  But if I dissect the WOD I can do my best to RX it on my own level.  Regardless of the finish time.  It may take a hell of a lot longer but I don’t care.  I could’ve RX’d this WOD for myself by doing pushups on my toes and adding the weight to the bar.  It’s time to stop doing what I think I can and start doing things I want to get better at.

 

Uping My Game

I want to do everything I can to make this change happen.  From workouts to nutrition to sleep.

I'm currently in the last week of a nutrition challenge my box is participating in.  It's the Lurong Living challenge. https://www.lurongliving.com/challenge2013/
It's 100% Paleo challenge.  I did have a few cheat meals throughout the challenge but not cheat days or anything like that.  I've been normally around 80% Paleo anyway.  I hoped that this challenge would help me lean out and break habits that I've had for far too long.  My sweet tooth has had control over me for a long time. Not to mention my love, let's call it a dependence on ice cream. 
The first two days of the challenge was the hardest. I cried the first day and to tell you the truth, looking back I can't even remember now why I was so upset. 
Planning has been the most important part of the challenge.  If I don't preplan what we're going to eat.  I have to improvise or cheat. 
My weight has fluctuated but I haven't lost a great deal. Maybe three pounds total.  I'll measure myself at the end and determine if there were any changes in inches.

I sprained my wrist the Friday before the challenge started. So, I've not been able to throw myself into the WODs as much as I would've wanted to.  A 20lbs restriction on your wrist really puts a damper on weightlifting.

When I'm released from restrictions I want to up my game.  There are things that I just don't have down yet. I was working on Ring Dips when my Doc benched me. Dips, Headstand Pushups, Double Unders.. to name a few. I'm going to work on these daily.  
During some WODs there is an option to RX.  Which normally means there is an added exercise, like Muscleups or something I haven't learned. I've been thinking about adding an exercise of my own to add something extra.

I need to talk with someone about the macro nutrient numbers I should be getting.  I'm thinking about talking to Coach Jessica at my box, but I'm also thinking about doing more research first.  Simply because I can't afford to pay someone to tell me what to do.  The monthly fee for the box has my gym money budget tapped out.
I'm not gonna get too wrapped up in my thinking. But I'm hoping that I would have done better during the challenge had I been able to do more with my wrist.  So, I'm going to press forward. I'm going to go hard and reach my goal.

Switched from Running to Crossfit

I'd recently came to the realization that running wasn't getting me the look I wanted with my body. I'd hit a plateau. More to the point; every time I would train for a long run I would gain between 5lbs and 7lbs.  I'd asked my trainers to add more weightlifting to our HIIT sessions. At the time I was training with a group of four other people and mostly high intensity intervals.  I wanted weights.  I want to shred this body to mostly muscle.   Trainers did what they could with the group that I was in but it wasn't enough, not to mention it was only two days a week.
I'd been tossing around the idea of doing Crossfit for a while.  I'd gotten fed up with no results and broke the news to my running partner.  "I'm gonna start Crossfit."  He wasn't thrilled. I started alternating running and Crossfit 5:30AM every morning.  Monday, Wednesday, Friday I'd run for an hour.  Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday I'd Crossfit. Sundays I walked 3 miles with my running friends. I loved it! 
I did that for two months. I loved every second of it!  But just like everything you love... you want more.  I decided to trade my running shoes for weightlifting shoes.   I haven't ran since August. At least no farther than Coach says to.  Indian runs, sprints, dashes, suicides... etc. but no mileage, no 5k runs. I've been going to The Box pretty much five days a week. Unless one of my girls are sick or my husband is late getting home from work then I'm at the 0530 class. I've been known to pop into other classes if family responsibilities kept me.
Yesterday we Rucked to the new Box location. The RUCK was a weighted walk. I did it with a 25# plate in my pack. Six miles from the old location 15 minutes from my house in one direction to the new location 20 minutes from my house in a different direction.  I have a few concerns about getting from the box to my house one time each morning in time to put my oldest on the bus.  I'd like to stick to the 0530 classes in order to keep my evenings open primarily for family but we'll just have to see what happens. 

The RUCK was Fabulous!  I used a 25# plate in a backpack that I already had. Six entire miles. Some walking, some running; always at a steady pace.

I'm fairly sure that if Coach Tim could make this a monthly activity, I would do it! 

I need more sleep!

It's been a very long day.  I didn't sleep very well last night so I missed my first Monday morning WOD in months.  Even though I didn't sleep well... I should've gone.  It would've started my day much better!  
But my thought behind not going was the importance of sleep.  I'm sure it's foolish to some but I'm trying to find the right "formula" to get the results that I want.  I've read several articles that rank sleep right along with exercise and proper nutrition. So, I slept another hour.
Goal 1 - Go to bed at the same time each night. Try to get at least seven hours of sleep each night.

Saturday the box is moving to a new location!! So Coach Tim has scheduled a RUCK from the current location to the new one.  If you don't know what a RUCK is we'll be walking with weighted packs for 6 miles.  I'm told that normal RUCK packs are weighted at 45#.  I'm not entirely sure about that much weight, but one way to look at it is add 45# and that is the weight I was at three years ago when I started my weight loss journey! 
I'm pretty excited about the RUCK! I hope to take pictures to post!
Well, gotta get Miss Mia to bed so I can go too.

Back again.

I keep thinking "I really should start blogging again." So, here I am, again.  I just thinking what I'll write about but I never get around to writing about it.  Chances are this is going to be pretty boring for a while.
My gears have switched since the last time I posted.  I've stopped running. Well, not stopped exactly. I've switched to something else.  I've been Crossfitting. Five days a week, if I have my way.

I'm participating in a nutrition challenge; The Lurong Living Challenge.  I've done very well so far.

I've got a goal for this body. I just have to get a plan to get me there.

Believe you're beautiful

Every mother is different

Your body is capable