#mindset

Yes, I titled my blog with a hashtag, hate all you want. I quite enjoy hashtags, and conversations that include hashtags. Sometimes Thomas James Kelley and I play games to see how long we can carry on a conversation using only hashtags. I typically lose, but I think he cheats.

 

Moving on.

 

Mindset has always been a struggle for me. Whether it's my mindset at work, in the gym, with my family, or in relationships, my mindset always seems to hold me back. I tend to think of the reasons things won't work, instead of the reasons things could work. That's deep for the blog, isn't it? I have a point.

 

Sunday I was invited to go to church with a dear old friend of mine. He's been asking me to go for a while, and something told me this Sunday was the Sunday to do just that. The message delivered was about storms, and the Pastor had one phrase that has stuck with me. "If God keeps facing you with the same storm, you have to ask, are you learning the lesson he wants you to learn?"

 

Powerful.

 

Over the past few years, I feel that I keep getting hit with the same storm, so I asked myself, 'what have you learned'?

 

I tend to take things on all by myself. I don't talk about my personal life a whole lot, I tend to keep things to myself, as not to burden others with my problems. But here lately, I've found that sometimes saying things out loud makes them real. Once you can hear yourself say something out loud that you've said in your head a thousand times, it takes on a different meaning, it becomes powerful, it becomes real.

 

I'm getting there.

 

I've decided to alter my mindset. I've decided that positivity is the way to go. Complain less, chin up, smile on your face, and be thankful for what God has blessed you with. I have so much. I have my own house, my health, a great job, wonderful friends, a supportive sister, a beautiful, healthy niece, and my God. I have more than most people could dream of having.

 

How does this affect crossfit?

 

In the gym I have this constant battle in my head. My brain always tells my body "you can't", "it's too hard", "you've done enough, you can stop now". Well, out with that. This past week, the dialogue in my head has been, "this pain is temporary, push", "you know you have one more rep", "it's only six minutes", and "sore today, strong tomorrow".

 

That makes a HUGE difference. Who knew positive inner dialogue partnered with the great motivation received at the gym could make such a difference? You know what this reminds me of? Coach Paul. Coach Paul always use to tell us to have a positive outlook, to get rid of the "can't" and focus on doing the work.

 

Now, this post has been deep. So, if it makes you feel better, this week I also sound like a 50 year old smoker. My voice has been rough and smoker-like since about Saturday, and I think the plane travel had everything to do with it. After all, planes are just big germ tanks. So, my smoker voice, paired with this scritchy throat, yes, scritchy, have been fun this week.

 

I have also slept better this week than in months past. Part of that is the workouts, yes, the other part are the prayers I say at night. God is working in my life right now.

 

So, about Crossfit Brave. Coach Mikey D (I'm still trying out names), has been very supportive. He always has a positive word, and is always very motivational. I have had the pleasure of working out with Nadia, also. She is incredible. She's quietly fierce, but an incredible motivator also. This gym has been a pleasant surprise. I feel more comfortable than I expected. It's always hard starting new, going somewhere unfamiliar, but to be welcomed so warmly has made it easier to make the transition.

 

Well...I've typed my fingers numb (and that's not just from all the overhead squats this morning), and I'm pretty sure I should be working, so I'll leave it at that, for now.

 

Lemon, out.

 

 



oops...guess who quit again...

Me? No!!!!  To be sure the girl who's blog is titled, "Tales of a Quitter" hasn't quit something again!  Gasp!

It happened. The last time I attended Zeal was January. If you haven't noticed, it's July. Hello, summer! Oh, and let's be honest, I went ONCE in January. This after only attending once or twice in December, and possibly November as well.

So, here's the update. Do you want the long story or the short story? Long, you say? You got it.

Over the past few months, I canceled my membership at Zeal. You know how much I love that place. Well, then I'll explain. I leased a car, seemed like an awesome idea, right? Cheaper payments, newer car. Oh wait...the mileage restriction! Riiiiiight. I figured out that my eighteen mile, one way, drive to Zeal four or five times a week would KILL my mileage. Admittedly, that's not the only reason I canceled, I had gotten lazy. I decided I could take what I had learned and put it into good use at the regular gym.

I. Was. So. Wrong.

First of all, I didn't join a regular gym until the last day in January. It gets better. I didn't attend said regular gym until March. Yep. You read that. Please feel free to cringe now.

I decided after a two mile run on a weekday in May (after being absent for three weeks, okay, four), that I HAD to get back into CrossFit. I just had to. I was unhappy with the way I felt, the way I looked, the way I was eating. I let the laziness overcome me. I let the comfort of my home and food completely destroy all my hard work and progress. Keep in mind, I say I let it happen, because that's it. It didn't happen TO me, it happened BECAUSE of me. Let's get that straight. Too often people don't take responsibility for their actions, or in my case, lack of action.

So, I started looking for CrossFit gyms closer to my house. As much as I miss Zeal and love my Zeal family (more than most of them realize), I had to find another option. Michael Kelley then recommended one gym out of the list I sent him. That gym was CrossFit Brave. He said he liked the coach, and that he was a good guy. That's all I needed to hear. I emailed Mike Darlington (whom I may call Michael Darlington just for history's sake), and he invited me in the next day.

Thus my CrossFit journey begins anew. I am weaker than I was, of course, and everything seems so much harder than it used to. Luckily, Coach Michael Darlington, Coach Mike?, Coach D? Coach Michael?, I may need some time to decide. I digress. Luckily Mr. Darlington is very patient, and very kind. He is also very knowledgeable. So far it's been an immense pleasure being there. He truly cares about his athletes, their progress, weaknesses, and goals. No wonder Michael Kelley likes him.

Starting from the bottom is no fun. Deadlifting 70% of your old max and feeling like you might die sucks. Burpees suck. 16" box jumps suck. But that's the life of a quitter. Forget what you used to be able to do, that means nothing now. Those are just goals to re-attain. Now I deal with my decision to quit, and find a way to let it motivate me, and remind me never to quit again. Not something like this, something so life altering that you amaze yourself every week.

So here I am, once again, sharing my tale of quitting, giving up, and facing a fresh and frustrating start.

Lemon, out.

in PURSIUT of fitness!!!

Happy Wednesday...or as some of you know it...hump day.  I've never understood that.  My hump day is typically Monday.  You know, the hump to get over to get through the rest of the week?  Yep...that's Monday for me.

 

So remember that rough day I had Monday?  Yep.  Today was pretty tough too.  I've had a rough go of it lately, but today, I knew how my day would end...with the box.  That's what I had to look forward to.  I was hoping to make it to the 1715 class (I will continue to use the 24 hour clock just for Michael Kelley), but since I worked until 1800, I had to settle for the 1830 class.  There are some tough people in the last class of the day.  It's always a pleasure to catch that class with the people in it. 

 

Upon my arrival, I grab a roller to help these sore sore muscles.  I roll, or attempt to roll, my glutes first.  O U C H.  Ouch.  I'm wincing while rolling out.  Today on facebook I compared the soreness of my muscles to dying a little each time I drop something on the floor and have to pick it up.  Seriously.  I'm sore when I sit, sore when I stand, sore when I bend.  I'm.  Just.  Sore.  But I love it.

 

Thomas James Kelley is there, and he appears as if a ghost from the wall.  One second he's nowhere to be seen, the next he appears out of thin air all sweaty and disheveled.  There's your mention Thomas James Kelley.  Attention whore appeased.

 

Kylie was also in attendance.  I fear she may have been drugged as she was very friendly and social tonight.  I'm afraid she may be tiring of Michael Kelley, and this was her cry for help. 

 

So we do our stretching, rolling, and warm ups.  Last part of the warm up is wall climbs.  Michael Kelley asks if anyone knows wall climbs.  One of these days I'll learn to keep my mouth shut.  I'm now the demonstrator.  You see, a wall climb is when you start in push up position with your feet against the wall.  You then climb in reverse, feet up the wall, bringing your chest closer to the wall, as close as you can, then walk back down.  We are to do these for three minutes, once every thirty seconds. 

 

After a sufficient warm up, the plan for the day is this:

 

A. ME push press

 

B. Bradford press 3x6

     Kettlebell bent over row 3x10

 

C. AMRAP 10

               4 chest to bar pull ups

               4 handstand push ups

               8 kettlebell swings

 

D. DB roll back 3x12

     Band pull apart 100 reps

 

Push press I get paired up with Margie and Danielle.  I've just met Danielle, and she seems very nice.  Plus she gives Michael Kelley a hard time so I like her instantly.  Reps on push press for me go as follows...

 

5x33# (strict press)    

5x43# (strict press)    

3x53#                               

1x63#                              

1x73#                              

1x78#

1x83#

1x88#

1x93#

 

I'll take this regularly scheduled time out to mention that I hit another PR tonight.  One of the girls failed at 88#, and Michael Kelley was being a girl about having to pick it up to put it back on the rack.  Therefore, I cleaned it.  I officially hit another 5# PR tonight!!!  That's right.  My previous PR was 83# I think. 

 

I wanted to try 98# on push press, but Michael Kelley tells me not to be greedy.  Fine.  Granted, 93# was tough, but I just really wanted 98#.  My goal was to get into the 80's, I conquered that.  This is a 25# PR over my strict press of 68#.  I'm satisfied.

 

Onto Bradford press and bent over row.  Bradford press is interesting, you press the bar right over your head and take it behind your head, then bring it back.  Now, you're not fully pressing in the air, just enough to clear your head.  Back and forth is one rep.  I have never done these before so I use 38#.  I'm glad.  These are actually tough even at 38#.  For kb bent over row, I use a 26# kb.

 

The AMRAP I've been looking forward to since last night when I read it.  Why?  Pull ups.  It's been a while since I've done them it feels like, and they one of my new favorite things.  Probably very close to my favorite, maybe right behind split jerk.  I wonder if I should use a band, these are chest to bar, after all.  Michael Kelley tells me to do a couple, and tells me to struggle without a band if I have to.  Sweet.  I'm actually very excited about this.  I grab one mat for handstand push ups, because that's what I typically use, and I grab a 40# kettlebell.  That's right...on my own...I grab 40#. 

 

First set pull ups go unbroken, and feel great.  Handstand push ups are tough, and immediately after this set, I grab another mat to add.  They don't feel very strong today.  Kettlebell swings are ok surprisingly.  Forty pounds is feeling pretty heavy though.  I move a chip.

 

Second round, pull ups go nearly unbroken, I never had to drop from the bar, but had to stop my rhythm to adjust my grip between three and four because I felt as though I was falling off.  Back to handstand push ups.  Two mats is too much, so I turn one of the mats around so it's like one and a half mats.  As I go to do my second set of swings, I notice that there are green chips waiting on me.  GREEN. 

 

Let me tell you, I'm a little obsessive about this.  When we do AMRAPs, I have to have all red chips.  Have to.  Don't ask, it's just a thing.  And Michael Kelley knows this.  So while I'm working hard, he replaces all of my reds with greens.  No no no no no.  No.  I yell at Michael Kelley, then I change them out with red.  This matters.  Second set of kb swings feels just as heavy.

 

Third set pull ups are unbroken with a small grip readjustment.  HSPU are ok, kb swings are getting rough.  Fourth and fifth sets go ok as well.  As I come back for my sixth set of kb swings...what else is there by my kb but BLUE chips.  Seriously.  He's struck again.  At this point my arms are tired, I'm dripping sweat, and I'm huffing.  I decide to grimace and accept it after a disapproving look to Michael Kelley.

 

Final score...7+2.  I'm satisfied.

 

Burnout was DB roll backs.  These are too difficult to describe, or maybe I don't want to.  Don't judge me.  Also, band pull aparts.  It's at this point that Michael Kelley is unreachable by mention of his name or by yelling.  He's nose deep in his phone, and keeps looking at his shirt.  Once I get his attention to try and assist me in my movement, he's red.  Why?  Because the new shirts we got that we ordered have a spelling error.  GASP.  Someone spelled pursuit wrong.  It's spelled PURSIUT on the shirts.  Michael Kelley is none too thrilled.  He's livid.

 

Back to me...back to me.  So I use 10# dbs for my roll backs, and a red band for pull aparts.  I complete all sets of 12 and all 100 pull aparts.  I.  Am.  Spent.  Dripping sweat and needing food, I make my departure quickly after trying to give Michael Kelley a friendly parting word.

 

It's ok Michael Kelley, even the best of us make mistakes sometimes.  Not quite like the t-shirt mistake, but I might misspell a word here and there on my blog.  Maybe.  I can't wait to see, read, or hear what Coach Paul has to say about this.  *insert evil grin and laugh here*

 

So there you go Wednesday...two PR's and pull ups...BOOM.

 

Lemon, out.

positivity

Yesterday I was a little off kilter.  I'm sure those of you that read noticed that.  For that I apologize slightly.  But as Coach Paul said, everyone is allowed an off day or three.  I've had my share of those lately.  Today was not one of those days, however.  Coach Paul would be proud.

Last night I awoke from the worst dream I've had in quite a while.  It was three a.m., and I was wide awake.  I've often read that if you can stay awake for at least one minute before attempting sleep again, you're less likely to fall back into the same dream.  So I got out of bed, and walked to get a glass of water.  Upon my return to bed I tossed and turned until about five this morning.  Sigh.

Once again, my alarm clock woke me up.  I'm considering changing my anthem at this point.  As fitting as "Turn My Swag On" is, it's almost quite frightening to wake up to.  Suppose I'll choose something more soothing from now on.  I'm quite pleasant in the morning normally, today was going to be tough though, due to my lack of sleep.

In getting ready, I realize my mistake in packing a lot of my clothes.  As of last week I packed over half of my gym attire due to the fact that I was supposed to move last weekend.  They are now neatly piled in a suitcase and I don't want to disturb them, so I am running low.  Laundry will need to be done tonight.  For once though, I matched at the gym.  This rarely happens unless I lay my clothes out the night before.  Today, I was donned in pink attire, my fave.  Yes, sometimes I am girly.

On the way to the gym, a thousand things run through my mind.  My post from yesterday, the awfulness that was Monday, and all the disappointment that has surrounded me lately, okay, maybe that's three.  It's at this point I decide that today was going to be a fun day in the gym.  No frustration, no disappointment.  Again, Coach Paul would be proud.

Upon arriving to the box, I see that KK is there, and ready to work out with the 715 class.  Yippee!!!  Jeff also arrives, and I'm excited to see him as he is about to be gone for another week.  I think I'm going to need to fix this.  Mobility work this morning hurts.  Mainly my ass, because of lunges yesterday.  I wince as I roll out, but have to smile inside because I love lunges, and shamefully I kind of dig the pain in all the right places, knowing it's working.

Here's the plan for today.

A. Oly Drills

               1 power snatch every 30 seconds for 5 minutes

               1 clean and jerk every 30 seconds for 5 minutes

               (use 50% of 1RM for each movement)

B. AMRAP 8

               10 pistols (alternating legs)

               30 double unders (attempts count)

C. 15-20 minutes partner work

               60 meter heavy sled pull

               20 heavy russian twists

Now, I don't have a 1 RM really for snatch.  It's always something that been a tad tricky for me.  Michael Kelley says I have weird shoulders, maybe that's why.  Something about holding the bar in overhead squat position, or in snatch position, it just bothers me.  I'm working on it. 

For snatch, I use just the 33# bar.  I really want to focus on the movement.  It's during this drill that I realize that I'm not making as much noise as the others during the movement.  I'm fairly quiet.  This reminds me that Michael Kelley used to say that I wasn't dropping fast or far enough.  I need to spread my feet I believe.  Focusing on form with light weight, can sometimes be just as good a workout as focusing on weight while trusting your form.  When concentrating on form, you imagine every section of the movement, at least I do, and then still feel silly because so much is going on in your head that you might not realize if you're doing it correctly.  Hey, at least it felt ok.  That's probably that distraction problem kicking in again.

Next was clean and jerks.  I L O V E split jerks, and that's exactly what we get to do today.  I don't know why I love split jerks so much, but just always have.  Funny thing is, to me it should be a harder movement than a snatch from the looks, but it's sooooo much easier.  Maybe I'm wrong.  I throw 10# plates on each side of my bar, and off for clean and jerks.  These are fun.  The movement takes longer to execute than the snatch, so the rest time is less, and it makes it more fun.  During this time, Michael Kelley is experimenting with the music.  His selection today has us slightly baffled.  But then again, he is Michael Kelley.  None of us should be too surprised by anything.  Back to the point, clean and jerks felt great!

Once we clean up our equipment, it was time for the AMRAP.  This AMRAP isn't truly about how many rounds you can speed through, but it's more of a skill AMRAP.  This is to focus on the movement, not the speed.  Pistols are difficult, and as we set out our targets, I find that my right leg is much more proficient than my left, so I get a 35# plate and put underneath the wall ball I've chosen as my target.  It's at this time that I get to bring out my new shiny jump rope.  In true NCSU fan fashion, I have grey handles and a red rope.  I heart my rope.  This will be my first time using it.

AMRAP starts, and off we go.  Goal is to do ten pistols, five on each leg.  Then thirty double unders.  For today, attempts count.  It's great they do, because I had several "attempts" that were just that, and attempt.  However, on several rounds, I was able to do six to seven unbroken, and aside from whipping my arms, legs, and ass constantly with my missed attempts, double unders felt good today.  Even with the whips and misses, I have to smile at the temporary battle wounds they leave.  I know I'll get better, and I'm suddenly very thankful I wore pants.  The pistols weren't so bad either.  I think I ended up doing five rounds or so, told you, we really weren't keeping count. 

Michael Kelley then paired me up with Jo, which is very exciting.  I quite like Johanna.  We decided to put a 45# plate on the sled to start off, and use a 25# plate for russian twists.  Jo starts off inside with twists while I start on the sled.  We start pulling forward down for 30 meters, and then the same way back.  Then Jo and I trade off and it's off to russian twists.  After both of our first sets of sled pulls, we both agree that we should add the 15# weight we brought out just in case.  Boy was this quite the undertaking seeing as how I was now to pull backward the entire 60 meters.  O U C H.  My legs were screaming at me at this point.  The third sled pull I went forward first, then backward, again, not fun going backward.  Then Jo gives the fantastic idea to get the backward out of the way the way down, so on the way back you're forward, genius.  Fourth sled pull and I take her advice.

In the midst of sled pulls and russian twists, I'm reminded how hood KK is.  She's quite the skilled rapper, and it quite offsets her squeaky clean, white girl, college student image.  I LOVE it.

We completed four rounds, to put us right at the end of class time.  Today was an immensely fun WOD.  It was constantly moving, and different, and to have so much work to do after a skill AMRAP was fun.  It's amazing how light I feel after sled pulls.  Considering that Jo and I were pulling 60# and the sled I think weighs 11# or so, I felt quite accomplished.  Pistols are getting better, double unders are slowly improving, and I got to do split jerks.  That's quite the full fun filled day today!  Oh, and MK and KK gave me high fives. 

Level up, and Lemon out.

well hello again, grasshopper

Monday morning.  Need I say more?

My weekend was filled with unpleasant surprises.  They were unpleasant enough to warrant me spending all day Sunday on my bed, (not in it, there is a difference), reading a book, well two books to be honest.  I completed the remaining eighty percent of one book, and read twenty percent of another.  Don't judge me.  Now, before you go to worrying (like any of you actually do), I am ok, and my family is ok.  These surprises were about the house I'm purchasing, and my closing has now been delayed three times.  I'm cautiously optimistic (lies, I'm always a pessimist), that I will close this week.  We shall see.

This morning, I awoke to my normal alarm of Soulja Boy serenading me with "Turn My Swag On".  I haven't slept long enough to hear it in a while, but it has a nice ring to it.  Besides, who can do CrossFit without turning their swag on?  I'll admit, I'm not hood at all, typically I listen to Ray Lamontagne, Cat Stevens, Damien Rice, or Band of Horses.  But this song has a nice little pep to it.  It did not, however, help my Monday morning. 

Self loathing aside, I was determined to make today a decent day. 

Side note: Don't let me fool you, I'm generally a worst case scenario person, just so I can be prepared for it when, I mean if, it happens.  I have a generally positive outlook on most things in life, but I like to keep a realistic perspective.  I find that people who always expect the best seem to crash the hardest when the best doesn't happen.  I try to be cautious with my expectations. 

Depressed now?  Or just bored?  Are you still there?

So anyway, Monday morning.  I gave today's WOD a quick glance last night before falling asleep, just enough to know that our ME (max effort) was box squats.  I've never done box squats before, Michael Kelley reminds me that I missed those days.  Bastard.

We warm up with a choice skill.  I choose box squats, because I like them.  Today I felt heavy.  Very heavy.  So heavy in fact that after one jump on the 24" box, I immediately turn it to the 20" box to continue to warm up.  I make it to the 24" again after a few, but that first jump was not the prettiest.  After a five minute warm up, we're ready to take on the day.

Today's plan:

A. ME Box Squat

B. Thruster-up to heavy single

C. AMRAP 7

               20 reverse lunges (50% of B.)

               10 grasshoppers

D. Burnout

               50-100 of your choice: banded or weighted good mornings, banded kb swings

I got paired up with Jo for box squats.  It feels as though I haven't seen her in a while.  She's the sweetest.  We start with box squats, and at first three reps is feeling good.  Once we get a little heavier, into the ninety pound range, we switch off to one rep each set.  Michael Kelley says our box squats should typically be about eighty to ninety percent of our back squat.  Well, lucky me, I don't know what my new ME back squat is.  So I go with my old of 133# just in case (this should be higher by now).  I end up on 123# for box squat today.  I feel as though I might be able to do more, however, on 123# it was hard to keep my knees out, and the lift felt slow and lacked power, so if I would have increased weight here, it would not have been to my immediate benefit.

Moving on to thrusters.  I haven't done thrusters since "Fran".  I did 53# with Fran, and that almost killed me. (dramatic enhancement)  Today we weren't necessarily working up for a ME rep, but just a heavy single.  We had certain amount of time to complete this in.  During this time, Michael Kelley walked around telling everyone, "don't sandbag this".  I had to ask.  He quickly gives me a look of disgust (in my opinion his normal face), and explains what "sandbagging" is.  I'm careful not to sandbag this lift.  Since we are using a percentage of this lift for our AMRAP, he wanted everyone to still include effort.  I ended with 73#.  Probably could have gone higher, but time had run out.

On to the AMRAP.  Fifty percent of 73# is around 36#.  Michael Kelley tells me to round up and use 40#.  Okay then.  He then uses me to demonstrate grasshoppers.  He thinks this is hilarious because last year when he was training me at Lifestyle, I hated these.  I use that word a lot, especially with my workouts.  Let me clarify.  I typically hate things that I am not good at.  It doesn't mean I do not do them or I don't see the purpose of them.  I understand this is all for my benefit.  Doesn't mean I have to see rainbows and butterflies every time I walk into the gym.  As I said to a friend this weekend, rainbows end and butterflies die.  True story.

So after demonstrating grasshoppers for four repetitions (which I should have taken away from my first round), we were set to go.  First and second set of lunges go unbroken, as do grasshoppers.  Third set I have to put the bar down after ten.  Grasshoppers have me on my knees in between sets.  Ouch.

I finish the AMRAP with a total score of 4+11.

Last but not least is the burnout.  Now, you see I have a choice here of something and kettlebell swings.  Guess which I chose.  Ding ding ding!!!  NOT kb swings.  Imagine that.  So I grab the blue band and get to good mornings.  Good mornings are interesting.  You stand, feet shoulder width or so apart, and bend over, back straight, legs straight, until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, and then stand back up straight.  Burnout is one hundred reps.  After fifteen, I move up to the green band, as I feel I can handle it.  Good choice.

The new programming is fun.  I enjoy the upper/lower body switch, and also enjoy the ME change up every week.  Last week was deadlift for lower body, this week was box squats.  The programming change up I think has most people very intrigued and interested.  It seems everyone likes it.

This week my goal is to focus more in the gym.  I tend to get distracted during the WOD, although I also tend to remain distracted in my every day life as well.  Michael Kelley will attest to the fact that I wander off into never never land sometimes, or notice things that shouldn't matter when I'm supposed to be focused.  It's something to work on.  I'll add that to the list of the other million things I should be doing better.  I have high goals people.

Lemon, out.

come at me, bro

Today was...in a word...meh.

All day I looked forward to the box.  We were maxing out on bench press, after all.  The last time I did bench press was probably when I worked at Lifestyle with Michael Kelley in 2007.  I don't even remember what weight I did.  Tonight my goal was just to lift.  I had no weight in mind, I just knew I wanted to lift.

I have body weight goals, meaning I wanted to squat my body weight, and then my goal was pull ups.  I've decided that now my goal is to bench my body weight, and eventually press my body weight.  I figure that's a good measure.  It may take a while, but that's ok, it took me what, four? five months to get pull ups?  I'll get these. 

The new programming is very interesting.  I like the strength work we are doing.  Michael Kelley is quite good at this programming thing he does.  There, that's one compliment.  Michael Kelley also had very fat arms tonight.  Phew...now I feel balanced.

I enjoy working out with the 1830 class.  There are members that I don't know so well because I'm not there enough, but Coach Paul and Nicole H. were there.  Much to my dismay, I find out that Nicole H. has a cupcake business on the side.  It is to my dismay because I L O V E cupcakes.  Like, I might be obsessed.  So you can check out her site here http://www.facebook.com/cupcraverycupcakes .  I'm placing my order tonight.  It seems ass backward that she's so into CrossFit and makes cupcakes.  It also seems ass backward that I'm so into CrossFit and I love cupcakes so much.  Therefore, I retract my previous statement.

Coach Paul was his normal joyous self tonight.  He even offered to coach the 1715 class WOD.  He's a great coach.  It's always a pleasant surprise when he coaches the sessions I'm a part of.  Jeff was also there, working out with the 1715 group.  I miss Jeff.  He was gone for two weeks, and now that he's back I haven't seen him much.  That needs to be fixed ASAP. 

With all that being said, here was today's plan:

A. ME Upper

               Main Lift-Bench Press-1RM

B. Accessory

               3x5 bent over row-heaviest weight possible

               3x5 RS press heaviest weight possible

C. Conditioning

               AMRAP 7

               7 dumb bell burpees

               7 chest to bar pull ups

D. Burnout

               3x15 cuban press

               3x15 reverse fly

Before we even got to today's plan, Michael Kelley had one hell of a warm up planned for us.  I hate running.  There, I said it.  My apologies Coach Paul.  I just hate it.  You know where I'm going with this.  Part one of our warm up was a 400 meter run with plates.  Even the dinky little 2.5 pound plates I had felt like boulders once I hit 200 meters.  Coach Paul loves running so much he sings whilst running with plates.  He's a monster, a peppy, motivational, bright, supportive monster.  Ugh.  Worst warm up ever.  Yes, perhaps I'm dramatic, get over it.

The next part of our warm up was to do twenty reverse flys with said plates, and then to do twelve reps of lateral and front raises.  Then...fifteen reverse flys.

But wait...there's more...

We then did ten push ups, then while in push up position, did side planks, twice on each side, then held plank position while lifting arms and alternate legs.  Ummmm...I was tired just after the warm up.  Okay, I'm done bitching.  (if you believe that, I take pity on you)

I did have the pleasure of teaming up with Margie on bench press.  Again, my goal here was not to focus on the weight, but the lift.  Reps were as follows:

5x33#

5x53#

1x63#

1x73#

1x83#

1x88#

1x93#

1x98#

Yep...I benched 98# today!  That's almost what I weigh.  Almost.  Okay I lie, it's fifteen pounds shy of my weight.  But I'll tell you, I could not have done more.  That last 98# lift was sloooooow and heavy.  It was also during this time that Michael Kelley was walking around "coaching", and his sleeve was slightly raised, revealing his modified compression sleeves that he's using to nurse his poor arms.  It was at this point that I  noticed the slight puffiness above his compression sleeves.  I felt the immediate need to point out to Coach Paul how fat Michael Kelley's arms looked.  His only response was "er".  Get it? 

But onto the accessory work.  The bent over row reps:

15x53# (oops)

5x73#

5x78#

An RS press is similar to a bench press, the difference is that once you bring the bar down to your chest, you do a slight "J" motion toward your chin, then back to your chest while still in down position, and press back up.  Michael Kelley wanted these to be done on or around 50% of your bench 1RM. 

These were completed at 3x5 @ 53#.

Now.....it was time for the WOD.  I like AMRAPs.  The reason I like AMRAPs is because everyone finishes at the same time.  The reason I like this is because my "rounds for time" workouts aren't very fast.  KK and Coach Paul smoke on rounds for time workouts.  I'm like the last kid picked for the dodgeball team in gym class with rounds for time workouts.  Disclaimer, the self pity in this post comes free of charge.

So...AMRAP.  I pick up the fifteen pound dumb bells, and hook up a red band.  For those of you who aren't CrossFit savvy, a red band is thirty pounds of assistance.  These are chest to bar pull ups after all.

The WOD is tough.  Dumb bell burpees. They are very different from plate burpees.  With dumb bell burpees, you jump with the dumb bells by your side instead of pressing them.  With chest to bar pull ups, each round was unbroken with the exception of the last round.  Ouch.

Total rounds...5+7 reps.

Burnout work, a cuban press.  Okay...imagine holding a bar, now do an upright row until your upper arms are parallel to the ground, keeping that position, rotate your shoulders until the bar is now in a press position, then press.  Back down to the second position, re-rotate back down, then down position.  That's a cuban press.  Rotating between this with a fifteen pound bar and reverse flys with five pound plates and my body was D O N E.  Phew.  The work load today was heavy.  It is quite brilliant though, because according to our WOD schedule, tomorrow is an off day.  So heavy days on Wednesdays are great because they are followed by a rest day.

My shoulders are feeling a little funny tonight.  I need a long hot shower.  Preferably someone to come wash my hair.  My plan for tomorrow is to show up and do core work.  Who knows?  Maybe my attention whore friend Thomas James Kelley will be there with me?



slightly organized chaos...

This post dedicated to Thomas James Kelley, for without his poorly timed and obviously forced enthusiastic support, I would not have thought to put him in this blog.

Today was spent in a training conference for commercial lines insurance.  I assumed this class was to last from 830 to 1630.  Mostly because that's what the information sheet said.  I was wrong.  This class lasted from 830 to 1645, much to  my dismay.  I was all set to make it to the trip for the 1715 class.  I did...barely.

In the process of getting there, I realized I had forgotten my socks.  Perfect.  I had also forgotten my second set of shorts.  Also perfect.  You see, I wear a set of compression type shorts, then layer a regular pair of sports shorts over it.  I get a little iffy about wearing the compression shorts alone.  Oh well, today I had no choice.  Michael Kelley was kind enough to let me have a pair of Zeal socks...I will have to remember to thank him...with payment.

I had the awesome pleasure of having four other lovely ladies in the 1715 class with me today.  It has been a while since I've had all females in the class.  Then Kabool showed up.  Then Thomas James Kelley, then, to my pure excitement, Coach Paul, and to make it even better...KK!!!  They were not planning on working out with the class, but I think these crazy Zealots were doing their second workout of the day.  Makes me think I should be doing the same.  Perhaps I shall try, once my other big life events settle.  Right now I'm lucky to convince my body to do once per day.  I kid...sort of.

We began with split jerk technique.  I enjoy this, because I feel like I'm good at it.  I haven't done them in quite some time, so I'm excited.  What's even more exciting is Michael Kelley's demonstration.  You see...on Saturday...part of the WOD was 100 pull ups for time.  Michael Kelley is still bitching about his arms.  He says it hurts to bend, and it hurts to straighten, and it hurts.  Blah blah blah.  Oddly enough, Thomas James Kelley's arms hurt too.  Weird twin moment?  I think so.  Or they are both just huge big babies.  That's more likely. 

Side note, I think Coach Paul might be rubbing off on me.  I can deal with that.

So after split jerk technique was the actual movement with weight.  I set a rack in the middle of the gym, because there are five ladies, and four racks.  We are to do the weight until we are comfortable with it, and work up for twenty minutes. 

Sets:

1x33#

1x43#

1x53#

2x63# I had a slight stumble on the first attempt

1x68#

1x73#

1x78#

2x83# another slight stumble

1x88#

I know that's a lot of information, but what's important is that each set felt great.  Apparently I have decent technique on split jerk.  I shall do them more often.

It hurts not that KK is there cheering me on.  This is also where Thomas James Kelley is to insert his obviously forced enthusiasm in order to appear in the blog.  He's such an attention whore.

At that point, it's onto the WOD.  It looks interesting today.  This is where the organized chaos begins.  In the rest of the gym, Thomas James Kelley and KK are doing overhead squats, Coach Paul is doing deadlifts, Kabool is somewhere, and Nicole is stretching.  For the five ladies of the 1715 class, our WOD was as follows:

20 minutes

60 meter sled pull

1-2 min of heavy ab work (L-sits, L-hangs, planks)

1-2 minutes of skill work

Now, this seems quite confusing, the point is to do the sled pull, then come in and start 1-2 minutes of abdominal work.  After 1-2 minutes, move onto your selected skill practice for 1-2 minutes.  Rotate at your own pace.  For the abdominal work, I chose the L-hang (which quickly turned into a high knee hang), and for my skill, I chose handstand walks.  All the ladies start out with a 45lb weight on the 11lb sled. 

It's hard to really describe this WOD round by round, because you're not really going for rounds.  But if we were, I completed 4, with an additional sled pull.  The first 2 sled pulls I towed 45lbs, the last 3 I went with 55lbs.  The handstand walk/hold practice I think was beneficial.  I want to improve on my balance with that.  The hold I can do, the walking and balance without the wall need improvement. 

All in all, today was fun.  I was in a sour mood when I got to the gym today.  But after seeing Michael Kelley and his arm problem, and Thomas James Kelley with his arm problem and desperation for attention, and Coach Paul with his new deadlift PR, and KK just because..................today ended up on a positive note.