"Filthy Fifty"

"Filthy Fifty"
For Time:
50 box jumps - (jumps on a single tire)
50 jumping pull ups - (25 kips, 25 jumping)
50 KB swings - (16kg)
50 walking lunges
50 knees to elbows
50 push press 45lbs - (mix of 35# and 45#)
50 back extensions - (sit ups)
50 wall ball - (12#)
50 burpees - (DEATH)
50 double unders
My Time: 33:49

This workout was a lesson. I took Bonita's advice and started slow to pace myself and everything was going well until I hit a wall with the burpees. I actually enjoyed doing the pull ups and push presses. In the time it took me to do 50 burpees (one damn burpee at a time...) Bonita talked me through with reminders about character building, perseverance, and mental strength. The double unders felt like heaven after finishing those awful burpees. It's been a week full of mental challenges and I am very happy for a rest day today!

Someday I will

Learning to focus

"Being your best is not so much about overcoming the barriers other people place in front of you as it is about overcoming the barriers we place in front of ourselves. It has nothing to do with how many times you win or lose. It has no relation to where you finish in a race or whether you break world records. But it does have everything to do with having the vision to dream, the courage to recover from adversity and the determination never to be shifted from your goals." -Kieren Perkins

Last night sucked.

Shoulder press 5x5 55/65/70/70/75 (scratch on 5th rep, re-racked, then did the last rep)
Push jerk 1RM 75/85/95/115 (scratch)

I was distracted. I didn't leave the outside world where it should be- outside. I brought it with me to the gym and rather than use it to fire me up, it distracted me. And it showed.

I don't expect to PR every day. But I do expect to have a mental fortitude to keep me focused. It's easy to stay focused during a met con when you're counting reps and flying through movements. It's not as easy when it's you and the barbell, in a quiet gym with only one rep to do. That's when you have the choice of letting your mind go blank, or following the stream of consciousness of: "Did I turn my computer off at work? Damn, ________ really annoyed me today. What should I wear tomorrow? Butt down, chest up. My feet hurt. I have to finish that project this week. Deep breath. Hold it. Go!"

I have excuses as to why I couldn't make the 115# lift yesterday. But they don't matter. They sound lame anyway.

Of course, CrossFit Watertown posted a very timely piece that I needed to read today. Kill That Voice.

John Berardi

Today I've been reading articles by John Berardi. My favorite so far is: Words of Wisdom

"This game is not only about looking good naked and straining under a big plate-loaded bar. It's about experimentation, longevity, peace of mind, confidence, and enjoyment."

Another great article is by Dan John. Learn the Olympic Lifts

"Olympic Lifting demands discipline in choosing weights within your abilities. But, the payoff is worth it. The feeling of hoisting bodyweight from floor to overhead for the first time remains a treasured memory years later."

I am no where near to lifting my body weight from the floor to overhead but my body tingles at the thought of being able to accomplish that!

Last night the Tribe got together for a crazy rep scheme of box jumps and kettlebell swings. Bonita and I stacked two tires on top of each other for one "box" and we figured it was about 32" high. Wheeeee you should have seen B fly on top of that one! I jumped through 3 rounds on that monster but then switched down to one tire. We got some stares from the track runners which I thought was funny because we did look a little silly jumping on this mountain of tires. On Thursday we're doing "Filthy Fifty" which I've heard about but never done and am looking forward to it!

Front squats and cleans

There's a video of Crystal Nelson PR'ing with a 150# clean out there somewhere but I can't find it right now. Crystal is awesome and I love her calm demeanor. She's someone I look up to as an athlete because of everything that she's accomplished! One day I'll be able to do cleans like her and last night was a baby step in that direction! A 110# clean!

I also can't find a video of Zach doing a clean. I'm a video #fail today. But here's Zach:



Zach had Alexis and I work on front squats and cleans last night at Sicfit Austin. I said that my 1RM of FS was 135# but looking through my book it was actually 130# which helps explain why I kept failing on my third rep. We did 5 x 3 at 105/115/125/125/125 and I continually scratched on the 3rd rep of 125#, might be a mental thing but my darn elbows need to pull me up out of the bottom!

Then we went on to cleans and I did 1 rep at 85/95/105 all which felt good. I really wanted that 115# rep but after 3 failed attempts I unracked to 110#. And got it! This is a step forward towards my goal of doing "Elizabeth" as prescribed by September 1. Big thanks to Zach for his superb coaching! He's great at letting me explore what weights to use- whether I want to grab a heavier kettlebell or rack on more weight. Sometimes it fails, like when I suckered Karen and Alexis into doing 65# the other day when Zach advised us to only use the bar but sometimes it works!

Now going forward with this PR I want to put the clean and jerk together at 110#. Last time I was able to do it at 95# so we'll see!

Look at all the beautiful Oly lifters from Saturday's workshop!

Bunch of random thoughts

"Perhaps the best way to resist the donuts at work is to donate your change in the morning to a worthy cause"
The above is a link to a really cool article about how moral acts may increase physical endurance. Wow! I want to research more about studies done on this topic. We could even test this out by doing "Fran" one day then another day volunteering at a nursing home and doing "Fran" after and comparing times! I'm calling it "CrossFit Volunteers- Getting stronger through community service". Could be on to something there...

Love this image from Kantan Design's Etsy Store.





Are we eating junk food because it’s cheap? Or is it cheap because we demand it so much that there is more competition and economies of scale?




I want to make Outer Space Paleo Pancakes. So cool!

Oldtime Strongman

The Oldtime Strongman blog entertained me today! I enjoyed looking through the old pictures of weightlifters. Check it out!

Day 9, DUs, and Totals

It's Day 9 of the Whole30 and I feel great! I have boundless energy, my pants are looser and I'm having less sugar cravings. Although, I reeeeally wanted chocolate on Sunday, I was able to muscle through the craving with a large cup of water and distracted myself by doing something else. Sometimes you just have to trick that feisty brain. I've been doing food windows, I heard about it through Crystal Nelson's talk, where I eat between 9-11 am then post workout around 8 pm. It's not hard and I don't do it every day and it seems like it works for me. I'm a little concerned I'm eating too much fat. Next week I might try zoning things a little bit to see how many blocks I'm consuming. I have an idea but am not precise with it. Big congrats to Kellie for dropping 5 lbs in a week, even though she's already super lean!

I've been working on double unders consistently in June. Last night, I did them in a wod:
5 rounds
40 double unders
30 box jumps/jumping squats
20 kb swings

I got to AHS early and was able to work on them, stringing 22 together before the workout started. But during the workout I could only get 10. On the 5th round I couldn't even do 3. I got frustrated, which of course didn't make them any easier! It's only June 9th though, hopefully by the end of June I'll be able to do them back to back easily.

Congrats to everyone with their Totals PRs! I'm a little jealous of everyone that got to do Totals this month. I'm sure I could go to Gold's and find out my numbers but it's not as much fun doing it on my own rather than in C-Rock's 7:00 class. It's all good, I get to throw around heavy weight twice a week anyway! Join me on Saturday at Sicfit's Weightlifting Seminar!

This summer, all of us are going to work hard to stay hydrated. Pickle juice may be the answer? Bonita swears by this stuff. The NY Times just wrote an article about it's benefits. Yuck? It can't be any worse than the Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar shots I've been taking.

"How far can you go?"

I have a picture on my desk that says, "How far can you go?" I like it because my mind wanders when I look at it to African safaris, the CrossFit Games, or any other random image I have floating through my head. But sometimes I have to think, "How far have you come?"

I'm talking specifically in the last eight weeks. When I signed up for Zach's Oly Lifting in April, I did it to fix my cleans. I really struggled with the hang clean during the I Am CrossFit benchmark workout and wanted to fix it. Now eight weeks later, I wouldn't say that I am perfect with the movement but I have a basic foundation for barbell work that I didn't before. Working on Oly lifting has given me increased body awareness where I can feel what went wrong with a lift and how to fix it the next time. Zach still has to come over to me and break things down step by step but overall I've seen a vast improvement.

I've learned the importance of a workout log. Just as we turn our bodies into science experiments for food/nutrition we have to do this for workouts too. I have pages of notes of things Zach and Crystal or other trainers have said to me that made things click. Statements like "fast elbows", "butt down, chest up", or "concentrate" are repeatedly heard at the gym. Writing down during which lift you should hold your breath or what weight you used in a wod makes the workout science experiment even more precise.

What I like so much about Sicfit Austin is that the workouts aren't programmed for going all out, every single time. The programming leads up to strong lifts by preparing you each class for them. For example, last night we did heavy snatch deadlifts. Are snatch deadlifts ever going to show up in a competition? Probably not, but by doing them and challenging myself with the weight used, helps in the long run towards the technique of the first two pulls of the snatch. It's all about the big picture.

On a different subject, here's great summary of a food workshop from the blog world: Cosmo Primal Girl

Post Secret

One of the first blogs that I started reading was PostSecret. Frank Warren uploads postcards anonymous people have written secrets on every Sunday. In college it used to be my routine to wake up every Sunday morning and pull up my bookmarked PostSecret page to read the postcards. Some are sad, some are funny and all give insight to human nature. I no longer have the Sunday morning routine I did in college but I still find the secrets fascinating.

This Sunday my favorite postcard is this:

Quick link for deadlifts

Deadlifts can save your soul. Click!

Wod logging and Day 2

The Tribe is up to great things this summer! Bonita has found a bunch of tough Navy Seal wods for us to get through that will prepare us for an endurance workout we're going to shoot for at the end of July. I've been enjoying working out in the open air with a great group of folks.

On Monday we did:
50 sit ups
50 double unders
50 sit ups
50 walking lunges
50 sit ups
50 box jumps
50 sit ups
Time: 11:47

I was excited to practice my double unders in a workout. My June DU Club with James has me working on them for the next 30 days or so. Last Tuesday I was able to string 17 in a row but in Monday's workout I got in sets of 10ish. They're hard but once you get the rope swinging it's easier to string them together. It's just the beginning that's rough!

Then Tuesday we did:
10 rounds:
15 deadlifts (135/95#)
15 push ups
Time: 21:07

Whewieee! Whenever I see 10 rounds for a workout I'm like how long is that going to take?? The deadlifts felt pretty good, I was able to do almost all the sets unbroken until round 8 where I did 10 reps then 5. The push ups were rough.. I was able to stay on my toes and do them in sets of 5 until about round 7 when I went to my knees. Ouch! I'm feeling it in my arms today.

Then I ran off to Crystal's house for "Be Selfish" Night with the CrossFit Women. It was relaxing to be able to sit with a beautiful group of women and just breathe. I hope that Lauren will continue these nights in the future- I think a bunch of us benefited from the opportunity to get together, share, encourage, and enjoy each other's company.

Other than that, I'm back to Day 2 of the Whole30. After some indulgences this past weekend watching Regionals in Dallas (Go CFC! Congrats Athletes!), I'm pumped to celebrate the next 28 days of clean eating. I still have never gone a full 30 days without a cheat and really want to check this one off of my "To Do" list. Rather than enter it with a "challenge" mindset, I'm focusing on listening to my body as I nourish it with healthy foods. Any one is more than welcome to check in with me to hold me accountable and I'll let you know how I'm doing!