Workout, Interrupted

Wondering where I've been?

I've been up to my eyeballs with work these days, having recently shifted my responsibilities to cover international markets at work (on top of my existing workload). Practically speaking, this means my days are spent emailing people in the Middle East at 5 in the morning, tackling my U.S.-based workload during the middle of the day, rushing home to take calls from Hong Kong in the early evening, and talking late into the night with business partners in India. My free time's devoted to daddy duty and helping Michelle with Nom Nom Paleo-related stuff. Meanwhile, this blog has gotten the short end of the stick.

I'm still heading to CrossFit Palo Alto in the wee hours of the morning to work out, though my day job has managed to intrude upon even my sacrosanct exercise time. The most stark example came this morning, when my WOD was interrupted by an unexpected (and unexpectedly frantic) 45-minute cell phone call from overseas about an urgent work matter. Fun times.

This was particularly frustrating because I'd been looking forward to getting back into the gym this morning. This was likely my second-to-last CrossFit class before heading off on a three-week business trip to Asia, so I was hoping to get my sweat on. The first half of the class delivered, with a workout of 10 strict ring rows every 2 minutes for 10 minutes, interspersed with max height box jumps.

The ring rows felt fine, though the fatigue set in by the final couple of rounds. It didn't help that I'd gotten four (count 'em: FOUR) shots in my shoulder in preparation for my travel to India. I'm used to feeling sore, but not this kind of sore.

And then: The metcon. It involved rowing, which meant I automatically hated it:

• Row 1000 meters
• Rest 5 minutes
• Row 1000 meters

"Go all out," Tim advised. I did, and it hurt. The first 1K took me 3:47 to complete, and my stubby little Asian man legs were on fire. I logged my time into my iPhone, gritted my teeth, and stumbled back to the erg. Let's get this over with, I thought. My five minutes of rest were almost up when I heard my phone start ringing. It was an urgent work call from Egypt.

Being on call at all hours of day can be...challenging.

As much as I detest rowing, I wasn't exactly a fan of delaying the inevitable, either. Instead of resting five minutes between the two 1K rows, I ended up with over an hour in between. After a lengthy phone conversation, a short drive home, a half-hour spent making breakfast for the kids, and a few business-related emails, I grabbed my water bottle and headed into the garage to (finally) finish the workout on the rower in my garage.

"How was it?" Michelle asked when I staggered back into the kitchen a few minutes later. "3:58," I said. "I sucked."

But at least I finished it.

And then I showered, popped my typhoid fever vaccine pills (yum?), and went to work. Whee!

Scoreless

I don't think I've ever done a workout at CrossFit Palo Alto that hasn't been scored -- until today.

Here's what we did:

4 rounds of:

• 3 minutes to complete a 12-calorie row, 10 overhead kettlebell swings, and 10 ring dips; and
• 3 minutes to complete a 12-calorie row, 10 wallballs (I did thrusters instead), and 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups.

The faster you crank 'em out, the more rest you get before the 3 minutes are up. And going balls-to-the-wall obviously yields a more intense interval workout. But after the first couple of rounds of this 24-minute workout, I finally figured out that it probably made more sense to pace myself, and to strike a better balance between speed and form. Knowing there was no score to target made it easier for me to focus on what I was doing.

But to be honest, I was still trying my damnedest to finish as fast as possible.

All Good Things...

So after two and a half years of waking up in the middle of the night to get ready for 5 a.m. CrossFit classes, our merry bunch of early birds is abruptly disbanding. Turns out the gym has residential neighbors who aren't super-jazzed about being woken up by the sounds of barbells and grunting.

When I joined CrossFit Palo Alto in the summer of 2010, Steph was the only other person crazy enough to stick to a 5 a.m. schedule. But after a few months, we were joined by the Terminator. And then Mint came (and left). And Jackie joined, and Jason, and Jay, and Jake, and on and on, until there were 15 of us "regulars" in the class. 

Three days a week, these were the folks with whom I'd start the day. Half-asleep, I'd stumble into the gym, bedheaded and bleary-eyed, and spend an hour sweating alongside my fellow sleep-deprived nutjobs. It's not like we spent a lot of time chatting in class -- I'm not nearly awake enough to engage in intelligent conversation before 5:30. But our class had a great, supportive vibe, and the friendly competition kept me on my toes.

Could I have attended class at a later (and saner) time of day? Sure -- but I always looked forward to seeing the 5 a.m. crew. It's hard not to like the people with whom you've spent hundreds of hours over the course of the past 30 months, and it's the primary reason why I always set my alarm clock for 4:20 a.m.

But at least for now, the 5 a.m. class is kaput. Most of us are moving to crashing other classes, and the rest are finding other ways to lift heavy and move fast. I'm joining the 6 a.m. class along with a handful of other 5 a.m. refugees, so the silver lining is that I'll get three extra hours of sleep each week. And hopefully, we'll get to drop our weights without fear of the cops getting called.

Last order of business? The 5 a.m. class's two final workouts:

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we practiced Zercher squats -- a favorite of mine. Even better: This is a strength skill that doesn't require the use of my wrists, so my injury was irrelevant. (And yes, I'm still -- STILL! -- on the mend.) We also got a metcon that I didn't have to modify: AMRAP in 7 minutes of burpees.

The workout required that we jump and stand atop of a 45-pound bumper plate at the end of each rep. I did the burpees on my fists, and kept a fairly steady rate throughout. I was aiming for 100 burpees, and despite my best efforts to accelerate towards the end, I ended up one short. 

Result: 99 as RXed. So close! Still, I'm pretty happy with my score -- especially given that it took me almost a minute longer to complete 100 burpees last year.

Friday

I had much more trouble with the assigned movements in our final 5 a.m. workout. While the class practiced strict barbell presses, I had to settle for kettlebell and dumbbell presses. And the metcon looked like this:

• 15 chin-ups
• 10 wall balls (20lbs / 14lbs)
• 12 chin-ups
• 15 wall balls (20lbs / 14lbs)
• 9 chin-ups
• 20 wall balls (20lbs / 14lbs)
• 6 chin-ups
• 25 wall balls (20lbs / 14lbs)
• 3 chin-ups
• 30 wall balls (20lbs / 14lbs)

I can't yet catch a wall ball without destroying my wrist, so I did thrusters with a pair of 15-pound dumbbells instead. And I did the chin-ups from a pair of Olympic rings to reduce the strain on my wrist, too. Looking back, I'm glad the chin-up ladder was descending; by the end of the workout, my chin-ups were ugly and slow.

Result: 7:48.

With any luck, the 5 a.m. diaspora will be short-lived. But who knows? I suspect I might get used to the extra sleep...

I'm Hating My Wrist Right Now

I don't know what I did to my right wrist, but for over a week now, it's felt like crap every time I flex it. On Friday, we were supposed to work on touch-and-go cleans at the gym (five sets of five, one set every three minutes), but when I attempted to warm up with just an unloaded barbell, my wrist started screaming at me to stop.

Tim suggested that I ditch the barbell cleans and work instead on bottoms-up kettlebell cleans to help rehab my wrist. I kept the weights light -- this was the first time I'd attempted bottoms-up cleans, and the last thing I wanted was to exacerbate my mysterious injury. It was a bummer that I wasn't able to practice touch-and-go barbell cleans, but on the plus side: New skill!

Next up: The metcon.

3 rounds:

• 1 minute max effort calorie row
• 1 minute max effort toes through rings
• 1 minute max effort wall balls (20lbs / 14lbs)
• 1 minute rest

The calorie row and toes through rings weren't a problem. With my right wrist wrapped tightly with a wrist strap, the calorie row and toes-through-rings weren't a problem. Neither required much wrist flexion. I actually had a fantastic time with the toes-through-rings -- I found 'em to be much easier on the hands than toes-to-bars, and it was pretty easy to maintain a good kipping rhythm throughout.

The wall balls, on the other hand, were murder. I plodded along slowly, relying on my left (weaker) arm to toss and catch the medicine ball. Note to self: One-armed wall balls are not a good idea. Each minute yielded fewer than 10 wall ball shots.

Result: 123 as RXed.

I was hoping a weekend of R&R (and a mind-blowing meal) would fix what ails me, but alas: No dice. My wrist isn't any better. When my alarm clock started buzzing at 4:20 a.m., I briefly considered turning over and going back to sleep. But I thought better of it: There would be something I could do at the gym that involves no wrist flexion. And after a sedentary weekend, I was ready to get off my butt again.

The strength skill was front squats. To save my wrists, I did back squats (five sets of three, one set every three minutes) instead. Again, I took it easy, going only up to 185 pounds. I focused instead on maintaining proper form -- in particular, keeping my knees from collapsing inward during my ascent from the bottom.

More good news: The metcon didn't involve a whole lotta wrist action.

For time:

• 10 dumbbell burpees (45lbs / 30lbs)
• Run 240 meters
• 20 dumbbell burpees (45lbs / 30lbs)
• Run 400 meters
• 30 dumbbell burpees (45lbs / 30lbs)
• Run 800 meters

Before the workout, I'd planned to go with the women's RXed weight, but Tim gave me a skeptical look. "Way too light," he said. He was right. I went with a pair of 40 pound dumbbells, but I probably would've done fine with the 45s. In fact, the dumbbell burpees were more fun than I'd anticipated, though my quads were burning by the third round.

Even all that running felt good in the cool, misty darkness.

Result: 13:23.

This Week's Workouts

Upon returning from the Rockies, I figured I'd kick some butt in the gym. After all, I did all sorts of high-altitude training, like carrying our luggage from our room to the trunk of our rental car, and slowly walking to breakfast. Returning to an oxygen-rich environment should make me a beast, right? Right?

Wednesday's workout began with touch-and-go deadlifts, which felt pretty good. But then came the metcon:

5 rounds for time:

• 12 kettlebell cleans and presses (6 with each arm - 24kg / 16kg)
• 12 box jumps (24")
• Row 200 meters

I probably shouldn't have gone with the 24 kilogram (53 pound) kettlebell, because I spent the duration of the workout suffering. The box jumps and rowing didn't bother me (too much), but the presses left me gasping for air. And we're at sea level.

Result: 15:47 as RXed. I'm pretty sure I came in last in my class -- in large part because I bit off more than I can chew with the heavy KB cleans and presses.

Today's workout was much more my speed -- well, most of it. Here's what Tim wrote on the board:

• 800 meter run
• Then, 7 rounds of:
• 7 burpees
• 7 pull-ups
• After that? Another 800 meter fun run.

Sounds like a blast, right?

Actually, I was fine with the burpees and pull-ups; after all, bodyweight exercises are my bread and butter. But sadly, my running remains atrocious, and I nursed a side stitch throughout my final 800 meters. Fun!

Result: 15:43 as RXed.

Okay -- no mas. Must. Sleep. Now.

Bloody Good

I didn't know what to expect at the gym on Friday. Tim kept saying that I was going to "love" the workout, but I can no longer tell when he's being sarcastic. (Especially after he once promised a workout I "LOOOOOOVED" -- only to spring a 2K row on us.)

Still, love it or hate it, I knew I'd have a strong reaction to the WOD, so I showed up hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Thankfully, it was indeed a good one:

"Mary" - As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

• 5 handstand push-ups
• 10 pistols
• 15 pull-ups

All bodyweight stuff I genuinely love -- even if I still favor doing pistols on my right side over my left. I was so excited, in fact, that I completely overlooked the following pertinent details:

• There are a crapload of pull-ups in this workout.
• I hadn't been keeping up with my hand care.
• The last time we did "Mary," I entitled my post "Bloody Mary" for a reason.
• That reason? I ripped my hands open and bled all over the place.

Without bothering to tape up my hands, I jumped right in with gusto.

Now that I'm doing a one-legged kipping handstand pull-up, I wasn't getting fatigued on the wall, so I expected to do better than my last attempt. After flying through the first four rounds unbroken, I glanced at the clock and saw that only a little more than seven minutes had elapsed. I can complete 10 rounds, I told myself.

The pistols betrayed me first. After five or six rounds, I was losing steam, and my weaker left leg was buckling. To complete the workout as RXed, I'd have to do the majority of the one-legged squats on my right leg.

With a few minutes left in the workout, I still felt fresh on the handstand push-ups and pull-ups, but my sweaty hands were starting to snag on the bar. I chalked up before my ninth round of pull-ups -- but realized too late that I'd over-coated my hands. I felt the skin of my right palm rip. The skin on my ring finger followed. A few pull-ups later, I felt the wetness of blood on the bar. Distracted, I slowed my pace to a crawl.

Result: 10 rounds as RXed. I hit my goal (and PRed!), though I'm kicking myself for not taking better care of my hands.  Despite taking care not to kip wildly, I'd neglected to file down my calluses or to tape up to prevent rips. I need to be better about practicing what I preach.

Still: I love Mary. Bloody or not, I can't wait to meet her again.

[Previously: CrossFit Hand Care]

Catch Up

Crap. I forgot to post last Friday's workout. I wish I could blame it on work (which has, in fact, exploded recently), but I had all weekend to write. It just slipped my mind -- probably because I was busy teaching the boys to dance Gangnam Style.

Come on -- I know you want to watch it again.


Anyway...

Having been knocked down with a fever and sore throat for a solid week, I was looking forward to getting back in the gym on Friday. We practiced weighted ring dips  before the metcon was announced:

• 15 toes to bar
• 15 hang power cleans (115lbs / 85lbs)
• 15 box jumps (20")
• 12 toes to bar
• 12 hang power cleans (115lbs / 85lbs)
• 12 box jumps (20")
• 9 toes to bar
• 9 hang power cleans (115lbs / 85lbs)
• 9 box jumps (20")
• 6 toes to bar
• 6 hang power cleans (115lbs / 85lbs)
• 6 box jumps (20")
• 3 toes to bar
• 3 hang power cleans (115lbs / 85lbs)
• 3 box jumps (20")

Forty-five reps of toes-to-bar and hang power cleans? My wrists started weeping before the workout began. I decided to stick with the women's RXed weight because: (1) I am weak, and (2) I am not altogether stupid.

Result: 11:05.

This morning, I returned to the gym feeling like myself for the first time in ten days. (My voice still sounds terrible, but I feel fine.) Good thing, too, because I love me some kettlebell snatches. We practiced until my arms felt like they were going to pop off, and then:

"Elizabeth"

• 21 power cleans (135lbs / 95lbs)
• 21 ring dips
• 15 power cleans (135lbs / 95lbs)
• 15 ring dips
• 9 power cleans (135lbs / 95lbs)
• 9 ring dips

Remember how I said I'm not altogether stupid? Well, that means I'm still somewhat stupid -- which explains why I decided to do Elizabeth as RXed today. The last time we did Elizabeth, I used a 115-pound barbell -- a smarter move. Cranking out consecutive reps of 135 pound power cleans is doable for me...for about a dozen reps. After that, I had to eke 'em out in mini-sets of two or three.

(Clearly, my math skills are nonexistent. On Friday, I blanched at the thought of doing 45 reps of 115-pound cleans, and opted for 85 pounds instead. But today, I decided that 45 reps of 135-pound cleans sounded just fine and dandy. I'm an idiot.)

In the second round, I started no-repping. Twice, I failed to get my elbows down and around the bar fast enough, and ended up splashing the bar. Strange sounds started coming out of my throat.

On the plus side? All the ring dip practice we've been doing paid off -- I got through those fairly quickly.

Result: 10:28 as RXed.

A Long, Long Time Ago...

Friday's workout seems like a lifetime ago, but I've been so swamped with work (and, frankly, sick with a bad cold) that I haven't been able to summon the motivation to post about it. Still, I feel like I ought to jot down what we did before the details are completely lost to the fog of memory.

As I recall, we did a bunch of weighted ring dips as our strength skill before moving onto a quick-and-dirty metcon:

3 rounds for time:

• 12 power cleans (95lbs / 65lbs)
• 400-meter run
• 12 pull-ups

Result: 10:15 as RXed.

The power cleans were fast and fluid, as were the pull-ups (which I did unbroken). My running, though, was another matter entirely. Every time I hit the run, I was passed by several of my fellow 5 a.m. nutjobs.

I've never been much of a runner, though my gut tells me that in the past year, I've gotten a lot worse. When we lived in San Francisco, Michelle and I used to run regularly (okay, semi-regularly) through Golden Gate Park or around Lake Merced, and just a few years ago, I was logging as much as ten or fifteen miles a run. No, I wasn't fast or light on my feet, but I'd built up enough endurance that I didn't feel like keeling over every time I ran for a few hundred meters.

But these days, it feels like I'm dragging.

So my new goal? Run more. Not a lot more -- but enough to get my butt in gear again.

Of course, all of this is going to have to wait until I get over this damn cold. I hate, hate, HATE being sick.

Friday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Weighted Ring Dips (5-5-5-3-3)

I think I was still half-asleep when I did these because I honestly can't recall much about 'em at all. Either that, or I'm getting forgetful in my old age.

Metcon:

"11,250"

Remember this one? There's nothing subtle about it: You just deadlift 11,250 pounds for time.

It doesn't really matter how you hit the magic number. You can do 50 reps at 225, or 100 reps at 112.5 pounds. Me? I chose to do what I did back in March: 61 reps at 185.

And just like last time, I sped through the first 30 reps, and then hit a wall. By the time I got to my last 5 reps, I had to eke 'em out as singles. The difference? I eked 'em out a lot faster this go 'round.

Result: 4:28 as RXed -- almost two minutes faster than last time! The PR, however, came with a price: Two days later, I'm still sore as hell.

Friday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Handstand Pushups (5-5-5-5-5)

For me, strict handstand pushups are a funny thing: I can do 'em...until I can't. Usually, in a HSPU-centric metcon, I'll be humming along just fine, stringing handstand pushups together, and then suddenly hit a wall. Once that happens, I'm lucky if I can perform two reps in a row.

I know that kipping HSPUs are supposed to help give that extra oomph! needed to push through those situations, but I've found that when I tuck both knees to my chest, I tend to lose my balance and come off the wall entirely. Today, though, Tim demonstrated a one-legged kip, keeping the other leg up and against the wall. I gave it a shot, and it worked like a charm.

I'm looking forward to trying a one-legged kip the next time HSPUs show up in a metcon -- just to see if it makes a difference.

Metcon:

AMRAP in 10 minutes:

• 5 thrusters (135lbs / 95lbs)
• 10 toes-to-bar
• 5 bar-hopping burpees

I could've sworn someone kept adding weights to my barbell between rounds. Damn, those thrusters were heavy.

Result: 4 rounds + 17 reps at 115 pounds.

Friday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Strict & Kipping Pull-ups (6 sets of 5-10)

I mistakenly thought we were supposed progress to successive sets of weighted pull-ups, but the name of the game was to concentrate on form: Corkscrewing our arms to engage our lats, and driving our elbows straight down. When it comes to strict pull-ups, I've been sorely out of practice, so it was good to focus on technique rather than strain for maximum weight.

Metcon:

• 21 shoulder-to-overheads (135lbs / 95lbs)
• Row 500 meters
• 21 power cleans (135lbs / 95lbs)
• Run 400 meters
• 21 front squats (135lbs / 95lbs)

I went with 105 pounds, and decided to row 500 a second time rather than running. (My Achilles is still in less-than-spectacular shape, unfortunately.) But despite scaling the workout, I got smoked. Cranking out power cleans and front squats after a stint on the erg was mighty painful, and I ended up taking more mid-set breaks than I would've liked.

Result: 12:24. Molasses-slow. Argh.

Friday's Workout

For time, three rounds of "Barbara":

• 20 Pull-ups
• 30 Push-ups
• 40 Abmat Sit-ups
• 50 Squats

Between each round, rest precisely three minutes.

That doesn't sound too bad, right? After all, it's only three rounds -- not the full five. Plus, it's all bodyweight stuff -- my favorite.

I got off to a quick start, finishing all the movements unbroken in the first round. At the 3:15 mark, I paused to take my first three-minute break.

Weirdly enough, three minutes of rest felt like an eternity. Part of me wanted to just jump right back onto the pull-up bar and keep cranking, but instead, I paced around, feeling my energy sap away as the seconds ticked by.

By the time I started the second round, my momentum was slowing. Although I did my pull-ups, sit-ups and squats without stopping, my push-ups were...problematic. (In other words: SLOOOOOW.)

In the third round, after another three-minute pause between rounds, I was even more beat. Mentally, it was tough to get back to the pull-up bar and will myself to complete the third and final round. I did it, but once again, the push-ups were slow going. Although I was in the lead for most of the workout, the Terminator edged past me as I repeatedly paused for air during the last set of push-ups. I raced through the sit-ups and squats as speedily as possible, but the cyborg beat me by a few seconds. Argh.

Result: 19:13 as RXed (including 6 minutes of rest time).

Hoo, boy. I'm going to feel this tomorrow.

Friday's Workout

My first 5 a.m. class in a week, and yet my Achilles is still acting up.

I didn't notice it at first. For the first half of class, we worked on strict, weighted pull-ups, and in between sets, Tim encouraged us to squeeze in some skills practice. I did a couple of wall walks and then decided to do some double-unders.

Bad idea. Although I managed to complete 50 in a row (a rare feat for me), I realized as soon as I stopped that my left Achilles was on fire.

Tim guided me through a bunch of mobility exercises to help ease some of the tightness in my ankle and calf, but the throbbing didn't go away completely. And unfortunately, today's metcon featured plenty of double-unders:

For time:

• 50 double-unders
• 25 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 40 double-unders
• 20 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 30 double-unders
• 15 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 20 double-unders
• 10 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 10 double-unders
• 5 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)

"Do single-unders instead," Tim instructed. "Sub three singles for each double." I complied. Although I did the workout with a 24 kilogram kettlebell, I made do with single-unders. It was a bummer -- this workout was right up my alley.

Halfway through the workout, I got to wondering: Would double-unders have been easier on my leg? If I'd done double-unders, I would've jumped 150 times, but by doing singles, I ended up jumping 450 times. Which was worse for my inflamed ankle? After the workout, as a group of us walked over to the coffeehouse, I asked Tim: "Should I have done doubles instead?"

"No," he replied.

Good enough for me.

Result: 7:31.

Friday's Workout

With Tim on vacation, Trish led us through the workout yesterday. Afterwards, she remarked that the 5 a.m. class was extremely "coachable" -- i.e., we follow instructions well.

"It's 'cause we're not awake enough to fight back," I told her.

Strength Skill:

• Strict Presses (3-3-1-1-1)

Despite a couple of attempts at setting a new PR, I failed. It appears my max is holding firm at 120 pounds for a little while longer.

Metcon:

AMRAP in 15 minutes:

• 9 deadlifts (155lbs / 100lbs)
• 12 Games push-ups
• 15 box jumps (24" / 20")

This was a reprise of the second workout of last year's CrossFit Games Open, and I did nowhere near as well as some of the firebreathers who tackled 11.2. The deadlifts were fine -- I made sure to tap 'n go to keep momentum on my side. The box jumps weren't too bad, either. But the push-ups? Not so much.  I cruised through the first few rounds, but early in the fifth round, I suddenly hit a wall and couldn't muster more than two or three push-ups at a time.

At coffee after class with Trish and XFitMama, I griped about my strict presses and push-ups. "Do a 100 push-up challenge," Trish suggested. It was a great idea, and we all signed on. The rules are simple: Do one push-up on Day One, two push-ups on Day Two, three on Day Three, and so on. One more wrinkle: I'm going to try to do 'em all at once rather than spacing out the push-ups throughout the day. This shouldn't get hard until Day 50 or so, but I'm fine with starting at 1 for now. I need a few weeks to get my stress levels down anyway.

Friday's Workout

Hoo-boy. I was supposed to sit out today's 5 a.m. class due to lack of babysitting, but my in-laws graciously volunteered to host the boys for an overnight stay at their house so I could join the rest of the early-morning nutjobs at CrossFit Palo Alto. Good thing, too, because today's was a very, very good one.

As many reps as possible in 20 minutes of:

• 400 meter run
• Max rep shoulder-to-overheads (115lbs / 75 lbs)

In other words, every time the barbell hits the floor, run 400 meters. Total score = total number of shoulder-to-overheads completed.

I went with 95 pounds, figuring it was going to sufficiently challenge me without utterly wrecking me. There've been times when I've vastly overestimated or underestimated what I can do, but judging by how exhausted I felt at the end of this workout, I'm pretty sure I picked the right weight today. 

In the first round, I completed 17 reps before having to set down the barbell. But the presses and running wore me out; by the fifth and final round, I had only 11 reps in me before time ran out.

Result: 68. I'm going to do better (or at least go heavier) next time.

Did I mention how glad I am that I didn't miss this one?

Friday's Workout

Today's workout was a reprise of the one we did back on January 4:

• 5 rounds for time (or AMRAP in 20 minutes):
• 15 deadlifts (135lbs / 95lbs)
• 12 hang power cleans (135lbs / 95lbs)
• 9 front squats (135lbs / 95lbs)
• 6 jerks (135lbs / 95lbs)

Once again, I decided to go with 95 pounds. It felt a little light at first, and I blazed through the first couple of rounds. Frankly, I probably could have gone a bit heavier -- but by the time I got to the third set of front squats, the barbell felt plenty heavy.

Result: 16:37. Progress!

Barbells make me feel manly -- even when I'm lifting the women's RXed weight.

Charley Horse 4, PR 0

We had another packed house in the 5 a.m. class at CrossFit Palo Alto today, where we were treated to a variety of gymnastics movements (we practiced tumbling, handstands, ring L-sits, skin-the-cats, etc.) before Tim scrawled on the whiteboard:

• Loooooove 2K row

To paraphrase Tina Turner: "What's LOVE got to do with it?"

After all, I both fear and loathe the erg. There are few workouts I hate as much as this one. Rowing 2000 meters invariably leaves me feeling totally wrecked -- and today was no different. Plus, my track record seems to indicate that I'm getting worse and worse at this towing stuff.

My previous 2K row times? 7:45 (July 2010), 8:04 (October 2010), and 8:07 (July 2011). Suffice it to say, I'm not exactly blazing fast on an erg. In fact, I seem to be getting slower rather than faster -- despite throwing myself fully into the rowing each time.

So it came as a but of a surprise when, for the first three-quarters of today's workout, I was actually feeling decent. The first 500 meters flew by without incident, and the second 500 was bearable. The third 500 was a kick in the pants, but I still had some fuel in the tank. "Just keep that split under 2 minutes," I heard Tim yell from behind me.

But as I entered the home stretch, my feet painfully seized up in cramps. Both arches were on fire. And immediately thereafter, I developed charley horses in both thighs, too. Ah, muscle spasms. Racked with spasming body parts, I forgot all about proper erg technique. My pulls slowed, and my head bobbed back and forth. It was ugly, folks. REALLY ugly.

As soon as I was done, I collapsed on the floor, whipped off my shoes, and tried to stretch and massage out my lactic-acid engorged appendages. I must have stayed on the floor for a good 5 minutes before staggering to my feet.

On the plus side:

• I learned that it takes me approximately 260 strokes to row 2K.

• I got my second-best 2K row time today. I rowed 7:54 today -- 9 seconds off my P.R., but 13 seconds better than my P.W. (Personal Worst).

• I didn't get sick afterwards. (Knock on wood!)

• This probably means we won't have to row 2K again for at least a little while.

I have no idea if what I just wrote makes any sense. Pretty sure I passed out a few times while typing this post tonight. Must...sleep...now...

Friday's Workout

Back to the 5 a.m. class!

Strength Skill:

• Turkish Get-Ups (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

My left shoulder wasn't feeling it today; for the first time in a while, I had trouble keeping my arm locked out even while using a fairly light weight (16 kg). I think I need to drag my kettlebells to our hotel room (yes, we're still living in a hotel while our floors at home are getting ripped out) and practice, practice, practice. All of the rest of my garage gym equipment is buried underneath mountains of furniture and boxes at the moment, but my kettlebells are still accessible.

What my home gym looked like:

What my home gym now looks like:

Plus, a number of great fitness minds agree: Turkish Get-Ups (and other kettlebell movements) are among the best exercises you can do.

Metcon:

3 rounds for time:

• Run 400 meters
• 20 kettlebell snatches (10 with each arm, 24kg / 16kg)
• 20 Abmat sit-ups

The sit-ups weren't a problem for me, but I felt like I was running in super-slow-motion today. And the kettlebell snatches were rough -- especially when I was using my left arm.

I know I say this a lot, but I need to get stronger.

Result: 11:29 as RXed.

Friday's Workout

A lot can happen in two days.

Between Wednesday's workout and today's:

• We finished the Nom Nom Paleo iPad app after months of intensive work, and submitted it to Apple for review;
• I sat in a plane on the tarmac for an hour and a terminal for two hours before being told that my flight to Southern California (for work) was grounded.
• I was booked on another flight, only to be told at midnight that it, too, was canceled.
• I drove home and collapsed -- only to be jolted awake a few hours later by my wife, who had awakened to a the sounds of water gushing out from below our kitchen sink. Three-quarters of our house was covered by a half-inch of water.
• We bailed water like crazy.
• An emergency crew came over and started tearing out our hardwood floors and baseboards.
• We packed up our stuff and moved into a hotel. The insurance company has us booked here for a month.
• Oh, and Big-O had a Little League game.

I'm a little tired.

But I was looking forward to getting back in the gym so I could work off some of the stress I'd accumulated.

Strength Skill:

• Turkish Get-Ups (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3)

This morning, I didn't feel super-stable in my shoulders, and found my arm wobbling a bit. Perhaps my shoulders are still fried from Monday's and Wednesday's workouts, but then again, maybe I just need to get stronger.

Metcon:

AMRAP in 8 minutes:

• 21 chest-high kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 15 push-ups
• 9 toes-to-bar

The swings and push-ups weren't too awful, but my toes-to-bar were slow as mud. I need to figure out a better way to generate momentum at the finish of each rep; right now, I end up in a dead hang position, which forces me to initiate a big wind-up before continuing onto the next rep.

Result: 5 rounds + 1 rep as RXed.

I tried but ultimately failed to catch the Terminator, who ended up with 8 more reps than me. Such is the way of things, I guess. It's a comforting reminder that even when life throws you for a loop, some things never change.

On tap for tomorrow: The Whole9 Foundations of Nutrition Seminar at CrossFit Palo Alto! And another Little League game.

Friday's Workout

It's immensely stupid of me to hit the gym on just four hours of sleep, but I did it anyway.

Strength Skill:

• Turkish Get-Ups (1. 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 - each side)

I did fine. I stuck with light weights (12 and 16 kilograms), and focused on ensuring good positioning of my free hand. And even the 12 kilogram kettlebell was enough to get my shoulders nice and engaged -- just in time for:

• 101 push-presses for time (95# / 65#), with a 5-burpee penalty every time the barbell is set down on the floor.

I'll admit it: For the first half of the WOD, I certainly tried to "game" system by resting the bar across the back of my neck and shoulders when I was too tired to continue. And for a while, it worked -- I got through the first 50 push-presses without having to do any burpees.

But as the workout wore on, the heavier the barbell got (even though I was only using 80 pounds and not the RXed 95). After Rep Number 50, I reluctantly lowered the barbell to the ground and did my requisite burpees....slowly. I broke the remaining push-presses into sets of 10, and resigned myself to the fact that I would have to do another four or five rounds of burpee before hitting the magic number of 101 push-press reps.

Result: 12:13.

Yeesh. I literally fell asleep while writing this post. Must. Go. To. Sleep.