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.

Gone Fishin'

I came down with a cold on Sunday, but with a steady infusion of bone broth and a couple of long stretches of sleep, I got (mostly) better in record time. This morning, when the alarm went off, I was ready to go.

After a relatively long break from the gym, it felt good to be back -- and it was also a relief to learn that the workout wasn't a grinder, but rather a skills-focused session that brought us back to basics.

Post-warmup, we worked on handstand holds and hollow rocks. Specifically:

8 rounds of:

• 20 seconds handstand hold
• 10 seconds rest
• 20 seconds hollow rock
• 10 seconds rest

Ow. I'm kind of terrible at hollow rocks. I'm no Carl Paoli, sadly.

Next up:

Kettlebell swing practice, followed by band-resisted kettlebell swings. Band-resisted swings look like this:


Amazingly, once the bands were removed and we did regular old swings again, the kettlebell felt like it was floating up in the air. Seriously: FLOATING -- almost like there were enormous helium balloons attached to the bottom of the kettlebell.

Last but not least, we pulled out the ergs and played some Fish Game.

I'm not very good at Fish Game, but when I play, I forget that I'm rowing. And that's a very, very good thing. I got a score of 795, which is a new high score for me.

Naturally, I went and rang the gym's PR bell.

Bottoms Up

I'm still here.

This past week has passed me by. I've been meaning to post, I've been busy with the kids while Michelle was at the 2012 Weston A. Price Foundation Conference. Blogging is fun and all, but so is running around the house playing Batman versus Iron Man and singing Weird Al Yankovic tunes at the top of our lungs.

Anyway, here's the latest rundown on my gym activities.

Friday

Strength Skill:

• Bottoms Up Kettlebell Cleans (5-5-5-5-5-5, one set every 3 minutes)

The rest of the class continued working on barbell cleans, and I wish I could've joined 'em. I've been feeling sharp pangs of envy whenever I watch other people practice cleans. So I did my bottoms-up kettlebell cleans in the back of the gym, and tried my best not to watch my classmates heave their barbells around.

Metcon:

• "Jackie" - for time:
• Row 1,000 meters
• 50 thrusters (45lbs / 35lbs)
• 30 pull-ups

It's only been a few months since we last did "Jackie," though this time around, I wasn't able to do the thrusters with a barbell. Instead, to ease the pressure on my wrist, I did double kettlebell cleans and presses, which approximated -- but didn't equal -- the experience of thrusting the barbell overhead.

Jackie still wrecked me (per usual). But the first squat after getting off the erg is the hardest, and once I pushed through the KB cleans and presses, the pull-ups went fairly quickly.

Result: 8:22 -- significantly faster than my 9:51 from June, but I did it RXed that time.

Monday

Strength Skill:

• Back Squats (3-2-1-1-1-1)

I was happy to hit a new PR at 245 pounds -- though I suspect I had some left in the tank.

Metcon:

• 21 burpees
• 21 overhead kettlebell swings (32kg / 24kg)
• 21 Abmat sit-ups
• 15 burpees
• 15 overhead kettlebell swings (32kg / 24kg)
• 15 Abmat sit-ups
• 9 burpees
• 9 overhead kettlebell swings (32kg / 24kg)
• 9 Abmat sit-ups

Pretty straightforward stuff -- and a workout I didn't have to modify to accommodate my wrist injury! (Well, I did have to do the push-up portion of the burpees from my fists, but that doesn't really count, does it?)

The overhead kettlebell swings slowed me down a bit. Seventy pounds is half my bodyweight, and every time I swung that iron ball, it threatened to pull me off my feet.

On the plus side: No Abmat ass-crack rash!

7:49 RXed

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.

Monday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Push Presses (5-3-3-1-1)

I was still sore from Saturday's lifting class at Catalyst, but oddly enough, I found myself looking forward to getting more practice lifting a barbell overhead. Push presses have never been my forte, and I didn't come close to my max weight today, but it felt good to get in the groove anyway.

Metcon:

• Row 500 meters
• 30 burpees
• 10 shoulder-to-overheads (165# / 95#)

Result: 6:23

This was a quick one, but not quick enough. We last did this workout a year and a half ago, and I finished in 5:52 -- half a minute faster than my time today. I have no idea where the time went; my 500-meter row time didn't vary much, my burpees were steady and unbroken, and I used the same weight as before. Perhaps I'm just getting slow in my old age.

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.

Wednesday's Workout

The workout started off just fine. I'd gotten a decent amount of sleep, and during the first half of class, I matched my previous Zercher squat PR.

And then I saw Tim write the day's metcon on the board:

• Row 2K.

I'm not exactly sure what happened next, because my brain was preoccupied with this thought:

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

Before I sat on the erg, I could already predict what lay ahead: Roughly two minutes of solid rowing, followed by two minutes of oh-crap-we're-not-yet-even-halfway-done, and then two minutes of extreme mental and physical anguish, and lastly, two minutes of just-a-few-hundred-more-meters-before-I-can-fall-off-and-die. And afterwards, I knew I'd be in for a good five minutes of rolling around on the floor, wincing in pain, and trying (and failing) to stand up.

I was right.

Result: 8:01. I've done worse. But I've also done better.

Friday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Handstand Push-Ups (5-5-5-5-5)

My new favorite way to do handstand push-ups: Kip with one leg. Kipping keeps me from fatiguing too quickly, but I've found that when I kip with both legs, I tend to lose my balance and fall away from the wall. Keeping one leg up against the wall and kipping with the other leg is the perfect compromise: I can generate some additional pop with a strong kick while still maintaining a good amount of stability. Also, I've found that placing my hands a few inches outside of shoulder-width makes it a lot easier to push off without exhausting myself.

Between sets of HSPUs, we played around with rope climbs. A number of us were able to pull ourselves up to the top of the rig using just our hands, though it was murder on our skin.

Metcon:

6 minute AMRAP of:

• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...! burpees
• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...! pull-ups

Rest one minute, and then:

6 minute AMRAP of:

• 200-meter row
• 20 dumbbell push presses (10 with each arm, 45lbs / 35lbs)

I sped through the first six-minute AMRAP as fast as I could. My goal was to go at a quick, steady clip and avoid pausing, and finished with 10 complete rounds for a total of 55 burpees and 55 pull-ups.

But then came the rowing and push-presses.

The rowing wasn't bad, but the 45-pound dumbbell was too heavy for me, and slowed me down immensely. I finished only two rounds of the push presses, for a total of 40 reps.

Result: 150 total reps as RXed.

Time And Again

After a long trip to the East Coast (in which I ate too much and slept too little), it was time I got back to the gym. I got up early (4 a.m.), pulled on a shirt and a pair of shorts, warmed up with a nice, long row on the erg in my garage, and drove though the silent streets to CrossFit Palo Alto.

For the past week and a half, I'd done next to no exercise, other than schlepping the kids and assorted pieces of luggage from place to place. I knew I was rusty, but I figured I could go easy on myself today and ease back into my routine at the gym.

Wrong.

We were scheduled for time trials. It's been nine months since I was last put through the paces of this workout, in which we go all-out in each of six different exercises -- with a few minutes of rest in-between -- in order to establish benchmark times.

On the menu:

• 50 pull-ups
• 50 push-ups
• 50 Abmat sit-ups
• 50 air squats
• 400 meter run
• 500 meter row

Here's how I did today, compared against my results in November of 2010 and November of 2011:

So let's review: 

Suckier at sit-ups. Better on pull-ups. About the same on everything else, but I managed to shave 13.5 seconds off the whole shebang from the last go-round. Yes, I was fresh and (somewhat) rested from vacation, but I'll take it.

Wednesday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Overhead Squats (5-5-3-3-3)

It's been a while since I last practiced overhead squats, but they felt good. I kept the weights relatively light, and focused on keeping my knees out, chest up, and armpits forward. I wouldn't have said this a year ago, but I'm looking forward to doing more overhead squats this cycle.\

Metcon:

For time:

• Row 500 meters
• 21 pull-ups
• 21 box jumps
• Row 400 meters
• 15 pull-ups
• 15 box jumps
• Row 300 meters
• 9 pull-ups
• 9 box jumps
• Row 200 meters
• 6 pull-ups
• 6 box jumps
• Row 100 meters
• 3 pull-ups
• 3 box jumps

On the whiteboard, this workout looked like a fast one. In real life? Not so much.

Despite my dislike of rowing, I got on and off the erg fairly quickly. And I cranked out the first couple of sets of pull-ups unbroken. But a few minutes into the workout, my grip started to weaken, and I had to hop off the bar a few times. On the plus side: My Achilles is getting better. It's not yet 100 percent, but I got through the box jumps without any painful twinges. Win!

Result: 13:29 as RXed.

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.

Monday's Workout

A cardio-heavy workout today:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

• 400-meter run
• 50 double-unders

This doesn't look like much, but believe me: It was plenty -- especially for cardio cowards like me.

Knowing I'm still hobbled by my left Achilles, Tim instructed me to substitute 500-meter rows in place of the running, and to do 150 single-unders instead of the double-unders. It's frustrating to have to do single-unders instead of double-unders, and I'm no fan of rowing, but ultimately, I'm glad I scaled today's workout. Running would've wrecked me. My goal was to keep a steady, sub-two-minute split pace while rowing, and to go unbroken during the rope-jumping. I tripped up a couple of time while jumping, though, and my final stint on the erg was painfully slow, but I got through this one without having to curl up on the floor afterwards.

I did sweat a lot, though.

Result: 5 rounds plus 400 meters on the erg.

Wednesday's Workout

Why did I hold off on posting about yesterday's workout?

(a) I was busy

(b) It kind of slipped my mind

(c) I was embarrassed by a subpar performance at the gym

(d) All of the above

(p) :ɹǝʍsuɐ

Yes, it's been crazy busy around these parts lately. There's been a flurry of activity at our house this week, with all of our furniture and belongings moved into storage and the floors sanded and finished. Work has been insane, with multiple projects and lawsuits exploding. Big-O's going into surgery in a few days. I'm assisting Michelle with the Nom Nom Paleo side of things. And we're still stuck in a hotel.

It was a relief to escape to CrossFit Palo Alto at the break of dawn yesterday for some me-time.

Strength Skill:

• Front Squats (3-3-1-1-1)

I went for a PR...and failed. What's funny is that my first four sets of front squats felt almost too easy. My penultimate set was at 195 -- 10 pounds below my PR of 205 -- and it didn't feel like much of a struggle. So for my final rep, I thought I'd shoot for 210. 

And I had to dump the barbell.

For a split second, I contemplated giving it another shot, but by then, Tim had written the day's metcon on the board.

Metcon:

"Jackie" - for time:

• Row 1,000 meters
• 50 thrusters (45lbs / 35lbs)
• 30 pull-ups

I was first off the erg, but I had two knots in my quads, and spent too long rubbing my thighs and staring at the barbell before I got started with the thrusters. Then, instead of just powering through the lifts, I kept setting the bar down to catch my breath. Although the pull-ups went (relatively) smoothly, I'd already wasted a ton of time standing around, doing nothing.

Result: 9:51 as RXed. Utterly shameful, considering that I did Jackie 45 seconds faster last time. Ugh.

Ow Ow Ow

Ow ow ow ow ow:

5 rounds for time:

• Run 400 meters
• Row 500 meters 

Ow.

Result: 22:57

Ow ow ow.

It felt just like the last time I did this workout. In other words:

Ow ow ow ow ow.

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...

Cardi-Oh-No

After five rousing sets of jerks this morning, I was feeling pretty good for someone who hasn't slept more than half a wink per night in a week. (I hate hotel beds. Also: I thought developing an app was tough, but that was a piece of cake compared to actually managing a product launch. Remind me to never, ever do this again. Ever.)

But then came the metcon:

3 rounds:

• In 4 minutes, row 400 meters and then max double-unders. 
• Rest 1 minute. 

Total score = the number of double-unders completed after three rounds.

That's right: ROWING. And DOUBLE-UNDERS. For a split second, I contemplated jumping into my car and speeding off.

On the plus side: During the first round, I managed a stretch of 51 consecutive double-unders. I'd like to think I could've kept going, but when I got over 50, I was so excited that I got myself tangled up in my rope. I'm nothing if not smooth.

When this one was over, I spent a good few minutes flat on my back. I think I hate cardio more than I hate hotel beds.

Result: 242 double-unders as RXed. Not super-shabby, though Mark beat me by a few reps. And by "a few," I mean over a hundred.

Wednesday's Workout: Relief

I missed class again this morning.

As readers of Nom Nom Paleo know, we hit a bunch of rough patches this week, and the upshot was that I wasn't able to indulge in my usual early-morning workouts with my fellow 5 a.m. nutjobs. Monday's workout was Cindy plus double-unders (a 20 minute AMRAP of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats, and 20 double-unders), and I've been kicking myself for missing it. I really didn't want to miss another sweatfest at the gym.

So today, after finishing up a series of meetings at work, I sped down the freeway from San Francisco to Palo Alto in time for the 5 p.m. class. While I was on the road, I got a call from Michelle and the kids, who gleefully filled me in on some big news:

The Nom Nom Paleo iPad app got approved this afternoon by Apple! (Look for it in the App Store this Friday.)



I'm not used to working out in the early evening, but I was still on a high when I arrived at CrossFit Palo Alto, and knew I was going to enjoyed thrashing around in the gym.

Strength Skill:

• Weighted Pull-Ups (5-3-3-1-1, with sets of 10 varying types of push-ups between sets)

On my last rep, with a kettlebell chained to my waist, I struggled to clear my chin over the bar -- but I was determined not to crane my neck. Trish, who teaches the 5 p.m. class (and does a fantastic job of putting us through the paces), had told us to keep our heads level and eyes ahead. "It doesn't count if you're facing the ceiling." Under this rule, I'm pretty sure most of the weighted pull-ups I've done in the past don't count.

Metcon:

"Christine" -- 3 rounds of:

• 500-meter row
• 12 bodyweight deadlifts
• 21 plyo box jumps (20")

This was a fun one -- the deadlifts felt fast and smooth, and the rowing didn't get awful until the final round. It's amazing how a few days away from the gym made me antsy enough to get a kick out of a metabolic beat-down. And although I missed exercising alongside my 5 a.m. buddies, once the clock started, it didn't matter who was in the room. My only goal was to kill this workout.

But although I didn't suck, I didn't exactly murder Christine, either.

Result: 11:58 as RXed -- a few seconds slower than the last time I did Christine. No PR today, but I still have a smile on my face and a spring in my step. I don't know whether it's because I finally got my butt back into the gym or because the app we've long slaved over is finally ready for release, but I suspect it's a little of both.

Wednesday's Workout

The badger crawls from Monday did a number on my shoulders. I was surprised at how a quick little workout completely wrecked me, and hoped that today's workout wouldn't require much use of my arms. A Tabata squat workout, perhaps? Or box jumps and sit-ups?

No such luck.

3 rounds of:

• 400 meter run
• 21 jerks (95# / 65#)
• 500 meter row
• 12 handstand push-ups

As you know, rowing and running aren't my favorite activities in the world, but at least I got through 'em without stopping. The jerks and HSPUs? Not so much -- especially with fried shoulders.

Result: 23:32 as RXed.

I wonder if the Turkish get-ups on Friday are going to exacerbate or alleviate my shoulder misery.

Wednesday's Workout: CrossFit Austin

Sorry I've been M.I.A. -- we're down in Austin for the inaugural PaleoFX conference (a.k.a., the Gathering of the Paleos), and our schedules have been jam-packed. 

M and I are staying in a house filled with Paleo people, including Bill and Hayley (Primal Palate), Diane (Balanced Bites), Stacy (Paleo Parents), Liz and Spence (CaveGirlEats), Diana (Radiance Nutrition), Bobby (UltraGrassFed), and Laura (Ancestralize Me). And of course, you can't have large gatherings of Paleo folk without a visit to a CrossFit box.

Clad in Nom Nom Paleo socks, about most of our house's residents -- plus George of Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations -- visited CrossFit Austin today. The box is just five minutes from our house, so even though we got a late start to the day, we managed to hustle over there for the noon class.

I've been under the weather for a couple of days, so I wasn't feeling super-awesome as we pulled up to the gym. But I was hoping a good workout would knock the cold right out of me.

After a directed warm-up (very similar to what we do at CrossFit Palo Alto, down to the lunges and punter-kicks), we got down to business.

Skills Practice:

• Kipping Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups (3 sets of 10, with 45 seconds of rest in-between)
• Ring Push-ups (3 sets of 10, with 45 seconds of rest in-between)
• Lateral Step-ups (3 sets of 5 per leg, with 45 seconds of rest in-between)

These were fun. I enjoy the rhythmic motion of kipping pull-ups, and chest-to-bar pull-ups were a nice change of pace. The lateral step-ups and push-ups were a pleasant way to knock some rust off, too.

But then came the metcon workout.

Metcon:

2-3 Person Team Workout - 20 Minute AMRAP of:

• 500-meter row
• 200-meter farmer's walk (55lb / 35lb in each hand)
• Sumo Complex: 10 sumo deadlifts and 10 sumo back squats (135lb / 95lb)

In this workout, each person starts at a different station, and you can move onto the next station only after your teammate has finished that movement. I was on a team with George and Spence -- two incredibly strong guys -- so my only goal today was to avoid slowing them down...too much.

I started with the sumo complex, and had Spence on standby in case I couldn't hoist the 135-pound barbell over my head and onto my back. But I managed to get through all the squats, deadlifts, and the rowing without too much trouble.

The farmer's carry, on the other hand, was rough. We carried 55 pounds in each hand, and it felt like our wrists were going to explode. Here's Diane, expressing how all of us felt:

I managed to get two-thirds of the way through my third round. Spence and George got through three rounds each, so we ended with a score of 8 -- almost 9! -- full rounds as RXed.

We were pretty wiped by the end of the hour, but still had enough energy to pose for photos.

And one of us (*cough*Diane*cough*) had enough left in the tank to climb a rope using just her arms.

[Note: The crappy photos above are mine; the good ones are by Bobby Gill]