Wednesday's Workout: Rowing Makes Me Sick

ROWING. Why'd it have to be rowing?

Metcon:

3 rounds for time:

• One minute to complete 20 air squats
• One minute to row max distance (in meters)
• One minute to complete 10 pull-ups
• One minute to row max distance (in meters)
• One minute to complete 10 burpees
• One minute to row max distance (in meters)

Scoring is calculated by totaling the number of meters rowed.

I make no secret of the fact that rowing is the bane of my CrossFitting existence. "Hate" is not too strong a word to use when describing how I feel about having to climb onto the erg. But that's also why I force myself to practice. We keep an erg in our garage, and I dutifully mount that torture device every few days in the hopes that one day, I'll suck less at rowing.

Did my homework help me in today's WOD? Yes and no. I rowed with improved form and maintained a good stroke rate, but the sheer exertion required -- especially with squats, pull-ups and burpees thrown into the mix -- took a toll. My legs felt like flaming jelly by the middle of the second round. And the final round of 10 burpees took me the entire minute to complete. Every time I stumbled back to the rower, my pace got slower. Eighteen minutes after the start of the workout, I limped to the finish.

Result: 2,239 total meters as RXed (meaning I did the pull-ups unassisted). My pace was just under 250 meters per minute.

I'm satisfied with my score -- despite the fact that it's not my best performance on the erg. Last July, I rowed 2K in 7:45, keeping a pace of a little over 260 meters per minute -- before collapsing on my couch at home and immediately coming down with a fever.

Well, it's nice to know that some things stay the same, 'cause once again, I feel a cold coming on. For some reason, rowing 2K+ appears to be a surefire way to thrash my immune system and lower my defenses against the germs that my kids generously bring home from school.

Good times.

Wednesday's Workout

I absolutely HATE missing the 5 a.m. class at CrossFit Palo Alto. But with M working a graveyard shift at the hospital and no grandparents available to conscript into babysitting duty, it became clear to me last night that I wouldn't be able to leave the house this morning. I was not a happy camper.

After sitting on the couch and sulking for a while, I sent Tim a message, asking him what he had planned for today's classes. With any luck, it'd be something I could do with the equipment I've been slowly stockpiling at home over the past few months. His response came almost immediately:

"Front Squats 5-5-3-3-3 then Ring Dips 1-10 Box Jumps 10-1."

Perfect! We have a squat rack, bumpers and bars at home. And I'd been hoping to do some front squat practice -- it's been forever since I last worked on 'em. Plus, we have a set of rings anchored to the rafters in our garage, and a 24-inch plyo box, too. Excited, I decided to set up everything before I went to bed.

Six hours later, I woke up with a cold. Sore throat, cold sweat, achy muscles, the whole nine yards. This wasn't a surprise; after all, my kids have both been sick over the past week or so, and they've been known to spray saliva all over me and my food.

But missing class was bad enough. There was no way I was going to let a little cold cock-block me from my workout. Besides, I had a new pair of shoes to break in.

Strength Skill:

• Front Squats (2 sets of 5, 3 sets of 3)

After warming up, I got started with the front squats. I'm a little rusty, but overall, they felt good. I made sure to keep my weight on my heels, and got my ass way down into the hole before getting up.

Metcon:

For time:

• 1 Ring Dip, 10 Box Jumps (24")
• 2 Ring Dips, 9 Box Jumps (24")
• 3 Ring Dips, 8 Box Jumps (24")
• 4 Ring Dips, 7 Box Jumps (24")
• 5 Ring Dips, 6 Box Jumps (24")
• 6 Ring Dips, 5 Box Jumps (24")
• 7 Ring Dips, 4 Box Jumps (24")
• 8 Ring Dips, 3 Box Jumps (24")
• 9 Ring Dips, 2 Box Jumps (24")
• 10 Ring Dips, 1 Box Jump (24")

This looks easier on paper than it felt. The box jumps weren't too tough, and even the first five or six rounds of ring dips went fine. But the final few founds of ring dips? HORRIBLE. I couldn't manage to eke out more than one or two reps at a time. My last few ring dips were embarrassingly ugly, too.

See?

[Link]

Result: 7:28 as RXed.

I was actually feeling pretty decent about my time (and even made a braggy little video!), but I later learned from Tim that the Terminator finished in 6:22 this morning, beating me by over a full minute. KHAAAAAN!

Sunday's Workout

Did X Stretch.

Still sick.

But come 5 a.m. tomorrow, I'll be at CrossFit.

Rest Day (Again)

I'm a little under the weather, and I woke up sore all over from yesterday's workout, so I decided to take it easy today. (I feel like every time I get on an erg and row like crazy, I get immediately hit with a cold.)

I'm probably going to do jack shit tomorrow, too. I'd have to look back at the archives of this blog, but it could very well turn out to be the first time in a year that I'll have gone two consecutive days without exercising.

Round 2 / Day 75: Insanity Max Interval Plyo

What's tougher than doing Insanity Max Interval Plyo? Doing it with a fucking head cold.

It's apparently okay to exercise when sick, but I probably should have eased back into my workout routine rather than diving right back into a crazy-intense Insanity session. After finishing the last plyo circuit of the day, I felt woozy and had to lie on the floor for a minute before getting up to stretch.

I should listen to M's advice. "You don't need to induce orthostatic hypotension to get a good workout," she said. (M not only has more common sense than me, but also often talks like a character on "ER.")

Round 2 / Day 74: Time Out

Taking a day off. Headache, sore throat, congestion -- the works.

I'll skip X Stretch later this week to make up for the missed day.