July 31 - WOD

Today's WOD, featuring shoulder presses, was a nice change of pace from the high intensity we've faced the last few times out.

Today we were tasked with 5 sets of 5 reps each of strict shoulder presses. I managed the following:

Set 1: 65# * 5
Set 2: 67.5# * 5
Set 3: 70# * 5
Set 4: 75# * 5
Set 5: 80# * 1 + 77.5 * 3

As I say quite often, my shoulders are probably the weakest muscle group in my body. I was a bit rough on them in my younger years and they like to complain long and loud about it these days.

But even with that said, I am finally starting to see some strength and range of motion improvements in my shoulders. Doing this movement super strictly made sure that my shoulders were not getting help from any other muscle group. Often, I will resort to a slight dip in the knees to help me propel the weight up. But, of course, that doesn't push my shoulders to where they need to be.

I'm really glad we had this WOD today. Sure. I'll need Advil tonight, but at least I feel like I am pushing my body to where it needs to be.

We finished up with pistols (5 each, left and right) and 35 knees to elbows.

A good solid WOD. I'm happy.

July 29 - Isabel

Today's spin of the hopper landed on "Isabel." This is the first time this calendar year we've tried to do this WOD. Snatches are one of the more difficult exercises for me.

For those who have never seen a snatch, it looks like this when done right.

I know I don't look like that yet, but I am now able to get the bar from the floor to overhead without a pause (like the clean and jerk). I need to work more on getting under the bar for the press up. This has a lot of advantages, not the least of which is that you can use your legs to get the weight to full height and not have to rely on the smaller upper body muscles to do that part of the work.

I intend to keep working on it.

For today though, I managed my 30 snatches (with a 65# bar) in just under 5 minutes (4:46). And I'm good with that for now. I hope that, as my overhead squats get better, this exercise will improve as well.

We followed this up with a walk around our loop (X2). And despite the oppressive Texas summer evening, it was a nice way to wind down after the workout.

July 27 - Cindy

Last Monday's tabata workout really put us off our schedule, so instead of staying off schedule and following up yesterday's WOD with a run day, we opted to do another WOD today. So we spun the hopper and ended up with "Cindy."

With "Cindy," you do AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of the following:

5 - Pull Ups
10 - Push Ups
15 - Squats

When we last did this WOD (back in January) we couldn't last the prescribed 20 minutes, so we cut it to 10. Today we decided to push ourselves and our already aching bodies to do the full 20 minutes.

I'm awful proud (& terribly sore) to report that we DID last the full 20 minutes and managed to do a full 17 rounds in that time. I am, of course, still using the bands to assist my pull ups. I like that a whole lot more than doing negatives.

Going the full 20 minutes, the day after another taxing WOD, well ... let's just say I didn't have the gas left for anything else. No ab work, no pistols. But I am really pleased that we got out there and did this WOD. It was hard and there was a point, around the 15 minute mark when I thought, "I've already done more/better than last time, I can quit now." But I held on and finished the workout.

And if for no other reason, that makes me feel good today.

July 26 - Elizabeth

After Monday's WOD, I wasn't sure we would make it back out to the garage again this week and we almost didn't! We walked a nice slow pace on Tuesday and then completely took the day off on Wednesday because I was just so beyond sore. We made it out to the weekly soccer scrimmage yesterday, but we both knew we had to get in a real workout today. Even if my legs still feel like they are stuck in cement.

Wonder Boy is off at a birthday party so we wanted something fairly quick in order to allow for clean up time before having to go pick him up. So we decided to do "Elizabeth" again (we last did it on June 8)

If you don't recall, "Elizabeth" is comprised of 3 rounds of cleans and ring dips, for time as follows:

21 - Cleans (95#)
21 - Ring Dips
15 - Cleans (95#)
15 - Ring Dips
9 - Cleans (95#)
9 - Ring Dips

Today I managed a time of 10:21.8, which is a couple of seconds slower than last time. I guess that is the best I can hope for since I am still feeling the effects of Monday's killer WOD.

Last time we finished up w/ ab work as well, but there was no way I was doing that today.

So ... I guess today is just about getting back on the bandwagon. Hopefully our next WOD will feel a little better.

July 22 - Tabata This

I'm almost too worn out to type in this little write up of our most recent WOD called "Tabata This," but here it goes...

Today we did this WOD which consisted of 5 exercises, 8 rounds each. In each round, you exercise for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds. Then you get 1 minute rest between each exercise.

Tally up your score, you take the lowest number of reps you got in a round for each exercise and add them up. My efforts looked like this:

Rows (45#): 13, 12, 12, 12, 8, 9, 8, 7 [score=7]
Squats: 24, 24, 24, 23, 23, 23, 24, 24 [score=23]
Pull Ups (green band): 13, 9, 10, 9, 7, 5, 5, 5 [score=5]
Push Ups: 14, 13, 11, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 [score=10]
Sit Ups: 22, 22, 22, 21, 21, 21, 20, 20 [score=20]
Total: 65

I'm so worn out and sore. There is not a single muscle south of my chin that doesn't hurt. I actually started to tremble just by standing in the kitchen to get dinner together after this WOD. And then I couldn't even eat.

We *should* have done a reduced effort version of this WOD since we had never done it (or one like it) before today. But we didn't think of that until the damage was already done.

I seriously would like to go to bed and just stay there for the next week. *sigh*

I hope I burned some serious calories because I think chocolate is the only thing that can revive me at this point.

July 20 - Fran

Trying to build on our efforts from the last time we did Fran, today we bumped up the weight we were using on the thrusters and I went to smaller bands on my pull ups.

Officially, this is what we did today:

"Fran"

21 - Thrusters (90#)
21 - Pull Ups
15 - Thrusters (90#)
15 - Pull Ups
9 - Thrusters (90#)
9 - Pull Ups

My time was improved by around a minute (9:39.9 this time) and on the whole I was feeling pretty good about this. I thought I was sneaking up close to the prescribed women's weight of 95# on the thrusters.

Except ....

*sigh*

Except that 95# is NOT the prescribed weight for women. In fact, the prescribed weight is 65#! So once again, I have made a WOD even harder than it needs to be. *double sigh*

We're going to re-do this WOD in a few weeks. And for a change we are both going to both be using the prescribed weight.

Maybe then I won't have to sit in the corner with a dunce hat after the workout.

Oh, and we finished with 35 knees to elbows. I'm already feeling my abs ache. Along with most of the rest of my body.

July 17 - Nancy

Today's WOD is called "Nancy" and consists of 5 rounds of the following:

400 M Run
15 - Overhead Squat (45#)

The last time we did "Nancy" (back on May 6), I was psyched to report a finishing time of only 17 minutes and 51 seconds.

Today I am seriously proud to report a time of 24 minutes and 5 seconds (24:05.5). And while that may seem like a giant step backwards, it's not! Today, instead of the PVC pipe (which weighs not much more than a wet wash rag), I was able to do all 75 reps with the 45# bar! I could have done half that many reps and still been walking on air!

With that said, I'm again totally wiped out after this effort. So tired that we didn't do any pistols or knees to elbows, but both our legs and our core got plenty of use during the workout, so I'm not sweating that too much.

This is another one of those days when half of the battle was making it out to the garage. Wednesdays are my "meeting" day at work and as such it's one of the most draining days of the week. Got home and found a comfy spot on the couch and every part of my being was begging me to stay put, relax, and think about dinner. But instead, we tromped out to the garage, cleared the cars, and gave this WOD everything we had.

So I'm happy with our efforts. I'm thrilled to have graduated from the PVC pipe on the overhead squats. The run was enjoyable (for the first three rounds, anyway) due to the unseasonably cool weather (we had more rain!). Wonder Dad set a new best time for this WOD. And we didn't give in to the urge to stay put on the couch.

I'd say we did good today!

July 15 - WOD

Today's WOD called for 3 rounds for time of the following:

15 - Hanging Power Clean (75#)
15 - Burpees

This is yet another case where, in print, this WOD doesn't look like much. I mean, really, we just did 45 of the cleans and 45 burpees. But in reality that means we did FORTY FIVE cleans and FORTY FIVE burpees.

I submit that anything over 10 burpees is excessive (and arguments could be made for a threshold of 5 burpees).

This effort took me a total of 8 minutes and 11 seconds (8:11.4). And it completely sapped me of all energy. Even though today is noticeably cooler (thanks to a day of rain! whoop!), I was absolutely wiped out! I don't know how dinner is going to make it to the table because all I want to do is go lie down now.

Maybe I can find some moral victory in the fact that we did a tough workout on a Monday. That alone deserves some kudos, if you ask me.

July 13 - ORM day

Today's WOD was a pure strength workout. The goal today was to find our one rep max (ORM) on 3 different exercises: Back Squat, Shoulder Press, and Dead Lift.

I managed the following weights in each exercise:

Back Squat: 115 * 5, 165, 185, 205, 215 (ORM)

Shoulder Press: 65 * 5, 85, 90 (ORM)

Dead Lift: 185 * 5, 205, 235, 255, 265 (ORM)

I don't mind (regular) back squats. Once I learned how to do them (some 20+ years ago), they were one of my favorites. But oddly enough, we don't do a whole lot of them in these crossfit workouts. It had been a while since we did them and on the whole, I'm pretty happy with the weights I was able to correctly lift. I could probably have gone a little heavier, but I could feel my form slipping, so I figured that I had better stop and move on to the next exercise.

The shoulder presses were a pretty big disappointment, but I guess there is no real surprise there. I know that my shoulders are probably the weakest muscle group in my body. Luckily (I guess you can say that), a lot of crossfit workouts utilize the shoulders and I *am* getting stronger. I didn't realize how much I was using at least a little bit of a bounce in my knees to get the weight up though. These were done pretty strictly without the leg assist and I really struggled with them. I guess I just have to build from here.

Then there were the dead lifts. This is the one exercise that we do that I feel like my body was made to do. I am ... how do you say .... "vertically challenged." In other words, I'm short. And I have a nice, low center of gravity (it's one of the reasons I do fairly well in judo/jujitsu). So dead lifts, for me, are a guaranteed mood booster. Today's ORM was by far one of my best performances in the dead lift ever! Again, I probably could have pushed my body a bit further and lifted a slightly higher weight (I failed at 275, but I might have been able to do 270), but my form was starting to slip and I really didn't want to risk injury. There are a lot of ways you can get hurt with the dead lift. But I was still SUPER STOKED to knock out the 265# lift.

And sure, I'm going to be super sore tomorrow from all of this, but at least I have an emotional high to carry me through the pain.

We finished with 5 pistols on each side (band assisted) and 35 knees to elbows. When we can do 50 with ease it's time to start weighting these. And I guess we're going to have to try the toes to bar again soon. My hands are not looking forward to that though. They're torn up enough as it is.

July 10 - Diane

Today we did "Diane," which is:

21 - Dead Lifts (155#)
21 - Standing Shoulder Presses (65#)
15 - Dead Lifts (155#)
15 - Standing Shoulder Presses (65)
9 - Dead Lifts (155#)
9 - Standing Shoulder Presses (65#)

It took me 9:23 to finish. And I should have been finished quicker, but my shoulders just completely gave out on the last few reps.

Technically, you are supposed to do handstand push ups, but we are just not up to that yet, so we did the shoulder presses. We kept the range of motion really short - from the top of our head to full extension and back again - so that it would more closely resemble the hand stand push ups. I *really* felt the exercise this way. I even felt all of my core muscles trying to maintain the proper form. I never realized how much I was resting the bar on my chest for a regular shoulder press.

The dead lifts were a breeze. I'll up the weight next time even though this is about the right weight for women (it's 225# for men and women typically use about 70% of the weight prescribed for men). I was able to do each set unbroken. It's nice to know that there is at least ONE EXERCISE that works well for my odd body type!

We finished up with 35 knees to elbows and now I'm ready for a shower and a nap! This Texas heat is wiping me out!

July 08 - Front Squats

Today's WOD was one of those that was more focused on heavy weights and good form. We did 5 sets of 3 reps each for the front squat.

The more we do these, the more I am liking them. I no longer feel like the weight is going to slide right down my arms. With my awesome shoes, I feel like I am pushing through my heels better than ever. And I know that a good front squat is instrumental in having a good clean and jerk, so I feel like I'm making progress on that exercise as well.

Today I managed the following weights:

set 1: 95#
set 2: 115#
set 3: 125#
set 4: 135#
set 5: 145#

I set a new PR in sets 3, 4, & 5! Set 5 was the hardest by far. And not just because I had done those other sets. That was the first set where I felt like I had trouble keeping the bar up high on my chest/shoulders. So I feel like I pushed my body as hard as I could. Any heavier and I wouldn't have been able to control the weight.

I'm feeling it already. But it's one of those where I'm glad to be hurting just a little. I feel like I *did* something today.

And that's saying something as I have been very unmotivated when it comes time to start our workouts. I don't know if it's the heat or what, but I just haven't felt like working out. Days like this keep me plodding forward, even when I don't feel like it.

July 05 - Claudia

Today's WOD was called "Claudia." And despite the heat, I was pretty OK with this one. It was a TOUCH cooler. Maybe that's why I'm not completely wiped out (just mostly).

Today we did ...

5 rounds for time of:

20 - Kettlebell Swings (35#, 55#)
400M Run

This took just over 20 minutes (20:07) to finish. And while I don't want to do anything else today, I'm not worried that I will still be feeling it tomorrow. At least, not any more than usual. The run was, by far, the hardest part.

HOW much longer until fall?

Oh well ...

July 04 - WOD

Today we tried a WOD that was like a big count down. 10 reps of each exercise for round 1, 9 reps each for round 2 and so on and so forth all the way down to round 10 where you do just 1 rep of each exercise.

This is not a terrible WOD .... on paper ... or maybe even in practice, but doing it in the Texas summer is starting to seem rather masochistic. We made it though!

This is what we did today:

sets of 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 for time of the following:

Chest to Bar Pull Ups
Box Jumps
Sit Ups

It took me just under 12 minutes to finish (11:45.9). And all I really wanted to do at the end was find a fan and some water.

But one good thing of note ... I'm feeling a lot more confident in my pull ups and plan to start using the smaller bands to assist me the next time we have a workout that features pull ups. That makes me smile.

July 01 - my personal mountain

Today's WOD featured the dreaded over head squat. Oh how I have struggled with this particular exercise. But it has become my own personal mountain to climb. And while I can't say I made it to the summit, I think I must have at least made it to the first pass. (Sorry for the mountain metaphors - I'm dreaming of cooler climates.)

Anyway ... today we did the following:

21 - Dead Lifts (155#)
21 - Overhead Squats (45#)
15 - Dead Lifts (155#)
15 - Overhead Squats (45#)
9 - Dead Lifts (155#)
9 - Overhead Squats (45#)
This took me almost 20 minutes to complete (19:23.7 to be exact). That's DOUBLE the amount of time it took for Wonder Dad to finish. But I am so proud of this, I am almost ready to BUST. PLEASE NOTE that I have an actual weight next to all of my OH squats! For the FIRST TIME, I did not have to resort to using the PVC pipe for this exercise! Can I get a "woo hoo!"?

I took my time - I could only do about 3 - 4 reps unbroken. That is why such a lousy time. But I didn't have to use the PVC pipe. And that is WORTH the added time (to me, anyway).

We followed this up with 30 knees to elbows.

I am already feeling SUPER sore! I think I am going to have to have a serving of Advil for desert tonight to make sure I'm able to sleep.

And one OTHER thing to note ... we got a very rare July "cool front." It was still 96F at workout time, but the humidity was super low and there was a breeze blowing. It truly almost felt cool! (Yes, this is what life is like in Texas in the summer - anything below triple digit temps is "cool.")

I know I'm going to be feeling this for a while, but hopefully this "cool spell" will last a few days at least!

June 29: Fran

Today we had a full schedule, complete with a quick run out of town for a family gathering. So, very out of character, we decided to get in a workout before we left for the day.

The good parts: it was MUCH cooler in the morning than our late evening WODs and it felt good to know we had gotten it all out of the way before heading out of town.

The bad parts: this WOD tore my hands up royally! UG! and even though it was cooler than our last few workouts, it was very sticky and humid. *sigh* I guess you can't expect much different in June in Texas.

"Fran"

21 - Thrusters (85#)
21 - Pull Ups
15 - Thrusters (85#)
15 - Pull Ups
9 - Thrusters (85#)
9 - Pull Ups

I managed to finish in 10:32. Which is not bad. For me anyway. And I managed 85# on the thrusters, which is slightly higher than the last time I did thrusters. So I am starting to sneak up on the actual prescribed weight (95# for women).

Not a bad way to kick off the weekend (imho).

June 26 - Fight Gone Bad

Today we braved some serious heat to knock out the following WOD.

It's called "Fight Gone Bad." It's the same length (pretty close) as an MMA match - 3 five minute rounds with 1 minute of rest in between. I think you get a full 2 minutes between rounds in a pro-MMA fight, but I guess it's not worth whining about. Not now anyway (since we've already completed it).

In this WOD, you change "stations" each minute during the 5 minute long round. There are 5 exercises (stations) and you do as many reps as possible during that minute. Then your score is the total of all reps during the 15 minutes.

Round 1:
Wall Ball - 12; Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls (75#) - 13; Box Jumps - 17; Push Press (75#) - 14; Jump Rope - 42
Round 2:
Wall Ball - 11; Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls (75#) - 15; Box Jumps - 12; Push Press (75#) - 18; Jump Rope - 54
Round 3:
Wall Ball - 10; Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls (75#) - 15; Box Jumps - 11; Push Press (75#) - 14; Jump Rope - 50
Total Reps: 292

We had a few hiccups getting started. The timer (& our assistant - Wonder Boy) weren't functioning QUITE like we had hoped. But by the end of the workout, we had things going pretty smoothly. Of course, I promptly collapsed afterward. But we did it. We completed the workout.

I don't have any desire to try this particular workout again any time soon (maybe in the fall after a few cool fronts come through). But like all of these, I am proud for giving it a try. I'll take that "moral victory" for now.

June 24 - WOD

Boy was I right about getting more sore after Friday's WOD! The weight may not have been very heavy, but when you add it up, we did 84 front squats! EIGHTY FOUR!

Then we got in a run yesterday hoping it would help to loosen us up a bit. But it did NOT. UG! In fact, I just felt MORE SORE afterward.

So we ditched the WOD we had planned for today and chose some exercises that would kill the OTHER parts of our bodies. Today we did this:

21 - Pull Ups
21 - Dips
15 - Pull Ups
15 - Dips
9 - Pull Ups
9 - Dips

I used the Rogue Monster Bands on both my pull ups and my dips. And I'm, again - as much as ever, impressed with how they are helping my workouts. I'm getting stronger on the pull ups. I can feel it with every pull. I'm not depending on the band to snap me back up. And I'm starting to get to the point where I can get a rhythm going on them. Feels good!

I added the band to the dips today too. I've been doing the regular dips (not the ring dips) without the bands. So yes, it's a bit of a blow to my pride to use them. But I realized I was not going through the full range of the exercise (which, I believe is why I am also struggling with the ring dips). So I set aside my pride and used the band. And, as I had hoped, it greatly improved my technique throughout the whole exercise. I'm going to keep using it for now and hopefully I can start weaning myself off of it soon.

Even with the bands, my muscles went to complete failure by the time I got to the last 2 repetitions. That's a good fail (imho).

This WOD took me just over 7 minutes to complete (7:06). I would have gotten under the 7 minute mark if I hadn't failed on those last 2 dips, but that's just the way it goes. Now I have a hard measure to shoot for the next time we try this one.

We also did 30 knees to elbows to finish things up.

This was a good, hard workout. My chest is already feeling the soreness setting in. Now my body is balanced - I hurt almost as much on the top as through my legs!

June 21 - WOD

Today's WOD was pretty straight forward:

21 - Front Squats (75#)
21 - Sit Ups
18 - Front Squats (75#)
18 - Sit Ups
15 - Front Squats (75#)
15 - Sit Ups
12 - Front Squats (75#)
12 - Sit Ups
9 - Front Squats (75#)
9 - Sit Ups
6 - Front Squats (75#)
6 - Sit Ups
3 - Front Squats (75#)
3 - Sit Ups

I managed to finish all of this in just under 9 minutes (8:53, to be exact).

I don't mind front squats. They're not my favorite, but I don't hate them (like burpees, for example). And I picked a weight that I thought would be OK. And it was.

But like the broken record that I always seem to me, this was one TOUGH workout! I'm already feeling sore and know it will only get worse. At least I felt good about my form today. And we finished in time to get Wonder Boy to his piano lessons.

June 17 - WOD

Today's WOD seemed simple enough. 3 rounds for time of the following:

1000M Run
20 - Pull Ups
30 - Box Jumps

One of these days I'm not going to underestimate these dang WODs. At least that way I can prepare mentally for the Herculean effort needed to complete them.

This fairly straight forward looking WOD took me almost 30 minutes to complete (29:54, to be exact). Thirty minutes of effort in this sweltering, oppressive June heat! Is it October yet?

It was really the run that hit me the hardest. Being out in the full sun where the heat index was above 100F just sapped all my energy for everything else. Since I'm still using my Rogue power bands to assist with the pull ups, they were not the killer part of the WOD (like they have been in the past). And the box jumps ... well ... I felt pretty good about them, even though my legs were tired before even the first jump (thanks to that sweat soaked run that came first).

I guess there is some pride in staying that active for 30 minutes in this heat and humidity. But I swear my body radiated for HOURS after this. Even after a cold shower. It's WODs like this that make me wish we had a pool.

June 15 - Hanging Power Snatch

Today's WOD featured the "hanging power snatch." If you've never seen this move, check out this short video. The snatch in general is not one of my strongest moves. I think that is because it is built upon the overhead squat. And I struggle SO MUCH with the overhead squat. With that said, I feel like I'm getting stronger and am working toward getting this move (and the OH squat) down right. I just need to keep working on it. And I need to put my pride aside & stick to low weights until I get the form down pat.

So today called for 5 sets of 3 reps each of the hanging power squat. I managed to do the following weights:

45#, 55#, 65#, 75#, 75# + 1 set of 3 reps @ 45# just to work on my form a bit more.

At the low weights, I can get the bar all the way overhead in one move, without pausing and having to press the weight the rest of the way up. But I am not getting underneath the weight like I should be. So I have a lot of work left to do on this move.

As usual, we finished up with 30 knees to elbows and 5 pistols (L & R).

I'm really glad this WOD didn't have a strong cardio component. It's really hot and humid out and all I really want to do is get back inside and get under the ceiling fans. Oh summer, you don't make it easy to work out.

June 13 - WOD

Today was our first WOD after returning from our little vacation. We knew this one would be tough just because we've been on a bit of a break. And we were right.

Today we did:

21 - Kettle Bell Snatch (L - 25#)
21 - Kettle Bell Snatch (R - 25#)
21 - Pull Ups
15 - Kettle Bell Snatch (L - 25#)
15 - Kettle Bell Snatch (R - 25#)
15 - Pull Ups
9 - Kettle Bell Snatch (L - 25#)
9 - Kettle Bell Snatch (R - 25#)
9 - Pull Ups

This took me 8 minutes and 51 seconds to complete. And I'll be honest, in this heat, I wanted to quit at the end of this. But we pushed on through and did 30 knees to elbows and 5 pistols (L & R) to finish out the effort.

I'm glad to be back working out, but I'm also really looking forward to our first cold front of the fall (late October, maybe?). This summer is going to be brutal. *sigh*

June 8 - Elizabeth

Today's WOD was "Elizabeth" and it looks like this:

21 - Cleans (95#)
21 - Ring Dips
15 - Cleans (95#)
15 - Ring Dips
9 - Cleans (95#)
9 - Ring Dips

We last did this WOD back in early May. Now that I have my Rogue Power Bands I don't have to do negatives on my ring dips. I really feel the difference now that I have these bands to help out. When doing the negatives, I felt it most in my triceps. But now with the bands helping me to do the full range of motion, I am able to feel the exercise in my chest as well. I know that this is key to building up the strength to do this exercise unassisted. I'm impatient and wish I could already do them properly, but I am trying to be happy with even small improvements.

I *am* pleased to say that I did the prescribed weight (for women) on the cleans though! WHOOP! It's taken me a while to work up to this. I mean, I could do a FEW at this weight, but not the full set. My time was not as good as the last time we did this WOD (10 minutes and 19.9 seconds today), but since I made 2 pretty big changes (doing the full weight for the cleans and using the bands to do the full range of motion on the dips) I am OK with that. I do hope that by the time we do this again that I can start to see some improvement in my times as well as the overall effort.

We followed all of this up with 30 knees to elbows and then 5 pistols (L & R).

This is our last full WOD before leaving for a little vacation tomorrow. The resort is supposed to have a small gym, so hopefully we can get in a little bit of jogging on the treadmill at least.

June 5 - Grace

I've been frazzled all day. My mind can't seem to stay focused.

That's not the best way to start a WOD.

Today's WOD is "Grace." Grace is a single round of 30 clean and jerks, as fast as you can knock them out.

The clean & jerk is one of my favorite exercises. I know. I have issues. But despite being one of my favorites, I've struggled to get this one up to the prescribed level. When we did this WOD back in February, I was 10 lbs below the prescribed weight. So today I decided to just go for it. I knew my time would suffer, but I was determined to do at least ONE WOD as prescribed.

So I loaded up my bar to 95# (this is the women's prescribed weight - guys have to suffer with an additional 40 lbs) and had Wonder Dad start the timer.

I got ONE REP done, ONE, when I realized I my flighty brain had made a HUGE mistake. I was wearing the wrong shoes. I had put on a pair of running shoes to pick up Wonder Boy shortly before we started this evening and I never even thought about changing them while getting ready.

Wonder Dad, being the incredible workout buddy that he is, ran to the closet to get my super shoes (my Innov-8 F-Lite 185s). And there's another advantage to working out in the garage! If we had been at the gym I would have just had to bite the bullet and finish as-is.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm sure (so get used to it), but these shoes have made such a HUGE difference in my workouts. In the running shoes, I had trouble pushing the weight through my heels. In fact, I kept rocking forward onto my toes, especially during the Jerk portion of the exercise. And in the the 4 or 5 reps I did while Wonder Dad ran to get my shoes, my feet already started to ache. I had kicked off the shoes and was just in my bare feet after the 2nd rep, but even that doesn't feel quite like wearing the shoes. They offer just the right amount of support without throwing my balance off.

So ... with all of that said, I managed to do the full 30 reps at the prescribed weight of 95# in just over 7 minutes (7:06.9, to be exact). And once I got the right shoes, I felt fairly good doing it. It was hot (Texas in June, what more can I say?). And I was totally spent at the end, as usual. But at least I had enough gas left in my tank to finish out with 30 Knees to Elbows and 5 pistols on each leg (band assisted again, but felt better than the last time).

So I guess I am going to call this WOD a success. :+)

June 3 - Badger (modified)

Today we braved the Texas summer for 3 timed rounds of the following:

15 - Squat Cleans (65#, 95#)
15 - Pull Ups
800M Run

Rx calls for 30 Squat Cleans and 30 Pull Ups each round, but there was no way we were going to be able to keep up that. We DID do the prescribed weight, so it feels like we're making progress.

This WOD took me 30 minutes and 9 seconds. And the heat was a factor from the very first rep on the squat cleans. To be honest, the squat cleans were by far the easiest part of the WOD. I happen to like cleans anyway and with the weight so light, it felt pretty easy - at first. By the time I hit the last set, the heat had me dizzy. That makes it hard to concentrate on what I am doing. I lost count a couple of times, so it's possible I did a few extra reps. That's just how it goes.

We've decided to cut all hero workouts in half from here on out - including the run. We cut the number of reps on the squat cleans and the pull ups, but ran the full distance (a little longer actually since our loop is about 1100M). Next time, we'll cut the run as well. Maybe then we can finish in a better time.

June 1 - WOD

Today's workout called for 3 rounds for time of the following:

400M Run
15 sec - Right Arm Hang
5 - Turkish Get UP - Left (10#)
15 sec - Left Arm Hang
5 - Turkish Get UP - Right (10#)
30 sec - L-sit

This was so much freakin' harder than it looks. My arms gave out the first time I even tried the arm hangs, so I had to do those modified w/ my feet on a stool. Rx for the Turkish get up was 45#, but there was just no way that was happening. Wonder Dad managed to use the 25# kettle bell, but I was only able to do the 10# dumbbell.

This took me 24 minutes and 8 seconds. And I felt every one of them. Summer is in full swing and it's making everything harder (if you ask me). But we'll come out stronger for it at the end of the summer, right? Those fall/winter workouts are going to feel as easy as pie (right?).

May 29 - WOD

Today's WOD focused on (back) squats. It's actually been several months since these have been on the agenda for the day so I wasn't sure how I'd do. But all in all, I'd have to say I'm happy with the results.

SQUATS:
3 * 115
2 * 135
2 * 155
2 * 175
1 * 195
1 * 205
1 * 205
1 * 210
1 * 210

We followed these up with 25 knees to elbows and 5 Pistols (each leg). We're using the awesome Rogue Monster Bands to assist us in getting the right form for the pistols. I'm so glad to have another use for these bands. They are starting to make a pretty big impact in my workouts.

This wasn't a timed workout so we got to take as much time as needed to recover between sets. I needed it. Especially for the last 4 sets or so. It's funny how carrying weight on your shoulders/back can make it so hard to breathe.

I want to stop for a second and AGAIN say how much I am loving my lifting shoes. If you missed it before, I have been lifting in the Inov-8 F-Lite 185s for a few months now. And they have made SUCH a huge difference in my lifting. I was having a lot of foot pain - to the point of cramping - during our WODs. Even when the weight was light (which usually equates with a high volume of repetitions), my feet would just ACHE. And when you start focusing on how much you are hurting, it gets really tough to focus on the important things - like your form. And that leads to balance issues. And that actually leads to MORE pain.

That's not a fun cycle to be caught up in.

But these shoes have changed everything for me! And I really felt it during these lifts today. I could actually feel myself pushing through my heels. I felt stable. And my feet did not hurt during a single rep.

I wish Inov-8 would hire me to be a spokesperson... I *love* to tell people about the difference these shoes have made in my workouts. I don't even mind running (short distances) in them. I'm thinking of putting another pair of these (maybe their trail running shoe) on my Christmas list this year.

May 26 - WOD

Today was one of those days where Wonder Boy joined us in the garage for our WOD. So the whole family did the following:

21 - Dead Lifts (155#)
21 - Box Jumps
15 - Dead Lifts (155#)
15 - Box Jumps
9 - Dead Lifts (155#)
9 - Box Jumps

I finished in 6 minutes and 47 seconds. And wouldn't you know it, Wonder Boy finished in an astounding 6 minutes and 28 seconds! He did kettlebell dead lifts - he's not quite ready for the bar. But the boy can bust out some box jumps! He just LOVES to do his box jumps.

Well ... he did before this workout. After we finished our workout and Wonder Dad was starting his, the Boy decided to get in some more jumps. He even raised the box to a new height. *sigh* But his legs were tired (or more than normal anyway). And he tried to do the jumps in rhythm - we've been making him step down and jump fresh each time. You know what's coming, don't you? He missed a jump. And his shins got knocked to next Tuesday on the very unforgiving corner of our box.

I feel SO bad for him. Pobrecito. He sat with ice on his legs while Wonder Dad did his workout. And then he limped all the way to the couch, looking more pathetic than I've seen him in quite a while.

I know he'll be better in a day or so, but I'm betting this is a lesson that will stick with him for some time.

We (Wonder Dad & I) finished with 25 knees to elbows.

May 24 - Event 4 (modified)

The CrossFit regional competitions are now under way. There is even a local guy competing, so we've been following along on Facebook and the CrossFit Games website. I guess that is why we decided to try our hand at one of the events for our WOD today.

CrossFit Regional Event 4 (modified):

50 - Wall Ball (20#)
50 - Chest to Bar Pull Ups (green band assisted)
50 - Pistols (alternating l&r)
50 - Kettlebell Snatch (25#)

Rx called for 100 reps of each. Also, snatches were supposed to be with dumbbells, but we have kettlebells, so that is waht we used.

I was only about 3 reps into that first set of wall balls when I knew I would never make the 100 reps. *sigh* One of these days, I'm going to look at these WODs and say "that looks easy" and it's going to be TRUE. Unfortunately, that day is not today.

This effort today took me 17 minutes and 47 seconds to complete. The wall balls were pretty hard. We don't have a good wall for this, so we're not actually tossing it up against a wall. We're just tossing the ball straight up in the air to the prescribed height and catching it on the way down. Let me tell ya, it's quite a jolt when that ball comes falling back down. There are times when gravity just sucks.

One neat thing from today though .... we got in our "monster bands" from Rogue Fitness today and they are COOL! They provide some much needed assistance for my pull ups. This means that I don't have to jump and do negatives on my pull ups. I especially like this as I can work on better form while working up my strength. There are supposed to be all kinds of uses for these bands, but right now, I am just really glad to have them for my pull ups!

May 22 - Omar

There's no such thing as an "easy" WOD. They just don't exist. I have struggled with this fact, but it remains an undeniable truth. But with that said, the "hero" WODs tend to be that much MORE exhausting.

So what did we end up with for our mid-week WOD? A hero WOD. Meet "Omar":

10 - Thrusters (65#)
15 - Bar Facing Burpees
20 - Thrusters (65#)
25 - Bar Facing Burpees
30 - Thrusters (65#)
35 - Bar Facing Burpees

First off ... if you have never tried a "bar facing burpee," don't worry ... you're not missing some grand experience. With a BF burpee, when it comes to the part where you jump, you jump over the bar you were just using to do those thrusters. Burpees are bad enough, but when you add the mini hurdle, it's just that much worse. I mean, who wants to have to worry about tripping and smashing head first (know your break falls, people) on the gym floor? Aren't burpees enough torture without the dang bar?

Second ... did you notice that the number of reps keeps climbing with each set. That's just wrong in my book. It's not like anything was getting lighter/easier.

And third ... have I mentioned it's May ... in TEXAS, for goodness sake.

This one took me 13 minutes and 20 seconds. The Rx for this WOD was for 95# thrusters, so I was pretty far off that mark. But I felt each and every one of those thrusters - from the very first set. *sigh* By the end of that 13 minutes and 20 seconds, I lay gasping on the ground, both elbows hurting (not just that tired aching, but HURTING), and just feeling weak all over.

I did do one thing that worked out for this WOD ... before it started, I wet a couple of hand towels and put them in the chest freezer we have in the garage (where we work out). Those things felt like heaven when I pulled them out after the workout. I think that will have to be a recurring theme for this summer!

May 20 - Helen

After taking it easy all day yesterday, we had to find a WOD that would really push us today. We chose "Helen" which consists of:

3 rounds for time of:

400M Run
21 - Kettlebell Swings (44#)
12 - Pull Ups

This part of our work out took me 16 minutes and 23 seconds. I decided to wear my favorite crossfit shoes for this WOD even though there was a run component. I wanted to see how they would do on a short run like 400M. And I'll be honest, they did a lot better than I expected. As they are very flat and very thin, I could feel every bump in the road, but I was also forced to run with a "proper" foot strike (mid- or fore-foot, not heel).

I don't think I'd want to run much further than the 3 rounds of 400M that we did in these shoes. I'm sure for longer distances my feet would get pretty tired, but for this distance it worked out well. And that way I knew I would have the stability I needed for the kettle bell swings.

My hips are REALLY worn out after this workout. And the heat is just MISERABLE. MISEARABLE, I tell you (in case you missed it the first time).

But despite that, we still managed to add a set of 25 knees to elbows to finish off. I think we deserve some time on the couch now.

May 18 - Jackie (modified)

Today's WOD is called "Jackie" and it consists of the following:

1000M Run (Rx is 1000M Row)
50 - Thrusters (45#)
30 - Pull Ups

I know I say it ALL THE TIME, but when I type it out, it looks so simple, almost easy. I mean, this WOD isn't even multiple rounds. Should be easy, right? HA! I think you know where this is going ...

It kicked my tail! I finished in 12 minutes and 32 seconds. That means I saved about 15 seconds off of my last time to do this WOD (back on March 1). I'm actually pretty happy with that. First off, it's a good 30F hotter than on the first of March. And my pull ups are slowly getting better. I did the first 18-20 in sets of 3 and 4 reps before I had to resort to doing negatives. That counts for something, right?

Happy Anniversary Wonder Dad! You've been my favorite workout partner for more than the 21 years we've been married. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather suffer my way through these WODs with. LOVE YOU!

May 15 - Michael (modified)

Today we did 3 rounds for time of the following:

800M Run
50 - Good Mornings
50 - Sit Ups

The WOD called for 50 back extensions in place of the 'good mornings' but we didn't have the right equipment for that. I think in the future, we may try to use our box jump box because Good Mornings really take it out of you!

The heat didn't help any either.

I ended up with a time of 29 minutes and 25 seconds.

Did I mention that the heat sucked? It did!

The best thing I have to say right now is that we did it. We finished the WOD on a day when I really didn't feel like doing much. That's something to hold on to for now.

May 13 - Kelly (modified)

Today's WOD was _supposed_ to be 5 rounds for time. But someone forgot to pay the A/C bill for Texas and it got HOT. So we were only able to keep this up for 3 rounds.

I managed to do 3 rounds of the following:
400M run
30 - Box Jumps
30 - Thrusters (45#)

Strictly speaking, you're supposed to do 20# wall balls in place of the thrusters, but we didn't have a wall ball, so we substituted thrusters.

The heat really sapped every bit of my energy and it ended up taking me 23 minutes and 27 seconds to complete these 3 rounds. I think it would have taken at least an hour to do the full work out. But honestly, I was practically walking on the last run and I suspect I would have had to do step ups in place of the box jumps after that 3rd set. I was just plain spent.

Working out in the heat is going to take an adjustment or two, to say the least.

On the bright side ... Wonder Boy joined us for a while. He did the first full round with me. But all he really wanted to do was box jumps. So after we finished the first round, when I went out to run again, he stayed in the garage w/ his dad and did LOTS more box jumps. By the time Wonder Dad and I had both finished, Wonder Boy had done around 150 box jumps. He even experimented with various heights - he managed to nail an AWESOME 30" jump.

The boy is my hero!

May 12 - Clean & Jerk

Not everyone would believe this, but this clean & jerk ladder wasn't a bad way to top off my Mother's Day.

Set 1: 1 * 85#
Set 2: 1 * 95#
Set 3: 1 * 105# (pr)
Set 4: 1 * 95#
Set 5: 1 * 100#
Set 6: 1 * 105#
Set 7: 1 * 110#

20 - Knees to Elbows

I like to do cleans. I don't like to do clean and jerks nearly as much. Sue me.

Seriously, the press part is much harder than the clean part for me. But the Mother's Day fairies (you knew about those, right?) must have been smiling on me because I hit a new PR on set #3 and then topped it on set #7! How much does THAT rock?!

OK. I don't hate clean and jerks as much as I let on in the last paragraph. And I'm not just saying that because I hit those new PRs. I'm a fan of big, power movements like this. There's something about being able to get them just right that makes you (or at least me) feel good about yourself. If I ever manage to get the form of the snatch right, I'll bet I'll feel the same way. For now, I'll just have to be happy with this one WOD.

May 10 - Front Squats

Set 1: 10 * 75#
Set 2: 10 * 85#
Set 3: 10 * 95#
Set 4: 10 * 105#
Set 5: 10 * 115#

20 - Knees to Elbows

OK. I'll admit it, I'm not a huge fan of front squats. I not terrible at them like overhead squats, but they are still not my favorite. I can do them and keep my form, but after a few sets, everything starts to hurt - my wrists, my shoulders, and even my biceps. I am happy that I managed this with 115# today. But I am very glad this WOD is over.

May 8 - WOD

21 - Shoulder Presses (65#)
21 - Pull Ups
15 - Shoulder Presses (65#)
15 - Pull Ups
9 - Shoulder Presses (65#)
9 - Pull Ups

Well ... the shoulder presses were supposed to be handstand push-ups but I am still not up to that. Standing shoulder presses with no leg drive at all are a substitute. We tried several things to get me up on the wall - like climbing backwards up, but dang it, I'm just not there yet. *sigh* Can you sense my frustration?

We followed it up with our standard (for this week, anyway) 20 Knees to Elbows.

May 6 - Nancy

5 rounds for time of:
400M Run
15 - Overhead Squat (PVC)

We last did this WOD on Feb 13. And last time, it took me just over 20 minutes to complete. Today I trimmed a couple of minutes off that time and came in at 17 minutes and 51 seconds. WHOOP!

That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that I am still struggling with the overhead squats. My form is getting a lot better, but I am still having to use the PVC pipe rather than the weighted bar. *sigh* I would like to try one of the lighter bars for this the next time we're at the gym.

We followed up (again) with 20 knees to elbows. They're really working our core. I hope it will make a big difference the time we try toes to bars.

May 5 - Elizabeth

"Elizabeth" 21 - Cleans (85#)
21 - Ring Dips
15 - Cleans (85#)
15 - Ring Dips
9 - Cleans (85#)
9 - Ring Dips

My time today was 9 minutes and 27 seconds. However, my dips were all negatives. I can manage a few good form dips with the regular dip stands, but on the rings I am just not stable enough to press back up from the bottom. My shoulder is getting stronger though. I feel it in my push ups and pull ups. Hopefully soon I will see it on the ring dips too.

We finished up with 20 Knees to Elbows. Now I'm tired and ready to sit on the couch for a very LONG time.

May 3 - Dead Lifts

Dead Lifts:

set 1: 3 * 205#
set 2: 3 * 225#
set 3: 3 * 235#
set 4: 3 * 240#
set 5: 1 * 242.5#

25 - Knees to Elbows

If you didn't know this about me, let me tell you now ... I'm actually a fan of dead lifts. WHO says that?

I think my body was built for them. I am short through the waist (much to my dismay most of the time) and I've got naturally strong legs. Once I learned proper form (especially keeping my back straight), this quickly became one of those exercises that ... well ... I can't say I love them. They're HARD. But they make me proud. I feel ... I dunno ... powerful when I do dead lifts.

My new lifting shoes are working out great too! Once I got more than 10 or so reps of dead lifts in the past (even at low weights), my feet would start to complain. But with these new shoes, I didn't feel them once! How AWESOME is that?

May 1 - WOD

100 Ft. Walking Lunge
50 - Push Ups
50 - Jump Rope Revolutions
25 - Knees to Elbows
50 - Box Jumps
25 - Overhead Squats
25 - L-Pull Ups
50 - Sit Ups

I finished in 17 minutes and 30 seconds. And I guess I'm happy enough with that. This was a tough WOD. I was able to do a few of the pull ups without jumping, in groups of 3 reps at a time. I did have to resort to jumping and doing negatives after the first 15 or so. I am getting stronger, but I must confess I wish it was coming along quicker.

April 30 - Practice Jog

Just a quick (around 20 minute) easy paced jog at Wonder Boy's soccer game tonight.

My legs are still pretty stiff from the soccer game, but it was good to get moving like this. I always enjoy these runs at practice. The trails are nice. We had a good breeze tonight. And at the end, I got to sit and watch Wonder Boy and his team practice for the tournament this weekend.

I call this a WIN for me!

April 29 - WOD

After yesterday's soccer game, today we went looking for a WOD that didn't have a strong cardio component. This is what we ended up with:

Shoulder Presses:
1 - 45#
1 - 65#
1 - 75#
1 - 80#
1 - 85#

Push Presses:
3 - 85#
3 - 90#
3 - 95#
3 - 100# (PR!)
3 - 110#

Jerk Presses:
5 - 75#
5 - 77.5#
5 - 80#
5 - 85#
5 - 90#

You know what's coming next, right?! This WOD left my shoulders just quivering! But I'm happy with my results. I hit a new PR on the push presses and kept on going! I may ride that high all night. :+)

April 28 - Last Gasp

Aye yi yi!

Tonight's soccer game nearly did me in! We got stomped (of course). But worst of all, it wasn't a lot of fun.

It's not the losing that is so irksome. We routinely do that and I tend to have a fabulous time anyway.

Most games I spend in the back field with my good buddy on defense. We play our hearts out, but we laugh at our old legs along the way. We have fun, we run, we play, and we get in a heck of a workout during the process. It's why I signed up in the first place.

But tonight wasn't fun.

Let me remind you that we play in an "over 30" division. Except it's not STRICTLY for "mature" players. Women of any age or skill can play in our division. And male novices of any age can play too.

There are always a few women who are closer to Wonder Boy's age than mine on the pitch. And while that is irksome in itself, tonight was just worse. Insult to injury. Salt rubbed in an open wound.

The other team not only had a young girl (not long off of her COLLEGE squad) but a young punk of a goalie who routinely took to dribbling the ball up the field all the way to our goal. HE SCORED EVEN. Our team was no match - either in age or skill. And having some KID show off like that over and over was just too much.

I felt very much like letting my inner 2 year old come out and stomping off the field.

But it WAS the final game of the spring season, so I gutted it out, gritted my teeth and only complained once out loud.

I *really* think the league should have a strictly over 30 division. Even young kids who have never played before can run circles around us and that is how we (of the Injured Reserves) end up on the IR list - trying to chase them down. *sigh*

I'm going to bed now. My legs are sore and my spirit is heavy. But I have every intention of being back out there come fall.

SO THERE!

April 27 - a rare gym appearance

We've been enjoying our garage WODs so much lately that we haven't been to the gym very often. We've stopped by there to walk/run when the weather has been bad, but we haven't been on the gym main floor much.

Today we decided to take advantage of it though. Wonder Dad is still nursing a calf strain and I've got a soccer game tomorrow, so we didn't want to run. So off to the gym we went!

Today's workout looked like this:

Leg Extensions:
I did 6 sets of 10 reps at the following weights:
108#, 144#, 168#, 192#, 216#, 240#

Pulley Rows:
I did 3 sets of 10 reps at the following weights:
105#, 120#, 135#

Standing Leg Curls:
I did 2 sets of 10 reps at 45# (each)

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:
I did 3 sets as follows:
30# (10 reps), 50# (7 reps), 50# (4+2 reps)

Seated Shoulder Press:
I did 2 sets of 10 reps at 25# (each)

And that, as they say, was that.

It was a good workout. We both felt pushed physically. And we hit the muscles in a different way than our WODs have been hitting them. I'm already sore - especially in my chest and shoulders. Hopefully it won't be too bad for tomorrow's soccer game. It's the last one of the season.

April 26 - WOD

I know I sound like a broken record, but ....

When we were writing down today's WOD, we both caught ourselves saying "is that it?"

I should have known. I should have known RIGHT THEN that we were in for more than we bargained for.

So ... without further whining ... today's WOD looked like this ...

Five rounds (for time) of the following:
7 - Pull Ups
7 - Dips
400M Run

The pull ups/dips combo we did like this... 1 pull up, 1 dip. This is our "work around" for not yet being able to do muscle ups. My chest is quite sore - we haven't done dips in a while and I could feel it from the very first set.

The run wasn't a lot of fun either, but that got better with each round. It was probably the hottest it's yet been this spring and I felt it. But on the whole, the run felt OK.

I'm not terribly happy with my time (24 minutes and 11 seconds) but I guess not every WOD is going to feature PRs.

We followed this up with 20 knees to elbows. I am really liking the hanging straps we got for this exercise!

I'm kinda glad Wonder Boy's piano lesson got cancelled because I'm wiped out now. Time to find the couch and stay there a while.

April 24 - WOD

To say I don't feel like working out today is an understatement. I left work with a migraine and my legs are still sore from Momnday's WOD. But after a 2 hour rest, my headache was down to a dull roar so I felt obligated to do something.

You know, it's days like today that I can really appreciate working out at home. With me feeling on the puny side, if I had to pack up and go to the gym, I would probably just call it off. But since all I had to do was walk to the garage, I was able to work myself up for the effort.

Today's WOD, thankfully, was not a cardio killing WOD. Instead it was more of a strength day. Today's feature exercise was my favorite (NOT), overhead squats.

My seven sets went like this:
1: PVC bar
2: 45# bar
3: PVC bar
4: 10# bumper
5: 10# (5# plates)
6: 10# (5# plates)
7: 45# bar

We finished off with 20 knees to elbow.

My struggle with OHS continues. But I feel like I'm making progress. I guess I just have to keep at it. Hopefully soon this exercise will start to feel more natural.

So while tonight's WOD wasn't super intense, I am pretty pleased with my efforts anyway.

April 23 - Brisk Walk

Despite our good intentions w/ the "break in" WOD yesterday, I still feel a bit more "broken in" than I would like. So rather than moan and complain my way through a neighborhood jog, we decided to keep it to a brisk walk. And we were rewarded with a brisk, cool breeze as we walked thanks to a rare late April cool front blowing in.

Hopefully our lawn will get some rain out of it later on as well. BONUS!

April 22 - Inertia

Today's WOD was all about overcoming Newton's 1st Law of motion that says "An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force."

Lately we have most certainly been at rest. It started with an injury. And then we added a mega killer WOD. And then we topped all of that off with a few 14 hour work days.

Bottom line - our bodies needed a break. And so we were forced to take it easy.

But today we made up our minds to break the cycle of inertia (where rest breeds more rest). So our break in WOD featured this:
3 Rounds for time of the following:
400 M run
50 - Squats

My first run was down right pathetic. But things got better as my body warmed up. And in the end, I finished in 15 minutes & 37 seconds.

We finished off our efforts with push ups (I did 30), sit ups (I did 50), and knees to elbows (I did 20).

All in all, it feels good to be "in motion" again. Hopefully we can keep it up for a while.

April 18 - Ginger Steps

After Tuesday's WOD, all I could manage today was a 15 minute leisurely stroll on the treadmill. I am even more tender and tired than yesterday. *sigh*

I guess I was a bit over zealous in pushing through all 10 rounds of that WOD on Tuesday. And I'm paying for it in spades right now.

To be honest, right now ... I just hope I can move enough to play soccer on Sunday.

April 17 - Ouch!

After all those dead lifts yesterday, I knew I would be hurting. But as today has passed, I have grown more and more sore by the minute. And now ... now I hurt.

We did the math and all of those dead lifts account for lifting 20,250 lbs in one evening!

After that Herculean feat, today we took things at a slower pace. We walked about a mile and a half around the neighborhood. I was hoping it would help to loosen up my legs, but no luck there.

Hopefully we'll be able to move enough for tomorrow's workout.

April 16 - WOD

I'd like to start this post w/ a hearty "HECK YEAH!"

Thank you for bearing with me for that. :+P

Today's WOD called for 10 rounds (timed) of the following:

15 - Deadlifts (135#)
15 - Push Ups

Take a minute and do the math. That equals 150 dead lifts. 150 DEAD LIFTS. 150 push ups too and we all know what that says for my shoulder.

But it was the dead lifts that frightened me. When I went to write it up on the white board. I left a spot to record our time and then I added a line to record the number of rounds ... just in case I couldn't handle the 10 rounds that were prescribed.

However, as you might guess by my earlier exclamation, I FINISHED ALL 10 ROUNDS! WHOOP!

We capped off the WOD with 15 knees to elbows. That was literally all I could manage. I'm hoping to be able to bump that up by a few reps in the near future.

And as Forest Gump like to say, "that's all I have to say about that." Except, of course, I'm not Forest Gump, so on we go.

Sorry, I don't know what has gotten into me today.

I do want to add that it took me 17 minutes and 47 seconds to complete all of this. And quite honestly, it was not the dead lifts that did me in. It turned out I should have been much more concerned about the 150 push ups. I managed to power though most of the dead lifts with hardly a pause. In fact, I was in my 9th set before I went unbroken. The push ups .... well .... even my first set had to be broken up in to 2 sets. I know. I'm lame that way.

The other thing I want to add is about my SHOES!!!!! I'm still lifting in the Innov-8 F-lite 185s. And I love them more with each passing WOD. I still haven't done any ballistic motions with it yet (i.e. box jumps or jump rope, etc) but I did 150 dead lifts today (I still can't believe I'm typing that) and not a single cramp in my feet! These shoes are worth their weight in gold - actually, they're worth at least TWICE their weight in gold (they're very light shoes).

If you are an over pronator like myself, these are THE shoes to lift in! Even lifting bare foot had my feet aching, but I am powering through the workout without the pain in these shoes. THEY ROCK!

And I guess NOW, I can be like Forest and keep mum for the rest of the night (at least on this particular subject). I suspect tomorrow you'll hear me moaning about how sore I am feeling, but as of right now, though I'm completely worn out, I'm a happy camper.

April 14 - 50/50 play

It's soccer night. And that means I'm worn out. But in that good way that means I actually got my bum up off the couch and made it to the game on-time.

That was more of a struggle for me today than usual. I'll admit it. I wanted nothing more than to camp out on the couch. A plate of cookies wouldn't be refused either (& I even had them on-hand). *sigh*

But our team has been so short handed as of late that I didn't want to add to that. So we did what we were supposed to do - and got up off the couch.

The game turned into a good news/bad news affair.

Good news: we actually had enough players show up that we had a couple of substitutes on the sidelines!

Bad news: Wonder Dad was hurt not 2 minutes into the game. It's actually the same injury he got in last week's game. When he was able to run on the treadmill yesterday we thought he'd at least be well enough to play goalie. But alas, it just wasn't meant to be. He spent the rest of the game on the sidelines with Wonder Boy coaching and cheering.

Good news: the team matched up well against us. There skill level was pretty similar and there were not a lot of young players on their roster. It's always more fun when that happens.

Bad news: we lost anyway. We had a lot of opportunities to score, but today was just no our day and we ended up on the low end of the score sheet.

Do I regret getting up off the couch? Not entirely. I mean, for me personally, no. I do not regret it a bit. I need to get up and get moving more often. But I do feel bad that Wonder Dad is hurt again.

I guess it's just that kind of 50/50 day.

April 13 - Treadmill Time

Today we got some quality time on the treadmonster, I mean treadmill.

We both took it easy. Wonder Dad is still nursing that injury from Sunday's game. And I'm a little wobbly after all those thrusters yesterday.

So we started easy. Just a walking pace. Then we ramped it up here and there and got in about 15 minutes of tread time. I completed just over 1 mile. I can live with that for today. Got the soccer game coming up tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of leg work in then.

And as an aside, I'm still loving to run in my Brooks Pure Flow shoes when on the treadmill. :+)

April 12 - WOD

Tonight's WOD is pretty straight forward:

Record the time it takes to do the following:
45 - Thrusters (75#, for me)
45 - Pull Ups

Straight forward? YES. Easy? Heck no!

I know, same song, different day, no? I'm nothing if not consistent (in this regard anyway). It was tough; very, very tough!

The thrusters are hard on your whole body, taking you from standing, through a front squat, and all the way back up to an over head press. That's a full body work out right there. Then we added the pull ups. I managed the first 35 or so in groups of 3 to 5 reps. But the last 10 I had to resort to jumping up to the bar and lowering myself under as much control as possible.

I guess I should be happy that I'm now able to put together 3 to 5 reps at a time when just a few months back I was jumping for each rep. But I'll admit I'm a bit disappointed that my body wore out like that.

In the end, my time was 10 minutes and 43 seconds.

And we finished up with 15 knees to elbows. After all of those pull ups and then the knees to elbows, my core got a heck of a workout tonight. Going to be feeling this one for sure tomorrow!

April 10 - WOD

Today's WOD we're calling the Dead Lift Ladder.

The idea was to do 7 sets of only 2 reps, untimed, of increasing weight.

My ladder looked like this:
set #1: 135#
set #2: 185#
set #3: 205#
set #4: 225#
set #5: 235#
set #6: 245# (a new PR!)
set #7: 235#

I almost didn't get the new PR on set #6. It took every ounce of energy I had to straighten myself up for that weight. And after the first rep, I wasn't sure I could do another. But I managed to squeak it out. I tried to stay there for another set, but just couldn't get the bar up again, so I dropped back.

On the whole, I am not displeased with this effort. My back is going to be complaining tomorrow though. Ham strings too.

Just the price you pay, I guess.

April 8 - WOD

When picking out a WOD for today, we were hoping to find something that wouldn't hit the legs as hard as the last work out. We've done this one before. Our times were not a lot better or a lot worse, so I guess, even though we're still feeling the last workout, we're holding our own.

Anyway ... today's WOD is one of the named workouts. It's called "Barbara" and each round looks like this:
20 - Pull Ups
30 - Push Ups
40 - Sit Ups
50 - Squats

You get a 3 minute rest between rounds and you are supposed to record your time for each round. My times looked like this:

Round 1: 4 minutes & 45 seconds
Round 2: 4 minutes & 52 seconds
Round 3: 4 minutes & 28 seconds

Technically, you are supposed to do 5 rounds. But today all we could eek out was 3 rounds.

On the whole, I guess I'm not overly disappointed with my performance. The last time I did this workout, all of my pullups were assisted/jumping. Today I managed to knock out most of the pullups without assistance. I did them in groups of 2 or 3 at a time, but I did them. I'll take that kind of progress ANY day.

April 7 - Pain on the Pitch

Tough, tough game tonight. We only had 6 players show up, which means we played down a man the entire game. NOT fun.

On the up side, we actually won this game. How that happened, I will never fully understand. I feel like they played better, but I guess some times it's better to be lucky than good.

On the down side (WAY down), we had even MORE injuries. In fact, of the 6 players that walked out onto the pitch, only ONE PERSON walked off after the game w/out a limp. Wonder Dad and I were both among the wounded warriors. I took a charge late in the game that knocked me flat and already a HUGE bruise is coming up on my knee. And somehow, in all of that, *I* drew the foul. Doesn't seem right.

Wonder Dad is much worse. He strained his calf. But since he knew we were already so short handed, he played goalie in the second half. And I'll be danged if he didn't shut out the other team!

What can I say? I married well!

Hopefully we'll both be able to make it back on the field next week. And hopefully a few more of our players will make an appearance as well!

April 6 - WOD

Today's WOD is one of those that, when you look at it written out, you think "is that all?"

But then, when you are laying on the ground afterward gasping for air, you say to yourself "when will I ever learn?"

Today we did the following:
20 - Kettle Bell Swings (44# for me)
30 - Toes to Bar
400M sprint

Those 3 simple things took 7 minutes and 26 seconds for me to complete. SERIOUSLY! And it took probably twice that long before I could get up and get moving again.

I am constantly amazed at how even a simple looking WOD can make me feel muscles I never knew I had.

If you have never tried "Toes to Bar" ... try it ... and see if I am not right! :+P

April 4 - WOD

There's no soccer game tonight (for a change), so we thought we'd take the opportunity to try the 13.5 Open WOD.

This one was a bit tricky to understand, but it goes something like this:

Each round is broken into 2 exercises:
15 - Thrusters (65#)
15 - Chest to Bar Pull Ups

The goal is to do as many reps as possible (AMRAP) in 4 minutes. But here comes the tricky part. IF you manage to complete at least 3 sets (90 reps total) in that 4 minutes, then you get an additional 4 minutes to keep going.

If by the end of 8 minutes, you have done 6 sets (180 reps), then you get another 4 minutes, etc.

The is pretty comfortable for me, but I knew the pull ups would be difficult (& they were). I managed 59 reps in the first 4 minutes. So yes, that means I did not get an additional 4 minutes to keep going.

As you can guess, I was gasping for air and falling to the floor at the end of my 4 minutes. FOUR minutes. But it was a kick butt 4 minutes.

Enough said. :+P

April 1 - WOD

Today's WOD is another one that just features a single exercise: thrusters.

I wasn't really looking forward to this as we hit the shoulders pretty hard yesterday with all of those clean and jerks, but I guess that is just how it goes. There's no such thing as an easy WOD and almost all of them hit the whole body in one way shape or form (there is no "leg day" or "arm day", etc).

The one good thing about today's WOD is that there is no time component. The idea is to work strength and form, so no rushing through it today. This WOD is broken in to 7 sets of only 2 reps. The idea is to keep increasing the weight with each set and to hit a PR near the last set or two.

My thruster WOD looked like this:
set 1: 2 @ 75#
set 2: 2 @ 80#
set 3: 2 @ 85#
set 4: 2 @ 90#
set 5: 2 @ 95#
set 6: 2 @ 100# (this was a new PR for me)
set 7: 2 @ 105# (another PR)

I was pretty pleased with the new PR. I struggled to complete the move in both of those last 2 sets, but I was able to lock out my arms and finish, so I'm pretty happy.

Again, my new lifting shoes performed great and my feet were not cramping at the end. So I'm feeling better about having splurged on them now. I hope they hold up as well when we get to box jumps and/or jump rope exercises.

March 31 - WOD

Thankfully we were not too worn out after yesterday's hike, so today we decided to tackle the 13.4 Open WOD.

The 13.4 Open WOD features only 2 exercises: clean & jerk and toes to bar. These 2 exercises are grouped into rounds with increasing numbers of repetitions, as follows:
3 - Clean & Jerk
3 - Toes to Bar
6 - Clean & Jerk
6 - Toes to Bar
9 - Clean & Jerk
9 - Toes to Bar
12 - Clean & Jerk
12 - Toes to Bar
15 - Clean & Jerk
15 - Toes to Bar

And, as you might guess, there is a time component to this one. The goal is to see just how far you can get in 7 minutes. I used a 75# weight for my clean and jerks. I know my ORM (one rep max) for the clean and jerk is a bit higher, but I wanted to be able to knock out as many reps as possible, so I decided to stick with 75# for today.

I managed to complete the first 3 rounds [the sets of 9 reps] and then did 12 clean and jerks and 7 toes to bar of round #4 before I ran out of time [not to mention running out of gas as well].

My hands are a mess now. I have blisters on both hands and on my right hand, I actually have a blood blister. I did quite a bit of swinging in order to get my toes up to that bar. :+)

Actually, today is the FIRST TIME I managed to do the toes to bar correctly. I have really struggled with this exercise. It works the HECK out of your core. And I am thrilled with the number of rounds/reps I was able to complete.

Sure, I'm going to hurt something fierce tomorrow, but at least I'm feeling pretty good right now.

And in other news ... I got a new pair of lifting shoes this week - they are super flat and so far, I am really liking them for lifting exercises. My feet are not cramping during the cleans like they have been doing lately. I have yet to try them on a more ballistic exercise (like jump rope or box jumps), but I am really pleased with the effect they are having on my straight lifting exercises. I'll write up a full review of the shoes once I have really put them through their paces.

March 30 - A Walk in the Park

Spring is in the air (just ask my allergy-riddled sinuses) and what better way to celebrate than a hike through a State Park? All I can say is (despite the allergies) this made for the perfect Saturday for me!

It's Easter weekend, which means no soccer and no judo. But rather than lament the lack of these fine activities, we decided that it gave us the perfect opportunity to get outside for a bit. And it was a stroke of GENIUS (imho)! I'm so very glad Wonder Dad suggested it!

The weather was perfect - not hot yet, not cold, and not even rainy. So we packed up the family ride and drove an hour East to a park Wonder Dad and I have frequented much in our time together. There were a lot of folks out to spend time on the lake, but we stuck to the hike/bike trails and didn't have to worry about too much traffic. For much of the hike, it felt like we had the woods to ourselves.

And there is just something magical about being out "in the woods" together. No quick pace was needed (though at one point we did double time it for a while to put some space between ourselves and another group - just to preserve the mood). The dog wood was in bloom and left us a carpet of pretty white petals on which to tread. We laughed and teased and enjoyed being together. Our phones were quiet. We were unplugged from everyone else and just totally dialed into one another.

Honestly, I can't think of a better way to spend the day!

We didn't want to walk Wonder Boy into the ground, so we kept this hike a bit on the short side - only about 2 hours. We'll have to go back some time and make the full trek around the lake. But this was a good starting point. I'm already planning more such activities in my head. :+)

March 28 - GOOOOOOOAL!

What a night on the soccer pitch it has been! Can I get a "whoop!", please?!

We had another of our crazy Thursday nights around here. After work/school, we took some time to rest and catch our breath before the fun started. By 6:30pm we were loaded up and headed to the soccer fields. Wonder Boy's practice started at 7pm. We dropped Wonder Dad off at the adult fields and then crossed the park to the kids' fields. As there are no games this weekend (Easter is coming), I expected it to be a pretty sparse practice and that was an understatement - only 5 kids managed to show (& one of those is the coach's son). Coach managed to find another team with low participation and arranged a fun scrimmage for the kids who made it out.

Wonder Boy played like he was ON FIRE! He didn't score, but he had 2 assists and was covering the whole field, it seemed! We packed it in a few minutes early (7:45) so that we could book it back across the park to the adult game. I knew our team would also be short handed. We have several who are out injured and a few others who just couldn't work the game into their schedules.

We arrived just a few minutes before the end of the first half. Wonder Dad was already on the score board, having snagged himself a goal while the boy and I were at practice! And after just a few minutes of me hitting the pitch, he placed a perfect ball at my feet. In fact, it was so perfectly place, I could barely believe it and my shot sailed just wide of the goal.

But fortunately, I would get another crack at it just a few minutes into the 2nd half. Again, it was Wonder Dad that put the ball right where I needed it. The goalie had come WAY out so a quick touch, just out of his reach and I managed to log my first (& probably only) goal of the season!

It's not often a defender like myself gets a chance to score! And though I am already SUPER SORE, I am floating on air regardless. :+)

We've got a bit more than a week off before our next game so I am just going to soak up this moment.

March 27 - WOD

Today was our "back in the saddle" day. And while we are both still very sore (especially through our legs), we both agreed it was time to get back on track with our workouts. After searching crossfit.com, we picked the following for our WOD:

AMRAP (as many reps as possible) in 12 minutes of the following exercises:
4 - Shoulder Presses
8 - Sumo Dead-lift High Pulls
12 - Front Squats

The prescribed weight was 75# for each exercise. And for a change, we actually used the PRESCRIBED weight! Confession: Yes, I did practically break my arm patting myself on the back for that one. What can I say? It felt GOOD to finally be able to complete the WOD with the prescribed weights!

I managed 6 full rounds plus one more set of 4 shoulder presses in the 12 minute time limit. That gave me a "score" of 148. I'm good with that.

Of course, I can't finish a single WOD without feeling run down and this was no exception. In fact, I pushed through my 6th round hard and fast to make sure I made it by the end of the 12 minutes. And now my shoulder (my old nemesis) is already starting to fuss at me. I guess at my age there's always some body part that is complaining. I'm going to hit the Advil and then do my best to ignore it.

Tomorrow we have a soccer game and then it gets pretty quiet for the Easter weekend. I think that should give us plenty of time to get back on schedule. (If I can move after this WOD). LOL!

March 26 - Recovery Time

We have done something the past few days we normally reserve for when we are sick - we took 2 whole days off from working out.

The truth is though, we just plain over did it. First the Warrior Dash, followed by soccer the next day. Then we did 2 of the Crossfit open workouts in less than a week. Then we topped all of that off with another soccer game. In the span of a week.

And now our bodies are paying the price.

I think tomorrow we will have to do something though. At least to start breaking back into our routine. I hope my body is up to it!

March 24 - Living Up to Our Name

Tonight we got another chance to disguise our exercise as play time, and yes, I'm talking about another soccer game.

I think that is one of the things I love most about soccer. It's a heck of a workout. Running, turning, kicking, and even falling. It becomes a full body workout the way we play. So unless we're playing against teenagers, it doesn't FEEL like a workout. It's just running and laughing and enjoying some time with friends. :+)

OK, so that's not exactly true. It most definitely feels like a workout. We're not exactly spring chickens any more, but it's still the best kind of workout - the kind where you have fun the whole time! And tonight we actually got to play against another team that falls into the same age range as we do for a change.

Despite that, they had a number of speedsters (who barely made the 30 year old cut off) and they ran us pretty ragged. To top it off, a cool front came through with some serious wind and made it down right COLD out there tonight.

But I'm not complaining. I had fun. I made a couple of nice defensive stops and I didn't get hurt. For me that's a win (even if the score sheet says our team lost the game)!

One downer though ... we are missing a few key players due to injury. And as of late, it seems like at least one of our guys goes down hard in each game. When you're as "mature" as our team, you can't take too many of those hard falls before you can't get up any more. *sigh*

Our team is called 'the Injured Reserves.' I hope we can stop living up to our name long enough to field a healthy team before the season is up.

March 23 - WOD

We made what has become a rare appearance at the gym today to get in our WOD. We decided to try our hand at the 13.3 open WOD and it called for wall balls (here's an example). We don't really have the set up for wall balls, so we thought we'd use our gym membership for a change. :+)

The 13.3 Open WOD calls for the following:
As many reps of the following as possible in 12 minutes:
150 - Wall Balls (14# ball, 9' target)
90 - Double-Unders
30 - Muscle-Ups

Now, I'll be honest, I have not yet worked up to double-unders. So for that part of the work out, we substituted regular jump rope revolutions. I also cannot do muscle ups. For that, the plan was to do pullups and/or dips. But we need not have worried as we didn't get to the muscle ups. (*sigh*)

I managed to do the 150 wall balls and then 35 turns of the jump rope in my allocated 12 minutes.

I know I say it ALL THE TIME, but that just doesn't sound like much when I see it typed out there. But it was TOUGH! And I spent the whole 12 minutes that Wonder Dad was doing his set laid out on the gym floor. The Wall Balls were a lot more difficult than I had thought they would be. It wasn't a matter of getting the 14# ball high enough - I really didn't have much trouble with that part. But catching the ball was very jarring. My shoulders were NOT happy with me. And let's face it, 150 squats, even without any added weight are always tiring.

So ... my thoughts on 13.3?

Well ... it's another killer WOD but I am really happy with myself for pushing through as far as I could.

Now to head to the soccer field to watch Wonder Boy play! Should be a beautiful day!

March 21 - Chasing Youth

My title for today's entry probably should have been "chasing youths." *sigh*

As I mentioned yesterday, we had a soccer game on the schedule for today. But before I go any further, I should tell you that we play in a "special" division of the local leagues. Our division (D-VI) is set up for "mature" players, women, and novices. Our team in particular, is exclusively in the "mature" category - though some of us qualify for the "women & novices" categories as well.

But the team we played last night .... let's just say I'm not sure many of them could even drive themselves to the soccer fields! I'm serious! One kid admitted to being only 13 years old. And watching them dribble the ball at break neck speeds, doing their Lionel Messi impersonations ... well ... let's just say they are not exactly novices either. *sigh*

So we chased a bunch of teenagers all night. We managed to hold on for a 1-1 tie, but that was due to the sheer brilliance of our goal keepers. The rest of us wore out pretty quickly, huffing and puffing while trying to keep up with those kids, so it was a miracle we didn't get totally blown out again.

Oh well ... I guess I shouldn't complain. We actually held the lead for most of the game. And we had a chance for the go-ahead goal late in the final half of play, but it just didn't quite bounce our way. And while I know those kids didn't go home feeling quite as worn out as we did, at least they didn't get to go home with a win under their belts.

March 20 - WOD

In an effort to get back on track with our workouts, etc, we decided to skip any kind of a run today and do another crossfit WOD. We have a soccer game tomorrow and Tues/Thurs are "supposed" to be cardio days.

It may seem a bit nuts after yesterday's WOD, but we picked a WOD for today that was all about the clean and jerk. You might think after all those shoulder presses and dead lifts from yesterday we would shy away from a workout like this, but we figured we'd give it a go.

So here how we broke down our sets of clean and jerks:

set 1: 3 reps
set 2: 3 reps
set 3: 2 reps
set 4: 2 reps
set 5: 1 reps
set 6: 1 reps
set 7: 1 reps
set 8: 1 reps

For my weights I used 75#, 85#, 90#, 95#, 100#, 95#, 95#, 95#.

Before today, my ORM (one rep max) was 95#, so I set a new PR by hitting 100# in my 5th set. I tried and tried to hoist up 105#, but it just wasn't happening today. I think I tried at least 3-5 times trying to get it up. Finally, I had to drop back down to 95# and just finish up the WOD.

I think that, if we hadn't done the shoulder press/dead lift workout yesterday, I could have pushed my ORM a bit further. And that makes me feel good all over (even if I am nice and sore now).

March 19 - WOD

It's been hard to get back into the swing of things since we hit it so hard over the weekend. I woke up Monday morning feeling like I had been hit by a truck. I literally couldn't pick out just one area that hurt - pretty much anything from the ribs on down was achy and begging to go back to bed. So we ended up taking an unplanned rest day on Monday.

I am glad we gave it a day. But today it was time to get back on schedule so we decided to do the next "Crossfit Open WOD" (13.2). I have been itching to try this one as the moves were some we routinely train on and I was hoping that would mean a more impressive performance this time around (yeah, right).

13.2 Open WOD looks like this:
5 - Shoulder Presses (75# for women)
10 - Dead Lifts (again, 75# for women)
15 - Box Jumps

The goal is to see how many rounds of this you can do in a 10 minute time frame. I managed 4 complete rounds and then an extra set of shoulder presses and dead lifts. My "score" for that would be 135 (4 complete rounds = 120 points plus 5 shoulder presses and 10 dead lifts).

While I was not as sore as I felt on Monday, I can tell you that I was still not at 100%, so to say. My legs felt like dead weight from even the first box jump. I am happy to say that my shoulder held strong though and the shoulder presses didn't start to get hard until my last set.

The "masters" (the nationally ranked crossfitters) were knocking out in the neighborhood of 10-12 complete rounds. I was foolishly hoping to do about 7 rounds. But taking on this WOD so soon after the Warrior Dash, etc was a bit of a hindrance.

In the end, I'm not unhappy with my results. I pushed through the WOD even though I was tired and still a bit sore. And each day, I am feeling a bit less tenderness in my old bones, so hopefully tomorrow's WOD will go more smoothly.

March 17 - Ug

UG. That's the word of the day.

I have barely moved from the couch today. And when I have moved, I have regretted it.

Case in point, the soccer game. This was a make up game for the one we had where the ref never showed up. So the only time they could work in a make up game was on the Sunday at the tail end of Spring Break. And yes, you guessed it, that means most of the players and their families had plans for this weekend that did not include soccer.

So despite my legs screaming at me every time I even twitched, we crawled off the couch and made our way to the soccer pitch. Only a handful of players from our team were able to make it. So by the time the game started, we were lucky to have 1 substitute to spell weary players.

The game was ugly. There's just no other word for it. We got stomped. Everyone seamed as worn out as we were feeling. And we looked true to our team name (the Injured Reserves).

Oh well. The next game isn't until Thursday, so we've got a few days to shake this one off and hope that the rest of the team makes it out for the next one.

March 16 - Warrior Up

I'd like to report in that I am feelin' fine and resting easy after my second run of the Warrior Dash today. But alas I have to confess that I feel more like the conquered rather than a Warrior. LOL.

But even through the scrapes, the bruises, the cramping muscles, and the mud that seems like I'll never be able to wash it all off .... I'm a happy camper.

I survived another Warrior Dash. My better half (& favorite work out partner in the whole world) & I ran our first WD back in November. And we had such a good time doing it that we immediately signed up for the next one scheduled once we were done.

The first time around, we really didn't train much for it. We stuck to our normal workout routine, but we really hadn't gotten into crossfit yet. And aside from our soccer games, we were only getting in about 1 neighborhood run per week (at best).

This time, we really have been hitting it hard to get ready. We are doing crossfit workouts about 3X/week and running about 3X/week as well. We've upped our distance to around the same distance as that of the WD (which is somewhere near a 5K distance, depending on the exact course). So honestly, I felt good going into this one. I felt like I should be able to perform a little better than our fist showing.

I was W-R-O-N-G.

But saying that, I'm still fairly happy with myself.

The course was fun. We scaled walls, hopped through a tire course, pulled ourselves through and out of soupy mud pits, and ran up and down the rather steep hills of the Rocky Hill Ranch mountain bike park. In the end, we had managed to make it through 12 obstacles spread over about 3.5 miles of the Ranch.

I must confess, those hills are much more thrilling on the back of a mountain bike than they are on foot. ;+) But the park is a really great spot for anything 'outdoorsy.' And I would go back in a heart beat to do it all again (though I would like a month or two for my poor aching body to recover first).


Maybe next year I'll see an improvement in my time. But honestly, I'm not too fussed about it.

I had fun. I trained hard. And I was able to do every single obstacle without assistance.

I'm good.

Now to go find a spot on the couch until tomorrow (soccer game!).

March 13 - WOD

Today's WOD was pretty simple, but in true crossfit style, I am already starting to hurt.

Overhead squats. Need I say more?

Five sets. Only 3 reps each set.

I've made it no secret that I have struggled with this exercise. For my first set, I stuck with using the PVC pipe. But I finally graduated to the weight bar for my last 4 sets.

It might not seem like much. But I am so pleased with myself for using the bar for this exercise finally. I have a long way to go but at least I am seeing some progress. That's good enough for me for tonight.

In other news, we also got our run in yesterday. Just a quick couple of laps around our street before judo class. Since we were short on time, we pushed the pace. It sucked (or at least I sucked wind doing it). But at least we worked it in before time to run to judo.

This Saturday we have the Warrior Dash. Despite the fact that this is a run (which we all know is not my thing), I am really looking forward to it.

Confession Time

You might have noticed that I haven't been blogging about our runs as of late.

It's not that we haven't been running. We have been keeping to our schedule. We run at least 3 days a week (on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and at least once on the weekends).

But I have to confess that these runs have been tedious, plodding events. And THAT is why they have been missing. I figure I whine enough on here as it is. I guess I need to find a way to log the activity without the commentary.

In some other news ... the scale is starting to move. Not fast like I would like, but better than that is that I am seeing the results in more practical ways. I am noticing clothes fit better. My recovery time is getting faster and faster. And in general, I am feeling better than I have in years.

All in all I would say I am feeling OK with this journey so far.

March 10 - Crossfit Open WOD

So the Crossfit Opens have begun. This is a month of weekly workouts that lead to regional competitions.

For the super fit who can actually compete, you have someone take a video of you doing the workout and you send it in by the weekly deadline. You earn points based on your performance and at the end of the month, those with the most points for each region come together for in-person competitions. And you try to advance from that point through the various levels until you reach the finals of the Crossfit Games in California.

For mere mortals, like the two of us, it means a month of killer workouts to humble you and make you question your fitness goals.

OK, that's a bit harsh, but I am hurting tonight after giving this first open WOD a try.

So are you ready to see what I'm crying about?

The 13.1 Open WOD consists of:
40 - burpees
30 - snatches
30 - burpees
30 - snatches
20 - burpees
30 - snatches
10 - burpees
As many snatches as you can in the time remaining

The goal is to see how far you can get in 17 minutes.

I managed the first four sets and then 19 reps (out of the 20 I was shooting for) of the 5th set in the 17 minutes. That means I did 89 burpees and 60 snatches.

Why, when I type that out does it seem so .... Insignificant? This WOD truly kicked my TAIL. I don't know what else to say? I am totally wiped out! And I can tell already that I am going to hurt for some time to come!

March 8 - WOD

Today's WOD is a good mix of cardio and strength work. And while I know I am going to be hurting, I enjoyed this WOD.

We did 2 rounds of the following and recorded our times:
400 M run
15 hand stand push ups
400M run
30 pistols (alternating legs)

I am still using a box for assistance on the hand stand push ups, but these were probably my best effort yet. I feel like my shoulder is finally getting stronger.

This WOD took me 18 minutes and 51 seconds to complete. I felt a bit sluggish during the run portions, but that seems pretty much par for the course these days.

I finished the WOD and my time wasn't terrible. I can live with that for today.

Nice & Easy

Got in a run during Wonder Boy's soccer practice tonight. As much as I enjoy watching him at practice, I have to say I particularly enjoyed tonight's run. I didn't make note of how long I ran, but I just felt GOOD while I was running. It was like a deep breath you take before settling down into a familiar routine. I dunno. The words are failing me here.

It's not like it's been a bad day. It's been busy, but not at the kind of pace where I feel like I'm drowning. And while I did (and continue to) have to do some after hours work, it's not really difficult work, it just has to be done during off hours. So I don't have anything much about which to complain.

But this run ... it just ... I don't know ... settled me down. I had some good tunes on my iPod. I had nice open sidewalks (only passed a few folks/dogs). The weather was a touch cool (around 55F at start time), but I like to run in that kind of weather. I was able to clear my head. And I spent much of the time thinking about my family.

Good times!

In addition to the fun run, I got my planks, squats, and burpees in for the Planks A Lot challenge. 1 min 5 seconds for each side plank. 2 minutes 5 seconds for a regular plank. 100 air squats and 6 burpees. I *hate* burpees. But I'm doing them. I hope someone, somewhere cares. :+P

March 4 - WOD

Monday workouts are never easy. And today is no exception to that little rule. But we pushed though it and all in all, I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Today we did 3 rounds of the following:
** 20 Kettlebell Swings (25 lbs)
** 100 Jump Rope revolutions
** 20 Push Ups
** 20 Goblet Squats (25 lbs)
** 10 Bent Over Rows, Right and Left (25 lbs)

I managed to finish in around 14 minutes and 19 seconds. And I was seriously huffing and puffing by the time it was done.

This morning, I did 1 minute side planks on both the right and left side and followed that up with a 2 minute regular plank. Then I did 100 air squats. And when I got home from work I added 5 burpees. All of this is for the March continuation of the Planks A Lot Challenge over at One Tough Mother Runner.

I haven't had the chance to publish this next thought here on this blog, but (for the record) I *despise* doing burpees. *sigh* Burpees are NOT my favorite. But burpees I will do for the next month. Too bad she didn't add these back in February (since it's the shortest month of the year).