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. :+)

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 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 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?

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 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. :+)

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.

A Pretty Good Day

I was replaying the day, trying to get a feel for my efforts so far.

This week has been trying at best, especially where work is concerned. And to be honest, I am tired. Tired to the point where I didn't feel much like exercise of any sort.

But despite my reticence, today has actually gone pretty well.

First off, I managed 65 seconds for my daily plank - that's a new personal record! I hope I can keep on improving. My whole body was shaking throughout the whole hold.

Secondly, Wonder Boy had a belt test at judo tonight and he did simply fantastic! He's been the top ranked student in the kids class for more than a year now. He has grown and matured so much in the nearly 6 years he's been studying judo. To see the confident leader of the class that he has become makes my heart swell with pride!

And finally, after judo, we had to make the choice on whether to head straight home or to buckle down and get to the gym and hit the treadmill. We both really wanted to go home and get some rest. But we both knew we would regret it if we did that.

So in the end, we trudged to the gym. We got on our treadmills and did our 20 minutes.

There is a moral victory just in stepping on the treadmill. But thankfully, it doesn't end with just a moral victory. My new shoes felt GREAT on the treadmill! I started slow to get a feel for them, but the longer I ran, the better they felt! Instead of walk/run intervals like I normally do on the treadmill, I was able to to build from start to finish. And when my time was done, I felt the best I have felt all day.

So despite the weary week, today turned out to be a pretty good one on the fitness front for us all.

Jan 3 - quick jog

Since yesterday was our off day, today we made it to the gym for a quick jog on the treadmill. It gave me a chance to try out my new running shoes (a Christmas gift from my guys!). I love my new shoes (Mizuno Wave Inspire) and had a chance to start breaking them in last week and they did GREAT. But that was outside on pavement. And I did NOT like running in them on the treadmill.

OK, I don't particularly like running on the treadmill in general. I find something unnatural about my gait when on the dang machine and it almost always makes my knees hurt. But after only about 5 minutes today my feet were screaming at me.

So lesson of the day? These shoes are for outside running only. I'll stick to my Asics when I am stuck on the treadmill.

Even with my feet hurting, we managed a 20 minute jog at a light pace. I hope to get in a neighborhood run at some point over the weekend, but may have to go back to the treadmill at least once as rain is predicted to start later tonight and last for the next few days.