Attacking Weaknesses

As you can see, it was a very brisk morning as I went back to the normal routine this morning meeting the boys at 6:00 AM (hey, we had a PD day and they didn't need to report til 8:00 AM). I did really enjoy that extra half hour of sleep. Coming in from the long weekend, and still recovering from my competition this weekend, I wasn't sure how my body was going to respond to the work. 



After a dynamic warm-up and a wall squat stretch, we continued to warm-up with the movements using light weight and working up to the weight we would be using for the workout. 

Strength:
EMOM (every minute on the minute)
6 x back squat at 75% of 1 rep max (195 pounds for me)

then 4 minute rest followed by

21-15-9
#125 power cleans
toes to bar

(1 partner works on cleans, other does toes to bar and then you switch)

I felt pretty good with the 195 on the bar, as I was able to fully complete the 10 minutes and flush out some of the lingering soreness from my legs. Soon I retest my Crossfit Total to see if I have made gains from the fall. The metcon portion of the the WOD was the right amount of work, and my partner was really pushing a heavy weight (70% of his body weight) and getting out of his comfort zone! I was trying to go unbroken on my portion, by that wasn't happening today. 

The weather continued to stay in the teens during the afternoon, so I skipped the ride to invest some time on the rower. I rowed a quick 1000 meters, and then practiced some pulls at the various damper settings to see how each felt. It was a pretty good investment of 30 minutes, and continued to flush the lactic acid from my system.

One last comment on the Crossfit Countdown Throwdown from this weekend. Ger was kind enough to send my the excel file with the results, and I invested some time looking through my results. I finished 8th overall, out of 26 competitors. As I would have predicted, when work capacity was tested, I performed well. The rounds for times (7th), AMRAP (6th), and gymnastics (burpees! - 4th) I placed in the top 10. When it was a max effort (watts - 14th, clean ladder - 13th, and 400 meter run - 21st) I suffered. Strength is something that I need to invest time developing. I recognize that I have a bias against those types of work, but you have to attack you weakness and turn it into a strength (yeah I know, bad pun). So, over the next four weeks, I will be working toward that capacity.  

Switching gears, i do have to give a shout out to my wife, Julie, for making some delicious paleo pumpkin muffins! They was very tasty!

Frozen Tundra

It was back on the bike after "The Throwdown", and Joe and i were able to get in two great rides this weekend!

Sunday

Early in morning, we loaded up and headed to Scioto Trail State Forest to get in some gravel road climbs. The bike of choice was the Redline D460. Definitely the correct choice, as I could feel the completion from Saturday in my legs and needed the gears.

We were very lucky, the starting temperature was 34 degrees and the ride finished at 32 degrees. It was very odd waking up at 6:30 to over 40 degrees and watching it plummet as the morning rolled on, and the sun came up and stayed out.

Monday

Today, we finally got back to the trail! It has been far too long since I have been I've had that thin ribbon of singletrack beneath my knobbies! Being on the trail is always a tremendous motivator for my riding! I felt like I could spend all day out there, but I have limited time and the temperature was dipping into the lower 20s during the ride. The "tuffed up" dirt, where the water has frozen and exppanded, really added and extra level to the ride today. My comparison was to doing banded squats!

Since this is a shorter post than normal, please enjoy the video below form today's ride.

The Throwdown

On Saturday January 19th, I competed in the Crossfit Countdown Gym Throwdown. I was asked a few weeks ago by a friend (Wendi Waugh, the awesome director SOMC Cancer Services/Community Health and Wellness) to compete with the team representing the SOMC Life Center. 

The competition was extremely well run by Ger Sasser and the Crossfit Countdown coaches and athletes who were not competing. 

My morning started out relaxing a bit more than normal, as Wendi and her brother Brian Saunders picked me up at 8 AM. By the way, much respect to Brian, hometown boy doing his thing publishing 11 Athletics magazine (definitely worth checking out and picking up!). We rolled into Ashland at 8:45 and I (of course) had to request the "necessary" Starbucks stop! We arrived at Crossfit Countdown just after 9 and quickly checked in, saw our heat assignments posted, and got ready for the athletes meeting. Countdown provided every competitor with a sweet t-shirt. It was great to see Brad Fuller from Crossfit Thunder, very cool member of the "community" and found out we would be competing in the same heat. 

A quick announcement, and all of the competitors reported to the competition area. The area was roped off, and the areas for the three WODs were clear and well organized. Ger lead all the athletes through the standards and the work required for each of the WODs. Coach Jared served as the demo-dummy and showed standards and what would be no-repped. 

After a athletes meeting , the first heat began. Each heat consisted of six athletes (usually four males and two females), and would cycle through the WODs with around 20 minutes of time between WODs once you began.

WOD 1: (15 minute timecap)

2 minutes to establish a 5 pull max wattage on the Concept 2 rower
then 
3 rounds for time
500 meter row
15 sit-ups with Abmat
20 Wall Balls

WOD 2: (10 minutes)
9 minutes to establish 1 rep max on clean
- start with 135 pounds
- complete 7 24" box jumps after each successful clean
- go up 10 pounds each attempt

from 9 - 10 minutes (1 min) complete as many deadlifts as possible with the successful cleaned weight (used as a tiebreaker)

WOD 3: 12 minutes

0 - 3 minutes (mini WOD) - run 400 meters for time

3 - 10 minutes (7 minute AMRAP)
5 front squats (115 pounds)
7 toes to bar
9 shoulder to overhead (115 pounds)

10 - 11 minutes rest

11 - 12 minutes AMRAP Burpees!


I would venture to say that these three workouts would test all the competitors 10 general physical skills!

3...2...1...Go!

I was assigned to heat five and had to wait til nearly 11 before beginning. This gave me some time to watch some truly incredible work being done by my fellow competitors. I saw guys pull over 1000 watts on the rower! I can scarcely imagine the power. As my time drew closer, i moved to the warm-up area and started getting ready to compete (takes me a bit longer than it used to take). Some foam rolling, some rowing, some dynamic stretching and I was getting to the ready point. I had fueled up on some of the paleo snacks that they were selling, which I have to say were very tasty! You can find the recipes here at the blog that Ger's mom maintain. 

My heat was called to the rowers and I had to demo each of the standards for my judge. I really like this as it gives you a chance to connect with the judge, and establish what he/she will be looking for during the WOD.  As the earlier heats finished their work, and the judges reported out, i was ready to get on with the work. For me, the time spent in anticipation of the competition seems to crawl by, and I just want to get started! The time came for my heat and we started our 5 pull max outs. I was able to pull in the high 600s on my first attempt, and went to 748 watts on my second. That was enough for me, and I rested and waited for the next phase to start. At the 2 minute mark it was go time, I went out fast to get the flywheel moving and completed the row in just under 1:40 and was second off the rower in my heat. I moved onto the sit-ups with no issues, and it was on tot he wall balls. Wall balls are not something that are programmed with great frequency into my workouts (for various reasons). As I progressed, I felt the fatigue of the row and ended up with two no reps, which put me slightly behind on getting back to the rower. The second round went pretty smooth, I began to feel some additional fatigue on the row and my average crept into the high 1:40s. Sit-ups were no problem, by cycling through them quickly left me without a chance to bring my heart rate down. i should have focused tightly on my breathing to bring myself back, but I was focusing on the other competitors and not on me. The wall balls again bite me, as i had three no reps and let the ball drop twice. On round three, the rower was really starting to jump on my back, and my average rose again, and I saw the 1:50s way too often. I was still second off the rower, and the sit-ups, but Chris, from Firebreather Fitness, was able to pass by me on the wall balls and I had a couple of no reps and a drop. I finished at 10:03. I want to get closer to 9:00, but I really need to be more consistent on the rower and cycling through wall balls. It was clear that my heat had some solid competitors!

Around 20 minutes later we began the clean ladder. the structure of the ladder was a test of more than just pure 1 rep strength as you had to complete the box jumps in between, and you could only increase 10 pounds with each attempt. Talking with Ger, he had gone to 285 pounds when he completed this WOD. During my heat, 255 pounds was reached by Brad (very impressive!) and I saw Chris just miss at that weight. For myself, i was very pleased with be able to clean 225 pounds (my personal PR!) and then was able to hit 18 reps on the 1 mintue deadlift tiebreaker! I'll take that for a strength WOD!

After downing a couple of the incredibly tasty Cocoa Delight protein bites, it was off to the final WOD! After typing that I feel like there should have been theme music and a slow walking montage to the staging area!  The beginning of the final WOD featured a 400 run (sprint for some though), and if you know me, you know I don't exactly like to run! After the walk down Greenup Avenue, we reached the painted start line. John Davis had the radio, we all heard Ger say "3...2..1.Go!" and the sprint began. I cruised in at around the 1:33 mark (about my usual time for a 400 meter run). I was fifth in my heat. I was OK with that time. As i crossed the line, I found out that Brad Fuller smoked it at 1:01! That was simply astounding! No blocks, no cleats, running on the streets, and he comes in a just over a minute. Unreal! I used the time remaining to get ready for the AMRAP. 115 pounds is a bit out of my comfort zone, not that front squats are in it either. As the AMRAP progressed, I was able to go unbroken through the front squats and T2B. When I reached the Shoulder to overhead, I broke them up into 5 reps then 4 reps and was able to drop right into the front squat on the last rep. Progressing through, I was able to get to the proper depth (hip crease below the knee) which is a struggle sometimes with my hip mobility (or lack thereof). i did have a couple of no reps here and there on my T2Bs. I struggled with the S2O portion, as I knew I would. I broke them up into sets of 3 and was able to knock them out that way. I finished 5 complete rounds with 30 seconds til the rest started. I moved my bar an caught my breath and got ready for the last minute of burpees. Truly an insidious way to end the day! But, who doesn't love burpees? Hitting the standard of jumping on the plate and clapping behind your back was not nearly as difficult as it sounds, and made the judging of the standard consistent. I was able to knock out 20 before the timer dinged. 

The Throwdown was a great event and taught me some lessons! I definitely need to up my strength programming to make strides. I don't get out of my comfort zone enough with weights. Getting out of your comfort zone is what Crossfit is all about. You find out a lot about yourself and how you'll respond when you're off balance and the thought of stopping pops into your head. 

Also, I am struck by the great community feel that Crossfit has. It was great getting to interact with the other competitors. I met lots of cool people. Everyone seems to be having a great time. Never once did I see bickering with a judge or other competitors that often mar sports. This is a testament to the collective community that Crossift creates, and to the quality of people who volunteered their time to ensure that this was a successful event. Clearly evident was the time and care that went into this event. Again, I want to compliment them and say thank you for helping me have a great experience!

I was very fortunate for Wendi to ask me to be a part of their team, and really enjoyed the time with the guys! Hopefully we will be able to do this again, and if not at least hit a WOD together soon!

Special Not Required

Not everyday has to have something special. Not a big, momentous event that is talked about for years to come. Not some inspired connection that changes your outlook.

Too often we go through life wanting everything to be perfect, and exciting, and special. When in actuality, you have to find the special in your daily life. You have to embrace the "ok". You begin to realize that each day, hour, minute, and second is precious in it's own right. Each experience is special, not matter how mundane it may seem at the time, and typical it seems at the time. Savor the moment, for it is precious and will never come again.

The Weekend Work:

Saturday AM

My morning workout crew completed a Crossfit Benchmark "Girl" workout. This Saturday's was:

"Diane"
21 - 15 - 9 Reps for time of
#225 Deadlift
Handstand Push-ups

I am able to finish in 6:19. This was my first go around with Diane. I felt good on the set of 21 and through the 15 deadlifts. I began to struggle on the remainder of the HSPU, felt good again on the 9 deadlifts, and again struggled on HSPU. I need to add more of the HSPU into my programming. During the stretching afterwards I was able to connect on three straight bar muscle-ups without coming of the bar!

After this workout I was able to get out on the bike for some much needed time to enjoy the awesome weather we were having on Saturday! I will never complain about being hot in January, as the temps soared into the 60s. 



As Sunday rolled around, it was obvious that I was not going to get out on the bike due to the persistent rain. So I went back tot the box and completed a WOD from next weekends Crossfit Countdown Throwdown.

Sunday Work:
3 rounds for time
500 meter row
15 sit-ups
20 wall balls (with #20 medicine ball)

I was able to complete it in 9:19, but I was smoked. I definitely need to work on the rowing, I have really let that slack on the last couple of months. 

After this, I gave myself 10 minutes to work up to a 1 rep max on cleans. I was able to put up #215 with was a personal best for me! Still need lots of mobility and technique work to eliminate weaknesses. 

Sometimes you have to play

Sometimes you have to throw out your plans and just play! That was the workout of the day. I had every intention of doing a full mobility session with lacrosse ball, foam roller, band stretches, some rowing to flush out the system. 

That didn't happen. When I arrived at the box, the guys were there and we started to "play" around. We do some stretching. We did some skill work (handstands, rope climbs, etc.). Then we started to play on the rig. It felt like I was back in grade school. It was a blast! We moved from the rig to seeing how high of one-step box jumps we could get.

Gratuitous video insertion!

Play. It's so simple, that we often forget to as adults. We feel we have to be structured and serious, because we have grown past childish things. However, play gives us release. Today, it was about pushing the envelop of what we thought we could do on the rig. There was no clock, no reps, no rounds. Just play...and it was good!

Finish?

Can I finish? There are times during a workout when we all face that doubt, where we must find a way to push through the difficulty, to finish. When we go to that place just outside out comfort zone, we make gains. We find out about ourselves and how will we function during adversity. 

Those thoughts ran through my head during my second set of wall walks today. Once we were into the second round, and I saw the end in sight, I found a second push to finish. 

Today's Work:
Warm-up:
400 meter run
3 rounds
Sampson stretch
10x overhead squats with PVC
10x push-ups
10x sit-ups
10x strict pull-ups

then

WOD
3 rounds for time
25 box jumps (24")
2 wall walks
25 deficit push-ups (#25 plates)
2 wall walks
25 goblet squats (1 pood kettlebell)
2 wall walks

I was able to finish in 12:11. I really felt this test my capacity to maintain a high level throughout the workout. The wall walk- push-up - wall walk sequence was simply brutal, my arms and shoulders were toasted! The total volume for my total training today is much lower, as I didn't ride tonight. Hopefully the couple of days off the bike will prepare me for the weekend!

Finding "It"`

Find "it"! Whatever the "it" that drives you. The 'it" that motivates you. Find the 'it" that will get you investing into your fitness. Find the 'it" that will enable you to be healthy today than yesterday. To be stronger. To be able to withstand the unknowable that lies ahead. To take that first step that leads to more than you thought were possible yesterday.

You may find you motivation in someone close to you. Someone who has made changes to their choices and have reaped the benefits. I have been very fortunate to have  two awesome people to help push me along. My wife and by friend Joe. My wife is always extremely supportive of my fitness habits (be it getting up at 4:30 AM, or spending an entire Sunday on a bike, or helping me eat healthier). I am truly blessed to have her. With  Joe Finch, what can I say, he pushes me to stay up with him on the bike. He is always be active and maintaining his fitness, I hope I am able to stay as healthy as him as I approach my retirement (not saying he is old...).

Extending past my immediately close support system. I have others who helped me push through just by connecting. Another is Jason Prater. Jason is a sports performance coach who trains many of our local athletes. he often uses Jackson High School facilities, and other than seeing each other around, we didn't connect until almost a year ago. He has been a #positive influence. I find much value in the time I can spend with him and pick his brain about workout technique, more importantly, approach to life.

Around the same time, I started getting more into Crossfit. I, of course, started tweeting about my WODs, and found an extra source of motivation in two of my "tweeps", Adam Truitt (@mountainteaacher) and Jeff Richardson (@jrichardson30). We stated tweeting our WODs back and forth, along with Jason (@JasonEPrater). They were fellow educators who I had found value in as part of my PLN, and logically it extended into fitness as well. I am always anticipating seeing what my fellow #CrossfitEd brothers are doing. These guys have served as the foundation for a huge increase in my fitness and my motivation. They are part of my "it".


One of my co-workers and friends who is a tremendous source of inspiration for me is our technology Coordinator, Steve Marion. We started working out together as part of a Functional Strength Training class last winter, and the strides  he has made in his fitness astound me. He continues to push himself to become stronger (just moved up to the #50 kettlebell!) and fitter (really moving on the Concept2 rower). I think that he surprises himself sometimes, and that really gets me stoked!

As things have progressed, I was approached by one of our teachers, Tyler Swackhammer, who was interested in changing things up in his own fitness routine. I was already doing workout in the morning before school, and we decided to go a bit earlier, and now have a real solid group of 5 - 8 guys hitting a workout before the day begins. More motivation! Everyday they inspire me to get better and to keep going! Morgan, David, Jake, Doug, and Jsaon make it happen! I love it! 

You may have noticed the hashtag #CrossfitEd, it was suggested to me by innovative Indiana educator Don Wettrick (@DonWettrick). While it has not been a trending topic as of yet, this continues to motivate me because of the connection made with Don. Along the theme of investing in fitness in the education community, I have made similar great connects with Shaun White (@swpax), and fellow OhioEd Aaron Cook (@MrAaronCook) and Wes Weaver (@WesLVHS)

They have been numerous others that I have connected with digitally, and face to face that I hope I can add some value to as we follow each other and interact. I would welcome any comments or questions.

The Daily Work:

Today was a partner workout. I love these.

For time with work split with a partner:
60 low 5 push-ups
200 meter #135 barbell carry
50 Bar Facing Burpees
200 meter #135 barbell carry
40 Deadlifts
200 meter #135 barbell carry
30 Clean and Jerk
200 meter #135 barbell carry
20 Floor Wipers
200 meter #135 barbell carry
10 Burpee Cleans

Jake and I finished in 17:14. It was tough, but I felt great afterward! the partner motivation really pays off! We will be working in more of these partner WODs as we approach the Tough Mudder, hopefully it was make a difference.

Tonight on the afterschool ride, Joe and I did the "Fisher Fitness" loop. Named after former JHS coach Dave Fisher, whose house we used to pass on the ride. This ride is intervals. Not my choice, but by terrain. It is one short punchy hill after another. You get just enough time for your heart rate to come down, and then you are heading right back up! I felt better tonight than I had all week on the bike, and this was by far the most intense ride of the week.

\

Early Morning

You have to find a time to invest in your fitness. For me that is before the work day starts. I'm usually in the gym at 5:30 to start the workout of the day. This is a great time for me because it allows me to get some work in the bank before the day begins. With my job, I'm never 100% sure what the time after the end of the school day will bring (in addition to all of the extracurricular activities we have). It also ensures me of not being bound by the weather by only biking after school. So this morning, along with four of my guys who like to do work, we hit the Crossfit Countdown Throwdown WOD #2 (with some strength work before:

Warm-up:
3 rounds of

• 50 single unders
• 10 squat holds
• 10 push-ups
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 arm haulers

Then strength work with front squats

(5,5 - warm-ups) 3,3,3,1,1,1 - increasing the weights to hit 225 pounds of the last rep

then 12 minutes of work

0 - 3 minutes - run 400 meters (right at 1:30 for me)

3 - 10 minutes - 7 minute AMRAP

5 x #115 front squat

7 x toes to bar

9 x #115 shoulder to overhead

5 rounds by 16 reps (5 front squats, 7 toes to bar, 4 shoulder to overhead)

10 - 11 minutes - rest

11 - 12 minutes - Burpees (I was able to get in 22 burpees)

I really liked the scheme of this workout, constantly varied! Two areas of improvement for me would be shoulder and wrist mobility (definitely an area in which I need to invest more time) and strength. This was taxing to the cardiovascular system, but I need the strength to push through unbroken on the presses.  Also, it was definitely a strength issue because I was able to recover fairly quickly, and complete 22 burpees in the nest minute. Hopefully this will build some capacity for me for the competition in just over a week.

Like we always do about this time (yeah, lyric reference...), I start talking about the ROD (ride of the day). Short and simple Fulton Ride tonight, just spinning the legs out again. I could really feel the front squats on this ride (didn't I say something about lowering the volume earlier). We had pretty awesome weather for a January that wasn't even approaching Manurary as the temps rose to the high 40s, I'll take it!

Building Capacity

Theme of the week: Building Work Capacity

I feel very lucky to get to train with some great guys. This morning at 5:30 AM we tackled a continous 3 round workout:

3 rounds for reps (:55 work/:15 rest)

Row for calories
Sit-ups
Wall Ball (#20)
Pull-ups
Box Jumps (24")
Single-unders (continuous but did not count in reps)

I was able to hit 358 reps. I went for over 21 calories eachtime on the Concept2, between 30 and 40 sit-ups, 23 or more wall balls (at least 20 unbroken), 15 - 20 pull-ups, and 15 - 18 box jumps. I was thoroughly spent. These workouts test your ability to continue to push through each minute to strive for that extra rep. Hopefully this will get me accustomed to some of the work that will be done in the Crossfit Countdown Throwdown in a couple of weeks.

Along the lines of "work capacity", my guys have decided (and I'm along for the ride as well) to accept the challenge of the Tough Mudder. 10 - 12 miles of obstacles and what not. My only trepidation is the "shock" that is part of this event. The biggest positive I see on firat glance, is that this is an event that encourages teamwork to make it through. I am thinking this will be a tremendous experience!



Tonight on the bike we went looking for some snow (yeah, I know, exact opposite of what I wanted yesterday), so that Joe could test out his Kenda Small Block 8s. Needless to say, if you are looking for it it is nowhere to be found. However, we did get to enjoy some nice "Iron" road bed. The ride itself was a nice relaxing recovery ride on the Redline Monocog 29er (36x15) to flush out the legs form yesterday,.

Inclement Climbing

Shawnee State Forest...you cannot find a more wretched hive of climbs in southeastern Ohio...or something
like that! Joe and I made the trek south to the Shawnee State Forest area just west of Portsmouth, OH. The are is simply beautiful, and offers up some tremendous view of the river valley and hills of southeastern Ohio. It also provides us with some tremendous gravel road training climbs. These are the closest we have to coming anywhere near the climbing that Joe will see next month at the Southern Cross.

I'm sure glad I mounted up the Michelin knobbies on the D460, it was slick and icy and muddy and just about every possible road condition you could envision int he short 24 miles we covered today. The weather was very difficult to dress for, as the temperature stayed in the lower 30s, but the climbing heated up my core, and the descents  brought it right back to cold! 

We were able to accumulate over 2500 feet of climbing, which is much needed to get ready for the Death March and Warrior Creek races that we be here before long. 

I felt good on the bike today, and didn't hit a Crossfit WOD today. I'm going to cut my training volume for a week and see if how that affects me. It always good to change up volume and methods to keep it fresh. 




The Strava Track:



Of course I had to compile the shots from today's ride into a video:

Video:

Looking Ahead

One of the appealing aspects of Crossfit is the "standard" workouts that you can use to compare yourself to other from around the country (and beyond). Starting this Saturday, I will be doing some of the Crossfit "Benchmark Girls" in order to gauge my fitness progression.

Today my morning workout crew decided to tackle "Elizabeth". Elizabeth is a benchmark WOD that makes use of both weightlifting (cleans) and gymnastics movements (ring dips) in the classic 21-15-9 rep scheme. The goal of this WOD is to complete 21 cleans (135 pounds) and 21 ring dips, 15 cleans and 15 ring dips, and finally 9 cleans and 9 ring dips as fast as possible. Falling into a very short time domain (usually under 10 minutes), "Elizabeth" taxes the system. She was one of the final WODs chosen for the 2012 Crossfit Games (you can watch the actual Elizabeth event here). I was able to shave nearly 45 seconds off of my previous time and finished the WOD at 4:23. Not quite approaching Rich Froning's games time of 2:33, but I was pleased.

For a short workout it left me pretty spent. This goes to show how important rest is in recovery and improvement. Friday was a total rest day for me. I took the day totally off and could fell my body had recovered. Off/rest days are always tough for me. I always want to be doing something. I'll talk myself into a "recovery" workout, and then look back and realize that it had been several weeks without a true rest day. I felt good in the WOD today and felt good on the bike a couple hour afterwards.

After teaching my Functional Strength Training class, I meet up with Joe to hit a short ride to stretch the legs out. We did the usual almost 10 mile Fulton Ride, not real exciting, but it served the purpose of getting our legs primed for tomorrow's ride a Shawnee State Forest! I can't wait to get back there. I love riding the gravel in and around the Forest.






Looking forward to the coming months I have several "events" coming up. In two weeks I'll be competing in Crossfit Countdown's Gym Throwdown Competition, which will probably be a humbling experience with the Firebreathers that will be there. It is always good to step out of the comfort zone to see where you are. It is from these experiences that you can learn, and grow, and improve!

The month of February will be a month to challenge myself in my training to be ready for the events that blow in with the winds of March. Today, I completed registration for the annual trip to the Sub-9 Death March. This is one of the best bike events that I have ever participated/competed in during my years pedaling. 50 plus miles! Senic cemeteries! Awesome event! Followed closely by the Annual Athens Bicycle Gravel Rouser. Both of these awesome bike events also coincide with the 2013 Crossfit Open, which should prove very interesting (as long as we stay away form 7 minutes of burpees!) All the training during March will hopefully prepare me for the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek mountain bike race, which I will be racing on the singlespeed!

I am excited to push toward these tests! It's gonna be a blast!

You have to have skills...

Skills! It all about skills! You have to have them. You have to train them. No matter what endeavor (athletic or otherwise) you have to train them.

With that in mind, the morning WOD crew did some skill work. The intent was to take

Dynamic Warm-up (all while moving)

• Ankle mobility·
• Knee hugs
• Quads stretches
• Walking Sampson Stretch
• The inch worm
• Walking Pistols
• The spider walk
• The toy-soldier march
• Walking toe touch
• High Knees
• Butt Kicks
• Karaoke

Skill Work:

Short practice with each of the following moves (ring dips, med ball cleans, double unders, and hand stand push ups). We also looked at the following scales for each of the movements:

• Ring dips - using the parrelletes for dips
• Med Ball cleans (no scale)
• Double Unders - divide single unders by three
• HSPU - hand stand kick up and floor push-up

WOD:

3 Rounds for total reps:

1:00 Ring Dips

:30 rest

1:00 Medicine Ball (#20) Cleans

:30 rest

1:00 Double Unders

:30 rest

1:00 Hand Stand Push-ups

:30 rest

This was a tough workout skill and strength-wise. The movements really checked your skill. The key to being able to put up high numbers was staying efficient in your movements. As you approached the ring dips it was important to not waste a rep as fatigue set-in, a no-rep used almost the same effort as a good rep (same for the HSPUs). I was able to string out 14 dips early and hope to be able to eventually get to 21 unbroken. The MB cleans was a good chance for me to focus on technique for any clean. I need to get better at getting myself under the bar. One bright spot was being able to string together 30 dubs at the start of each minute. I need to clean up my technique a bit, I'm still pretty rough with the donkey kick and shoulder use. I can still feel my shoulders from last weeks WODs and I felt weak on the HSPUs...need to program more of these and introduce structured skill sessions to work on depth and kipping for this movement. 

All in all, it was a pretty good morning and I was able to get 302 reps for the WOD. 

After school we did the Cove Ride. It was a brisk 39 to start and the temperatures dipped down to 34 by the end of the ride. These rides are always tough to dress for as they start out sunny and end as the sun sets and the temp drop (and you're sweaty at that point). I had the typical Mavic, Pearl, Windstopper and it was probably a layer too much for the ride.

Riding into the wind always adds that little extra level-up to the ride, especially as we climbed and turn onto Jisco West for the final part of the climb and were smacked in the face by the zonal flow. I needed the extra effort and the slightly longer route to wake my legs back up from being off the bike over Christmas vacation. Hopefully the weather and snow-melt cooperates so that we can can get to Shawnee State forest on Sunday.

Just a typical day

via crossfit.ca

School started back today, so it was back to the 5:30 AM workouts for me and several of our teachers. Today we completed a "Hero" WOD from the Crossfit HQ Mainsite. This was one that was published on Monday, Decemebr 31st, 2012.

Below is the Hero WOD via Crossfit:

"Loredo"
Six rounds for time of:
24 Squats
24 Push-ups
24 Walking lunge steps
Run 400 meters

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Edwardo Loredo, 34, of Houston, Texas, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was killed on June 24, 2010 in Jelewar, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his wife, First Sergeant Jennifer Loredo; his daughter, Laura Isabelle; his stepdaughter, Alexis; and his son, Eduardo Enrique.

I have completed a few Hero WODs and they afford me the opportunity to pay a small tribute in my own way to the men and women who have lost their lives in service to our country. These workouts always pose a challenge either mental or physical (usually both) to push you beyond what you normal comfort zone may be. 

WOD:

Warm-up

400 meter Run

10 squat holds (5 sec)

10 push-ups

10 sit-ups

10 strict pull-ups

Burgener Warm-up

Band work on legs

then "Loredo"

Cool Down - yoga stretch

I was able to complete the work in 19:51 (my goal starting the work was subbing 20 minutes). It still holds that I hate running! I am not very fast, and these WODs always push me out of my comfort zone (which is a good thing).

The ride portion of the day:

The month of #Manuary is upon us, so the ride after school today was frosty with the temperature sitting around 31 for the ride. i was bundled up in the typical Mavic, Pearl, and windstopper and stayed warm for the 38 minutes it took to ride. 

I really enjoy being able to get out on the bike with Joe after school. it gives me a chance to unwind from the day. A lot of the time it feels like PD, as we end up discussion various things throughout the day from both of our schools.



I was able to refuel with some paleo BBQ chicken! (I'll post the recipe later if I get the chance).

The year begins!

And so the new year begins with a trip to the McClintic TNT Area for some riding festivities with the Ohio Valley Boys. The best thing about the ride was getting to see all of the guys (Jon B., Eric P, Matt J. and Cal-Boy, along with the usual Joe and Tony). The ride was very flat, but did offer up some cool views of the bunkers.

I stayed pretty warm as the temperatures stayed in the low 30s. Apparel today included the Mavic jacket,Nike Pro base layer, Pearl Izumi Themal Jersey, wool ski socks, PI Barrier GTX shoes, and Marmaset Gore Windstopper gloves.



Of course i decided to do a video compliation of the GoPro Pics.


This was a great recovery ride to begin the year fresh. I have lots of prep and training to do before the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek and need to get Joe and I signed up for the Sub 9 Death March this week!

2013 is shaping up to be a great year!