Throwback Thursday

Mere hours from the time I am composing this post, the first workout of the 2014 CrossFit Games Season will be announced.  I thought I would post my workout videos from my first open in 2012. I this point I had been training "crossfit" for a couple of months and heard about the online competition, where you could compare yourself to the rest of the world in this test of fitness. I look back at these videos and cringe at most of my movements (not that I approach anything close to virtuosity now). I fell that I have come a long way in the past two year, and I still have a long way to go on this journey. I have been working toward tomorrow night since last March, and I hope I am ready and up to the challenge. 

Crossfit Open 2012

12-1 burpees

12-2 snatches

12-3 

12-4 Wall Ball - DU - MU

12-5

Wednesday February 26th, 2014

WEDNESDAY

A. HBBS 1-1/4     3-3-3-3

#215, #225, #255, #265

These felt better than last week. I was able to get deeper on the squat. I felt better driving out of the second bottom, well except for the first rep at #265.

B. EMOM 10 minutes

5 deadlifts #225
5 kipping HSPU
5 box jump to 30"

Finished all of the rounds within the minute. I had around 10-15 seconds left on the first few rounds, and progressed to the point of "walking rest" between movements. Deadlifts felt solid, finished with no back issues even though I was going quicker than normal. The kipping HSPU were a bit of a mess. I was able to fall into a rhythm on a few rounds, and was off on others. The box jumps went fine, just hard to cycle the 30" with much speed for me. 

Then

AD - 15 @97% - 1:45 easy spin. 8 sets

I held the 15s intervals in the high 500 watts, just under the redline. The easy spins dropped into the lower 100s. I didn't feel like I was going to loose it during the intervals. I was a sweaty mess after 16 minutes of AirDyne though.

In a little over 48 hours I'll find out whether or not my training will pay off. I'm looking forward to the test. 

Tuesday February 25th, 2014

TUESDAY

Power Clean 3-2-1 Rest 2:00

3RM at #215, 2RM at #220 then was able to get under #230 for 1, failed a couple of times at #235. These felt btter than last week. 

+

Against a 10 minute clock: 
1000m row
50 Wall Balls #30
Amrap MU in the remaining time.

I finished with 13 muscle ups. This one got spicy. I held the row to a 1:45 pace so that I would still have some legs left when I hit the wall balls. I began the wall balls around the 3:50 mark.  I had planned to break these up into 8s. Instead, I opened with 10 and finished the remaining 40 in sets of 5. These smoked me! It too me about 3 minutes to complete the wall balls, leaving me 3 minutes for the muscle ups. I was able to hit 6 doubles on the muscle ups then a single, and didn't have time for another single. Overall this felt solid today. 

Monday February 24th, 2014

A. Snatch technique work. 15 minutes. Work on speed, transition under bar, moving fast. 

Worked up to #135, #145. These felt better for most of the reps. I felt like I was able to drive lower than usual. I still need to work on not being quite so wide. I'll post video later for this. 

B. For time: 30 Chest to bar pullups

1:14 opened with 18 straight and then broke the remaining into 2s and 4s. 

then for time:

250m row

10 KBS #70

10 Burpees

10 KBS

10 Burpees

#250m row

FInished in 3:34. This left me gasping at the end. I held the pace during the first row in the sub-1:30/500 pace. The KBS went fine, I tried to find a smooth flow to the burpees. The second set of KBS started a bit rough, then smoothed out. The second burpees were not as smooth, but I kept moving. I was able to hold the last row in the high 1:30s/500 pace. I was spent from this, but my recovery time felt pretty good as I cooled down and finished up for the morning. 

Less than a week til the Open! Almost Go Time!

Saturday February 22nd, 2014

Saturday

Testing Day:  Fran- ALL OUT

Fran was not kind this morning.  I finished around 4:20.  26s slower than my last Fran. The thrusters felt better than my previous Frans, but I was a mess on the pull-ups.  I had no rhythm to them today.  I was unable to generate any momentum today.  I finished the round of 21 at the 1:25 , and it took longer than that for the round of 15.  I wasn't very pleased with this performance this morning.  I didn't seem to have it together for this one.

REST at least 1 hour then:

For time: 80 Wallballs #20, 45 double unders, 6 muscle ups.

This went better than Fran. I finished in 5:12. Split the Wall Balls up into sets of 10 trying to cycle every 20 seconds and then a 10s break.  I finished the wall balls around the 3:45 mark. These felt very solid today.  I failed a couple of times on the DUs.   Coming back to the MUs, I went 3-2-fail-1. Similar to the pull-ups, I didn't feel I was generating anything from my shoulders.  

I did feel a bit off this morning.  Not sure what was going on with things today. i'm hoping that this cough is Fran related and not something coming on for the next few days... the "Open" is less than a week away!

Thursday February 20th, 2014

THURSDAY

A.   15 minutes snatch tech work. 1 power snatch, 2 OHS, 1 hang snatch. Weight to allow for fast under the bar. Speed over load.  

working sets were 75-95-100-105-115-125

The power and OHS felt pretty solid, the hang still feels off. I did hit power snatches at #155 and #165, failed at the #170 attempt, but kissed the bar. The power snatches felt solid. I still need to work on a focus point and not pulling early with arms.

Lactic Endurance

3 Rounds

5 shoulder to overhead #135

7 burpees, AFAP 

9 TTB

I finished in 2:45. This was a tough triplet for me. I didn't seem comfortable on the movements. After the first round, I could not cycle the T2B. I didn't fall into a good rhythm pattern on the STO, weight was not an issue, more of a movement pattern problem.

rest 4:00

3 Rounds

2 Bar Muscle ups

7 KBS - #88

30 double unders

I finished in 2:52. This felt better than I thought it would. The bar muscle up were a bit rougher on rounds two and three. I had a fail early on the last set of DUs.

rest 4:00

30 Squat Cleans, #95

I finished in 3:25. I came apart on these. My form went south after the first 9. i had high hip sand really started to smoke my lower back. I was very rounded and caused myself to dump the bar twice. I'm not real happy about my performance on this portion of today's work. I really need to step back and regain form when movements like this come up. 

Wednesday February 19th, 2014

WEDNESDAY

A. HBBS 1-1/4     4-4-4-4 2:30 rest between

205-215-225-255

This was the first time I've done this movement, so I wasn't sure about the weights. The early rounds felt solid, and #255 was a tough 4. Next time, I will push the top end of this movement more. Also, I need to get lower. I was below parallel, but I need to get lower to work that full range of motion.

B. EMOM 16 minutes

odds: 3 deadlifts #325, 4 strict HSPU
evens: 3 box jump to 30, 6 alternating pistols.

This felt very solid today. The pulls felt good, and I stayed unbroken on the HSPU 7 out of the 8 rounds (went 3-1 on round 7). HSPU felt good today. The box jumps were fine, and the pistols continue to be tough.

Then

AD - 35s @97% - 2:25 Rest off or on bike. 4 sets

These were bad! I held in the 500-600 wattage range. I was solid through the 30s mark on the first two sets, and began to fall off around the 25s mark in rounds three and four.  I was spent after these!

Tuesday February 18th, 2014

TUESDAY

Power Clean build to a max in 15 minutes

I maxed out at #225 for the second week in a row. The weight felt better today, I still couldn't drop under it.

6 sets - focus on maintaining same time across all sets - different order for each set

5 muscle ups
8 WB #30
10 burpees to a 6" target
14  alternating pistols
250m row

Rest 4:00 minutes.

1	2	3	4	5	6
5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols	10 burpees to a 6" target	250m row
8 WB #30	14 alternating pistols	250m row	5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	8 WB #30
10 burpees to a 6" target	250m row	5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	5 muscle ups	10 burpees to a 6" target
14 alternating pistols	10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols	250m row	250m row	5 muscle ups
250m row	5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols	14 alternating pistols
2:46:00	3:08:00	2:54:00	2:58:00	3:18:00	3:20:00

These felt better this week. I was able to sub 3 minutes for 3 rounds. These were also the rounds that I went unbroken on the muscle ups. Round 2 and 5 I broke the MUs into 3-2 and round 6 I went for it and hit 4, failed, collected myself and hit the 5th. I've gotten more comfortable/confident cycling the MUs, I'm still breaking at the legs, but I feel higher in the rings before turning over.  The wall balls felt good, cycling them was better than previous weeks.  I started to wear out on the Burpees as the rounds progressed. I didn't have a good pace on these, no real rhythm. I continue to struggle with pistols, my ankles are pretty stiff. I get really knee forward and on my toes for these. I need to invest some skill session time on these. On the rower, I kept the splits in the 1:30 for the first 3 rounds, and crept into the 1:40s in 4 and 5. Starting the last round with the row, I was able to hold it in the high 1:30s. Overall this session felt good.  I feel that some of my skill level is increasing.  The recovery between rounds was good.  

Monday February 17th, 2014

MONDAY

I would describe today as taking a step back then a step forward.

A.  Squat Snatch clusters 4 x (1.1.1) 15 seconds between rep

These felt very off today. Power snatching these would have been easy, but I just couldn't get myself connected to drop into that squat. My hamstrings felt tight, legs felt dead. I din't have much of a bounce in my step today. Looking back at yesterday, I spent around 4 hours in the car traveling and sitting around a lot. I also had caffeine very late (After 8:00 PM) and I my nutrition was off. I had some junk and didn't have high quality sources for fuel to be used this morning. I also need to be better warming up.  I went away from what was previously working for me on my snatch warm-up (I'm not going to do that again).

B. For time: 50 Chest to bar pull-ups.

I finished this in 2:56. These felt pretty solid. I went 7-6-5-5-5-2-4-4-3-3-2. I need to stick with 5 and stay in rhythm.

then

On a 5 minute clock: AMRAP - 30 Squat clean and jerks @165, 30 burpees over bar

I finished with a total of 25 reps (not counting the squat clean that I couldn't lock out overhead, which I re-squat cleaned). This was similar to 11.3 which I tested on January 9th and hit for 20 reps (40 points as scored in the open). Today I was hoping to get to the burpees (never thought I would say that!). I was on pace through the first two minutes of the work (13 reps before the 2 minutes were up). Then I seemed to fall off. I had really high hips on this, and I was really pulling with my arms which spent me for the overhead portion. I missed a rep late (couldn't get it locked out).  This weight seems to be a bit of a breaking point for me in some movements and when it shows up in a metcon situation. 

Excuse the video as it was a bit sketchy. 

I need to become more committed to taking care of myself outside of the workouts. I have 10 days to get things tightened up for the open. 

Saturday February 15th, 2014

SATURDAY

Testing Day:  
Amrap in 17 minutes
7 Toes to bar
9 Box jumps 24"
7 KBS @ #70

I finished 14 rounds and 9 reps (7 T2b and 2 box jumps). I stayed unbroken on everything save 1 rep on the box jumps and 1 rep on the kettlebell swings. I felt pretty solid through round 10 then started to falter a bit. I hit the first 3 rounds before the 14 minute mark hit then started to drop off somewhat. I began round 13 with around 2:40 left on the clock. Overall this was solid, I have video I'll post below later on today. I feel that I need to be able to cycle the box jumps more quickly, I stepped down most rounds and it looked slow on the video. Definitely something I need to evaluate going into the open. 

then:

30 minutes of Z1 flow - row, roll, AD, stretch, etc. I spent some time rolling and rowing and working out some positions. Fell pretty good now. 

Thursday February 13th, 2014

Thursday

A. Snatch tech work. 10 single reps with rest as needed. 1 hang snatch, 2 OHS, 1 hang snatch.

I never seem to feel comfortable in the hang positions. I just don't seem to be able to feel what I'm supposed to be able to move. Awkward! I'm not getting enough hip drive/contact. I feel disjointed.  I started light and worked progressively up to #135. The overhead squats felt pretty solid.

Lactic Endurance

3 Rounds, individually timed. Short rest between

5 Squat cleans start at 135, add per set

10 burpee box jumps

I went #135, #155, and #165 on the squat cleans and finished the rounds in 1:03, 1:08, 1:08.  The squat cleans felt pretty good. On the burpee box jumps, I was able to fall into a bounding rhythm, which would go south more quickly in each successive round. This was a tough couplet. 

rest 5:00

3 Rounds, individually timed. Short rest between

3 rope climbs

7 Russian KBS - #88

30 sec row, all out.

I finished these rounds in 1:15, 1:12 and 1:17. The first round went pretty well. the rope climbs felt good, and surprisingly the #88 kettlebell swing were not quite as bad as I thought. I was able to hold the row in the lower 1:30s and accumulated around 13-14 calories. The third rope climb of the second round felt tough, the KBS and row proceded like the previous round. The final round was rough for climbs two and three. Really started to smoke my grip on this round. THe KBS were solid, but I did notice that my row times crept up to the high 1:30s and the calories dropped slightly.

rest 5:00

3 sets, individually timed. Short rest between

5 Burpees, 10 Air squats, 15 double unders

These were quick rounds. :32, :31, and :32. I went unbroken on the first two rounds of DUs and tripped up on 13 on the last set. These were solid. 

Wednesday February 12th, 2014

WEDNESDAY

A. High Bar Back Squats - 3-2-1-3-2-1  2:30 rest between

235-255-275-265-285-295

These felt pretty good. I think I could push these higher. I think I should have pushed these at 255-275-295 then 275-295-305 or 310.

B. EMOM 14 minutes

odds: 3 deadlifts #325, 3 strict deficit HSPU,

evens: 3 box jump to 30", 6 alternating pistols

The deads felt very solid, looking at the video I may have pulled with a little too much back, but I had no issues. These felt much better than last week. The HSPU felt better today, I was able to hit 3 unbroken for most of the sets, and had a couple near the end that I broke into 2-1. I really focused on trying to keep my elbows in and not scrubbing effort off the edges. These felt better.

The box jumps were fine, no issues, I bounded some sets and stepped down on others, just trying to get a feel for the rhythm. I continue to struggle with the pistols. I'm not sure I'm getting quite enough depth. I need to video some of these. Also, I am tending to track the free leg across the loaded leg and am becoming unstable. Also, I am really getting onto my forefoot and causing some pressure on my knee. I need to spend some time with more progression on these.

Then

AD - 30 seconds @97% - 2:30 Rest off the bike. 4 sets

These sets were tough and I was gasping by the end. I tried to stay just under the redline on these and was able to sustain a solid effort into the 25+ second mark. I held the wattage between 550-610 and had between 17 - 19 calories on each effort.

Overall a pretty solid day. 

Tuesday February 11th, 2014

TUESDAY

Power Clean build to a max in 15 minutes

I had hoped to get at least my previous #235, but I was only successful on #225. #230 and #235 felt heavy, I just couldn't seem to move the bar with any power today. 

Then

5 sets - focus on maintaining same time across all sets - different order for each set

5 muscle ups,  8 WB #30,  10 burpees to a 6" target, 14  alternating pistols,  250m row. Rest 5:00 minutes. 

1	2	3	4	5
5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	250m row	14 alternating pistols	10 burpees to a 6" target
8 WB #30	250m row	10 burpees to a 6" target	5 muscle ups	250m row
10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols	5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	5 muscle ups
14 alternating pistols	10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols	250m row	8 WB #30
250m row	5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols
3:00:00	3:16:00	3:20:00	3:13:00	3:34:00

I couldn't seem to break rge 3:00 barrier on these. Instead of reviewing the rounds, I'm gonna take a look at the individual movements. 

Muscle Ups: I hit 5 unbroken in round 1, 3-2 in round 2, 2,fail-1-2 in round 3, 4-1 in round 4, and 3-fail-2 in round 5. I was surprised at the 5 unbroken, which I believe is the most I've strung together on the rings at this point. These felt a little better than last week, I seemed to be hitting them with more confidence. Fatigue is definitely a factor for me. 

Wall Balls: These were unbroken every round, they felt like something to get through and to recover a bit as I moved through them. THe #30 is beginning to feel more comfortable at this low rep number. 

Burpees: I did these without pausing, and looking back I fell I should have tried to cycle these faster. 

Pistols: This is a logjam piece for me. I have trouble cycling these and don't feel comfortable yet, and really struggle with these. 

Row: I managed to keep the pace between 1:33-1:39 for this movement. I am still fairly high on my stroke rate (mid 30s). 

Overall I just didn't feel up to it this morning. I think I should have pushed myself harder through the movements. I think I let myself worry too much about the pistols and muscle ups and didn't move as quickly as I could have today. Looking back on yesterday, I would have to give my nutrition a C- and my sleep a C+, as neither were very good. I need to be focused on these today and see if tomorrow is better. I know the work is going to be tough, I will have to push myself more tomorrow!

Monday, February 10th, 2014

Monday

A. Snatch Balance 3-2-1-3-1

95-115-125-115-135

These didn't feel quite as fast as last week. I felt like I had more difficulty driving myself lower into the squat. I may not have been warmed up enough. I may not have gotten enough sleep. I really need to look at that and get more consistent. 

B.  Squat Snatch - 15 minutes to build to a max.

These felt ok up through #145. I was able to hit #155 and was able to power snatch #160, but for some reason I couldn't get myself to drop under that weight.

C1.  Push Press  4 x 4-5 reps, tempo: 11X2 rest 10 seconds

C2. 4 x 15 unbroken CTB Pullups

#160 - 12 CTB - The push press felt solid, couldn't get to 15

#175 - 13 CTB - solid again and dropped off after 13, rhythm felt better on CTB

#180 - 12 CTB - solid, decent rhythm, dropped after 12

#185 - 11 CTB - felt good for this weight, was a bit spent on the CTB only finished 11

then

AMRAP 6:00 minutes
6 thrusters, #135
6 Box jumps, 30"

I was able to finish 5 full rounds. These heavy thrusters always seem to crush me. I finished the first round in 48 seconds, round 2 was completed in under 1 minute, and I dropped off the EMOM pace on the 3rd round (1:12).

February 8th, 2014

SATURDAY

Testing Day:

CrossFit Open Workout 11.4 
10 minute clock
60 bar facing burpees (feet must leave and land together)
30 OHS #120
10 Muscle ups
If you get through 10, start the burpees over. Score is total reps.

I finished with 99 reps (60 bar facing burpees, 30 overhead squats, 9 muscles ups)

I finished the 60 burpees in a bit under 4 minutes, my plan was to hit 15 every minute, and I was slightly ahead of the pace through 2 minutes, and then fell off my pace just a bit. I stilled finished those under 4 minutes so I was pleased with that portion. I finished the overhead squats 2ith around 2:38 on the clock. This was a portion that I was not moving very quickly. I broke the reps into 9-2-7-4-4-4. I failed 1 rep at rep 10. I had originally planed to 20 10-10-5-5, but I was not feeling these. Looking at the video, I probably took too long before I started the muscle ups. I was hoping to cycle these in 3s. I hit 3, come off the rings and failed at number 4. I then hit 2 - 2 and 2, failing to cycle the 3 rep. I finished with 9 total muscle ups. I think if I had cut down some time transitioning between movements, I would have been able to finish 1 full round.

then Z1 flow

I spent around 40 minutes on the bike this morning, I kept the heart rate low, and just spun it out. I finished 10ish miles in around 45 minutes, the temperature just happened to be around 15 degrees. 

February 6th, 2014

THURSDAY

A. Snatch tech work. 10 single reps with rest as needed. 1 snatch, pause in the hole for 3-4 seconds with bar stable overhead.

75-85-95-105-115-125-135-140-140-145

The idea was to get comfortable in the hole. THis went ok. I probably should have started heavier and stayed at a heavier weight. I wanted to keep the technique solid. I must say the 4 seconds feels a lot longer with any weight overhead!  As the weight got heavier, I was coming up with my hips early, and breaking in my arms. I was catching a bit high and needing to drop lower after the lock-up. I need to pull myself under the bar more quickly!

Lactic Endurance

3 Rounds, individually timed. Short rest between

5 PC start at 135(round 1), #165 (round 2), #185 (round 3)

7 Box jumps w/ step down

5 burpees

round 1 - 38 seconds
round 2 - 37 seconds
round 3 - 38 seocnds

THis went fairly well the #135 and #165 cycles felt good, the #185 was ok, just not as smooth. I was able to video this portion.

rest 5:00

3 Rounds, individually timed. Short rest between

1 rope climbs

5 burpee box-jumps

30 sec row, all out.

This went fairly well. Everything felt good, well as good as that row could feel!

Round 1 - 55 seconds - 15 calories on the row
Round 2 - 53 seconds - 13 calories on the row
Round 3 - 55 seconds - 13 calories on the row

rest 5:00

3 sets, individually timed. Short rest between

30s row all out, 10 KBS, bell inverted

This couplet was a tough combo, I just tried to keep moving and had someone check the bell for me. I was ready to drop after this one!

Round 1 - 57 seconds - 15 calories
Round 2 - 55 seconds - 13 calories
ROund 3 - 57 seconds - 14 calories

Overall, I felt this was a fairly good day. 

February 5th, 2014

WEDNESDAY
This ended up being a tough day for me. Movements were a bit heavier (for me) and difficult (deficit HSPU), but I need these days to get me out of my comfort zone.

A. High Bar Back Squat - 2-2-2-2-2  2:00 rest between

275-285-295-305-305

My legs felt a bit tired today. I didn't really feel like I had a drive out of the whole, and I felt like I had a bit of tilt going on at the bottom.

B. EMOM 20 minutes

2 deadlifts #325
2 strict deficit HSPU
2 box jump to 30"

Each round took left me with 20-25 seconds left, mainly due to the spacing of the pieces of this scheme.

The deadlifts went ok, stayed touch and go for each of the 20  minutes. The deficit HSPU were another story altogether. I did these on a Hi-Temp #45 plates to the ground. I was unable to do these unbroken. I hit single with fails. I may have been too close to the wall as I felt sketchy at the top and wanted to drop away early from the wall. These did not feel good at all. The box jumps were ok, I did skip 2 rounds on these to ensure time stayed around the same. I definitely have lots of work to do over head. 

Then

AirDyne - 25 second all out effort - 2:35 Rest off bike. 4 sets

The first two sets went as ok, since it was AirDyne work that means they were awful! On rounds 3 and 4 I really hit a wall for the last 5 seconds of the effort.