Tuesday April 9, 2013

10 Minutes of the following:

Row 250 Meter

10 Step Down Box Jumps

5 Burpees

rest 5 minutes

10 Minutes of the following:

Run 200 Meters

10 Overhead Squats @ 65 lbs

5 Pull Ups

rest 5 minutes

10 Minutes of the following:

Airdyne 20 Calories

10 Kettlebell Swings @ 53 lbs

5 GHD Sit Ups


PM Session

20:00 Gymnastics Skill Work

     - L-Sits (total of 3:00)  Holy crap I suck at these!!!

     - Plank Hold (total of 5:00)

     - Handstand practice (Shoulder taps, freestanding holds)

Monday April 8, 2013

Active Recovery Day

20:00 Shoulder Mobility

     - External Rotations

     - Scap Push-Ups

     - 20 TGU @ 35#

20:00 Light Rowing

Foam Roll, Stretch

Sunday April 7, 2013

Opens WOD 13.5: Second (and Final!!) attempt

As awful as this workout is, I was really looking forward to redoing it all weekend. I felt very little pressure as I knew it would take a miracle to send me to the Games. I had a new strategy mapped out that was literally down to the second! The new gameplan was to intentionally break the first set of pull-ups into sets of 5 in the hopes of not hitting that dreaded "redline" too early. The hope was to get through the second set of P/U's in 3 sets of 5 with only a few seconds rest between. The last set would be tough but I figured if I had about :45 - 1:00 I had a chance of banging out 15 pull-ups in sets of 3.

My plan went pretty well until that second round of pull-ups. I got the first set of 5 but had to break into smaller sets after that. My third round of Thrusters was pretty good actually. Put the bar down after 9 reps but picked it right up and gutted through the last 6 reps. Only about :30 left for the pull-ups - just enough time for 6 reps for a score of 81. Again, not terrible, not a score I'm ashamed of, yet not quite good enough and definitely not "elite".

After 5 Workouts, I can hold my head up high and say I gave it everything I had. I have no excuses and no regrets. I can't blame anything on injuries or bad luck or other people cheating. 29th place is not where I hoped to be but I accept the result for what it is and will not beat myself up over it. In the end, the top 20 guys are where they deserve to be and I truly salute them. I know I worked hard over the last year but I can imagine that they worked even harder.

While this is the end of my goal to make the 2013 CrossFit Games, this is also a new beginning. I am more committed than ever at getting better. And it's not just in the hope of making the 2014 Games. It's really about much more than that. More than anything, I want to be an elite level Crossfitter. I want to attack my weaknesses instead of pretending they don't exist. I need to work harder and suffer more but I also need to take care of my body better than ever. P.T., mobility and active recovery need to become a much bigger part of my training program. I also need to compete more with guys at or above my level. I need to be more disciplined around nutrition as well. I eat "pretty good" but I also have some bad habits that involve "little cheats". This can be like death by a thousand paper cuts. I will squash those habits ASAP and eat and train like a champion. Can't wait to start getting after it!

Friday April 5, 2013

Opens WOD 13.5: First Attempt


4:00 AMRAP: 15 Thrusters, 15 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups

Wasn't real excited to see this one come up. I've never really had an elite "Fran" time and I'm not one of these people who obsesses over "Fran" as some Holy Grail CrossFit workout. I'm also not one of these ninjas that can bang out dozens of Chest to Bar pull-ups with an effortless butterfly kip!

So, on this one - not much strategy needed here. I figured I'd need to go balls to the wall right from the word "Go!". 90 reps in under 4:00 is a very tall task for someone doing regular gymnastics kip CTB's. I was hoping to get through the Thrusters unbroken or close to it. CTB's were going to be a bitch, I knew that. But I was hoping to be able to string together some sets of at least 3-5 once I got tired.

I crushed the first round. Thrusters were fast and smooth. Got 15 unbroken CTB Pull-ups. Second round of Thrusters was tough and I did rest in the rack position a few times but I didn't put the bar down. On second round of pull-ups, things started falling apart a little bit. I'm not even sure how many times I broke during this set but it felt like I did 15 single reps!!...brutal!!. Last round of Thrusters was pretty awful. Dropped the bar after 8 reps and again after 12. Should not have dropped the second time - I pussied out a bit unfortunately.Finished Thrusters with only about 20 seconds left. Enough time to do 4 more pull-ups for a score of 79.

This workout was much tougher than I thought. Judging by the other scores in my gym, my score was not terrible but I knew that it was far from elite and would not be enough to land me in the top 20 in my age division. I was not planning on doing this one twice unless I got agonizingly close to 90. However; I decided that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't at least try.

Wednesday April 3rd, 2013

A. High Bar Back Squat @ 65% of 1 rep max plus chains @ 30x1, 3 reps on the minute, every minute for 6 minutes.
+
B. 10 sets of the following:
30 seconds of rowing
rest 30 seconds
30 seconds of burpee box jumps
rest 30 seconds
30 seconds of Overhead Squats @ 75 lbs
rest 30 seconds

Tuesday April 2, 2013

A. Power Snatch, work to heavy touch n go for a double.
     - Worked up to 155#. Again, I felt a little discomfort in my left shoulder. I have a feeling that this is being caused by a flaw in technique but can't be sure.

B. Clean and Jerk, work to a heavy single. Goal weight is 235 lbs.
     - Worked up to 235#. Form was not that awesome. Felt like I had to press out the last couple of reps.

C. On the minute every minute for 8 minutes:
4 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
6 Thrusters @ 115 lbs
     - Felt pretty good on these. I fear Thrusters so much less than I used to.

rest 5 minutes

On the minute every minute for 6 minutes:
2 Bar Muscle Ups
6 Touch N Go Power Cleans @ 135 lbs
     - This felt really tough for some reason. I missed 3 reps on the Bar Muscle Ups. Add these to the list of things I need to continue to work on!

Sunday March 31, 2013

CrossFit Opens WOD 13.4

AMRAP 7:00 of

3 C&J
3 Toes to Bar
6/6, 9/9, 12/12, etc.....

So, on my second attempt the only major thing I hoped to do differently was to be way more efficient on the TTB's. Got some good tips from my coach and my wife who is a former gymnast as well as several Carl Paoli videos online. Tried to break the bad habit of looking up as my feet touch and also trying to be LESS active with my shoulders.

I considered several approaches to the C&J's but kept coming back to the strategy of dropping every rep after the round of 6. In retrospect, this was probably too conservative. I should have pushed myself more and done sets of 3 up until the round of 15. Would it have made a positive difference?? Who knows.

Throughout my second attempt I FELT much better. Got through the 9 TTB's unbroken which is more than what I was able to do the first time. Even the round of 12 I did OK on the TTB. The wheels were starting to come off as I finished my set of 15 C&J's. I still had over a minute left to do at least 15 TTB's but I felt like I had nothing left. I paused a few seconds before I even got on the bar. From that point on I couldn't muster much more than singles. This was incredibly frustrating. I mean, how hard is it to make your toes touch the damn bar 15 times??!! I tied my first score with maybe about 15 seconds left. Got 2 more reps and then missed the bar by about 2" on my last attempt!!

Obviously, very disappointed with this performance but at the time I couldn't have known how badly it would hurt my chances for staying in the top 20. A bunch of guys in my age bracket smashed the shit out of this workout. My big score of 87 reps was good for 80th place!!!

This could effectively end my quest for the 2013 CrossFit Games but I'm trying to stay positive and feel good about my performance up until now. I knew that I would be one of those guys on the bubble, scratching and clawing for 20th place and I knew that I had a very small margin for error.

My goal going into next year??? I want to be one of those guys who finishes top 20 almost every workout. Guys like Jerry Hill and Ronald Thomas. These are guys that are setting the standard for my age group. There are only about 20 something places between me and them. However; there is a huge gap in performance. It's going to take a major commitment for me to close this gap in the next year. CrossFit is already a big part of my life but CrossFit will almost have to BECOME my life if I am to make this kind of improvement. Whether I'm willing to make that commitment, I don't know. After the Opens I will take some time, reflect on things and decide whether I'm in this to BE the best or just have fun and do MY best.