I finished the second test at the crossfit gym yesterday. I'm pretty excited about it too. I had to run a mile for time, and I finished it in 5:54. I haven't ever run a mile that fast, and once I caught my breath, I was happy. To add to the fun, there is a little cinder block wall that I had to cross to finish. I picture myself hurtling it and finishing the run in a kind of dive roll. Of course in the dream, I don't end up with stitches.
The second part of the test was a 500 meter row for time. I think I finished in 1:45 or 1:47ish. My time was somewhere in there. I love rowing. Although, I should tell you that I have decided to say that I love all of the exercises regardless of whether I actually love them or not. Anyway, I love rowing. This was the second time that I rowed, and it was easier this time around. I think my form is continuing to improve, which helps.
Last night Team Team, which is my ice hockey team, was back on the ice. We played Moose, and we won 3-2. We only had 8 skaters, which meant long shifts. I have to say that the new gym has improved my on-ice endurance. Unfortunately, there were a couple of players on their team who don't know how to lose gracefully (we've had problems with them before, and even the Zamboni driver told us those guys are always a problem), but the score says it all. Go Team Team!
I will take the third and final test soon. Jeff told me that tonight is going to be a fun night at the gym, and so we'll save the last test for later. I'm interested to see what that means.
Monday, July 18, 2011
I'm Back
Well, I was sick last weekend, and I was in trial all last week (I'm a prosecutor). For the next few days, you can read an article about it here. I'm mentioned at the end. So, there wasn't any time to exercise, and frankly by the time I was done working all I wanted to do was hit the bed or couch. But the trial finished on Friday, and I made it back to the gym on Saturday.
Last week they were testing, and I made up the first test on Saturday. We were shooting for max reps at the overhead squat using 95 lbs. My shoulder got in the way. My right shoulder is just too weak and it was popping out a bit. It wasn't painful, but it did limit what I could do. I only ended up using 65 lbs.
From there we went on to max reps for pull-ups. I managed 14, which I was happy with. But again with the weak shoulder I wasn't kipping. Finally, it was max hold handstands. I held on for 50 seconds. We will see where I go from here.
Last week they were testing, and I made up the first test on Saturday. We were shooting for max reps at the overhead squat using 95 lbs. My shoulder got in the way. My right shoulder is just too weak and it was popping out a bit. It wasn't painful, but it did limit what I could do. I only ended up using 65 lbs.
From there we went on to max reps for pull-ups. I managed 14, which I was happy with. But again with the weak shoulder I wasn't kipping. Finally, it was max hold handstands. I held on for 50 seconds. We will see where I go from here.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
I Didn't Listen
Well, I knew that I should have taken Thursday night off. Instead I went out, played softball, and had a good time. I woke up sick the next day and not the hung over kind of sick. I have a ton to do today (Saturday), and I'm couched for the moment. I thought that I was just sore from working out, but it seems the soreness was just the beginning of body aches. Now, I was probably going to get sick regardless of whether I went out on Thursday, but some couch time would not have hurt.
I'm falling behind, and it is not a good feeling. Listen to your body if it is telling you something.
I'm falling behind, and it is not a good feeling. Listen to your body if it is telling you something.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
I'm tired today, and I'm just going to do a quick update.
I hit the crossfit gym again last night. We did some fun skill work. We practiced double unders with the jump rope, and we worked on handstands by practicing our max holds and beginning to push off the wall to practice freestanding balance.
I hit the crossfit gym again last night. We did some fun skill work. We practiced double unders with the jump rope, and we worked on handstands by practicing our max holds and beginning to push off the wall to practice freestanding balance.
The Workout of the Day (WOD) was 1 minute of work at each exercise with 1 minute of rest in between, and we went through twice. The goal was to beat your 1st round number. It was tough.
WOD:
Goblet Squats (squat while holding a kettlebell)
Knees-to-Elbows
Sandbag TGU (Turkish Get Up)
Burpee Ball Slams (Burpee Bullshit)
Overhead MedBall Lunges
I think I'm going to take today off of everything. I feel a little tired, and my joints are bit sore. I woke up thinking about taking it off, and I am going to follow my instinct. I still feel the urge to train, but a day off might be for the best.
So, I will either run or do crossfit on Friday evening, and then do whatever I didn't do on Friday on Saturday. I have to run 12 miles this week, and I might just do it on Friday. I want to get it done. But that will be a spur of the moment decision. I'll see what I fee like.
Here is Jeff (trainer) deciding to front squat more than 2 of me.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Improving Deadlift and Pacing
I was in the crossfit gym last night. I did deadlifts for the second time, and I felt more comfortable with the form this time around. I’m definitely not as stiff as I was after the first time I tried them. I learned more about proper breathing and how much I can lift. We were working our way up to 3 heavy reps. I had no idea what heavy was for me, and I was pretty tentative. I just kept adding 5s to see what would happen, and, after some coaching, I focused on proper breathing.
I'm not particularly aggressive when it comes to lifting, and it shows in my pace and breathing. I need to work on deep heavy breathes and getting psyched for the reps. And I should just rip them. Jeff also showed me a better gripping technique and warned me that it would eventually be my limiting factor. But I thought I would control the variables and only adjust the weight. Sure enough, a set or two later my grip failed. I thought it was kind of funny.
The workout was 5 rounds of 7 deadlifts and 11 burpees for time. Oh, and I got to wear a 30 lb. weight vest. I think I can safely say that I am not going all out on these workouts, and it's my notion of pacing that's holding me back. Although, that is not to say that I would have done better than my 7:32 if I had pushed harder.
When I started trying to run for distance, I had to learn to pace myself. If I wanted to finish strong and run consistently without walking, I could not just run hard out of the gate. And I'm inappropriately applying that pacing concept to my crossfit workouts. Last night was a sprint workout, and I can’t say I sprinted. I didn’t understand that however hard I pushed last night, I was going to finish. It was just a matter of how fast. And what was I pacing myself for anyway? My couch that I'm going to relax on post workout? There was no crappy 8th mile to worry about like there was on Sunday.
After talking to Jeff about pacing, I realized that I don't need to be worried about finishing. I'm going to finish. What I need to teach my body to do is to go harder longer. I just need to go all out, and that is going to be a mental decision. For example, a guy in our gym rowed a 2k in 7:18, and he asked the trainer when he would be able to do it in 7:00. The answer was that he probably already can and could have during that same 2k. It's just mental at that point. How hard can you push?
I need to set my mind first, and my body will listen.
I'm not particularly aggressive when it comes to lifting, and it shows in my pace and breathing. I need to work on deep heavy breathes and getting psyched for the reps. And I should just rip them. Jeff also showed me a better gripping technique and warned me that it would eventually be my limiting factor. But I thought I would control the variables and only adjust the weight. Sure enough, a set or two later my grip failed. I thought it was kind of funny.
The workout was 5 rounds of 7 deadlifts and 11 burpees for time. Oh, and I got to wear a 30 lb. weight vest. I think I can safely say that I am not going all out on these workouts, and it's my notion of pacing that's holding me back. Although, that is not to say that I would have done better than my 7:32 if I had pushed harder.
When I started trying to run for distance, I had to learn to pace myself. If I wanted to finish strong and run consistently without walking, I could not just run hard out of the gate. And I'm inappropriately applying that pacing concept to my crossfit workouts. Last night was a sprint workout, and I can’t say I sprinted. I didn’t understand that however hard I pushed last night, I was going to finish. It was just a matter of how fast. And what was I pacing myself for anyway? My couch that I'm going to relax on post workout? There was no crappy 8th mile to worry about like there was on Sunday.
After talking to Jeff about pacing, I realized that I don't need to be worried about finishing. I'm going to finish. What I need to teach my body to do is to go harder longer. I just need to go all out, and that is going to be a mental decision. For example, a guy in our gym rowed a 2k in 7:18, and he asked the trainer when he would be able to do it in 7:00. The answer was that he probably already can and could have during that same 2k. It's just mental at that point. How hard can you push?
I need to set my mind first, and my body will listen.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The Long Weekend
It was a great 4th of July weekend, and I barely touched the computer. So, I have a few workouts to log.
Once again, I learned that I can't count and push hard at the same time. On Friday night, we practiced more Olympic weight lifting exercises. Before joining this gym, I had not yet tried any of these movements. The first night felt a little odd, but I felt more comfortable on Friday night when we practiced the Hang Squat Clean. Here I am mid-rep.
We followed this up with more hang squat cleans using a sand bag, and then as many kettlebell swings (start at 0:45) as we could manage in the remaining time. It's funny but after a certain amount of exertion, I lose the ability to count. I might have shorted myself 20 reps because I was doing sets of 20 and keeping track of the sets. But then I lost count of those. I went the more conservative number. I figured that if I wasn't sure, then they shouldn't count towards the total.
Saturday, I was the only person at the afternoon class. Jeff (trainer) had me practice Dumbell Snatches and knees to elbows. Then I did a circuit starting with 20 calories on the rowing maching, then 30 burpees with a plate jump after each, 40 dumbbell snatches, 50 knees to elbow, 4 "trips" across a portion of the gym doing lunges while holding a plate overhead, and then a sprint, which killed after doing those lunges. Finally, I practiced my against a wall handstands and rope climbing.
Sunday was a day off of crossfit, so I did my long run. This week was 8 miles, and it was the worst run that I have ever had. It was hot, humid, and terrible. I usually run in the evening, but I wanted to get it out of the way so I ran Sunday morning. That might have been my problem. The first 5 miles were torture, and I was about to walk when everything clicked. A different song came on the Ipod, and I just felt great. Miles 6 and 7 were awesome, and then I crapped out on the last mile. But when I got home, I was greeted with this:
I had an omelet, homemade zucchini bread, smoothie (strawberries, bananas, orange juice), and coffee. Do I have a great woman or what?! It was perfect because I still had to push mow the yard, and then I was off to the dog shelter to walk dogs for a few hours.
Monday was another day off of crossfit, so I did a 4 mile maintenance run, which included my 2 mile 20lb. ruck. It was a great run. I could've kept going, and it just helped erase the terrible miles from the day before.
Oh, and group of humming birds has moved into my yard (they love my wife), and I am pumped about it. I just thought you should know.
Once again, I learned that I can't count and push hard at the same time. On Friday night, we practiced more Olympic weight lifting exercises. Before joining this gym, I had not yet tried any of these movements. The first night felt a little odd, but I felt more comfortable on Friday night when we practiced the Hang Squat Clean. Here I am mid-rep.
Saturday, I was the only person at the afternoon class. Jeff (trainer) had me practice Dumbell Snatches and knees to elbows. Then I did a circuit starting with 20 calories on the rowing maching, then 30 burpees with a plate jump after each, 40 dumbbell snatches, 50 knees to elbow, 4 "trips" across a portion of the gym doing lunges while holding a plate overhead, and then a sprint, which killed after doing those lunges. Finally, I practiced my against a wall handstands and rope climbing.
Sunday was a day off of crossfit, so I did my long run. This week was 8 miles, and it was the worst run that I have ever had. It was hot, humid, and terrible. I usually run in the evening, but I wanted to get it out of the way so I ran Sunday morning. That might have been my problem. The first 5 miles were torture, and I was about to walk when everything clicked. A different song came on the Ipod, and I just felt great. Miles 6 and 7 were awesome, and then I crapped out on the last mile. But when I got home, I was greeted with this:
I had an omelet, homemade zucchini bread, smoothie (strawberries, bananas, orange juice), and coffee. Do I have a great woman or what?! It was perfect because I still had to push mow the yard, and then I was off to the dog shelter to walk dogs for a few hours.
Monday was another day off of crossfit, so I did a 4 mile maintenance run, which included my 2 mile 20lb. ruck. It was a great run. I could've kept going, and it just helped erase the terrible miles from the day before.
Oh, and group of humming birds has moved into my yard (they love my wife), and I am pumped about it. I just thought you should know.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Karen, Rucking, and Beer League Softball
Karen
Wednesday night, I met Karen, and she made me weak in the knees, and hips, and legs, and arms.
Karen is actually the name of a crossfit workout. It requires you to do 150 Wallballs for time. Jay (trainer) had us pair up for this exercise. One person did the workout, while the other person kept him or her honest. In order to complete one wallball rep, your butt needs to touch the ball or pad below you and the ball must reach a certain height when you throw it. If you miss either of those, the rep doesn't count toward your total. Oh, and the person not doing the exercise counts the number of reps because it doesn't take long for the person doing the exercise to be unable to count.
My partner was Craig, and in spite of me trying to bribe him before we started, he kept me honest. He was great. He called me out on every short toss and pushed me to get it higher. And Craig did an awesome job when it was his turn to wallball. I know that he was wiped by the end of it, but he managed to push out the last 15 reps without a break. By the end of my turn I was doing between 5 and 10 reps and taking a break. I wondered if I could have pushed just as hard. When we do this again, I will be excited to see if I can match Craig's final push.
Karen is a benchmark workout, so we will use this score as a baseline, and we will retest in the coming months in order to monitor our progress. Me baseline is just under 10 minutes.
Wednesday night, I met Karen, and she made me weak in the knees, and hips, and legs, and arms.
Karen is actually the name of a crossfit workout. It requires you to do 150 Wallballs for time. Jay (trainer) had us pair up for this exercise. One person did the workout, while the other person kept him or her honest. In order to complete one wallball rep, your butt needs to touch the ball or pad below you and the ball must reach a certain height when you throw it. If you miss either of those, the rep doesn't count toward your total. Oh, and the person not doing the exercise counts the number of reps because it doesn't take long for the person doing the exercise to be unable to count.
My partner was Craig, and in spite of me trying to bribe him before we started, he kept me honest. He was great. He called me out on every short toss and pushed me to get it higher. And Craig did an awesome job when it was his turn to wallball. I know that he was wiped by the end of it, but he managed to push out the last 15 reps without a break. By the end of my turn I was doing between 5 and 10 reps and taking a break. I wondered if I could have pushed just as hard. When we do this again, I will be excited to see if I can match Craig's final push.
Karen is a benchmark workout, so we will use this score as a baseline, and we will retest in the coming months in order to monitor our progress. Me baseline is just under 10 minutes.
Rucking
Last night was a night off of the gym; 3 days on and 1 day off. But I’ve got this pesky marathon to train for. I realize that I’m only going to be able to do training runs three days a week. I will do one long run a week and two maintenance runs to get some miles on my feet. I also need to get complete some miles with a pack on to get ready for the challenge.
Jeff (trainer) set me up with weekly mileage and weight goals through November and the challenge. This is my first week, and I am supposed to complete 2 miles twice during the week with a 20 lb. pack. Since I needed to do a 4 mile maintenance run, I decided to combine the two. I thought I would warm up with 2 miles without the pack, but I was still feeling Karen's effects. I ran the first mile without the pack, the next 2 miles with the pack (slowly), and the last glorious mile without the pack. That last mile felt good. I will ask tonight whether it’s a good idea to run with that weight, or if I should just be moving at a fast walk.
After that, it was time for beer league softball. Last night was a double header. I’m like a dog out there. I love playing center field, and I love chasing the ball. As soon as it is hit I can’t help but run after it. I imagine that is what a dog feels like during a good game of fetch. Since scores don’t matter (aka we lost), we just focused on having a good time. Did I mention it is lawyer league softball? We can only take it so seriously.
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