An Update and Reflection

So I've been MIA for the last week. A day going by without a post is odd for this blog, as I train 1-2 times a day. So why, in seven days, have I not recorded my workouts?

A few reasons, including building stress with work, a greater attempt at limiting distractions, and the biggest of all, I'm tired. We've started to get into the Open mindset at CFTS, which is awesome, and Dusty's been programming some killer spicy WODs to help step up our game. Everyone has been so encouraging and enthusiastic about bringing our A-game everyday (or twice a day). But on Saturday, I was tired. Now let's explore why I was tired...

It could have been a lack of sleep, but unlikely as I sleep pretty well most of the time.
It could have been the change I've been making in my diet the last few weeks, but I've gone crazy strict before, and it only took about a week for the fatigue to disappear.
It could have been stress taking a toll on me, or the physical level I'd been pushing to, or even the new routine I'm trying for my asthma.
But I don't think these things are more than minor players in the big game. To be honest, I think I got sick. Yes, as in ill, as in a threat to my immune system, not sick like the gangsta I am. I'm not a doctor, nor did I go to one for this, so I can't confirm for sure. But a small part of me actually hopes I was sick to prove something to myself.

A few years ago, I would get sick multiple times during the winter, often spending days at home in bed, almost completely immobile. Last season I only really got sick once. The last week was the first real one of this season for me. And I think I won. I couldn't ID the problem that I was feeling in my body, I just knew that it was something I should listen to and perhaps relax the intensity of my training for. I hope I was right. I feel on the mend now, and am proud. Again, I am no doctor, but I think eating REAL food and making physical fitness a true priority has demonstrated that evolutionarily, I have made myself stronger and fitter.  My body caught something that two years ago would have knocked me off my feet. Today, it was just a minor inconvenience in my daily regimen.

Oh, and a certain ex-boyfriend can have all of the credit for getting me off of spray butter and splenda a few years ago, but the 235# back squat I nearly hit while fighting this bug a few days ago, is all mine.

Warm Up:
5 x 2 deads

up to 255#s

WOD:
8 min amrap:
3 hang power cleans (125#)
7 t2b
10 bj (20")

Kenz: 5 rds + 3hpc + 7 t2b + 5bjs

Followed by: time trials:
run 1 mile: 8:30
3 min rest
run 800m: 3:42
2 min rest
run 400m: 1:51

Oly:
emotom 1 power snatch and 1 squat snatch
up to 105#

WOD:
5 rds:
500m row
20 push ups
15 push jerk (95#)

Time: 26:09

*immediately followed by Zumba. I'm totally serious. I tried that shit. I'll write up on it later.

Good ole 30 minute run (fml). I live adjacent to a pretty hilly meadow, and made sure to not limit my run to a casual jog. It included hill sprints, both visual and timed interval. And as usual, the huge hill run required to get me home (I live atop a giant ass hill).

Oly Work:
Snatch: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Kenz: 85-95-105-110-115-120-125 (fail)
C&J: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Kenz: 65-85-105-125-135-135-145(fail

Worked out in my grandparent's garage #crossfit anywhere

10 rounds of: 10 burpees, 10 air squats

Lots of double under practice, then:
max du's in 3 min: 129 (4 off my pr)

5 rounds: 10 burpees, 10 air squats

I try to remember to take my jump rope with me every where I travel. It's an easy piece of kit to bring along to spice up the usual body weight stuff you're forced to do when out of town.

Another awesome link for cf on the go: http://crossfitoneworld.typepad.com/crossfit_one_world/road-workouts.html

Post-Turkey

Split Jerks (from behind the neck):
up to 145#

WOD: 7rds
10 back squats (115#)
200m run
200m row
cash out: 10 pull ups, 100 double unders, 10 pull ups

WOD: 23:40
post-cash out: 29:29 (ouch)

Dear Mr. Turkey

Dear Mr. Turkey,

It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kenni, and I often lift heavy stuff over my head often. To be honest, as every crossfitter's relationship with their meat should be, the pleasure is seriously all mine. Because by devouring you in mass quantities as my sweet Nana looks on in awe, my protein-filled friend, I actually feel more badass. You may have roamed about (hopefully in some decent amount of space), leading a good life, thinking of how you would someday have a true purpose-- to feed me. You lucky duck you, getting to feed a lifter. That's right, I'll even apply my mantra to you as I lift my fork up, and put it down. I pick turkey up and put it down. Nom Nom. Maintain lumbar curve. Nom Nom. When I PR my snatch tomorrow, I'll dance in your honor. Cheers bird.

So which of your other friends will get my attention this Thanksgiving, you may ask Mr. Turkey? Hells no Mademoiselle Cranberry Sauce can't come over to our plate to play. But feel free to invite the sweet potatoes and ham; they can javelin each other with the green beans. No one will eat that casserole anyway. Just like last year. And the year before. This guy can't come either. But this one sure can ;)

And to wash you down? I'll make my own apple juice. Haters gunna hate.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Stay powerful,
Kenni

Oh, and don't think we're skipping out on dessert. You know we've got a date with... the mother effin turdunken!!! America, I love you.

Squat clean 3 position progression (1 min rest between sets, can't drop the bar between progressions- pockets, mid-hang, floor): 65, 85, 95, 105, 115, 125 (this looked ugly... trick is hanging on to the bar)
Dusty programmed this to be ~60-65% of 1rm, which for my clean should have been ~110 :) 

WOD: emotm 14 min
8 burpee deadlifts (65#)
8 kb swings (53#)

Skillz:
Annie (50-40-30-20-10 du's, sit ups)
8:58

Backwards

(this week is being programmed by Dusty for some of us prepin for the Open; clearly I'm going to be biasing mine to work on gymnastics... and try to chillax a bit on my lifting (as if))

Skills/Strength:
emotm 5 min
10 kb snatches (35#)
5 t2b

WOD: 3 rds
run 400m (200m forward, 200m backward)
21 push press (80#)
12 pull ups
*for every unbroken on the pp and pu's, 5 burpee penalty

Like Whoa

WOD:
amrap 12:
2 rope climbs
6 TGUs (35#)
20 weighted jumping lunges (18# each hand)
2 rds + 4 tgu's (the CFTS rope is more than twice as high as my old rope at CFH!)
IMMEDIATE cash out: 1000m row (~4:15)

3 min rest, then
sprints 5 x 100

supine ring row practice

PM:
Oly Class
Work up to a heavy Front Squat (165#)
Snatch, work up to ~80%, 5 x 1's: 95#
C&J, work up to ~80% 5 x 1's: 125#
100 ab mat sit ups

I bet I could do this. Will try soon. And post a video that'll get more hits than his.

Yoga

We started offering Yoga at CFTS, so I gave it a go today. I look ridiculous trying to breathe properly and hold the positions simultaneously, but it was good fun, and certainly tougher than expected. I think it'll be an awesome supplement to my training.

That's me in the back in the white headband. I know it's hard to tell because I resemble a sqauting ninja fighting with lasers that shoot from my finger tips, but it is, in fact, me.

Today reaffirmed a lot about my stance on supplemental training. I used to do pilates with Max back in England, and it translated so well into my lifting, particularly my overhead squat and my snatch. I've seen improvements in my overall CrossFitting from swimming, spinning, and golf too. As we were doing downward dog this morning (correction: the class was doing it, mine was somewhat of a downward zigzag), the instructor told us of the benefits she's seen in yogis (can I even use that word?) with planterfacitus (which I have), joint problems (bad wrists, check!), and overall mental health (no comment). I'm game!

So let's play devil's advocate for a second. Say that I have no direct gains in my lifts from doing yoga. So what. Am I hurt? Nope. Am I getting fat from it? Nope. Am I having a great time making a fool of myself with my CFTS fam? Certainly. Hell that in itself is worth it.

Let's see if I can become a yogi.

Saturday

I made a spicey lil WOD for my Saturday crew at CFTS this morning. They were hatin on my programming, so I told them I would incorporate burpee broad jumps into my own WOD today (their WOD was amrap 10, partners, 1 working at a time: 5 hang power cleans (heavy), 10m burpee broad jumps).

Coaching my morning crew :)

Oly:
Heavy front squat: up to 155#
Max Snatch: 105 :(
Max C&J: 155 (was cleaning heavier, but wasn't getting to a squat... I'm trying to get rid of my nasty habits, so as soon as I start powering it, I make myself stop until I can squat it)
Heavy front squat: 165

WOD: amrap 10
.1 run on the woodway treadmill
burpee broad jumps to wall (~12m)
3 hs wall walks

Kenz: 4 rds + .06 run

*rest 2 min* then...

1k row: 4:20

Shit I Screw Up

Today's WOD was complicated. That's a recipe for mid-WOD screw up for me. Yup

Lift:
switch between back squat and shoulder press to heavy singles

WOD: 4 rds
10 deadlifts (@155#)
10 bar facing burpees (think Open 2011)
10 bar pops (jump from bottom bar of rig to top using a controlled kip)
50m overhead walk (on track), run remainder of track
*each round you move the plate 50m with the walk, so by the fourth round the plate will return to the start

I even coached this WOD before I did it, and still managed to mess up my reps on the bar pops, counting each jump as one rep, not an up + down as a rep. I still maintain I am brains + braun, just not simultaneously.

It's Friday, so I benched in the afternoon. One should always bench on Fridays. It makes you more manly.

Surprise! Snatches

BUT in my defense I used them in a way that helps with my weaknesses (I think)... not just plain ole 'I pick things up and put them down.'

3 x 3 snatch grip deadlifts (10 second negatives on the way down each rep... OUCH!) ~115-125#
* for me in particular, these are great for grip strength and creating more strength/support/stability throughout my back/spine/spinal erectors.

WOD: amrap 12
5 power snatches (85#)
10m right leg jumps
5 c2b's
10m left leg jumps
200m row

Kenz: 4 rds + 1 c2b

PM: Oly Class:
Heavy front squats (up to 155#)
Snatch off of the blocks: up to 105#'s
*LOVE snatching off the blocks! Really stops you from pulling early and forces you to get under the bar aggressively!

Open Mindset

Time to tackle the weaknesses. In the next 100 days I will be getting ready to compete in the CrossFit Open 2013. I'm going to try to stay away from competitions (no promises though, it's an addiction) and really focus on my weakness (I KNOW I SUCK AT RUNNING YOU ASS HOLES, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BRING IT UP!)

Let the games begin.

AM:
Max double unders in 3 min

WOD: 3rds
run 200m (track)
10 pull ups
10 ring push ups
*3 min rest, then*
3rds db snatches (25#): 10 reps/arm, unbroken

Total time: 14:16

PM: amrap 8
Run .1 mile (ON THE MOTHER EFFING SELF PROPELLED TREADMILL)
10 hollow rocks hollow

 Made it to .77 of a mile. There's no messing around on this thing. Outstanding.

Yes I took a week off...

... no I'm not ashamed of it.

It's important. I kept moving though- a jog here, a WOD there (at about 70% effort), but didn't stress about time, weight, etc.

I feel awesome, ready to kick ass, and start gettin into the Open mindset...

Fit Wars... 1st Place!

Twelve hours after the C.A.L. comp ended, Fit Wars started down in Carlsbad, CA. My good friend Faye and I completed the four qualifiers for this event last month (see October posts), and both made it into the top six for the finals!

Faye and me

 The first WOD was definitely my style:

3rds:
9 burpees
6 cleans (135#)
3 shoulder to overhead (135#)

*7 min time cap

I knew the heaviness of the weight in general would be in my favor (pick things up. put them down.). It took me 18 minutes while practicing earlier this week to finish this WOD. On game day, I was one of only 2 girls to finish the WOD within the time cap (came in 2nd place with a time of 6:54). Faye PR'd her clean (at 135#)... four times.

Knowing there was only one other WOD to try to snag first place (and the accompanying purse of $1000), I was really nervous about the second WOD... a chipper. As one obnoxiously observant guy there pointed out to me, "this isn't your wheelhouse, is it?" (dbag):

500m row
40 wall balls (10' target)
30 box jumps (24")
20 g2o (75#)
10 c2b (fml)
20 g20
30 bjs
40 wbs

Our Awesome CFTS Cheering Squad

500m row

*20 min time cap

Faye (and her INSANE tank) went in the first heat, and smashed it, getting all the way to the last set of wall balls in the 20 minutes (31 reps). I was in the second and final heat up against the girl currently in first. For twenty DISGUSTING minutes, she and I were neck and neck. I distinctly remember the four minute mark being called on my second set of g2o's, and thinking to myself there is no possible way we can keep this pace for four more minutes. We didn't. We went harder. I beat her onto the box jumps by two reps. Then we finished the box jumps within one rep of each other, and struggled onto the wall balls. With my whole CFTS crew, including coaches, SCREAMING at me to keep going, I did. I was crying, delusional, and more exhausted than I have ever been in my life. I have never ever ever worked so physically hard. As I collapsed to the floor on the twenty minute mark, my coaches were scrambling about trying to find out my final rep count and the other girls'. She got 27 wall balls. I had 31. I tied Faye for first. Mathematically, this meant I won. If I had been one rep short of Faye, the other girl and I would have had to do a tie breaker. Holy shit. 

As a couple of the guys carried me off so the first men's heat could go, it sunk in. Every rep counts. When your coach says this, you should sure as hell train like it does. You never know when a single rep becomes $1000.

Now if only Sallie Mae took giant styrofoam checks for my student loans...

C.A.L. Partner Comp- Team Prom 2012

 

Today I competed in the C.A.L. Partner Competition with my friend Deano from CFTS. We went as Prom Themed, and obvious were king and queen. Most teams didn't dress up. Obviously we did.

Below are the WODs. We placed 8th overall, which is highly successful considering we were wearing a tutu and tux shirt.

 

WOD 1:

20 OHS (95/65#)

20 burpee deadlifts

200m run

15 OHS

15 burpee deadlifts

400m run

10 OHS

10 burpee deads

600m run

WOD 2:

1000m row buy in (one person must be holding the bar in front rack position while the other rows; switches allowed),

then 10rds (5 each):

10 kb swings (1.5/1 pood)

10 box jumps (20")

then 1000m row cash out (same hold in front rack requirement)

*17 min time cap. At 17th minute, immediately begin WOD 3:

WOD 3:

Max g2o (95/65#) with one person working at a time

Team Prom Scores:    

WOD 1: 23:18 (10th place)

WOD 2: 14:12 (6th place)

WOD 3: 65 reps (2nd place)

Overall: 8th place      

Snatchtastic

Snatchin

Heavy Snatch Balances, then...

EMOTM:
1 squat snatch, starting ~40% then building to ~85%
I went from 75#s to 135#s

REST DAY TOMORROW. TWO COMPS THIS WEEKEND!

Happy Halloween!

5 rds:
5 front squats (135#)
12 k2e
5 ring dips (assisted)
12 pistols

Time Cap: 12 minutes

Kenz Score: 12:03... lolz

Tuesday

Practice Fit Wars WOD with Faye:

500m row
40 wall balls (14#, 9')
30 box jumps (20")
20 g2o (75#)
10 c2b
20 g2
30 bjs
40 wbs
500m row

*Row practice after 

Monday

High Bar Back Squat: up to 205#

800m run
21 thrusters (65#)
21 hang power cleans (65#)
400m run
15 thrusters
15 hpc's
200m run
9 thrusters
9 hpcs's

Time: 14:08

Oly Class: Practice cleans (up to 135#)

Workouts Updated!!!!

Jeez I haven't blogged all week!!! A video of my snatch practice + a short jot about this week's workouts.



Tues: FitWars WOD 1 Practice: 3rds: 9 burpees, 6 cleans (135#), 3 cleans (135#)

Wed: Chipper WOD, Oly

Thurs: CAL partner WOD practice (OHS, Barbell Burpees, Run)

Fri: lifting at GOHS

Sat: rest

Sunday: hill sprints

Visit to CF Surf City... and some Oly Evening

Visited CF Surf City in Huntington Beach today, which was awesome.

Warm Up:
double unders, lunges, sit ups

Lift:
deadlift- up to 255lbs

WOD:
Diane: 21-15-9
deads (155#)
HSPUs (Kenz two mats)

Kenz: 7:06
*damn HSPUs :(



PM (back at CFTS):
Oly:
1. front squat: heavy single (145#)

2. snatch: work up to 80%x1x5 (I only went to 95#s bc of my shoulder)

3. clean and jerk: same as snatch.

4. front squat: work up to a heavy single (155#)

Thursday

Front Squats: up to ~ 155lbs

WOD:
9-15-21
Snatch @ (95lbs)
Box Jumps (20")

Kenz time: 10:54

C&J'ing

1 mile run (*took the last 4 days off of cardio/metcons, as I got a sinus infection Saturday night (I blame Cindy))

Coaching at CFTS :)

Oly:
Junkyard dogs/Burgner Warm Up
1. bar ski cleans: all from mid thigh. do not use straps. 3 reps total. work up to 75%x3x4
Kenz: 120lbs

2. clean pulls while standing on a 2" block: 90%x3, 95%x3 (use straps)
Kenz: 145lbs, 155lbs,

3. clean deadlift while standing on a 2" block. on last rep decend while taking 10 sec. : 100%x3, 100%+5 kg x 3.
Kenz: 175lbs

4. rack jerks behind neck: 2, 2, 1, 1, 1. 
Kenz: 85 x 2, 105 x 2, 125, 135, 145lbs 

5. 10 x 5 hallow rocks

And the anxiety is finally over!

The last FitWars qualifier WOD was my absolute least favorite CrossFit WOD... Cindy. Ew. Bodyweight. Ughhghghghhg. But, I powered through knowing that my friends at CFTS were warming up to do Grace for Barbells for Boobs, a way better cause than my ego.

Cindy:
AMRAP 20:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

Kenz: 14 rds + 3 air squats

Qualifier WOD 3

Sore as hell this week (training overload), but I've got to get the last of the qualifiers for FitWars done. Awesome. 

Warm UP:
500m row: 1:53

WOD (from FitWars):
AMRAP 12:
10 thrusters (65lbs)
10 t2b's (fml)

Kenz: 7rds, 6 thrusters

My T2B's were RIDICULOUS. I really really need to work on my bar gymnastics. Clearly they haven't been programmed into my WODs lately. Lolz.

Humbled

Lifting at Coach B's is so humbling!!!

Front Squats: up to 85kg
Snatch Work: up to 50kg
Snatch Balance: up to 50kg
Front Squats to Jerk: up to 57.5kg

squatsquatsquatsquatsquat

Warm Up: double unders

WOD:
Tabata Rows
(20 on/10 off x 8, times 3)

Lift:
SQUATZ:
warm ups: 35lb, 65lb, 58lb
5 x 115
5 x 135
5 x 165
4 x 185

(I video taped my squats on the last few sets. It may have been the angle of the camera, but I think I was struggling with depth, which has never really been an issue for me before (thus I am concerned). I'm theorizing it has to do with my ankle still trying to recover, as the pistols yesterday were impossible; I am going to video my squats the next few weeks to keep an eye on the depth. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DOCUMENT YOUR AWESOMENESS IN SQUATTING! you catch shit you didn't know you were doing)

Skillz: dead hang pull up practice with band

Warm Up: double unders

Lift:

3 deadlifts @ 70%

3 deadlifts @ 80%

3 deadlifts @ 90% (still feeling a bit weak, so I went up to 3 x 235lb)

WOD:

4/6/8  min AMRAP (1 min rest between)

15 KB swings 1.5 pood

10 hspu (2 mats)

15 k2e

10 pistol squats (only ~half way on my left foot because my ankle couldn't take it. Rx'd pistols on my right foot though :)) Kenz Score: 1 + 7 HSPUs/ 1 + 6 t2b/ 1 + 15 t2b

Mobility Work

Oly Class:

Snatch Work:

1. 3 reps at each position of 3 position snatch

2. 2 position snatch:

     70% 2 x 2

     75% 2 x 2

     78% 2 x 2

3. snatch pull from 2" blocks

     85% x 3

     90% x 3

4. snatch deadlifts on 2 " blocks (10 sec negative on last rep)

     95% x 3

     100% x 3

100 weighted sit ups (8lb ball)

More Qualifiers

Tonight I completed the second of four qualifiers for Fit Wars. It required picking up heavy shit and put it down, as many times as possible, within four minutes. Awesome.

WOD:
max ground to overhead (100lb) in 4 min

Kenz Score: 34

Cool Down:
1k row: 4:12

Shit I Suck At... Still

I don't understand why I like punishing myself, but today I did double unders, pull ups, and running. Oh, and I breathe like Bane from Batman because my asthma cannot handle this dry heat. #califoniaproblems ;)

Warm Up:

max double unders in 3 min: 125
pull up practice

WOD (from CFTS):

Run 1 mile

Row 1k

Run 1 mile

Kenz Time: 24:48 (ew, that's disgusting. Bane could have done it in half the time)

Oly:

1) 3 position clean, jerk last rep (from the floor)

@95lb x3 +1, @105lb x3 +1, @110lb x3+1

2) clean jerks

@135lb x3, @145lb x3

3) clean deadlift 

@155lb x3, @165lb x3

4) GHD sit ups (I scaled to 5 x 10 because it's been so long since I've been on a GHD machine!)

Fit Wars Qualifier

I'm entering Fit Wars with my friend Faye, as I'm a terrible person who has student loans and sees a competition with a cash prize. That's the only reason I need to enter. Horrible, I know. At least I can admit when I'm a sellout. It was originally a competition for the Marines (Faye was in the Marines, which gives her much more legitimacy than me). Today we did one of the qualifier WODs together. My lungs are DYING in this heat wave back in California! Oh the irony of leaving England for sunshine...

AMRAP 7:
An ascending ladder (i.e. 1, 1, then 2, 2, then 3,3...)
Deadlift (155lbs)
Box Jumps (20")

Kenz Score: 10rds + 5 deads
Faye Score: 11rds +5 deads

My legs are still sore from position work with Coach B, so I skipped the wall ball/run wod programmed today (plus this sprained ankle is taking FOREVER to heal!). I did some lifting at my dad's school instead. The high school my old man coaches/teaches at has an unbelievable lifting facility. The only downside is training with a ton of smelly 14-year-old boys surrounding you with their jaws dropped (either in awe or disgust, I don't give a shit which). 

Wide Grip Strict Press:

5 x 45lb

4 x 55lb

3 x 65lb

3 x 75lb

1 x 80lb

1 x 85lb

*wide grip for me is two thumbs over, rather than one thumb, or in some cases, on thumb and knuckle

Also practiced by pocket cleans and DB bench presses

Back at CFTS!

It's so nice to be back at my home box, CrossFit Temecula South! However, it's going to be a challenge going back to working with pounds versus kilos, and training in constant dry heat.

Lift: 

Deadlifts:

10 x 35 lbs

5 x 105 lbs

5 x 155 lbs

5 x 215 lbs

3 x 245 lbs
1 x 255 lbs
1 x 265 lbs

WOD:

Lurong Benchmark WOD 3

5 rounds

20 burpees

20 kb swings 53/35 Kenz: 11:38

Lifting with Coach B

Today I had the honor of being coached by Mike Burgener. This was my first training session since coming back from Croatia, moving out of England, and moving back to the US. 

http://www.mikesgym.org/wod.php?show=wod&wodID=2744

I didn't end up going too heavy, as Coach had me drilling the basics to start cleaning up my technique; it's insane how much I muscle through everything. I was so inspired today to really start focusing on my technique considering the potential I have to improve my lifts if I can improve my movements.

Front Squats up to 75kg (failed 85kg). 3 position Snatch: 20kg, 25kg, 30kg, 35kg, 40kg, 45kg. 1 1/4 Front Squat into Jerk: 15kg, 25kg, 35kg, 45kg.

Last Day at CFH

Though my ankle is still a bit rough, I wanted to train on my last day at CrossFit Hove. It's been an awesome year training here, and I'll truly miss it.

Warm Up:

Strict pull up practice

Lifts:

Strict Press:

20 x 10

30 x 5

35 x 5

40 x 5

42.5 x 2

multiple fails at 45kg & 44kg

Dumbbell Bench Press:

8 x 8

10 x 8

12.5 x 8

15 x 8

WOD:

(not for time) 3 rds:

3 strict dips

10 hallow rocks

10 pull ups

20 sit ups

Another A & E visit...

I fell. Again. What else is new. 

Went to the A&E, found out I'd sprained my ankle and tore a ligament. Awesome. 

I never got around to posting about the South Island Showdown comp in Bournemouth because it was the week before my hand in was due, but here's a video a friend at CFH made about it, and a few pics that sum it up well enough :)