Friday Before CrossFit Open 13.1

Aaaah today’s workout at CFPA totally looked like what I did on Wednesday…Rows with Push ups, and then deadlifts.

Strength:

Pendely Rows(Every 3 Minutes): 53(5)-63(5)-73(5)-83(5)-83(5), Super setting with different style push ups.

WOD:

:30 on :30 off for a total of 16 rounds

Deadlifts(55%-65%, I used 123#): 14,14,14,15,14,13,14,14 = 112

Double Unders:18,21,24,21,23,27,16,24 = 174

I was going to go heavier than 123# because 285 is my max. Tim said 123 was enough, probably because of tomorrow’s WOD. Good thing I listened, because during the 4th round, I asked him whether we were really going to finish all 8 rounds of deadlifts. LOL. But once we got to the 6th round, I felt a burst of energy to just finish it out, hoping that he would not cut it short. He didn’t, so that felt good that we all pushed through.

The double unders were all done with double, single, double, single. I just need to practice practice practice and work that wrist action.

Extras: Easy 2000m row, finished at 9:45.1. Goal was to just stay consistent and stay under 2:30 pace.

Time to rest, roll out, and mentally prepare for tomorrow’s WOD. Goal is to get 150 reps!!!! Let’s do this!

2013 CrossFit Open…Ready to Rumble!

Aaaww yeah, it’s that time of year again.  CrossFit Open is upon us.  I’m not an elite athlete by no means, and I don’t plan to be.  I just want to have some sort of fun with my CFPA crew and see how far I’ve grown within the past year.  Of course, my weight is a bit heavier than last year(I’m still dealing with this!), but I definitely feel stronger than last year.  We did a couple Crossfit Open WODs from last year, and I’m proud to say that I PR’d all of them.  🙂

As for as health and diet, I feel fluffy, and I’m taking control of this fluffiness TODAY!  Got new macros that I will stick to, and I will feel light by the end of the month. 🙂

Here’s the video that CrossFit released yesterday!  Good times ahead!

I think I need more accountability so I’m going to try to go back to basics and blog as much as possible. Starting with today’s workout, and my food! Gawd, I know, more food pics. Hey, that’s the only way I think I can stay on top of a good healthy diet, and not get sucked into food that I know I shouldn’t have.

WOD:

Snatch Progression, Position 1:
43#(5)-53#(5)-58#(4)-53#(5)-53#(5)

Metcon:

2 Rounds For Time
10-8-6-4-2
Power Cleans(135#/95#)
Box Jumps(24/20″)

Result: 11:45 RX’d

Extras:

5×8 Back Squat: 95-115-135-135-135
Superset of the following: Russian Swing(3×10, Used 16kg), Pull Ups(3×5, used Blue band)
Tabata Row

Okay, so I strained my neck on Thursday practicing OHS (just the bar). So I took Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Woke up this morning still not feeling great, but I figured I need to get moving. The workout could of been better had I eaten better over the weekend. Another reason why eating bad is not good for me. Monday’s just suck, and I could definitely feel it in my tummy.

The extra training session felt good, but my neck was really aching. I was planning on doing the 24kg for the swings and no band for the pull ups, but when I tried the swing with the 16kg, my neck was strained already aching. I kept the weight at where it was, and just got it done.

Tom(this guy that trains people at work), did some voodoo magic on my neck, because right now, I feel perfectly fine. LOL. I can’t get hurt anymore. Just another reminder to stretch and do more mobility work.

Alrighty, this post was way longer than I wanted it to be. Have a great week everyone!

01/07/2013 – Whole30 Day 7

I took 3 days off from working out and I feel so refreshed!  I went to CFPA today and it felt great to get moving again, and I feel really motivated to train hard and reach my goals.

Here’s what we did.

Strength: Hang Power Cleans

Every 3 minutes do 5 reps: 53#-63#-73#-78#-83#

I wasn’t trying to go super heavy because I wanted to make sure form was on point.  

WOD:

7 Rounds For Time

7 Thrusters(75#/55#)

7 SDHP

7 Burpees

WOWZA!  In my head I thought 7 thrusters at 55#…easy!  I also thought this WOD was going to be fast.  It happens every time with CrossFit.  When you think a WOD is easy, better think again.  I went unbroken with the thrusters.  The bar definitely felt light going over head, but I was getting tired, so I didn’t string the SDHP together. Burpees were burpees. Painful. I now know that I have to just keep moving and get them done.

After CrossFit I usually lift and today was Back Squats. Did 5×5 but failed on the last set to get the full 5 reps at 140#. Did some dumbbell lunges to work on grip strength and plank holds.

I have a whole schedule planned out to work on weaknesses for the Courage Games. Yes, I signed up for a competition and now I’m nervous and excited. Tim gave us great suggestions on what we needed to do, so I’m trying to incorporate skills on off days while getting some rowing and running in. I’ll continue to lift after CrossFit sticking to Back Squat, Deadlifts, Bench, and Press. I do have to focus a bit more time in working the gymnastic skills, especially HSPUs. I’ll be lucky if I can complete 10 HSPUs by the end of the month. All in the name of FUN! Can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store. I’m definitely have tons of new energy right now. I want to keep it consistent though, and not tire myself out come spring time.

Cheers to health and fitness!

CrossFit Games Open 12.5

Today’s workout is the last of the CrossFit Games Open series. I think the top 60 in each region go onto regionals. I’m sort of glad that this is the last one, because of the time it takes away from family. I’m also sad though because I’ve grown to love working out with everyone at CFPA, especially the ladies who represented every 5 weeks. Lots of admiration goes out to Kristen, Katz, Carm, Trish, and Mindi!

Here’s how CrossFit Open 12.5 went down:

7 Minute AMRAP:

3 Thrusters(100#/65#)

3 Chest to Bar Pull Ups

6 Thrusters

6 Chest to Bar Pull Ups

9 Thrusters

9 Thrusters

9 Chest to Bar Pull Ups

12 Thrusters

12 Pull Ups

15 Thrusters

15 Chest to Bar Pull Ups

… You get the picture…

This WOD was the same as last year’s open WOD, so a few people at the box had already done it. Everything felt great up until round 12. Maybe I should not have broken up the thrusters, and just go until I couldn’t go anymore. I broke them up to 4-4-4, and then the dreaded pull ups started to get to me. I got a few no reps, and all of a sudden, the pull ups were slipping away, and I was taking a very long time to complete 12 of them. I got through the 15 thrusters, but the chest to bar pull ups were not coming together like I’d hope. I started to do them 1 at a time, just so I wouldn’t get a no rep call, and save my energy. I’m happy with the outcome, but more happy to be part of a great community who supports one another. 🙂

Result: 81 reps.

03/10/2012 – CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.3

CrossFit Open WOD 12.3 was insane! 18 minutes of torture, but I loved every single minute of it. Call me insane, but I love CrossFit!! Not only that, I love how CrossFit brings people together, pushing each other to do things that we may have not thought possible. Yes, I’m still drinking the Kool-Aid.

18 Minute AMRAP:

15 Box Jumps(24″/20″)

12 Should to Overhead(115#/75#)

9 Toes to Bar

The most helpful video for me this week was Fletcher Fitness’s Mental Performance Strategies. If you haven’t watched her videos or read her articles, you better get on it. I find her tips to be really helpful especially when you are anxious and nerves come into play. There has to be a game plan, and my game plan was to stay focused at each station, and get a good rhythm. I didn’t want to rush through everything and not be able to move during the last 5 minutes. Although the last 5 minutes was torture. As I was finishing up, all I could think about was the presses. They were getting hard, and I was resting longer and longer. I just wanted to finish them. Time was running out. If I had more energy and had good technique with the toes to bar, then I would of finished my 7th round. But, I got close, and I’m pretty happy about it. 🙂

Result: 6 Rounds + 30 reps(246 Total Reps)

03/03/2012 – CrossFit Games Open 12.2 and Good Eats

As I write this, I’m watching Annie T. kill her 12.2 workout with 109 reps!! You can watch it here!

I definitely did not do as well as Annie, but I reached my goal of 60 reps. I knew I would get the 60, it was the fact that I didn’t know how ugly or pretty the movement would be. Turned out, it felt really ugly. My landing position was too wide. I muscled most of them up, and I failed on the first rep. LOL. The jump from 45 to 75 is pretty fast, and I usually don’t do well with snatches unless I warm up. I really have to work on hip mobility. It seems like everything goes back to opening up the hips…wall balls, box jumps, etc. BUT, I had the best time, and it was great to see everybody do their BEST…AGAIN! It’s amazing how much you feed off of people’s support and energy. I had such a great time, and I can’t wait to see what is next. 🙂

Onto my eats and what fueled me for the day.

7:30AM(B) – 5 egg white plus 1 egg omelet. Toasted up 1 slice of Ezekiel Bread and 1/2 tblsp of Justin’s Classic Almond Butter. Delish.

10:00AM(S1) – I was starving by this time, and my snack never tasted so good! I had 4oz of roasted sweet potato plus 3oz of ground beef patty.

12:00PM(L) – I quickly scarfed down a salad with 4oz of chicken and some roasted broccoli.

2:00PM(S2) – After I did the 60 snatches, I quickly scarfed down my PWO Whey Protein with 1 tblsp of flaxseed

4:00PM(S3) – Macadamia nuts and 2.5 oz of Tuna.

6:30PM(D) – Salmon plus roasted kabocha and roasted broccoli.

I cooked quite a few sides today, plus some meat sauce for hubby. After we put the kids to bed, I decided to quickly put together Slow Cooker Barbacoa for the week. I saw the recipe on The Kitchn, and Nom Nom Paleo already tried it out, so why not. I had a huge brisket that I didn’t know what to do with, so it was calling our names. Hubby and I will share this wonderful dish for dinner throughout the week. It’s easy to prepare, and will be ready tomorrow morning…I hope. Here’s a pic.

And that is all folks. My body is whipped out and I will be enjoying my rest day tomorrow. Enjoy the sunshine. 🙂

02/25/2012 – CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.1

I signed up for the CrossFit Games Open this year because I love being part of the CrossFit community. I love the competition with others, the competition with myself, but most of all, being able to get together with my box and just have a good time doing what we love.

Today was the first weekend where we spent 7 minutes of burpee hell together. Everyone suffered through the 7 minutes, fought through the burn, and ended up being proud of their score. I paired up with Carmela and she is freakin’ awesome! I rarely see here at CFPA because we go to different classes, so it’s great to see her when we there are events like this.

Truthfully, there was a lot of strategy going on in my head. People had told me to do 8 burpees then stop for 10 seconds. Others told me to go all out. Others said to just pace yourself and keep moving. I watched Carl P’s breakdown of the WOD and he had some great tips that I practiced on Thursday night. I definitely have to work on the hip snap, but I think this video helped me tremendously. Every time I landed on my feet, they were hip width apart, not the wide ass stance that I normally do. I didn’t look at the target at all, and didn’t rest too much. I wanted to keep moving, and wish I hadn’t stopped at all to take my breathe. I just wished I had more time to practice the skill. I could live with 81. I know if I did it again, I’d get more. 🙂 Too bad I didn’t have a chance to do it again. Nonetheless, I’m happy and so proud of everyone else!

WOD 12.1 in the books.

02/23/2012 – Good Eats

I got up super early this morning, and all I could think about was how many burpees I was going to be able to do in 7 minutes. Yes, the first CrossFit Open WOD 12.1 is a 7 minute AMRAP of burpees. So I hustled to my work to gym to practice the movement for a bit. I did it for 2 minutes and got 27. I was getting gassed already.

Afterwards, I jumped on the treadmill and walked for a full 55 minutes. Uphill, downhill, fast pace, slow pace, you name it. I broke a sweat, but not much of a sweat. I didn’t want to push myself too much today because I still had a WOD on Friday, and I might end up doing the open WOD twice. Here’s how I fueled myself through the day.

8:15AM(B) – Egg omelet with 1 slice of Ezekiel Bread and 1/2 tblsp of Almond Butter. Yum.

10:50AM(S1) – 4oz sweet potato with 3oz ground beef. Double Yum.

1:15PM(L) – Today was no sweet potato day because it was a cardio day. So I subbed the sweet potato for broccoli. 4oz chicken breast with salad and roasted broccoli

4:00PM(S2) – 3oz of canned tuna from Trader Joe’s and macadamia nuts

6:15PM(D) – Salmon plus roasted broccoli and kabocha w/ a little bit of kale.

BTW, my work had a bake off today, and I made Melissa J’s Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread as part of the “Special Diet” category. There was only 1 other entry in the special diet category which was Vegan Brownies. Of course, my cake was made with all natural ingredients. The vegan brownie was made with flour, sugar, and all the other wonderful artificial stuff. Kinda weird. Nonetheless, I won in that category! $60 amazon gift card going to DIAPERS…oh yea! LOL. Here’s a pic of everyone’s dessert. Everything look tempting, but of course I stayed away.

After we put the kids to bed, hubby was helping me with my form on the burpees. We were dissecting Carl P’s breakdown of the movement, and I’m definitely going to spend time practicing this. Gotta remember to do the Mobility WOD before I do the workout. Open up those damn tight hips of mine. All HIPS baby!

Weekend Recap(06/03-06/5) – My Good Eats for the Weekend & Norcal Regionals

What a weekend??!?! Exhausting, fun, tiring, and hectic. I spent all day Friday and most of Saturday at the Norcal Regional Crossfit Games. It was fun to hang out and cheer on our girl Maddie from CFPA. She placed 18th overall, and took 1st place in workout #4 in her heat. It was the most inspiring thing to witness, and yes people are going to be stepping up their game after watching all the competitors compete. Thanks to The Lazy Caveman, I got a picture with Miranda Oldroyld. If you don’t know her, look her up…she is BADASS!

I’m not going to recap EVERY single thing that I ate this weekend. I did have some non-Paleo food, which included ice cream Friday and Saturday night, and some white carbs on Saturday. Bad I know, and I ate it while I was by myself. How sad was that!!! I was bored and had nothing to do, and all I thought about was food – definitely a bad situation to put yourself in while trying to eat clean. I also had some heavy cream with coffee Saturday, and tzatiki sauce with my Greek food on Sunday. Sunday, I kept my meals to the Paleo/Primal standards. I tried a new restaurant in Willow Glen called Opa!

We got The Gyro Meat Platter to start:

Then I ordered the Opa! Lettuce Wraps:

It was freakin’ yummy, and I was so full that I barely ate any dinner. I just had few slices of Applegate Organic Genoa Salami with 1/4 of an avocado.

I prepped a “Porktastic Bacon-Topped Meatloaf” by Nom Nom Paleo, for Monday night’s dinner. Let’s hope I did it right, because it was the first time I’ve ever made meatloaf. I also took Lil’ Munchkin’ to the Campbell Farmer’s Market. They moved the vendors around, but it looks like there are more vendors now that Summer as arrived(sort of). Lots of fruits, yummy veggies, and beautiful people strolling around on a Sunday morning.

Anyways, hope everyone’s week starts off great. Hopefully the rain stops and we start to get some more sunshine here in Northern Cali. Oooh ya, I’m hoping to have this baby by the end of the month. But we’ll see. 🙂 He is definitely moving around in there, and I was afraid that I was going to have this baby while hubby was away. But nope, hubby came back, and baby is still marinating in the oven. Pheeewww!

Max Pull Ups and Max KB Swings – 04/20/2011

I’m surprised I actually woke up this morning to make it to Crossfit Palo Alto. A lot of our friends came over to witness the Sharks win in OT, so I didn’t get into bed until 11PM! I actually knocked out in the first period because the Sharks were not playing very well. Heck who am I kidding, I knocked out because that was my bedtime. Of course, I got woken up with hubby’s Hockey Teres Syndrome. LOL.

Okay onto what we did for our WOD today…

AMRAP in 20 Minutes:

400m Run

Max Pull-Ups

400m Run

Max KB Swings(70#/53#)

Total Reps: 72

The goal is to get as many reps as possible between the pull-ups and KB Swings. Once you drop off the bar or drop the kettlebell, you must go run. For the first round, I only got 7 pull-ups unassisted. I didn’t really want to tax myself, because I knew I could get more swings(used the 20kg bell). When the first round of swings came around, I only got 9 because I lost my footing!!! Dammit! By the time I got back for the second round of pull-ups, Tim told me to use the pink band so I could get more reps in – at least 10 pull-ups. So I did it and was able to get 11 pull-ups for the rest of my rounds. The KB Swings were good too. In total, I ran 6 times. On my last round of KB Swings, there was about 48 seconds left for me to get as many swings as possible. I took my time, got ready, and busted out 19 reps!! All the way until the buzzer went off. I’m glad I ended the WOD on a good note. I’m also glad I was able to run more, since I haven’t been running on my own.

I stuck around to watch Tim and the rest of the crew do 11.5 games WOD. It looked brutal and they all killed it! Maddie was working on her 11th round by the time 20 minutes ended. Very inspiring! I heart Crossfit!