Clean and Jerk PR!

I love the names of these olympic lifts. Anyway on Wednesday I clean and jerked 83lbs!


someday I will be this cool...

I also did 4 kipping pullups in a row! I can't believe that a few weeks ago I wasn't able to do a single one and now I can do 4. I'm gonna be sad when this rapid strength gaining period ends.

a crossfit surprise is never a good thing

Today we were offered a choice: test for max on the snatch, or a "christmas surprise." Vanessa claimed the torture we had witnessed before class was not identical to our surprise so we decided to take our chances. If only we knew what a liar she was...

The WOD seemed easy:

100 meter row
50-ish yard sprint with resistance bands
10 then 9 then 8...etc burpees

Oh those awful resistance band sprints. It was like running in a dream state...your legs and arms are moving as fast as they can and yet you are going nowhere. I thought I was going to throw up multiple times.


it looks easy in picture form...
It took us around 40 minutes to complete the workout switching off between partners (one would run while the other would hold the resistance band).

Alex rated it up there as one of the top three hardest WODs to date falling behind the "filthy fifties" and the two mile run...or maybe Karen (150 wall balls). I'm not sure if I would rate it that high but I do know that nothing could ever ever beat the crazy filthy fifties.

Oh and last week I PR'd on my deadlift! 160lbs, baby! It would be SO cool to break 200.

C25K/2 mile run/Karen

Last Wednesday at Crossfit I ran two consecutive miles! That sounds really lame, but for someone who doesn't usually run it's a pretty long distance. Anyway my two mile time was 21:31 which is pretty disappointing but meh I'm not a runner.

Then on Friday Alex and I tackled "Karen" which is just 150 wall balls. Oh yay wall balls! My favorite! Surprisingly I finished in 14 minutes 10 seconds which was really exciting.

Finally, I have decided it is time for me to run a 5K. I've tentatively decided on the date of the Pasadena Marathon (there is also a 5K component). Now I just need to sign up and start training! Yesterday Alex and I started the Couch to 5k running program. If we stick with it we should be running 3 miles in 3 weeks! I'm excited.

handstand pushups!

Ysterday I conquered my fear of handstand pushups! My fear was so irrational..how exactly would I smash my head into the wall? That feat would probably defy the laws of physics. Well most fears are irrational anyway.

So I was able to do a handstand (against the wall of course...I probably WOULD hit my head if I tried to do them free standing) though I'm not strong enough for a full pushup.

We also deadlifted 95% of our max which was 150lbs for me. Easy. I want to try to find my max on the deadlift again...165 (Alex's current max) would be exciting!

Alex also pointed out that I did not "master" the clean and jerk. By master I meant I didn't make a complete fool of myself and can probably start trying to find my max. I didn't mean I was an expert at the clean and jerk! sheesh.

I must be on my blackberry too much because I just pressed the spacebar twice instead of the period button. Wow I'm lame.

clean and jerk

today I sorta kinda mastered the clean and jerk! I didn't want to test for my max since I still wasn't confident with the lift so I only did about hmm 40lbs or so? I'm confident I can lift a lot more.

looks like some more deadlifting tomorrow. yay!

fail.

ugh I am contributing my extreme allergic reaction (eczema and nasal allergies) to the inordinate amount of gluten I consumed today. I haven't had a reaction this bad since I spent the night at Chrystine's apartment (with 3 cats!) without my Zyrtec.

I don't care if it's psychosomatic but I seriously think I am allergic to gluten. Hopefully this realization (instead of just trying to "go paleo" or whatever was keeping me away from gluten before) will keep me gluten-free forever.

Some day I will get a skin test and add to my ever increasing list of allergens.

My biceps ache (from pullups?) but I miss Crossfit :(.

more kips more bench press

Today's workout was just 1 rep of 95% of our max, three times with a choice of lifts. Alex and I decided to bench press again. Each rep was fairly easy for me which hopefully indicates that my max has increased!

Afterwards we completed as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:

15 kettle bell swings (at 30% body weight but uhh I did the 25 lb kettlebell instead of the 35 lb one)
10 pull ups
5 box jumps

My muscles were tired from all the kipping yesterday which led to really crappy pull ups. I was slightly disappointed but hopefully I'll have better luck next week! I think I completed 5 rounds which isn't great but I woke up at 5am today so I didn't have a ton of energy.

Ooh and I tore open one of the calluses on my hand. sick.

Deadlift Max

Awww yeah that's right I lifted 30lbs more than I weigh! 155! I probably could've lifted more but Vanessa thought it was a good place to stop for the day.

I also did not one, not two, but THREE kipping pullups in a row! Everyone was so excited :D


the kip...without the pull-up
I can't wait to get good enough at kipping pullups and pushups so that I can do full un-scaled WODs!

I really want to do a triathalon...too bad it involves a pool. and a bike. hmm.

only half a murph? how hard can that be?

ummm harder than expected.

Yesterday at Crossfit we had a choice between two workouts: Murph or Kelly. Since Kelly involves wall balls (150 of them!) the choice was easy.



oh wall balls how do I hate thee let me count the ways...

Murph, named after Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy
consists of

1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

so half a murph would be an 800 meter run, 50 pull-ups, 100 pushups, 150 squats and finishing with another 800 meter run.

I finished in just over 26 minutes coming about 12 seconds after the first place finisher (for the 6pm class...I'm sure the crazy morning class had better times). Although I do jumping pull-ups and pushups on my knees.

I beat Alex by about 10 minutes :D.

drink the koolaid

I don't understand. The last running I did with Alex over a week ago was the beginning of a couch-to-5k type routine...just running for one minute walking for five minutes for thirty minutes total.

Today (err yesterday I suppose) since I didn't go to the run for the hungry (though I wanted to!) I decided to see how long I could run on the treadmill. I ran for 35 minutes. Of course this is a treadmill and not like running out on the pavement but still! 35 minutes? I don't think I've ever run that long on the treadmill in my life. I probably could've gone longer but I was so fed up with my headphones by then that I just wanted to quit.

Damn. Crossfit is awesome.

Snatch PR!

Aww yeah that's right I PR'd on the snatch today! heh. snatch. a whopping 60lbs!

It doesn't seem like much but I'm super excited to just be able to do the snatch correctly.

and now I want some fancy o-lift shoes...too bad they are expensive. like these!

they're pink! how cute! hmm only $120...

Bench Press Max

Today Alex and I decided to bench press which I haven't done in oh probably a year or so. Surprisingly I maxed out at 75lbs which is more than I ever remember doing at the gym in Berkeley. Guess those push ups really do work your chest muscles!

I'm also surprisingly still gluten free! I was mostly paleo this weekend with the exception of some soy...and all the alcohol of course.

Looks like we're doing back squat again tomorrow...I definitely haven't gained any muscle so I'll probably max out at 115lbs again.

Back Squat Max!

Starting a new Crossfit journal. Hooray!

Yesterday I determined my max for the back squat: 115lbs! I'll be squatting bodyweight in no time.

I also worked on the kipping pullup and I'm so close to being able to do one...although I swore I did one last wednesday when we were doing the warrior WODs

I'm also over a week sugar/gluten free! Alex and I started a 30 day paleo trial starting 11/8. I hope I do well this weekend...