Bear?

Today my workout at CFCP was something call Bear? I think? I had not heard of it before today. It was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. Here is the workout:

Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes perform the following:

5 Dumbbell Deadlifts
5 Dumbbell Hang Cleans
5 Dumbbell Thrusters

I used 20# dumbbells, but RX is to use 45% of your body weight. Uhm...yeah right! The objective is to finish as fast as you can so that you can use the rest of the minute to rest. I think next time I will go up in weight though since I finished all 20 rounds with 30 seconds to spare each round, as did all the others in the class!

Here is a video of some guys at CFCP a year ago doing another version of Bear. They look a little different now and so does their form!

Catch up

Just a quick post to catch up on my workouts since Thanksgiving and my sister's wedding.

Sunday:
200 squats for time - 5:32

Monday:
Tabata
Squats - 150
Push ups - 64
Box jumps - 72
Sit ups - 99
Run
Total - 385

Tuesday (today):
20 min - AMRAP
15 double unders
15 sit ups
15 back extensions
Total - 12 rounds + 15 double unders + 8 sit ups

Tabata push ups (because they SUCKED yesterday) - 62 (worse than yesterday, grrr!)

Tomorrow is CFCP at noon!

My own turkey trot...

When I go back to Houston to visit my family, I usually try to sneak in a run or a workout. And my runs usually involve my old route that I have been doing since high school. It is around 3 miles. My "old route" officially changed one day in March of 2006. Please read here for the story.

Yep, 6 months prego, with my two year old and dog. He said he stopped because I was hot and he wanted to have sex with me. REALLY? Trust me, I was not looking that good...as you can imagine. And he had a knife in the car. Bastard.

Anyway, back to the run. When I get to a certain point at the end of my route, I always get deja vu when I turn to walk down my street because this is where I saw him drive down my street and turn around to come try to take me. Always freaky.

I am pretty proud that I fought him of and defended myself, my daughter, and my unborn daughter. But, these days I bet he would most certainly get his ass KICKED if he even tried.

My 3 miles was was 26:02 long Thanksgiving day.

Some points for my team!

Since I could not make it to a class today, I did some stuff at home with my girls. I ended up doing 4 of the workouts in our challenge packet to make up for some stuff I'm about to eat this week! Not only is it Thanksgiving, my little sis is getting married! Woohoo! It will be a fun week, but I will try to behave for the most part. The hardest part will be the alcohol I'm sure.

My girls really enjoyed crossfiting with me today! Especially the handstands! Here is what I did.

Handstand for 3 minutes (much harder than one would think!).

2oo squats for time - 5:52 (legs are TIRED, should have been much faster)

10 situps, 10 burpees for time - 15:32

250 jumping jacks for time - 4:36

I will try to keep on top of my posts while I'm gone. But really, who am I kidding...I will probably be back Sunday! Happy Thanksgiving!

Cindy at CFCP

Ugh...I'm pooped. Just a quick post about today's WOD. We did Cindy at CFCP and again my first time attempting this WOD with real pull ups!

Cindy

20 min - AMRAP
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

I got in 14 rounds. Yes, that's 70 pull ups, 140 push ups, and 210 squats as fast as you can go. I thought I did pretty good until my teammate, Ms. K, pulled out 20! She did an awesome job. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some paleo macaroons baking in the oven. Night.

And the challenge begins...

The Holly Jolly Challenge started on Saturday. And right now I am pretty pumped! We will see how long that lasts! I would like to share a recipe that turned out VERY yummy. It is a breakfast recipe and I know how much we appreciate those since we all get very tired of the same old eggs. This is a variation of the recipe for omelet muffins that was posted on Mark's Daily Apple. Mine is very similar, just added some different veggies, sausage, and omitted the mayo. Here it is.

ingredients:
8 eggs
1 lb breakfast sausage
1/3 c green onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
sugar-free salsa for topping (used Sprouts brand)
pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown and crumble sausage. Beat the eggs, then add veggies and meat. Grease muffin pan and line with paper cups. Spoon egg mixture into each cup. Bake for about 23 min. Let cool a few minutes and top with salsa. Enjoy!

Two of these lasted me almost all day! I ate them for brunch and I was not hungry until dinner. And that is not like me! This recipe yeilded 10 muffins. My kids loved them, too. And I have breakfast for the rest of the week!

Here is the latest on my WOD's.

Friday: Elizabeth

21-15-9 cleans, ring dips

The rx weight was 95#, but I used 85#. My body was telling me to take it easy, a little shoulder and lat pain. I also did bench dips. I was at the Y, so obviously they did not have rings. (like I can do them anyway!) My time was 9:35, blah...

Saturday was much better, even after the happy hour Friday night! It was the kickoff workout at CFCP. And Ms. K did a great job her first time leading the workout! I arrived late (after a wonderful morning getting the kids ready...) so I started my workout backwards from everybody else. Here it is.

10 kb swings
10 situps
10 squats
400 m run

20 kb swings
20 situps
20 squats
800 m run

30 kb swings
30 situps
30 squats
1200 m run

40 kb swings
40 situps
40 squats
1 mile run

We weren't timed, but I felt good! Today is my rest day, but decided to do one of the extra point workouts in my challenge packet, 250 jumping jacks for time. My time was 4:27. More tomorrow!

Moo.

Food has been on my mind lately after watching Food, Inc. This is a picture of a cow my mom encountered in Switzerland recently. This is what a cow should look like! Roaming free in the pasture and eating grass! Not knee deep in filth and practically on top of each other while being force-fed grains (corn) to fatten them up. Anyway....anyone that has not seen it should rent it. Pretty gross, disturbing, and eye-opening.

I tackled my first RX Fran yesterday at the Y. And my darn pull ups keep slowing me down! I just can't get my rhythm going, especially after thrusters. I also thought that the 65# thrusters would be cake after getting 95# over my head yesterday. Umm, yeah I was wrong. It was a tough workout all around. Here is Fran...

21-15-9 thrusters(65#), pull ups

This was my first time doing this RX with real pull ups, so it took me a while. My time was 13:06. As always, I got some funny looks when I kept cussing at the pull up bar.

Today, I was at CFCP which always get's me a better workout! Here was today's WOD.

300 jump ropes
200 lunges
100 squats
75 v-sits (14# ball)
50 sit ups

My time was 21:33. Some of the hardcore people decided to make that 300 double unders...no thanks. I would have been there forever.

In other news, we are starting another paleo challenge at CFCP, the Holly Jolly Challenge. This one is a team challenge, which should keep me accountable next week through Thanksgiving and my sister's wedding. Yikes! We made a final decision on our team name today which consists of 3 gals and one guy. We are the Three Cleans and a Jerk. Wish us luck!

6:03

It's amazing just how much you can make your body work in 6 minutes. When you first look at Grace, you see the 30 reps and you think, "This shouldn't be too bad." Then you see the weight. And even that can be deceiving. The first 10 reps are really not that bad and I knocked them out pretty quickly. But it is all down hill after that! 95 pounds is a lot of weight to get above your head. Here is the WOD from CFCP:

Grace

30 clean and jerks (95#)

time - 6:03 rx

Next time I want to do it under 5!

Gotta Love November in Texas!

Yesterday's open gym at CFCP was outside in the "pit." The weather has been in the 70's and 80's for most of the week, so this made for a nice workout! Our warm-up started with a total of 120 push ups and squats and some running. You know after a "warm-up" like that, you are gong to get a good workout in! Here's the WOD.

Threes rounds

1 minute stations of:
ring dips
box jumps
kettlebell swings
tire flips
dumbell presses
rest

I couldn't do full ring dips, so I jumped a little. I used 35# kettlebell and that was the most difficult station for me. I also used 20# dumbells for each arm. It was my first workout in the "pit" and it was a lot of fun! It was also my first time flipping tires and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Although they were pretty muddy since it had rained a few times recently. We were all nice and dirty at the end!

And just when we thought we were done, our lovely coach told us to do tabata sprints in the parking lot! Ugh! I would have been totally satisfied without those! Oh well, my usually tight jeans are thanking me.

Oops I did it again...

No, sorry to disappoint you...this is not Brittany Spears. The last time I posted I was apologizing for my lack of activity on my blog. That was October, 28 and here it is November 11 already! Once again, I have let too much time pass on my updates. I am starting to think that it is completely futile for a dedicated crossfitter to keep up with a blog because we are always working out. Ahem, yes...I do think of myself as a dedicated crossfitter! My times may not show for it, but I am working on that. But really, who am I kidding. Most crossfit workouts really are not that long.

So, I am going to give you my week in review. Saturday, I visited Crossfit West Houston and they were awesome once again. And it is a good thing I went too, considering my late night bachelorette party that night. I did not write my workout down, but it involved a team workout where we did a lot of wall balls, SDLHP's, ball slams, and doubleunders. My hamstrings are still sore! If anyone that reads this lives in Houston, you should seriously check them out.

Monday, was D.T. at Cedar Park. Ouch. The rx weight for women on this one is 105#. I can't imagine doing that. I did 85 and about died. But, only because of the hang cleans. Here it is:

12 deadlift
9 hang clean
6 push jerk

My time was 16:55. Like I said, the hang cleans were tough which made the rest of it tough.

Tuesday...Oh Tuesday. I attempted to workout in my backyard because I did not have the chance to get to the gym and it was a gorgeous day outside. There were a number of things that contributed to a not-so-fun-workout. Here they are in no particular order: 2 little girls, 2 big dogs, dog poop, and a spider on my hand during push ups. All of my facebook friends already know about the incident. Anyway, I finished (along with my little 6 year old) the following workout:

10 squats
10 sit ups
10 push ups
x 10

My time was 11:20.

Today was a workout at Cedar Park. It was my first time doing the fit test. I was running late, so no warm up for me.

400m run - 1:33
max push ups in a minute - 35
max sit ups (not anchored) in a minute - 43
tabata squats - 156

We also did a pull up ladder at the end that was not part of the fit test. Yes, I did do unassisted kipping pull ups, thankyouverymuch. I did a total of 9 rounds + 7. Wish I could have done more, but my grip is always the first thing to go!

Tomorrow is my off day. See you when I see you...

So, it's been a while...

I have been working out, I swear! My last post was October 7th, I know. I got behind in posting my workouts, then Ms. M got the flu (yes, H1N1), and then...and then...and then...you get the picture. The only break I have taken was when Ms. M had the flu. I won't bore you with the 10+ crossfit workouts I have done over the last few weeks and I will just start with today's. Today's WOD was pretty good. It included a mile run, which I have not done in a while do to the fear of another possible stress fracture in my foot. So far so good though. Here was the WOD:

2 rounds
10 KB clean and jerks (right arm)
10 KB clean and jerks (left arm)
25 KB swings
25 goblet squats

After the 2 rounds, 1 mile run.

Time - 15:19

Felt good the entire time. My foot was fine. I used a 25# kettlebell, but will probable go up to 35# next time.

I had another breakthrough today! I can now do kipping pull ups!!! This is huge for me and has been one of my frustrations since the beginning. It finally clicked with me after I was told that I was "muscling" myself down instead of using my momentum on the way down to get myself back up to the bar. Make sense? Didn't think so...

Not So Much...

I felt about as crappy yesterday as I did great on Monday. Tuesdays are our playgroup day. The playgroup starts at 10:30, so I am always scrambling to get there after I workout, shower, and drive there. So, yesterday I decided to workout in the afternoon after Ms. M gets home from school. I did not get there until 4, which is my dead time. By the time I got there, my day had already worn me down. If I were at an actual class, I am sure I would have been recharged. But I was at the YMCA again. My workout included pistols, which I can't do without assistance. Here are some good examples of them.

http://www.brandxmartialarts.com/videos/Pistols.wmv
http://www.powerathletesmag.com/pages/pistols.htm

I also had another equipment malfunction, same as last time. My phone went flying off the treadmill, and again I cussed and confirmed to all the nice people at the Y that I am loony. Anyway, my time is another estimate and is not exact. Here is my WOD and time.

Run 800m
15 pistols rt. leg
15 pistols lft. leg
25 sit ups
12 pistols rt. leg
12 pistols lft. leg
25 sit ups
9 pistols rt. leg
9 pistols lft. leg
25 sit ups
Run 800m

My time was somewhere in the neighborhood of 19:20, which sucked! The pistols were a killer and I had to do them using a pole. I finally felt good the last 800m run when The Ting Tings' That's Not My Name started playing on my zune. By then, I was almost done.

Power Cleans, Sit Ups, and Supermans

Mondays WOD felt great! It was another RX for me. Power Cleans, sit ups and supermans were on the agenda today. It looked like this:

21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Power cleans (65#)
Sit ups
Supermans

My time was 12:30. I am really loving my noon class at Crossfit Cedar Park. Everyone is so encouraging and it is just a great mix of people. I am so sad to miss the class today!

A Visit To Crossfit West Houston

On Saturday, I was in Houston for my sister's bridal shower. I convinced her to join me in crossfit for the second time. She said she was sore for 2 weeks from her first try! I have a feeling this time was better for her. I hope so at least. We picked Crossfit West Houston and I am glad we did! Unfortunately, we missed the first part of the workout because they started earlier than normal. Here was our WOD:

Max push ups - missed
Max sit ups - missed
Max pull ups - missed
1 mile run - missed
Max deadlift (3 attempts) - 215 (225 is my pr)
Max shoulder press (3 attempts) - 80, failed at 90 (90 is my pr)
500 m row - 1:57
Max squats in 2 min (I think?) - 79
Max knees to chest - 22 (hands still torn up...)
Max KB swings (35#) - 45

Although we missed the first part, we still got a decent workout in! Unfortunately, I had a lot of wine and other non-paleo food the night before, hence some of the sucky numbers! Oh well! They were really great and only asked us to buy a t-shirt to join them. And they had yummy paleo-friendly food afterward! I will be visiting them again when I am in town!

Helen at the Y

Well, a little behind here! Friday's workout was Helen. It was done at the YMCA, so it had to be done on the treadmill and time was spent walking to and from equipment. Not my favorite thing! Then, my phone(stopwatch) slid off the treadmill onto the belt and went flying...it stopped time of course. I then proceeded to get it and bumped my head on one of the other machines. Of course I cussed and people were looking at me like I was a crazy lady. Not my finest moment. Luckily, it was almost at the end. Here is Helen:

3 Rounds-
400m run
21 k-bell swing (16kg or 35#)
12 pull ups (jumping...grrr, can't get the pull ups down!)

I think my time was around 13 minutes. Felt good, other than the pull ups.

Ugh, More Thrusters...

After yesterday's workout, I was in no mood for more thrusters. So, when I walked into Tillman today and saw them on the board, I almost turned around! I am really glad I didn't though. Wednesdays are one of my only days to make it there. And I am never dissapointed when I leave.

Another AMPRAP in 20 minutes:
30 double unders
30 thrusters (45#)

I did 4 rounds + 30 double unders and 1 thruster

That is 120 thrusters! A. Lot. All I can say is that I am glad tomorrow is a rest day. My double unders were good. It took me a little while to warm up, but at the end I ended up doing 20+ in a row. Yay! More Friday.

Thrusters, Hang Powercleans, SDLHP

Yesterday's WOD was done at the YMCA, which is never my favorite. Not because of the gym itself, but there is no one there to push me and the element of competition is taken away since I am by myself. I actually like the gym there, especially compared to Gold's Gym. But that is a whole other story.

This WOD was taken from the crossfit.com web site. Women's RX weight is 65#, men's is 95#.

AMRAP in 20 minutes:
5 Thrusters
7 Hang Powercleans
10 Sumo Deadlift High-pulls

My result was 5 rounds + 5 thrusters and 7 Hang Powercleans.

I was not that happy with it. I am never as motivated when I am solo. It just isn't as fun! Not to mention I always get strange looks with all the weight I am throwing around (haha! wink, wink!).

There Go My Dreams Of Being A Hand Model

One of the unfortunate side effects of crossfit is nasty hands. Seriously, when I put moisturizer on my face this morning I scratched myself pretty good. The WOD on my birthday a couple of weeks ago involved a lot of pull ups and I was lucky enough (or so the good people of Tillman thought) to earn my first rip on the palm of my hand. I did not get a picture of it. (I know many of you are like, "gross, why would you do that?" But apparently, it is sort of a rite of passage for crossfitters) Well, today's WOD involved more pull ups. We did what is called a pull up ladder. First minute you do one pull up, second minute you do two, third minute three pull ups and so on and so forth until you can't do any more within a minute. I only got to ten before this happened.



I could have done so many more! But my hand was not having it. It started to tear again in the same place as last time, just when it was almost completely healed. Luckily, I stopped before it REALLY tore open. Now I just have a big blister. Anyway, enough about my nasty hands. The next WOD was:

Back Squats
3-3-3-3-3

I maxed out at 165#. Not sure how many rounds I actually did.

I have done more weight in the past, but clearly I was not doing them right. At Tillman they put a butt ball (big medicine ball) behind you that you have to touch with your backside when you squat. Much more tough than my other squats.

Fight Gone Bad IV

Well, the workout that I have been talking about for so long is DONE! Yesterday's FGB IV was a success! My goal of raising $150 was blown out of the water. My total was $275! Thank you to all my friends and family that donated! Tillman Training raised somewhere around $6000, and this is only their first year doing it.

The workout itself was another PR for me! My total reps was 227, 2 better than the weekend before. Not as great as I had hoped for, but at least I didn't go down. There are some amazing athletes at Tillman Training. I hope to get there at some point. Baby steps though! Here is a lovely picture that a friend took of my suffering! Haha! Gotta love my funny face! Seriously thought I was gonna puke at the end...

Not Feeling It

Wednesdays workout was tough to get through. Not so much because it was physically hard (although, it was as usual), but because I was worn out mentally. There are other factors in my life right now that are taking it's toll. If you know me at all, you know what I am talking about. Anyway, here is the WOD and my sucky time.

3 Rounds For Time Using 20# DB's:
21 DB Thrusters
21 DB Lunges
21 DB Cleans

Time - 16 minutes

Yesterday and today are rest days for me in preperation for FGB tomorrow. I don't want to be fatiged or sore and I even got a massage yesterday! I am super excited and going to give it my all for cancer and wounded warriors! Wish me luck!

My Shoulders Are Shot...

And I did not even finish! I am always fooled by these types of workouts. You know, the ones where you lift as much as you possibly can in just a few reps? I was in a hurry today to get to playgroup (that is what I am telling myself anyway) so I did not finish. Here's the WOD:

Shoulder Press 1-1-1-1-1
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5

Here are my results:

Shoulder Press 65-75-75-75-80
Push Press 85-95-95-100-105
Push Jerk 115(fail-3)-105-105

Although I did not finish, I can already feel the soreness coming on. My PR for Push Press is 110, but that was a single rep. So doing 3 reps with 105 was alright with me. Overall, I am pleased with my numbers. It has been a long time since I have done this.

I have a workout tomorrow at Crossfit Cedar Park and I am hoping they will keep it easy since we have FGB on Saturday! (I can see them laughing at me right now as I write this. The truth is, I have never had an easy workout there.) More tomorrow!

Tabata

Today's WOD was an RX for me! When I first started back up with crossfit a few months ago, I had to do push ups on my knees. I was having shoulder pain that was exasperated by doing push ups. The good people at Tillman Training suggested that I move my hands in closer to my body and drop to my knees if I had to. That did the trick and did a number on my triceps. But today I decided to move back up to regular push ups! It was slow going, but at least my shoulder no longer hurt! Here was today's WOD and my results:

Tabata

Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds work followed by 10 seconds rest. Each of the 8 intervals are as follows. There is no rest between exercises. Post total reps to score.

Row: 54 cal
Sit ups: 10+12+12+12+12+11+12+12=93
Push ups: 10+8+6+6+6+5+6+5=52
Squats: 20+16+15+13+14+13+12+13=116
Total=315

Next time I am shooting for 335. :)

Fight Gone Bad Preview

Yesterday's WOD at Crossfit Cedar Park was a preview of what is to come next Saturday. As many of you know, I am participating in FGB IV benefiting Wounded Warrior Project and Athletes for a Cure. As a Navy wife and with many military friends, I hold this event close to my heart. If you have not donated yet, you can do so here. Thank you, thank you!

WOD - Fight Gone Bad

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. The event is in the 3 round format. The stations are:

◦Wall-ball: 14 pound ball, 10 ft target. (Reps)
◦Sumo deadlift high-pull: 65 pounds (Reps)
◦Box Jump: 20″ box (Reps)
◦Push-press: 55 pounds (Reps)
◦Row: calories (Calories)
◦The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of “rotate,” the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

RX weight for men is 75 pounds for SDLHP and push-press and 20 pound medicine ball.

My total was a PR for me - 225

Yay! Hopefully I can improve even more next weekend!