Twisted

Science is like a love affair with nature; an elusive, tantalising mistress. 

It has all the turbulence, twists and turns of romantic love, 

but that's part of the game. 

~Vilayanur S. Ramachandran

Warm up
1000 Row

3 RNDs
10 Wall ball
10 Jump Squat
10 Burpees
10 TRX Rows

Skill
Rope Climbs

Strength - Week 3, Day3 BBA
All sets 5x6 reps

• Backsquat  -145# incl 20# chains (about 80% 1RM)
• Glute Bridge 
• KTE

Macebell Training Week 3
WarriorMaker
A1: Barbarian Squat
A2: Gravedigger
A3: Warrior Joust
A4: Twisted Sword Draw

HE: Tabata Battling Ropes
Rotating Movements 1-4x2 each set
Wave/Alt Arm Wave/Fat Grip Wave/Side to Side

Yep, done after this one. Great workout. Really really enjoying this training program.

You Choose

The only measurement is between my desire and my allowing.

Weekend off. 

Friday was a blast and Saturday was full for girl-time and errands. Decided to take a quick trip to the coast and replenish :). Toes in the sand, waves were excellent, sun was warm but not too much. 
Perfect. 

Just perfect.

CrossBox

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”

~ Albert Einstein

Beautiful Sunday. Up early while the house is quiet and still asleep. Enjoyed a cup of coffee & a moment before I trekked up to the local gym to get some work in.

The divide is so beautiful right now. Flowers blooming, color, green, sunshine & a cool breeze. Ultimate moments from every view.

Warm up
Row 1K

EKG - 90 seconds each movement
Shin Box Switch/Deck squat to Candlestick/Spiderman Stretch/Quad hops

Strength - minimal rest between sets 15-30 seconds
50 Bench press - 5x10 @55/65/75/70/65
50 Push Press - 5x10 @55#

Conditioning
Boxing sets, 50 body shots + 5 kicks R/L
6x :90, :30 rest
1/2, 2/1, 1/2/3, 2/1/4, 1/2/3/4, combo with 5/6

2 sets
: 90 jump rope :30 rest

That about did it. I thought I was in for Death By Ball Slam but think I will slide that one in somewhere within the next week :). Arms were pretty toast after that combo for the day, plus the push ups yesterday.

Perfect timing, I smell bacon for breakfast :)!

Good read
Pay Your Dues

14.3 Lift Jump Repeat

“The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.”

 Richard Bach

Fresh air, Sunshine and Dead-lifts!

That is what I call a good way to enjoy the day. Couldn't get to the workout until mid afternoon but it was well worth it. Set up outside, bit of a breeze, timer & counter, 3, 2, 1 ... GO!

I really enjoyed this workout. There was so much information and so quickly about this workout on how to strategize. Pre workout warm up, mobility & post work effort was a relief to have an honestly ... made a significant difference for me. As for the workout itself, a bit of pre planning really made it go smoothly, set up weights in an order, know when to break, when to transition, box placement. Time spent on the heavy weight was well worth each rep, setting up and breathing. Last set of jumps @6:03. I was not in a hurry, it was an early quick pace, unbroken first round, second round broken into 3rds (3x5), third into 5ths (5x4) and last singles. Could I have eeked out a few more reps, I think so ... after hearing how many were doing the night before I opted for a conscious breath in between the last 5 reps. I am very pleased. It is the next day and I feel it but no rehab required. A little AirDyne flush and some recovery swings. More sunshine and a movie with my sweetie girl.

Good show HQ. I am one and done on this but will plan to do it again sometime after the Open before swim season :)! Honestly, each of the workouts so far have been enjoyable. Tough but ... I know the MUs are coming and I am not prepared, my own fault, I am there, I am there, but I am not quite there. It is something that makes the difference between work (wall ball, thrusters) and exhilaration (double unders, pull ups).

Happy girl & still enjoying the ride ~

On the Trail

Nature never hurries. Atom by atom, little by little, she achieves her work.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Warm up
10 empty bar presses
10 T2B
10 Kip swings
x3

Atlas Stone to shoulder x3
Atlas Stone squats x5

Log Press @ 55# x3
Keep up that form. Adding a bit of weight at a time.

Tabata ;)
2 minute rest between RNDs

• Burpees
• Walking Lunges
• Straight leg sit ups (part of todays 300)
• Ring rows

Excellent lunch! Chicken tacos ... love taco Tuesdays ;)

Ready for the slow burn.

1 Mile Sandbag carry
Took the Western States Trail down by the river today. What an perfect day for weather, beauty and some fun!

Start with and every 400 stop and perform 25 of the following movements, one movement each stop.

• Squat with sandbag (100)
• Push up feet raised on rail, log, stone etc. (100)

This was fantastic! Trying to get creative with the 300 challenge and this absolutely fit the bill today. My favorite were the push ups on the bridge, hands on the sandbag, great inversion.

WOD TECH!

Hold on, man.  

We don't go anywhere with 

"scary," 

"spooky," 

"haunted," 

or 

"forbidden" 

in the title.  

~ from Scooby-Doo

Anatomy of a WOD TECH!
Affiliate shirt, reebok shorts, Rx armband,  comp wristband,  oly shoes, knee wrap, knee socks, tape & repair lotion, PR book, lifting belt, wrist wraps & gloves, hair tie & favorite girl, fit aid, paleo pack & coconut oil in pocket!

Warm up
Tripedal movement
5 minutes

Skill
Cartwheels

WOD
EMOTM 15 minutes
Back squat 80%1RM - went 135# today
It was the last round that was where I thought, thank goodness it isn't a 20  min AMRAP!

MetCon
Tabata
Mtn Climbers
Ring rows 
Ice skaters
KB Russian Swing - 24kg

Fully costumed, which restricted some movement, but since I was a WOD Tech ... well, I was pretty much raring to go anyway ;). Doing tabata with the weight belt on was a new experience, ahahaha. Talk about a little sweating. It's gooooood!

Fun classes to coach and great workout for me! 

Work/Run/Work/Run x4

The power of imagination makes us infinite.

~John Muir

Wind in the trees.

Yes, early fall is apparent here near the gateway to the Rubicon Trail.

I love playing on these days because it is all with a deep breath and a quiet morning. I took the girls with me today and seeing them 'hanging' out is always a good thing.

Handstands, yes, practice, practice and I should be practicing. Cartwheels across the field as I set up the hurdles. I really needed a good stretch today and opted for some Indian clubs and the basic ROM over everything.

Brought out the KBs and some mini track hurdles. Placed them every 100 yds and created a 'station' in each spot. KBs were spread out every 200 yds. This is an idea that I came across from Mike Mahler a while back and just haven't had too much time to play with. It was meant to be more of a threshold training session, which I would have arranged as either :30/:30 or :45/:15, but used the rest as a run this time. Here goes!

4 RNDs - 16 minutes
:30 ON each station, :30 to run 100yds to the next.

I chose a different movement at each station rather than repeating rounds today. Here is the rundown.

RND1
Close grip push ups
KB Power swing
Sit ups
KB OHSwing

RND2
Squats
Snatch R
Jumping jacks
Snatch L

RND3
Plank
ATW
Hip bridges
Figure 8

RND4
Side Plank R w/raise
Clean R
Side Plank L w/raise
Clean L

Hot tired and ready for lunch. I capped the work off with some lateral jumping over the hurdles, hops w/swing finisher. A nice rest day tomorrow ;). I love earning these.

Meditation
I will take John's instruction today and consider the power of imagination.

Food nugs
Geared up for CLEAN program starting tomorrow ;)
I found my 'balance' with it, there is no caloric restriction which is important, enough protein and macros for supporting my activity so, 3, 2, 1 ...

StrongFirst

Focus on your potential instead of your limitations.

EKG - BW L2

AirDyne 2.5 miles
Ran the first one to get the blood pumping 4-5 and dropped the remainder down to flow. Sweating like a crazy gal at the end of this. Humid?

No lifts today, so enjoyed the skill work.

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have actually worked - worked - with the bell. But all that changes today! My KB class is back on the schedule officially in our little Podunk town, rest time is over and I can't wait to see the group.

... AND I am officially signed up for the StrongFirst KB certification in Feb! Woo hoo! Taking it to the next level. This means some focused training. Taking Dan Johns recommendations to heart and incorporating them in to my week, look for that starting next rotation. Perfect practice ...

EMOTM
1 TGU, snatch at the top 35#

Joy :)

3 RNDs
20 GHD
20 Ring dips
20 Pull ups

B warm up - nothing like working on a little snatch form while everyone else is!

Jammed straight up to volleyball tonight. Tick tock, oh how time can fly. Missed the first match ;( but came in strong on the second and we ended up with 2 out of 3 matches. Great teamwork, great weather, just all around fun to be back on the court. Practice seemed to pay off for Bump Up OR Shut Up! so far.

Food nugs
Thinking of shifting to a more cleansing diet for a few weeks. I was exposed to something that has just put my gut in a wringer. Doesn't make it fun to try to eat to perform when ugh! I have added some deep green smoothies in and already feeling a difference in digestion. Highlights coming.

Meditation
While I love making this a priority, yeah, not today.

Chick talk!
Want an athletic body but still fit into your skinny jeans ... not gonna happen! But if you take a deep breath and congratulate yourself on a body well built, you will realize that you just might look damn good in a new cut of booty jeans and celebrate the work you've done.
The Athletic Build

Coached by a woman? A good read. Female Coach?
10-reasons-why-you-should-take-more-notice-of-what-a-female-coach-has-to-say

Dear CrossFit
Crossed the line with inappropriate photos? There is nothing worse than trying to perform and perform well than to have a camera snap a crotch shot or wardrobe malfunction. Most athletic wear is pretty steady, but not made for every move we might attempt. Take to heart the takeaway. Well done Patrick!

Summer Song

In summer, the song sings itself.  ~William Carlos Williams

Morning Joy
Tread water 30 minutes

3RNDs
Sprint 25 Freestyle - Get out, 25 Push ups
Sprint 25 Breast stroke - Get out, 25 Squats
Sprint 25 Butterfly - Get out, 25 act Flutter kicks over the pool edge

Yeah baby! Love these little dittys!

Afternoon Rub
Warm up
3RNDs
Row 300M
20M Bear Crawl
Ring rows - no partner for tug o war!

Skill
Atlas Stone - 40/70/90#
Just too freaking hot to focus on these. Really want that 115 but it wasn't today.

Strength
Backsquat worked up to 165#
5 sets of 3

I hear myself saying REST out loud, I know that I am in that mid-swim summer league phase of just being damn tired when it comes to heavy ... this felt ick. Should have given this one the heave-ho today. Solidifies my decision to take this month off of L2 training and focus on StrongFirst movements for the fall cert.

MetCon
21-15-9
KB OHSwing 24kg
Burpee over Box 20in
6:26

Gawd! On top of the heat inside the box, these were not as much of a delight as I had hoped ;). I super loved the swings, of course.

Must check the eating, I think that I am under feeding a bit believe it or not. So much activity these last couple of weeks and on a tough roll for the next few weeks. Check it all! HRV, pay attention, don't just measure!

Basics With A Twist

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong.
There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right.
To  map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Warm up

AirDyne 1 mile

Pigeon to Pigeon Transitions

Rope Climbs - yes, sock day!

Skill WOD

Continuing to work on the basics, push/pull, just with a little skill twist for degree of difficulty. Always good to work here.

5 RNDs

5 HSPU

5 Ring Push ups

5 Bfly Pull ups - Hit these in the last workout almost unbroken ... happy, keep practicing ;)

Oly

Burgener Warm up

EMOTM 10 minutes

5 Hang Snatch @ 55#

3 RNDs for Completion

10 Snatch grip DL @95#

10 Ring Rows

1:00 Plank

Standing for Liberty

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." - Benjamin Franklin

I do.

I LOVE CrossFit. 

I love that it is on fire in our nation and around the world. 

That it supports the foundations that our country was built on.

Sweat Glands in High Gear

Success is dependent upon the glands - sweat glands. 

~ Zig Ziglar

Pre-WOD
Scorpion Transitions

Um, yeah, mine are not quite this fluid. Loved doing them though, great transitions and now that I am not nearly as active in yoga, I really feel the benefit of opening up the body with these pre workout.

Skill WOD
5 RNDs
3 Rope pulls (no rope at the gym, so tripled the pull and went from ground to standing)
10 HSPU (so so happy, did these with only sandbag as my cush & hit 5x5)

Strength
Backsquat 5x5 w/3 second pause
95x5, 115x5, 125x5, 135x5
Max set@ 145 x3 WORK felt great but that's all I had

Sumo Deadlift
10x1
Max set @215, yeah!
Failed on 225 but okay with that today :) when 195 feels 'light', happy girl.

3 RNDs
6 Squat cleans @ 75#
6 Atlas stone lifts @70 (ish) - these are tough but worth it
10 GHD Raises - on my hammys

Not really my first choice to hit this whole workout in one session, but I am determined to get it done and this is the way I have to play it today. Could I have gone heavier on the lifts maybe PR without the creeping thought of a load of work ahead ... maybe sir, maybe. On deck for 3 hours coaching and a quick swim this morning. The early schedule is just going to be tough over the next week or so. Let's see how hydration maintains and recovery is via HRV and just go for it!

MetCon
21-15-9
KB high swing (to forehead not OH, too close to lifts to risk lower back strain) @ 24kg
Burpee over Box Jumps - gawd these sucked!
5:23

I think I continued sweating for a good 30 minutes after this and the heatwave was last week. A perfect 77 degree day, cool breeze and I am just pouring it out. While I am sweating on the outside, I am salivating at the post workout carb that I am going to enjoy!

THAT WAS A FANTASTIC TRAINING SESSION. Only thing that would have made it better was to play with someone ;).

Not Your Average ...

So why do I and others around the world do what some people might consider

extremely foolish?  

Because we dare to challenge ourselves - and you should

dare to challenge yourself as well.

Stop being content with being average.

Never sure how I am going to feel on these early coaching days ... but today with a consistency of ETP under my belt, I am in great shape. 

Up at 4am always leaves my CNS a little off and with the 2:30am wake up call on Sunday followed by long drive/long run/long drive ... I thought for sure I was in for a slump, but took my OmegaWave measurement after the 5:30 class and confirmation that I was in 'GOOD' readiness mode. That means ok to lift but a crazy long met con would be bad. Perfect for today's programming.

Warm up

5x5 Tire flips

Indian Clubs @ 1#

3x15 Pendulum

Shield Cast 3x10

Front Swing DBL 3x20

Shield Cast Alt 3x20

Strength

1RM Backsquat PR!! @ 173#

Slow & steady progress. I enjoy lifting at CFA Roseville because the weights are fully colored and glorious!

1RM Press @ 73# 

Holding steady here, ready to go up, maybe the Indian Clubs will offer some help over time.

MetCon

3RFT

20 DB Walking Lunges

10 T2B

100M Overhead Carry @ 75#

8:46

Straight up CrossFit day. Finished it off with 3 hours of Swim clinic coaching and I am anxious to get in the water myself!

Unusual

Bay to Breakers!

If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. 

~ Jim Rohn

This was an unusual and unexpected invite ... I was untrained for the 12K run but hey! It was a blast. I got to hang out with my sister for the day and anyone familiar with this run will tell you it is highly entertaining!

So, a 2:30am wake up call left me excited and drained all morning. A 2 hour trek down to BART and a short ride into the city. Good plan. No hiccups and perfect timing. Gotta love No. Cali!

The craziness that ensued at the beginning of the 'race' included a snail pace start for the first mile. I was still holding my coffee! As things thinned out a bit, we upped it to a nice paced jog and then, THE HILL, this was almost the best part of the course!! I took it in as close to a sprint as I could, fantastic! Weaving in and out of the strange, drunk and apprehensive. Music and onlookers cheering the participants all the way. The descent was a breath of (almost) fresh air and cruising along the gardens was lovely. I chose a quicker pace from mile 6-7 to gauge where I was and after 5 miles I was pleased to say that I still hit a 7:50 pace. Quick chat with 3 generations of runners after the marker ... the youngest was stunned to see me running backward while chatting before I accelerated for my 300 sprint to the finish ;). Thank you Griff ;).

Note to self: STOP driving before and after a running race. The legs really need more time. 

Great day with my sister. I am SO PROUD of her. She ran a stellar 12K! Well under her goal. We gawked, giggled and covered our eyes and after the victory finish we enjoyed the breakers for a few before shuttling back to the start and downing a big greasy burger at Ziggy's w/sweet-potato fries. Ahhh city life ~

Next up ... and last distance to accomplish, 13.1, somewhere with a beautiful course.

Loaded

The searching-out and thorough investigation 

of truth 

ought to be the primary study of man. 

~ Cicero

Monday

Who LOVES de-load week? MEMEMEMEMEMMEEME!

Finally, someone is not telling me what to do. Which I like in the grand scheme of things on this training schedule, but ... I do wish I had more time to throw in some new things to play with. I am going to add some heavy bag work in to my overall schedule as warm up or cool down, but also I am ready for something I haven't done yet. I missed parkour, so ... stay open to the possibilities ;)>

Warm

MBG 15/15

DBL Clean/Strict Press 8kg

Work

2 RNDs up/back, up/back

5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5, Run 200

DBL Pwr swing @20kg yay!

Goblet Squat

Push up

1 RND

5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5 - each side

Around the World

Figure 8 to Hold (FAV!)

Figure 8

Oh, done! Awesome flow ;) ~

Tuesday

MBG 15/15

DBL Clean/Strict Press 8kg

Skill: HSPU/Handstand hold

Wednesday

Rope climbs

Row

Thursday

MBG 15/15

DBL Clean/Strict Press 12kg

Really enjoying this. I thought I might get bored, but ... upping the weight b/c Rsvl CFA only has # of 15 or 25 so, went for it. Halfway mark I had to Ppress the rest and was I counting down the rounds at the end? Heck yeah. Pumped up though.

Bfly pullups Max set EMOTM - 10

ugh, keep working on these. last set only @5

Friday

Couldn't resist. Seemed like easy enough.

Warm up (each side)

10 1 Arm swing

10 High pull

10 Snatch

10 Press

10 Squat

Work - ladder

(2, 1, 5, 4, 3) 5 RNDs, the reps for each movement were like a sandwich between the swings and lunges.

This looked so much easier that it was.

20 KB OHswing 16kg

• Active side plank
• TGU each side 12kg
• Complex - high pull, snatch, press, squat each side

20 Jumping lunges each side

To my joy, I woke up on Saturday with KB love from this workout. Busy day ahead, but I took the time to stretch and pay attention to my glutes which were fired up. 

I didn't go heavy, but I didn't go light, I must have got it just right ;) ~