CFF Day 90 – Team Challenge Saturday

Saturday July 18, 2009 9:00 AM

Another Saturday, another Team Challenge. Another Victory. I’m getting good partner draws these days, I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing! Came to the gym in a hurry, but still feeling good. Had T&O with me and they behaved very well, so that was nice! We started with an 800 run, and I was the last one to start since I was late, so I did it fairly fast, it felt good! I need to get a watch like Tom so I can figure out my splits!

Saturday team challenge – we did the Stadium Workout from the CrossFit Games;:
5 Teams of 4 – Our team was Daryl (from CrossFit in Buffalo), Brit, Stef, and Me

WOD:1 Round of the following – whole team has to finish individual station before anyone moves on:
30 20lb wallballs
300 meter row
30 x 24″ box jumps
30 x 30k push press
30 x 16K kettlebell swings
30 x 60k deadlifts

Thoughts:
Wallballs – Dang that’s heavy! I had a few that didn’t hit the plate so I had to redo them, that sucks! I don’t think I’m quite ready to be doing this weight, but as I’m right on the cusp, I thought I would give it a shot.
Row – I was pretty comfortable on this, 300M was really no problem
Box Jump – Had a good rhythm, but have to get faster.
Push Press – These were hard, shouldn’t have been that hard, but I was sucking wind pretty good when I got here
Kettlebell swings – I like these, difficult but manageable
Deadlifts – I repped out the first 15 then stopped – that was when my form went to hell, I went to repping 5, could only do that once, then repped 3s and 2s from there out. Form turned brutal by the end.

Reflections: Everyone wants to win the team challenge. My team was flying, I hadn’t worked out with Daryl or Stef before and I underestimated them, Brit is a superstar, so I knew that she would be pushing, it turned out I was the last person to finish just about every exercise. Since you can’t start the next exercise until everyone is done, that added a ton of pressure. In response to that pressure, I went for speed and not form, this was especially true for the PP and the DL, two exercises I’m pretty good at. I have to get better at slowing down, making sure the movements are right so I don’t injure myself. My lower back was not happy with me Sunday or today from those bad deadlifts. I think our team won the challenge by a minute or two, which really makes me kick myself for not taking more time to make sure I had good form.

Team Challenge Champs

Crossfitter of the Day: Daryl – this dude was a beast, he looked strong, but not ‘pick up my VW and throw it across the street, then run and catch it’ strong! One of the things that I enjoy about CF is that the really elite athletes don’t look like crazy musclehead bodybuilders, obviously they look fit, but not all roided out. It’s a testament to being an athlete vs. just being able to lift heavy stuff.

CFF – Day 66 – Deadlifts

I got in my car last night, still undecided on what I was going to do, go home or go to the gym. I never really made the concious decision, my car just ended up at the gym. I guess I’m working out. My throat felt fine and I was anxious to get back in the swing.

Warm up:
- 300FT Backward Sprint
- 300FT Backward Sprint

2 Rounds of
——————
15 Squats
15 Push-ups
15 Jumping Jacks
——————
- 300FT Backward Sprint
- 300FT Backward Sprint

Strength Work: Deadlifts: 3-3-3-1-1-1
70k-80k-90k-100k-110k(pr)-120k(pr)

WOD
5 Rounds of:
7 Deadlifts @ 60K
21 double unders

Cutoff: 6:00

Finished 3 full rounds+7DL before DNF

Thoughts on Strength – going for PR’s today, since this is a move I haven’t done a lot of and my old PR (105) was set on a set of 3, I felt like I would be able to crush it. I like the deadlift movement, esp since I’m now able to keep my back much straighter than before. Tommy Mo’s advice on the alternated grip (one hand forward, one hand back) makes it much easier. I think I’ll be able to go up to 130-140 the next time we do this.

Thoughts on WOD – I didn’t test the 60K on the DL until it was 3-2-1 go, I nearly hit myself in the face with the weight. After having 120k on there, its like going into a 25mph zone after getting off the highway! I was able to keep good form all throughtout the WOD on my DL, even the last 7 which I had about 8 seconds to do! And then, there were the double unders. UGGGGHHHH, Double unders suck. Wait scratch that, I suck at double unders. I can’t get a single rep, nope, not one. So, I have to attempt – which translates into doing a single under and then jumping a little higher and spinning my wrists faster and then, if I don’t make it, or at least land on the rope, I hit myself in the junk with the sides of the rope. (I’m a backwards jumproper). Then I have to reset and do it all over again for the next rep. Somewhere in the 2nd set though, I started to figure out how to land on the rope – once I even landed on it with my toes…which makes me think with some more practice, I’ll be able to get one. That is exciting. I don’t feel bad about the DNF b/c I know it wasn’t from lack of effort or strength. Just lack of technique, which I can overcome with some practice.

++Good deadlifts
–Doubleunders – keep practicing.

Also learned that Watermelon isn’t nearly as bad for you as I thought, I had been going with the: if it tastes that good it must be loaded with sugar theory, but Wild Bill says it’s A-OK, that it’s mostly water and like 9g of sugar per 130g, so it is not something to avoid. Yea! I love that stuff!

Weight:
208.6 – No change from the other day. That is EXTREMELY GOOD, considering I had about a 2L of soda and 3 Gatorades on monday alone. Also, I weighed myself at night, so I might be a touch lighter, so that is cool.

CFF – Day 61 – Scaling

Came in today ready for a great workout, awake and happy to be here!

Strength Work: Dead Lifts – 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3
60k, 80K, 100K, 105K, 105k, 105k

WOD
- 10 Tuck Jumps
- 30 Box K2E, 20 Lying Down K2E
- 20 Tuck Jumps
- 40 Lying Down K2E
- 30 Tuck Jumps
- 30 Lying Down K2E
- 40 Tuck Jumps
- 20 Lying Down K2E
- 50 Tuck Jumps
- 10 Lying Down K2E

Time: 19:45 (I believe, can’t really remember)

So, I call this scaling b/c I had to scale everything in this. I hate that. That being said, the tuck jumps are super hard and prolly require more energy and strength than the double unders it is subbing in for. I concentrated on getting the most height I could and exploding out of them, so they took more time, but I feel like I got the most out of them. The Lying down K2E were much easier than the Box K2E, which I struggled with. The hardest thing about the box K2E was that whenever I gripped the bar, I kept pinching the inside of my hand, on the opposite side of my knuckles. It hurt like crazy. I couldn’t figure it out. Anyway, the workout still felt great, I sweat up a storm and my abs hurt for the next 3 days straight.