Snatching

12min to find 1 rep max Snatch

WOD [10 rounds of]
10 rounds
Every 90 seconds

5 snatches (95/65)
100 meter sprint

12 minutes is not enough time to get a new PR. I got up to 85 lbs in my snatch, but according to my records my PR was 90 lbs in August.

Considering that nothing is sore or injured, it woulda been a good chance to get a new PR, but it didn't happen.

Did the WOD at RX cuz snatching 65 lbs is pie to me now.

Skill: rope climb fail

Today's skill ROPE CLIMBING!!!

WOD [3 rounds of]
1 rope climb
10 goblet squats (55 / 35)
2 rope climbs
15 kettle bell swings
3 rope clims
8 Overhead lunges /per leg (45 / 25 plate)

 We tried doing rope climbs for about 10 minutes and I got and itty bit better at it, and that is still just hanging on to the rope and not really moving upwards...

So, for the modified WOD do x2 rope climbs from the floor...

Definitely the toughest part is enduring all the pain it brings to your HANDS and grip, even holding on to the kettle bell was proving to be a mission toward the end.

Had I done actual rope climbs it woulda burn my thighs and legs.
I could never go to an actual competition cuz I totally fail at these crossfit skills.

T minus 2 days

Taking a rest day today and tomorrow so I don't tire myself out before the competition.

T minus 4 days

ZE ZMOLOVZ
1x3 60% = 130 lbs
1x3 70% = 150 lbs
1x3 80% = 170 lbs
2x3 95% = 205 lbs

METCON 12 minutes to complete:
400m run
2 rounds (135lbs / 85lbs)
1 power snatch
1 hang snatch
1 overhead squat

200m run
3 rounds of snatch complex

100m run
Max numbers of snatch complex until time out

It's 4 days until our in-house crossfit competition / 2nd year anniversary. Today and yesterday, my left knee feels a little stuck and it has me worried since the first WOD announced for the competition is a 1 rep max for back squats. I know I can hit 205 lbs easily, since it's my old max, but when I got to 215 lbs after the first cycle of Smolov, I was borderline injured and don't think I squatted that low.

I failed the last sets of Smolov today, but I'm about to get my monthly so everything in my body feels drained and tired and not wanting to cooperate.

This Metcon was a lot of fun! I never thought I would say this about snatches, but now that I can do them well it's not a huge deal. Rocker dude did his WOD at 75 lbs and thought I was doing the same weight (which I could had I not been PMSing), but I switched to the "girl" bar cuz I was not in the mood to suffer failed reps due to losing my grip, so I did the WOD at 65 lbs.

Socks Coach said "You're killing it today, Berpii!" which made me smile my shy smile. And Girl Coach always compliments my form it makes me so happppyyyyyy.

The score for this WOD was number of snatch complexes completed after the 100m run.
I got 9 in the remaining time, not bad!

I wonder what we'll do tomorrow? Either way taking Friday and Saturday off to not die during the competition.

Classic WOD style

Warm-up WOD
7min EMOM:
10 kettle bell swings (62 lb /35 lb)
6 burpees

5 min rest

METCON
15 min to complete 5 Rounds of:
10 box jumps
10 pull-ups
10 goblet squats (62lb / 35lb)
10 HSPU (or 5 wall climbs)

Today felt very much like a regular crossfit WOD, short, intense, and harder than it seems. The warm-up was great and I finished all the reps every minute, yay!

I did the pull-ups with the medium band, and been trying to incorporate more kipping into it, I think I'm getting the hang of it!
Wall climbs... we haven't done those in AGES and I consider them my mortal enemies. I gave it a shot for the first round, and touched my stomach to the wall for the first time ever, but holy shit they're so hard to dooooooo.
Because of those 5 wall climbs that took me an eternity to complete, I was behind and only completed 4 rounds of the WOD. (For the rest I switched to box push-ups)
But I'm a little prouder of myself, so it's all good.

note to self: wear a more supportive bra for box jumps, it is inefficient to hang on to your boobs while jumping.

Don't Regret not Trying

Smolov SQUATZ
1x3 60% = 130 lbs
1x3 70% = 150 lbs
1x3 80% = 170 lbs
5x5 90% = 190 lbs

Metcon WOD
12 min AMRAP of:

200m run
7 hang clean & jerks (135 / 95)
15 burpees
30 double unders

There's this one [young] dude that has been going to my box for a long time, but he's kinda quiet (maybe standoffish?), or not so interested in crossfit? His squats were ridiculously light!!! Also, his form during the clean and jerks almost gave me several heart attacks worrying over the box getting sued when this fool breaks his back.

I feel that Psoas totally acting up on the 90% squats... yarrrgh.

I did the wod at 85 lbs, which in the night class board, said was the RX for women, my happiness kinda wore off when I checked the WOD again to write this post :(
I thought I was leveling up. Although, only finished 2 rounds cuz yea, 85 lbs is a lot to hang clean and jerk.
I hit my boobs while cleaning the bar, several times. Not gonna be surprised if I end up with bruised nipples tomorrow. So hardcore, bruh.

Does it hurt yet?

Smolov for the day:
1x3 65% = 140 lbs
1x3 70% = 160 lbs
1x4 80% = 185 lbs
4x5 90% = 195 lbs


WOD
2 rounds of this Metcon:
5 minutes to complete
12 kb swings (44 lb / 35 lb)
12 thrusters (95 lb / 65 lb)

then
1 minute of max burpee box jumps

1 min rest

Not afraid of the smolov sets anymore! In my first set of the 90%, I failed the last rep, but this was pretty good considering I was on my own and getting pretty low on that squat. Holding up 195 lbs for however long it takes me to push out 5 reps is really the most difficult part of those sets, to be honest...

Bruh.
This Metcon.
I dunno what is the coach's idea giving us murderous Metcons on a Friday. After finishing the first set of kb swings I realized how hard the next 10 minutes of my life were going to be, and of course they wouldn't let me do this at anything below RX cuz it's just 12 little thrusters!

Maybe if the rest time was 2 minutes I woulda finished the full set in round 2 as well.

Still deeply in love with Girl Coach. I hope she comes tomorrow.

Thursday is for running

WOD
1 mile run
5 min rest
1 mile run

I didn't go >_>

Instead I walked shopping malls with my cousins from out of town.

Kinda beating myself up over it because I want to improve my mile run...

Get a Grip

WOD
5 min AMRAP:

200m farmer's walk
10 power snatches (115 / 75lb)
max burpees
4 min rest

Complete 4 rounds

I tried a couple snatches at 75 lbs and it felt ok, so I decided to go with that for the wod. Unfortunately, there's only one pair of 35 lb kettle bells in the box, which shoulda been the weight for me to do, but then I decided to man it up two notches and did the first walk with 44 lbs.

Crazy mistake.

By the time I was done (dead last of the whole group) my grip was GONE. My forearms were super sore my, calluses were tearing a bit, and my fingers were cramped. I tried snatching the barbell and it was a huge NOPE. In the first round I only managed 4 snatches and failed about 4 attempts.

So then, I downsized to 25 lb PLATES (cuz there were no more kettle bells at this weight either) and while slightly more manageable, it turned out to be another ordeal in terms of grip. I also put the snatch down to 65 lb and to be able to pump out all 10 plus about 6 burpees in every round.

I also gloriously dropped the plate by my shin, so I gained some attractive bruises.

Quads burning

Smolov (back squats):
4x 60% = 130lbs
4x 70% = 150lbs
4x 80%  = 170lbs
3x 90% = 195lbs
2x4 90% = 195lbs


WOD
Metcon
Tabata groiners
Run 200 meters
Tabata jumping lunges
Run 400 meters
Tabata butterfly sti-ups

Hmpf. Afternoon class and that was some pretty heavy squats to get done, I did the last 3 sets at 190lbs, because the belt was nowhere to be found and I was pretty much dying squatting so heavy.
Cool Guy Coach was all like "Call me if you need a spotter" but he was chatting away with other peeps. When he finally came to spot me he was ultra motivational which kinda makes me lol inside a little bit cuz he YELLS at me a lot, but I totally need that to push myself through the sets.

Always the last one to finish the squats even if I had a rack all to myself and I have all the percentages figured out beforehand.

Wod was aight. Why do my quads feel like they're gonna fall off my leg by detaching from the tendons when we do jumping lunges?  I dunno. I just hope this is how other people feel as well.

Competition Prep

WOD (in teams of 2)
"How high can you go?"

10 RFT
5 power cleans [heavy]
10 plate burpees
5 high wall ball shots

One person does the wod, finishes, then tags the teammate to start next round.

This saturday was rather empty and Girl Coach didn't go so my heart was a little broken, but the Founder Coach was there and it's always nice to see him cuz he does small talk with me and I like how he runs the class.

I got paired up with Steph who is one of the older and stronger girls at the box. She said her max clean was 125 lbs, and last time I checked, mine was 115 lbs, so we did the WOD at 105 lbs. (RX for women was 155 lbs)

Continuing with the trend that Socks Coach wants us to have more of a competition mentality about crossfit, we made lanes in the indoors soccer field, so each time wouldn't get in each other's way and everyone was traveling the same distance between the exercises.

On my second round, as I was jogging back to tag my partner, I tripped over the barbell and I (gracefully?) skid along the [fake] grass. I'm guessing I had an OK fall, cuz nobody got too worried about it, they were just like, you good? OK, GO! I scraped both of my knees and my elbow a bit, but it was minor enough to carry along with the WOD.

Of course it totally happened in slow motion in my head, and I kinda wish somebody would've recorded it. Just glad I didn't fall on my face!

Also "feels good man" that I did 15 power cleans at a weight that only last year was my max.

Death by Thrusters

Smolov for the day (back squats):
1x4 65% = 140 lbs
1x 4 70% = 150 lbs
5x4 80% = 170 lbs

WOD
"Death by Thrusters"

Do 1 thruster in the first minute
2 thrusters in the second minute
3 thrusters in the third minute...
Continue until you fail to complete the reps within the minute.

Weight used: 65lbs.


After finishing the 9th minute, I grabbed on to the bar to start the next 10 reps and saw little stars flickering across my lids. I then felt the pain I would endure all over my body if I managed to pull myself through the next 10 reps, and I decided I didn't want to muster up the courage to put myself through that suffering. Thusly, I quit at 9.

I could've probably done it, maybe even to 11, but I wasn't in the frame of mind to go on overkill mode. My shoulder was already acting up and my quads felt like they were self-combusting with each additional rep. I had read on Box Life magazine that the way you get better at crossfit is just pushing through, pushing yourself always to 110% and beyond.

With this enlightened view, I did a couple wods were I didn't allow myself to rest  as much as I usually do, lifting RX if I could manage it or only 10 lbs less. But then I got injured due to Smolov, and I started to get worried about seriously fucking up my body again.

That's why this time I decided nine was enough.

(For reference, Toaster Strudel coach got to 14 reps at men's RX -woops I didn't check what it was. Girl Coach had not written her score, nor did any of the morning classes, hmpf)

There's these two new girls, turns out they're in the university's volleyball team. They do have athletic bodies, although on the chubby side right now. Compared to other noobs I've seen come in, they started squatting heavy and pretty low rather fast, so I figured they must've had previous lifting experience (and they do).
I bring them up cuz: their thighs are bigger than mine. This brings me a great sense of comfort. They both have really large thighs, but not the kind that is floppy fat, but an athletic type that gained fat. They're super young too, maybe they'll become crossfit athletes in a year or so.

After the wod, all the coaches on site were trying to talk people into coming in for the Saturday workout. My body already feels wiped out by Friday, and my "crossfit tan" is only getting more noticeable. I'm torn about going.

My calves were all tied up in knots because of yesterday's double unders. I rolled them out but it was super painful.

I still suck at double unders

WOD

Unbroken double unders in sets of:

5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50
45-40-35-30-25-20-15-10-5

(there was a 100m running penalty for messing up on a set larger than 40, then having to start over from 5. Of course, if doing singles, double the reps)

I remember at the beginning of the year, our box did a list of resolutions for the next year, where everyone wrote a fitness goal they wanted to improve/achive.

Mine went something like double unders, a faster mile, unassisted pull-ups.

I haven't achieved any of these yet, but I guess it can't also be denied that I'm getting better at all these things little by little.

For the  first 10 minute we did mobility, then some 5 minutes of technique drilling for double unders.
Most people did the wod by modifying it to singles; but I used the reaming 25 minutes to practice double unders. My goal was to get at least the first 5 unbroken set.

Utter failure.
The most I could do was 4, and that was with single-double, pattern. I started to get so frustrated I wanted to curl up and cry in a corner. The only other girl that also trained her doubles, whipped out a set of 10, but this was the most she could manage. This was really good thou, cuz her form was great! Whenever I do doubles I have a tendency to jump backwards, the coach says that this is what's ruining my timing.

Because the girl coach was there (yey! morning class) and she let me use her wire rope, I swallowed my sadness and kept at it until the timer ran out. Coach D also gave me a LOT of pointers and said to keep training consistently and I will get it.

But yeah, how much additional time can I add to my training if I really want to become good at "all the things"?

Wednesday nights are never packed

A little annoyed that most of this week I'll be going to the night classes.
The coach at night is not as enthusiastic as the morning ones and I don't get to stretch enough.

Onwards to Smolov Intense Mesocycle week 1, day 3:

Back squats:
1x3 60% = 130lbs
1x3 70% = 150lbs
1x4 80% = 170lbs
1x3 90% = 195lbs
2x5 85% = 185lbs

Metcon (with a parnter! - 1 partner rests, the other works)
10 burpees
20 double unders
10 toes to bar

I failed the last set of Smolov. This dude took the belt, the girl's belt!! I only got to use it for the 90% set. Yeah, yeah, I kinda rely too much on the belt (or a coach) to get me through the super heavy sets. But tonight the coach seemed more interested in rushing us to get to the metcon.

It was only me and another girl in this class so we were paired up. The guys did ring dips instead of toes to bar. No reps were given, I guess they are training for something? Or at least the coach is.

I was totally not expecting to jump rope so I wore a sport bra with barely any support, my calluses were also ripe for tearing, I thankfully made it through with my hands in one piece.

I did 40 singles cuz double unders is still something I struggle to execute. I've nailed it down to not being able to flick my hands fast enough.

Grace & Cindy, sitting on a tree

WOD

"Grace & Cindy Sitting on a Tree"

Cindy is:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats

Complete:
10 clean & jerk (155# / 105#)
1 round of Cindy
8 clean & jerk
1 Cindy
6 C&J
Cindy
4 C&J
Cindy
2 C&J
Cindy

After this point continue doing Cindy until the timer runs out (25 minutes total for wod)

I really wanted to do this wod in the morning with my usual crew. Not many girls wrote their score/weights on the board.
I started at 80# because now that we're back on Smolov my back already started giving me that pain and I figured for this wod I should take it easy.
After completing the first set of 10 I upgraded to 95# cuz I was feeling badass.
That was the right choice.

I'm still doing the pull-ups with double elastic band.
=sigh=
Petite Thunder Thighs did kipping pull-ups. But I lifted more than her. Damn, I am so jelly her kipping pull-ups were looking good. I tried one band, utter fail. Did 5 rounds in the remaining time.
I didn't check how long it took me to finish the actual wod. Was resting too much anyways.

When the wod was over these two dudes (let's call them Sailorbeard and Froggy) called me over, literally by gesturing a "come here" with their hands.
They then proceeded to tell me that my progress in this crossfit has been great, that I look really different from when I started, and I've gained a TON of strength.
Do I diet? How much weight have I lost? Will I enter the in-house competition?

These dudes see me sporadically because I only go to the 8pm class as my last resort.

I am truly flattered.

I guess wearing those knee-high reebok socks with the shorts looks good after all.