Everything's sore now!

Tuesday's WOD
FS 3-3-3: 95-115-125(2)
I really need to work on proper rack form so I’m not messing up my wrists. FS, cleans, everything… form goes out the window when the weight gets heavy or I get tired. Had more in legs but just couldn't keep the bar on the shoulders.

Metcon with red band: 18:00
Splits: 2:48, 2:46, 3:09, 3:17

Pullup endurance was bad. Small tear with 5 pullups to go…

Post: 2 x 10 GHD sit ups. Left it at that or it’d be too painful.


Wednesday's WOD
200 DUs: 4:09 (speed rope)

Metcon (24″ BJ / 103# DL / 10# WB): 4 + 1WB
24" box jumps were a good mental challenge. Shake legs off and get back on. Almost missed one. I went lighter than 50% (1RM = 225#). I remember when I did Linda with a 115# bar... wrecked my back for a week. Hoping the 10#s saved me. Lack of breathing rhythm on WB was my limiting factor. Missed a few reps on the WB too.

Post: 3 x 10 per leg step ups with two 15# KBs on small box + 45# plate
These are a great exercise for hips. My PT had me do these (with not as much weight) when I was rehabbing my hip.

Catching up

Sunday:
Was supposed to go climbing today but I had a freak accident and bent back my big toe nail pretty bad on a vent cover. Yeah, crazy.
20 min row: 4,210m
Pace was anywhere from 2:15-2:30/500K. Not good...

Tuesday:
Clean/Burpee WOD
Shoulder to overhead: 110# split jerk from in front. PR!
I didn't really want to try the behind the back jerk since it would have meant a wider grip and I thought it would be easier on the shoulder to do a narrower grip.

Metcon @ 60#: 6:54
Burpees at a good pace with some focus on breathing. Quads burned a bit so that slowed me down on the cleans.

Post: 48 PUs on knees with elbows in. It's for the shoulder but even this was tough on it. Just not back at the strength I was before.

Post-post: 3x5 ring rows. Felt strong. Hoping to get in the pullup WOD tomorrow so I took it easy.

Pumpkin Custard

Ingredients
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch of sea salt
2 pinches of grated nutmeg
2 organic eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coconut milk


Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine pumpkin and all spices in one bowl. (I would recommend amping up the spices.)
In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs lightly then whisk in the vanilla and coconut milk.
Whisk the egg mixture into the pumpkin mixture until well combined.

Pour the custard into 1/2 cup ramekins. Place the ramekins in a baking pan and add enough boiling water to the dish to come up 2" high around the ramekins. Carefully place in the oven and bake for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the custard comes out clean. (Mine were in the oven for almost 2 hours. I did
have a higher pumpkin puree/coconut milk to egg ratio though.)

Serve warm or chilled. Serves 6. (Using a full can of puree and coconut milk makes about 8.)

Fight Gone Light

Last WOD destroyed my quads for days. I'm only starting to walk like a normal person and ALMOST without pain today. That's messed up.

JJ and I went rock climbing on Sunday. Thought that would help get some blood in there. Though it didn't help, it didn't make it any worse either. I'm happy that I am seeing some improvement in my rock climbing technique. JJ bought a book and we're learning how to climb better. I can't wait to see how that improves.

Okay, finally felt decent enough to come in. Thought I'd make up Monday's but given the weather and that everyone else was doing the FGHeavy WOD, I guess I'll join in the fun but I went light myself to test out the movements.

Did I "test out" the Jerk with lighter weights? No. I felt no pain when I warmed up so I just went for it with Kerry, Karen, and Lauren.

Jerks 5-5-5: 55-75-85
First jerks since January when I hit a 1RM of 95#. Feels good to be back at it!

Metcon (35# SDHP/PP, 20″ BJ, 6# WB / 11′ target): 18:38

Fight Gone Light for me. I made sure to push as hard as I could given how light I went. Felt no pain on all the movements so that's a good sign. BJ rhythm just wasn't there today and I felt like I was hyperventilating on the WBs. Feels good to do the same WOD as everyone else!

Hopefully, shoulder won't get too sore over the next two days.

Toughest fight in a while

Today was a tough day at work though I never imagined I would be met by the toughest WOD I have done in a long time.

Traps and back were still feeling Monday's WOD but should be good enough to go for today.

Press 5-3-1+: 43-48-53(3)
Worked off 60# to test out shoulder. Last recorded 1RM was 70# from January. This was a win considering it felt good and the shoulder felt fine.

Metcon @ 75# (last recorded BS 1RM was 175# from January): 8:52

THIS was much tougher than I thought it could be. Looking back at my log, I've actually never done a metcon with FS @ 75#. But rx was 50% of BS 1RM which would have put me at 83# so I figured, how bad could 75# be? I picked it up and the clean felt heavy for a metcon. Just in case, I checked with Bryce... do I pick a weight that I know I can do 21 unbroken? Bryce suggested that the right weight would be barely being able to do 21 unbroken so I settled with 75# because that was exactly how I felt about it.

The first 21 were okay. I took quick breaks in the rack position. The 21 burpees that followed were slow but steady. I didn't want to wear out my quads for the next round. Then, I walked to the bar, cleaned it and I couldn't get out of the bottom of my squat. What?! I couldn't believe it. I lost the bar a few more times with my weight a little too far forward and I just wasn't to all that weight on my wrist. I think I did way too many cleans. The sweat was getting in my eyes and boy, was I frustrated.

Thanks so much Rudy. Had you not come over, the rest of it would have been just plain awful but your reminder to stay tough helped me focus. Stay in my heels and drive with the elbows!! Chipped away at it til it was over.

I never write an essay like that about a workout but for me, it was an epic fight that I want to remember. I think I've never done a WOD that got the best of me like that but it was worth the experience.

Haha afterwards, I almost fell down the stairs because my quads feel like they exploded! I'm happy to report that my wrists are okay now.

Breakfast: two eggs in butter, 3 slices of Canadian bacon
Lunch: a reuben from NYC Bagel Deli. It's so good. I ate as little bread as possible.
Snack: half a Trio bar
Dinner: salad with all the fixings (turkey, hearts of palm, fresh sungold tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, artichoke, grilled veggies, olives, lemon juice, pepper)

12 min row

Since I did an interval workout of sorts yesterday, thought I'd go for something longer even though it's not exactly what the CFCE program has for this week.
12 min row: 2522m

I didn't really have a goal in mind so this is good to know for future CFCE WODs.

Traps, hamstrings, butt, biceps are all kinda sore from yesterday but nothing hurts too too bad. Feels all right as I think that means I scaled to what my body can do without destroying it.

Ate okay today.
Breakfast: 2 eggs in butter, Canadian bacon
Lunch: #11 unwich from Jimmy Johns and a handful of almonds. Let's be honest, I don't think there's a whole lot of calories in that unwich even with the cheese and mayo!
Dinner: Was supposed to eat at Cafe 28 but understandably, the expiring-Groupon mob shows up. My friend and I went half a block to Katarina's. Could have been bad news but escaped just having mildly cheated (1 beer, 2 small slices of baguette, whatever they put in the meatballs). Souvlaki platter was good.

Snatch win!

Been eating a bit better lately but still struggling with bringing lunch as we're spending weekends on hobbies and relaxing. Some weekends, we just need time off from a cooking extravaganza haha.

Fun WOD today
DL 5-3-1+: 155-175-195(3)
Metcon @ 40# and red band: 21:43
Splits: 3:51, 3:52, 4:05, 3:55

1st round: I don't think I chained any snatches. I wasn't sure I could or I just didn't think about it. Run was decent. Unbroken pullups.
2nd round: Snatches chained (2 sets maybe). Felt a bit of a pull on the shoulder when bringing it back down but it was okay. Run must have been slower since I chained the snatches. Unbroken pullups. So far so good.
3rd round: Chained 6 snatches, then singles (just too much effort to catch them). Run must have been slow. Pullups (10/2/2/1). The second I stopped after the 10, I could barely chain pullups. I guess the trick is to just keep going?
4th round: Snatches mostly in singles. Unbroken pullups b/c I was trying to chase down Steph! Loved it :)

GHD raises scare me. I tried to do one but I almost cramped up. Oh well.

New hobby

Busy work week towards the tail end of last week so I didn't have a chance to make it into the box. Meant to row an extra day but I got kinda lazy. However, JJ and I found a new hobby: rock climbing!

This past weekend, we learned how to belay each other. Also, I've graduated to tackling 5.7 routes! Good workout though as it helps me with grip strength, finger strength, forearm strength, weight shifting, leg mobility... and I like it!

Hoping this week won't be as bad at work so I can get to the box.

4 x 800m row

Awful. Hated it. Wanted to quit after the second round so bad but glad it's over. Failed to get within 10s. Lots of muscle fatigue in the quads.

3:27, 3:36, 3:42, 3:43 (3 min rest between intervals)

Breakfast: 2 eggs, salami, onions, 1 americano with cream
Lunch: Potbellys Farmhouse salad w/ potbellys vinagrette, no blue cheese
Snack: handful of almonds (honey roasted...)
Dinner: something clean... must get to it soon

In line for Potbellys, I was getting pretty hungry. Had to fight off any cravings for shakes, cookies... and I don't normally want cookies...

A week ago, I hurt my head... like something popped when I did heavy deadlifts and it feels like a painful headache. Every time I exerted myself after that day, that same spot would hurt. Today, I felt some residual head pain but seems to have gone away for the most part. Weird.
Foot still the same. Hoping to get that Mobility WOD in later tonight.

(Long) Weekend Update

Busy week last week with lots of see-ya-laters and eating out. Anniversary celebration was a success but JJ and I both need to get back to eating clean. That's the toughest part is getting back on it. Every time I take a week off and let my eating loose, it's just so tough for me to get back in the eating well and working out groove.

Today was supposed to be my first day back on clean eating but I ruined it with the rest of my pint of mint ice cream I had been saving for "emergencies" (there was only maybe 1/5th of the pint left). Well, it's gone now at least. Threw out the rest of the coffee mochis (they weren't that good anyway) but we still have some of our homemade sugar free ice cream (for "emergencies - at least it's sugar free).

Clean eating for me means high quality meats, veggies, and also some limited high quality dairy. Mostly, it means eating out less. Gained a bit of weight back this summer so I'm hoping to drop down a few over the next month.

Foot did not improve too much over the last week and I think it's because I wore heels a few time in the office last week. You might be thinking that the rock climbing and tennis didn't help either but I don't think that was it since those shoes didn't let my foot bend that way. I also didn't chase down too many balls playing tennis either.

Breakfast: 2 eggs fried in butter, 2 slices of bacon, 1 Americano with cream
Lunch: Various meats and veggies from Market Creations (a lot of sauce I didn't want)
Snack: 2 walnut cookies (bad - made from flour, sugar, lard, then walnuts) and some almonds
Dinner: 8 homemade chicken wings (pan fried, pasture raised, no salt either!), broccoli, bowl of red pepper soup, and darn ice cream