Sunday, October 31, 2010

You're really f***ed up right now!!!!!

Eek! Did not like hearing those words yesterday. I guess I didn't realize how bad this IT band thing is. I am really hoping it doesn't take too terribly long to heal...I am super bummed. This sucks. Can we say depression? Talk about no motivation to eat paleo....

I guess if I don't get this in check now though, I am just begging for future trouble.

I am approaching my mobility and glut isolation stuff as daily WOD's, with the same ferocity I would any WOD. In the mean time, I guess I am changing my focus to my upper body and core for a bit.

In good news, I am pain free today. I rowed yesterday a bit and didn't feel it today.
I am hoping that in another week, I can at least start using my legs again, maybe to row, deadlift, or do some KBS. I know I won't be running or squatting for prob 2 more weeks.
We'll see.

Saturday, Oct 30th:
2 x 250 rows, not bad. Just tight L leg while bending my knees on the rower. No pain though.
AMRAP: Ring rows 7-7-7
Pushups: 10-10-10 (dogged these a little because I knew I was going to be doing more)

MetCon: Blackjack, 32:31
1 situp/20 pushups
2 situps/19 pushups
3 situps/18 pushups.
Etc until 20 situps/1 pushup

Dropped to my knees after the 2nd set and after some form correction by Rudy. At the end, I was doing the pushups in sets of 3. A bit sore today! Not a lung burner, but tough nonetheless.

Thurs, Oct 28th:
Press: Found my 1RM, 60#'s. This has actually gotten worse for me. Over the last two months, leg strength went way up, press went way down. Will have to start working on this again.

MetCon: 8 min AMRAP
5 HSPU (1 abmat, 1 10# plate)
10 pull ups
15 situps

3 rounds + 5 HSPU
Still can't string pullups on the big bar. Went upstairs to the little bar and was able to string them in sets of 5 by using my legs a bit more. Did about 20 more this way! Thanks for the help Emily E!

Going to have to come up with more upper body stuff for the week. :=(
Ok on call today, hoping for a quiet day/night.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

On call

Man, took my 1st in house call over here at Christ hospital after 2 months of home call. It was painful. On top of it, I had an unreliable intern who doubled my work! Eek! Managed to get 3 hrs of uninterrupted sleep though.

Had a break in the day so I went out and bought a foam roller yesterday and used it while on call. Have also been playing with the glut isolation exercises and the IT band mobility stuff from the mobility blog website, see link to the side. My leg feels a bit better, although still tight. I am no longer limping, and going up and downstairs isn't bad, just tight. I probably still need a day or two of non leg workouts to ensure my IT band gets less inflamed.

Yesterday's nutrition:

6:15am 6 oz coffee with 6oz skim milk
8:15am 2 hard fried eggs, 4 pieces turkey bacon, 16 oz water , 3600 mg fish oil
10am: Handful of almonds, dried blueberry and cranberry mix
12:30pm: Grilled chicken breast, 8oz raw brocolli and cucumber, 2400 mg fish oil
2pm: 8oz chocolate muscle milk
4pm: More almonds/cranberries/blueberries, 12 oz water
6:30pm: Grilled chicken salad with a touch of ranch dressing, 6oz diet coke for caffeine, 2000 mg fish oil

Off to get some sleep and hopefully a 7pm upper body wod.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Get a Grip!

Mad Props to all you guys for NOT eating the sabotage almond butter toffee that Glenn and I got on Mackinac...well done!
I had a lazy day yesterday in preparation for work today. Could feel my IT band bothering me all day, and I knew it was gonna be an issue at the box. Sure enough, I felt it on the warm up run and suffered because of it! Ouch....

Strength:
Close grip tempo bench press, 3-0-x
Found my 1 RM, 70#'s! Which is a new all time BP PR for me, by 5#'s.
That was exciting.

MetCon:
5 Rounds of

10 Burpees
10 KBS at 35#'s
10 PU

11:43

Burpees were unbroken and felt efficient. The KBS were unbroken until the last round which was 5-5. Amazingly, it was the KBS that really hurt my Left knee, to the extent that I limped over to the bar after the last set of pullups. And then came the pullups. Two issues here...grip strength, and the kip. My grip was cashed after the KBS. This hurt my pullups quite a bit. And my timing is still off with my kip. I tried to go back to a band for the pullups, didn't help my kip timing. Would have done the same without it. Don't know what the issue is, but I need some pull up fixage. I think it would change my WOD's significantly! Help! (Anthony and Jonny, I'm looking at you!)

Nutrition:
8am 12oz coffee with milk
9:30am: 3 scrambled eggs, 1 piece turkey sausage, 3000mg Fish oil
11am: 1 apple, 1 handful nuts, water
4pm: 8oz curry chicken, 1/2 cucumber, 1 handful nuts
Post WOD: 1inch square of almond butter toffee
Dinner: 4oz curry chicken, salad with balsamic vinagrette, 10 oz gatorade, 3000 mg Fish oil

On call tonight, so no workout for me today. My knee still feels tight. Will work on some of the glut isolation exercises and IT band stuff from the mobility blog while on call today.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Quick Recap

So, Glenn and I went camping this weekend, and had a blast! I won't bore everyone with all the details, but suffice it to say that it is impossible to eat paleo in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Oh well, I chalked it up to a much needed rest and we went from there!

Quick recap of the workouts:

Thurs, Oct 21st

Worked on pullups. I still struggle with stringing these, but with Bryce's help and using my legs a little more, got a few more strung together. I can still do more dead hangs than kips though, so I think I'll grab Anthony or Derek or Rudy or Alison and make them help me with this. Did 8-7-7.

Ring pushups on my knees: 6-5-5

5 round Barbell Complex with 2 minute rest
5 FS-5 jerk-5BS
55-65-55-70(fail)-65 (fail)
Worked up to 70#'s, failed on the 3rd jerk, back down to 65 #'s, failed on the 4th jerk.
Need to be more aggressive with the jerk and jump under the bar better

No post wod as we had to get out of town!

Fri, Oct 22nd
Dropped into Oakland County Crossfit in Orion, MI
Nice box. Good people. Learned something about SDHP, always fun to see how other boxes do things. We started late, and there was no guided warm up. Just a bunch of stuff on the board to do on your own.

Strength: 3-3-3, SDHP. Went to 70#'s. Worked on the hip extension and 70 #'s felt easy. Ran out of time and had to get to the MetCon

WOD:
5 Rounds for time

5 DL at 125 #'s
30 air squats
5 Texas shoot throughs
13:09

Squats unbroken and fast. DL good. Finally closing in on the Rx'ed weights, slow but sure. Shoot throughs were fine, couldn't jump back into the plank position, jumping forward was easy. This exercise slowed me up considerably.

No POST wod here.

Sat Oct 23rd:
10 mile bike around Mackinac Island interspersed with some fudge eating and fried fish. Woops. Some IT band and medial knee pain kicking in from the biking. Not a cyclist, will say that.

Sun Oct 23rd
Rest day.

IT band is bothering me today, will try to make it in tonight. If it still hurts, may need to find a box jump sub.

Vacation is over. So sad. Back to Christ hospital hell, and in house call. Yuck.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A night off...

Took the night off yesterday to rest my IT band. Feels much better this AM so I am gonna go in at 12pm and try this squat till you die WOD. Just wanted to post my nutrition from yesterday...

Brkfst:
12 oz coffee with milk and 1 tsp sugar
1 egg white/1 egg yolk pan fried egg in olive oil, 4 pieces turkey bacon, 1 plum

Snack:
Hot chocolate

Lunch: 20 oz Smart water, Spicy Tuna/Avocado sushi from Whole Foods

Dinner: Suz's Acorn squash with ground chicken, onion, jalapeno

Ice cream....

Back at it this AM. Hopefully my leg will hold up...

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tight!

I started off today with getting to the box about 30 minutes early, and stretching and foam rolling my IT bands, quads, calves and hammies. My left IT band has been really, really tight. Spoke with Rudy, apparently I have a week gluteus medius, and need to do some isolating exercises...Oi ve!

So, I laid off the OHS today and worked on jumping the bar from my back into position. For whatever reason, I can't do this. Bryce tells me its because the bar drops as I go to jump it up. I'm not exactly sure. But this is something that I struggle with, which causes me to struggle with OHS in a WOD if I have to clean it from the ground. Off of a rack, last time we did OHS, I was able to do 5 at 70lbs. Off of the ground, I'd be surprised if I could get a 45# bar into position to be able to do this. I will have to work on this, but if you guys have any suggestions or want to work with me on this, please...I'll take all the help I can get!

MetCon 11:28:
500 m Row
5 Rounds of 10 kBS at 35#'s, single unders
400 m Run

The MetCon was ok. Rowing is what it is, I already knew I'd be at least 30 seconds off the pace just cause I suck at it. Rowed at a 2:15 pace, incorporating a few power 10's. KBS at 35#'s, unbroken. Should have gone to 40#'s, but that thing is too damn big and my stance gets screwy if I try to use it. So....35#'s it was. Single unders were fine for 3 rounds, the last two rounds, I kept screwing up, hence the drop in time. The run was good.

Then came skin the cat! Ha! Let's just say it's not my thing....

Nutrition:
Brkfst: 12 oz coffee with milk/1 tsp sugar, 5 pieces of turkey bacon and 2 turkey sausage patties (Glenn ate all the eggs). 1/2 avocado
Lunch: Salad with grilled chicken, lettuce, pears, dried cherries, pecans and veggies. French onion soup, 12 oz water
Snack: 12 oz water, Think Thin bar, 1/2 apple, 1/2 plum
Post WOD: Not too hungry, just 12 oz Smart Water
Dinner: Egg scrambler with spinach and onion, 1/2 avocado
Ice cream

Monday, October 18, 2010

I'm a BIG FINE WOMAN!!!!

Ha! I weighed in at 105#'s today! Maybe 103 without clothes, but that is awesome! Can you guys believe it? I have managed to add 13 #'s of mainly muscle over the last year, last year at this time, I weighed 92#'s. Hopefully I will see some new strength gains coming up here....I haven't felt a decrease in the body weight stuff yet so I think I still have some room to play!

I am back to CFC full time now that ultimate is over.
Strength:
Worked up to a new PR on my DL today, 163. Only 4 lbs but we'll take it! Considering I haven't been consistent about crossfit because of ultimate, I was happy with this.

MetCon:
3 Rounds of 15 HPC and 15 burpees at 65#'s
HPC felt good (15-7/8-7/4/4)
Burpees unbroken
Maybe could have gone at 70#'s, but my biceps were burning after, I'm wondering if my arms were bending a bit early!

So glad to be back....
Nutrition for today

12 oz coffee with milk and 1 tsp sugar
Brkfst: 2 scrambled eggs, 1 turkey sausage patty, and a banana, 6oz OJ
Lunch: 2 turkey slices, 1/2 avocado, handful of grapes, 12 oz water
Snack: Handful of nuts, more grapes
POST WOD: Milkshake
Dinner: Spaghetti squash and chicken with slight olive oil, salt, and pepper

I am leaving the dairy in to continue with the weight gains!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Better. Stronger. Faster. More....

That's what I learned from this weekend. I (and we) need to be better, faster, stronger...and want it more. That means exercise, nutrition, and most of all, heart.

This weekend was a bit disappointing for us, but I will say that I was super lucky to play ultimate with this group of women. For the first time, I played with people that made be better, in a positive, healthy way. They cared, they brought me up, and most of all, they always had faith in my abilities. Thank you Spicy Tuna ladies, for showing me how to be an athlete, a team mate, a friend, and enjoy ultimate again.

Weekend Recap:
Saturday was good for us. Lots of big plays by everyone. Lots of heart. We beat Dish (the team that we lost to at sectionals) pretty easily. I caught a score over a girl who was at least 8 feet tall. Ok maybe 6 ft tall, but same difference. We had many brilliant moments, especially after being inspired by Jay-Z.

Sunday the wheels fell off. After playing closely with POP for the first few points, our inability to execute got us and this lasted the day. We just had too many turn overs. Throw aways, drops, you name it. I personally had the jitters the first game, which I seemed to work out by the second one. By the last game against Dish, we just weren't functioning as a unit, and made stupid, silly mistakes. This simple thing cost us the Nationals bid. Arrggg...

I think the problem was mainly mental. We just need to grow and mature as players and as a team. And have faith. We must know that we can do it. No doubt this will come. I think now that the team knows what it's gonna take, we will approach the next season with focus and drive. With that, I think we'll be unbeatable.

I have never met so many talented, athletic women, and I do believe that not much is gonna hold us back in the future....Heads up ladies, we'll get there....

I personally had a great weekend. I peaked. I played well. I ran hard. I had nothing left by the last game on sunday. That lay out d is still eluding me, I'm dreaming of it still...:=) I also found out that I am the straightest person on the team....Nice...

So, here I am. After a few days off, I am back to CFC full time. I started the paleo challenge today. I'll prob hit up the box somewhere mid-late week and get back to training for crossfit stuff. I am hoping some of my teammates will drink the kool-aid as well because I believe this will be the key to mental toughness...

And off we go! Now back to getting better, stronger, and faster. Which means a good night's sleep. And a little John Stewart.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Nerves!

Practice was good last night, I had a good practice. Ran hard. Didn't feel tired. Felt pretty good over all physically, emotionally not so much. I'm going to have to put my 11 yr old pug down this week and it's breaking my heart. I can't stop crying. I know it's best for him, but seriously, it's like watching your kid die. It's awful. I have faith he'll be ok, but damn this is hard. :=(

On to other things though,
Regionals is coming. Every time I think about it, I feel like I'm going to puke. Literally. I have some serious nerves going on. With 7 teams and 3 bids to nationals, we have a fighting shot. And if we play well, we'll kill it. If not, it will be frustrating because I know we can do it!

I think something that helps my nerves is writing down goals for the weekend, so here we go:

1.) I will sprint and give my all on EVERY point, whatever that means. I will trust my conditioning and know that I will be fine after the point is over. I will play with confidence.
2.) When I play d, if my woman beats me, she's gonna have to bleed to do it. Literally.
3.) I will catch everything and attack the disc.
4.) I will get a hand block and a lay out d.
5.) I will sell my deep cuts and create space.
6.) I will trust my teammates.
7.) I will rush the field for every score. And maybe do a dance.
8.) I will complete a huck.
9.) I will be a good teammate. I will bring my teammates up and make them better. I will remain positive and point out the good things people are doing.
10.)I will get a sideline d.
11.) I will have a beer with my team, on sunday of course. :=)
12.) I will leave it all on the field in Minnesota.

What do you all think? Did I miss anything?
What are your goals Spicy ladies???

See you in Minneapolis! Cross your fingers for good weather.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Hello ladies!

Another fun day at the box! Got to see all of my favorite girls at the 7pm class, as well as some stragglers from the 6pm. So good to see everyone! Mad props to Cathy K for completing her first REAL crossfit workout.

Started with Back Squats at 3-0-x-0 and weighted pullups.
BS:45 x 5-65-85-95-105-115-125 (just barely, according to Megan!) Nice progression. I need to work on having a bit more confidence when a really heavy weight hits my back. I need to KNOW I can get that weight up. My 1RM of a straight back squat in 130, so it was nice to do negative progressions at a close weight.

Pullups: No weight-2.5-5-7.5-10!!!! The weight belt is way too big, thanks Lindsay for helping me Macgyver a weight belt to fit!

MetCon:
10 min AMRAP

6 cleans at 55#'s
12 pullups- NO BAND
24 double unders

I did 3 rounds exactly.

Cleans felt good. I think my bottom still comes up too early, I have to watch that. I do that when the weight isn't too heavy. Probably could have gone 65#'s, these didn't feel tough at all.

Pullups feel fine. I still can not string these on the big bar. My initial kip feels great, and 20-30 singles are no problem, but I can't put any together! Maybe I need to go back to a tiny band, just to get the rhythm of kipping once again. I am able to put a few together on the smaller bar, but I need to get back to working on these at least a couple of times a week.

Double unders, well...they are still a work in progress. Was able to string 3-6 at a time, then miss a whole bunch, and then string 3-6 at a time. That's better than it used to be.

Then 100 situps. That was like a second WOD. Did these in 40-30-30. Should have pushed through the pain as an exercise instead of breaking....too bad I just thought of that now!

The good news is, I am not as sore as I was before the WOD, so that's a good day. :=)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Brrrrrrr!

I'm no meterologist, but it seems to me that on saturdays when I'm supposed to be out playing ultimate, it's cold, rainy, and miserable. The weekdays are these gorgeous 70 degree days, but the second the weekend hits, it's time for the yucky weather!

It was COLD today! 50 degrees and raining. We still practiced. The plastic hitting our fingers was horribly painful, and the upwind run was brutal! Seriously, I was working just to not get blown away, much less run upwind! Still, we practiced. Probably a good thing to see these conditions before next weekend (apparently regionals last year was similar), but man...I am not made for the cold!

I did my best to run hard, and try to catch and throw, but honestly, I was mentally checked out once I saw the elements. I have to get tougher and learn how to fight this...

Friday, October 1, 2010

For reals!!!!

Great WOD today. Tons of fun. For reals!

Started with 2 cleans on the minute for 10 minutes.
70#'s to start. Did 6 of these, found them to be too light.
Moved up to 75#'s for the last 14. Wanted to go to 80#'s, but the 2.5 lb plates were gone so....

I remember Alex teaching me these last year at this time. I spent a good hour with him at the old box with a 20# bar, convinced I'd never learn the movement. 20#'s felt heavy! Ha!

Overall, the cleans felt pretty good. I think my bottom may be coming up a bit early, but Alex said they looked fine so....I really want to get back to see Mike and Roger soon. I'm waiting for ultimate to be over....so I can see my favorite Roger soon. I made huge gains in working with them, can't wait to go back....

MetCon, Rx'ed

5 rounds

35# KBS x 10, 20 Air Squats
5:01

Decided to go balls out on this one. Felt good for 3 rounds, and then the air squats got me. Eek. The last two rounds of air squats were done in sets of 5. Pushed as hard as I could though so I wasn't too unhappy with this. I took only really quick breaks, so even though I couldn't go unbroken, I felt good about implementing Bryce's quick break methods....

And then comes the bain of my existence. Rowing. Seriously, I may never get better at this. No matter how strong or big or tough I get. 1K row, at 5:10. Just can't seem to make any gains here. I have watched rowing videos, tried to fix my form...I just can't see to make it work. Oh well, keep working I guess.

So many things to work on, so little time....Ha!