CrossFit Open WOD 13.5 (Workout Recap Week of 4/1)

Monday: Back Squat/Bench Press Retest

 

Came into the gym feeling like I needed a nap.  Got some encouragement from Jared's boss who told me sometimes those are the best PR days.  Got in a solid warmup, then got to work on my back squat and bench press.

 

Previous 1RM Back Squat (I go to hips below parallel): #175

New 1RM Back Squat: #185

Previous 1RM Bench Press: #90

New 1RM Bench Press: #100

 

I was sooo pumped! 

 

If you are looking to build strength, check out the Wendler's lifting cycle. 

 

I generally don't have time for all four lifts (back squat, bench press, deadlift, strict overhead press) in one cycle, so I do deadlift and press one cycle and then back squat and bench press the following cycle.

 

Tuesday: CrossFit

 

Just me and the 6am guys.  New 2 minute challenge?  Knees to Elbows.  Coach Jared told us to be really strict on these.  Most of us got low scores, but room to improve!  I find these harder than toes to bar, actually.

 

 

Really fun WOD - love a chance to work on my handstand pushups! 

 

 

Used a band for ring dips and scaled the kettlebell swings to #26.  This one got tough FAST. 

 



 

Wednesday: CrossFit

 

Worked on my freestanding handstands during the warmup.

 

 

Holy crap this WOD was a doozy.   Made myself try the RX weights even though they scared me.  Really tried to push myself on the runs and not just use them as recovery.  Gave myself a time goal of 23:00 and squeaked it in!

 

 

 

Totally love my Reebok CrossFit Nanos 2.0 - I wear them everywhere!

 

 

Sweaty but proud.

 

 

Thursday: Rest

 

I was sore after the thrusters and probably also just from watching the live 13.5 announcement (go Camille!!!)

 

Friday: 13.5 (Chest-to-Bar Fran)

 

 

My mental game was the best on the WOD of all five of the 2013 workouts.

 

I was really glad I had RX'ed Wednesday's WOD, because I knew if I could do the #75 thrusters, #65 would be a piece of cake. 

 

I had worried about chest to bar pullups a little until I heard reverse grip was allowed, and I was inspired by my girl Amy who got her first SEVEN chest to bar pullups on Wednesday.

 

I also knew there was no way I'd have to do more than 4 minutes, so I felt really confident I could work my hardest for a short time.

 

I always hate thrusters but I head during the live Open announcement that thrusters are a great movement for small people.  I am small, so I decided I was going to rock thrusters from now on and not make excuses.

 

I did about 30 minutes of mobility and then a fairly brief warmup.  I rowed a little and tried some chest to bar pullups with the reverse grip.  I loaded a bar with #45 and did a few reps, then did a few reps at #75 so that #65 would hopefully feel light when I started the WOD.

 

It worked.

 

I linked my first 12 thrusters and felt really strong.  I picked up the bar again and finished my last three - I wanted to leave a ton of time for the pullups. 

I linked my first three chest to bar pullups, and then the next three.  After that, it was ones and twos with a couple no reps where my chest didn't make it to the bar.  But I kept getting up without taking too long to rest.

When I finished, there was still time on the clock to start another round.  I ran back to my bar.  Thnakfully it had rotated so I could no longer see the clock.  All I had to do was keep doing as many thrusters as I could until I heard the timer beep.  I got ten before it went off!

 

 

 

Yeah, I know it's a no rep

We got to have dinner and drinks and hang out and chill with the Mercer Island CrossFit crew.  Stayed out way too late, but it was awesome to celebrate the end of the Open!

 

Saturday: Team WOD

 

Dragged myself out of bed cause I knew moving would be a good idea after Fran.  Plus I got to WOD with my Team Neon buddy Heidi!

 

I started physical therapy for my calf and am taking it easy on certain movements.  I subbed in rowing for running and step-ups for the box jumps.  We really pushed it on this one and had a ton of fun! 

 

 

Enjoyed a killer dinner of homemade fish tacos with Jared - protein!!!  (Okay, and wine.)

 

 

Sunday: Rest

 

 

Setting Your 2013 Goals, Part II

Last week, I talked about setting SMART goals for yourself.
 
But, as everyone who's ever made a New Year's Resolution knows, setting a goal (even a really SMART one!) isn't enough to ensure you'll ever achieve it.
 
Here are some tactics that have worked for me in making consistent progress on my goals and resolutions.  I'll stick with the "3 servings of veggies a day, 5 days a week" example, but obviously you can use these tools for any goal.
 

• Explore - Probably the reason you aren't eating enough veggies is because...well, you really don't like veggies that much. This was my story.  I tried a bunch of different veggies (and different prep thanks to a husband who cooks well) and in the end found a lot of veggies that I love!  Be willing to try things that you aren't familiar with, or haven't liked in the past - you may be surprised at what you end up enjoying!
• Get real - No matter how great your willpower, it's REALLY tough to motivate yourself to keep doing something you hate.  In the midst of finding out I loved bell peppers, asparagus, and brussels sprouts, I also realized I will basically always hate mushrooms, broccoli, and eggplant.  For a while I would try to make myself eat these veggies out of duty, but I realized I could focus instead on the ones I DO like now so I'll be excited about what I have on my plate.

Chipotle salad? Yes please!

 

Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus - YUM

 

• Break it down - Every goal requires a lot of mini steps.  To eat veggies...you have to buy veggies and prep veggies.  I found grocery stores I liked and in the summer went to farmer's markets on the weekend.  I had a loose meal plan of how I'd work the veggies into breakfast, lunch, dinner, and/or snacks.  When I could, I would pre-prep veggies on the weekend so they'd be easier to eat during the week.

• Get help - Tracking down recipes or reading tips on blogs made a big difference for me.  I also realized that some weeks were busier than others, so I would pay a little extra for pre-cut celery or sweet potatoes or squash.  This cut down on stress and energy and was so worth it!

A lot of great pizza recipes can be loaded with veggies

• Write it down - Track track track.  I have a Google Docs Spreadsheet I've been using for 2.5 years to track my workouts.  I added a section to track how many veggies I was eating.  It's motivating to see consistency!
• Phone a friend - And don't pick that friend.  You know.  The one who's kinda in the same boat you are and so "keeping each other accountable" turns quickly into making each other feel okay that you decided to slack off on your goals.  Find someone who's a few steps ahead or who can show you some tough love.
• Don't be a perfectionist - Miss a day or two?  Think big picture and remember the point.  Don't feel like you're a failure...recognize that it will be tough to keep to your goal, but ultimately the point is all the progress you've been making.  Celebrate your successes!

Do you have tips on sticking to your goals?

Setting Your 2013 Goals Part I (Plus CrossFit on the Biggest Loser)

Originally I toyed with the idea of writing a "here's how to set good goals" post.  After all, I am super type A, complete with workout spreadsheet and Google calendar mania.  If there's one thing I am good at, it's making a smart plan and then following through with it (although I don't do so well if something or someone interferes with said plan)...so why not share what I've learned over the years with all you Resolutionizers?

But then I thought, nah, people have heard all this a million times.  They know how it goes.

And yet after a week of seeing so-called "goals" on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, I feel what I have to say may not be so familiar after all.

Far and away the most valuable thing I learned in my final two years of college was the idea of SMART goals.  These were part of one of many business courses, but really they can apply to pretty much anything.  I don't know which textbook these came from, so let's just acknowledge right up front that I did not come up with this and kudos to the person who did.

Every. Single. Goal. you make needs to be a SMART goal. 

S - Specific

M - Measurable

A - Achievable

R - Relevant

T - Timely (I think this is a stupid way to put it...I've also heard "Time-bound" which makes more sense)

As an example, let's say that I want to "eat healthier."  This is, I suppose, a goal by some stretch of the imagination, but it's honestly more of a desire.  To actually realize that desire, you need a good SMART goal (or five) to help you out. 

Specific - "Get better at CrossFit" or "eat healthier" or "lose weight" or "work out more" are all way too broad.  You need to be specific about a key aspect of your desire.  For my Health Eating example, pick something you KNOW needs work.  Last year I knew my vegetable intake was sadly deficient.  So instead of "eating healthy" we make the goal specific to vegetables: "eat more veggies."

Measurable - While we've gotten specifc about a particular area of eating healthy, "more" is not really measurable.  A good goal can be quantified.  Veggies are extra easy to quantify, as generally 1 serving = 1 cup.  "Eat at least 3 cups of veggies per day" is now both specific and measurable.

Achievable - This is possibly my favorite piece of the goal-setting.  It factors in real life.  Maybe someone somewhere could say, "This year I will eat 3 cups of veggies every day for 365 days" and succeed, but I know I could not.  My weekdays are fairly consistent and I always pack a ton of food to bring to work, and because I am cheap, I know that I personally won't bail on the lunch I packed in favor of going out to eat.  My weekends, on the other hand, are usually when I go to dinner with people or run around doing errands, or sleep in a little extra.  I have much less time to plan ahead and less control over what I'm going to eat.  I decided to make the veggie goal a weekday-only goal.  If the weekend included some veggies, great.  But I wasn't gonna set myself up for failure and frustration with a standard I knew I couldn't keep.  The achievable goal is now: "Eat at least 3 cups of veggies per day 5 days per week."

Relevant - Usually this is the easy part.  It's where you check to see whether your goal actually relates to your initial desire.  If you already eat at least 3 cups of veggies 5 days a week, this isn't gong to be a relevant goal, since you wanted to "eat healthier" - the "-er" part implies you'll make an improvement on what you're currently doing.  For me last year, I was getting 0-2 servings of veggies per day, so I knew it would be a relevant goal.

Time-bound - Have some sort of deadline or end in sight.  Honestly, for almost any goal I would recommend no short time frame than one month, and generally no longer time frame than 3 months.  Most of us can tough something out for a week, but a month can help make something a habit.  Anything longer than 3 months can sound really overwhelming and start to feel paralyzing.  I would write out the date for yourself, and then reassess when you reach that end point.

Alright, now that you know what kind of goals to set, look for Part II next week on sticking with those goals!

Speaking of people who are trying to get healthier...on Monday night, Jared and I hiked up to our apartment complex's clubhouse to catch some Biggest Loser on TV.

We aren't big tube-watchers (as you can guess since we don't have one at home), but we really wanted to see this particular episode when we heard it would feature a bunch of CrossFit greats like Rich Froning and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet!

We wore our Reebok Nanos and Innovates, of course.

We were both surprised and impressed with the show as a whole.  It was cool to see the kids on the show, and I loved the fact that they don't weigh the kids.  They are giving the kids a fitness test at the beginning and end of the show.  I love encouraging people to measure their fitness by what they can DO and not being so preoccupied by the silly number on the scale.

We also got to catch a classic Jillian chewing out a contestant moment:

But of course the best part was squealing like a girl (oh, wait, I am a girl) when the blue team headed into Bob's workout "gym" and we saw all the CrossFitters WODding away!!!

 

We were so excited to see CrossFit on the show, because on the one hand you have all the world class athletes, but then you see all these contestants DOING CrossFit.  People often tell me that they want to "get in better shape" before trying CrossFit, or that they aren't strong enough or tough enough.  I hope that this show will really convince people that CrossFit truly is scaleable for any fitness level, and that anyone, no matter what your limitations, can come in and give it a shot.

And for your happy Friday viewing pleasure, check out this great video of Jillian Michaels herself trying a WOD!

2012 in Review

10 Things I Did:

• My first CrossFit competition
• My first hot yoga class
• My first CrossFit Open
• My first "real" win at racquetball
• My first double under
• My first unassisted strict pullup
• My first unassisted kipping pullup
• My first RX Girl WOD
• My first Paleo challenge
• My first full range of motion kipping handstand pushup

10 Things I Realized:

• Cleaning is way better and more fruitful if I do reasonable chunks daily, instead of putting it off and then letting it consume my weekend.
• My job drives me crazy but has a lot of perks I couldn't get anywhere else.
• I really do want to save for my $1000 tee shirt.
• Eating 100% Paleo makes me want to die.  Eating 60-75% Paleo fuels me really well and keeps me happy and sane.
• Working out four days a week is healthier for me at this point than working out five days a week. 
• Parts of my life that previously brought me only guilt, grief, and shame can (and will) be used by Jesus to bring Him glory, others help, and me joy. 
• I don't really like running.
• I REALLY like lifting heavy.
• Massages are worth every penny.
• More protein is never a bad idea.

Equipment Fail

Yesterday was either strength or rest day on my workout schedule.  I packed workout clothes in case I had time to lift, but was also seriously considering an evening of chores and Gilmore Girls on DVD.

Then Jared told me that MICF had programmed "Annie" as the day's WOD.

You may recall that one of my year-end goals was a sub-10-minute Annie RX.

I've accomplished one goal so far, but still have four to go, and had been feeling a little discouraged that I'd be able to make them happen in 2012.

My double unders have been getting a lot better, and my core is a lot stronger, so I thought I might be able to tackle it. 

I showed up pumped and ready to crush my previous RX time of 14:51 with a 9:59 or better. 

The class started out great, with a #15 PR on my Thruster 1 Rep Max - I went from #85 to #100!  I felt like I could have gone even heavier, but wanted to really be strong for the WOD.  I grabbed my favorite jump rope and a mat for situps, and we got started.

Me and the red rope in September

A word to the wise: be careful of choosing one and only one favorite jump rope at your box.  Once you start learning double-unders, mix up the ropes you use and/or invest in one of your own.

Here's why:

• You start Annie with favorite jump rope, ready to blow your previous time out of the water
• Said favorite jump rope is not working for you as usual
• You wonder what is going on and think maybe you are just having an off day
• Handle of favorite jump rope detaches from rope mid-skip
• You pretend to be a video game character, dodging other frantic athletes to retrieve a new rope
• Time is slipping away quickly so you don't really check to see if new rope is a good length
• It isn't
• The handles of the new rope connect totally differently than your old rope's handles
• You plod through the WOD whipping yourself and tripping yourself, only 1-3 double-unders at a time
• You try to make up on the situps and thankfully stave off total gloom and doom, deciding to at least beat 14:51
• Your round of 20 and 10 situps are kick-butt
• You finish in 14:17, sweaty and kinda pissed

Poop.

 

(My arms and left hand are still totally marked up today.  I wore long sleeves to the office.)

I went home feeling still proud of my thruster accomplishment, and really proud of myself for being able to keep a fairly positive attitude throughout the WOD.  Technically, I still had a PR, and that's never a bad thing.  Plus, I feel like if I could only link a few reps at once AND had to stop early on to find a new rope...I can totally beat 10 minutes before January 1st.

I got a ride home from WOD buddy Joel and finished up the evening with an awesome protein-packed dinner: McMuffin on Steroids (or should I say Progenex?) - sourdough English muffin from Trader Joe's, fried egg, turkey bacon, and a leftover hamburger patty.

As Tina would say, Holy Yum!

I'm totally asking Santa for a new rope for Christmas.


You tell me: Ever had a piece of equipment crush your WOD?  Do you have your own rope?  Where did you get it?  I need recommendations!

Veni, Sustuli, Vici: I Came, I Lifted, I Conquered

Me in my crazy Nike capris
swinging the #53 kettlebell!

Last week at the box we retested the WODs from the 2012 CrossFit Open.  Due to my schedule (and the fact that my body doesn't do 5 days in a row with no rest), I made it in to retest just two of the five.  I was picky about which WODs to retest, since I wanted them to really show me my progress.  (I had only started CrossFit a few months before the open, and there were a lot of movements I couldn't execute, besides not being able to lift much.)

I started with Open WOD 12.2 on Tuesday:

"Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of: 30 Snatch #75/45 30 Snatch #135/75 etc."

Previously, I'd been able to get 30 reps at #45, but zero at #75.  I'd finished out the workout with 18 reps at #55, but my "official" score was 30.

This time, I was pumped because my snatch form has gotten much better and I know I'm stronger.  If I could do just one rep at #75, it would show a big improvement!  I got through the 30 reps at #45 fairly easily in about half the total time allotted.

I loaded up for #75, and failed my first attempt.  Before I got serious about CrossFit, I think the old me would have said, "Ah, well.  I tried."  But new me said, "I bet if I focus on everything Jared was telling me about my form last week, I could do this."

The next one went up!  I couldn't link reps because I was actually in the fitness center instead of our box, and the weight plates are not the sort you can drop or bounce off the ground.  It took me a while, but I managed 8 reps at #75 before running out of time.

I was so stoked!
 

On Friday, I came in for Open WOD 12.5:

"Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes: 3 Thruster #100/65, 3 pull ups, 6 Thrusters, 6 pull ups, 9 thrusters, 9 pullups"

I was particularly stoked to retest this WOD since it was the only one of the five that I couldn't RX anything!  I originally did the thrusters at #55 and used two bands (blue and purple) for the chest to bar pullups for a total score of 56 reps, but an official score of zero.

I had high hopes of RXing this time...I have been working on my chest to bar pullups and I know my thrusters are WAY stronger. 

Well, I tried a few times to get an unassisted chest to bar pullup, and it just wasn't happening.  Coach Jared told me to try the red band for the workout - it would still be a challenge and would be an improvement from last time, but not be so difficult that I couldn't get through any of the WOD.

I loaded up my bar for the #65 thrusters and told myself that I just wanted to get through the end of the round of 6 and 6.  I actually was pretty strong for 3 and 3 AND 6 and 6, which made it kinda tough to keep pushing as hard when I'd "made my goal" way earlier in the time than I'd expected.  The round of 9 was okay on thrusters but the pullups took me FOREVER.  We had to no rep ourselves, and chest to bar makes it REALLY easy to know if you made it or not...if you didn't feel yourself make contact with the bar below your clavicle...it didn't count.  Finally I got into a little rhythm where I started with a "trashed" kipping pullup and used it to get momentum to have a strong kip into linking a few chest to bar reps.  I took too much rest on the set of 12 thrusters and finished with 50 total reps, and an official score of 3.

Not what I'd hoped, but still definitely an improvement.  I'll take it.

After the WOD, we had to "cash out" with a 500 meter row and 30 kettlebell swings.  You were supposed to either pick a weight at which you knew you could link all 30 reps without setting the bell down, or a really challenging weight.  With a little encouragement from Coach Jared, I decided to try the #53 for the first time ever!

I managed to link 10 reps 3 times to finish out my swings! 

Made the PR board!

I was so proud of myself for trying - I love seeing my hard work pay off, not only in my physical capabilities, but in my mental game and confidence!


You tell me: What are your recent achievements?  Did you nail your first double-under (my mom!)?  Qualify for Boston (my mom's friend who is incidentally my friend's mom!)?  Pack your lunch?  Avoid chewing out the guy who cut you off?  I wanna know!

Goal Post

Lest you think it's all workouts and veggies over here, I would like to wish you a happy Friday with a very happy photo:

I split this heavenly maple bar with Jared earlier this week.  Being fit is important...and so is enjoying life.  And what is life without a maple bar now and then?  Basically not worth living.

As you likely know, my husband Jared also CrossFits.  He's the one who got me to try it in the first place, and in June he got his L1 certificate and now coaches at our box. 

Yeah, he can do muscle-ups

For his own workouts, about four months ago he started following the CrossFit Invictus Competition Programming.

I like to refer to it this way: "CrossFit Invictus - When Regular CrossFit Just Isn't Hard Enough."

Basically, his WODs could eat my WODs for lunch.

I never thought I'd be joining Jared for ANY of his Invictus programming, but Wednesday surprised me.  Part of his RX included writing out goals for the remainder of 2012!

We sat down after dinner (Jared with a beer and me with wine and dark chocolate) and discussed our goals for the next three months.  Jared already had his pretty much set, but I needed some help with mine.  Because Jared's a personal trainer and CrossFit coach, he had really good input on what were some good priorities to set and how I could keep my expectations reasonable.

He ended up with 10 goals and I (the one who gets overwhelmed, like, daily) stuck with 5.

Meghan's Goals for the End of 2012 (besides saving the world):

• Sub-10 Minute "Annie" (RX) - I've currently got a sub-15 minute RX time, so this will mean practically devoting more time to my double-unders.
• Sub-10 Minute "Diane" (RX deadlifts, handstand pushups to a #15 plate) - My deadlift is great, but I can't currently do one full range of motion handstand pushup, so 35 to a plate is enough of a goal right now.
• 1 Full Range of Motion Handstand Pushup - Anytime these are in a warmup, I'll do at least some to a plate, and then a few deficit box pushups (this allows me to get full range of motion without having to use as much body weight).
• Link Strict Chest to Bar Pullups - My kipping pullups are getting a lot better, but I always need a band for chest to bar pullups.  I'll be doing more dead-hang pullups with no band mixed with trying to kip chest to bar.
• Full Squat Snatch at #75 - This will require work on my technique, strength, and also a lot of focus on mobility.  I have tight hip flexors, IT bands, and lats, so I need to devote more time to post-WOD and recovery day mobility work and yoga.

It's really nice to have some concrete, specific goals that I think I can actually achieve!  I will keep you posted on my progress...and would love any tips on the movements, WODs, or just plain motivation! 

I'm hitting the box tonight for class with my mom (Jackie is on the schedule - woot!) and then tomorrow morning for the Olympic lifting class and another Girl WOD.  Have a great weekend!!!


You tell me: Do you have any goals set for the rest of the year?  How do you find a balance between pushing yourself and keeping things achievable?  What's your favorite kind of doughnut???

Quality Control (and some CrossFit-speak translated)

When I was a kid, I took piano lessons for about 10 years.  I got fairly good, but one big problem I had was a complete lack of patience.  I wanted to be able to play each new piece at performance level or close to it...without really putting in the time required.  I hated scales and practicing, so instead my daily piano "practice" involved me blazing through Beethoven, Chopin, and the like at breakneck speed with complete disregard for accuracy.  I may not have been the most dedicated musician, but boy did I play with feeling at tempo!!!

I find many of my old tendencies creeping up in my life at the box (CrossFit for "gym").  I have been CrossFitting for less than a year, but I still have REALLY high expectations of what I can acheive in a VERY short amount of time.

And then I get frustrated and disappointed with myself.

Unrealistic goal-setting = setting yourself up to fail or get hurt.  (Not just your feelings...I'm talking your shoulder, back, knee, etc.)

This week I had a light-bulb moment that I'm pretty sure was the Holy Spirit zapping some genius into me (although I didn't see smoke or lightning).  Here it is, in fancy, mantra-y form:

I will never be the fastest or the strongest.  But if I work hard, I can have better form than anyone else.

I only started RXing (CrossFit short hand for "doing the full workout the way the coach wrote it in terms of how much weight to use and what movements to do unassisted) a few months ago, and I still can't always RX.  I was struggling to find the balance of pushing myself, but within reason. 

Taking it one workout at a time (genius, right?), I approached this Tuesday's WOD (workout of the day) with two goals. 

AMRAP 15 = as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes.  No matter how slow or fast you may be, we are all stopping at the 15 minute cut off.  The "score" will be how many times you got through the movements in the 15 minutes.

Front squats #115/#75 = You can Google front squats, but basically you are squatting with a barbell in front of you (letting it rest on your shoulders).  Guys' RX weight for this workout was 115 pounds.  Girls' RX was 75 pounds.

Pushups = You can do them on your knees, but a full pushup is required for an RX score.

V-Ups = like a situp...except way harder.  You have to get your back and legs off the ground and touch your toes for the full movement.  If it's too much, you can touch your knees.


I knew from what I've done before that I could RX the workout.  My goal?  To link each set of movements.  By this I mean, for each round, doing all 10 front squats in a row without setting the bar down; do all 15 pushups without setting my knees down, etc. 

This one was hard.  We squatted to a butt target (you have to tap it with your butt before you stand back up to make sure you are getting low enough).  I had a medicine ball and made sure to hit it every time, focusing on pushing my knees out to the sides when standing up.

I linked all the pushups in the first three rounds, but in rounds four and five I set my knees down a few times.  I made myself jump right back in, though, and really focused on keeping my core tight so I didn't end up doing "the worm" instead of pushups.

I also no-repped myself for some of the V-Ups when I failed to touch my toes.  "No rep" means you don't count it (in this case, as one of the 20) and so you have to do it again.

I was 2 V-Ups short of finishing my fifth round.  I realized later that I should have used more momentum on my pushups instead of going soooo slow.  But then I reminded myself that speed was not my goal and to stop worrying about it.

My plan right now?  RX any workout I can, but focus on having perfect form for every single rep, EVEN THOUGH it means I'll be going slower than a lot of the other folks at the box. 

In the end, this is what will keep me safe, and ultimately, if I keep doing everything right, I will have stronger & faster as my payoff.

All without practicing my scales.


You tell me: Had any lightbulb moments lately?  Realize you were pushing yourself too hard, or maybe not hard enough?  Were you a better piano student than I was?