Back in the Saddle Again

Once again, I'm sorry for being the worst blogger on the planet. Now where did I leave off...

So the last time I updated this I was reaching the end of my week vacation from CrossFit. I was feeling a little antsy, but my muscles were thanking me. I'd signed onto the waitlist for Monday's class but when I got the email telling me to show up it was too late and I couldn't have made it there. Very frustrating since it looked like a lot of masochistic fun (no I'm not being sarcastic). So I went for a run with Melissa instead.

The workout was Day 1 of Week 4, which was a 5 min. warm-up, 3 minute jog, 1.5 minute walk, 5 minute jog, 2.5 minute walk, 3 minute jog, 1.5 minute walk, 5 minute jog, 5 minute cool-down. This was the first time we were being asked to jog 5 minutes at a time. I was feeling really strong with the 3 minute jogs, but bumping it up to 5 was a little intimidating. We started off strong, the 3 minute jog went quickly. At the beginning of the 5 minute jog I took note of what distance we were at because I was curious about how far we'd get. Got through the 5 minute jog without too many issues. It was tough but doable without having to decrease my usual speed too much. Final verdict was that we had gone 0.41 miles in that time. Not too bad. I was hoping for a 1/2 mile. The next 3 minute jog came and I was really feeling it. Then there was the 5 minute jog and I died. Just everything got tired all at once. I actually had to stop for 30 seconds to catch my breath a little towards the middle of it. Our distance went up to 2.26 miles and our final pace ended up being 11:31 min/mile. Not too bad but definitely slower than we've been going lately.

Tuesday was a day off. And by day off, I mean I worked all day. Wasn't too horrible of a day though.

Wednesday I did a two-fer. Started off the morning at the gym. Was so good to be back.

Wednesday's Workout:

Skill
3 rounds
3-8 muscle ups/pull ups
8-12 pistol squats
2-5 rope climbs

MetCon:
3 rounds - 1 minute max effort reps, 30 second rest
Slam ball (20#)
Box jumps (20")
Burpees
Barbell back squat (45#)

I was really rusty that day. Don't know what it was but I was trying to get back into the groove of things while doing some of the hardest moves I've done in the past few months. The pull ups ended up being more of a warm-up set for me just because my shoulders were stiff from not having done pull ups in awhile. The pistol squats went ok. Rope climbs - zomg. I'm not usually afraid of heights, but something about climbing up a 15 foot rope gives me the shakes. I used one of the knotted ropes. The first time I did rope climbs, I couldn't even pull myself up to the next knot. This time I got myself up a knot before I couldn't do anymore. It wasn't much, but it's progress on the last time I did rope climbs. I'll take it for now.

The MetCon was god awful. Your total "score" was the total number of reps you got throughout the whole thing. Mine was 149, which was absolutely pitiful. Everyone else was in the 200 range. I did ok with the slam balls, generally averaged between 20 and 25. Burpees are burpees, I averaged around the 10 range. They will always suck. The back squats were actually a lot harder than I thought they would be. They were super light, but after box jumps and burpees, I was not feeling well with those. The box jumps, holy bejeezus. Now I've really made huge strides with those, and I've been really proud of it, but that day my body just did not want to jump. I jumped once and on the first try, almost fell flat on my face. Instead I kind of did a super ungraceful trip thing and landed with my shin on the corner of the box. After that I think I psyched myself out a little bit and I barely struggled through the rest of them. Usually I can get a bunch of jumps in within a minute but that day I was doing like 7-9.

Lesson learned. Sometimes taking a week off doesn't always do what you want it to do.

Wednesday evening I went for a run. After the day I had at the gym, I was not in the mood for it, but if I didn't get it done I was never going to get back to it. It was Week 4, Day 2 so same scheme as Day 1. My goal this time was to at least not stop running until the program told me to stop. Well we achieved that, but somehow our pace was even slower than before. I wasn't quite able to make much sense out of that one. I'm starting to think this program has some faults.

Thursday morning I went back to the gym for some more torture.

Thursday's Workout:

Strength:
15 min to establish 1 RM deadlift

MetCon:
21-15-9
Hang cleans (65#)
Toes to bar

The strength I was kind of excited for. I hadn't done a 1RM deadlift in a couple months so I was curious to see how I did. My previous 1RM was 185 pounds. My new one is 225. Huge jump! Got myself some invincible hamstrings up in here.

The MetCon wasn't too bad. I'm not a big hang clean person. I'm a much better power cleaner. Hang cleans are just annoying because you start like knee level and I always somehow end up tweaking one of my wrists. It's the same exact movement as a power clean, except not off the ground. Don't know why my body apparently finds that difficult. I Rx'd the hang clean weight but because I can't do a toes to bar yet, I was technically modified. I'm working on the toes to bar though. Right now I'm focusing on the range of motion and getting that down. I forget what my time was, but it was pretty much around the same time as everyone else.

Took the rest of Thursday off to recuperate before work. Had some delicious Sticky Lips for lunch. Nothin like some ribs for a nice recovery meal.

Friday's workout was kind of fun.

Strength:
7 x 1 1 power snatch + overhead squat

MetCon:
12 min AMRAP
3-6-9-12-15-18...
Front squat (65#)
Kettlebell swing (53#)

The barbell complex felt so weird. Snatches are a little difficult for me because they really focus on that explosive power you get from your hips. What I tend to do is pull too fast off the floor so I end up skipping right over my hips and I'm not allowing them to get that full extension. Just something I'll need to work on. I think my final weight was 83 pounds. It was on the higher side from what the other girls were doing, but I definitely will need to work a little more on those.

The MetCon I beasted through. I think Friday was the day that I finally shook off the residual stiffness that I was feeling. I RX'd the front squat, but since I still have yet to use a 53 pound kettlebell, I used the 44 and focused on getting it over my head every time. Let's just say I got so enthusiastic that at one point I went a little too far over my head and when combined with my sweaty hands the kettlebell may have ended up taking a little trip. I didn't launch it but it definitely left the trajectory it was supposed to follow. The idea behind this AMRAP was an ascending ladder. Everytime you got done with the two movements, you went back and tacked on 3 more reps and you kept doing that until the time was up. I finally ended at 18 reps, plus 10 front squats into the next set. Not bad in my book.

Well since my computer is about to die and we're hitting TLDR territory, I'm going to cut this one off at that. Do I regret taking a week off? No. I was slightly frustrated to find that I had to warm my body back up to CrossFit at the end of it, but I think it worked out for the best. I needed the week to get my nutrition in check. It wasn't perfect. I think I'm at about 85% paleo. I'd like it to be 95%, but it's better than the caveman-less rut I was stuck in a few weeks ago. We're slowly working on it. I'm also working on my recipe binder so it'll be easier for me to access my favorite recipes. I'm kind of worried with summer coming because I tend to eat lighter/colder meals. I've gotten so much practice with hot and heavy meals that I could use to get me through the winter that I now have to change my thinking around to the lighter ones I eat during the summer. Summer is also a killer for me with the ice cream and potato salad and all the other signature summer dishes. I'm just screwed in general. I need to like sequester myself in a place where no bad foods can reach me. Maybe a padded room with a kitchen. That would work swimmingly.