12/14 WOD

Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5 reps

Thought I was easing back into things and tweaked my back doing this WOD. Frustrating year of injuries, ready for it to be over and start off with a fresh mind and healthy body. Will shut it down for the rest of the year to heal up. Then build up more slowly - need to put the ego to the side for a bit... :)

135-185-235-x-x

Not heavy weights at all but I think the 12/09 WOD did me in with the high volume of deadlifts because I did a slight tweak then. Looking back didn't warm up = stupid.

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips), shoulder press 10@45#

12/13 WOD

Three rounds for time of:
35 pound Dumbbell squat snatch, 15 reps, right arm
15 GHD sit-ups
35 pound Dumbbell squat snatch, 15 reps, left arm
15 Toes to bar

Man this was an ab killer. And the one handed squat snatches were very deceptive. I ended up not finishing the last round, no toes to bars... :( Used 25# DB's.

18:30

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups)

12/10 WOD

Resting 60 seconds between sets:
Bench press 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

Last did this one on 10/08/10 with the following results:

177-187-192-197-202-207-212-214.5(1)-212-212(1)

Figured I would do something a bit heavier this time. Shoulder though still isn't 100% but certainly manageable. Didn't feel as powerful as when I benched 240 on 10/30/11 - hiatus and shoulder I'm sure had an impact on it. But overall better than last time so I'm good with that.

185-195-205-210-212.5-215-215-215-215(1)-215(1)

Stomach is a bit sore from the last two rounds where I couldn't get the second rep and had to roll the bar down my torso. Kept the collars off so tilted the bar and the bumper plates slid off and I was good to go... :)

Warmup: 100 jumping jacks, shoulder mobility stuff, 10 pushups, bench press 10@45#, 5@95#, 5&135#, 5@155#

12/09 WOD

Complete as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes of:
Run 400 meters
Deadlift 155 pounds, 21 reps

Chose to do this way late at night. Didn't warmup at all. Not the best choice but I was tired and wanted to plow through this. Scaled deadlifts to 135# and ran on treadmill for 0.25 miles.

5 full rounds with :18 to spare

12/06 WOD

Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3 reps

Okay did this one on 6/16/11 and did pretty good:

205 - 225 - 235 - 245 - 255

So knowing that I've taken a recent hiatus and haven't done any heavy squatting, what do I do? Overdo it... Lasted all of one day. Someday I'll learn. Tweaked back/glute on round 4. I did finish it.

205(5) - 225 - 235 - 240

Lowered the weight but the core was toast. Seems minor, should be fine. Always feels good lifting heavy (well except when you hurt yourself).

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips), shoulder press 10@45#, back squats 10@45#, 5@135#, 5@185#

12/05 WOD

“Eva”
Five rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
2 pood Kettlebell swing, 30 reps
30 Pull-ups

Okay welcome back from shoulder injury hiatus. Seems as though I went in too much too fast. Big surprise. So shut it down for a couple of weeks. Shoulder isn't 100% but sitting around had pretty much done as much as it could do (I did do some treatment on it). Of course my welcome back after this mini-break is Eva, or rather Evil. Nasty ugly WOD. I knew I was going to scale big time. I've actually never done Eva rx'd (close with 1.5 pood KB swings in 53:08 in 2009). Figured I would do 1/2 Eva:

5 rounds
0.25 mile run
15 KB swings @ 1 pood
15 pullups

What's this? Me scaling back? Give it a week and see if I'm still a smart guy.

19:56

3:22 - 4:16 - 4:15 - 4:17 - 3:46

Felt decent but definitely out of shape. Still some pretty good volume. Just right. Felt some good discomfort, but not wrecked beyond recognition... :)

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, CFWUx1 ( OHS@45#, ring dips), shoulder press 10@45#

11/19 WOD

"Michael"

Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
50 Back Extensions
50 Sit-ups

In honor of Navy Lieutenant Michael McGreevy, 30, of Portville, NY, who was killed in Afghanistan June 28, 2005.

Took an extra rest day as my shoulder continues to be tender. This WOD looked good however since there was no shoulder stuff.

Fok more 800's yay. Oh and forget the rest in between lets throw in some major core stuff. I goofed on the first set of back extensions as I did hip extensions - man my hams were on fire. Then adjusted the GHD and that helped for sure. Still very tough. Ran on treadmill with slight incline. Unanchored abmat situps.

26:43

Slow, slow time. But continuing to lay the foundation. Just hope the shoulder feels better soon.

Warmup: 0.50 mile run on treadmill (6-7.5MPH)
C/D: 3x15 pushups for the shoulder rehab

11/16 WOD

Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
Rest 2 minutes

Oh joy, love the 800m intervals... Can't remember when I last did them but know they always suck. Had a target in mind but wasn't sure how the body would respond. Ran on the treadmill with a slight incline. Took too long to get that bad boy up to speed so that may have cost me a few seconds. Overall happy with the times. Just over a month back into CrossFit after that hiatus and I feel like I'm making good progress. Shoulders are still über tender so we'll see about tomorrow's snatch balance WOD.

2:59 - 3:09 - 3:24

Just dug up some old 800m times - May 2009:

2:43 - 3:01 - 3:14 - 3:03. About a 3 minute break between 800's. Out and back course on the street. Dang, those times were pretty good. Little bit to go to get back there.

Warmup: run 0.50 miles, 0.25@6MPH, 0.25@7.5MPH

11/15 WOD

Thruster 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Okay, shoulders still a bit tender from that chipper and then wall ball WOD. Was hoping to do well on this but figured I needed to be careful. Don't need any setbacks this early as I get reacquainted with CrossFit. Couldn't figure out the hand position very well either despite watching the demo video a few times. Just not sure how to find the sweet spot between front squat grip and full hand grip. The transition seemed odd and weak. So I went with the full hand grip. The video said that will reduce the amount you can lift but I just couldn't see any other way. Something to practice.

135-155-160-165-170-175-185(F)-185(F)

Did a bonus round because I thought I could get 185 up but the wrists and shoulders failed me. It was an easy front squat.

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, strict pullups), shoulder press 10@45#, thrusters 3@95, 3@115

11/13 WOD

21-15-9 reps for time of:
GHD Wall ball, 10 pound ball
Wallball "2-fer-1s", 20 pound ball

Okay, couldn't setup the GHD to do this WOD properly and didn't have a 10# med ball. Plus I decided regular wall balls would be better for me. I used a 12# med ball on the GHD and launched to an 8' target. Ball stayed tight to my chest vs. overhead. Used 20# med ball to 10' target for wall balls. This was plenty for me. Still feeling that chipper from yesterday in my arms and shoulders.

6:14

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, strict pullups)

11/12 WOD

For time:
Row 500 meters
20 inch Box jump, 50 reps
Push-ups, 50 reps
Sit-ups, 50 reps
Jumping pull-ups, 50 reps
50 Back extension, 50 reps
Dips, 50 reps (did static bar dips not ring dips)
1.5 pood Turkish Get-up, 20 reps, alternating arms

Okay disappointed that I missed Murph yesterday but was exhausted. Asleep by 10:30pm which is very early for me. Figured I needed to go all in on this one because I missed it. Still felt tired even though I got plenty of sleep. Pace was okay, but nothing spectacular. Then the wheels came off at the TGU's. Started with 1pood but quit that after 4 of them. Finished with 26# kb. Took almost 12 minutes to do them. Just didn't have it. I need to start cleaning up the diet.

34:33

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips)

11/09 WOD

Part 1)
3 Sets
Bench Press @ 30X1, 6-8 reps, rest 30 seconds
Tall Box Jumps, 6-8 reps, rest 90 seconds
Part 2)
For time:
21 Russian Kettlebell Swings (Eye Level – See under KB)
21 Goblet Squats
Farmer Carry to Tyler’s Garbage (w/ 2 kb’s or appropriate db)
15 Kettlebell Swings
15 Goblet Squats
Farmer Carry to Tyler’s Garbage
9 Kettlebell Swings
9 Goblet Squats
Farmer Carry to Tyler’s Garbage

Okay my final day at CrossFit 801. Really enjoyed my time there and the people were very cool. I hope to pay them a visit when I'm there in January. Had some fun today, messing around with box jumps. I successfully jumped up on 3 tractor tires stacked up - matched my best 56". Pretty stoked with that. They were impressed that a 44 year old could do that. :)

Bench press was good too - the tempo was down 3-2-1 and then explode up. I did 6 reps @215# on my final set. Happy with that. My box jumps were 8@38" which I could've done higher.

Okay onto the metcon... Dang hard. I used a 70# kb and carried two 75# dumbbells for the farmers walk. The worst however were the goblet squats. Those I think had the biggest impact on me. I was looking good for a 7 minute time but then faded. I'd like to blame the altitude but I'm sure it is mostly my lack of fitness (since I'm just getting back into CF). The coach was awesome, she kept pushing me and giving me the 3-2-1 whenever I took a break. Forearms sufficiently fried.

8:30

Warmup: very little, light bench press and some box jumps

11/08 WOD

7 rounds for time -
4 handstand push ups
6 reps, hang power snatch
24 double unders

Okay very cool my first workout at a CrossFit affiliate! CrossFit 801 in Utah. Referred a co-worker there so they said I could workout there while i was in town. Definitely a bit nervous, not used to working out with all these people around.

When I saw the WOD I thought, great handstand pushups... :(. 28 was going to be tough if not impossible at this time. I was confident with the hang power snatch and my double unders are slowly improving. Used 95# for the HPS's (rx'd was 115 - I think I could've done that). Double unders went pretty good. I actually did 5 rounds of handstand pushups unbroken. But faded hard on rounds 6 & 7 (took me longer to do the final two rounds than it did to do the first five rounds!). As a matter of fact I could only do negatives on the final round despite everyone cheering me on. Tried to do kipping handstand pushups but didn't know how to do them. Too bad really as I was on pace to beat the 6pm trainer. But 24 handstand pushups I'm happy with... :). HPS's all unbroken.

18:07

It sure was cool though sharing the pain with everyone. Pretty motivating when everyone is cheering you on to finish.

Warmup: 500m row, 2X of 7 inch worms, 7 kettlebell swings (1.5pood), 7 goblet squats with kettlebell, 21 singleunders

11/06 WOD

For time:
Row 300 meters
95 pound Push press, 20 reps
Row 300 meters
95 pound Push press, 15 reps
Row 300 meters
95 pound Push press, 10 reps
Row 300 meters
95 pound Push press, 5 reps

This is pack scaling, rx'd is 135#. Shoulders and abs fried still from yesterday's WOD so this was going to be rough. Skipped ab stuff during warmup. Did some push press with light weight and went for it. Was hoping for sub-10 minutes but came up just short when I had to rest for about 10 seconds on the last set of push presses. So close.

10:07

Excited for a rest day and then even more excited as I'll be in Salt Lake City and I'll get an opportunity to train at CrossFit801 on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Excited but a bit nervous as I've never been to an affiliate before. Should be interesting... :)

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, no GHD work), push presses 10@45#

11/05 WOD

For time:
25 GHD sit-ups
1 Muscle-up
20 GHD sit-ups
2 Muscle-ups
15 GHD sit-ups
3 Muscle-ups
10 GHD sit-ups
4 Muscle-ups
5 GHD sit-ups
5 Muscle-ups

Couldn't get to this one yesterday since family was in town. Knew this would be pretty tough since I haven't done this kind of GHD situp volume for quite some time. Also, can't remember when I did muscleups. Sure to be a FUN time... :(

Was hoping for under 10 minutes, but slowed considerably and muscleups got slower and slower. Oh well, got through it.

12:12

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips)

11/03 WOD

Seven rounds of:
35 Double-unders
1 Snatch

Make one snatch attempt per round

Jeeze more double-unders must know that I'm pretty bad at them right now. Oh well, as I tell my daughter the only way to get better at something is to practice. Lot of practice here with that volume. Was able to string some together but still not more than about 12. Making progress, think I need a slightly heavier rope than my uber light speed rope. And the snatch I'm not so hot at either. Did some warming up and decided that 115# was going to be my choice in weight. For the most part went up pretty easily, couple rounds a teeny bit shaky. So I probably could've gone a little heavier but I'll take that.

14:48, 805#

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips), snatch balance 6@45#, 4@65#, 4@95#; snatch 3@95#, 2@115#
C/D: major butterfly kipping pullup practice

11/01 WOD

Set a cone at 20 meters. Five rounds for time of:
185 pound barbell Overhead walk, 40 meters
30 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
95 pound barbells Farmer carry, 40 meters

The barbells must be turned around the cone.

Okay after last night's bludgeoning, knew I was going to scale this one big time. Used the "Pack" scaling. Worked out outside in the backyard - wind was howling but there was some shelter for me. Didn't have 20m so did some calculations and walked back and for several times.

5 Rounds
Overhead walk 40m@95#
30 wallball shots @15#
50# dumbbell walk 40m

Pretty wiped. I strongly dislike wallball shots and these were rough. Couldn't even imagine what this WOD would feel like at rx.

22:16

3:29-4:32-4:29-4:55-4:51

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulders, CFWUx1 (OHS@45, ring dips)

10/31 WOD

Three rounds for time of:
95 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps
15 L Pull-ups
95 pound Split-jerk, 15 reps
15 Knees to elbows
95 pound Hang clean, 15 reps
15 Back extensions, with 25 pounds

Hold 25 pound plate or dumbbell to chest for back extensions.

Well, seemed like reasonable weights... And I was just coming off a surprise PR night. Figured what the heck, I'm ready to give this a go rx'd. Big mistake. Total gasser. I felt great on the overhead squats and did them all unbroken. The L pullups were tough and I broke them up. Split jerks unbroken but definitely hard. K2E's always suck. Hang squat cleans were ugly too.

So my time? 23:07... Quit after two rounds. Wheels came falling off in the second round.

Round 1 - 8:49
Round 2 - 14:18

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips)

10/30 WOD

Clean, 1 rep
Bench press, 1 rep
Overhead squat, 1 rep

Clean is from the ground, power or squat.

Okay, did this back on 12/4/10 and was pretty happy with the results then:

Clean - 211 (power clean)
Bench press - 231 (best ever)
Overhead squat - 196 (PR by 20#!!! Captured on video - legit depth)
TOTAL - 638

So my expectations weren't great knowing how little I've done with really heavy weights. During the bodybuilding working out there was some bench press, but no single rep maxes or really heavy stuff. So I was really happy when I did the following:

Clean - 215
Bench press - 240
Overhead squat - 175
TOTAL - 630

First two were PR's! Disappointed on my overhead squat since my PR is 196, but I could tell it wasn't going to happen. Very shaky with 185 overhead, then lost it pressing out of the hole. Definitely need more midline stability/shoulder strength. But overall I was pleased with the results.

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips)
Cleans - 6@135#, 1@185, 1@205, 1@215
Bench - 6@135#, 4@185, 1@205, 1@225, 1@240, 1@245(F)
OHS - 4@135#, 1@165, 1@175(F), 1@175, 1@185(F)

10/28 WOD

"Tabata Something Else"

Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.

Okay last did this on 04/05/2010. I was in excellent shape at that point, arguably in my best shape then. Roll the clock forward 1.5 years and add in a break from CrossFit and you get results not even close to the previous PR.

04/05/2010
66 pull-ups
87 push-ups
86 sit-ups
136 squats
375 total

10/28/2011
Pullups 62 (-4)
Pushups 73 (-14)
Situps 67 (-19)
Squats 92 (-44)
Total 294 (-81)

Ouch. I paced myself early and could've done more of everything except maybe the pullups... Next time I'm all in. Mailed the squats in with 6 sets of 10 and then 2 sets of 16.

Pullups 10,10,7,7,8,7,7,6
Pushups 12,12,10,10,8,8,7,6
Situps 10,9,8,8,8,8,8,8
Squats 10,10,10,10,10,10,16,16

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips)

10/26 WOD

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
3 Wall climbs
10 Up-downs
5 Parallette pass-throughs (forward + back = 1)
10 Grasshoppers (right + left = 1)

For the wall climbs, toes and chest touch the ground to toes and chest touch the wall. For the up-downs, thighs touch the ground then stand up fully. For the pass-throughs, the hips open at the front and back. For the grasshoppers, the shin contacts the opposite forearm.

Nice easy little gymnastics related WOD... Sweet, shouldn't be too bad. Once again, tough. Deceptively tough. Hardly did a warmup - mistake. Felt gassed at the start. Was barely able to do the pass throughs unbroken and couldn't do the grasshoppers unbroken. Big core and shoulders workout for' sho'!!!

5 rounds + 3 wall climbs + 3 up-downs

Warmup: 100 jumping jacks, shoulder mobility stuff

10/24 WOD

21-15 and 9 rep rounds of:
Left-arm Kettlebell snatch, 1.5 pood
Right-arm Kettlebell snatch, 1.5 pood
Pull-ups

Did this one in October of last year - scaled to 1 pood kb swings (35#). Decided to do the same this time for comparison purposes (and not to mention I'm still a bit fried from the Bradshaw WOD yesterday with the 96 pullups). Last time was 5:45. Didn't think I would sniff that but happy with my time:

6:21

Grip and forearms are fried. Rest day take me away... :)

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45, ring dips)

10/23 WOD

* "Bradshaw"

10 rounds for time of:
3 Handstand push-ups
225 pound Deadlift, 6 reps
12 Pull-ups
24 Double-unders

Holy crap haven't done that kind of pullup volume in forever. Decided to continue the scaling as I continue to build up the CrossFit strength, endurance, and power. 8 rounds, deadlifts at 185#. This was tough - plus as previously identified, my double unders stink right now. But more practice and needed breaks. I put an abmat under my head for the handstand pushups to provide some cushion for the neck.

25:36

Ouch.

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45, ring dips)

* U.S. Army First Lieutenant Brian Bradshaw, 24, of Steilacoom, Washington, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, died in Kheyl, Afghanistan, on June 25th, 2009, from wounds suffered when insurgents detonated a roadside bomb near his vehicle. He is survived by his parents, Paul and Mary, and brother Robert.

10/22 WOD

Resting 60 seconds between sets:
Press 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

My nemesis, well one of many... The overhead press. Never have been very good at this. Shoulders feel as good as they have in awhile, I think the break from CrossFit helped that at least. Quick warmup and then I hit it. Don't normally workout in the morning but due to timing that was necessary.

95-100-105-110-112.5-115-117.5-120-120-122.5(1)

Previous 1RM is 135 so I'm happy with that I think.

Warmup: 3x10 shoulder press at 45#, shoulder mobility stuff
C/D: 3x10 kipping pullups

10/20 WOD

Ten rounds, each for time of:
100 meter Sprint
Rest 90 seconds

Haven't run much in awhile. Feet seem to be a bit tender still but not bad. Put my Adidas track/sprint shoes on and rocked the cul de sac. I paced off 103 paces, approximately 94m. Note the cul de sac is slightly uphill so figured that would cancel the shorter distance. Basically sprinted to the top of the street and then walked back for my break.

Unfortunately I missed the lap button on my iPhone several times so those times were clearly slower. Pretty happy with the times, next time I hit the track!

15.6* - 13.5 - 13.5 - 16.0* - 14.5 - 16.5* - 15.2 - 15.6

* missed lap button on first try - figured I lost 2 seconds each time (based on my actual splits). Probably more on round 1 since it switched to world clock and I had to navigate back to the stopwatch. Next maybe I'll have someone to time me.

Stopped after 8 rounds as pack scaling is 6-8. Could've done two more sets but that would've hurt big time.

Warmup: 6 mins on treadmill ~0.50m (slow and easy pace)

10/19 WOD

2010 Northwest Regional Event 1

Three rounds for time of:
95 pound Overhead squat, 10 reps
50 Double-unders

This is pack scaling - rx'd is overhead squats at 135#. Birthday and work travel threw me off schedule so took an extra rest day.

My double unders suck big time now. Haven't done them in awhile and it showed. Best I could string together was 10-12 but most were like two and three. Very sad. Overhead squats at 95# were no problem and got through those unbroken easily. Probably because I was hardly winded with the lame ass du's... :(

10:04

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips)

10/16 WOD

Five rounds for time of:
155 pound Squat clean, 7 reps
14 Kettlebell swings, 1.5 pood

Okay decided to take things a bit easy getting back into CrossFit. Two WODs in my first cycle back. Scaled this to the pack scaling on the BrandX website.

95# squat cleans
1 pood/35# kettlebell swings

I knew this would hurt, even at the scaled weight since I haven't done anything high intensity for a couple of months now. And it did not disappoint. Recovery took awhile. Broke up the later rounds too. Happy to be getting back into it. Amazing after two CrossFit workouts I already feel better and am not hobbling around like an old man... :)

7:02

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips)

10/14 WOD

Deadlift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Okay, the little experiment is over after 7 weeks. Learned a lot and while I perhaps gained a little mass, I lost a lot. Biggest issue was my back ached big time, impacting sleep and even sitting for a prolonged time was rough. That beat me down a fair amount and made me not want to workout. Vicious cycle. The long hours in the gym stunk too. Things took way too much time and therefore I was a bit bitter. I lost a ton of fitness too - didn't want to do "cardio" after training with weights for an hour plus. Explosive power dropped big time too. But worst of all I felt like I lost that indestructible feeling. Hobbling around with an aching back will do that to you.

So I'm back to CrossFit. Missed it a lot and I'm looking forward to the sufferfests again. Excited to train vs. work out.

Of course I come back to heavy deadlifts. I don't think I've done any heavy deadlifting since prior to my neck injury in what was that, late January? Early February? Anyhow, I remember pulling a PR of 385# before I went on the disabled list. Figured I would ease back into things tonight but weights felt good. Did I push it a bit? Probably. Back rounding on the last rep but went up fairly quickly. Actually did a CFT on 4/26/11 and pulled a 332# deadlift. But nothing heavy since then.

275-295-315-325-330-340-350

So not bad, less than 10% off my PR. Where I know I'm going to suffer is the metcons. Tomorrow will be a good test... :)

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (ohs@45#, ring dips), deadlifts 10@135#, 6@185#, 4@235#

10/03

Shoulders/Cardio

Smith Machine Military Press (barbell)
1 warm-up set, 3 sets of 10 reps (65-75-85)

Superset:

Upright Dumbbell Rows
3 sets of 10 reps (30-35-40)

Standing Dumbbell Military Press (shown seated)
3 sets of 10 reps (30-30-30)

End of superset; resume normal sets

Incline Bench Front Dumbbell Delt Raises (go light)
3 sets of 10 reps (15-20/15-15)

Rear Delt Cable Flyes - no sub skipped
3 sets of 10 reps

Lateral Raise
3 sets of 10 reps (20-20-20)

Rear Delt Raise
3 sets of 10 reps (20-30-30)

10/02 WOD

Arms/Abs/Cardio

Barbell Curl
3 sets of 10 reps (55-65-70)

Superset:

Overhead Cable Curl - subbed preacher curls
3 sets of 10 reps (20-20-20)

Cable Hammer Curls - Rope Attachment - subbed kettlebells
3 sets of 10 reps (36-36-36)

End of superset; resume normal sets

Alternate Hammer Curl
3 sets of 10 reps (25-25-25)

Bench or Parallel Bar Dips - parallel bars
3 sets of 15 reps

Skullcrushers
3 sets of 10 reps (45-50-52.5)

Seated Triceps Press
3 sets of 10 reps (35-40-40)

Triceps Pushdown - Rope Attachment
3 sets of 10 reps (26-27.25-27.25)
subbed cobbled strap over pullup bar, tons of friction

Air Bike
3 sets of 25 reps

Jackknife Sit-Up
3 sets of 10 reps

Hanging Leg Raise (or roman chair)
3 sets of 10 reps - K2E's

09/30 WOD

Legs

Leg Extensions (26# kettlebell looped over foot)
2 warm-up sets with lighter weight for 30 reps

Wide Stance Barbell Squat (95-115-15@165-10@185)
2 lighter sets of 15 reps, 2 heavier sets to failure

Leg Press (subbed overhead squats)
4 sets of 8 reps (95-105-115-125)
(shoulder width stance)

Walking Barbell Lunge
3 sets of 20 reps, baby steps (65-75-85)

Barbell Step Ups
3 sets of 10 reps (65-75-95, 16" box)

Plie Dumbbell Squat
3 sets of 15 reps (45-50-71)

Standing Calf Raises
3 sets of 20 reps, last set to failure (185-195-205)

Donkey Calf Raises - skipped
3 sets of 20 reps, last set to failure

09/29 WOD

Chest/Abs

Wide-Grip Barbell Bench Press
5 sets of 8 reps (10@115-10@145-10@160-8@170-95@10 count)
(1 warm-up set, 3 reg sets, 1 set of negatives)

Pushups (Close and Wide Hand Positions)
3 sets of 15 reps

Cable Crossover
3 sets of 10 reps (30-35-35)
subbed flat bench flyes

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
3 sets of 10 reps (95-100-100)
no Smith Machine

Side-to-Side Pushups
3 sets of 10 reps

Superset:

Toe Touchers
3 sets of 20 reps

Crunches
3 sets of 20 reps
(legs straight in the air)

End of superset; resume normal sets

Knee/Hip Raise On Parallel Bars
3 sets of 10 reps - subbed K2E's

Cable Crunch
3 sets of 10 reps - subbed GHD situps

09/28 WOD

Back/Cardio

Wide Grip Overhand Pullups
3 sets of 10 reps - Subbed 3 sets strict pullups (10-10-6/2/1/1)

Superset:

Bent Over Barbell Row
3 sets of 8 reps (75-85-95)

Seated Cable Rows
3 sets of 8 reps (75-85-95)
subbed bent over row with hands reversed, narrow grip, pulled to stomach

End of superset; resume normal sets

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
3 sets of 10 reps - subbed kipping pullups

One-Arm Dumbbell Row
3 sets of 8 reps (40-45-50)

Hammer Strength Lat Pull
3 sets of 10 reps (53-54.25-55.5)
cobbled together rig pulling weight over pullup bar

Hyperextensions (Back Extensions)
3 sets of 8 reps

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@65#, ring dips, no pullups)

09/25 WOD

Shoulders/cardio day. Feet still a bit tender so skipped cardio. Legs pretty torched from legs and box work from previous days.

Smith Machine Military Press (standard barbell press in front of head)
1 warm-up set, 3 sets of 10 reps 65-75-80

Superset:

Upright Dumbbell Rows
3 sets of 10 reps 30-35-40

Standing Dumbbell Military Press
3 sets of 10 reps 30-30-30

End of superset; resume normal sets

Incline Bench Front Dumbbell Delt Raises
3 sets of 10 reps 15-20-20

Rear Delt Cable Flyes - no sub skipped
3 sets of 10 reps

Lateral Raise
3 sets of 10 reps 20-20-20

Rear Delt Raise
3 sets of 10 reps 20-25-30

Shoulders toasty. Looking forward to a rest day here soon...

Warmup: shoulder mobility stuff only

09/24 WOD

Arms/abs/cardio day... Another epic.

Barbell Curl
3 sets of 10 reps 55-65-67.5

Superset:

Overhead Cable Curl (subbed preacher curl)
3 sets of 10 reps 20-20-20 (dumbbells)

Cable Hammer Curls - Rope Attachment (subbed single kettlebell two hands)
3 sets of 10 reps 35-35-35

End of superset; resume normal sets

Alternate Hammer Curl
3 sets of 10 reps 25-25-25

Bench or Parallel Bar Dips - did parallel bar dips
3 sets of 15 reps

Skullcrushers
3 sets of 10 reps 45-50-50

Seated Triceps Press
3 sets of 10 reps 30-35-40

Triceps Pushdown - Rope Attachment (done on pullup rig, tons of friction)
3 sets of 10 reps 26-26-26

Air Bike
3 sets of 25 reps

Jackknife Sit-Up
3 sets of 10 reps

Hanging Leg Raise (or roman chair)
3 sets of 10 reps (last set knees to elbows)

30 minutes of cardio was stepping up on a 16" box. Mind numbing but feet and knees a bit tender. Did approximately 600 step ups. Legs should feel that.

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff

09/23 WOD

Big legs day. No leg press so ended up doing tons o' squats. Legs will feel this as I skipped the last leg workout so it has been awhile. Another epic workout, finished at 12:20am... :(

Leg Extensions
2 warm-up sets with lighter weight for 30 reps
18-26 (kettlebells on foot, single leg, 15 reps per leg)

Wide Stance Barbell Squat
2 lighter sets of 15 reps, 2 heavier sets to failure
95-105-125-145 (didn't go to failure on the last two - thought I might but didn't)

Leg Press
4 sets of 8 reps
(shoulder width stance)
Subbed more squats: 155-165-175-180

Walking Barbell Lunge
3 sets of 20 reps, baby steps
Did 10 reps per leg, went light to start thought legs were toast, 45-65-85

Barbell Step Ups
3 sets of 10 reps
Stepped onto a 16" box, 45-65-85

Plie Dumbbell Squat
3 sets of 15 reps
Basically a sumo squat but holding a dumbbell, 40-45-53 (last set kettlebell)

Standing Calf Raises
3 sets of 20 reps, last set to failure
155-15-170 feel the burn!

Donkey Calf Raises
3 sets of 20 reps, last set to failure
No partner to ride on my back, so did more standing calf raises, 170-170-170

Warmup: 500 singleunders

09/22 WOD

Chest/Abs/Cardio-a-gogo. This was a pretty tough one. Lot of volume. And again things took forever. Chest related work is pretty slim in CrossFit, so this is a fair amount of work.

Wide-Grip Barbell Bench Press
5 sets of 8 reps
(1 warm-up set, 3 reg sets, 1 set of negatives)
95-135-155-165-95 (10 count on the negative)

Pushups (Wide Hand Positions)
3 sets of 15 reps

Cable Crossover
3 sets of 10 reps
Subbed flat bench flyes: 25-35-35

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
3 sets of 10 reps
Bench press on incline (probably too steep and about killed myself on this): 95-95-95

Side-to-Side Pushups
3 sets of 10 reps
Used a 45# plate between and alternated side to side with a more explosive move across the bumper plate.


Superset: (goofed again and did all the ab stuff as a giant superset)

Toe Touchers
3 sets of 20 reps

Crunches
3 sets of 20 reps
(legs straight in the air)

Knee/Hip Raise On Parallel Bars (subbed hanging Roman chair leg lifts)
3 sets of 10 reps

Cable Crunch (rigged up a contraption on my pullups bar weighted it with 35#, lots of friction)
3 sets of 10 reps

Okay, ran another 30 minutes on the treadmill. This time upped the pace but still was slow. Total distance 5K.

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders

09/21 WOD

Back and cardio day! Cardio? Man, problem with this methodology is it takes forever to get these workouts done. Who has time for 2 hours in the gym? Yuck. Oh well, I'm still sticking with it and we'll see how things end up after 12 weeks.

Wide grip overhand pull-ups, 3x10: strict pull-ups

Supersets (I goofed on these, did each set of two in supersets vs. the first set of two only)
Bent-over barbell row, 3x8: 65-75-85
Seated cable row, 3x8: subbed bent over row with hands reversed, narrow grip, pulled to stomach 65-75-85

Wide grip lat pull-down, 3x10: subbed kipping pull-ups
One-armed row, 3x8: 35-40-40

Hammer strength pull-downs, 3x10 35-53-53 (in my pullup bar rig with big time friction)
Back extensions, 3x8: 0-10-20 (plate held behind head)

Did 30 minutes on the treadmill very slowly. Haven't run in a long time. Probably shouldn't have worn VFF's... Ran 2.25 miles.

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@65#, ring dips, no pullups)

09/18 WOD

Shoulders and abs day. Not a whole lot of time so did quick warmup and went for it.

3x10 rep scheme

Seated dumbbell press: 35 - 40 - 45(7) + 40(3)
Rear delt cable flyes (subbed seated bent over rear delt raise): 20 - 25 - 25
Dumbbell front raise: 20 - 20 - 20
Seated Arnold press: 35 - 35 - 35
Dumbbell lateral raise: 20 - 20 - 20
Seated bent over rear delt raise: 20 - 25 - 25
Crunches (subbed GHD sit-ups)
Roman chair leg raise (subbed knees to elbows)
Oblique crunches: on Abmat

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff

09/16 WOD

Chest and triceps - arguably the toughest day (although the leg triplet - squats, walking lunge, and single leg deadlifts is pure evil). Pushups even weighted ones are too easy for me. So I subbed bench press instead - that torched me for a lot of the remaining weights I think...

Bench press: 135 - 155 - 165
Incline dumbbell press: 40 - 40 - 40
Flat bench flyes: 25 -25 - 35
Decline flyes: 25 - 25 - 25
Bench/bar dips: ring dips substituted had to partition
Lying barbell triceps extension: 55 - 55 - 45
Dumbbell triceps kickback: 25 - 25 - 25
Overhead two handed triceps extensions: 25 -35 - 35

Arms are goner...

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@65#)

09/15 WOD

Back and biceps day - Yay get to mix in some strict pullups!

3x10 rep scheme

Hammer strength lat pull: subbed my funky rig with straps and a kettlebell 40 - 45 - 53
Wide grip lat pulldown: subbed strict pullups
Seated narrow grip cable rows: subbed bent over rows with hands reversed and pulled to stomach 85 - 95 - 105
T-Bar row: 70 - 85 - 95
Back extensions: on GHD
Barbell curl: 65 - 67.5 - 70
Incline dumbbell curl: 20 - 20 - 20
Alternate hammer curl: 25 - 25 - 25

Can't wait until someone asks me, "which way to the beach?". :)

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@45#, ring dips)

09/14 WOD

What week is this? Is it time to get back to CrossFit? Unfortunately a long way to go still. Seeing some results though so that is at least a good thing. And have gained some weight!

Legs day, 3x10 rep scheme

Leg extension (kettlebell looped on foot, leg on stool): 35 - 35 - 53
Squats: 155 - 170 - 180
Walking barbell lunge: 75 - 90 - 100
Single leg barbell deadliest: 75 - 85 - 87.5
Lying leg curls: subbed GHD reverse hypers (assisted)
Standing calf raises (2x): 185 - 195 - 205 - 205 - 215 - 225

Low back was sore from the previous day of grouting. Seriously? Grouting hurt my back? So I may have gained some mass but my functional fitness has suffered it appears. :(

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@45#, ring dips)

09/11 WOD

Okay new day back to evening working out and caught up on a teeny bit of sleep. Shoulders and abs day. Felt so much better out there today. Need to fill out my dumbbell set with a 30 and 40 pounders.

3x10 rep scheme

Seated dumbbell press 25 - 35 - 45(5)/35(5)
Rear delt cable flyes (subbed seated bent over rear delt raise) 15 - 20 - 25
Dumbbell front raise 15 - 20 - 20
Seated Arnold press 25 - 25 - 25
Dumbbell lateral raise 15 - 20 - 20
Seated bent over rear delt raise 20 - 20 - 25
Crunches (subbed GHD sit-ups)
Roman chair leg raise (subbed knees to elbows)
Oblique crunches (on abmat)

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods - OHS@45#, ring dips)

09/10 WOD

Second leg day of the week, seems like legs haven't fully recovered. Oh well, let the fun begin! Unfortunately felt like crap doing a morning workout. Felt a little nauseous, not sure why. Lack of sleep could've been the culprit.

3x10 rep scheme

Leg extension (subbed single leg kettelebell looped on foot) 35 - 35 - 53
Wide stance barbell squat 155 - 165 - 175
Walking barbell lunge 75 - 85 - 95
Single leg barbell deadlifts 75 - 85 - 85
Lying leg curls (subbed GHD reverse hypers assisted)

Skipped calves... Happy to have made it as far as I did...

Warmup: 200 jumping jacks, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips)

09/08 WOD

Chest and triceps day. Legs still a teeny bit sore and low back too. But generally feeling okay, other than tired from not enough sleep. About fell asleep standing up at my daughter's Kung Fu lesson. Hmmm... I think that is a sign.

3x10 rep scheme, 80% weight (whatever)

Wide pushups: wore 20# vest and elevated hands and feet on bumper plates
Incline dumbbell press: 35 - 45 - 45
Flat bench flyes: 15 - 25 - 25
Decline flyes: 20 - 20 - 20
Bench or bar dips: subbed ring dips
Lying EZ bar triceps: subbed barbell - 45 - 55 - 55
Dumbbell triceps kickback: 15 - 15 - 15 (triceps about fried at this point)
Overhead two handed triceps extensions: 25 - 35 - 35
Cable one-arm triceps extension: (subbed two-arm with a cobbled together setup with a sling slung over two pullups bars and a kettlebell attached to one end and a PVC pipe on the other for the handle. Ton of friction, so weight is light 18 - 26 - 26

Yup, that was some serious triceps burn. I suspect those will be sore now for awhile. Chest not so bad, especially without the heavier loading of bench press.

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@65#)
C/D: 1x10 pullups

09/07 WOD

Okay legs feeling that last workout. Happy for the heavier weights. Speaking of, I got some dumbbells off Craigslist so that is exciting! New toys!

Back and biceps day. Same rep scheme, 3x10, weight supposed to be 80%

Hammer strength lat pull - don't have a lat pull down machine so tried some crazy version of hanging from rings and elevating feet on a stool. Don't think it mimicked the same move and fried my back for the next exercise (pullups)
Wide grip lat pulldown - strict pullups
Seated narrow grip cable pulls - bent over row with close underhanded grip - 75 - 85 - 95
T bar row - this was comical as I was actually picking up the entire bar with load - 50 - 70 - 95
Back extensions (on GHD)
Barbell curl - 55 - 65 - 65
Incline dumbbell curl - 20 - 20 - 20
Alternating hammer curl - 25 - 25 - 25

Low back is feeling pretty tired after the last two days. But otherwise feel pretty good.

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods - OHS@45#, ring dips)

09/06 WOD

Okay, week three of this little experiment and yes! Things start increasing in intensity! Yes I'm weird that way... :)

Legs today, weights supposed to be 80% and rep scheme 3x10

Leg extension (single leg on stool with kettlebell on foot): 35#
Squats: 155# - 155# - 165#
Walking barbell lunge - 45# - 65# - 75#
Single leg barbell deadlift - 75#
Lying leg curls (GHD reverse hypers): assisted, rd 2 100% negatives, assisted
Seated calf raises: 160# - 182# - 182#
Standing calf raises: 185# - 185# - 195#

Squats then lunges then single leg deadlifts just torched my glutes! Interesting doing those single leg deadlifts. Completely different animal. Need to move up in weight on leg extensions and squats. Legs are tired. Did everything in VFF's... :)

Continued with the CF Kids for the neighborhood - daughter tore it up again with the fastest time of all the kids (15-12-9 OHS w/7.5# bar, full release burpees). And scored some dumbbells today too!

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods - OHS@45#, ring dips)
C/D: 3x15 GHD situps

09/02 WOD

Shoulders and day, repeat of day 4. Felt pretty good, looking forward to increased intensity. Am already starting to see some different development, especially in the chest. Also noticing some range of motion and flexibility though being limited.

Again 3x12, 60% weight

Seated dumbbell press (subbed barbell), 45-65-65
Front delt raise to a "T", 10#
Side lateral raise, 10#
Seated bent over rear delt fly, 10#
Exercise ball crunches (subbed GHD situps)
Air bike - subbed rotations with 10# med ball while on GHD

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods - OHS@45#, ring dips)

09/01 WOD

Legs and calves, day three repeat. Soon the phases are supposed to ramp up, looking forward to the increased intensity.

Again weights supposed to be 60#, rep scheme 3 sets of 12.

Leg press (substituted regular squats A2G), 135#
Leg extensions (kettlebell looped on foot, sat on stool), 26#
Sumo barbell squat, 95#
Seated leg curl (subbed GHD reverse hypers assisted and negatives)
Standing calf raises, 115#, 135#, 135#
Seated calf raises, 135#

Legs were pretty beat up after the last time I did this workout. Felt pretty good this time, probably could've increased the weight some on both squats.

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods - OHS@45#, ring dips), 10 squats @45#
C/D: 3x10 GHD situps

08/31 WOD

Repeat of Day 2 workout. Tough day with all the pullups in lieu of the pull down stuff. I kip to make it a little bit easier.

Weights supposed to be at 60%, 3 sets of 12

Wide grip lat pull-down (subbed kipping pullups)
One-arm dumbbell row, 26# kettlebell
Seated cable row (subbed bent over row with hands reversed, close grip), 65#
Underhand cable pulldown (subbed kipping chinups)
Alternating dumbbell curl, 26#, 26#, 26# kettlebell
One-arm preacher curl, 18#, 18#, 18# kettlebell
Standing biceps cable curl (subbed barbell), 45#

Felt a little better this time, upped weights ever so slightly on a couple of exercises. Going to paaaahhhhmped uuuupp!!! :)

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWU x1 (mods - OHS@65#, ring dips)
C/D: 3x10 GHD situps

08/30 WOD

Repeat of day one workout. Upped weights where I could. Stii supposed to bat a 60% workout. Felt tougher this time.

Wide pushups 3x12
Bench press 3x12 @125#
Flat bench cable flyes: 3x12 @12.5# plates (no cables - awkward)
Narrow pushups 3x12
Overhead triceps dumbbell 3x12 @26# kettlebell
Triceps pushdowns 3x12 @green pullup band

Rough time on the last set of 12 bench press... Need to buy some dumbbells as holding combinations of plates and kettlebells pretty much sucks.

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods - OHS@65#, ring dips)
C/D: 3x10 GHD sit-ups

08/27 WOD

Shoulders and abs day. Pretty sore all over from the previous workouts, but that didn't stop me from doing 7 hours of remodeling work and then starting this workout at 10:45pm.

Again 3x12, 60% weight

Seated dumbbell press (subbed barbell), 45-65-65
Front delt raise to a "T", 7.5#
Side lateral raise, 7.5#
Seated bent over rear delt fly, 7.5#
Exercise ball crunches (subbed GHD situps)
Air bike - could've done this forever, laid on bench so feet could go below level

No warmup just blasted it out. Tired and want some sleep. More remodeling work tomorrow!

08/26 WOD

Dang chest is still sore... Biceps a bit tight. But feel fine otherwise. Today was legs and calves.

Again weights supposed to be 60#, rep scheme 3 sets of 12.

Leg press (substituted regular squats A2G), 135#
Leg extensions (kettlebell looped on foot, sat on stool), 18#, 26#, 26#
Sumo barbell squat, 95#
Seated leg curl (subbed GHD reverse hypers assisted and negatives)
Standing calf raises, 95#, 115#, 115#
Seated calf raises, 90#, 115#, 115#

Legs are going to feel that. Curious to see how this working out will impact my performance/metabolic conditioning.

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWU x1 (mods - OHS@45#, ring dips), squats 10@45#

08/25 WOD

Little sore from yesterday, not used to all that chest work... Will need the manzere or bro soon... :). Today was back and biceps day. Again, don't have the equipment so had to do some Mikeguyver action.

Weights supposed to be at 60%, 3 sets of 12

Wide grip lat pull-down (subbed kipping pullups)
One-arm dumbbell row, 26#
Seated cable row (subbed bent over row with hands reversed, close grip), 45#
Underhand cable pulldown (subbed kipping chinups)
Alternating dumbbell curl, 26#, 18#, 18#
One-arm preacher curl, 10#, 18#, 18#
Standing biceps cable curl (subbed barbell), 45#

Dang biceps are fried - definitely not used to doing that. Surely will be some DOMS from this one. Did the CFWU x1 felt good for the warmup.

Warmup: 500 singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWU x1 (mods - OHS@45#, ring dips)

08/24 WOD

Okay trying an experiment - my wife was looking for some weight training advice so I showed her a program designed by Jamie Eason (www.bodybuilding.com/livefit). She didn't want to do CrossFit so this looked like something that would fit her needs. I've decided to do the same program for 12-weeks to see what kind of results I get. I will still integrate CrossFit into the workouts when possible and use some of the off days to do some CF stuff too. Can't give up something I've been doing for 2.5+ years cold turkey... :)

First workout was a 60% workout. Weights were 60% of max.

Wide pushups 3x12
Bench press 3x12 @115#
Flat bench cable flyes: 3x12 @11# plates (no cables - awkward right shoulder felt funky)
Narrow pushups 3x12
Overhead triceps dumbbell 3x12 @26#
Triceps pushdowns 3x12 @green pullup band

I don't have a lot of the equipment used so I had to improvise. A bit strange doing the classic style workouts. Narrow pushups were the toughest. Flyes who knows... Not a ton of functional movement on that lift. But I'm going to do the best I can to follow this.

Warmup: 500 single unders, shoulder mobility stuff (next time CFWU!!!)

Mt. Whitney 8/12/2011 Trip Report

I think this trip started last November, when in conversation I brought it up with co-workers. People were excited and expressed interested in going on this trip. They probably figured I'd forget and nothing would ever become of this. Little do they know that when a seed is planted in this brain it can grow out of control... :)

Shortly thereafter my neighbor walked by my house and we talked about hiking Mt. Whitney. He mentioned to me the whole permit process - permit process? Huh? Thankfully he did otherwise I would've missed it totally. After that I spoke with many people who wanted in and settled in on 13 total hikers. Permit application and money sent in and the wait was on.

We got the notification in the mail that our application was selected and we got our one day permit for 8/12/2011 (right near a full moon). So stoked to get that permit. Not that many are issued annually so we were happy to have gotten ours. Now the training was to begin. In addition to my regular CrossFit workouts, I added in a few hikes. Three long days with progressive difficulty on Mt. Diablo would be the extent of the hiking training. Good times with my neighbor and it gave us a good sense of being on our feet for a long time and gaining significant elevation.

So during the last couple of months before the hike people dropped out and new people entered and this repeated a few times... The final number was whittled down to eight. We were known as the Gin Tonics. The eight included (in alphabetical order):

Eric "Top Ramen" Benz
Mike "Heavy Breather" Gin
Quinn "Don't Need No Stinkin' Donuts" Hollaway
Steve "Summit Sleeper" Marx
Kerry "Snickers Satisfies" Paige (better nickname available however trying to keep this rated PG)
Karyn "Bit o' Honey" Salerno
Jim "Fourteeny" Sapia
Brian "Excuse Me One Sec While I Puke" Stansell

So enough of the little details, let's cut to the chase. We all arrived in Lone Pine, CA on Thursday 8/11/2011. Had some grub and then sat at the pool strategizing. The entire group was there and got a chance to chit chat. Then it was off to bed and hopefully get a few hours of sleep (I got three hours). Eric and Steve camped so they had the luxury of sleeping in an extra few minutes (and get a night at altitude which might have been helpful in this process).

The target was to leave the motel at 2:30am and be on the trail by 3am. We were right on time but then dilly-dallied for a few minutes at the trailhead and hit the trail at 3:15am. So off to a good start! We were climbing at a furious pace in the dark and gained a ton of elevation in a pretty short period of time. Things were looking good for our group and we were definitely on pace for a sub-8 hour summit pace. However things slowed a bit (okay a lot) during the hike. More on that later...

Hard to describe the feeling of seeing the mountains illuminated by the sunrise - INCREDIBLE just doesn't do it justice. MAJESTIC maybe. It is a sight that I will remember forever! Truly an amazing sight. Unfortunately photos can't do it justice. A remarkable experience.


The terrain was rugged but the trail was pretty well defined. We all made it to Trail Camp - 12,000' and the last reliable source of water before the summit. Here we took a little break, filled hyrdration bladders, watched the fat marmots, and tried to see people on the infamous 99 switchbacks that loomed ahead.

Jim blasted off and we lost track of him - he had a goal to get to the summit by noon. Didn't see him at all on the switchbacks - he was setting a blistering pace up them. These things were a serious grind. As bad as everyone described. Took awhile to gain that 1,600' to Trail Crest. Appreciated the longer switchbacks since they were less steep and gave an opportunity to keep the heart rate in check. I found for me to just keep grinding away and not stopping was the key. I was trying to stay ahead of this guy who was moving up pretty quickly, but finally he caught me. Casey was his name and he ended up playing a huge role in the hike. We talked about Mt. Muir and he said that was the reason he was up there since he hadn't done it the last time he summitted Whitney. He dropped me and I wished him luck on Muir.

I made it to Trail Crest (13,600') and this is where I let my guard down a bit. Figured I was really close now so took a break, took photos, and figured, sweet, I'm just about there. Big mistake.

Jim was nowhere in site, Steve was gone, and then Eric took off too. I waited until Brian got there and then decided to head to the summit. Didn't realize it was another 1.9 miles on some really rugged trail (rock hopping for a lot of it). Brian needed a pit stop so I left him to give him some privacy. I hiked for a bit but then realized I was feeling like crap. At 13,800' I was losing my balance and if I wasn't careful I could throw up. I'd walk ten feet and then stop and take a break. My summit hopes were looking very grim at this point. The balance issue was making me nervous... That couldn't have been a good sign.

So as I sat there and watched a bunch of people pass me by, I was thinking my hike was just about over. It wasn't going to get any better (and likely was going to get worse). Jim was heading back - he said he got to 14,000' and needed to turn back. Great, it took down one of our team members who I thought was already at the summit. Things were not looking good. And then, out of nowhere Casey stops and says he successfully summitted Mt. Muir. I congratulated him and then he asked how I was doing. I said I felt like crap. He asked how my breathing was. I said, short little breathes. He said to start taking deep breathes and to follow him that we were going to make the summit as long as I wasn't having a hard to staying upright. I didn't mention to him the couple of times I almost tipped over. I figured I'll give it this one last shot and see what happens....

Well, this is the small miracle that occurred for me. All of a sudden I felt so much better and we were flying up the trail. We passed a ton of people and I could not believe just minutes ago I was about ready to turn around. The deep breathes worked!!! Casey had a ton of experience in mountaineering and saved my summit. It was great having him pace me.

We were in view of the building on the summit and I could not believe the hop in my step at this point. I felt like I could've run there I was so excited. Unbelievable! I felt so much joy seeing that building. I still couldn't believe how incredible I felt (physically and mentally). I thanked Casey profusely and signed the summit registry and took some photos. Casey, best of luck to you and I hope that you realize your dream of becoming a guide. I'll be your first customer on Rainier... :)

So while I was on the summit I radioed to Steve and Eric but got no reply. I didn't see them come back on the trail so I couldn't figure out where they were. Did they take a wrong turn? Headed down the mountaineer's route? Turns out they were there but Steve fell asleep and Eric put on a jacket so I didn't recognize him. And their radio battery died. Crazy. I ended up only spending about 15 minutes up there because I thought at this point everyone would be waiting for me. Saw the rescue helicopter take off while I was there - turns out a guy broke his ankle - but he managed to hop a quarter mile up to the summit. Amazing. He seemed in good spirits when I spoke with him. I wish I could've hitched a ride down.

With the summit bagged, I knew that I needed to get down and in a hurry because there was no telling when the altitude was going to finally catch up with me. I set a blistering pace and was feeling pretty good. Then around the 13,800' mark I started feeling the balance thing again. Slowed it down some and caught my breath. Moved forward and came around a corner to hear, "hey look who it is!" I had no idea who said that but it turns out it was Karyn, Kerry, and Quinn. Didn't even recognize Karyn and didn't see Kerry and Quinn. Man I was back in that rough patch again.

Sat there for a bit talking with Karyn - she told me that Brian had gotten sick and had to turn around. Bummer. She said she was tired and decided that the summit was out. Kerry and Quinn had taken off and headed back down. So we took off as well. Back up to Trail Crest and then down the switchbacks. I was going as fast as I could on the switchbacks (practically running). I knew I needed to get down to lower elevations. I made it to Trail Camp (12,000'), refilled my bladder (completely empty), and then laid down. I still felt like crap. I think I fell asleep for a bit and then the rest of the group made it down. People put their feet in the 35 degree water which they said felt great on tired feet. Me? I didn't have the energy and still felt crappy. I was hungry but nauseas which is a really sucky thing. After our break there we were off.

I was again going as fast as possible without running - once I got to 11,000' I started to feel better. And things kept getting better from there. Was able to eat something and just kept motoring. Steve was on my tail the whole way down. We caught up with Jim and then Eric caught up with us. It was the never ending trail - this was the part of the trail we did in the dark. Steve and I put it into turbo mode and raced down the last couple of miles. The trailhead was in sight. It was such a great thing to see. I was done and happy to be done. What an adventure!!!

15.5 hours later and we were D-U-N. What a long a$$ day. But an amazing day. The group was great - some good synergy there which made the trip even more enjoyable. This truly was an epic time. I'm so glad that people were able to experience this with me as well. Everyone said it was a great trip and most said it was the toughest thing they'd ever done. We got everyone up to the Trail Crest which is no small feat (13,600'). I was very impressed! Three of us summitted which is very cool. But more importantly, the journey was remarkable. An unforgettable experience, something that will take a prominent chapter in my brain and heart's memory book... :)

08/06 WOD

Stole this from Rob Orlando of Hybrid Athletics:

50 reps unpartitioned (all at bodyweight except deadlifts 1.5x BW):

Bench press
Back squat
Deadlift
Push jerk
Hang clean

No way in hell was I trying this at rx'd. Too much volume at that weight. But wanting to get stronger so will integrate some of these WOD's into my training. Scaled to 75% of BW (120#) for first two, then went BW (160#) for the deadlifts, but then dropped to 60% (95#) for the last two. Last two were pretty decent so I probably should've just suffered through the 75% BW on them. Last "big" workout before the Mt. Whitney hike. Will taper off some to ensure the body is 100%.

36:41

Warmup: late into the gym, did 100 jumping jacks and some shoulder stuff and went for it.

08/05 WOD

CrossFit Games Event 9

Complete as many reps as possible in 6 minutes of:
20 calorie Row
30 Wallball Shots, 20 pound ball
20 Toes to bar
30 Box jumps, 24" box
20 Sumo-deadlit high-pull, 108 pound kettlebell
30 Burpees
20 Shoulder to overhead, 135 pounds
120 foot Sled pull, sled plus 165 pounds

Definitely liked the 3 min version better. This one sucked - my pace was slower by 10 toes to bars at the 3 minute mark. Might have overdone it on the warmup a bit with the heavier overhead squats and shoulder press work. Good gasser, not looking forward to doing the entire thing for time tomorrow... Got through 4 SDHP's, total 104.

Warmup: 1,000 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx2 (mods OHS@95#, shoulder press@95#, ring dips, strict pullups/chinups)

08/03 WOD

Perform the following tests:

L-sit for time.
Handstand walk for distance.
Chest to bar weighted pull-up for load.
Snatch 1 rep for load.

CrossFit Games Event 8

Complete as many reps as possible in 3 minutes of:
20 calorie Row
30 Wallball Shots, 20 pound ball
20 Toes to bar
30 Box jumps, 24" box
20 Sumo-deadlit high-pull, 108 pound kettlebell
30 Burpees
20 Shoulder to overhead, 135 pounds
120 foot Sled pull, sled plus 165 pounds

Okay got into the gym late, tired, and cranky. Perfect, let's do two WOD's then. Yes I'm an idiot. Oh well. Figured the skills one wouldn't kill me and the other was 3 minutes long. I'm not wasted but overall a fair amount of effort.

*L-sit - did it earlier in the day for :41 but this time only :32. I put two 45# bumper plates beneath my feet so that made me keep my legs higher. Might have let them dip some for that :41 time.
*Handstand walk - big fat zero. Practiced my handstands for several minutes.
*Chest to bar pullups - warmed up with 35# (2 pullups/2 chinups). Then did 45 - 55 - 60 (last two chinups)
*1RM snatch - warmed up 4@65#, 2@95#. 115 - 135F - 135 - 145F (so close on 145 - got under it but shoulders failed)

Okay for the AMRAP 3 minute WOD figured if I got through the wall balls I'd be happy. I didn't even bother to get my box jump box out. Happy that I made I through 15 toes to bar. Total reps 65

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods OHS@95#, shoulder press 10@95#, ring dips, strict pullups)

08/02 WOD

Squats 3x5

Okay, continuing on the strength stuff (well at least for me). Core was pretty tired from deadlifts yesterday - made squats interesting. Was going to do 5x5 but decided 3x5 was good for tonight.

205 - 225 - 235

Glutes will feel that one tomorrow. My squat is pretty sorry so I hope to get that number up too. Did 5x3 squats on 6-17-11 with the following weights:

205 - 225 - 235 - 245 - 255

Warmup: 500 single unders, double under practice, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx2 (mods - OHS@65#/95#, shoulder press 65#/95#, ring dips, strict pullups/chinups), squats 10@135#, 8@185#

C/D: 12 GHD sit-ups with 12# med ball tossed into air, some rotational stuff with same med ball while on GHD

08/01 WOD

Deadlifts 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Got some weird bug over the weekend which wiped me out. Still feel a little weak but much better. Decided to skip the crazy a$$ CrossFit Games WODs and decided to do some strength work. Figured deadlifts today and some squatting tomorrow would be helpful in climbing Mt. Whitney in ELEVEN DAYS!!!

255 - 275 - 285 - 295 - 300

Could've gone heavier but it has been some time since I pulled some heavy deads so was happy with stopping there.

Chased down the deadlifts with some bench press for good measure. After watching the games I've decided I need to get stronger. Two more years before the Masters category... :) 10 reps@135#, 6 reps 185#, 3 reps@205# (with a spotter definitely 1 more and possibly 2)

Warmup: 500 barefoot singleunders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx2 (OHS@45/65, ring dips, strict pullups/chinups), shoulder press 10@65#, 10@75#, deadlifts 10@135#, 8@185#, 6@205#

07/28 WOD

Three rounds, 12-9- and 6 reps, for time of:
135 pound Squat clean and jerk
Muscle-up

Scaled this to 115# for the SC&J's. Could've probably done 135# but it would've been brutally long. Long enough already. Every round broken up in some form or another.

17:13 (7:36 - 5:49 - 3:48)

First muscle-ups since just before the injury. So was happy to do these with no pain! Slow and didn't string any together but at this point I'm happy with it.

Warmup: 500 single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict ring pullups), shoulder press 10@45#, SC&J 10@45#, 1@115#

07/27 WOD

Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
Rest 2 minutes

Um, started this one a bit late (11:04pm). Abbreviated warmup and then went for it. Did it on 01/24/11 and these were my times:

3:07 - 3:29 - 3:56

That was just after I screwed up my neck and shoulder.

This time, did pretty good. Still don't have the sustained fitness but slowly getting it back. Ran on the treadmill with a 1% incline, which starts super slow. But now I have one that goes 12mph!

2:53 - 3:05 - 3:32

Happy with those times. Tried digging deep in the pain cave on the last one, but had to back off some.

Warmup: 0.50m in VFF's, 0.50m in standard shoes

07/26 WOD

"Jackie"

1000 meter row
45 pound Thruster, 50 reps
30 pull-ups

Couldn't remember if I did this one previously so assumed no and just went for it. Thought under 10 minutes was reasonable. Didn't go super hard on the row, did sets of 10 thrusters, and broke up the pullups (10-5-3-2-2-2-2-2-2). Kept the breaks pretty short and came in at 9:34. So I was happy with that time. Splits (4:20-3:14-2:00)

Turns out I did it before on 12/1/2010 with a time of 9:43 so new PR!!! Cool!

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx2 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups), 10 shoulder press @45#
C/D: 2x10 pushups

07/24 WOD

Mt. Diablo Hike

Last big hike before Mt. Whitney on 8/12. Legs were trashed from the 7/22 WOD, and low back from the 7/23 WOD. Made for an interesting day. Overall felt pretty good, a little sluggish, but covered some good ground and hit up all 4 peaks this time. Started at Mitchell Canyon on the Clayton side and traveled on some new trails to me. Eagle Peak, Summit, North Peak, and then Mt. Olympia. Long day, not as long as last time on the mountain. But given the physical state I'm in it was tough. Climb up to Eagle Peak was steep.

15.59 miles, 5,769' elevation gain (5,250' in first 10.92 miles), 8:33 total time

07/23 WOD

"Helen"

Three rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
1 1/2 pood Kettlebell X 21 swings (or 55 pound dumbbell swing)
12 Pull-ups

Was looking forward to this since I have some times to compare to - wanted to see just how far gone I still am. Previous PR was 9:41 on 12/2/2010. Wasn't counting on getting close to that. Would be happy sub-12 minutes. Turns out I did pretty good. Ran outside on an out and back. KBS was actually probably the best for me. Pullups had to be broken up in rounds 2 and 3.

10:22 (2:33 - 3:42 - 4:07)

So maybe I'm not totally gone still. Foundation is getting better, need to keep laying bricks...

Warmup: 500 single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips), KBS 10@35#

07/22 WOD

Three rounds for time of:
30 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball (10.5 foot target)
75 pound Squat snatches, 30 reps (movement initiates with barbell below the knees)

Scaled this bad boy after taking a break from working out while on vacation (and eating all kinds of crap). Wallball shots were with a 12# ball to a 10' target, and squat snatches were 45#. This would've been ugly for me to do rx'd. Glad I didn't try.

19:33

Warmup: 500 barefoot single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups)
C/D: 10 kipping pullups, 10 strict chin-ups

07/16 WOD

5 mile hike

On vacation in Oregon (7/10-7/18), did some light running on one day, some easy cycling on a few others, and then this hike with the kids. Great trail, pretty flat, easy pace. Good fun except for the mosquitoes. Wore VFF's all week, just about 100% of the time. Feet are tired but happy.

07/09 WOD

Mt. Diablo Hike

Epic hike, covered some serious territory. Was trying to hit up all four of the major peaks on park property, but time and distance told us otherwise. So we hit up the Summit, North Peak, and Mt. Olympia. Next time we'll hit up Eagle Peak too. Long day.

20.25 miles, 7,077' elevation gain, 10:04 total time

07/08 WOD

AM WOD - Bench press 10@115#, 10@135#, 10@155#, 8@165#(BW), 5@185#, 2@205#

PM WOD - Weighted pull-ups 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Not sure why I did the bench press, but it was there so figured why not? Weighted pullups were very disappointing. My strength apparently is still AWOL after the mandatory break. PR was a 107.5 - very happy with that. This time? Suckage. Maxed out at 85#. Not sure what happened. Hopefully just a bad day...

55 - 65 - 71 - 75 - 81 - 85 - 91(F)

Warmup: 500 barefoot single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups)

07/07 WOD

"DT"

Five rounds for time of:
155 pound Deadlift, 12 reps
155 pound Hang power clean, 9 reps
155 pound Push jerk, 6 reps

Scaled weight to 115#. Probably a teeny bit light, but again building back up slowly. Still was a gasser. Don't think I could do it rx'd in a reasonable time.

10:47

Warmup: 500 barefoot single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups), all lifts 10@65#, 5@135#

07/06 WOD

Five rounds for time of:
15 foot L-rope climb, 1 ascent
5 Parallette handstand push-ups
45 pound barbell One-legged overhead squat, 10 reps

For the rope climb, begin seated on the ground. For the handstand push-ups, the ears should dip below hand level. For the one-legged squats, alternate legs.

Scaled this one big time. Did handstand pushups for the first time since being off with the neck injury. A bit spooky, and I was very deliberate in gently touching the ground with my head. No compression whatsoever. Did the HSPU's to a barbell in the squat rack maxed out. So there was some leg assistance.

Five rounds for time of:

12 foot L-rope climb, 1 ascent
5 handstand pushups
10 pistols unweighted

8:32

Warmup: 500 single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups)

07/04 WOD

"Morrison"

50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds of:
Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
Box jump, 24 inch box
Kettlebell swings, 1.5 pood

Too much volume for me at this point. Scaled to:

40-30-20-10 (everything else is the same otherwise)

Tough WOD. Slow. Couldn't imagine doing the round of 50...

Warmup: 500 single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups), 10 KBS@26#, 10 WB@20#/10'

* U.S. Army Specialist Scott Morrison, 23, of Blue Ash, Ohio, assigned to 584th Mobility Augmentation Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, based out of Fort Hood, Texas, died on September 26, 2010, from injuries suffered on September 25 when insurgents in Kandahar, Afghanistan attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his father Donald, mother Susan, brother Gary, and sister Katie.

07/02 WOD

Shoulder Press 5-5-5-5-5 reps

One of my weaker lifts. Okay with the results, need to grease the groove on this lift though and get it stronger.

95 - 105 - 110 - 115(4) - 112.5

Bonus round 115 all five reps - ugly, but got it.

Warmup: 500 barefoot single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, 20x GHD situps/extensions, ring dips, strict pullups), SP 10@45#

07/01 WOD

Three rounds for time of:
135 pound Front squat, 12 reps
12 Burpee pull-ups

Did the burpee pullups to 8' high rings. As rx'd. Everything felt okay, just not super fast.

10:47 (2:06 - 3:44 - 4:57)

I think I lost some notes on WOD's between 6/27 and 7/1. Or perhaps I was lazy and didn't do any...

Warmup: 500 barefoot single-unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups), FS 10@45#, 8@95#

06/27 WOD

Softball game, again more sprinting chasing down balls blasted over my head in the outfield. We got mercy ruled 15-0. Second time this year mercy ruled. In my previous lifetime playing men's softball, don't recall ever being mercy ruled. Oh well. Low expectations going into this game as the team we were playing was much better than us.

06/26 WOD

Macedo Ranch to Mt. Diablo Summit hike

13.45 miles, 4,157' of elevation gain, 5:10

Hadn't planned on summitting, but we were so close we decided what the heck. Great day, great hike. Looking forward to a 20+ miler and over 6K of elevation gain for the next one!

06/25 WOD

"Cindy"

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

Main page had handstand pushups, so I decided to skip that - still trying to avoid that for my neck. Not comfortable with the compression (since that I think is what caused the problem initially). Figured I go with a classic. PR was 19 rounds way back in 2009 - I'm guessing I probably didn't have full ROM on the pullups on that since I didn't know how to kip back then. But it is something to shoot for. More recently I did 17 rounds and change. So that was the target. And I ended up beating it by 1 pushup.

17 rounds + 5 pullups + 6 pushups

Pushups did me in. Everything else felt really good.

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups)

06/24 WOD

"Jeffry"

4 Rounds

20 Red Stick Push Up (20/15kgs)
15 Zero Count Burpees
10 Pull Ups

A friend did this WOD posted by www.oceansidecrossfit.com. Figured I'd give it a go. The red stick push up can be best described as a burpee on 'roids. 20kg bumper plate picked up and then thrustered... Ugh. Those were the worst of it. Zero count burpees - everything in a normal burpee except the pushup part. Pullups were a nice break... :)

21:57 (4:18 - 5:15 - 6:09 - 6:05)

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups)

06/22 WOD

"Badger"

Complete three rounds for time of:
95 pound Squat clean, 30 reps
30 Pull-ups
Run 800 meters

Man this one was tough. Still screaming hot in the garage and I was exhausted from a lot of working out and not enough sleep. Ended up quitting after two rounds. Disappointed I did that but I was beat down mentally. Normally I can tough it out but I was cooked.

25:19 (10:55 - 14:24 - DNS)

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (OHS@45$, ring dips, strict pullups); squat cleans 5@45#, 5@65#

In honor of Navy Chief Petty Officer Mark Carter, 27, of Virginia Beach, VA who was killed in Iraq

06/21 WOD

Clean and Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Had some high hopes for this after doing 205 on the push jerk. Obviously a bit tougher with the clean involved (took the push jerks from the rack). Didn't feel great, first couple felt pretty heavy and it was super hot though in the garage from the heat wave. Disappointed I couldn't get 200. Tried one extra bonus round too with no luck.

155 - 165 - 175 - 185 - 195F - 195 - 200F - 200F

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx2 (OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups); C&J's 5@95#, 5@115#

06/20 WOD

Softball doubleheader first game at 6pm was 101 degrees. Second game at 8:10pm was cooler, just 94 degrees. Lots of sprinting. Tied first game, lost the second. Should've won both... :(

06/19 WOD

"Nancy"

5 rounds for time of:
400 meter run
95 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps

Previous PR on 11/17/2010 was 21:20. Goal was sub-20 minutes. OHS is one of my best lifts so had high hopes. I did all but round 2 unbroken! Had to dig deep on the last couple of sets to do that.

18:37 (3:24 - 4:38 - 3:22 - 3:38 - 3:35)

Crushed my PR. Happiness!!!

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods-OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups); OHS 10@65#, 0.25 mile run

06/17 WOD

"Fran"

Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
95 pound Thruster
Pull-ups

Eesh, this WOD is painful and would give me a sense of where I was fitness wise. Best is 4:53 (4/8/10), most recent was 5:47 (1/5/11). Thought with the heavy overhead work I have been doing that would be helpful. But I don't think I warmed up as well as I should've and said, "uh oh" after the first thruster. Got through the round of 21 unbroken for both, but then split things up pretty significantly to finish.

6:39

So a long way to go before I'm back to sub-5 minutes (shoot I'll be happy in the 5 minute range again at this point). All part of the process though...

Warmup: 500 single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, shoulder presses, and air squats. A little kipping practice, a couple of pullups.

06/16 WOD

Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3 reps

Haven't done any heavy squatting in awhile. But nonetheless look forward to heavy days (except for 7x1 deadlifts which is a killer!).

Previous to my injury, my best 1RM back squat was 300#. Did this WOD twice previously:

12/15/09: 156 - 176 - 196 - 216 - 231 - 241
09/08/10: 164 - 184 - 204 - 214 - 219

Okay, so had something to shoot for. Happy with my results tonight:

205 - 225 - 235 - 245 - 255

Full depth, strong core. Might have been able to do a teeny bit more, but it was slow going up on the third rep of the 5th set. Happy. :)

Warmup: followed my FB CF friend Mr. Foley's warmup (with much less weight of course) - 3x air squatsx10, GHDSUx10, GHDBEx10, strict pullupsx10; back squats - 5x1 @ 135#, 155#, 175#, 195#

06/15 WOD

"Small"

Three rounds for time of:
Row 1000 meters
50 Burpees
50 Box jumps, 24" box
Run 800 meters

Scary WOD seeing the elites in the 30-40+ minute range. Just went for it, no warmup, and actually tried to pace myself reasonably. Didn't torch myself on the rower. Lot of burpees. Was actually happiest on the box jumps and running. Weird.

55:50 (splits: 17:40 - 19:50 - 18:40)

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Marc Small, 29, of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, died on February 12, 2009, from wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and small arms fire in Faramuz, Afghanistan. He is survived by his father and stepmother, Murray and Karen, mother and stepfather, Mary and Peter MacFarland, and fiancee Amanda Charney.

06/12 WODs

Complete as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:
15 ft Rope Climb, 1 ascent
10 Ring dips
20 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball

Did this WOD in the AM. Yay my favorites - rope climbs and wall balls. Of course the wall balls after I tweak my neck a bit. Had low expectations for this one and I did not disappoint myself...

3 Rounds + rope climb + ring dips + 4 wall ball shots

Warmup: 500 single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods-OHS@45#, strict pullups), shoulder press 1x10@45#

WOD #2 (PM)

For time:
225 pound Deadlift, 21 reps
50 Squats
135 pound Push press, 21 reps
225 pound Deadlift, 15 reps
50 Squats
135 pound Push press, 15 reps
225 pound Deadlift, 9 reps
50 Squats
135 pound Push press, 9 reps

With a late softball game late tomorrow, wanted to get this WOD in. Probably a mistake but oh well. Big volume of push presses for me at that weight. Beat the crap out of me. Super slow time, but finished as rx'd.

29:48

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods-OHS@45#, no dips, no pullups); push press 10@45#, 5@95#, 5@115#; deadlifts 8@135#, 5@181#, 3@225#

06/10 WOD

Push Jerk 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 reps

Still working on getting my mojo back after the long layoff. Strength seems like it is coming around. Excited for this one. Overhead stuff is my weakness. Previous 1RM for this lift was 164 in January 2010. So started off light with this but ramped up pretty quickly. Felt really good. Last set though was a near disaster on rep two, with me mis-timing my jump and I barely moved the bar up. Unfortunately my neck took most of the weight on the landing. Dumbass. Especially since my neck was feeling as good as it has in ages. Iced immediately. Hopefully nothing major. Started behind the head at 165#.

135 - 145 - 155 - 160 - 165 - 170 - 175 - 185 - 195 - 205(1)

Super happy with the end number but not the potential aggravation of my neck... :(

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods - OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups), shoulder press 1x10@45#; push jerks 5@45#, 5@95#

06/09 WOD

Moving two yards of base rock from front to backyard. Not for time. In wheelbarrow. Lots of shoveling. Hot. Good functional work! Active recovery day... :)

06/08 WOD

Snatch balance 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Okay, last time I did this was the first time I did this. So not much experience doing this. Watched Allison's video many times (to evaluate her form, err, lifting form of course)... :) Felt more confident after watching it and did much better.

Last time (10/15/2010): 110-120(F)-115-120-125-130-135

This time: 115-125-135-145-155-165-175(F)

Thought I had 175! Tried it twice more and I actually was slowly pressing up on the 8th attempt when inexplicably I lost my balance and had to ditch the weight. So close!

Happy though, but really wanted to beat her weight (considering I outweigh her by 40+ lbs.)

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods-OHS@45#, ring dips, strict pullups), shoulder press 1x10@45#; snatch balance 8@45#, 5@95#

06/07 WOD

2011 CrossFit Games Regional Workout 6

For time:
Row 20 calories
30 Burpees
45 pound Two-arm dumbbell ground-to-overhead, 40 reps
50 Toes to bar
100 foot Walking lunge with 45lb plate held overhead
150 foot Sprint

Okay needed to take some time off after the last WOD - haven't done this volume in awhile. Mixed in a lousy softball game on Monday. Don't have dumbbells so substituted a 95# barbell instead. Row and burpees not bad but overhead stunk. Toes to bar sucked too. Went back and forth in the garage for the lunges and sprint (18' repeated as necessary). Goal was sub-20 and I got it!

19:44

Warmup: 500 single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS @@65#, ring dips), shoulder press 1x10@65#

06/04 WOD

2011 CrossFit Games Regional Workout 4

For time:
100 Pull-ups
100 Kettlebell swings, 24kg
100 Double-unders
95 pound Overhead squat, 100 reps

Um, not sure if it would've helped, but probably should've taken a break between the last WOD and this one (as prescribed on the main page). Oh well. I was going to do Murph but then decided to stay on schedule with the main page. Set a goal of doing 10 reps every minute with the exception being the double unders. In hindsight, I would've taken that for the entire workout. Ugly. Was on schedule through the pull-ups and kettelbell swings, but then the wheels came tumbling off on the double unders. My timing was all off and I couldn't string many together at all. Not to mention my arms were pretty darn tired. I switched to a heavier rope and that helped. Should've done that sooner. So at this point I'm pretty much toast and have the 100 OHS staring at me. Joy. Did the first 30 at rx'd weight, but I don't think I could get through the remaining 70 so I scaled it down to 65#. My wrists appreciated that. Painfully slow time.

46:36

Long way to go to get back my fitness.

Warmup: 500 single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@65#, ring dips)

06/03 WOD

"Moon"

Seven rounds for time of:
40 pound dumbbell Hang split snatch, 10 reps Right arm
15 ft Rope Climb, 1 ascent
40 pound dumbbell Hang split snatch, 10 reps Left arm
15 ft Rope Climb, 1 ascent

Alternate feet in the split snatch sets.

Ugh, not a fan of the rope climb. 14 ascents so delicious. Scaled this bad boy to a 26# kettlebell, and then did the first rope ascents from the seated position on a 12' rope but after that started from the standing position. At least I didn't jump on the start of the rope climb. Still major suckage.

21:38

Warmup: 500 single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@65#, ring dips, and mixed in 1x10 shoulder press @65#)

* U.S. Army Specialist Christopher Moon, 20, of Tucson, Arizona, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, died on July 13, 2010, from injuries sustained on July 6, 2010 in Arghandab, Afghanistan when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his parents Marsha and Brian and sister Sunday.

06/02 WOD

Power clean 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Okay finally feeling human again both physically and more importantly mentally. That adventure race beat me up. Looking forward to getting back to the main page programming. And as usual I return to a 7x1 heavy day. Yay!

Did a 211# clean about 6 months ago, but haven't done any heavy cleans since and mix in the two months off for the neck injury and I was hopeful that I would hit 200#. Warmup felt pretty good so hopes were higher. Rounds 1 and 2 were pretty easy. Round 3 I had bad form and lost it. Same weight round 4 and I practically blasted my chin with the weight - nice! So figured keep moving the weight up. Well, could never re-create that explosive 4th lift and failed on every lift (including two bonus rounds that I really wanted). Oh well, pretty good effort. Wish I had the heavier weight on lift 4...

185 - 195 - 205F - 205 - 215F - 215F - 215F (bonus rounds 215F - 215F)

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods-OHS@65#, ring dips)

04/24-05/31 WODs

Okay, going to do one massive post for all the workouts I did prior to the adventure race, and then the little bit afterwards.

05/31
6 mile hike + a beastly hillclimb straight up 8 minutes

05/29 WOD
CFWUx3 (mods: OHS@45# rds 1-2, rd 3@65#, ring dips, shoulder press 10@45#)
Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff

05/27 WOD
CFWUx3 (mods: OHS@45#, ring dips), shoulder press 2x10@45#

05/12 - ADVENTURE RACE!!!

05/10
Spinerval 9.5 workout, correct gearing
Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx2 (mods: OHS@45#, ring dips), shoulder press 2x10@45#

05/09 - Softball

05/07 - Kayak 2.5 hours (2 of those hours chauffeuring people)

05/05 - 1 hour treadmill (traveling), LSD, 6 miles

05/04 WOD
21-15-9
OHS@95#
Burpees

8:49

That was ugly. OHS is I think a good lift for me. Did all OHS's unbroken except for the 15 round made 13... Burpees killed me.

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@45#, ring dips)

05/03 - 20 minutes moving boulders with neighbor...

05/02 - Spinerval 9.5 workout (5 of 7 intervals); softball later that night

04/30 WODs
1:15 MTB ride up Finley Road and back

WOD #2 (3+ hours later)
21-15-9
Chest to bar pullups
Ring pushups
Front squats @135#

12:39

Warmup: 500 single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@45#, ring dips), front squats 8@45#, 6@95#, 4@115#

04/28 - Spinerval 9.5 workout (warmup 10 mins spinning on bike)

04/27 WODs
Run 5K

Ran on treadmill hilly course (cross country #3, program 5)

30:00

C/D: walk 0.27 miles

WOD #2
5x5 Good Mornings (2 mins rest between sets)
5x3 Power Snatch (2 mins rest between sets)
5-10 mins rest
50 Burpees, 50 Pullups

Good morning weights: 85 - 90 - 95 - 100 - 110
Power snatch weights: 95F - 95 - 95F - 95 - 100
Broke the burpees and pullups into sets of 10 (10 burpees then 10 pullups, repeated five times)

5:57

Warmup: 500 barefoot single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@45#, ring dips); good mornings 8@45#, 5@65#; power snatches 8@weighted PVC bar, 6@45#, 4@65#

04/26 WODs
CrossFit Total
1 rep max, 3 attempts
Back Squat
Shoulder Press
Deadlift

Been ages, haven't lifted heavy for some time...

Backsquat: 245 - 260 - 270F
Shoulder Press: 115 - 125 - 135
Deadlift: 292 - 312 - 332

Total: 727

Not bad, but pretty far away from my previous PR set just prior to my neck injury in January (16th):

300# BS, 135# SP, 385# DL = 820# total

BS - 275, 285, 300
SP - 115, 125, 135
DL - 345, 365, 385

WOD #2 - Spinerval 7.5 workout

04/25 - Softball

04/24 WODs
5 Thrusters @135# on the minute for 10 minutes
10 minutes rest
100 pushups for time

Scaled thrusters to 105#. Got them all in. Pushups took 6:38

Warmup: 500 single unders, shoulder mobility stuff, CFWUx1 (mods: OHS@45#, ring dips), thrusters: 10@45#, 8@65#, 5@95#

Rested 5 minutes

WOD #2
Run 5K

1% incline on treadmill. 23:40

C/D: 0.25 mile walk