Difficult is Worth Doing

So I walked into the am class today only to be met with a smirking coach who asked me “did you make it to class last night?”  I said “yes” and then he  proceeded to laugh hysterically at me.  Yeah. Everyone knows I hate running.  

SKILL

• pull-ups strict
• toes to bar

WOD  ”Double Double”

• 7  ”double” wallballs
• 7  ”double” burpees
• 12 minute AMRAP

My score: 4 + 9

Yeah, so the “double” they’re talking about is 2 squats before throwing up the wallball and 2 push ups during each burpee.  They have effectively made these 2 moves harder & longer. Yay coaches? Oh yeah. And I was practicing with my 10lb wall ball only to drop it and see my coach pushing it away with his foot.  I’m like “say whaaaat?”  and he asks me “what are you doing?”.  I’m like “using my 10lb wallball like I always do, yo”.  He’s like “no” and gives me a 14lb one.  He said I’m done with the 10lber and am never going back.  ”for realz?” I ask.  ”fo sho” he says…. “fo sho”… and now my shoulders want to punch him in the face. I guess I’m movin’ on up…

So the hubs and I went to the SoCal Regionals for the Crossfit Games and it was a blast! Of course everyone is freaking so far past where I could ever imagine to be it’s crazy.  Hubs joked saying he’d love to be at the level of the girls he saw compete, LOL.  Me too hubs, me too.  But overall it really is motivating.  Heck, maybe one year I’ll really go for it! Next year I’d officially be in the masters group so maybe I stand a better chance?

So even though I was tired I showed up to the 6pm class only to find on the board one thing written…..

WOD

• 8 x 400m run
• 2 minute rest between

Egads! Say it ain’t so! Obviously this is prepping for Murph this Saturday. So I dug deep and did it.

Average time was 2:04, best time was 1:53, worst time was 2:20. Blech.

So today was the day the hubs agreed to start going to the 5am class. Poor guy was struggling and looked like he needed a LARGE coffee.  We lucked out and had the head coach as coach for class.  

SKILL - 5 rep max Deadlift (105lbs)

WOD - S-Jack

• 10 deadlifts (75lbs)
• 150 single unders

The goal is to try and do this in under 5 minutes.

My Time:  5:28  woot-woot! I was a beast this morning! and honestly I probably should’ve went up 10lbs on the deadlifts for the WOD. next time!

Today was more prepping for Murph on Memorial day weekend.  They threw in wallballs because then it will make air squats seem easy-peasy.  At least that’s the idea and I have to agree.  Anything is easier than wallballs.

SKILL

Front Squat 3x5 (45lbs)

Back Squat 3x3 (woot woot - I hit 65lbs today!)

WOD

• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 wallballs
• 12 minute AMRAP

My score: 5 total rounds.  I was a beast today in the hot sun at 12 noon.  What can I say? I had to push myself to make up for the horribleness of last night.

I’m behind a day since I went on a mini 24 hours vacation at a beautiful downtown hotel on the waterfront! 

Yesterdays WOD was Tabata air squats & push presses (35lbs) and my score was 165.

Today’s WOD was a doozy. Like it was “crap”tastic. Ugh.  I got mad several times, wanted to drop kick my wall ball and also wanted to throw my hurdle.  It was “fun”, right?

• 17 minute AMRAP
• 400m run with wallball (10lb)
• 15 lateral hurdle jumps
• 15 ball slams (10lb)
• 80yd sled pull (70lb)

My score: 2 full rounds + the hurdle jumps & ball slams.  Basically if I had completed the sled pull I would’ve done 3 full rounds.

Let me just say that running with the wall ball is torture.  I suck at running and get out of breath easily. So let’s add a huge awkward ball that’s 10 lbs! Now my breath was crazy much quicker. Tried holding to ball on my shoulder, weird. Tried holding the ball in front of me, well that pressed against my diaphragm and made it harder to breath. Tried holding it behind my head, almost dropped it. Yeah. 3 times was blech.

Lateral hurdle jumps kick my butt as they’re super tiring for me too.  The only thing that was easier for me was the ball slams and sled pull.  The sled pull was actually nice since it was less weight than I normally use. Of course that meant I ran quicker with it and tired out fast. Then had to move right onto the crazy wallball run again.

I’m exhausted. Like beyond exhausted.  And I have to go tomorrow at 6am so I can make an early meeting to sign the contract to work at a clinic! woot-woot! I’ll be treating patients with the fabulous world of acupuncture soon enough!

Well, today was freakin’ hot.  Like a high of 100 degrees by midday.  I figured I wouldn’t be able to WOD at 6pm in a hot box so I went to the 8am class and even then I was dripping sweat.  Don’t get me wrong, I sweat, but I don’t have trails dripping down my face.  Ugh. I really think I may be moving towards doing all my classes in the early morning for the rest of summer.  Just gotta get the hubs on board.

WOD

• 12 min AMRAP
• 3 Deadlifts
• 3 Hang Cleans
• 3 Push Jerks
• 10 burpees

SCORE: 7+8

Why oh why have there been so many freakin’ burpees lately??? Burpees. No one likes them.

Just posting last night’s WOD.  So this makes 1 week at 4x and 2 full weeks going 5x.  My body is still liking it so I will definitely be keeping it up!  And this week was SO MUCH RUNNING. Why so much running Coach???

WOD:

• 400m run
• 20 Dumbbell Plank Rows
• 20 Dumbbell Lunges
• 20 Push Presses (dumbbells)

The class was packed so I could only get ahold of 10lb weights whereas normally I’d use 15.  It was still tiring of course.

My time: 13:23

So today we were focused on prepping for Murph on Memorial Day Weekend. So we started the morning with:

• 800m run
• 5 rounds of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats)
• 400m run

Then we moved onto SKILL and worked on BENCH PRESS and I got up to 55 lbs!  woot-woot! That’s good!

Then we had a super short WOD because that Murph prep was like a workout, LOL.  So then we just pushed the sled for an 80yd sprint for time.  I used 100lbs. and got it done in 1:41.

Funny thing is I setup the big band for my pull-ups because I was tired from last night and my arms were sore and I didn’t want to use the medium band. Then while I was out for the run my coach changed out my big band for the medium.  Sneaky bastard! I looked at him and he was like “what? you’re done using the big band”.  Grrrrreat….

Another benchmark day today! woot-woot! I tried to look up  my last 400m run time but I couldn’t find it.  I know it wasn’t under 2 minutes, so I know I improved in that respect.  And I’m sure I could’ve shaved off several seconds had I done the run 1st and not after 4 rounds of other craziness.

WOD “Red Line”

• Teams of 3
• Each team member does max effort for 1 minute at their station and then rotates so each member goes while the others rest
• At the end of 3 minutes rotate to the next station
• Double Unders (Single Unders for me)
• 400m run
• burpees
• wall balls
• 20yd sprints

I beat the hubby by 5 on wall balls - yay! But he made the leader board on sprints today with 17 total. And of course his run time killed mine too at 1:14. 

(sorry for the blurry pic, my hands were still shaking after the WOD)

Ugh. Today I actually let the words escape my mouth, on the final round of rowing… “I’d rather go run right now”.  And y’all know how MUCH I hate running. yeah. Rowing is just as horrible. I hate it so much I never pay attention to my scores/times/split times/whatever.  So when the coach asked me what my split time was, I had no idea.

SKILL

Back Squat 5x3 - New PR at 55lbs! woot-woot! I’m moving up in the world!

WOD

• Pull-ups - Max effort (minimum 5)
• 300m Row
• 5 rounds

5 rounds is killer. Like seriously killer.  I did good though and got better each round and/or maintained.  My best time was 1:17 and worst was 1:20.  I’m sure if the hubs was doing it he’d be well under a minute. Stupid hubs.

So one of our coaches has termed our jumping lunges “funges” so today’s WOD was another tabata but this time funges alternating with push-ups.

WOD Tabata!

• Funges
• Push-ups

TOTAL SCORE - 143

So last night’s workout made 5 for me for the week! woot-woot! The hubs said I’m about to go beastmode, LOL. I’m happily surprised that my body is taking it so well too, so that’s a good thing.

SKILL:

• DU’s - still only did 3 total (is it my max per day?)
• Deadlift - 5x5  (95lbs)
• Sumo Deadlift - 5x5 (95lbs)

WOD:  The Unknowable - so the coach pulled us together since nothing was written on the board today. He proceeded to tell us that there are WODs where it’s going to be a mental battle and we need to learn to just have to do something at a moment’s notice and fight the mind in that time. Right then I knew it was going to be a doozy. Eesh. 

So he then said our WOD is…. 75 burpees for time… 10 second countdown starts NOW!  Bam! just like that we were rushing to a spot and getting ready to start.  For me, I was fighting my mind, LOL, but found the first 20 go easily. Usually my arms start giving out early, yet mine didn’t get tired until the last 12. What I did find was that I was going good for awhile and then around 50 my mind battle began.  I just felt like I couldn’t do it. Like my mind was telling my body “no more”.  

That’s when the real struggle began as I started taking quick breaks to try and fight my mind.  I of course was the last to finish and the last 15 the coach was on me the whole time yelling at me to “stop f-ing thinking and just do it” and “look, your body just keeps going, see what you’re doing there - it’s the mind telling you that you can’t, so FIGHT IT”.  I can still hear his words this morning.  It was so true, and I’m reminded of the lyrics the hubs always sings during these workouts (by Supernatural with Buckshot singing this - “Mind tricks the body, body thinks the mind is crazy”.)

My time was 8:32 (hubs finished at 5:14 because he’s crazy) and of course I was frustrated after because YES, the coach was right and had I fought my mind better, my body did just keep on going and I could have probably finished with a much better time.  Still though, that was a great time for me and I was moving at a much faster pace than I have in the past, so I need to focus on the positive. The only negative was… skinned knee + bruise because I still have to drop to my knee on the push up portion of my burpee.  Ouch!

So I don’t know if I’ve mentioned, but the hubs and I have continued to play with the time of our classes on MWF.  We originally were at 8pm and the hubs got a new job that allowed him to get off earlier so we have been going to 6pm.  I just don’t feel like I like that time class.  The box is super busy with several classes going on and I feel like I can’t get “in the zone” to really focus and push during the WODs.  

I’ve added T/TH the past few weeks at 9am and this week moved up into the 8am.  I’m working my way to an earlier time on those days over the next month as I will be starting a job and of course will have to probably be at work by 9am.  I have to admit I am LOVING the morning time.  So I plan to suggest to the hubs to start going to the 5am on Friday mornings and see how he likes it. That’s the only time he could go and still make it to work on time.  Hopefully my master plan works out and we can WOD together MWF at 5am. 

So today we worked on several things:

SKILL

• Back Squat 5x5 (still at 45lbs for me)
• Ring Rows 5x3
• Box Dips 

WOD “Alternative Fran”

• 21-15-9
• Goblet squats (holding a kettlebell at chest level
• Toes to bar
• Shuttle Run @ the end of each round

My time 11:01

Today they took it easy on us since yesterday was a killer Hero WOD.  So we worked on strength today.  And for the first and last 5 minutes we continued to work on double unders.  I can still only do 3 total. not linked or anything.  So I’m working my way towards more.  The hubs did great today and linked 12!! Of course after all the trying his legs looked like this…

WOD “Field Strength”

• 4 stations
• 5 minutes at each station
• 2 rounds
• Farmers carry (2 x 35lb kettlebells)
• Sledgehammer (10lb)
• Axle cleans & deadlifts
• Ball toss (20lb)

So a woman from our box was at the Boston Marathon running.  She was about 5 minutes ahead of the bombing but no less affected by the whole situation.  She asked if she could be allowed to design a Hero WOD in honor of the people who lost their lives, risked their lives and family and friends who were affected by this tragedy.  We performed the WOD today.

BOSTON MARATHON HERO WOD

• 3 rounds (to honor the 3 people who lost their lives)
• 800m run (to honor the 8 year old boy who lost his life while watching his father run)
• 15 burpees (to keep in mind the suffering that so many went through)
• 100yd sled pull/push @ 150lbs. (to honor those who helped complete strangers by pushing/pulling them to safety without the thought of danger to their lives)
• 15 pull-ups (we end with pull-ups to lift our spirits and to encourage healing)
• 4 movements were chosen at 15 reps to represent the day (4/15) that changed the lives of so many.

It was truly an hard WOD, but all Hero WODs are supposed to be.  In those moments you want to give up you think about those who went through that day and all the did to help others or all they suffered through and it helps you to push past your mindset of quitting and instead you push through.

My time - 40:47 

Our finisher was a group hug.