As Coach Liz was unavailable today, I coached the 9:45 and 11 sessions and Jeff led the 8:30 session. Yay! I like working out in the morning, particularly when the weather is a cool sub-70 degrees.

Yesterday we hosted the inaugural CrossFit Surmount Games, and it was a HUGE success. Yay!

Six seems to be the number, as there were six female and male competitors yesterday, and six athletes attended each of the three sessions this morning.

One of the athletes who attended the 8:30 session was my very good friend, Jay. He’s a very strong athlete and competitor, and it was much fun working out with him. He certainly pushed me to work harder than I typically would have!

We completed the first three of yesterday’s events. Unlike yesterday, however, folks were allowed to complete as prescribed. That was the good part. The bad part was that folks also had to set up their own equipment and count their own reps.

Strength
Front squat
Warm up for 5 minutes and then, with a running clock, take 5 minutes to establish 3RM

It’s been years since I’ve attempted lifts with a time constraint component. And I liked it. I warmed up to 165#, and then completed sets at 185, 205, and 215# — my 1RM! While the last lift was challenging, at no point to I think/feel that I couldn’t complete the lift. Should I have attempted 120#? Hmmm….

While no scoring was completed today, I did calculate Jeff’s (235#) and my scores using the Sinclair coefficient.

Paul = 137.29
Jeff = 126.99

Jeff accused me of gloating. I promise you that I did not. He said, “You didn’t say a word but I could see it in your eyes.” Hmmm….

Rest exactly 10 minutes

Conditioning A
5-min AMRAP
1 dead-lift (255) + 2 barbell facing burpees + 10 double unders

Jay and I kept an eye on each other. I f@cked up quite a few double unders, but would always finish the round with 10 unbroken reps. At about the midway point Jay was beginning dead-lift when I was beginning double unders. Uhm, and then I caught him. Ha! When time was called and Jeff requested my score I said, “What Jay got.” Our score was 11+1.

That was exhausting — and fun!

Rest exactly 15 minutes

Conditioning B
AFAP & AMRAP
5, 10, 15, 20…

Box jump overs (30)
Shoulder to overhead (95)
Abmat sit-ups
Wall ball shots (20)

12-min time cap

Begin by completing 5 reps of each activity, then 10, 15, 20 reps, etc., until time runs out. 

Wow, now I know why folks were bitching yesterday. Ha! The originally programmed weight was 85#, and Jay asked if he could increase to 95#. I said, “Sure!” And then I thought, “Shit, I’m going to have to lift ninety-five pounds as well. Dammit.” Before we began I said to Jay, “The shoulder to overhead is what’s going to be the hardest part for me.” He replied, “It’ll be the box jumps for me.”

We began neck and neck and remained equally matched up until about the 10-minute mark.

I completed the rounds of 5 and 10 in unbroken reps and the round of 15 in unbroken reps of everything but S20 (3 sets of 5 reps). I completed 20 box step overs and then 20 S2O in reps of 7, 5, 4, & 4. Shit got heavy. Twenty unbroken sit-ups and wall ball shots in reps of 10, 5, & 5. I knew that Jay wasn’t going to be able to catch me, as the only thing left to do in the remaining time was box jump overs. I completed 11 last box jump overs, and I was ecstatic when time was called.

Uhm, yeah, so completing 85 GHD sit-ups on Friday made for somewhat painful Abmat sit-ups today. Nonetheless, sit-ups were the easiest activity, followed by wall ball shots, S2O (surprisingly) and box jump overs.

Melinda commented that my sweat created a Batman logo on my shirt.

I first worked out with the 8:30 am athletes led by Coach Liz.  ‘Twas fun!

Strength/Skills
KB swings and sit-ups tabata (8 minutes)

Complete two, 4-minute tabatas, alternating KB swings and sit-ups.

I chose to complete 60# Russian KB swings and GHD sit-ups. I attempted to keep track of reps per round, but was sometimes unable to do so. I completed 10 reps of both KB swings and sit-ups the first 4 rounds, and then completed as many as 12 KB swings and 11 sit-ups during remaining rounds. I never, however, completed less than 10 reps of either activity.

Score = 175
True tabata score = 10 for both KB swings and GHD sit-ups

I was happy when the tabata was over. I estimate about 85 GHD sit-ups and about 90 KB swings. And in five minutes and 20 seconds.

I don’t gloat, and I don’t like when others do. I don’t say, “I beat you!” It appears, however, that many take pleasure on those few very rare occasions when they “beat” me. Yup, the term is in quotes, as only 4 others did the workout today completing GHD sit-ups. And they didn’t “beat” me.

Going on.

Strength/Conditioning

10 RFT

3 weighted pull-ups (35)
5 strict pull-ups
7 kipping  pull-ups

The box was hot and humid, and this made today’s conditioning particularly challenging this morning. I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete all rounds of weighted, strict, and/or kipping pull-ups unbroken, so I didn’t set an unrealistic goal of doing so. I did, however, hope to complete kipping pull-ups unbroken, but sweating hands preventing me from doing so. Read on. I set a time goal of 20 minutes.

I completed the first 2 rounds unbroken. One of the biggest challenges throughout the workout was putting the weight vest on and then taking it off. ‘Twas quite cumbersome. I often completed 3 or 2 weighted pull-ups unbroken, but during the final rounds I did have to complete quite a few single reps.

Strict pull-ups went well today. Starting with the 3rd or 4th round, I began to use mixed grip, and this helped significantly. I did have 1 failed attempt. Dammit.

I completed unbroken kipping pull-ups all but the 7th and last rounds. My hands slipped off of the bar — even with thumbs around the bar — the very last rep. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

Time = 19:41

I was close to not achieving my goal, and was pleased that I was able to do so.

That’s 150 pull-ups; 30 weighted, 50 strict, and 70 kipping. That’s a lot of f@cking pull-ups.

I attended the 4 pm session led by Coach Deborah. ‘Twas once again fun! I didn’t complete tabata, but did complete significantly modified conditioning.

Strength/Conditioning

10 RFT

3 handstand pushups
5 parallette pass throughs
7 hand release pushups

See what I did there? All pushups and no pull-ups. Gotta even things out, yo. Again, as I knew it was highly unlikely that I’d be able to complete all rounds of HSPUs unbroken, I didn’t set an unrealistic goal of doing so. I did, however, set a goal to complete pass throughs and HRPUs unbroken.

I was surprisingly able to complete through round 8 with unbroken reps of all pushups. I failed the 3rd rep of the 9th round of HSPUs, and for one brief, scary moment thought that I might not be able to complete another single HSPU. I rested a moment and was able to complete a successful rep. Whew! So as to not have another failed attempt, I completed the final round as 3 single reps of HSPUs, all successful.

I completed all rounds of pass throughs and HRPUs unbroken.

Uhm, about the parallette pass throughs, I mistakenly used the shorter paralletes, i.e., the activity was much more difficult than if I had used the taller pair. Each rep was really 2 pushups: push up, kick legs through to strict plank, tricep pushup, and then kick legs back through.

Time = 17:31

Uhm, I may not be able to lift my arms tomorrow.

That was a lot of f@cking pushups.

 

 

Wednesday, June 25

I coached the 6, 8:30, and 9:30 workouts, and took Luke for a walk at 7. He’s a very spoiled dog. And handsome. Like me.

I joined the 11:45 athletes, and there were many in attendance! Coach Emily led the session.

Strength/Skill
Power snatch & overhead squat
Then
EMOTM for 12 minutes
2 power snatches + OHS

I began with 65# and worked up to the last set at 105#, just 10# shy of PS 1RM and 75@ of OHS 1RM. For the most part, lifts felt good. I’m still attempting to determine placement of feet, as my stance is more narrow for PS than for OHS.

Folks were allowed to choose between benchmark WODs “Jackie” and “Christine.” I chose “Christine, as I haven’t attempted in over a year.

I forgot to look up previous PR. Dammit. My goal was to complete rounds of DL and box jumps unbroken. I failed to achieve this goal. Dammit.

Benchmark WOD “Christine”
3RFT
500m row
12 bodyweight dead-lifts
21 box jumps (24/20)

‘Twas very hot in the box. As a short person, rowing is always a struggle. Instead of focusing on pace, I focused on strokes per minute, keeping S/M in the lower 20s. I also counted number of strokes per round, and rowed 500m in exactly 43 strokes each round. Uhm, the last round was painful.

As always, I offer no apologies for breathing and grunting loudly. It works for me.

I rounded up weight of DLs to 145#. I did complete all rounds of DLs unbroken.

I missed 1 box jump both the 2nd and last rounds in that I didn’t fully extend hips before jumping off of box.

Time = 10:36

Not a PR. If I had goal time in mind I’m confident I could’ve — and would’ve — worked faster and harder. My transitions from rower to DL to box jump and back to rower were slow, and I certainly could’ve worked faster. Bad, kitties, bad!

Thursday, June 26

As I rested Tuesday, I decided to complete strength work before running (as I also did Wednesday evening) with the endurance athletes.

Strength
EMOTM until failure
1 press + 1 push press + 1 power jerk, increasing weight 5# until unable to complete press

Yup, I’ll most definitely program this in the very near future.

I began with 65#, and recorded all rounds. Lifts felt incredible today, and I was very pleased with performance. I didn’t truly struggle with press until round @ 135, my 1RM. That’s understandable, I suppose. After I completed the power jerk, I dropped the bar to the floor instead of racking it. I then thought, “Why not attempt a one rep maximum?” I cleaned the bar, racked it, placed mere 1# plates on both ends, waited exactly 2 minutes since last round — and successfully pressed 137#! Yay!, a new PR! My goal is to press my bodyweight, between 140 and 142# depending upon the day, by the end of this year.

Yesterday’s burpees galore workout left me somewhat tired. I contemplated resting today, but since I was WIDE AWAKE at 4:20 am (thanks to Meg and Zac) I decided to join the 6 am athletes.

Strength/Skill
One-armed dumbbell and/or kettle bell presses
EMOTM for 10 minutes
1 press, 1 push press, 1 power jerk per arm

I completed rounds using 35, 40, 44, and 52# KBs and DB (40# only). All reps but the last press with the left arm were successful. Dammit. Fifty-two pounds felt heavy.

Strength/Conditioning
Death by Back Squats (95)
With a continuously running clock do 1 back squat the first minute, 2 back squats the second minute, 3 back squats the third minute, continuing as long as you are able to to complete required reps within the minute.

My goal was to complete a minimum of 18 rounds and to complete through round 15 with unbroken reps. I completed through round 17 with unbroken reps and completed 20 rounds.

I wore my weightlifting shoes but neglected to wear my weightlifting belt. During round 18 my back began to seize. I completed round 20 with about 15 seconds left on the clock — but I had no desire to continue. None. Nada. Not one iota of interest or desire.

That’s a total of 210 back squats at 66% of bodyweight and 40% of 1RM.

My legs felt like jelly. I nonetheless took Luke for a long walk, although I sometimes felt like crawling.

I watched the season finale of OITNB yesterday and began “Longmire.” I’m intrigued.

Jeff is out of town, and I’ve been binging on OITNB and Rectify.

I coached the 8:30 and 11 am WODs and worked out with the 9:45 am athletes, led by Coach Liz. ‘Twas a tough workout.

Folks were presented with many options. I chose the following:

2 RFT
20 6-count burpees
20 burpee pull-ups 
20 burpee handstand pushups
20 burpee toes to bar
20 burpee box jumps (30)
20 burpee ring dips
20 burpee plate presses (45)

My goal was to complete within 50 minutes. In order to do so, I knew I’d have to work at a, in the words of Jennifer, “slow burn.”

I didn’t take the time to write down times I completed activities, number of unbroken reps, etc.

In order from least to most difficult:

1. 6-count burpees
2. burpee toes to bar
3. burpee pull-ups
4. burpee plate presses
5. burpee box jumps
6. burpee ring dips
7. burpee handstand pushups

At three different times I lost count by one rep, i.e., I couldn’t recall if I was on the 4th or 5th rep, for example. So you know what I did… Thus, I may have completed 2 extra burpee handstands pushups and 1 extra burpee ring dip.

I completed the first round in 23 minutes and change. I knew that if I continued to work at a steady pace, I could complete the workout in my time goal. I also knew that I had another 20 handstand pushups to complete! Gah!

I was sweating profusely, grunting loudly, and occasionally swearing as loudly as I was grunting.

No missed reps. That’s always a relief.

I finished strong, picking up the pace for the last 10 burpee plate presses.

Time = 47:21

That’s 280 burpees, folks.

 

Meg and Zac are bad kitties! Yup, they made certain that I was awake at 4:30 this morning. I did, however, manage to sleep until 6. Luke and I went for a long walk, and I was at the box before 8.

Coach Deborah was kind enough to lead today’s 8:30 am session so that I could work out with my peeps.

Strength/Skill
Box jumps
EMOTM for 10 minutes complete 3 box jumps

I completed rounds @ 35, 36, 37, 37.5, 38, 38.5, 39, and 39.5″. I attempted a round @ 40″, but was unable to jump that damned high. This was the first time that I was able to successfully complete a 39.5″ box jump, and I did so about 6 times. Yay! A PR!

Conditioning
AFAP
10-8-6-4-2 dead-lifts (225/153)
20-40-60-80-100 double unders
Hold a strict plank for 1-minute (accumulated) between dead-lifts and double unders

My goal, as always, was to complete all rounds unbroken. I knew the dead-lifts wouldn’t be a challenge, thought the planks holds would be less of a challenge than they turned out to be, and thought it highly unlikely that I’d be able to complete all rounds of double unders unbroken. I was surprised — and surprised myself — with how the workout transpired.

Ten dead-lifts with no challenge, although I wasn’t the first to complete the reps. Uhm, that’d be Felicia and Angelina, two very strong lifters. The first plank hold was easy. I began double under facing Thom, and his rhythm, or lack thereof, threw me off. I failed on the 6th rep. I turned my back to him and easily completed 20 unbroken reps.

Eight dead-lifts, 1-minute plank, 40 unbroken double unders. The easiest round.

Six dead-lifts and than a somewhat challenging 1-minute plank hold. My arms were shaking. In addition, Luke had taken over my yoga mat. Bad kitties! I began to think that I might not be able to complete all five 1-minute plank holds without having to rest while doing so. Completing 60 unbroken double unders boosted my confidence.

Four dead-lifts, a 1-minute plank, and then 80 double unders in reps of 27 and 53. Dammit. My right foot got caught in the rope. Dammit.

Two dead-lifts, one last 1-minute plank with very shaky arms, and 100 double unders. For a moment I was convinced that I could complete 100 unbroken reps. Unfortunately, I was sweating so profusely that the handles slipped out of my hands after 75 reps. I paused a brief moment and completed the last 25 reps.

Time = 10:28

A tremendously fun workout!

I worked out with the 8:30 am group — including Jeff! Coach Deborah led the session, and it was a full house.

Strength
Overhead squat
Complete 3 OHS EMOTM 10 minutes

My first set was @ 65# and I increased weight by 5 pounds most sets. Last set was at 110#, 80% of 1RM and 77% of bodyweight.

Lifts. Felt. Great! I’ve really begun to enjoy the OHS.

Conditioning
Three, 4-minute intervals
Run 400m and in remaining time complete maximum reps of the following:
Pull-ups
Pushups
Air squats
Then
Three, 2-minute intervals
Run 200m and in remaining time complete maximum reps of the following:
Pull-ups
Pushups
Air squats 

Score = total number of reps for individual and sum total for all activities

Wow, that was tough. I completed chest to bar pull-ups, tricep pushups with hands on medicine ball (for added instability), and jumping air squats.

My goal was to complete at least half of the number of reps for the 2-minute intervals as I had completed for 4-minute intervals.

For the 4-minute intervals, I completed 400m runs in even times of :80.

I completed 35 chest to bar pull-ups (with 1 failed attempt, i.e. chest didn’t touch bar), 52 tricep pushups, and 65 jumping air squats.

The first 200m run went well, and I finished in :39. The second 200m run didn’t go quite so well, and I was gasping for air. It took my :43 to run a mere 200m. Since I haven’t said it yet, I’ll say it now: dammit. I finished strong, running the last 200m in :37. Yay!

I completed 17 chest to bar pull-ups (a “half” of a pull-up shy of goal), 30 tricep pushups (4 more than gaol), and 40 jumping air squats (7.5 more than goal).

Totals:
52 chest to bar pull-ups
82 tricep pushups
105 jumping air squats
Grand total = 239

I was talking after the workout about how much the running of the second 200m interval hurt, and Laurie said, “I was wondering about that. Your last 200 meters was fast! I thought maybe you were sandbagging.” Ha!

Wednesday, June 18

School is out for the summer, members are on vacation, and it’s hard to know how many folks are going to attend any given session. I coached the 9:30 session, and only Coach Emily and Alexus were in attendance. I asked permission to join them, they kindly granted permission, and I did just that.

Monday, June 16

I worked out with the 6am crew, an always enjoyable experience!

Strength/Skill
EMOTM for 10 minutes
3, 4, or 5 strict ring dips

Rest 3 minutes

Then
Maximum time headstand or handstand hold, up to 5 minutes

I completed 5 strict ring dips at the top of each minute, and all reps felt great. I did, however, have to frequently chalk my arms. That’s 50 ring dips. I held the handstand for 57 seconds. Uhm, I had just completed 50 strict ring dips. See what happened there?

Conditioning
Partner WOD
15-minute AMRAP
Row 15 calories
10 burpees
Partners alternate activities

As there were an odd number of athletes at the session, I completed the workout solo. When I was a young boy, I was often the last one picked for a team. As an adult, I’m often the last person anyone wants to pick as a partner, but for entirely different reasons. “I can’t keep up with you.” “I’ll disappoint you.”

Well, okay then.

Rowing started of just okay, and progressively got better. By the end of the workout I was consistently rowing a calorie per stroke. Just the way I like it. Coach Liz informed us that seven and a half minutes had passed, i.e., we were halfway through the workout, when I was on the 5th burpee of the 4th round. I set my goal to have an even split.

I did better than that. I completed 8 rounds and rowed 8 calories; 128 calorie row and 80 burpees. That was fun!

Tuesday, June 17

I had hoped to work out in the morning, but Coach Deborah was feeling under the weather so I covered for her classes. That meant that I coached seven sessions today. That also meant that the only time that I could work out with a group was at 4 pm. I’d much rather do that than work out alone. There, I said it.

And I got to work out beside Jennifer! Yay! You’re welcome, Jennifer.

Strength
Establish 3RM back squat

I set a goal to back squat 225#, a little under 95% of current 1RM of 240#. I lifted sets at 188, 215, and 225#. Yay!

And then I went for it. I back equated 235# three times. That’s 98% of current 1RM. Uhm, something tells me that my 1RM is going to go up!

That’s a PR, yo. That’s 165% of my body weight.

Conditioning
EMOTM for 10 minutes

• 3 strict knees to elbows
• 5 box jumps (30)
• 8 weighted Abmat sit-ups (20 30)

Strict, i.e., non-kipping knees to elbows, are tough, and one can only complete the reps so quickly. Thirty inch box jumps are high. Thirty pound wall ball Abmat sit-ups are heavy.

And this workout was tremendously fun! I set up box in front of pull-up rig and Abmat directly to the right of box. I knew that transitions would have to be fast.

Times:
:37
:37
:37
:36
:37
:35
:34
:34
:33
:30

See what I did there? I got faster! I figured out how to do so by round six. As I mentioned, one can only complete strict knees to elbows so fast. I found the same to be true with Abmat sit-ups. That could only mean one thing: I had to complete box jumps faster, and that’s what I did. I often grunted as I did so (and I think Jennifer liked it).

I completed all 10 rounds and accumulated time was 5:49. That’s 30 strict knees to elbows, 50 box jumps, and 80 weighted Abmat sit-ups in less than six minutes.

Go ahead. Try it at home.

By the way, I ran with Monday and Wednesday endurance athletes. The workout was 10x100m sprints, a tremendously fun workout. Thus, I been running’ a lot, yo.

And enjoying every stride.

Saturday, June 14 (my half-birthday)

Team WOD
In teams of 3 or 4
5-minute AMRAPs; rest 2 minutes between activities (40 minutes total)

1. Tire flips (1=1)
2. Sled pulls for distance (90) (10m = 1)
3. Tire “box” jumps (10 = 1)
4. Run or row for distance (10m = 1)
5. Sledgehammer swings (25 = 1)

Teams were randomly selected, so as to not show favoritism. Yup. For that reason. I was teamed with Fernando, Ellen, and Sarah. Yay! Ellen chose the number “4,”, so we began with running or rowing for distance.

I chose to run. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? I ran 1,120 m.

Sledgehammer swings were fun, fun, fun! We all completed sledgehammer swings at the same time. I completed 161 reps, alternating arms the entire 5 minutes.

Ellen and I flipped the tire together, as did Fernando and Sarah. We took turns doing so, and completed 111 tires flips as a team.

Sled pulls with a mere 90# were grueling. My sled was 50m away from the front of the box, and I got a late start. Dammit. I pulled the sled forward 50m, backward 50m, and forward for the remaining time. I pulled the sled 27om. Whew. My legs were fried. And then came the tire box jumps.

I was a sweaty mess, and I did indeed sweat upon my teammates. I had completed 50 reps with 2:30 remaining and then set my goal to complete 100 reps. I finished strong and completed 110 total reps.

This was a very fun workout, and I truly enjoyed working out with Sarah, Ellen, and Fernando! Our team score was 165. Team Sarah beat Team Steve, and that’s all that matters. Truly.

Sunday, June 15 (less than 6 months until my birthday)

Strength/Conditioning
AFAP

Part A
21-15-9
Dead-lifts (185)
Handstand pushups

Rest Exactly 7 minutes

Part B
21-15-9
Back squats (95)
Knees to elbows

Rest exactly 7 minutes

Part C
21-15-9
Power jerk (85)
Forward lunges with barbell in front rack position (85/53)

This was a challenging as I thought it was going to be.

Part A is the benchmark WOD “Diane,” only with lighter dead-lifts. I completed all rounds of dead-lifts unbroken. HSPUs started off well, and I completed 15 unbroken reps out of the gate.

That may not have been the smartest thing to do.

I finished the first round by completing 2 unbroken sets of 3 reps.

I completed reps of 5, 3, 3, 3, and 1 the second round. My shoulders were feeling quite smoked.

I completed the last round in reps of 3, 2, 2, 1, & 1. Huh? In my peripheral vision I saw someone to my left, and I thought it was Coach Liz. ‘Twas not. ‘Twas Jeff. I attempted to complete the last 2 reps unbroken, but was unable to lock out the very last rep. Dammit. I immediately said, “That rep didn’t count.” I rested a moment and completed the very last rep.

Time = 8:18

I rested a glorious 7 minutes.

Part B went very well. I completed all rounds of back squats unbroken. Yay! I completed the round of 21 toes to bar unbroken. Yay!! (Notice the two exclamation points. Notice them now!!) I completed the round of 15 in reps of 7, 4, & 4, and the round of 9 in reps of 5, 3, and 1. I kipped all but the very last rep.

Time = 4:02; clock time 19:20

I rested another glorious 7 minutes.

Part C was the most difficult. I didn’t complete any rounds unbroken. I was so exhausted that I didn’t even keep track of reps. The only thing I can remember is that I completed 14 unbroken push jerks at the start of the first round, and ended the workout by completing six lunges.

Time = 6:28; clock time 32:48