Lots of catching up to do…

Tuesday, May 26

I like forward rolls as much as I used to like Tootsie Rolls. I also like AFAPs, and I particularly enjoyed this one. For an added challenge, I completed each forward roll with a deck squat, i.e., I stood up and turned around before completing next forward roll. Jennifer G. and I had decided to share the BAM (Big Ass Mat) but Luke decided to sleep upon 2/3 of it. Good dog! Zac is a bad kitty. There were a few times when I had to wait my turn at the mat, and, you know, that’s okay.

I completed in 9:26. Whilst others posted faster times, they did not complete forward roll + deck squat.

Wednesday, May 27

As part of Lurong Summertime Challenge, we completed mini WOD. I decided to start Level II and, if I felt okay, to finish and complete Level III at some other time. (It’s Saturday and I still haven’t completed. I may be that I don’t do so.)

Tabata Row for Calories (Calories)

Score = total number of calories

Given my height and weight, I’m always at a disadvantage when it comes to rowing for calories or distance. But not for bodyweight wattage. I rowed 7 calories all but the 2nd round (8 calories) for a total of 57. I was pleased with performance yet disappointed that I wasn’t able to row 8 calories each interval. I blame Steve Dodge.

Thursday, May 28

Endurance
Native American, AKA “Indian” run

The only way I can coach this workout is by running with the athletes, so that’s precisely what I did. And what a fun time we all had! For the first 19-minute run Anthony, Pauline, Jaclyn, and Bonnie were, from last to first to drop off, the finishers. We completed an additional, albeit shorter, run, and Anthony was once again the last person standing.

Uhm, other than me. I have yet to “lose” a Native American run.

Friday, May 29

Skill Building

Handstand Push-ups (Practice HSPUs, including scaling)

‘Easy’ Mary (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Handstand Push-ups
10 Pull-ups
25 Squats

You may complete solo or with a partner.
Scale HSPUs as necessary, including DB presses, Abmat(s), and box.

J.T. (Time)

21-15-9
Handstand Push-ups
Ring Dips
Push-ups

In honor of Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Taylor, 30, of Little Creek, VA, who was killed in Afghanistan June 2005

To learn more about J.T. click here

I coached all but the afternoon session and even then I demonstrated handstands and HSPUs. That’s a shitload of HSPUs.

I last completed J.T. September of last year, and remember how gruesome a workout it was. I am able to complete HSPUs very quickly. Ring dips and pushups, however, were much more challenging. Uhm, Murph. That is all. I was nonetheless able to shave more than a minute off of my time, finishing in 10:05. That’s half of the time it took me  to complete when I first attempted.

Saturday, May 39

RWHRMA 5K Fun Run and Walk

I haven’t run a 5K in a very, very long time. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I was a little anxious about racing today, perhaps because so many of the folks I coach were also going to be racing. I was wide awake at 5, as I promised to help Jeff set up. I’m glad that I’m in shape because we had to carry some heavy shit from the locked gate (the park didn’t open until 7, 30 minutes past our arrival) to the starting area.

Dianne, Kelli, Karen, Kevin, Evelyn, Mike, Gina, Angelina, and  Jaclyn (pushing 2 children and carrying another in her womb) ran and Janet and Steve (with Cora) walked.

I led the runners through a warm up, we listened to announcements, and we were off. The cross-country course at WakeMed park is just as hilly as I recalled. A young boy, probably 14 or 15 years old, took an early lead. I kept him in my sights the entire course, planning when I’d put in my finishing kick and pass him on my way to the finish.

With just 50m remaining that’s exactly what I began to do. He was well within my sights when this thought entered my mind: Don’t be a dick. 

My thoughts continued: You’ve allowed him to lead the entire race. Think how embarrassing it would be for him if you were to pass him at the very finish. Is finishing first that important to you, Paul? It’s likely to be much more important to him.

So I eased up and let him win by a couple of seconds. I don’t, however, recall my finishing time. I did confirm with Jeff that the course is longer than 5K.

I grabbed a bottle of water and began running in folks, beginning with Kelli and ending with Angelina (with Gina and Dianne running in right behind her). I was exceedingly proud of Surmounties. The person I’m most proud of, however, is Angelina, as she has expressed her disdain for running on numerous occasions, yet she ran strong.

Jeff was kind enough to lead the 8:30 session so that I could work out. I set a goal to achieve new PR for Hero WOD Murph, having completed in 55:04 last year. I knew that I’d have to have a game (the “m” isn’t silent) plan. And that I’d have to keep focused.

Murph (Time)

For Time:
1-Mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Air Squats
1-Mile Run

If you have a 20# vest or body armor, wear it.
In honor of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, NY, who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005.
To learn more about Murph click here

As with previous years, I didn’t partition and I did wear a 20# weight vest. I also completed strict push-ups, i.e., feet together as well as chest and thighs touching the floor.

Jim joined me for first run and we clocked a mile in about 6:40. That was a very good start. I didn’t feel winded so I quickly began pull-ups. I stuck with my plan and completed 20 rounds of 5 reps, never going to failure and never missing a rep. I recall completing in 16 minutes and change.

Two hundred pushups are a challenge. I managed to stick with plan once again and completed 5 reps at a time through 100. I then began completing in rounds of 4, 3, and sometimes even 2 reps. I completed the very last 3 reps as singles. Pushups took me twice as long to complete as pull-ups.

I completed air squats in sets of 10 reps through 250 and completed the last 50 in sets of 5 reps. I did, however, rest very little between sets for the last 50 reps. I glanced at the clock before the mile run and it read 44 minutes and change. I had 10 or so minutes to run the last mile. This gave me a boost of confidence, as I knew it was likely that I’d achieve a PR.

That last mile was gruesome, and there were numerous times when I had to will myself to continue running. I very much wanted to walk, particularly up the hills. I feared that if I did begin walking that I wouldn’t be able to run. I sprinted to the finish. Estimated time of an 8-minute mile.

Time = 52:22. That’s a 2:42 PR. I’ll take it!

i now admit that I didn’t think that I was going to able to achieve goal of new PR. There were quite a few times when I told myself that It’d be okay to complete as prescribed and not achieve a new PR. Sometimes I’m glad that I don’t listen to myself.

Coach James had mentioned completing “Drunk Murph” and I thought for sure that he’d join me today. Sadly, he did not. Heflin brought a 12-pack of Miller 64. Shit tastes like beer-flavored water. i joined Helfin, James, Mike, and a few others for a beer. I then thought, “Why the hell not at least give it a try?” And that’s what I did. I didn’t, however, complete for time, as I merely wanted to see how far I’d make it. Through the push-ups, perhaps? Maybe through the air squats?

Drunk Murph1-Mile Run
Drink a Beer
1-Mile Run
Drink a Beer
50 Pull-ups
Drink a Beer
100 Push-ups
Drink a Beer
150 Air Squats
Drink a Beer
1-Mile Run

Anthony and Luke joined me for the first mile run and I completed the remainder of the workout solo, albeit with an audience that also included Tijuana, Julie, Janet, and Jeff. This wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I was never truly drunk and I most certainly did not get sick.

I completed the pull-ups in reps of 3 sets of 10 and 4 sets of 5, the push-ups in sets of 5, and the air squats in sets of 75 reps. Whilst the air squats were slow, I nonetheless kept a good pace. The last mile of Drunk Murph was far easier than the last mile of Sober Murph.

I’d estimate that Drunk Murph took between 75 and 90 minutes, as I didn’t begin until after 11 (I can’t recall how many minutes after the hour) and finished before 12:30.

You do that math. That’s a lot of running, pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats either whilst wearing a weight vest or whilst somewhat inebriated.

Maybe next year I’ll do Drunk Murph whilst wearing a weight vest. That’d be fun!

Wednesday, May 20

Oh, how I wished I had been able to complete this workout with the 6am crew! I covered Nick’s 6am session as he (and Meredith!) are on vacation and worked out at lunchtime. I would’ve been there anyhow, as it was a playdate for Luke and Stevie.

Metcon (Time)

5 RFT
– 20 double unders
– 20 burpees

This is a Lurong Summertime Challenge mini WOD, and it was indeed a scorcher. As their were quite a few at the session, I attempted (somewhat successfully) to find a spot where I could not only have enough room to work out but to also not be distracted by others. I completed in 4:09, a rather slow time. Yup, I’d like to attempt again.

Metcon (Time)

2 RFT
– 50 box jumps (36)
– 50 mountain climbers (25)
– 10 muscle ups

Rest 2 minutes between rounds

One hundred box jumps and mountain climbers and 20 muscle ups? Well, okay then! Luke and Stevie were almost always by my side, often right in front of my box.

I missed 4 and 2 box jumps the first and second rounds, respectively. I did, however, land my feet on the box beside the plates, i.e., no injuries. Yay! I completed both rounds of mountain climbers unbroken and rounds of muscle ups in reps of 5, 3, & 2. Coach Marni captured muscle ups in slo-mo-ho-mo.

I completed first round in 7:27 and and the workout in 17:22. Yup, the second round was slower than the first round. Yup, 36″ box jumps slowed me down. Slo-mo-ho-mo.

Thursday, May 21

Luke and I ran with the endurance athletes, and it was fun! Whilst the two of us didn’t complete as prescribed, as I made sure to run with all of the athletes, we did complete many high intensity sprints. Luke, like me, is a front runner.

Metcon (No Measure)

Run, resting 1 minute between rounds (25 min total)
4 min @ 75% effort
3 min @ 80%
2 min @ 90%
1 min @ 95%
2 min @ 80%
3 min @ 90%
4 min @ 95%

The 1-minute interval at 95% was intense! Luke was exhausted by the end of the workout and, upon arriving home, immediately went to bed. Good dog!

Friday, May 22

I coached the 6, 7, & 8:30 am sessions and worked out with the 9:30 athletes. It was a full house, with lots of visitors during “Bring a Friend to CrossFit Surmount” day.

A: Metcon (No Measure)

EMOTM for 7 minutes
3-5 BS (100% bodyweight)
Commit to completing 3, 4, or 5 reps each round.

I committed to completing 5 reps per round at 145# and easily did so. I focused on speed and explosiveness. It was nice to hear the rattling of the barbell collars.

Partner Metcon (4 Rounds for reps)

4 RNDS; work for 1 minute for each activity (4, 5-min rounds with 1 min rest between rounds)

– Dead-lifts (115/83)
– Wall ball shots (20/14 & 10/9)
– Knees to elbows
– Back extensions
– KB swings (53/35)
Rest 1 minute between rounds

Dr. Heather and I partnered, and we had a tremendous amount of fun! Heather began with deadlifts. I set a goal to match number of reps each round and was somewhat successful in doing so.

My totals: 30 & 30 wb; 38 & 44 be; 39 & 37 dl, 28 & 26 T2B (15 unbroken reps both rounds); and 27 & 27 KB swings. The only activity I completed unbroken was wall ball shots.

Our scores per round were 125, 155, 124, & 151 for a total of 555 reps. That’s solid work from both of us!

As Janet completed solo, I asked her to capture pics during our last round. Uhm, I like to photobomb. And to show a little leg.

It was very nice working out with Dr. Heather, and she listens well to coaching cues. And her back extensions are beautiful! Must be all of that Pilates. I later visited Dr. Heather for an adjustment. Uhm, Luke was once again by my side the entire time. Good dog!

I’ve been kinda sorta slack and haven’t posted in a few days. No reason other than laziness, I suppose. Let’s get started, shall we?

Thursday was a rest day but Luke and I ran with the Endurance athletes in the morning and evening sessions. That’d be about 7 to 8 miles of running total.

Okay, I’ll admit it: I find it increasingly difficult to get excited about the Challenge knowing that I’ll begin as one of the leader’s in the Male Masters+ category only to see my ranking plummet as weight lose is factored into the calculation. I weight 143 =/- 2 pounds on any given day.

And I’m happy with that.

I am committed during this, my 3rd challenge, to eat Paleo for a minimum of 90% of meals and to not drink alcohol. Yup, you read that correctly. I won’t be drinking beer. Gah!

I completed the workout yesterday morning with the 6 am athletes.

Monday, May 11

I worked out with the 6 am athletes, and the session was led by Coach Nick.

I neglected to record Friday’s (May 8) workout in my haste to document Ninja Challenge. I shall do so in 3, 2, 1…

This was one of the Masters regional qualifying workouts, and it was much fun. I completed all deadlifts unbroken in that, whilst I did drop the bar from the top, I didn’t rest and/or re-set between reps. I missed one box jump during the round of 15. Dammit. HSPUs went much better than expected for all rounds. I didn’t push myself as I wanted to conserve energy for the Ninja Challenge. I completed the workout in 9:03. My fastest Diane (no box jumps) time is 7:53, so I’m pleased with performance.

For a change of pace I used a gym mat for HSPUs, i.e., no 25# plates and Abmat. Luke decided to rest his head upon one end of the mat and was thus by my side for all rounds of HSPUs. Good dog!

I worked out with Heflin this morning at 8:30.

This was tremendously fun and tremendously difficult. I completed 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, 8, & 8 reps. the bar got in front of me the 8th round, thus 7 reps. Forty-five seconds felt like 10 seconds of rest by the 5th round. I completed a total of 74 reps. Whew!

I took Luke for a long walk on the ATT, coached the 11 am session, and then completed the Hero WOD “Loredo,” as I wanted to give it a try. I set goals to complete in fewer than 20 minutes and to not only complete all rounds of activities unbroken and to not rest between activities. Those are some challenging goals, folks.

I had the honor and pleasure of joining Jeff, Kelsey, and Kathryn as Team CrossFit Surmount 1. Our number one goal was have fun, and, while I can’t speak for the others I can unequivocally state that I had a tremendous amount of fun!

The Ninja Challenge was a mere 5K with about a dozen obstacles, some of them far less challenging than others. See what I said there? I said “less” not “more” challenging, as none of the obstacles were all that challenging. Where’s a salmon ladder when you need one?

I honestly can’t recall the order of the obstacles other than the first (bear crawl) and last (vertical wall). Other obstacles included a rope climb, throwing a ball weighted with water over a bar, a wall “rock” climb,” a balance beam walk, jumping into a very cold pool of water, a rope net climb, and running over floating boards.

Speaking of running, that was by far the easiest part of the course. Uhm, I did see many people struggling whilst running, as the course was rather hilly. I love running uphill almost as much as I love running downhill.

I kept a promise I made to myself in that I left no woman or man behind. I would occasionally run ahead of the team but would always wait for all of us to rejoin. I also sang, ran backwards, skipped, held Kelsey’s hand and pulled her up a couple of hills, and rescue carried her across the finish. Ha!

My favorite obstacle was running across the floating boards. I felt as light as air! I also enjoyed the rope climb, as I climbed it legless. Yup, I did that.

We crossed the finish line in a time of 42:52. That’s a slow 5K.

I worked out with the large group of athletes attending the 9:30 am session. Much fun ensued!

Bench Press (Complete 3 sets of 10 reps @ 50% of 1RM )

I completed 2 sets @ 95# and both sets took exactly 10 seconds to complete. The secret is already out of the bag… I completed the last set of 10 reps @ 75% of 1RM (140#) and it took about 18 seconds to complete. I was pleased with performance. It was also nice to partner with Brian!

2-min Rope Climbs (AMRAP – Reps)

I forgot Nike Metcons. Dammit. I completed legless rope climbs instead. Gah! Legless rope climbs work the biceps and forearms. Jaclyn and I completed rope climbs together. She said, “It’s hard to climb the rope with all of your heavy breathing.” Ha! Yup, just like with powerlifting, Oly lifting, running, well, just about everything, I focus on proper breathing.

My goal was to complete 3 legless rope climbs. I had completed 2 climbs when I asked coach Deborah how much time remained. She said, “Forty-five seconds.” I completed another rope climb and then she announced we had a minute remaining. I completed another climb. Whilst I could’ve possibly completed five instead of four rope climbs, I knew I had to leave something in the tank for the metcon. I’m very glad that I did.

Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)

11:30 AMRAP
3/arm DB hang power cleans*
3/arm DB push presses
50m farmer’s carry
3 manmakers
50m farmer’s carry
Men = 40-45% of bw
Do NOT alternate arms, i.e., complete all reps on 1 arm and then switch to other arm.

I used 30# DBs. One goal was to make it through rounds without placing the DBs on the floor during the round, i.e., keep hold of DBs from HPCs through 2nd 50m farmer’s carry. Another goal was to complete 5 rounds.

This was quite a challenging workout. My forearms. Gah! I achieved both goals. The fourth round was the most difficult, and while I was able to complete both 50m farmer’s carries without putting down the DBs it was certainly difficult to do so.

With time running out, I picked up the pace of the fifth round. I completed the round and glanced at the clock: one minute remained. I willed myself to not put down the DBs. I completed HPCs, PPs, and 20m farmer’s carry.

Score = 5 rounds + 8 reps.

As is often the case, Luke stayed by my side for much of the workout.