Friday, August 4 | Unbreakable
Luke and I went for a 5-mile walk at the Biltmore. ‘Twas another unseasonably cool morning. I listened to Ricky Martin Unplugged and contemplated taking Spanish courses at AB Tech. Seriously.
Strength
Front Squat
Establish 1RM
I’m challenging myself in a variety of ways, including strengthening wrists. From today forward I will only complete front squats with all fingers on the barbell, i.e., no floating pinkies. I have intentionally not been wearing wrist wraps but did wear them today.
Given that I haven’t done heavy front squats since surgery, and this would be a new baseline, I set a goal to lift 200#. I warmed up with sets of 5 until I hit 165# and then began singles, completing reps @ 175, 185, & 195#. I thought, “Lifts feel good. I should just go for 205.” and that’s what I did. And then I lifted 210#. Yay! It’s challenging to do front squats with present set up as when there’s the potential that I might fail and need to bail I need to take a few steps away from the rack. I did fail @ 215. Luckily I was paying attention for the plates bounced and rolled toward me. Yup, I jumped over the barbell.
Take a look at pics. Should be no doubt that squat was below parallel and that elbows were high. K? K.
Conditioning
AFAP
50 reps
Burpee + 3-second handstand hold + burpee + 30″ box jump + squat (on top of box)
I set up the workspace so that box was near opposite wall used for handstand holds. I completed in sets of 5, often counting out loud. Why? Because somewhere between 5 and 10 I lost count and likely completed 6 reps that round. The abacuses a godsend.
Uhm, yeah, so that’s 100 burpees in addition to 50 handstand holds, box jumps, and squats. I worked at a steady pace, but did need to slow down somewhat at about 35 reps, you know, so I could rest my shoulders.
There were many times when just a heel lightly grazed the wall. There were quite a few times when I was able to achieve 3 or more seconds of freestanding handstand hold. I focused on activating shoulders and looking at opposite wall (in this case box). I didn’t miss a single box jump.
Time = 24:38
I still haven’t watched a single moment of the CFG. I am, however, truly enjoying Ozark.
Saturday, August 5 | Libertango
I finished Ozark. Well done, Netflix!
Luke and I began our day with a 5-mile walk at Biltmore. I can’t believe how cool the mornings have been!
Both upper and lower body were a wee bit sore, so I programmed an “active recovery” workout. And it was just what the doctor ordered.
25-min AMRAP
– 3 pull-ups
– 4 knees to elbows
– 5 hand release pushups
– 6/leg mountain climbers
– 18 double unders*
* Complete an additional rep for each missed rep
I raised the yoke on the squat rack to allow for kipping, and what a difference it made. My goal was to complete all rounds of pull-ups, K2E, pushups, and mountain climbers in unbroken reps. In addition, my secondary goal was to transition from pull-ups to K2E without dropping from the bar and from pushups to mountain climbers without resting. I achieved goal for pushups to mountain climbers but not pull-ups to K2E.
I was able to complete all rounds of pull-ups and K2E unbroken and with no rest as transitioning until round 16. Alas, no matter how many times I wiped off yoke and/or attempted to dry hands, I began to slip off the bar. I was sweating so profusely that by the last round I completed pull-ups and K2E as single reps, with my hands sliding off the yoke after each rep. It wasn’t muscle failure, ’twas sweat. Dammit.
I completed many rounds of dus in unbroken reps and, as prescribed, completed additional rep(s) each time I failed a du. As always, I completed an additional rep each round, e.g., completed 19 reps for round of 18 unbroken. Yup, one for good measure.
Score = 17 rounds + 3 pull-ups, 4 K2E, 5 pushups, 6 mountain climbers, & 6 double unders; 54 pull-ups, 72 K2E, 90 pushups, 108, 132 (plus probably another dozen or so plus 17) double unders
Sunday, August 6 | You Bike, I’ll Run!
Luke and I started our day with a 4-mile hike at Pisgah. We would’ve gone longer, but he let me know he’d rather not. Jeff and I enjoyed breakfast at Biscuit Head, where I had a brisket biscuit and a grapefruit mimosa. I was feeling a bit tipsy (I’m such a lightweight), so I “rested” on the deck. Jeff is now allowed to bike on flat surfaces, so we headed to Carrier Park at around 12:30.
Uhm, I can’t recall the last time I went for a run. Maybe Ragnar? It’s been months, then. It’s not that I don’t love running, it’s just, well, I’ve been biking and working out and, well, not running.
As he didn’t know how long he’d be able to ride pain-free, I set a goal to run between 3 and 4 miles. We began, with me running a bit ahead. I ran the first mile in 7:56, certainly not blazingly fast. The next mile I ran in 7:32, slightly faster. I set a goal to stop at 5K, and ran the last mile in 7:08. Although it took me a few seconds to stop watch, TomTom recorded 23:23 with a pace of 7:32 mpm. Again, not blazingly fast, but as I was running on a somewhat full stomach that also contained alcohol I’m nonetheless pleased.
I took a breath every third step, and my average heart rate was 188, with highest recorded at 201. According to TomTom I spent all but about the first 90 seconds in “peak” heart rate zone. Maybe I can shed a few pounds if I keep running. There’s that.
It was much fun running as Jeff biked. I can unequivocally state that Jeff didn’t set my pace. I did talk with him along the course, although always briefly. “Are you okay?” “How does the knee feel?” “You up for another mile?”
Uhm, I didn’t watch a single moment of the 2017 CrossFit Games. Yup, I know who won. Nope, I really don’t care.
Paul's Blog 