Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Today's Beat-down

Crossfit


21 Deadlifts
50 Squats
21 Push press

15 Deadlift
50 Squats
15 Push press

9 Deadlift
50 Squats
9 Push press

For this workout, you get one bar and have to swap your weights between the deadlift and the push press.

For the deadlift, I choose what I felt was a good weight - not too light but not too heavy - 115#. But for some reason it felt unusually heavy today and I was not able to do but 1-4 in a row. For the push press, I used 65# which is pretty heavy for me, and I knew was going to be challenging - and it was! The workout took me 22:57 to complete! The deadlifts were just difficult today and I rested quite a bit. The push press was heavy, and I had a couple fails, and one 'jerk' that I had to redo. Ultimately, I just spent a lot of time standing around looking at the bar today. But that's okay - I need to work on my deadlifts and push press - and that's exactly what I got today.


Monday, June 13, 2011

It's Gonna Hurt

Killer workout for tomorrow morning!!

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

Monday's Crossfit - No CFE

Crossfit

Today's Crossfit workout was not one of my favorites. It was a 15 minute AMRAP of:

1 Rope Climb
10 Ring dips
20 Wall ball shots (20#10′/16#10′)

I can climb a rope so I had no modifications for that movement. I just wish there was more than 1 ascent per round. Cuz I like it ;) Of course, I had to modify the ring dips, ugh! Ring dips are a problem for me. I can do about 5 dips without a band, but not on a ring, and we're not allowed to use a band during a workout on the rings. So what I end up doing is jumping up to the top of the dip, then try slowly to lower myself. I wonder about this movement. Am I really gaining strength I need to do a full ring dip if I am only working on lowering myself? I think it would be more helpful to work with a little purple band working on both extension and flexion (there may be better terms for the movement). But...I do what I am told to do, best I can. No complaints (but I can still question ;^) And as far as the wall balls are concerned, I went a bit lighter than prescribed. I tossed the 14# to 10' target -- which was hard enough.

The workout went as I expected - I did well with the rope climb, struggled getting through 10 jumping ring dips, and tossed the wall ball one at a time, with way too many re-dos, completing 4 reps shy of 4 complete rounds. A disappointing result, but I worked on things which I need to improve. It's all good :)

Crossfit Endurance

I really liked the CFE workout for tonight but have decided to take a few more days off of CFE workout since I am only 9 days post 54+ mile run, plus serious depletion following a blooddraw only 2 days post ultra run. I am still not feeling myself so I will take a few more days, and maybe hit CFE Thursday.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Paleo Nutrition for Long Distance Athlete

A couple days ago, I responded to a question posed on paleo nutrition for the long distance athlete. I'm regurgitating the question and my response here.

The question posed was, "If you run or bike long distances, I'm hoping you can help answer a question my coworker has. (Or point us to a web link or something.)
My boss and I got her to go paleo after reading Taubes' books. She training for a 120 mile bike race at high elevation (10,000 ft and above) and she's wondering how that's going to work into the paleo lifestyle. She usually loaded up on carbs before a big ride. Is that still what she should do now? She has several 50 mile rides planned before the big event, so she's willing to experiment with different things."

My answer:

Great question! I am an endurance runner and have been eating paleo for a couple of years now. Nutrition while running was something I needed to tackle early on when I switched from the SAD to eating low carb, then to paleo. Traditional endurance "foods" never really sat well in my stomach (Gu, Power Bar, Hammer, etc), and I was making do with consuming granola bars and sometimes cliff bars which I digested better while running. Or, I would not eat at all (very bad idea).

Based on my experience with endurance events since switching to the paleo diet, I do not recommend the traditional 'carb load' the night before an event (or even long training run/ride). Including some healthy starchy carbs
(potato, maybe polished white rice, etc) with your meal the night before is great to make sure your glycogen stores aren't depleted before you start the next day, but 'loading' (big traditional pasta dinners, or carb-only meals) seems unnecessary and likely harmful.

For races, my goal is to keep my glycogen stores from getting completely depleted, to consume enough salt, and to get enough fat, protein, and potassium to keep me going. Since I don't do the commercial endurance foods, I worked with Greg to come up with a good mix for me and my needs. I shoot for
about 250-300 calories per hour. The Perkins Goo recipe (per hour) is: 1TB almond butter, 10 grams' worth of a scoop of protein powder, 1TB glucose syrup (Karo), some salt, and some water to make it your preferred texture. Mixing the banana in is good (flavor and a little fructose for liver stores), but on a bike it may be easier to drink the goo and eat about 1/2 banana. When I premixed my goo for a 12 hour event this past weekend, I mixed a big batch based on what I needed for 12 hours, then added enough water so that I could easily judge how much I needed to consume each hour, which ended up being 1/3 cup.

A really big lesson I learned firsthand at an endurance event back in March was how important to stay ahead of dehydration and glycogen depletion curves on longer events (you can get away with all sorts of goofiness if it is less than 2-3 hours, but you can seriously hurt yourself if you aren't careful in events longer than 4-5). At that event, I just wasn't feeling good so I was skipping the goo and not drinking enough water; and half-way through the race I was dehydrated and couldn't catch up. I had to stop running completely after only 9 hours because of severe
leg pain (diffuse, on every footfall, even when walking). In contrast, this past Saturday I ran another 12 hour trail run (w/ total of 54 miles) diligently drinking enough water and eating my goo every hour, and I didn't have any troubles.

The Paleo Diet for Athletes is a great resource for endurance athletes (though I am more limiting in my carb intake than is recommended in the book). I used it to better understand my needs in endurance events, and the dangers of not meeting those needs, to design a lot of the above -- the rest was basically trying things out to see what would let me perform my best.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Completely worn out!

Could it have been the 54 mile trail run? Perhaps Monday's Crossfit workout, or even Tuesday's workout? Perhaps it was the blood donation on Monday? Whatever it is -- I'm d e p l e t e d !!!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Crazy Ultra-Endurance Fun, CrossFit Style!

Tammy was excited to discover that a local pack of ultra-endurance runners had set up a 12-hour event where participants try to complete as many laps as possible of a 6-mile trail right here in our foothills (Boise has a fantastic network of running/mountain-biking trails). This format lets ultrarunning crazies at different levels of development all play together: the newer crazies can do just a few laps, while more seasoned crazies can go for substantial distances, all in the same event.

As her "support crew," I was thrilled that this would be happening just a couple of miles from our house (hey, it was a loooong drive to those the two 12-hour trail races in Moab she did, awesome as they were).

And Tammy was thrilled to report that they would have a mountain-biking division. Uh, oh.

But, dear, I'm the crucial support crew for you on your crazy ultra-endurance runs! See, I need to mix your custom goo for you and reload your water and... Well, yes, I suppose you could pre-mix it the night before and manage your own water... But you're forgetting that I've only done maybe two quick rides this season. You know that with no conditioning my rear couldn't handle any kind of time in the saddle, much less 12 freaking hours! Well, yeah, I suppose I could just do a few laps to participate a bit while I cheer you and the other crazies on...

So we took my bike.

6:00am Saturday morning. They all counted down and took off while I was messing with getting my front brakes to work right, and I was able to hit the trail 15 minutes later.

It turned out to be a moderate single-track mountain-bike loop, with about 800 feet of climbing and of course 800 of downhill. Soon I was back at the trailhead to record the lap, then I headed out again going the opposite direction.

My rear wasn't complaining too badly after a few laps, so I thought I'd maybe try to work in a solid six laps over the course of the day. That seemed like a respectable amount of time/distance/elevation for the "support crew" to Represent. Besides, it was kind of fun checking in on all of the runners (especially my runner) with each pass of the course, going back and forth in alternating directions.

Soon I had been adopted as the runners' Token Biker for the day. Many asked how many laps I was going for as I passed, and I would explain that I was just there with Tammy, having a little fun, and that I would stop when she did.

After five or six hours, though, I noticed that I still felt fine -- and I wasn't slowing down at all. So naturally I started flirting with the idea of just going for it and seeing if I could really keep riding like that for the entire 12 hours and complete 12 full laps, whether or not Tammy wanted to keep going! Since I had no ultra-endurance experience or preparation, this unusual effort would also be a great test of the "ready state" that CrossFit is supposed to be giving me.

Well, apparently Tammy knows me too well! She had mixed twice as much goo as she needed the night before, just so I could fuel a very long day right along with her.

In the end, we had a great time with a nice group of folks, and we enjoyed a clean sweep of both the running and the mountain-biking divisions that day. Woo! Team Perkins brings it! :^)

I was able to ride steadily through all 12 hours, from 6:00am to 6:00pm, covering 12 laps. That's about 73 miles, and almost 20,000 vertical feet of elevation change.

More difficult in my opinion was Tammy running all 12 hours, covering 9 laps. That is just shy of 55 miles with almost 15,000 vertical feet of elevation change. On foot!

We were certainly depleted, but not disabled, and we recovered quickly. In fact, I didn't suffer any soreness to speak of, despite becoming a spontaneous ultra-endurance athlete for a day. Heading as usual to the CrossFit gym early Monday morning, we turned in decent performances, smiling through the strain because we knew it was preparing us for the next fun challenge to come our way.

(Thanks to Longrun Picture Company
for photographing everyone that day!)

Polecat Gulch 12 Hour Trail Event

On Saturday, June 4th, Greg and I participated in a 12 hour event held at Polecat Gulch trail in Boise. This particular trail is a 6 (or 6.1) mile loop. The goal was to see how many 6 mile laps you can do in 12 hours. There was a running division, a biathlon division for those that choose to mountain bike and run, and then there was the mountain bike division.

Below is a map of the Polecat Gulch trails and the elevation profile for the loop:


Greg and I arrived at the trailhead at about 5:45am. The only one at the trailhead was Dennis, the race organizer. I was a bit worried that we were the only ones participating in the event that day - thankfully I was wrong.


Despite my persistent pleas for Greg to do a run/bike event, or to do the 12 hours of mountain biking, he was just as persistent that he had no desire. He would do a couple laps, but wanted to just be there and be my support for the day. Therefore, Greg had not eaten breakfast so when his stomach began growling, he grabbed from the limited supply of food we brought for the day - a bag of potato chips made with avocado oil.


Without much preparation, I was just ready to get the 12 hour day started!


With a few minutes until 6am, a few of us gathered together for a photo - nothing formal - as you can see there are three checking or setting their Garmins. Within a few minutes, we all geared up and headed out when the event director said "Go"!


I took my iphone with me on the run for a few photos of the trail, but took very few photos.


By 6:15 (after a little bike troubles), Greg was on his bike and hitting the trails! To my surprise, after only a few laps, he decided on a goal - 1 lap per hour for the entire 12 hours!! Woo Hoo!! Thankfully, the night before I had made my own homemade goo (a mix of almond butter, protein powder, glucose, and salt), and subsequently made goo for Greg just in case he decided to bike more than a couple laps -- in fact, I made enough to last him 12 hours even though he had not planned on doing the event :)


I had not been feeling that great running Saturday, and after lap 5 (30 miles), I took an extended break for additional stretching and nutrition. I even contemplated stopping after 30 miles. But feeling refreshed after the break, I threw more water into my camelsback and headed out. I am glad I did!

Here I am coming in at Lap #8.


Feeling good, I decided to run 1 more lap.


After 12 hours of effort, I completed 54 miles. I was a bit disappointed as I was hoping to get in 10 laps, for a total of 60 miles, but it just wasn't my day. But Greg - wow - he did awesome not having prepared for this event at all! He biked 12 laps for a total of 72 miles!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Not my workout

Crossfit

4 Rounds for time of:
200m Run
15 Push-ups
10 Deadlifts (275/225)

I did real push-ups but used caution with my shoulder, and was very happy that I was able to get through all push-ups without issue. For the deadlift, I chose 130# (was originally going to go for 140#) which was super heavy...even by the end of round 1. I was soooo slow today on this workout that most people were on deadlifts of round 2 by the time I completed my first round. Oh well, my 22:28 can only improve now, right?

For additional work, I only worked on core: slow sit-ups, and couple hundred flutter kicks.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Sick

I didn't make it to Crossfit this morning because of a terrible stomach ache from something I ate Sunday night. It was a great workout too - 800m run, 400m run backwards, 800m run, 400m run backwards. I'll have to incorporate that one into my workouts this week and see if I do better than the last time I did this workout (13:08).

But I did go on a slow run (without my garmin..bummer!) of about 6 miles. I didn't feel good going, didn't feel good doing, and felt like crap after. Not a great idea, but I was hoping I would feel better following the run.

Friday, May 6, 2011

For my birthday -- Little Method

For Crossfit today we did something called "Little Method" which is 8 Rounds of:
1 min row (max effort)
75 second rest

I wasn't really looking forward to this WOD since I absolutely hate rowing, but I was hoping to do better than I did considering I row 1k every morning I go to Crossfit. Oh well :( My distance was: 266, 269, 262, 261, 256, 250, 257, 260

I ran in the afternoon, but haven't uploaded my Garmin yet to find out the distance.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

I call it "The Beast"

Crossfit

Today's Crossfit WOD was a real doozy and certainly not in my wheelhouse!

Five rounds for time of:
15 Ring rows
30 Push-ups
15 Back squat (225/185)

On the ring rows, feet propped on 20″ plyo-box and rings set at arms length such that when you are hanging from the rings your back can touch the ground when arms are fully extended.

42:34
Rows: feet on 20″ box (2 R), floor (remainder)
Push-ups: Rx’d (took forever, but I did it!)
BSquat: 100#(2reps), 95#(remainder, 1st R), 85#(2nd R), 65#(remainder). Tweaked BS weight a bit – sore runner legs.

Later in the day...we went mountain biking for a couple hours! What a great day!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Fun Run

Today I went for a fun run of about 13 miles. I ran a little slow today but I'm not sure why. Didn't feel zippy, I guess, but had a great time out while the sun was shining. But as usual, I am having stomach pains following the run.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Crossfit

Today's WOD was kinda fun. It was a hero workout called "Moore":

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
15 ft Rope Climb, 1 ascent
Run 400 meters
Max rep Handstand push-up

HSPU knees on 24″ box: 10 / 15 / 14 / 9 / 6
Row 500m instead of run

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Fun Long Run

Today I'm going out for a 26-30 mile run in the Boise foothills with friends. I haven't been running much at all lately, so I don't know how I will feel.

The run is a loop run starting out at Military Reserve where you start your climb up trail 5 (freestone), trail 6, trail 4 (curlew connection), then finally down Three Bears to Shane's, to the high trails through Military Reserve back to home base. Then, do it again!

I have my Garmin charging, and my Ipod fully loaded. I have my glucose, almond butter, protein powder mix, bananas, lots of water and a backup protein bar. I have warm clothes to start the run, and enough more warm clothes to change into if I get too wet/cold (as I plan to hang out to meet the others at the end of loop 1).

I guess the only thing left to do is go and have a good time this morning :)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Death by "Hammer"

"Hammer"

Five rounds, each for time, of:
5 Power clean, 70#
10 Front squat, 70#
5 Jerk, 70#
20 Pull-ups
Rest 90 second

Wow, that was a rough one. After round 1, I was thinking “I don’t know if I can do this”

70#

R1 0-3:34 = 3:34
R2 5:04-9:24 = 4:20
R3 10:54-15:37 = 4:43
R4 17:07-21:55 = 4:48
R5 23:25-28:21 = 4:56
Total time: 28:21

Now I need to stretch and rest in preparation for my 26-28 mile run tomorrow. I'm so excited!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Games WOD 11.5

Even though my legs are pretty darn sore from the 400 meter walking lunges and post-workout foothills run, I decided to go ahead and do the Games workout, 11.5. Greg and Bob were both going to do it and it just looked like fun!

So, 11.5 WOD is a 20 minute AMRAP of:
5 Power cleans (145/100) (I did 70#)
10 Toes to bar
15 Wall balls (20-10′/14-9′)

The last time I did power cleans, my max was 65#, so I wasn't expecting to be able to do the 100# power clean required to participate in the Games. I worked my way up to 70# and that was very heavy. And although that was a good weight for the workout, I should have gone maybe 5-10# heavier to make it a really heavy power clean.

I had trouble with toes to bar -- I just didn't have my kip down at all during the workout. But I got through them.

The wall balls I did 14# to 9' target. Though because there was no actual target for the 9', I just focused on getting it in between the 8' and 10' target, and if the throw was too low, it was a redo. I hate when there is not a firm target though. I loved not using a target ball under my butt because I could actually get into a deep squat, making the throw easier. And I've got a very deep squat so I do not need the target ball and don't plan on using one any more.

The result: 7R + 5PC, + 10 T2B, +8 WB. I'm okay with this number, but I should have added a bit more weight on my power clean, and I could have gone faster! I rested too much and I really did have enough in the tank at the end of the WOD.

I'm surprised that I didn't feel worse during this WOD considering the soreness in my butt and thighs from the lunge walking. After the WOD is a different story - walking up and down our stairs is difficult and my legs are stiffening up if I'm not continuously moving around. I suspect today will be a work while you stand kinda days.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

A little twisted

Yesterday I twisted my left knee after the walking lunges while screwing around on the rings. I felt pretty good the rest of the day and in fact went on a short leisurely run without problems. I continued the rest of the day with a lot of stretching, walking around and standing (watching Cameron's lacrosee game). This morning I woke up to a tweaked muscle in my left leg, making walking a little difficult. I'm sure it's just an angry muscle so I'm babying it today with the usual type of treatment: ice, heat, elevate, ibuprofen. I will keep up treatment all day -- the only thing I need to do today outside the house is visit the doctor.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Walking lunges and leisurely run

The Crossfit WOD was: 400 meters walking lunges, and I did it in 10:15! That's a very improved time - the last time I did that WOD, it took me 21 minutes. So I'm very happy about that! I think I could also shave that 15 seconds off to get r' done in less than 10 minutes next time.

I've really been slacking on my Crossfit workouts and running lately. I need to get motivated to train for the next race. So today I'm going to treat myself to an enjoyable run. I will do some CFE on Thursday since I really need to start interval training again. Plus, I'm going to hang for a long run this weekend with a friend on Saturday. I think she is punching out 30 - so I will join in for that. Next week I will really gear up my CFE training and really work extra hard to include lots of heavy KB swings, Deadlifts, back squats, and rebounding box jumps into my workouts to improve my overall strength for my upcoming adventures!!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Lacking motivation...lacking fitness

Today's CrossFit workout was

3 Rounds for time of:
20 Parallette Burpees
40 Double-Unders

And it totally sucked! I got so frustrated with the double-unders. The first round I was getting 5 or 7 in a row, but then the 2nd and 3rd rounds I was doing one double-under at a time!! Grrrr!!! In fact, I was so frustrated I refused to look at the clock when I was done. Dammit.

So because I am not feeling good (got some thyroid issues), I am continually frustrated with how I look, feel and perform.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

My Achin' Calves

My calves are SO sore from rebound box jumps on Sunday. So, I am not looking forward to our CrossFit WOD tomorrow morning:

“Helen”

3 Rounds for time of:
400m Run
21 Kettlebell Swings 35#
12 Pull-ups

Monday, April 11, 2011

Another 21-15-9 WOD

Today's Crossfit WOD was yet another 21-15-9 WOD. But this one included

HSPU
ring dips
pushups

This is NOT one of my favorite workouts cause I have to tweak the hell out of it...and I'm just about tired of doing the 21-15-9 scheme. But...going with the flow, I modified the workout as follows:

21-15-9
HSPU - knees on 24" box
Ring dips, jumping
Push-ups, regular.

Cuz I just can't do HSPU's, I placed my knees on a 24" box, placed my hands and body close to box for more of a vertical form and landed my head slightly above my hands placement -- like a wide upside down v. These were the easy part of the workout.

For my ring dips, I jumped up into the ring dip and slowly lowered myself down in a as-much-as-possible kinda control. So when is it a good rep or bad rep? How slow must I go to be a good rep? Plus, I don't really know if this is helping me develop ring dips at all. I think allowing me to use a tiny purple band would help me get strength and confidence I need to then eventually lose the band -- just like I did with my pullups. But, oh well...

I really suck at push-ups! So I was just planning to do my normal knee push-ups which are hard too. But then I chatted with my CrossFit friend Annie who was "planning" on doing real push-ups. Well I thought to myself - "I know she's stronger than me and can do real push-ups, but I'm only going to get stronger by doing them. So if Annie's going to do man push-ups, so will I". There. Plus, I had a new hand position I was going to try out. Maybe it won't be as hard?? So, 5 reps in and I realized that this was going to be a long workout :) Slowly but surely, I struggled through the man push-ups - concentrating on getting my hips up before shoulders, and keeping my core tight with a hollow body. Annie killed it - she finished like 10 + minutes ahead of me. Come to find out, Annie switched to knee push-ups after like her first 6 or 9. :'>

This bad-boy workout took me 21:50 to finish. I am wiped!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Sunday Fun

CROSSFIT

We don't normally go to the CF gym on Sundays, but Greg wanted to redo the games 11.3 workout so we skipped last day of skiing at Bogus and headed to the gym. Thankfully there was a fun WOD planned! It was:

21 Knees-to-Elbows
3 Box Jumps (20″)
18 Knees-to-Elbows
6 Box Jumps
15 Knees-to-Elbows
9 Box Jumps
12 Knees-to-Elbows
12 Box Jumps
9 Knees-to-Elbows
15 Box Jumps
6 Knees-to-Elbows
18 Box Jumps
3 Knees-to-Elbows
21 Box Jumps

On the box jump, start from on top of the box. No waiting or gathering on the ground. Athlete must land and spring back up on top of the box. One repetition is jumping off the top of the box and bounding back up on top of the box. Step-ups are not counted.

I absolutely loved this workout!! It was my first workout where I was connecting my kipping Knees to elbows; and the first time I rebounded onto a 20" box - and first time where my rest was on top of the box, not the bottom. I loved this because I don't work on rebounding, and I certainly haven't tried it on a 20" box. It's not as hard as I thought, though I am a little clumsy with my movement. I'm really looking forward to implementing these rebounding box jumps into all my box jump workouts!

Oh...this WOD took me like 11-something.

RUN

In the afternoon I took a nice leisurely run - the Hulls Gulch loop. I really concentrated on having fun, but also running in proper form and maintaining good speed.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Friday, April 8, 2011

Fool of April - Day of Skiing, Mtn Biking, Golf, Tennis, etc.

Today was a day of Fun including Crossfit, mountain biking, skiing, tennis, golf, and finally dinner! Here's how the day went:

Crossfit at 6:00 am
5 Rounds for time of:
250m Row
5 Back Squats , 65#
Because of time (I needed to leave by 6:50), I only did 4 rounds. It felt great, but should have done the final round since I had a good 10 minutes to spare! And I should have gone heavier on the backsquat -- 65# was really light!

Mountain Biking at 7:30 am
Mountain biked up 8th to connect to the reverse corals trail until we hit the trailhead for Bob's trail. Then we headed down Bob's. Bob's was fun but definitely had some muddy sections, several high level water crossings and one area of wash-way. I thought I would be cold on this trip but I had hand warmers in my hand, and continually wiggled my toes -- which remained cold but not painfully cold. Overall it was a great ride - our 1st ride of the season.

Skiing at 9:00 am
We headed up the hill at 9, and were skiing shortly after 10. The snow wasn't the best..well, it really wasn't very good. The group we were with kept going down groomer runs...but Sandra and I found some powder to ski in since we both really had groomed runs ;0 Before heading down the hill for tennis, we had a quick snack at the Lodge.

Tennis at 2:00 pm
Played doubles tennis at Crane Creek. I'm not a tennis player but my teammates were very helpful and impressed with my tenacity of hitting the ball. I really enjoyed the game, learning rules.

Golf at 3:30 pm
Played 9 holes of golf at Crane Creek at 3:30. I've had a few lessons, but am unfamiliar with the rules of the game and am very unskilled as I've barely played since the lessons I took well over 10 years ago. Had a great time. Loved to drive the ball; wasn't good at and didn't like putting.

Watching my son Coach Lacrosse game!! 6:30 pm. Cameron is a coach of Timberline JV Lacrosse. After golf, I picked up Greg (w/o changing clothes), then headed out to watch his game in Meridian -- in very cold weather :( Brrr..... They lost the game, but it was a very good game and Cameron learned a lot as a coach. I loved watching him being a coach!

Dinner
After the game, we returned (again without changing clothes) to the country club for dinner, drinks and desert. Yum. But extremely expsensive.

Finally home by 11ish. Time to shower and rest :)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Doing "Diane"

For today's Crossfit workout we did “Diane” which is

21-15-9 reps of:
Deadlift (heavy)
Handstand push-ups

Time: 12-something (I forgot my time)

I decided to go with 120# which is heavy enough for doing a total of 45 reps! And in comparison to a previous workout I did with high reps of deadlifts, I actually felt stronger today. I took fewer breaks and was able to link 5 and 6 at first, then down to 3 and 2 reps in the "15" round, and down to 2 and 1 in the "9" round. I probably should have done 125# though.

Shoulder workouts are not my strength and HSPU are not my thing. So my wimpy self decided to try the whole workout doing the handstand pushups with piked with toes on a 24" box and full extension. Well..that didn't work out so well. I ended up doing 7 with toes on box because I just could not release my shoulders to hit my head on the ground. That was frustrating. So I switched over to knees on box and worked on proper, as knees on box HSPU are too easy.

On the way home I decided to include in my warm up or cool down:
- Light deadlifts to work on form. I think if I do this for a month, then my form will be automatic and then I just have to worry about weight.
- HSPU with knees on box to increase strength and work on form, followed by 5 HSPU with toes on box.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Hike day

I told myself I would take 2 weeks off running following the Ultra; but I'm really itching to run. But to keep myself in line, I've been walking/hiking around the Boise foothills. So today I went for an 1-1/2 hour hike during lunch, and then I went hiking with my sister tonight for another 1-1/2 hours in the rain. My sister is a fast walker/hiker so it's a real treat to go with someone who is serious about getting out and getting a workout.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Pull-ups and Dips...Yay (sigh)

120 pull-ups
120 dips (60 tiny purple, 60 small red band)

25:43

Monday, April 4, 2011

Feeling Strong

Today at Crossfit, our workout was a 12 minute AMRAP of:
20 Lunge to Step up 20"
7 Sumo Deadlift High Pull 45#

I managed to get 8 rounds + 2 step ups which was fairly decent. I'm happy with my rounds. I'm happy to be feeling more energetic in the workouts. And...more importantly, I am taking my coach very seriously -- meaning, I am giving 100% (or very close) to the WOD. I did not take breaks. I did not break my box lunge/steps, or my SDHPs. I did not stop to take a sip of water. I did not concern myself with how others were doing on the WOD. My transition times were minimal. I just kept my head down and did.

My goal is to keep giving 100% to the WOD, pushing myself to new limits.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Rest Day

Nothing to post about.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Saturday Fun

We headed up to Bogus Basin this morning for our Saturday ski day. Alas, it was raining on our way up the hill....and then we got to the top lodge, it was still raining! Big drops! So we turned around and headed down the hill.

We decided to head over to the CrossFit gym to join in their open gym. I didn't do the workout of the day, I came up with one of my own:

11 minute AMRAP
15 35# KB swings
15 double unders
15 strictish pushups

I didn't document how many rounds I did, but it was a good workout!