Oh wall ball, how I (hate) love you.

WOD
40 Wall Balls
20 Burpee-Pullups
30 Wall Balls
15 Burpee-Pullups
20 Wall Balls
10 Burpee-Pullups
10 Wall Balls
5 Burpee-Pullups


RESULTS
12# WB; low box jump/pull-up
17:32


ANALYSIS
This was "stamina" hard - WB kills my breathing every time. Thank you to each person standing behind me reminding me to pick up the ball, keep moving, put my hands on the bar, etc.  I couldn't have finished without that today.  


Decided today: Goal for Feb: 5 kipping pull-ups in a row :)

Power Clean or Bust!

Great to WOD with Betsy again!  And great to be back - first WOD in week+ !!  My arms gave out right around the fourth round ;)

WOD
Power Clean
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
6 Rounds of 3 Minute AMRAP:
3 Power Cleans
4 Strict Pullups
5 Strict Ring Dips
Rest 1 minute

RESULTS

PC: 110, 115 (f)

15 rounds + 3PC+4PU (blue band first 3 rounds, green band remaining rounds; box dips)

ANALYSIS

I loathe strict pull-ups. They are SO hard and make me feel SO weak - bc I have to use the green band almost always.  SUCK.  I want to migrate to blue band as soon as possible.  Oddly I found box dips more difficult than ring dips - I guess bc I didn't have the band to help.  I tried to not engage my toes as much as possible. This was fun. 6mins is just enough time to work hard and one min is just enough time to give your arms a shake but still feel motivated to start again.

Weak Week

WOD
Rack Jerk
3-3-3-3-3

For Time:
1000m Row
75 Wall Balls (20/12)

RESULTS
Jerk 95#

WOD 11:08

ANALYSISI absolutely positively dislike any WODs with Olympic lifts in multiple sets, which require you to reset on your shoulders in between reps.  Honestly, I could have gotten a lot more weight up but bringing it back down on my neck hurt and freaked me out a bit.  This lift was ok; I had my normal challenges of getting under the bar.

This WOD was hard.  We don't row, ever. Mostly bc we only have one rowing machine. Apparently three more have been ordered.  So I feel like I am still perfecting my rowing technique but was pleased that I rowed 1000 meters under four mins.  Shocker after doing that, the wall balls were freaking hard.  I subbed an 8# ball for the 12# but went BOY height instead of the first line (o.k.a. girl height).

I am feeling a bit down this week. It started with the green band on the tail end of those strict pull-ups Monday and carried over into last night's WOD.  My arms are tired, so I am taking today off and hoping to attack fresh tmrw.  Tmrw is also HRC day at DCF - or so I have named it. Joe T, Katherine and Adam are all coming with me. This should be fun!

Arms. Are. Dead.

WOD
Front Squat  3-3-3-3-3
then..
15 strict pull-ups
50 Pushups
12 strict pull-ups
40 Pushups
9 strict pull-ups
30 Pushups
6 strict pull-ups
20 Pushups
3 strict pull-ups
10 Pushups

RESULTS
front squat: 145 fail @2
18:57 I used blue band for the first set of 15 pull-ups and then for 9 of 12 in the next set. Each pull-up after had to use a green band. I also used a blue band "jet pack" for pull-ups.

ANALYSIS
I struggled really hard with the high volume of strict pull-ups. I was fine for the first set but after the 50 push-ups, my arms were done. I do think however that the green band was too easy, which I realized as soon as I switched.  I rocked through, with no rest, the last two sets... maybe bc they were low volume, maybe the size of the band.. not sure.  Strict pull-ups are so tough - next time I will remember to change my grip.  Perhaps one hand gripping under, the other over would help.  As far as the push-ups, those I completed at a nice pace.  Rocked the first set of 50 out in two sets of 25, etc.  This was an arm wrecker. Exhaustion set in fast.  Building capacity...

Christina Taylor Green

The Arizona shooting is a tragedy and has been so hard for folks in DC in particular to understand - so many of my Hill friends knew Gabe Zimmerman, so many of them could have been there with their representitive. It was so special for DCF to do this WOD Saturday and each time I stopped to breathe I found myself reflecting on why we were doing it:

WOD
AMRAP 20 minutes:
9 pull ups
9 squat cleans (135/95)
9 KB Swings, (32/24)
9 toes-to-bar
9 push press (135/95)
9 burpees
The 6 movements in the workout represent the 6 people who were killed. The 9 reps represent 9-year old Christina. And 20 minutes for 20 people wounded in the shooting.

RESULTS
squat cleans: 65#; KB 16#; PP 65#; red band
3 rounds +7 pull-ups

ANALYSIS

I was speedy through the first round -super speedy.  And then... my arms stopped working. Like seriously stopped - my head was saying move and they just kinda hung there.  That being said I was really happy with my output in this WOD - of course I wish I had done more, but isn't that always the case in xfit?? :)  My pull-ups rocked and for the first set I actually did toes to bar!  Second and third set were elbows the knees... but back to my first comment, MY PULL-UPS ROCKED!  I was well over the bar for all of them.  Oddly (or not so), the KB swings and pull-ups were my rest exercise.  The burpees were harrrrrd and are what killed my breathing/time.

DCF had a special guest today - it was wonderful having Kristin back, even if just for an hour.  I know everyone loved seeing her :)

Quad WOD of death!

WOD
5 rounds of:
5 minute AMRAP:
2 Strict Pullups
4 Overhead Squats (115/85)
8 Lunging Steps
Rest 2 minutes


RESULTS
sub 2 strict pull-ups with four box pull-ups (rest toes on box and use for support as needed)
#55 OHS
21 rounds + 4 pull-ups + 2 squats


ANALYSIS
OUCH!!!  And I am even more determined to string pull-ups.

WODing with Adam!

So yesterday I attended the 7pm, 100 level class so Adam could come along.  It was a nice opportunity to work on my clean form and the WOD was still (as always) challenging :)  I think/hope Adam had as much fun as I did - I love sharing the kool-aid!  Because it was a 100 level class the WOD was scaled... and here it is:


WOD
5 Rounds:
10 med ball cleans
10 reverse burpees (my new favorite exercise :)
20 box jumps


RESULTS
12# med ball; short box 
14mins ... and some seconds, maybe 12??


ANALYSIS
The med ball cleans were super easy and I freakin' LOVE reverse burpees. I continue to loathe box jumps but was proud of myself for actually cycling through! I did one set of 20 without even stopping!!  Thats new for me. I focused on jumping up and that really helped (vs. jumping out)  Funny story, in the first round I was super confident, rocked through the cleans and burpees with no break then walked up to the box and jumped.. or so I thought I did. My legs didn't move, the quads were firmly staying put and I just tumbled right over the box.  Hilarious.  I tend to forget that sometimes just telling your legs to move isn't enough ;)

FRAN!

January Fran Challenge. I couldn't do my benchmark WOD Saturday, so I was forced to do it this morning at 8am...  just to clarify, I am not a morning athlete (insert whine and cranky pout face here).


WOD
21-15-9
Thrusters, Pull-ups


RESULTS
For the challenge you had to slot into three categories: beginner (25/green), intermediate (45/red), Rx'd
Clearly I went for intermediate since I can NOT do pull-ups at that high reps :)  
7:56


ANALYSIS
So, the thrusters went real fast. I did them all unbroken, which is fab.  The pull-ups KILLED my time. My kip was for shit today.  Maybe due to working out in the morning, maybe to my womanly issues, maybe the headache I was nursing... whatever the reason, doesn't matter. I couldn't string more than 3 together at a time and it slowed me down big time.  Looking back on my last Fran execution, I completed the WOD at 65# using the green band in August, in 9:06. 


Ok, so it's a month long challenge. I need to work on my pull-ups and get down to 6mins for the final WOD in early Feb.

Rope Climbs! YEA!!

Today is my rest day as I prep for Fran tmrw morning. We have a January challenge and I am hoping to really improve on my time. Last time I did Fran was in the summer with a green band and I completed it in 9:06.  Tmrw will set the benchmark time for me to improve on across the next four weeks and I will be using the red band.  Christy and Andrew are doing it with me so I will be chasing BIG time - at least for the first 3 mins ;)


WOD
Floor Press 12x2 @65% of Monday


4 minutes for reps of Rope Climb
3 minutes for reps of Burpees
2 minutes for reps of KB Swings (16)
1 minute for reps of Double Unders
*no rest between minutes


RESULTS
Floor Press @65# (Mon max was 105#)


Rope - 3
Burpees - 35
KB Swings - 30
DUs - 19
TOTAL - 87


ANALYSIS
This was the first time I have rope climbed since working out in Kalorama with Christy.  I got the "how to" down really fast, kinda like riding a bike I guess, but couldn't keep my foot grip tight enough to make it to the top of the rope each time. SO, I made it all the way to the top once and then 3/4 way to the top 4 times.  I am not discouraged, next time I just need to wear shorts and knee high socks instead of slippy stretch pants.  Next time I will get to the top 4x.  Burpees as always suck the life out of me and I wish I had pushed myself harder on the KBs - I am usually really good at those!  I am VERY proud of my double unders. By the end of the WOD I was sucking wind big time so I just did sets of 5 and was able to string them together no problem.  Theme of the week - cardio is my weakness right now.  I am going to start doing some speed training on my rest days (Sunday and 1/ mid-week) to see if that helps.

Oh, there you are, Albus..."

New Years goal #1: stay consistent with my tracking of xfit WODs.  I need them to prove to myself that I am indeed improving and its nice to write it down (to celebrate a success, or be honest about a not-so-hot day).  Just be aware that some of the analysis', as I attempt to do this on a daily basis, might be quite short and movements un-linked.  
So, starting with today:
WOD
3 sets of max strict Ring Dips

12min AMRAP:
5 Power Cleans (155/115)
10 Wall Balls

RESULTS

red band: 14, 10, 8

Cleans @ 85# / 8lb ball to top line: 7 rounds +1 clean

ANALYSIS

I wasn't feeling it today. I was sore from Randy yesterday in my biceps - which apparently means I was powering up the weight instead of actually snatching it (this is not surprising - the more exhausted I get during a wod the more "loose" my form).  I also think being back in the office has left me a bit tired and my hips tight!  In any case, my clean wasn't jiving as much as I would have liked but I am happy with this amount of reps.  ALL my wall balls were unbroken sets of 10, of which I am really proud.  Wall ball is not my forte and I was winded after the first set.  Actually, a theme I am sensing here is that is often my cardio that fails first, not my muscles.  Girl gotta hit the road for some speed training to help with that.

Paleo eating is going well. I am really enjoying cooking - and loving using almond flour (now that I found affordable almond flour!).  AND proof is in the pudding... the past few times I have allowed myself a serious cheat (beyond a glass of wine or slices of cheese) my body gets nasty sick.  I think it's trying to send me a message ;)  NO MORE CRAP IN THE BODY!  And I am enjoying following that for now.