Marathon race report

Conventional wisdom says that running marathon is crazy, running without expensive running shoes is foolish and running marathon without marathon training is invitation to injury. I put the convention wisdom to test this year. No shoes, no fancy "carbo loading" diets and no 20mile runs every other weekend. In fact no running to speak of in last 5 months. Just wake up on a cool November morning, take a ride to the startlinw and start running.

I finished in just over 5 hours.... with no injuries. Even the DOMS are gone within three days and I am back to normal like it never happened. I am positive that this had something to do with barefoot running. For better or for worse, barefoot running made me stay fully alert about my form for all of 5 hours. I slowed down a lot when the running surface was coarse (which is very common on ny marathon course) and at every gatorade stop when it got sticky. But I was running steadily for the rest of the time at my target pace and finished strong.

I did get one blister and had it dressed at finishline. It was quite funny when I limped into the medical pit stop. Everyone gathered around me assuming there must be something really wrong with me after running barefoot and they were almost disappointed to see that it was just a minor blister. After I stepping out of there I picked up my bag. I was asked to keep moving and I said that I just need a minute to put my shoes on. The volunteer looked down at my feet and then looked up at and we started laughing. That made my day.

All in all, this was the slowest of the 4 marathons I have run but it is also the one I am most proud of. While I am the first to admit that no training is dumb, its good to know that our feet are designed to take marathon distance on moments notice and dont need shoes.

BF in NY for 966mi

Last minute thoughts

Few final thoughts before I sign off the the day and go to sleep.

After being very nervous nellie for couple of days, I feel surprisingly calm today. I have decided to take speed out of equation. There is no room for speed when it comes to running marathon barefoot and with no training and good chance of getting bad blisters by mile 20.

I just don't know what I am going to do to minimize chances of DNF due to blisters. If I can make it through the horror show i suffered last year between mile 18 and 22mi, I will be fine. The gameplan is to somehow make to mile18 fresh so I am not tempted to step off the course to my house which is right on the course. If it's bad by mile 18, take a pit stop at home and perhaps put on dressing and/or vibrams so I can get back on the course.

Other interesting observation has been that the carboloading caused headache for me two years in row. This is kindda interesting. I decided to do carboloading anyways just to be safe as I am going to need those gyclogen reserves. Ironically despite no running this year, i have less less body fat this year than any other marathon year! Generally thats a good news but not for marathon. The only long run I had done this season was without carbo loading and I had hit wall at mile 8, which won't even get me out of Brooklyn!

Finally, it was raining today and the roads are wet. Weather prections call for 100%cloud cover and some rain till 7am. The it clears and gets to 60 degrees and partly claudy. Hopefully the roads will be dry without puddles. Wet conditions will ge hard for bluster situation.

At the last minute I found my Armstrong wrist band which fits perfectly for my ankle D-tag holding. Better than my original plan to use pony tail rubber band...

Yawn. Ciao.
BF in NY for 940mi.

Central park ride and marathon finishline

My first stab at video editing! This is a video I shot on my bike ride through central park. Fall colors have lit the whole park on fire. I even got a brief glimpse of marathon finish which I may (or may not!) be crossing tomorrow....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDpBRI40ZQY

NYTimes article on barefoot running

I miss the excitement which comes with reading media attention on barefoot running. I have lost track lately but today I found surprisingly supportive articles on nytimes website. Its very cool to see Christopher McDougall on both articles and of course his best selling book. Sometime back I had a blog entry about how good ideas eventually find their way to the right people and then catch on like wild fire. NYtimes and bestselling book are certainly steps in right direction. Despite shifting my focus away from running, I find this quite exciting.

Things are looking up for this weekend's marathon. Rain predictions are gone. It is expected to be sunny and breezy 59 degree day. Cant ask for more if it holds. I have stopped crossfit to let my heel do a speed recovery and I also started eating some heavyduty carbs for change. I hate it but probably for the best.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/the-roving-runner-goes-barefoot/

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/phys-ed-is-running-barefoot-better-for-you/#comments

Marathon weather predictions

Marathon weather predictions say about 45degree lows and 30% chance of rain. The part about chance of rain is a concern since blisters seem to love cold wet weather. Not to mention the miserable 3hour wait at the start line in such conditions. I guess it could be worse so I should stop complaining.

It really sucks to wait for marathon not knowing if I can finish. I can understand the tortures others go through who have REAL reasons to have same concern. Mine is just stuburn stupidity:-) oh well...

Yawn.
BF in NY for 940mi.

Its official!

I will be attempting the marathon this year, against my better judgement of course. The theme for this year is to "wake up and run a marathon" i.e. no shoes AND NOT TRAINING. Yep. In last 4 months, I did total 3 runs with total mileage less than a marathon distance. This will be an experiment testing if I can wake up one fine day and run 26.2mi with no usual pampering which precedes the marathon. I know its kindda dumb but it fits the "black box" wod philosophy. I mean if I cant fit marathon into my wods, it will likely to be my last marathon so really, I don't have much of a choice.

Frankly, I expect it to be a train wreck. I am in decent overall shape (thanks to Crossfit) so I am not too concerned if I can run the distance. However, my heel injury is still bothering me a bit and just like last time, the limiting factor is likely to be blisters. There is really no easy way to risk manage the blisters without the training. I will be carrying tapes so perhaps I can tape feet up BEFORE blisters form. I am also hopeful that a slower pace run will somehow will be less prone to blisters.

I plan to stay within 10-11min/mi till half way mark and then see how it feels before slowing down or speeding up. Fortunately I live on upper east side so I can drop out around mile 16-20 if I figure out that finishing will cause some major injury/blister. Other wild card is of course the weather. If its raining then I will have to figure out a better game-plan.

This is exciting and nerve wrecking. Its a familiar feeling similar to my first marathon and first barefoot marathon. While biking to work yesterday through Central Park yesterday, I saw people setting up spectator benches at finishline. I got goose bumps thinking about how cool it will be if I do finish this year. Last three years, DNF wasnt an option and I knew I would finish. I am not sure if I am shooting too high this year round. I just dont see how I can drop out once I make it into the manhattan streets with all the momentum and energy.

BF in NY for 940mi

WOD#173 Cindy! 11.5x(5PU/10PSH/15Sqt) 20:00@166/180

WOD#173 Cindy! 11.5x(5PU/10PSH/15Sqt) 20:00@166/180

Compare with WOD#103 half Cindy 6rnds+PUs 10min@171/190,WOD#53 Cindy 10 20:00@153/172, WOD#17 Cindy 20min=5

11.5 is up from 10 so a nice PR on my favorite wod. Pullups and squats were easy but Pushup got progressively harder. I kept the depth good but in the very last round, I fell flat on my face...twice. 120Pullups were more than I could handle. Squats were easy but my quads were a bit surprised and sore. Pullups continue to surprise me by being easiest segment of the wod. First two sets were straight PUs due to equipment traffic. The splits in sec were as follows:

53-68-89-85-128-65-128-155-144-112-133-60

WOD#173 Cindy! 11.5x(5PU/10PSH/15Sqt) 20:00@166/180

WOD#172 BkSqt 5x5 45-65-95-115-125 9:25@122/148

WOD#172 BkSqt 5x5 45-65-95-115-125 9:25@122/148

Compare with WOD#48 at 65#(last at 75#) and WOD#18 @65#

125# is lower than a recent one rep PR of 135# but for 5 reps 125# is good enough. Perhaps the squats could have been a bit deeper in last set but I was having trouble balancing, especially with awkward shoulder positioning for stiff shoulders from the Jerks on Monday. It feels like the technique needs work but really the issue is that the back arch is not deep enough to sustain good bksqt at low point. I am pretty sure this depth has improved a lot from last wods though there is some more room to improve lower back flexibility.

WOD#172 BkSqt 5x5 45-65-95-115-125 9:25@122/148

PushJerk 125# and PowerGrace@95#

WOD#170 Push Jerk 1x7 (45-65-85-95-105-115-125) 11:08@106/150

Compare with WOD#82 Split Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 45#, 65#/85#. Okay 125# is a huge PR. It felt easy enough and I could have pushed more but not a whole lot more. The best part was feeling the bar quite literally fly through sticky point in a PP. I caught the splits at good heights so I didn't have to split a whole lot.

WOD#171 Grace 30 x Clean&Jerk@95# 15:15@162/182

First time Grace but this was a total flop. I misunderstood the wod and did HPC instead of full cleans from floor. I tried first couple of reps properly and rationalized to myself that there is no way this wod specs 135#x30 Cleans from floor! So I escaped the real wrath of Grace. The HPC version was bad enough. By the time I reached #10, I was thinking of quitting at 15 despite scaled down 95# weight. But then I surprised myself by moving from a 2per subset to 3 per subset after #18. It was fun. This is one of those wods which get HR pumping at anaerobic levels and the only thing you can think about is how NOT to put head under this weight. Interestingly 95@ Clean&Jerk is also my PR weight so 30 compromised reps is not that bad. Great full body wod. It felt good after the wod when nothing was hurting bad but everything in the body was aching. Poor technique caused some pains in wrists but nothing major. Also catching weight on bare shoulder caused some bruising on neck but no skin damage. About half an hour later my fingers were shaking involuntarily at computer keyboard which felt funny. But again nothing serious. Looking forward to doing this wod properly next time.

WOD#170 Push Jerk 1x7 (45-65-85-95-105-115-125) 11:08@106/150

WOD#171 Grace 30 x Clean&Jerk@95# 15:15@162/182

PU Mania! and FrontSqt

WOD#168 FrontSqt 3x(65#85#95#105#115#) 14:02@131/158

Compare with WOD#86 45#, 65#, 85#, 95#, 115# 20:10@145/174 and wod#62(?) The max is same as wod#86 but upto105#, the FrontSqt preceeded with DL and PowerClean. I had to jump on to sqtrack for the 115#. 115# was not a PR effort. Perhaps next time... WOD#168 FrontSqt 3x(65#85#95#105#115#) 14:02@131/158

WOD#169 PU Mania! 10x(3@17.5#-5-7) 49:16@137/171

Comare with WOD#133 20-20-20-20-20-15-15-10-10-10#x3-5-7 54:55@134/167,

WOD#85 PU Mania 10x(1@20#, 3 strict, 5 kipping) 25:52@136/157 and wod#30

I think wod#133 was the culprit for my ring finger injury which followed the couple of days of fasting mania. I had much better control over the wod today than last time. (Granted the weight was 17.5# as opposed to 20# for first few rounds but at least I didnt dropped weights and on average 17.5 is still higher than 16.) PU Mania is one wod which I absolutely hate. Its bad enough to do 150PU but weighted and straight PUs jam up the hands quickly. The form deteriorated rapidly. But at least blisters were not as much issue...just one this time on ring finger due to taping.

Total sets 60 (weighted: 25, Straight: 22, Kipping: 13).

1:12-3:05-3:49-4:04-5:28-6:16-7:21-6:09-5:16-6:33

WOD#168 FrontSqt 3x(65#85#95#105#115#) 14:02@131/158

WOD#169 PU Mania! 10x(3@17.5#-5-7) 49:16@137/171

Second barefoot run of the season

With the marathon little over a month from now, I just started running. I ran 6mi today. With 6mi run last weekend, total net milage thus year stands at just 12mi! Not entirely sure how I am going to pull this off with just two weeks left before tapering phase.

Today's run was at the pace of 9:42min/mi while last weeks' run was at 11min/mi pace. I was hurting a bit after last weeks run despite slow pace. It must have been lack of running since June 21st... 3months. It felt much better today despite faster pace but we will have to wait and see tomorrow. I am thinking of keeping it to 6mi runs for now.

BF in NY for 921mi

WOD#167 "Hansen" repeat 44:38@152/182

Compare with WOD#107 Hansen 6 x (15 35#KBswing/Situp/Burpee) 23:10@163/174

This was a repeat of the wod I had done at the box but this time I did the Rx (almost) version. KBs were at 30#. Little light but its good to see some KB in the gym. Hansen is a hero wod and it did not disappoint. 5 rounds of 30KBswings, 30burpees and 30 GHD Situp. Thats 150 each. Half way through the first round, it seemed impossible to do 4 more rounds of this and I thought I will only do 3 rounds. The Burpees were added to the insult after the tabata pushups couple of days back. Burpees were in set of 5 each but then I finished with 10each in last couple of rounds.

5:52@155/182

8:35@155/168

10:53@157/180

10:57@149/172

8:17@148/182

WOD#167 "Hansen" repeat 44:38@152/182

WOD#166 Tabata Something Else! 16:00@163/182

44PUL/62PSH/78SIT/100SQT...Compare with WOD#1, 8PUL/24PSH/40SIT/80SQT. Yes the very first wod. And an absolute classic. Exact breakdown for the tabatas were as follows:

PU 7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5

Push 12-12-10-8-5-5-5-5

Sit 12-10-10-10-10-10-8-8

Sqt 12-12-12-12-13-13-13-13

Pullups were low in count but the push ups turned out to be the challenge. Rapid deterioration in sets indicates that. At one point I even fell flat on face once which was quite funny. I was hurting by the time the squat intervals started. I wish I had pushed a bit harder in the squats. Ascending count is great but just shows that I was holding back in first few rounds. The HR did peak during the squat sessions. The peak was not too high at 182 but it felt quite hard to breath during the squats. But all in all, this was a fun wod. Its hard not to like a wod names "tabata something else"

WOD#166 Tabata Something Else! 16:00@163/182

SP PR 95# and Solid clean95#x45 and dips

WOD#164 SP 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 max 85# PR! 16:49@122/144 This was a nice PR up from 75# and this was one PR I really needed. For some reason, I thought my PR was 85# so somehow hitting 85# didnt seem too hard this time. But now I remember the miserable attempts I had made before to hit 85#. It feels good to conqure the unspeakable sticky point in a press. 45-55-60-65-70-75-85

WOD#165 Elizabeth 21-15-9 95#Clean/Dips 27:34@155/186

Compare with WOD#43 45#/jumping dips 6:32@166/188. The cleans were hard. I did 21-15-9 in sets of 3 and had one missed attempt which is always an indication of pushing the limits. I think my form deteriorated over time as I was not keeping my back arched on way up. I thought this was an easy wod but now I know I will be hurting tomorrow. Original Rx weight was 135# but 95# has been my PR in April wod#98. So its amazing that I managed to stick to 95# through the whole routine for 45 reps. Dips were easy was well since had PRed 21 continuous dips last time. So this time, I did the 21-15-9 each continous. Once you know you can do it rest seems to be all mental. I think this new routine of sparse but more intense wod is working well. Ring finger has stopped bothering me so I can now do pullups and bar lift which is great. Ironically, the heel injury seem to be improving after I attempted a 6mi run over the weekend. Its counter intuitive but the run caused the heel to start hurting but immediate and proper icing after the run overcompensated it seems. The trick, I think, was to tape up the ankle loosely and keep proper form for the whole run without any slacking and more importantly, keeping rediculously slow pace (about 11min/mi) so the run ends up being a gentle massage. Intense runs or no runs didnt work in past so I am bit surprised that this works!

WOD#164 SP 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 max 85# PR! 16:49@122/144

WOD#165 Elizabeth 21-15-9 95#Clean/Dips 27:34@155/186

WOD#163 5 x (65# SDLHP 21/Dips21) 27:03@157/178

WOD#163 5 x (65# SDLHP 21/Dips 21) 27:03@157/178 2:49-4:48-6:14-8:00-5:11

Finished the wod with continuously 21 dips! A major PR. Trick was to hang on at top till the lactic acid built up flushes out and continue. The wod was scaled down from 95#/ring-dips. The wod was quite difficult. I mean 105 dips and 105 5feet lifts quite a workout. When I finished my first round, I couldnt imagine doing 4 more rounds. Next three rounds got much slower before the pick up by the 5th round, including the dips PR. SDLHP were interesting since I did them using the mini-curl bar. It was quite awkward but I had to make do with it. The trick with SDLHP is to keep back arched and keep bar as close to body on pull as possible. Just like snatch yesterday, SDLHP also push HR up in no time.

WOD#163 5 x (65# SDLHP 21/Dips 21) 27:03@157/178

DL PR equal 225# and 65#squat snatch

WOD#161 DeadLift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 225#max 18:02@126/148

135-155-175-185-195-205-225(equal PR) I was surprised how easy it was to hit the PR. I didnt intend to given the injured index finger but I just couldnt resist. I experimented with icing the finger after every attempt to minimize the damage, if any. It worked I guess. Quick and feel good wod.

WOD#162 21-15-9 65#Snatch/PU 16:41@161/185

Original wod called for squat snatch which is pretty much as technical and complicated as it gets in lifting. I decided to simply to half squat snatch at feather weight of 65#. This was still quite tricky and I broke each set in 3 subsets. I pushed for speed in the 15-9 portion and was amazed that HR hit 185 so easily. The PUs in between were supposed to be chest to bar which was hard. The ring finger still is the limiting factor so I didint push too hard. But in general, I can see how this wod can be very challenging if attempted continously.

WOD#161 DeadLift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 225#max 18:02@126/148

WOD#162 21-15-9 65#Snatch/PU 16:41@161/185

WOD#160 Michael 3 x (800m@8min/mi, 50 GHD, 50BkExt) 31:08@170/200

WOD#160 Michael 3 x (800m@8min/mi, 50 GHD, 50BkExt) 31:08@170/200 Compare with WOD#112 24:17@162/185 and wod#22@30:09. Its good to be back into wod routine after the long break due to internal injuries to ring finger and heel. Its hard to do any workout with broken front AND back limbs! Anyway, max HR of 200 is quite hard to believe at a 8min/mi pace run. I have lost a lot of fitness over the month long break. 31:08min time is pretty bad compared to last two times thought today I did GHD subs instead of plain situps. Surprisingly the HR was a bottleneck. I would have thought after the burpee challenge, HR would be least of the issues. I reinvented backextentions by doing the circular back/hip combo really fast. The speed was awesome but the centrifugal rush to head caused a major headache for me by the end. I had to lie down for a while for it to subside. (it would be fine while lying down but would hurt with even slight elevation of head.

WOD#160 Michael 3 x (800m@8min/mi, 50 GHD, 50BkExt) 31:08@170/200

NY TImes article on barefoot running

Beauty of the "correct hypothesis" is that every alternative to the correct hypothesis will always get discredited over time and eventually the correct hypothesis prevails. Now if barefoot running is in fact the correct hypothesis, all we need is some publicity, however skeptical, to have people try it out. If it doesnt work, oh well. But if it does, we have more "converts".

So here is a New York Times article about barefoot running. Its good to see change of sentiment. I hope more people try barefoot running.

And here is the skeptic view :-)

Two more months to go for marathon. I still have not started training yet. Its tempting to test out crossfit theory and run marathon without marathon training. But this year may not be the right year for it. Still keeping this option open for the time being.

WOD#159 filthy fifty 43:15@158/182

Compare with wod#15 47:32@154/180 only scale downs were 30# KB swings, wallball no throw and 16 inch box jumps. Double understand were subed with about 180 single jump ropes. 43minutes is a VERY long time for such a metcon wod. I was ready to pass out BEFORE I reached burpee stage and 50 burpees were of course surreal. These 50 will count for my 45 due today. They just have to. My ring finger still bothers me for pull ups and knees to elbow. Push press was the high point. It felt so good to connect pushpresses together for 15-15-10-10.

I was breathing very hard during he workout. Wall balls, burpees and knees to elbow were especially bad. The hr didn't show it but i was in absolute hell halfway through the wod. Excellent thinking on my part to do this wod after my very long break.

WOD#159 filthy fifty 43:15@158/182

WOD#158 Backsquat 3-3-3-3-3 105# 7:55@125/148

Backsquat 75-85-95-95-105x3. Relatively light weight but the bar kept rolling on the back a bit I decided not to push my luck. The bar kept rolling as a made adjustments to my form on the fly as I realized that technically, I can bend forward a bit as long as I keep firm lumbar curve. On burpee front, the 100pushup in Tuesday wod took its toll and I was hurting a bit before the burpees but I did the 40 burpees in sub-4min.

First Handstand and inverted Burpees! and Angie

WOD#156 Inverted Burpees 37 33:43@137/155 I conviniently used the inverted burpees as a sub for burpee challenge. Technically, it is harder so its not a bad sub. I had NEVER done a handstand (not to be confused with headstand) by myself ever in my life. In fact, I think, I have done handstand with someone's help exactly twice before, including once few minutes before this wod. The one I did with assistance of my buddy was absolutely TERRIFYING. It is so strange to be upside down with blood rushing to the head and all of body weight balanced on delicate shoulders and wrists. I stayed on handstand for fraction of a second before violently reverting back. Then and there I knew this wod will be a lot of fun. Learning the skill on the fly made this wod unique. Its like trying to learn swimming. I always had this theory that learning swim with floating device messes up the learning process and makes it harder. Same with bike with support wheels. Easy to say for someone who has already leart swimming and biking. Right? So here, I had a situation to test the theory with basically my neck on the line...quite literally. After spending solid 15minutes nervously devicing a gameplan, I started attempting my first inverted burpee/handstand. I spent a lot of time jumping up on hands but could not reach the balance state, partly because I would delibrately break the core regidity halfway and drop down. It was obvious, there is no magic solution to this but practice. So I decided to count an attempt a full inverted burpee if I touch the wall with each of my foot once. After about 10-15 of such scary attempts, I gathered enough courage to "go for it". When I did get a proper handstand, it was perfect, like all jigsaw parts falling in place simultaneously. I didnt necessarily get every inverted burpee after that with full headstand but I must have done 10-15 out of 37 with full headstand. In particular, the last 37th handstand was picture perfect. In fact, I decided to hold the handstand position for about 15sec which was very rewarding end to one of the most frustrating wods so far. Yey! Now I can do handstand now by myself against a wall.

WOD#157 Angie-90PU 15:36@156/180 Compare with WOD#20 Angie 50 pullups, 100 pushups/situps/squats 54:34min HR (131/158). My favorite Angie had to compromise today and skip on PUs due to my injured ring finger. I snuck in 10 continuous PUs in the end but the finger was screaming by the end I knew thats the end of PUs for the day and also for near future. I did do the 100 Pushups, situps and Squats but I "borrowed" 38 pushups and squats from Angie for the Burpee challenge and started the wod with heart pumping 38burpees@3:04min with peak HR at 178. I am sure this did NOT make the wod any easier. Pushups were getting very hard to come by the last 2-3 subsets of 10s (38-12-10-10-10-10-10). I read my comment from last angie attempt that 100 pushups in one go is insane and smiled. It was harder than I thought but I guess the daily burpees have given me no time for Pushup specific recovery. Situps were fun in the set of 40-20-20-20. Squats were also easy with 38-12-10-10-30 I rediscovered the dark power of "counting" to round numbers and how the 97th, 98th, 99th and 100th rep were SO hard. Makes no sense because its all in the head!

WOD#156 Inverted Burpees 37 33:43@137/155

WOD#157 Angie-90PU 15:36@156/180

WOD#155 Danny Box/PP45#/PU 2.67 rounds 20:00@166/182

WOD#155 Danny Box/PP45#/PU 2.67 rounds 20:00@166/182 Boxjump was easy. PP was surprisingly difficult despite light 45# weight. I dont remember doing strength rep like PP in rapid manner. Each set was broken into sub set of 5 but I tried to keep the bar overhead for the rest. PP for third round was at 55# but I did 17/20. PUs were easy with set of 5 but the ring finger is still bothering me. Besides wod, I am still ramping up burpees, now at 33. I also did 1 min max situps and managed to squeeze 43. 50 sounds like a difficult but possible goal.

WOD#155 Danny Box/PP45#/PU 2.67 rounds 20:00@166/182

WOD#154 Hang Power Clean and Jerk 65# (injured) 1:36@147/161

WOD#154 Hang Power Clean and Jerk 65# (injured) 1:36@147/161 The WOD was dwarfed by the burpee challenge since I had to make up for the previous day. I did two sets of 30 and 31 burpees taking the wind out of me. The reason for the baby weights for the HPCJerk is a PU related injury. The long finger bone in ring finger hurt in a grip position and inward stress (but not outward stress). So PUs or picking up bar and putting it overhead is probably not the smarted thing to do. Injury is minor and should be fine in couple of days as long as I can resist temptation to stress the injured area. WOD#154 Hang Power Clean and Jerk 65# (injured) 1:36@147/161

WOD#153 10x(10PU/10Dips) 31:00@148/170

WOD#153 10x(10PU/10Dips) 31:00@148/170 No Rings:( PUs (kipping of course) continue to surprise me by being the EASIER of part of the WOD. No blister issue this time though left ring finger is acting up a bit. I miscalculated my PU potential by doing them in sets of 5 and realize in the last round that I could in fact hang in there (just barely) for the whole set of 10. Something to remember for next time. The WOD time was slow with about 3min per superset but this was partly due to crowded gym. Dips were surprisingly difficult. I just cannot seem to go deep enough in the dips. It feels somewhat unnatural position for the shoulders and puts exponentially higher stress on shoulder as I start reaching some depth. So its less of a strength issue and more of a Range of motion issue. Perhaps thats why coach prescribed ring dips instead of parallel bar dips. Its virtually impossible to stress shoulder as I would shoot the rings outwards long before that. Burpee challenge has suddenly become a nightmare since I breached a minute. My time deteriorated from 1min for 21/22 burpees to 23@1:17min and 24@1:33min. I finally started taking breaks. Ouch.

WOD#153 10x(10PU/10Dips) 31:00@148/170

WOD#152 Karen 9:39@171/185, Rope PU/ HSqtC65#

WOD#152 Karen 150 no throw wallballs 9:39@171/185 Compare with WOD#83 #15 7:27@173/184! 9:39 is no comparison to 7:37. Only excuse I can think of is the 20burpees in warmup and full depth in squats (as opposed to bench depth in previous attempt). The workout was not easy though. I did 10 sets of 15 with about 30sec break each and was wobbling by the last round gasping for air. It was fun to do the wod on (plastic) lawn though. The only downside of being in delicate glass tower is that there is no place I could throw the ball at and had to scale down the workout to no throw and lost the accuracy aspect of the workout.

WOD#151 3 x (9xHSqtC 65#, 15 Rope PU) 21:15@142/173 Rx called for 5 rounds but 4th round started with HSqtC failure and I stopped. Rx also called for 3 legless 15ft rope climb which I subed with 3x5=15 strict rope PU. Rope PUs were in set of 5 till last three sets. Never done legless rope climb but thats gotta be harder than strict pullup. As I had found last week in Badger, HSqtC is a heart pumping exercise. The 19 burpees in the warmup did not help. Once again, near perfect form at the cost of low weights and less reps foe HsqtC and full extension on pullups, which were quite costly. WOD felt good ecept or missing 2 rounds..

WOD#152 Karen 150 no throw wallballs 9:39@171/185

WOD#151 3 x (9xHSqtC 65#, 15 Rope PU) 21:15@142/173

WOD#150 1x7 Thrusters 95# 15:37@135/153

WOD#150 1x7 Thrusters 95# 15:37@135/153 Compare with WOD#115 45/60/85/95# 19:03@119/152, WOD#42 45# Full depth and near perfect form. 95# was pretty difficult but I didnt attempt higher weights, partly due to stiff legs from the race. Thrusters with heavier weights need a strong drive on the way up and I was running out of steam by the time I stood up. Timing and strong drive is everything.

WOD#150 1x7 Thrusters 95# 15:37@135/153

WOD#149 5 x (30 GHD/25 BkExt) 20:12@140/152

WOD#149 5 x (30 GHD/25 BkExt) 20:12@140/152 Compare with WOD#90 17:04@162/177, WOD#41 16:33@120/135 I dont have a GHD machine at Gym so had to improvise. Just like last time, I used the Leg machine with 45 degree inclination. I am not sure if this is harder or easier since at "bottom" of the sit up, you are horizontal with max torque but the middle of the sit up is easier. Also lack of leg jam probably doesnt make it easier. But its functional so works. Back extension had the same issue but I did them at 45degrees which is clearly easier. But I tried to do them fast. Also I went down using hip extension motion and back extension on way back which just felt more natural movement. So I was essenstially making circles with head in the air. All this fast swinging started causing a problem which I dont think I have encountered before. Blood started rushing to head getting my eyes red and more importantly started giving me headache. I didnt think much of it during the workout as I thought it was dehydration and drank Gatorade. But now I know that I need to do some headstands to get used to this.

WOD#149 5 x (30 GHD/25 BkExt) 20:12@140/152

WOD#148 30 Baby Muscleups 17:05@129/144

WOD#148 30 Baby Muscleups 17:05@129/144 Compare with WOD#117 30 Baby MuscleUps 18:07@113/136, WOD#47 60 PU/jumpDIP 22:15@132/158 Muscleups still need a lot of work but they definitely felt better than those on 5/31. The height of the rings was still shoulder level but I made sincere effort to pull myself up as much as I can and also lowered myself for some portion without support. Couple of times, muscles just gave up which was demoralizing. But overall, I feel good about it given progress from last time that this is something I can do with some work. I I think the active warm up I started doing daily might be a factor. I also improvised and used some flour as chalk which was just perfect, especially given the 83degree heat. If only I can figure out a way to sneak some of it to the pull up bar at my gym without anyone noticing or complaining:) The muscle ups put finishline to a heavy three days of wods. My legs are still sore from 4mi race yesterday. It was good that muscleups is purely upper body workout.

WOD#148 30 Baby Muscleups 17:05@129/144

WOD#147 4mi@7:54 in 86deg 32:22@181/200

4mi@7:54 in 86deg 32:22@181/200 Barefoot at pace of 7:54min/mi which is not PR but not too shabby. I didnt push too hard but did pick up speed in last mile (7min) including finishline sprint at sub 6min/mi just like last time. I havent been running lately since I shifted to rowing but it felt good. I have slight heel pain on right leg but no DOMS or stiff muscles. During the sprint in the end, I had my knees bent the whole time and was utilizing thighs actively which felt weird. Also I my thighs were bit sore from 90 65# squat cleans yesterday but I guess it didnt matter. If I keep up with squats and rowing, I should be able to improve my sprinting speed.

WOD#147 4mi@7:54 in 86deg 32:22@181/200

WOD#146 "Badger" 3 x (30Sqtclean65#, 30PU, 800mRow) 77:29@144/178

WOD#146 "Badger" 3 x (30Sqtclean65#, 30PU, 800mRow) 77:29@144/178 A "Hero" workout. Its been a while. I almost gave up after first round and might have if it wasnt a hero workout. Over 77minutes of heavy duty shoulder and legs torture. Incredibly, the EASIEST part of the workout were the pull ups (go figure). I think the PU mania few weeks back really did its magic and I was scoring 10 kipping PUs at the beginning of set. There was a subtle change in form wherein I started actively pushing the bar away in mid air which was hard but somehow made it easy to connect two pushups. Also grip and blister situation has improved though still a limiting factor. The squat cleans were the hardest. They were not too bad initially but the volume and heart pumping started to take toll after first round. It was just amazing how much inertia I felt against doing the squat cleans. It was the part of pulling up from bottom of the squat which was repulsive. I did however do all squat cleans with perfect depth and feel very good about that. I dreaded rowing as well but at least I am getting my form and speed improved and was pushing through the exertion. I did the 800m in about 3:33min each including a 1min max effort at 250m. It was a very long and hard workout (second longest after the devilish Eva last week) but I think I will recover by tomorrow.

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WOD#146 "Badger" 3 x (30Sqtclean65#, 30PU, 800mRow) 77:29@144/178

WOD#145 75# 5x1SP/3PP/5PJ 40:39@125/154

WOD#145 75# 5x1SP/3PP/5PJ 40:39@125/154 Compare with WOD#96 (65#) and WOD#52 at 65#. 45#/65#/75# sets. 45/65# were easy and I didnt finish all rounds and went on to 75#. 75# was just about right weight for this wod as I had SP failure at 80#. By end of wod, my wrists were hurting bad. But apart from that, it was an easy workout. A rest day tomorrow...finally. Today was also day#2 for burpee challenge which I did right after wod which made is fun, especially the push up part. 11 burpees took me 50sec compared to 34sec yesterday with avg/Max HR about 12bpm higher.

WOD#145 75# 5x1SP/3PP/5PJ 40:39@125/154

Eva! 89:49@150/183 and row/squats 17:06@167/184

WOD#143 Eva! Row/35#KB 150PU 89:49@150/183 Rx except 35#KB/rowing. Compare with WOD#19 58:52@153/184 (with 25#KB/5x20PU) BY FAR THE LONGEST wod by more than half an hour. If Barbara is EVIL, Eva is the Devil. I was just about ready to cry by the time I finished. I subed running with Rowing and used 35#KB instead of 72#Rx. I did not scale down pullups which were very hard. I was loosing grip by the time I reached 150 PUs. I in fact lost a grip in second last set which was scary. Every one of the 30 PUs were broken in 5sub sets. Splits were as follows 13:37/16:59/18:58/22:16/17:56. I peaked at 800m rowing at 3:30 in third set which was exciting. I also broke KBs in 2 sets except last one which was continuous. The real limiting factor was the grip for pullups. I could not stay on the bar for all 6PUs per subset by last few reps. I just about to start getting blisters but in general whole fingers were getting powerless with the workouts. 10 20 10 0 20 10 10 10 10 0

WOD#144 4 x (400m row + 50 squats) 17:06@167/184

Compare with WOD#110 3 x (400m@6min/mi + 15 squats) 10:17@188/199

Subed rowing for running. Rowing is harder than running since I am better conditioned for running but I think the HR stays low despite all out effort in rowing since its done while sitting down. The squats were surprisingly tough. I was just gasping for air the whole time. I also was wobbling on some of the squats which felt really strange given no weights. But all squats had full depth and in fact I was pressing down on calf at the bottom which was fun. Splits: 3:57, 4:31, 5:02, 3:35. 1600m rowing interval in total 6:50ish

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WOD#143 Eva! Row/35#KB 150PU 89:49@150/183

WOD#144 4 x (400m row + 50 squats) 17:06@167/184