Bunch of WOD logs incl half-murph, PUmania and Oly Lifts

WOD#78 Clean and jerk (65#, 85#?) 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
WOD#79 Back Squat (65#, 85#) 3-3-3-3-3
WOD#80 J.T.21-15-9 x (HSPUass, Dips, PU) 12:41@129/141
WOD#81 Half murph incl 2x1mi@8min/mi 46:59@156/188
46:59@156/188 (Compared to Wod#25 MURPH 54:46@153/198 1mi 46:59@156/188 (Compared to Wod#25 MURPH 54:46@153/198 1mi 6:46/50pullups/100pushups/150squats1mi 8:00)This is definitely a killer workout. Unlike last time, I was not dead by the time I reached the second miler but I was definitely hurting. I considering doing some of the second half after the run but that was just too hard. This wod, this is pretty heavy loaded takes about 50min to do first half so doing the whole thing would easy mean 2hrs of continous torture. I think these 2hrs will be worse than second half of the marathon.

WOD#82 Split Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 45#, 65#/85#
Split Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 45#, 65#. 85#. Substantial improvement in form as I developed confidence to stick my head under unsupported weight. Its still tough to trust skills enough to do a deep squat to catch the barbell on its way up but the jumping aspect clearly helps. There were a few reps with hint of presses at top of the jerk.

WOD#83 Karen 150 #15 wallball (no throw) 7:27@173/184!
Karen in exausting! despite no throw (whic is a major scale down), the wod can eay compete running for anarobic activity. I took 30sec break per 30sec/20 throws but HRvstayed averaged 180ish for later part of wod. 20-20-20-20-20-20-15-15 per min.

WOD#84 DL just 95# 21-15-9 + 3x800m@8:30mi/min 18:10@175/187
After Karen, this wod was tough even with a lot of scaling down. The runs even at slow pace of 8:30 felt like 7min/mi (seriously) till I realized that it was 7mi/min. Just plain full body fatigue which was hard to shake off.

WOD#85 PU Mania 10x(1@20#, 3 strict, 5 kipping) 25:52@136/157
The weighted pullup was quite hard. I must say the weighted pullup made regular pullups much easier. Weighted pullups might be a short cut to improving pullup counts. Of course, 10 rounds of 9 pullups each is plain crazy so the splits steadily deteriorated from 38 sec to over 4min.

WOD#86 Front Squats 3-3-3-3-3 20:10@145/174
45#, 65#, 85#, 95#, 115#. First three rounds were without the rack so needed pickups and holding in between. At 115#, this is by far the heaviest PR, up from 45#. I think the main difference from the effort in Jan is the well developed shoulders now coming in handy to provide nice and safe slot of tugging in the barbell for front squat. The squat were quite deep however I think I was leaning forward a bit at the bottom most position. No aches in back so thats a good sign.

WOD#87 5xMaxPU/elvPush (10/20 first and 5/10 rest)8:29@145/160
I managed to squeeze 10pullups in the first round and then 20 elevated pushups. But next 4 rounds were not upto that standard and I scaled down. Total PU30, pushups 60. I probably could have pushed harder but I was pretty spent by the time I reached 5th round.

WOD#88 Lynne 5x(5assist MU!, 5PU, 5ringdip) 27:23@118/141
This was my first attempt at muscle up. It became clear in very first attempt that this is almost a hopeless attempt. I did MUs withlegs on the floor. First 4 set were done while sitting with L-shape keen bent and the last with sitting in a squat directly below rings. Clearly the former was lot harder. MU will take a long time. I think there was exactly once out of 25 attempts when I got into right deep dip position but couldnt pull up. That brings me to the dips portion of the wod. Rings dips are a beast as well. I have practically no range of motion in the dip. The dip is basically couple of inches of motion without reaching full extention. Depth is obviously lacking as well. Work in progress.

BF in NY for 848mi
WOD#78 Clean and jerk (65#, 85#?) 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
WOD#79 Back Squat (65#, 85#) 3-3-3-3-3
WOD#80 J.T.21-15-9 x (HSPUass, Dips, PU) 12:41@129/141
WOD#81 Half murph incl 2x1mi@8min/mi 46:59@156/188
WOD#82 Split Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 45#, 65#/85#
WOD#83 Karen 150 #15 wallball (no throw) 7:27@173/184!
WOD#84 DL just 95# 21-15-9 + 3x800m@8:30mi/min 18:10@175/187
WOD#85 PU Mania 10x(1@20#, 3 strict, 5 kipping) 25:52@136/157
WOD#86 Front Squats 3-3-3-3-3 20:10@145/174
WOD#87 5xMaxPU/elvPush (10/20 first and 5/10 rest)8:29@145/160
WOD#88 Lynne 5x(5assist MU!, 5PU, 5ringdip) 27:23@118/141

Learning olympic lifts the hard way.

Today's workout included 5x9 hang power clean @ 85#. While I had been focusing heavily on keeping good form on midline stanalization, I used deadlift positioning for my hands on the bar. To be more precise, the hands were way too far. Not only did the triangular shape arm position made the clean wobbly, it would scratch soft skin on inner side on both thumbs. Halfway through this high rep workout, I lost outer skin pn both hands as can be seen in picture above. This forced me to get arms closer to body. This also made the clean easier.I haven't check yet but i'm pretty sure this is correct form. Later. ...

8mi@9:10mi/min hafl Barbara, DL165#, 170Pullups, 50 Ring dips!

8mi@9:10mi/min 1:14:41@168/187

Another slow training run which turned out to be pretty fast 8mi@9:10mi/min. At 50 degrees it was almost too hot to run since it was quite humid. I need to start running in sub 50 degrees, especially when its dry. The dirt path was wettish but not too to wet or cold to run on. It made fo a nice soft path to run on. The only harsh part was the chipped wood part on west side of the reservior. It was supplemented with brand new chipped wood which was a bit to hard to run on since it wasnt really broken into a path yet. But its good that I didnt get any blisters. The soles are a bit tender but nothing major. There is slight bit of dead outer skinning giving out which is probably a good thing.

WOD#74 (half) Barbara 2.5 x (20PU, 30Push, 40Sit, 50SQT) 29:54@147/167

Barbara is EVIL. I did not realize the simple math that 5 rounds of 20 pull ups and 30 pushups means 100 pullups and 150 pushups! I am nowhere in shape to do this, despite TWO rest days I took. At the end of the second round I started feeling pain in left shoulder upper joint and I had to stop soon after. Even pushups were hard to do with the shoulder pain. This is the second time I did Barbara. Both times I did half the Rxed workout except last time I did all 5 rounds of half the reps and this time I did 2.5rounds of full reps. Unfortunately, the timing was SLOWER this time by couple of minutes which sucks. Very disappointing, especially after wasting two days taking rest.

Oh well! May be next time. After all the art of maximizing benefit from crossfit is to not give up during hard workout despite pain and strong desire to quit but at the same time not to overdo when a specific pain becomes a threat of full-fledged injury. Its hard to differentiate but in this cse, the shoulder pain was sharp shooting and I had to stop as my form started detiorating rapidly.

WOD#75 7x(10HSPU, 10 LPull, 15Lunge) 20min@149/169

7 rounds in twenty minutes of 10 Handstand (with knees support) Push-ups, 10 L Pull-ups, 15 Step Lunge. I liked this workout. All in all, 70 L-pull ups is not an easy feat, especially on day after doing 50 regular pullups in Barabara. The HR was pretty high, especially during the lunges. Between the three routines and HR elevation, this was a pretty good whole body workout. Most rounds were about 2:50sec except first two and last one which were about 2min. I had whole minute left after round 7 which I used only for HSPU.

WOD#76 SP65#, BkSquat85#, DL165#

PR in DL at 165#. In fact, I stopped at 165# even though I did 3reps instead of 1. No reason just taking it easy. On the third rep, the finger grip was the limiting factor. Pushpress at 85# was too much for me. BkSquat at 85# was probably not the limit but since I had done 125 airsquat previous day, I couldnt push to the limits on squats. There is another wod coming up with 3-3-3-3-3 backsquats. I will try to push the weight past 85# and see how it goes. Also other limiting factor is inability to squat all the way down so I dont want to just keep adding weight without making sure I can do the reps with full depth.

WOD#77 10Rounds (5Pull, 5RingDip, 15Sit) 30min@118/147

My first wod using rings! WOD called for 5 ring dips per rounds. My form as horrible but atleast I got started. This may be as bad a challenge as pullups if not worse. I still cannot hold still on rings on top of the dip position. Also the depth of each dip was barely couple of inches. I had to push rings up to at least get those two inches without use for push from floor (height spec: top of ring same level as nipples).

Pullups on the other hand are getting stronger. I did all 10 rounds with the 5 pull ups unbroken despite lack of kipping ability at door pullup bar. I still dont do the pullups through 100% range of motion but at least I can do them unbroken. I tried to do the last of the 5 with deeper ROM with some success which is encouraging. Also pullup count for the week is 170 (50, 70L, 50) which is not too shabby.

BF in NY for 848mi

WOD#74 (half) Barbara 2.5 x (20PU, 30Push, 40Sit, 50SQT) 29:54@147/167

WOD#75 7x(10HSPU, 10 LPull, 15Lunge) 20min@149/169

WOD#76 SP65#, BkSquat85#, DL165#

WOD#77 10Rounds (5Pull, 5RingDip, 15Sit) 30min@118/147

Ah nice 5K barefoot run in 70 degrees!

WOD#72 5K+ (3.68mi) 32:07@171/184

70degree temperature = Barefoot run in CP. The grass and reservoir path were soaked and cushy from all the snow which melted over last few days. It wasnt cold though, I almost forgot how good it felt to run on grass. Yummm. I ran it reasonably fast at 8:43mi/min (8:30mi/min excl traffic stops). I didnt want to risk any funny injuries. Just like last time, this was the fastest training run ever. Coincidence? And it didnt even feel that fast.

WOD#71 Jackie 1000m row, 50x40#DB Thursters, 30 PUs 24:44@147/170

All upper arms workout. I liked doing thursters using DB. Towards end, it was getting clear that I dont have symmetric strength between two arms as the left hand could not keep up with right hand arm and I started loosing control (with just 20#!). Thursters were the hardest. PUs are getting easier. I managed to do sets with 6-7 PUs which is higher than usual 3-4.

WOD#71 Jackie 1000m row, 50x40#DB Thursters, 30 PUs

WOD#73 Clean and Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 45#, 65#, 85#

Complete failure at first rep attempt at 95# on Jerk part. I still cant do jurk properly and it ends up being push press. It has something to do with fear of getting under the weight. Ironically, I did have a mini-accident when the weight came down somewhat behind the head causing funny body position and some strain on lower back. No damage done but scary for a brief moment. The major problem was inability to let go of the weight. I need to work on exit strategies for bailing out of the weights. Also interestingly enough, I scrapped back sideof index finger (cant imagine how that happened with barbell in the grip. But I think this is the first time I had minor cut in crossfit wod (blisters dont count). Quite a moment.

The finger cut and some pain in lower back made me take a day off just to be on the safe side. Part of the reason was general breakdown in my daily routine as my cycle had flat last Friday forcing me to reorg commute etc. Also I forgot my HRM which I kindda need for the brutal Barbara long due now.

WOD#71 Jackie 1000m row, 50x40#DB Thursters, 30 PUs 24:44@147/170

WOD#72 5K+ (3.68mi) 32:07@171/184

WOD#73 Clean and Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 45#, 65#, 85#

Helen and other WODs

WOD#68 sit/pullups 21-18-15-12-9-6 with 100fr Lunges between 25:10@148/174

The lunges got progressively harder, especially to keep balance. Also the pullups were brutal and I could only do them in set of 3 most of the time. I quite like this style wods which are quite hard to start with but decrease in reps making them more even in effort over the whole wod. I also tried something new on BOSU, looking at watch instead of floor making it harder AFTER an intese workout.

WOD#69 DL 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (95#, 115#, 135#) BODYWEIGHT!!!

I think this is probably the first time in my life that I lefted anything bodyweight exept body (mine or otherwise), Pretty cool. It wasnt super hard but I decided not to push luck past 135# for now. An obvious PR.

WOD#70 Helen 3 x (400m, 21x40#KBS, 11PU) 19:16@169/188

Quick but exausting workout. The HR averaged at 169 which aint bad for 20min workout. Interestingly enough the max HR peaked at just 188bpm despite the three 400m runs. I think it has something to do with quick stride and full control of the runs. The pullups were hard as usual but I did them in two sets each with first set.

Technically I missed out on one pullup per round (not a biggie). Also for KB swings (Rx 54#), I couldnt trust myself doing anything more than 40# right after the 6min/mi run, especially since I had to hold it over my head:-)

BF in NY for 836mi

WOD#68 sit/pullups 21-18-15-12-9-6 with 100fr Lunges between 25:10@148/174

WOD#69 DL 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (95#, 115#, 135#) BODYWEIGHT!!!

WOD#70 Helen 3 x (400m, 21x40#KBS, 11PU) 19:16@169/188

5K 24:47@185/195 in Nike Free 5.0 + Joshie

I finally reverted back to shoes for the race today (well...nike frees which are more like half shoes). Its the first time I had run any distance in shoes outside since blazing hot runs in June 08, ironically because it was too cold. It was snowing lightly with wet and chilly road conditions and didnt want to test my luck after the tingly toes I had gotten in my last run in slushy cold surface back in Dec.

Also part of the reason was that I haven't run barefoot lately much and really wanted to run the 5K fast. The 5K turned out to be pretty crowded and I could run my best and had to be content with sub-25min run. The course was also very hilly which I wasn't really prepared for. In retrospect, shoes definitely slowed me down a bit. Something to do with less spring action and less efficiency. I could feel the lack of spring action when I tried to push forward. Its like trying to run faster in sand. Here is a video of a girl running in shoes vs socks side by side without any coaching. Interesting gait analysis worth checking out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itkEkcQ8WM

Anyway, March is now here and I should have plenty of opportunities now to making good time in races barefoot. I am also falling behind on wods so I decided to count the 5K as a substitute for a 7rounds of 400m (with hip extensions in between). I may try to make up the hip extensions (21-18-15-12-9-6-3) later in Gym as I cant do them well at home. The other two wods lined are also pretty interesting, including another famous girl wod "Helen". On related topic, the rings are here installed on my bathroom door teasing me everytime I walk around the house. Still cant hold still on rings. Longest I could do was about 5sec with very bad form (bend forward, with wrist twisted inside).

WOD#66 Joshie 3 x (L+R) x (25#DBsnatchx21 + 11L-Pullups) 40:38@146/176

The WOD worth talking about is Joshie (hero workout) I did on Friday. Joshie looked insanely tough so I had been postponing it for a while and also I scaled down big time. Original wod called for three rounds of 21 righthand DB snatch@40# + 21 L-pullup and repeat for left hand. Thats total of 126 snatchs and L-pullups. Since I had never done snatchs, I scaled weight down to 25# (which was probably a bit too light). Also since L-pullups are strict pullups (no kippings), 6x21=126 were too many so I did 6x11=66. Also the L part was not really strictly L but atleast I tried my best.

Either I scaled down too much (which sounds unlikely) or the rest day made a big difference because the workout was not as hard as I was expecting. Also I realized in the last round that I was not doing the snatch properly as I was doing partly push. The trick is to pull the weight off the ground with explosive leg strength. When I corrected this form, I easily did all 21 reps at 25# without any break and it didnt even feel that hard, Excellent full body workout really.

BF in NY for 836mi

WOD#66 Joshie 3 x (L+R) x (25#DBsnatchx21 + 11L-Pullups) 40:38@146/176

WOD#67 5K sub(7rounds of 400m/84 HipExt) 24:51@185/195