Brooklyn Half Marathon 2:07:12@169/195

Brooklyn half marathon...my favorite! I ran this barefoot for the first time. It was a bit hot at 70 degrees and the Brooklyn roads are much rougher than I had anticipated or hoped for. Parts of prospect park road are very coarse and have sharp gravel spread on the road which sucks. Also the second half of the ocean drive was newly minted and ironically, it much rougher and hotter than first half.

So around 8.75mi, I had a breakdown. I was slowing down but averaged about 9:17min/mi till then but then I started walking which killed any chance of improving my time. I ended up running on the divider lines and tip toe walk at crossing which not only slowed me down but also broke down rhythm of my run. I could feel blisters forming and was terrified of getting them too early to finish since there were 5 more miles to go. But once I made it about 11.5mi, I knew I had broke through that danger and started sprinting. Once i reached the boardwalk, it was very nice with ocean wind and cheering crowd. The board walk it self wasnt too bad but I had to bit careful stepping and perhaps that slowed me down a bit but not much. I liked the way how my feel contoured to the wooden planks. But it doesnt make for a fast surface.

Anyhow, I am glad I managed to run the half with no major injury despite no training and heavy crossfitting workouts this week including several weightlifting PRs just 12 hours before the race. Only regret is the slow time.

Brooklyn Half Marathon 2:07:12@169/195
Barefoot in NY for 887mi

Crossfit Total incl 215# DL and 95#thrusters

WOD#115 Thrusters 45/60/85/95# 7x1 19:03@119/152
60# DB thrusters and 95# barbell thursters. PR! The trick is to open the hip extension quickly on the way up which I havent yet mastered yet. Thrusters using DB are so much more difficult due to utilization of tiny shoulder muscles.Other issue is the bottom position of squat while maintaining proper form.


WOD#116 Crossfit Total (SP/BkSqt/DL 85/95/215#) 43:51@109/134
PR in Back Squat and Deadlift. SP 85# was equaling PR but 95# seems beyond me at this point. DL was interesting. 215# is a lot of weight and raising it was very slow and mind boggling move. I still have my running heel injury and DLing somehow brought back pain to heels which was interesting. All in all, very good results for Crossfit Total. I think I could have improved my back squating score but it gets a bit iffy at the bottom of the squat position and I cant trust what will happen if I loose control on way up.

WOD#115 Thrusters 45/60/85/95# 7x1 19:03@119/152
WOD#116 Crossfit Total (SP/BkSqt/DL 85/95/215#) 43:51@109/134

WOD#114 "Barbara" 10x(10PU/15Push/20Sit/25Squat) no break 57:57@145/175

Barbara is EVIL!. Compare 57:57@145/175 with WOD#74 and #45 (29:54@147/167 and 27:36@136/166) both of which were variation of half Barbara. Today I did the complete Barbara except broke each set in two making it a 10round workout instead of 5. Also I completely forgot about the 3min break but for this scaled down and slow timing, thats probably not such a bad idea.

Halfway point was 23:59 which is not too shaby compared to 28min and 30min last time. But I just noticed this now. During the workout it felt like forever. The pullups were still very tough I broke them in set of 5 reps each. I did exclusively kipping pull up. One attempt at 3strict pullups jammed up my arms for the pushups. However, for some reason, I kept having problem with my grip which was frustrating.

I was exausted by the time I reach halfway mark and I still dont know how I managed to push through to do whole thing all over again. It got really sticky during round 7 which took almost 10min but once I finished round 8, I knew I had to finish the whole thing. Kipping pull ups are the real culprits because they make the extra rounds possible but then each kipping pullup is really exausting. Also its almost impossible to cheat on full extension. Also, I dont remember the last two Barbaras but I did the pushups with FULL range of motion i.e. nose and hips touching ground which was quite challenging in last few rounds. Situps were easy. Squats were a bit difficult, perhaps due to aching calf following 5K run yesterday. Between 5K and Barbara, I am exausted. I still need to do crossfit Total (perhaps tomorrow since its a rest day).
WOD#114 "Barbara" 10x(10PU/15Push/20Sit/25Squat) no break 57:57@145/175

WOD#113 5K@7:47min/mi in hot 80deg 24:17@189/196

WOD#113 5K@7:47min/mi in hot 80deg 24:17@189/196
Barefoot! Compare with wod#67 24:47@185/195 race in March (in my Nike frees in better weather of 35deg). With the 400m and 800m repeats last week, I was ready for this 5K. I am surprised and relieved that the 5K was a PR (though its worth noting that I have run 4mi at 7:20min/mi once before).


Weather was too hot to do fast run at 80deg. I was PARCHED by the time I finished second mile and slowed down by almost a minute in pace for half a mile before picking it up in last half mile. Also the hot surface of the reservior loop was dry and full of tiny stones giving me blisters at the front of the toe. It was progressively getting more unconfortable though not sure if it was that bad during the run. It was, however, pretty bad walking back home a mile from central park. Broadly, the blisters continue to be my real enemies and not so much fitness/muscles/endurance.

Anyhow, the PR effort for the WOD has made me seriously consider shooting for PR next week in the Brooklyn half. 8:30min/mi pace should be enough for me to break PR but I havent been training AT ALL so I am not sure I am up for a half marathon effort at this point. I will give it a shot anyway. The real wild card here is the crossfit. If the crossfit really did magically prepared me for half marathon, then all bets are off. Its definitely worth a shot. It would also give me some indication of how to balance crossfit with marathon training for the NYC in November. If crossfit really does have the magic potion to improve long distance race efforts, it will be an excellent excuse to continue with crossfit full swing and dial down any marathon training programs I might consider. Of course, since blister seem to be my biggest enemy, I dont really think crossfit can help me in that department and I will have to log in a few practice long runs to get my soles strong. Speaking of which, the Brooklyn half ends with a mile on the wooden boardwalk which could potentially be a recipie for disaster for barefoot runner. Hmm. I need a gameplan.

BF in NY for 874mi WOD#113 5K@7:47min/mi in hot 80deg 24:17@189/196

WOD#112 "Michael" 3 x (800m/50bkext/50situp) 24:17@162/185

WOD#112 "Michael" 3 x (800m/50bkext/50situp) 24:17@162/185
Compare to wod#22@30:09 and probably not a max effort as I wasnt doing first two rounds of situps/bkext continuously. I thought the runs will take wind out of me. But I also slowed down the runs to 7min/mi which is hard but not really all out effort. Max HR was 185 (compared to 199 I reached couple of days back for 400m). Interestingly enought both situp sets were well within 2min (US airforce requirement). On related topic, yesterday's 20 pushups (elevated were also well within the 24/2min limit (48sec/78sec). Next time this workout comes up I shouldshoot for 20min if I can get the transition right.

WOD#112 "Michael" 3 x (800m/50bkext/50situp) 24:17@162/185

400m running with 199HR, DB thrusters, L-PU, Row

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

Max HR reached 199! which is a huge increase from previous high of 196. The 400m interval with tiny breaks were uncomfortable but not really that hard. The difference was that these intervals were done in Nike frees as opposed to Supernovas for similar wods before and that made world of difference. The runs were very smooth. No issue wtih heel pain.I messed the wod spec by reading the squat counts at 15 instead of 50 as Rxed. This was not intentional scale down. In fact, I am not sure its a scale down at all if the running became more intense due to shorter squat sets.

WOD#111 Twins 2 x (3m min Row/20ElevatedPush/20DBThrusters60#/20L-PU) 42:15@146/173

The DB Thrusters at 60# were killer. I have done quite a few Thrusters at 65# using barbell (eg. Fran) but DB was a whole different ball game. It was quite difficult getting through the "sticky point" and then maintaining proper straight line without a twist on overhead portion of push. The trick which helped me get through last few sets of 3 reps was hard breathing followed by holding breath before squating. Rowing was fine. I was disappointed at scores (650m/630m) for 3min rowing but I am also hurting a bit from interval runnung yesterday. Elevated pushups were easy. I did all 20 in on go in each round. L- PU contiunue to be tought and I did them in sets of 3/4 with some back support. I did manage to get legs straighters for last 2 of each set of 3 L-PUs.

WOD#110 3 x (400m@6min/mi + 15 squats) 10:17@188/199
WOD#111 Twins 2 x (3m min Row/20ElevatedPush/20DBThrusters60#/20L-PU) 42:15@146/173

WOD#109 500m/1000m/2000m Row with 30-20-10 elevated Pushups

Rowing was relatively consistent at 2:20-2:40min/500m and ended the 3.5K in 17:25min. It was very exausting which was surprising since it cant be more difficult than running. Rowing may not be as exausting from cardio perspective but it is quite a whole body cardio + strength workout and I dont think I have EVER rowed anything more than 1000m so I am pretty happy I didnt breakdown in the last 2000m rowing round. The Elevated Pushups were quite interesting. I did the 30-20-10 sets with legs on a medicine ball without getting off the ball and resting after sub-set of 5 in high position of pushups. It made the for the 30 and 20 pushups very dicy in the end. I was also having some problem keeping balance on the ball as I got tired. I am glad I decided to do this sub for benchpress. It made for an excellent workout for me, arguably more complete than regular benchpressing which I have still yet to try (yes quite intentional)

WOD#109 500m/1000m/2000m Row with 30-20-10 elevated Pushups

WOD#108 21-15-9 45#OHS/BurpeePU 16:43@167/191

WOD#108 21-15-9 45#OHS/BurpeePU 16:43@167/191

21-15-9 at 7:03-6:09-3:29 with PUburpee and OHS @ 45#. This seems like a brand new wod. I dont think I have done burpee pullup before. Burpees in general are pretty exausting. But burpee pullup not only adds pullup element to burpee but also needs very quick coordination to grasp the bar on the way up from burpee without looking up too early. I religiously tried to make the transition from burpee jump up to pullup bar fluid. This was the most fun part of the wod. Its amazing how sharp coordination gets when your brain senses danger of falling down despite the exersion. The trick was to take break (which were quite unavoidable for me) in sitting position after finishing pushup and jump up without looking up or aiming and then try to figure out how to grab the bar on the jump up on the fly. Only part needs some work is the transition from end of the pullup/jump into push up. I just dont know how rest of the crossfitters do this transition so fluidly. I have to drag my feet back, often one at a time which just doesnt feel right. If I can figure out a way to continue down the pushup after sitting down in a fluid motion, I think my burpees will improve a lot. On overhead squat front, I decided to take it easy with just the 45# bar and that turned out to be excellent choice. I was having vey hard time keeping the bar overhead as I got exausted. In fact, couple of time, I just had to bring the bar down to hang position since I could not hold OHS stance even in standing mode. This needs some core/midline stabalization as strength wasnt really the issue, just balancing bar overhead was tough. Perhaps I will start doing some GHDs every other day or so.

WOD#108 21-15-9 45#OHS/BurpeePU 16:43@167/191

First regular BB wod (Hansen)+FGB

WOD#106 Fight Gone Bad (65#SDLHP/45#PP) 80+62+73=215 17:00@174/189

Elements class#6 (elements of FGB). Compare with wod#91 (45#) score 209 17:04@162/177 and WOD#100! Mini FGB 11:07@171/184 and WOD#24 score 245 (25#/45#). FGB continues to be quite a workout. Since the weights were a bit heavier (65# for SDLHP and 45# for PP), strength was a biggercomponent of this workout compared to my previous wods. The box jump was higher as well as also wall ball included the throw for a change. The strategy to start with wall ball and end with rower workout reasonable well. I still remember how hard is it to do wall balls after rowing. However the rowing scores were a bit smaller (10/10/13) as a result. Total score 80+62+73=215 reflects a deliberate slow down in second round after overestimating my capacity in first round. Also the strong numbers in last round reflect coaches pushing for a strong finish.

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

My first regular wod at blackbox. It was a hero workout called Hansen scaled down to 6 x (15 35#KBswing/Situp/Burpee). Frankly I didnt push too much because I had just finished the fight gone bad the previous night. Also it was a very rough bike ride to the blackbox since it took much longer than it takes to bike through midtown. About 5minutes of this ride was a real workout touching 160+ HR as east midtown can be very hilly, especially when you are rushing through traffic and late. The workout itself was good.
Btw, I had to take off shoes halfway through as laces came off. I realized that barefooting at blackbox may be harder than I thought since the rubber surface has strong coefficient of friction so when you are doing dynamic motions like burpees, where you need a little bit of leaway to adjust positions on the fly, there is good chance of getting a blister. I didnt get any but its worth thinking about which workout is to be done before making show choice (or lack there off)

WOD#106 Fight Gone Bad (65#SDLHP/45#PP) 80+62+73=215 17:00@174/189

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