High heels and anatomy

High heel vs barefoot pose

WOD#135 5mi BFRace 42:48@173/197

The race pace was not blazing fast (?) as last week but was very similar to my old PR pace of 8:30min/mi. However, that is not the complete story. Since I was limping whole week after hurting myself a bit in last week's race (nothing major), I decided to make this race just a training run. So I took 9:22min for first mile and was taking it easy in general. For some reason, I just didnt feel springy enough to run hard and legs felt sluggish and like concrete. It was also a bit hot and sunny so I am sure that didnt help.

This went on till 4.25mi. While I was not motivated at all, I was in general at same state as start of the race and no blisters or exersion to speak of. At that point, a young racer passed me fast...really fast. It was like switching of a gear in my head and I just took off. He eventually noticed that I was trailing him and said lets race to the finish line and we just kept increasing pace. I mean I was REALLY flying when I crossed the finish line. My garmin registered last 0.25mi in 5:53min which is basically my mile PR pace. the instantaneous speed at finish line was recorded closer to 5min/mi shooing HR all the way to 197bpm. The pace kept getting faster and HR kept growing from 9min/mi and 173bpm in last 0.75mi. It didnt hurt to have a downhill finish compare to typical uphill finish. It felt so good. Not too dissimilar to yesterday's wod when I struggled to get last 6th round of SDLHP in in last few seconds of 20min work out.

WOD#135 5mi BFRace 42:48@173/197

BF in NY For 909mi

PUMania, 20min Thruster/HPC/SDLHP

One rainy day at NYC: After I got back on bicycle commute (after a wod of course).

WOD#132 Front Squat 7x1 85# not 100% 14:04@125/142

Compare with WOD#86 115# 20:10@145/174

I stayed light at 45#, 65#, 85#. The reason was that I was two days into my experiment of water only diet and was recording low blood sugar of 82. Interestingly enough, the wod improved the blood sugar to 88. But in any case, it was a bit unusual to do crossfit wod not being 100% and it was probably best I didnt go for intensity.

WOD#133 Pullup Mania 10 x (3 weighted/5 strict/7kipping) 54:55@134/167

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

This was by far the heaviest pullup wod I have done. I might have done 100+ PU in various wods but PUmania includes 30 weighted PU and 50 strict PUs. I mean, I was done by round 5. Round 8 was the strictest and took over 8minutes. After round 8, I knew I had to finish and it got faster. The only other time I had similar experience was Barbara (WOD#116 May 26th) when the work out stretched to an hour as well. Its really funny how I "warm up" for an hour on my long runs and here I was ready to die before the hour is over. This attempt at trying to do wods closer to Rx is insane. Unlike first few months, I no longer feel any sharp pains or blister issues so there is no excuse to get out of it.

As hard as the weighted pullups are, they are definitely great way to train for regular pullups. I had to reduce weight over the 10 rounds 20-20-20-20-20-15-15-10-10-10 (Rx is 45#). I could do all three in one go in first couple of rounds but then I had to break them in single rep each....and then I couldnt:-) I learnt that this is called stamina limitation, not to be confused with cardio edurance (which is about being out of breath). I also broke strict PUs into 2 sets as well. Kipping was mostly single set. While this week is an exception due to crazy water only starvation diet on Monday and Tuesday, I think 4 wods per weeks seem to suit me better as I can give more in wods. I am just concerned about sample biases. I am already running away from other pullup wods.

WOD#134 6 x 65# (5 thruster/7 HPC/ 10SDLHP) 20:00@158/185

Compare with wod 21 7 rounds using 2x25#DB for Thrusters/HPC + 44# KB for SDLHP. Just made 6 rounds with 1 sec to spare. I thought I will have easy time doing this wod with 65# but boy was I wrong. I didnt realize that this is not a strength wod but a anarobic heart pounding wod. There is something very wicked about trying to lift reasonably heavy weight at very high heart rates. Its like whole different ball game. I just did feel like doing it. HPC was the easiest. Thrusters were hardest but I discovered trick that there is no stopping at the shoulder and its one continuous move down. I went into the workout with every muscle sore from the 150 pull ups on wednesday. I mean bad enough to make it impossible to straighten hands or raise them straight up. But the wod completely changed and now I cant feel soreness in specific muscles but have sort of whole body good ache.

WOD#132 Front Squat 7x1 85# not 100% 14:04@125/142

WOD#133 Pullup Mania 10 x (3 weighted/5 strict/7kipping) 54:55@134/167

WOD#134 6 x 65# (5 thruster/7 HPC/ 10SDLHP) 20:00@158/185

WOD#131 5mi RACE PR 40:49@182/194

I did it! I totally smoked old PR without even trying too hard. Here are the stats

- Pace 5mi@8:09min/mi.

- Heart rate 40:49min@182/194 which is not really all out effort. Really, the max HR was 188 till about last 50 yards which is not really deep anarobic.

- Splits: 8:14@176, 8:01@181, 8:29@181, 8:05@184, 7:15@188

Looks like crossfit did its magic and prepared for me for something I havent been training for. Frankly, I didnt really push that hard because I knew each of my split was comfortably within PR range. I push a bit in last mile to get pace down to 7:15 at no real HR cost.

On barefoot front, the only limitation which kept me slow was blister fear (given the wet coarse surface). None-the-less it feels good that I dont need $100 shoes to run fast. I had to slow down a bit on coarse portion of central park loop but I was flying on smooth portion and grass. In fact, the rain today made running through grass and fresh water poddles so much fun. I know I made at atlease some shod runners jealous!

BarefootinNY for 903mi

WOD#131 5mi RACE BF 40:49@182/194

WOD#130 Nasty Girls 3 x (50Squats/7PUBurpee/10HPC@95#) 26:44@155/169

WOD#130 Nasty Girls 3 x (50Squats/7PUBurpee/10HPC@95#) 26:44@155/169

Nasty Girls classic workout. Compare with 3x(50squats, 7pull/dip, 10x50#HPC12:29@149/182. I used 95# for HPCs which was heavy enough to keep sets at 2-4 reps. Obviously muscle ups is not an option at the Gym without the rings so I did the next best thing i.e. PU Burpee. The pullup bar was higher than what I had done before so I missed the first and that was a bit scary. I got each of the 3x7 since but I had to really concentrate before jumping. Squats were with full depth. I had to break them into two sets each.

WOD#130 Nasty Girls 3 x (50Squats/7PUBurpee/10HPC@95#) 26:44@155/169

First CFE!!! 12min 2.5K C2 rowing Awesome.

CFE#1 2.5K in 12min C2 12:00@158/182

My first attempt at CFE. It was kindda fun. I didnt know I had 12min of rowing in me. I got progressively FASTER and it was quite insane. I also automatically found rythem and more efficient technique which I had never been able to do before due to short rowing sessions. I steadily sped up from a pace of 2:35 to 2:10-15.

WOD#129 Hang Power Snatch 7x1 65# 4:36@138/157

45# HPSnatch was proper but 65# snatch was mostly press. The explosiveness of the pull was missing and something I need to improve upon. Broadly, snatch is a very complex move and it was smart of me to concentrate on form for now without adding more weight.

CFE#1 2.5K in 12min C2 12:00@158/182

WOD#129 Hang Power Snatch 7x1 65# 4:36@138/157

WOD#128 21-18-15-12-9-6PU/Sit+100ft lunges 23:33@160/177

Compare with WOD#95 (25:30@160/174) and WOD#68 (25:10@148/174). This workout always takes the wind out of me despite having no run in it. The lunges are surprising exausting and HR consistently rached 175 on each round. However, it feels good to do a wod exactly as Rxed. The only limitation was that I broke each pullup routine into three sets though I doubt Rxed version really expects 21 PUs in row. I also checked the distance on the plastic lawn outside the gym on Google maps and its 115ft which is close proxy for 100ft. The timing was a PR by 2minutes which is great. Still quite short of 14min I typically see on the website. Long way to go.

I was wondering why it is so exausting to do this workout compared to a run for 25min even though my average HR is just 160. I think the balancing requirements for lunges and grip requirements for pullups cause reluctance for me to start respective sets till I have HR to reasonably lower level. Running is quite brainless in that sense. I am sure I would have similar difficult and higher perception of exaustion if I had to run on slippery slope or on a delicate balancing route. Funny how higher order mental requirements can make perceived exersion more.

WOD#128 21-18-15-12-9-6PU/Sit+100ft lunges each 23:33@160/177

Scaling down crossfit for marathon training

I checked crossfit endurance and I like it's overall approach. I will do this.

Swimming: no swimming

Running: I will do one long run and one speed/hill/interval run everyweek. This will be typically long run and a race on weekend or half marathon race which will serve as both!

Biking: I will continue by 3mi each way everyday commute to work with usual speed hill session I do on the one hill I hit eachway. No biking on weekend.

C2: I will add 1 c2 rowing sessions on easy weekday wod.

Crossfit wide: in return for adding c2 and extra running session, I will only do 4wods per week. I will pick and choose the wods I like. I will skip running only wods. Or I will skip c2 rowing if wods have reasonably long c2 component. I will also keep c2 rowing workouts towards longer time/distances if possible.

Quite a plan. I need to sleep on it and revisit tommorrow to make sure it still makes sense.

Today's wod: 4 rounds 2x30# DB cleans 20, 12 dips, 21situps 20:00@146/169
DB cleans were very difficult. It continues to amaze me how much harder DBs are compared to barbell. I think I will stick to DBs whenever I can. Dips were pleasant surprise. After not being able to do one dip cleanly last time I tried, I surprised myself by doing all 12 in row with few of them quite deep. Pure magic of crossfit! I am sure three days of rest didn't hurt:)

First training run of the season 10.6mi@9:36min/mi 157/187

I decided to ditch the 10K yesterday and instead do a long run today. The central park soil was still damp from all the rain in last few days and it felt great. Ran about 8miles barefoot which was fun. No blisters or injuries. Just a hint of strain on left leg ankle as I twisted my foot badly on way down from a hill. The twist was pretty bad but its amazing how quickly my foot recovered. I just slowed down a bit for a mile. All in all, I got about 6miles or so of quality runs at 8:30-9 pace and rest relatively light including run to and back from home.

I compared this run with brooklyn run and I ran first 10.6mi in Brooklyn in exactly same time which is weird considering how slow the runs felt today, especially including the breaks and commute part. This just confirms the speculation that blister susceptibility is by far the biggest constraint for me running longer distances fast. If I keep training these long distances, I should be fine.

So plan is to bite the bullet and stick to long runs on weekends. No point being hero and experimenting with barefoot running AND crossfit-only marathon simultaneously. Besides, die-hard crossfitters are mistaken about ability to run marathons with only crossfit training. Crossfit makes it easier but sport-specific training is always superior (especially, if it complements crossfit crosstraining) than regular cross-training. The question really now is how to deal with overdose of wods if long runs suck life out of me for a day or two. One easy solution would be to move down crossfit to 4 times a week. i.e. instead of 21wods in 28 days, it will be 16. This will also allow me to run races on Saturday and long distance on Sunday etc.

I am not happy about this. I dont want to skip crossfit wods. I guess I will end up skipping wods which I am weak at which is less than ideal. More extreme alternative would be to squeeze in a wod on Saturday and keep Fridays and Sundays off. Then I can push the wods which I can do at home out of the weekdays. I will end up doing 20wods in 28 days. The 21st wod, I am sure can be squeezed in somewhere.

Barefoot in NY for 898mi

Its in the genes BS

This blog has nothing to do with barefoot running or crossfit but some it seems related.

I was reading this lets-cut-the-crap article and #3 caught my eye. The article suggests that we should not blame genes for getting ourselves sick. I thought about it and drew parallels between people and computers.

One way to look at genes is like computer operating systems. Its clear that brand new computer with same OS looks pretty much the same but it looks very different for two different OS. Certain viruses will attack certain OS and not others. So if you think genes contain codes for a person, EVERY person is a different OS except identical twins. However, OS for people within same family have somewhat similar OS. So two people will have different risk factors for different diseases but correlation is higher if there is blood relationship.

But really, what matters for computer's health is not the OS but how it used. The key to not getting your computer sick is to

1. Install preventive measures like antivirus software and maintain it with updates.

2. Stay away from bad habits (not using good password) and bad softwares or websites as much as possible. However if #2 is compromised since you dont want to degrade "computer experience" too much due to fear of getting virus, #1 acts as a defense.

These two factors are so much more important than selection of preinstall OS on a software for computer getting slow or even crash.

Similarly, for human body,

1. building defenses through exercise and building immune system (by NOT coddling yourself with germ-phobia) is critical.

2. Then staying away from smoking, drinking, junk food, drugs, contagious people will complement #1. But also there is a limit to how much we can do without affecting quality of life. So if #2 is compromised, #1 acts as a defense to potential damage.

These two effects are RIDICULOUSLY important than risk factors based on genes. Its quite frustrating to see doctors/media preach that certain people are predisposed to be obese or have cancer or get heart disease.

Few more references on this topic

http://ep.physoc.org/content/90/4/427.full.pdf

http://dangerousintersection.org/2006/10/29/it%E2%80%99s-not-all-in-the-genes-ask-any-epigeneticist/

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/nov/cover

Back in the crossfit groove PUs/DB Thrusters

WOD#122 5xmax Pull (5) + maxPush(10) 9:29@109/130

Compare with WOD#87 5xMaxPU/elvPush (10/20 first and 5/10 rest)8:29@145/160. The deadlift 5x5 wod on Friday turned out to be quiet a heavy (!) wod as my lower back started aching (in a good way). I wasnt sure if I could do push or pull up as I could not bend down at all but fortunately I did strict pull ups and proper form pushup and both need straight back. I did take is easy and did 5 pullups and 10 pushups in each of the round instead.

WOD#123 20PU L/Strict/Kip with 800m@7min/mi between 23:44@163/188

I took the 800m runs at lighter speed of 7min/mi since I had just finished 400m intervals. I scaled down pullups from 40 to 20 each as well. After the DL back pain, I thought I wont be able to do the 120 PUs. The workout was relatively intense as it still lasted for 24minutes. Form for L-pullups was better. Strict pullups were messy but still much better than in past.

WOD#124 5x(50#DBx21 Thrusters, 50 single jumprope) 36:32@141/177

The DB thrusters are the killers. I had done smaller reps in 60# but this was a high rep (5x21) wod and even at 2x25#, thrusters were hard. I still think DB thrusters are much better variation than barbell which is much easier. The ability to balance the two barbell independently at top of press position is pretty tough and I was much more in control this time around. However, I started reaching my breaking point in last few rounds. I had been doing the 21 reps in 4 rounds which became progressively harder. I think there is just something inherently hard about gathering courage to pull weight on top of your head when you are exausted. It may not be as heart pumping or muscle burning but its a huge emotional drain. On bright side, I think my form for squats and DB hand positioning improved substantially. I did all the thrusters with deep proper squat. I hope this translates well in barbell squats and thrusters. My back was still hurting from deadlift which may have prevented me from bending which clearing works to my advantage for maintaining proper squat form.

WOD#125 (machine!) Backsquat 115# 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 4:37@109/134

Squat box not available forcing me to use the the barbell machine (?). It was ironically quite scary since if I dont get foot positioning perfect, I had to do the backsquat in unnatural angle. It felt quite dangerous. But I am pretty sure I can lift heavier weights on this machine than plain barbell. I tried free form barbell but could not figure out a way to lift it into back squat position from floor.

WOD#126 Cindy 10.33 rounds of 5PU/10Push/15Squat 20:00@152/176

Compare with WOD#103 HALF Cindy 6rnds+PUs 10min@171/190, WOD#53 Cindy 10 rnds 20:00@153/172 and and WOD#17 Cindy 5 Rnds. Cindy is easy for beginners but gets exponentially harder with every extra round added within 20min period. Today's Cindy was the full version compared to half in blackbox elements class and it was no where as intense but still it was difficult. The right comparison would be 5 rounds + PU&Push compared to BB 6 rounds + PU. But the later 4 rounds were much more intense. I reached close to breaking point on pullups and pushups by last round. Squats were easy. I seem to have found a rythem with squats now as I get my knees wider at bottom of squat making it possible for me to do a deep and efficient squat.

WOD#122 5xmax Pull (5) + maxPush(10) 9:29@109/130

WOD#123 20PU L/Strict/Kip with 800m@7min/mi between 23:44@163/188

WOD#124 5x(50#DBx21 Thrusters, 50 single jumprope) 36:32@141/177

WOD#125 (machine!) Backsquat 115# 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 4:37@109/134

WOD#126 Cindy 10.33 rounds of 5PU/10Push/15Squat 20:00@152/176

Modified deadlift wod

Original wod called for 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 deadlift but for some reason I thought it was 5x5 and I did that with lighter weight. In retrospect that wasn't such bad idea since I continue to believe that my deadlift form is ugly. Higher rep should help me get the form improve without too much damage. I did the 5x5 at 175# which is heavy enough to make me sweat. Doing two or three deadlifts in a row was tough and I had to stop so technically I can't claim these to be clean 5x5 sets. None the less, it got my heart pumping.a

...

Erin, improved 400m, Overhead squat

WOD#118 "Erin" 5 x (15 20#each DB clean&SpitJerk + 21 Pullup) 37:00@150/175
5 rounds of 21 pullups is 105 pull up which is a lot of pullups. I started getting blisters. I picked light weight 2x20# DB clean and split jerk but it got me tired very very fast. Somehing about moving weight straight from floor to overhead with speed multipletime which is very tiring.

WOD#119 Overhead Squats 45# 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 6:15@107/127
45# was heavy enough for my overhead squat form to be just on borderline fine. Flexibility still an issue. Also pushing arms in the ear is something that needs work.

WOD#120 5 x (400m, 30 boxjump, 30wallball 20#) 33:16@173/193
Cardio on steriod. The 400m runs all at 6min/mi. I was pleasantly surprised that I could do all 5 rounds at this pace, especially after the brutal half marathon this weekend. Clearly I have improved in this department. I have gotten sore thighs though. I mean really sore after no half marathon DOMS. Weird. Also box jumps and wall ball (no throw) were quite hard after getting the heart pumped up. I had to break them in two parts. The jump got harder in later rounds and I was down to 5 per set in last round.

WOD#118 "Erin" 5 x (15 20#each DB clean&SpitJerk + 21 Pullup) 37:00@150/175
WOD#119 Overhead Squats 45# 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 6:15@107/127
WOD#120 5 x (400m, 30 boxjump, 30wallball 20#) 33:16@173/193

WOD#117 30 MuscleUps scaled 18:07@113/136

Compare to wod47 (half 60PU/jumpDips 22:15@131/158) and wod88 (5x5MUs). I also video taped a wod for the first time which was fun. The MU are very remote goal for me. I dont think I could do a single assisted MU properly at pretty much the easiest setting. Too much coordiatation and weird muscle utilization. I still cannot hold still at top of the dip straight without bending back or legs.Pullup part was basically nonexistenant with ring so far down that my grip was next to my neck at the starting position. Ideally, hands should be extended. I just dont know how long it will take to get to a stage where I can stand and do MU attempt.

WOD#117 30 MuscleUps scaled 18:07@113/136