3rd Place

Today was the DC Most Primal Fitness Competition.

The Competition had 3 events. The first event was Overhead Anyhow. So you take the heaviest weight you can do, starting from the ground, to an overhead position. Legs locked and arms locked, and you must have complete control of the weight for it to count as a good lift. This event was pretty easy. The gym was cold so it took a lot of us awhile to get warm. After weighing in, we had the chance to declare what our opening weight was going to be. At first i chose 240#, but after it took me awhile to warm up, i changed my weight to 235#. The clean felt great, and the jerk was good. My second attempt was 245#, which was a pretty significant jump. My PR is 250# so 245# should have been a piece of cake. The Clean was perfect, but i failed on the jerk. According to video, my legs were too close together and i didn't get under the bar fast enough. So after the first event, i was in 6th place.

After an hour break, the second event was announced:

Sprint to first hurdle, pick up a 120# sand bag, toss it over, hurdle the box, sprint to the next 100# sand bag, toss over higher box, jump over, sprint to 3rd box, pick up 80# sand bag, toss over higher hurdle, sprint to an 8 foot box, both feet and hands have to touch top of box, and reverse the order (80#, 100#, 120# sand bags)  and sprint to finish line. This was a really fun event. Finished this event in 24:19 and had the fastest time. After this event. i was in 4th place.



After about 45 minutes, the 3rd event was announced. My fingers were crossed hoping that there would be no handstand and i got lucky. But, the other things that im really not great at is running. I dont mind running, its just that im really not good at it. The 3rd and last event was:

AMRAP in 15 minutes of 300m run, 25 Double Unders, 10 Burpees. Didnt bring my running shoes so i had to borrow Chris's shoes. The first run was alright, tried to do the double unders unbroken but it took me 3 sets to finish the first 25; the burpees were easy. On the second run, my legs felt heavier and heavier with each step i took. I remember tell myself how much i hate running, but the competitors, and fans kept me going. On my last run, i had about 60 meters to go when Steph told me i had less than a minute for the round to count. i got in the gym, tried to fly through the  double unders, but it took me 2 sets. With about 15 second left, i had to finish 10 burpees. I was ready to quit, but with CrossfitDC right  by my side, and my judge yell at me to keep going. I was able to finish just in time for the 5th round to count. And boy was i glad that the day was over. I dont think i would have been able to do another workout if there was one. I think the best reward after the last wod was laying on the floor.



After all the scores were tallied, i finished the event in 3rd place overall. What a great feeling to know all your hard work put in at the gym, from 1 days, to 3 workouts a day, really paid off.

AM...and PM

Didn't have an early client this morning so i decided to get a little cardio in.
Went to a local global gym, and i was really surprised to see a lot of people not working at all. They all really didn't want to break a sweat. These are the same people who would join a gym, then cancel a couple of months late cause they didn't get the results they wanted....but i digress.
My morning wod:
5 rounds:
500m row
400m run
Time: 19:35


The set up of the gym is really poor cause the erg was on one end of the floor and the treadmill was on the other side. So my transition time involved running from one end to the other. I really liked how everyone walking on the treadmills thought i was crazy!


PM: CrossfitDC class.

We worked on Sumo Deadlifts for a 3 rep max. This was my first time trying this position and it felt really awkward . I guess i just need more practice at it. I was able to get up to 180kg for 3 reps.

Met Con:
7 rounds
5 DB Thrusters (45#)
5 Clapping Pushups
5 Burpees

Time: 6:49

After yesterday's workout, this was tougher than i thought. Doing 50 (2+1) Burpees, and then doing 35 burpees today, my chest and arms are fried! All in all, i really enjoyed todays workout.

Row Burpee Row

I took the weekend off and was looking forward to today's workout.
Today's workout was inspired by Anywherefit.

For time:
2000m row
50 (2+1) Burpees
1000m row

My original plan was to do the workout with a 40# vest. I was really not looking forward to this wod casue im really not a big fan of rowing. My strategy was a 1:40 split for the 2k row. My form and time were great until the last 500m. Thats when it all started to go down hill. My form was terrible, and my time was 7:16 (a new PR by 1). My strategy for the burpees was to do 10 at a time, take a couple of breaths, and do the next 10. The first 10 were great, then did the next 5 and fatigue started to settle in (which was a shock for me). I didnt think that the fatigue would settle as quickly as it did. So i broke the burpees in sets of 5, 4, 3, and 2's. The last 1k row was hard as hell. The meters felt like they took forever to move. Every time i pulled that chain, it felt like i only moved a meter. My legs felt heavier and heavier after every stroke. Glad the wod was over.



Time: 18:48 (glad i didnt use the vest)
Will try this workout with a 20# vest soon.

TGIF

Yesterday was a scheduled day off, so today was a scheduled easy day.
Got to the gym early, and i really wanted to set a 500m row PR.
I started off pretty hard, but i crashed with about 100m to go.
Time: 1:27
So my legs were pretty fried after and i was planning on doing a chipper for the second workout. I didn't recover as fast as i wanted to, so i decided to work on my clean and jerk technique.
Strength:
1 rep Clean and Jerk in10 minutes.
Form was great the first couple of attempts, but as the weights got heavier, i noticed that i tend to deadlift the weight and the second pull is not as smooth. I just need to get comfortable getting under the bar a lot quicker.
Weight: 90kg

Another Great Day

Had another great workout today. Todays focus was on deadlifts and bench press.
Strength:
Deadlifts:
10-8-6-4-2
225#-275#-315#-405#-450#
One arm Bench Press on ball:
12-10-8-6-4
65#-70#-75#-80#-90#

Met Con:
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Situps
Time: stop watch lost battery power :(

My Confession

Forgive me (workout) father for i have sinned.
Its been a little over a week since my last workout.
The snow, getting sick, and eating off the zone the last week, has really set me back off my training routine for the Sectionals in March. But I'm ready to et back on the wagon.
Today was an easy, but still challenging. To get back into the groove, i just did a simple warmup, and hit the weights. My warm up was 2 rounds of: (all on a stability ball)

5 HOB pushups
5 Back extensions
5 Hyper extensions
5 Knee tucks
5 lower rotations

My strength wod:
5x
5 Back Squats (225#)- low bar setup
10 Weighted Pullups (25#)

Abs:
3x
10 GHD Situps
10 Toes to Bar



CrossfitDC Class:


After this afternoons workout, which felt great, i decided to go to class tonight.

Strength:
Chris and i partnered up and worked on cleans and power cleans.
I was able to get to 80kg.

Met Con:
Team wod: (teamed up with Chris and Ewunike)

4 rounds for time
300m row
12 Burpees
15 Kb swings (32K/16k)


Time: 16:06

Felt great to sweat!

Snowtorious BIG

What a weekend. It snowed a lot and i couldn't make it to the gym. 



The video was taken every 2 to 3 hours on Friday the 5th.
So for my workout on Saturday, i decided to shovel my steps, sidewalk, and my neighbors steps and sidewalk for time, and it only took me under 25 minutes.

I hate Josh

On January 18th Josh Courage went to Crossfit Works in Tucson and tested the Winter Open WOD# 2.

8 rounds
4 DL 1.2xBw (310#)
10 Burpee Box Jumps (24 inch box)
12 Wall Ball (20#)

So today, i decided to try and beat his time, but with a little more weight, and a bigger box (shut-up Chris). So this was my workout:

8 Rounds
4 DL (315#)
10 Burpee Box Jumps (32 inch box)
12 Wall Ball

The first round was great. But as soon as fatigue settled, the last 5 rounds were the worst! What a freaking bad idea! I dont think the 5 extra pounds made a difference, but the box felt like it got higher and higher each and every round. With Josh looking on and cheering, i felt like i could beat his time. On the 5th round, my back was getting really sore, and my form on the deadlifts got worse and worse. As you will see in the video, due to fatigue, and back pain, i started slowing down on all the exercises by round 4. Just like Josh said, "this straight up just hurt" So in honoring Josh, my name for this wod is "I hate Josh"



Thanks Steph for the camera work.

Snatch Work

I wasn't feeling really motivated to workout today, but i needed to get some work in. Got to the gym and thought about doing one of Josh's workouts, but was really not in the mood. So what did i do? One of my favorite lifts. Snatches.
7 sets:
3.3.3.2.2.1.1
My loads were:
60k
70k 
72k 
75k 
80k 
82k 
85k (failed)
85k
87k (failed)
Still not close to my 90k goal. The last set was a complete struggle.
Looking forward to my workout tomorrow.

Why we Crossfit!

This is borrowed from a workout buddy.
 It basically summarizes most, if not all, Crossfit athletes attitudes about competition.


If you haven't figured it out by now, CF is host to a different breed of athlete, and no where is this more apparent than at CF gatherings, such as this past weekends competition. That CF can be both competitive and supportive at the same time is singularly unique. I cannot think of another activity where your competitors will try like hell to beat your time or your reps, and then turn around and cheer you on once they finish. I cannot think of another venue where members will cheer and support athletes from other gyms with as much fervor as they do their own teammates. Nor can I think of another sport where your judges can also be staunch supporters, cheering you on as they simultaneously require perfection. If anyone can think of any activity which remotely compares to this sort of atmosphere, please let me know. More importantly, if any of you have even considered attending a competition, I urge you to act on it, you won't be sorry. Being sore never felt so good.


Well put, and thanks Chris. Its always an honor to workout with you. And congrats on placing 5th at the games. Here is a video of Chris's accomplishment. 

CrossfitDC Class

Took 2 days off (Sunday and Monday) after the Superfit Games this past weekend and it was well needed. I decided that i would go to class and take it a little easy. I felt great and most of the soreness is all gone. After a light warm-up, Dan, Chris and I worked on 4 sets of 3 heavy overhead squats:
I think my last set was 80kg and Dan and Chris were able to get 90kg with little or no struggle. I need to get as strong as these guys!

Met Con:
AMRAP in 6 minutes:
3 Squat Cleans
6 Pushups

We all attached this met con like it was nothing. Dan, Chris and I all used 155# and we all finished 3 rounds before the first minute was even over! I think i finished with maybe 9 rounds, but i lost count after the 5th round and concentrated more on my form on the cleans. Great work by all in class.