9/30 - Take that, stupid legs

I have a love/hate relationship with knowing what the WOD is before I go to Crossfit Central. Some days I get really excited, while others I get nervous. Today was nervous. I knew when I saw the WOD that it was going to be a big challenge.

Crossfit Central WOD
200 meter lunge walk
50 box jumps
30 deadlift 275lbs
14:49 RX

That was one of the hardest WODs in a long time. What a great way to spend a lunch hour :)

9/29 - Positive Reflections

Do you ever reflect on a decision you've made and wonder how much worse life would be had you not made that choice? Too many times I hear people talk about regret, so I want to turn it around today!

About six years ago, I was a smoker. I don't mean a few here or there, or "just when I drink." I mean full on pack-a-day, sometimes more, smoker! One fateful day in late October 2004, I woke up and realized that I was down to one cigarette. I went out to the patio, coffee in one hand and the little white cigarette in the other. As I sat down to smoke, I started wondering if I would have time to run to the store to buy another pack before my daily conference calls started.

Another sip of coffee and a few more drags off that last cigarette in my pack led to thoughts about how exhausting smoking can be. Do I have any left? Do I have time to go smoke real quick? Can I eat fast enough to go smoke before everyone is ready to leave? Where is my lighter? I realized that, aside from the obvious health-related issues smoking causes, it owns way too much of your life and thoughts. Not to mention the "nice" smell your clothes and everything else has!

That was my moment! I knew right then I had enough. I also knew that it would be an uphill battle. I have not smoked a single cigarette since that morning, not even a drag off of one. It was probably one of the hardest battles of my life, but I won!

I started tracking my "quit" online...today I got an email with my status. Pretty amazing!

Your Quit Date is:  10/26/2004 8:03 AM
Time Smoke-Free: 2164 days, 7 hours, 10 minutes and 43 seconds   
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 54107 
Lifetime Saved:  13 months, 23 days, 7 hours 
Money Saved: $17,582.50 

That was set up with the price of a pack in 2004...I am sure they are more expensive. Luckily for me, I have no idea!

Action crushes fear. If you have a goal, don't be afraid to make it happen! I can't imagine life as a smoker now, and I am thankful that I was able to quit.

Active Rest Day

Did the usual warm-up we do at Crossfit Central with some rope ladders instead of a 400m run

3 rounds
800m run
25 situps

Not timed, didn't push hard, just wanted to get in a little work and work out some of the sore from Cindy yesterday!

TP & Foam rolling and some PN stretching to follow... what a great day it is.

9/28 - Cindy Benchmark WOD Day

2010 is flying by! Already time for October 2010 benchmark WODs.

So today's WOD started off really good, then I kinda bonked. I had 10 rounds at 10:40 then too nearly 10min to get in just over 5 more rounds. Ran out of gas!

Crossfit Central WOD
Cindy
(AMRAP 20min: 5pullps, 10 pushup, 15 squat)
15 + 3pullups, RX (PR)

9/27 - Hi, Helen

As I've mentioned in other posts, for October I added Crossfit Central Kettlebell Unlimited, which will allow me to get in a lot more work with the great coaches and athletes at Crossfit Central! Coach Zachary Thiel suggested doing Kettlebell on Mon & Friday since my usual class is on Tu &Th. This leaves Wednesday as an active rest day - go for a run, do some Triggerpoint & foam rolling, Yoga, etc. Sounds like a plan, right?

I showed up to class last night after a pretty rough day at work, and it was just what I needed. Good stuff.

Crossfit Central KB WOD

"Helen"
3 rounds
400m run
21 KB swing, 24Kg
12 pullups
13:45 Rx

9/23 - Tabata Time!

The word "Tabata" must be a synonym for "brutal." Every time that word is used in a WOD, I know 100% for sure it will be harder than usual.  Today's WOD was certainly no exception.

Crossfit Central WOD
8 tabata rounds of 20 seconds each, 10 sec rest, repeat until 8 rounds done
score = lowest reps in any of the rounds
Tabata Lunges

Tabata Wall Ball, 20lb ball
Tabata  Pullups

Lowest reps: 10 lunges, 6 wallball, 4 pullups RX

"Post party"
various planks


Wasn't all that great of an effort, to be honest. The wallball score is some weak sauce.

9/21 - More kettlebell in my future

 I have been thinking about it for a while, and thanks to some good charters, my decision was easy. I signed up for October Unlimited Kettlebell today. I am excited to see how the next four weeks go!

Crossfit Central WOD
Max Reps in 7 Rounds
Dumbbell Squat Cleans - 30 Sec, 55lbs
Ring Pushups 30 Sec
Rest 30 sec
81 pushups, 24 DB Cleans, RXd


The cleans were brutal... I thought I could get 5 per round.. HA! Pretty happy with the pushups, found a good rhythm of 5, rest 3 sec, 5, rest 3 sec, etc.

I will absolutely feel the ring pushups tomorrow!

9/20 - Bloggerlag and a new challenge

I've been off blogging a while! I had a shitty week at work and other areas last week and decided not to blog about it or anything else. I had started a few and started typing and re-thinking all the shit that was pissing me off, so i decided to just drive on through it and not look back. No need to get all pissed about things I can't change, is there?

Had great workouts at Crossfit Central last week, though! People sometimes ask why I drive way up to Crossfit Central, why I pay "that much" for "working out" and so on. It's simple, at least to me: the community and coaches.

Yesterday morning was an early three-lap ride at the Veloway - great way to kick the week off.
34:27 not a PR, having some issues with my bike - shifting issues I just paid to have tuned, but still a good run in the wind.

I'm going to skip the Lean Turkey Challenge Crossfit Central does every year, and do something I haven't done before - Unlimited Kettlebell - Kettlebell Central in addition to my normal class for at least two months. Goal: blow though the plateau I'm on like C4....boom! October classes start next week...I am ready.

9/9 - Push Pull

 The strength then quick hitter metcon was in full effect today. The last set of push-press left me sacked and really light-headed. The WOD didn't go as well as I'd hoped, the pullups were too slow! Guess what we haven't done much of lately...

Crossfit Central WOD
pushpress 5x3
135, 155, 175, 205, 225

5 rounds, 12min cutoff
15 pullups
15 ghd hip extensions
200m run
finished 3 rounds plus the 15 pullups, RX'd

9/7 - Hooray Rain!

Nice to finally get some rain around here, though it will mean more yard work!

I've been taking some Probiotic Restore my gf bought from my Advocare store over the last few days, and it's pretty interesting. I won't get too detailed here, so let me know if you want to hear about it haha.

So today's WOD at CC was pretty weird. I mean it was a hard workout and I tried to just keep moving that KB, but seems like it was harder than it should have been.

Crossfit Central WOD

Turkish Get-up skill work

6 reps with 16kg

then

5 rounds
30 abmat situp
20 American KB swing, 24kg
10 KB clean & press, 24kg
14:32Rx

9/2 - Welcome back to PR-ville!

Man, it's been a long time since I had a PR on the deadlift, and it's a fantastic feeling! Today I pulled 425, previous best ever was 405 and last DFT I only got 385, so hell yeah I'm fking happy about it! Thanks to Blake for helping me get my mind right and fixing a technique issue.

I'm back on track & taking the Advocare supplements that helped me get awesome success early in the year. I will start wearing my EPOC band again, to constantly remind myself what is possible when I keep focused. 21 days to make a habit, right?

Also, I got my bike tuned up so it should shift better and I think I'll go for a nice hard ride after work!

Crossfit Central WOD
Deadlift  5-3-2-1-1-1 to finish CFT
135, 225, 315, 365, 405, 425 PR!

CFT = 995

Weighted pullups
1-1-1-1
7lb, 10lb, 12kg, 16kg (miss)


Need to work on back-squat. I could have done 385 and had my CFT back over 1000, but I went for the 405. Gotta be smarter about stepping up & need to get stronger.

Aug 31 - Lesson Learned

Today was CFT day, and what a crazy day it was. Starting with my performance, I am pretty happy with the shoulder press @ 205lbs (tied my PR), but not too happy with the squat at 365lbs. I went for 405 and it was a little too much...no go.

Now, the lesson. Spotting my buddy Blake H, with 465lbs on his back, he started to have trouble and I didn't get the spot right -- too far away from him -- and the bar fell hitting my knee on the way down. Fortunately nothing bad, just a glancing blow and a small bruise. Sure taught me the hard way how NOT to spot someone!

CrossfitCentral WOD
CFT Day 1
Squat:  335, 365, 405X
Shoulder Press: 185, 205, 210X