big, heavy snatches

5pm @ RNCF

Snatch:
Warm up - 10 x 65
3 x 85
1 x 105
1 x 115 (it took me three tries to stand this up, I kept falling forward in my squat)
1 x 120
1 x 125 (PR! - my old max was 122)
1 x 130 (DOUBLE PR!!!!!)
1 x 135 (fail, fail, fail)

This is actually a picture of me OH Squatting 125#. It was the closest thing to a picture of me snatching. 

NOTES: I CANNOT believe that I got a 130 snatch!!!!!! That's a HUGE PR!  I also almost stood up 135 - but I jumped forward and didn't bring the bar into me. I was on a super high after this! In college I could barely snatch 70 pounds.  I would say I've come a long ways. I'm super stoked to keep adding weight. 135 didn't even feel heavy, I just lost focus on my form. So. Excited.

Rest 5ish minutes...

20 AMRAP:
10 Power Snatches (55)
6 KB swings (53)
15 Wall Balls

ROUNDS: 7 Rounds + 14
NOTES: I stole this workout from Graham Holmberg (he got 10th in the Games last year!).  I naively thought this looked easy on paper. BUT, this workout was awful and long and it sucked. I was exhausted by round 2. The snatches weren't that bad, but the KB swings started straining my back and my legs got sore on the wall balls. I for sure could have gotten in at least one more round, but my heart rate maxed out super fast.

Post-WOD:

I worked on these bad boys after the wod.      - - - - - >   L-Sit into Handstand Push Up 

These were super fun and drew a ton of attention on us. Obviously.

Check out the video of some random dude doing it.   

I'm officially on Spring Break AND the OPEN starts next week. That's a pretty sweet combination. 

Cheers to heavy snatches! 

it takes two

“It started as me just wanting to get back in shape. Now, I want to get to the podium.”

- Heather Welsh, mother of two and CrossFit Games competitor

http://games.crossfit.com/article/no-longer-casual-competitor-heather-welsh

I had the AMAZING opportunity to train with Heather a couple months ago. She is a fabulous woman and a very knowledgeable crossfitter. And, what's even more amazing is that there are TWO of her! 

Heather, me, and Lindsey at River North Crossfit after a couple of Hero workouts. 

I train at RNCF in Chicago with her twin sister, Lindsey.  Lindsey is a phenomenal athlete and a lot of fun to be around. She has definitely taken me under her wing and showed me the ropes (literally, I think she taught me how to rope climb...) - and for that I will always be thankful. 

Me, Lindsey, Emily, Matt, Alex, and Briggs after 8th Day's GR Games Crossfit Competition . 

preach

   How do you follow that?...

                       Happy Thursday!

Only Criminal Law and Health Law stand between me and Spring Break (aka a week of uninterrupted CrossFitting...duhh!)


Cheers to skinny arms moving big weight!

resting & reading

 Six hours of law school classes = struggle to get to the gym. 

Therefore, Wednesday has become a mandatory rest day, which is good because I have a tendency to over-train when I have a lot of free time.

I'm actually surprised how fatigued my body is from Monday and Tuesday's workouts. My shoulders are still pretty sore. Hopefully that will all be worked out by tomorrow. Other than that, I feel good and I am super excited for the OPEN to start in 7 Days, 2 Hours, and 16 Minutes... (yup, that just happened).


Cheers to late night legal writing class!

sweet treats

So I tried bacon wrapped dates for the first time tonight. MIND. BLOWN. 

I also ate tuna out of a can and felt like a domesticated cat. 

big shoulders

1pm @ RNCF

"12.3" 18 AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible...in 18 minutes)

15 Box Jumps (20in box)
12 Push Press (75 lbs)
9 Toes to Bar

ROUNDS: 10 Rounds + 21 Reps = 381 reps
NOTES: The box jumps felt great - I had a really good rhythm going. I was pretty much using those for my rest. The push presses got heavy about half way through, but I only broke them down into sets of 8 and 4. The T2B weren't that bad. By the end I was doing sets of 6 and 3. My goal was to break 10 rounds, and I did! So I was pretty content. But, I think I could have gone a little bit faster at the end. Who knows.

Since we all know I'm obsessed with numbers and rankings. Before I had even caught my breath or stripped down my bar I pulled up the results from last years Open (which is where this workout came from). I would have placed 35th in the North Central Region and 321st in the world. That's not too shabby.

My shoulders are exhausted from the past few days training. I was going to get a couple sets of OH Squat in today, but I decided my body needed recovery more than a few extra reps.

Post-WOD:

Splashed by slush/snow/dirtiness from a cab driver
Sprayed my an old man's snow blower
Pelted with falling ice from a 50+ story building

...and this was my beautiful reaction to all the beautiful things that ensued.



Cheers to accumulation of snow INSIDE your boots!

fat kid jeans

It's both rewarding and a little bit of a blow to the self-esteem when your jeans don't fit over your masculine, disproportioned quads and hammies. I might have lost a few good seams today in the fight to button those bad boys up...

One thing that I've learned for certain over my many years of running - jumping - lifting is that JEGGINGS are a female athlete's best friend.

   

perspective

5pm 

'Transformers': 10RFT

1 Squat Clean (155)

3 MU

5 HSPU

TIME: 14:44

NOTES: First off, I think I might have done an extra round. Oh well. The more the merrier, right? As expected, the squat cleans felt pretty heavy (90+% of my max!), BUT I am feeling a lot more confident under a heavy bar. The MUs are slowly, slowly progressing. I did the first 3 unbroken! Then the second set I did 2, 1. Then I did singles the rest of the time. I need to work on MU endurance for sure. And, the HSPU were a breeze. 

Rest 7ish min...

Back Squats:

2 x 155

2 x 175

2 x 190

2 x 190

2 x 190

2 x 190

1 x 200

1 x 215 (PR!)

1 x 225 (failed...)

NOTES: I wasn't supposed to max today, I was supposed to get 10 sets of 190, but I was feeling antsy.  To be honest, I just want to have a more impressive back squat max on my CrossFit.com Athlete Profile (I know, this is so pathetic). I actually felt really strong on the 215. But, on 225 my chest fell forward at the bottom and I dumped the bar over my head, which is NOT safe. That's an old bad habit that I need to fix. ASAP. I was feeling really rushed, and there were a ton of people in the class so I just stopped after the failed attempt. I was pretty pissed. 

BUT, I need to remember to put things into perspective. I need to stop comparing myself to everyone else and start competing against myself. 

Just a few months ago I would not have even been able to complete the 'Transformers' wod - I didn't know how to do ONE MU (let alone 30...) and I wasn't able to squat clean 155. 

Also, even though I think my back squat should be heavier and I was disappointed, just SEVEN weeks ago my back squat was 175.  In seven weeks I put FORTY pounds onto my back squat. I would say that's an accomplishment.  (I've been following the Burgner Squat Program and obviously it's working wonders)

Things I need to remember to work on this week:

1. OH Squats (preferably pretty heavy)
2. Bar MUs (I, and pretty much anyone else who is into this stuff thinks they are going to be in the Open)
3. Snatch
4. Wall Balls (for some reason I kinda suck at these. I think I just need more repetition) 

FOUR more days till Spring Break.

 

Cheers to perspective! 

train the brain

Today was a rest day (minus the hours and hours of law school homework - training the brain!). I'm pretty beat from yesterday, but I still feel good. I was surprised that I wasn't ridiculously sore after those heavy front squats and deadlifts.  I'm always surprised how much my body can handle.

As I type, the 2012 CrossFit Games are playing on my tv in the background. I LOVE watching these women workout.  It's so inspiring and entertaining. How sweet would that be to compete in the GAMES!?!

I'm going to try really hard to eat clean(er) and more paleo-ish this season.  It's not that I eat bad, I just have a lot of room for improvement. For example, I could probably cut out the chocolate covered graham crackers and lemon heads.  Hopefully this will help my performance. Sometimes when I try and eat 'healthier' I end up not getting enough calories or enough protein, so I made sure to buy some more protein today.

Did I mention that I love watching the Games?

I'm super excited to get a good week of training in. Next week is my spring break (yay for being a student!) so I'll be back in Bloomington at a couple different boxes.

I think it's fun and important to drop in at other boxes. Vary your training. Vary your warm-up. Vary your coaching.

I've been very luck to come across so many great athletes/coaches/owners in my few months I've been crossfitting.

Ready, Set, Open

I need to write down my thoughts/questions/concerns/goals about the OPEN before my brain explodes!

I started crossfitting in August 2012 after 'retiring' from the great world of Division I track & field (400m hurdles to be exact) and have been thoroughly addicted ever since. So, needless to say, this is my first Open.

I'm beyond excited to see how I stack up in the North Central regional. I hope to be in the top 50 of individual women.  But, if I'm being honest with myself, I hope to place a lot higher than that. I've been crunching the numbers (yes, I'm a crossfit nerd) and I think there is a good possibility to start making a name for myself in this region as an up-and-coming, young crossfitter. My gym also has a really great chance of qualifying a quality team of men and women. It will be interesting to see how the cards fall.

I still need to develop a few movements and get stronger if I ever want to break into the top 20 tier: deadlifts, rope climbs, butterfly pull-ups, and linking muscle-ups to name a few.

It would really be to my advantage if the Open threw a bunch of gymnastics moves at us. In my dream world there would be an AMRAP of handstand push-ups!

I just need to remember that the numbers and rankings and scores aren't what this is all about.  Sometimes my Type A personality kicks in a little too much, and I just need to calm down.

Even though I'm nervous and anxious, I am really confident in my training.

Cheers to a great season!

my sister is a BEAST!

My sister, a junior at Indiana State University, just placed THIRD at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in the pentathlon!  That's a big deal, folks.

The pentathlon, for those of you that don't know (which is probably everyone...) is a one day 'event' in which the athletes are scored in FIVE different events:

60m Hurdles
High Jump
Shot Put
Long Jump
800m Run

Needless to say, it's the crossfit of the track & field world. You have to be great at everything from running, jumping, throwing, and being awesome.

CONGRATULATIONS!

7am (extremely early for me, but totally worth it) @ RNCF

Front Squat:
1 @ 70% (135) + 2 MU
1 @ 80% (152) + 2 MU
1 @ 90% (175) + 4 unbroken MU (new PR!)
1 @ 95% (180) + 2 MU
1 @ 100+% (attempted 200 twice and failed both, but super close!)

Rest 10ish minutes...

10 DL (175)
20 C2B Pull ups
40 WB (14# at 9ft) 
8 DL
16 C2B
32 WB

6 DL
12 C2B
24 WB

4 DL
8 C2B
16 WB

2 DL
4 C2B
8 WB

TIME: 14:28 
NOTES: My friend wrote this workout - it was super intense and rocketed my heart rate super quick. 

Rest 15ish minutes...

"Sprint/Rest": Partner 1 completes entire movement before Partner 2 works. 
250m Row
25 WB
25 Burpees
25 KB swings (35)
25 Push press (65)
25 Pull ups
25 Box jumps (20")
25 HP Push ups
25 Sit ups
25 Hang Power Cleans (65)
5 Wall walks

TIME: 17:07
NOTES: I tired to go unbroken on most of the movements. I had to break up the pullups, the push press, and the hang power cleans. 

Rest 10ish minutes...

3 Rounds:
20 GHD sit-ups
10 ring dips
10 ring push ups

NOTES: This was awful and made me feel super unathletic. It reminded me how much tricep work I need. 


This was the highest volume of work I've done in a very long time. I was in the gym for about 2 1/2 hours. (Crazy!) But it felt super good and I felt really productive (accomplished all this before 11am!)