Thursday - New Year's Eve...

What a wet rainy day. I don't think it stopped once.

Today's workout was supposed to be 'Angie' (from the main CrossFit site)
100 Pull Ups, 100 Push Ups, 100 Sit Ups, 100 Squats

I scaled it to 1/2 Angie (50 of each). It took 9:10.

I feel a little run down this week. I may have done a little too much on my last 3 workout days as well as the fact that I have not had a great deal of sleep in the past two days... AND my diet has been a little less than stellar.

I'll start fresh tomorrow. I am actually impressed that I squeaked out what I did today :)

Tuesday

Busy Day... I once again had a 5000M Row as my workout (from the CrossFit Main site). The nice thing is that I knew what to expect. I was able to do a little strategy. I brought my time down to 20:06. It was still very mentally tough, but I made it.

Later on in the day, I spent about an hour over at Portland CrossFit. Those guys are great. I am trying to learn as much as I can from them. They have been gracious enough to let me come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays to observe, partake, and just ask questions. This is what I love about the CrossFit community. They are so open and excited to share their knowledge.

Well, I went ahead and participated in the 4:30 class. The workout was tough. One that I have seen before, but have never done.

Handstand Push Ups 15-13-11-9-7-5-3-1
L- Pull Ups 1-3-5-7-9-11-13-15

You complete 15 Handstand Push Ups then complete 1 L-Pull Up.
Next - 13 Handstand Push Ups and 3 L-Pull Ups.

Keep working your way down the numbers... This was tough.
I did it prescribed, but it took me a little over 30 minutes. Rochelle (one of the owners and a total BAD ASS) completed it in something like 20 or 21 minutes. She is amazing!!!

Well, needless to say, I slept well Tuesday night.

Wednesday is a Rest Day - finally.

Monday - 1 Rep Snatch

Ok - Monday was a 1 Rep Max Day... but for the Snatch.
I am not very strong when it comes to some of the Olympic Lifts.

I worked with some light weight for quite a while until I felt comfortable adding on the pounds.
I got 135# up over head, but the form was UGLY. I decided to call it - as I don't want to let my body think that it was acceptable.

Here are some amazing video's of some talented Oly Lifters who make it look easy.

Recent Work...

Here are my last few workouts...
I plan on updating this blog more often - I have some very specific goals laid out ahead of me, so this will be a good record keeping journal.

On 12/23 I worked on Deadlifts and Bench Press. I was trying to find my 5 Rep Max.
Here are the results:
Deadlift: 285#
Bench Press: 170#

Both of these are increases over previous attempts, but I expect to see significant improvements over the next 4 weeks.

On 12/24 I worked on Front Squats. Again, trying to find my 5 Rep Max
I got the weight up to 195#'s... not too shabby for a 163# guy :)

I rested on Christmas Day

On 12/26 I worked on some skills that I have recently begun to get the hang of...
The Butterfly Pull Up and the Double Under with the Jump Rope.
I can now do 20 of these Butterfly Pull Ups in a row and 20 Double Unders... Any time a workout calls for Jump Ropes or Pull Ups, I am committing to doing these in place.

Today, I had the challenge of completing a 5000m Row. Most CrossFit workouts call for 250-500m Rows... this is the first time in over a year that I have seen anything over 2000m. I was not looking forward to this at all.

20:34 later, I finished 5000m. That workout turned into more of a mental game than I thought. I eventually figured out that I could pull 10-11 times for every 100 meters... this lead me to analyze how many '100's' I had left before the end of the workout. I don't know if that was good or bad, but I survived.

I sure hope that one does not come up again anytime soon...

shoulder press...

Today the workout was finding your
1 Rep Max for Shoulder Press
3 Rep Max for Push Press
and 5 Rep Max for Push Jerk

Mine are 140#, 155# and 135# respectively

The Push Press is almost body weight... I am sure I could do over body weight for a 1 rep max.

Updates...

wow... it has been a long time since I have updated this blog.
A lot has happened - sorry, but I don't have many pictures to prove it.

The Marathon was AWESOME - I finished in 3:48:00 which is 8 minutes faster than my previous time. This is a big deal because as part of my 'test', I did mostly CrossFit workouts and limited my running to 3-4 days a week. Most of my runs were about 5-6 miles long, with the exception of my long weekend runs. I averaged about 30-34 miles a week during the heaviest part of my training. Most marathoners put in A LOT MORE TIME and A LOT MORE MILES... I did this in a pretty condensed version. I personally think my diet change and my CrossFit training had the most to do with my overall performance.

Since the Marathon, I have hit some new PR's on many key benchmark workouts and exercises. I am still blown away by the results.

Fran - old PR 6:13 - new PR 5:07
Deadlift - old PR 340lbs - new PR 350lbs
During the marathon, I hit the half way mark with my fast 1/2 marathon time yet - 1:45:00... I can't wait to see what an actual 1/2 marathon event would be!!!

Upcoming events - December 4th and 5th I will be going through the CrossFit Level 1 Certification again... this is my 'refresh' as I prepare to get ready for the Level 2 Cert later this year.

Very exciting stuff!

I will attempt to post more often, time just slips right by.

If you have any questions or comments - just shoot me an email!

Almost there...

Just a matter of days until the Portland Marathon.
I have not posted much, mostly because I have been running a ton.

A couple of weeks ago I ran my 20 mile run day and it felt GREAT. Took about 3 hours. I could have continued for another 6 miles no problem. I figure if I keep a decent pace and just keep moving, I should be able to get <3:45 on race day. Wish me luck!

The other main event in recent weeks was my attempt at Fight Gone Bad. FGB is a monumental CrossFit workout that really tests and challenges your overall fitness. There are 5 stations set up and a clock running non-stop for 5 minutes. You rotate to the next station at the minute mark trying to rack up as many 'reps' (points) as possible. There is a 1 minute rest between the 5 minutes round and a total of 3 five minute rounds... so from beginning to end, this is only a 17 minute workout (3 sets of 5 minute round plus the two 1 minute rests between round 1 and 2, and 2 and 3).

The stations are:
- Wall Ball (with a 20# medicine ball, squat down and explode upward throwing the ball 10' into the air, off the wall, catch and repeat quickly)
- Sumo Deadlift High Pulls with 75#
- 20" Box Jump
- Push Press with 75#
- Row (calories count for points)

My previous FGB score was in the ball park of 212 point for ALL 3 rounds.
My current FGB score is 266 points... not bad! I want 300.

Once I am done with all of this training for the Marathon, I will be back onto my 3 days on/1 day off workout regimen and start my progress toward strength and power... watch out FRAN... Sub 6 minutes, here I come!!!