one on one: day sixteen

I typically have plenty to say but I am at a loss of words right now. This has been somewhat of a trying week and I find myself with little energy to try and find something to share. So I will lead right into what I did in today's session:

Warm-up: 500m Row

Extended Warm-up:

     8 x 20m Skip

     4 x 20m (3) Overhead Walking Lunge + (1) Overhead Squat

Terrible 2's

In 2 minutes complete 2 rounds:

     100m Row (sprint)

     2 Burpees

     2 Slam Balls (20#)

x2 (1st time had 19 seconds left, 2nd time had 26 seconds left)

Rest 5 minutes

50 Elevated Sit-up/Ball Toss

Then,

     5 minute AirFit Cool Down

I am appreciative of Joon's help and have definitely noticed changes in myself. I was pretty proud of myself in completing the Terrible 2's portion within the 2 minute time cap. And that I did all of the lunges with no knee pain. I hope to have more to say in my next posting, until then, be sure you hug your loved ones often!

one on one: day fourteen (bonus day)

This week of one on one training with Joon is slightly off. Instead of the normal Tuesday/Thursday sessions, we are doing Wednesday/Friday to accommodate my time off to allow my back to get better from my sacroiliac joint issue. But since work was a tad bit slow today, I got off early and had an impromptu session with Joon to help prepare me for my competition this coming Sunday. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by people who want to see me succeed. I don't think I would feel confident enough to even consider competing if I didn't have the support that I at home and CrossFit Stumptown. So this is what we did:

Warm-up: 3 min Row
5 Sets (2 min rest in between each set) of:
     2 Power Cleans (75#)
     4 Athletic Burpees
     10 Cal Airdyne

Sculpting:
     3 x 5-7 Dumbbell Presses
     3 x 5-7 Tricep Extension
     5 x 5 Five Sec Elevated Plank Hold, 1 Push-up

It was a short and sweet session but it sure has me feeling my arms more than I have in a long time. Feels good actually. I surprised myself with the Airdyne today and pushed myself harder towards the end, even when my quads were burning like crazy and I felt tired as hell. I worked really hard on focusing on breathing properly to limit my panic breathing. Give me something heavy to lift and I will probably do it, but ask me to breathe normally and I just can't quite get it done right. Baby steps.

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

one on one: day eleven

I woke up this morning feeling very unmotivated and a very full bladder. Needing to pee was really the only thing that helped me crawl out of bed. I may have gone to bed a tad bit too late last night, but compared to other times it wasn't that bad. I feel like I am battling myself to get decent sleep. Maybe I really should focus getting to bed earlier but honestly that is flat out impossible if I still want to go to CrossFit. So I must muscle through this as my schedule will not remain this way forever... thankfully. After last weeks sessions I was curious to see what Joon would throw at me today, and of course we had some skipping, rowing, and the always hated burpees. Here is what I did:

Warm-up: 500m Row
Extended Warm-up:
     x2
     50m High Knees
     50m High Skips
     50m Carioca (both ways)
     50m Side Shuffle (both ways, holding 15# bumper plate)

3 x 5:
     Squat Therapy (hands up, hands down, hands up)

5 x 2:
     Spiderman Twist

3 x 10:
     Reverse Hyperextension
     Hyperextension

5 x 3:
     Back Squat @ 135# (no pause or rest within each set)

5 x 2:
     Power Clean Pull
     Hold 5 Seconds in Hang Clean Position
     Hang Clean
(sets 1 & 2 @ 65#, set 3 @ 75#, set 4 @ 85#, and set 5 @ 90#)

10 x 2:
     Power Cleans @ 90#

5 Rounds For Time:
     100m Row
      5 Jump Over Burpees
     (completed in 8 minutes)

I always feel so accomplished after my sessions with Joon. It's not like I never push myself during a regular WOD but somehow he just knows what to get me to do to go further without even realizing it. I play such mental games with myself and it often keeps me from being able to lift a heavier weight that we know I can do. Little by little though I've been pushing through it and doing it, what a great feeling. I am really proud of myself.

There is a competition happening this month at CrossFit Hawthorne and Joon thinks Aaron and I should do it. I don't think Aaron has any interest though I think he should do it! I, on the other hand, am really interested in giving it a go but think a lack of funds will keep me from participating. What a bummer but I am sure there will be others down the road. I'll just keep working on myself so that I will be ready for one when the time comes!

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

one on one: day five

Todays session was hard but absolutely my most favorite session so far. I went into the session feeling pretty good, completely rested and energized. Tony chimed in a few times during the session to help give me pointers in how to efficiently sprint. I can't say that I mastered it yet, but I surprised myself with my sprint times. And it seems I can be quite consistent. So this is what I did today:

Warm-up: 500m Row
Extended Warm-up:
     2 x 50ft Skip / Reverse Skip
     2 x 50ft Side Skip

Conditioning:
     6 x 100m Row + 30 sec FLR 1:1 (Row times 24/25/22/22/21/20 - Overall time was 13:30)
     6 x 30 sec to perform 2 Burpees + 20m Shuttle Sprint w/ 1 min rest (Overall times 10/11/11/11/11/11)

Ballistic Movement:
     100 Sledge Hammer Tire Strikes (every 10 strikes perform 5 tire jumps)

I have to admit that the sledge hammer strikes were my most favorite movement of the day. Great to do something new and different. Joon says now that we've had a few sessions, from now on we will end every session with a little work on the goals I have written down and goals he has set for me. I am excited to attack my list of goals and can't wait to see myself achieve skills and improve overall!

one on one: day two

Let me begin this posting with an update on my health scare. This past Monday I posted about my Sunday evening trip to the ER with stomach pain. They had figured it wasn't my gallbladder or kidneys causing the pain and figured it was either an ulcer or acid reflux. Little did I know that later that evening I would end up back in the ER with even worse pain than the previous night. This time the doctor ordered an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and surrounding organs. They gave me another GI cocktail which didn't give me the immediate relief as the previous night. It did help reduce my pain to about a 5 but I was still dealing with the waves of pain, as well as nausea and back pain. So my gallbladder, kidney, pancreas, and liver was check out and all of them checked out fine. Still no definite answer but this time I left the ER with an RX for some pain meds. It's now been 4 days since my first ER visit and I can say I have had 3 full days of no pain. I am still taking the meds as I was told to and am trying to get in to see my PCP to get checked further, but I am thankful that I am no longer experiencing that god awful pain anymore.

Because I was still recovering this past Tuesday from Monday nights trip to the ER, I did not make my appointment with Joon for my official "day two" session. So technically this would be my day three, but well I won't really count it! Joon thoroughly kicked my arse today, and it probably wasn't fully intentional but he definitely proved to me how quickly I experience muscle fatigue. We worked on some plyometric movements and strength. Today's session most certainly was hard but felt really good. So here is what we did.

Warm-up: 500m row
Extended Warm-up:
     10 Shoulder Shrugs
     10 Cleans
     10 Strict Presses
     10 GHD Back Extensions (this was intimidating and hard for me- did not do full ROM)

3x: Athletic Burpees x3
      Jumping Lunges x6
      Plyo Side Lunges 20sec

4x4: Front Squat 65#
2x4: Power Clean 65#
3x3x3: Push Jerk 65#

5x for time: 
     100m row (26/23/22/22/21 sec)
     30 sec rest
     Medicine Ball Slams x10
     1 min rest
= 11:08

The GHD back extensions were challenging for me. First I had to get comfortable with the idea of lowering my upper body down and trusting that I wasn't going to fall. Once I got over that, well better at it, I found I couldn't even lower myself down very low before my hamstrings began to yell at me with such force. Those sucked! But the hardest thing I did today was the burpees, lunges, and side lunges routine. I had to keep moving without stopping and this is where I experienced my muscle fatigue. Primarily during the side lunges as I kept going my legs would give out on me and I was struggling lifting them up onto the platform. A couple of times I came close to tripping over myself. It's frustrating to want to push through but your body won't cooperate. I can not wait for the day that I get beyond this quick fatigue and can go for longer. The lifts were comfortable, didn't go super heavy, focused on technique. Front squats have been a challenge for a long time and I am just now getting better at them and increasing weight! And the last part of our time was fun and I worked hard on just pushing through the suck. With every round I improved my time on the 100m row, which I have to admit was unexpected. The medicine ball slams were also a challenge, but I did them and that is all I have to say about that.

I am officially tired and sore. Tomorrow is a holiday and I do not have to work- yay! There is only one WOD tomorrow at CFST but I think I will pass on the WOD and enjoy sleeping in. I'm sure I will be plenty sore tomorrow. :)

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

the gorilla takeover wod experience

So as you may have read previously, I volunteered over the weekend at the Gorilla Takeover that my box and another box hosted at the Portland Expo Center. During my time there I was able to watch all the WODs that the athletes had to compete in. Let's just say I did not envy them, but somewhere in the back of my head a thought popped up that maybe our coaches would torture the rest of us with the same WODs. Come Monday things at my box went back to normal and our WOD for the day was Cindy, AMRAP in 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats. I breathed a sigh of relief, and busted out 11 rounds, 5 pull-ups and 3 push-ups (I progressed since the last time I did it). My relief was short lived though, coming in Tuesday evening I found that we were going to experience WOD #1 from the Takeover. And it didn't end there, Wednesday we also experienced WOD #3. Needless to say, between these two days, my body is sore and I believe I'm feeling new muscles again!

The Gorilla Takeover WOD #1
500 meter row then...
21-15-9
Thrusters 95/65
Box Jumps 24/20
(TC 10:00)

The Gorilla Takeover WOD #3
4RFT
10 Alt KB Snatches 53/35
25 Yard Farmers Carry 140/100
2 Rope Climbs 15'
25 Yard Farmers Carry 140/100
(TC 10:00)

Scaled Version of WOD #3
4RFT
10 KB Swings 53/35
25 Yard Farmers Carry 100/80
2 Rope Climbs 15' or 8 Mod Rope Climbs
25 Yard Farmers Carry 100/80
(TC 10:00)

For the first WOD, I modified the thrusters and did push presses at 55# instead due to knee pain. And I did step ups instead of jumping. I finished in 10:30. For the third WOD I did the scaled version with the modified rope climbs and for the first time did my KB swings with 35#. I finished in 14:12. I am unable to raise my arms over my head. I feel wimpy and like a beast all in one! Unfortunately because my arms feel pretty worthless, I will not be attending today's class. And I'll be completely honest, I'm ok with missing WOD #4!

The Gorilla Takeover WOD #4
60 Double Unders
50 Wall Balls (10'/9') 20/14
40 Burpees
30 Weighted Sit-ups 20/14
20 Alt Pistol Squats
10 Handstand Push-ups
20 Alt Pistol Squats
30 Weighted Sit-ups 20/14
40 Burpees
50 Wall Balls (10'/9') 20/14
60 Double Unders
(TC 25:00)

So now having the opportunity to experience what the athletes did this past weekend gives me a whole new appreciation for what some people can do. Our bodies are so capable of amazing things, with the right training, nutrition, and mental preparedness... we can achieve anything. This whole experience solidifies my effort in my sugar challenge. Because if I want to be able to do what these athletes did by next year, I have to be on top of my game.

This photo was found on Pinterest.