Butterflies everywhere

Had a short and sweet wod, slowly re-introducing the run:

3 rounds

400m run

100' Overhead lunge

12 pull ups

I had a really, really hard time pushing myself through this one. Throughout the workout I had Jerry in the back of my mind telling me how I need to keep pushing myself, but I just didn't feel like I had anything in the tank. Again I was one of the last to finish, this really has got to stop.

I also feel the need to point out why I was going so slow: I was engaging my abs. I used to run with my abs relaxed, relying on my lower back and hip flexors to do the job. This time I made a concerted effort to keep them contracted the whole time. I also had a tendency to relax the abs and arch my back with the lunges. Again, I had to really fight to keep my core tight and the sensation of stretching my abs while keeping them tight was exhausting as well as really unfamiliar.

However, my treat after running an lunging was an opportunity to work on the butterfly kip. This time, I think something really started to click. I was able to get three-four in a row, and the second to last rep in each set really started to feel fluid. I'm surprised at how much I have to use my biceps, but I think that's because my form isn't perfect and I'm not utilising my hips as much as I can. I still need to find a rhythm, I think I'm going to fast so I hold my legs back a little too long, so when I kick back out I'm already at the bottom of the hang. Mellisa told me the cycle rate is a lot faster than what I'm used to, so I simply need to keep those legs moving. Will remember this for next time, but I really feel like I'm making gains on this. I'm still not getting my chest to the bar, but I'm getting closer and closer. ...On the very last rep I used the standard kip, and I easily brought my chest to the bar. Seems like working on the butterfly is also helping me with the regular kip.

There was an extra workout that involved double unders. I tried to do them, but I really couldn't get it together. Again, I couldn't find a rhythm. Now, I know I have rhythm, I'm not your average white guy who couldn't hold a beat with a bucket. I used to play the string bass, and if you're able to count out 15 meters of rest in Stravinsky's Firebird that's in 5/8 time you have to have a sense of rhythm. I just need to find the right beat to jump to, and hopefully that's all I need to do.

Saturday workout, improving the butterfly

I was really not feeling it after last night, have not drank in a long time, and now I know why. Feel very Bleh, but I knew I'd feel better after the workout:

10 Snatch, 10 lateral burpees, 10 C-t-b pullups, 10 Thrusters, 10 lateral burpees, 10 C-t-b pullups, 10 Clean and jerk, 10 lateral burpees, 10 C-t-b pullups

I used the porch weight of 95#. I really didn't feel strong, and the real reason why I wanted to do this one was to work on the butterfly. I thought to do the first set butterfly attempt and then move on, but I was so close I wanted to keep going with it. For the second to last set I started to feel something click. I've got a long way to go, but I feel like I've improved a lot since the beginning of this week.

First friday, Annie (PR) and Elizabeth

So I did Annie again, wanted to see how my double unders were faring. I kept thinking I could get away with an efficient hop, but for some reason I couldn't get high enough. I had to resort to an inefficient hop, one where I raise my feet by bending my knees. It wears me out like all get out, but it was the only way. I broke my DU PR by five, getting up to 26 DU's in a row. However, during the middle of the workout one of the end pieces of the rope flew off. This caused me to stop, run over to get another rope, and adjust the length of it. This added over a minute, but even with this extra time I did it in 11:04, two minutes faster than last time. All in all I'm pretty happy.

Since Annie is such a quick, non-strength wod I thought to add on Elizabeth, a wod I've been eying for a couple of months now. I tried doing it Rx'd, but after squat clean #3 I failed twice, so I scaled down to 95#. I wanted to really work on technique, both the hook grip and diving under the bar. I also wanted to improve keeping the core tight while in the squat position. I think I accomplished all of this. The ring dips were really, really tough. I haven't done them in a while, I never really felt like I did one really correctly: Elbows tight to the body, chest all the way down to the rings, etc. My time was 15:41. It's a start.

First friday social was awesome. I'm tired of people seeing me in my causal clothes from work or in my workout clothes, so I decided to dress it up a bit. Good times.

Rest day

Another Thursday, another day of rest. Looking forward to tomorrow, thinking about doing Annie in the morning, and some other wod in the afternoon. Busy day tomorrow.

Another Fran, another PR

Learned this morning that the wod was Fran.

I was so nervous throughout the day. I kept thinking about it, how so many xfitters use Fran to judge others. I want to be taken seriously, and I feel like I need a sub 4 Fran to be truly impressive. I kept telling myself that I needed to view this as an opportunity to prove how much stronger I've gotten. But I really couldn't I just worried that I haven't gotten stronger, which is retarded. I mean, my hips are now much better, my rack is still shacky but improved. I was still worried about the pull ups, but not as much as those damn thrusters.

So it comes time to workout, and I'm still a bit nervous. I grab the bar and bang out the first 21 thrusters without dropping the bar, albeit I took frequent rests in the rack position. I planned for the pull ups to be done in three sets of seven, but that turned into four sets of 5-5-5-6. However, something started to click, and I could really start to feel pushing away from the bar to get a rhythm, and because I did such a great job making tape grips my hands didn't feel like the bar was ripping them apart.

The second set was done three sets of five thrusters, that really, really hurt.

The pull ups were done 5-5-5, not really a problem there.

As I went back to my barbell, I looked over at the clock, and it read something like 5:05. That was a mistake. I definitely had the thought, "wow, I'm doing so well I can take a bit of a rest." I was able to get my ass back into gear, but there was definitely a moment where I didn't feel that pressure to really push myself even harder. I did the last nine thrusters with a couple pauses to gulp down air. My core was really, really begging me to stop, but I've been getting better and better at telling it to shut up and do it's job.

I don't know if I got the last 9 pull ups in a row, but I do know that if I took a break it was like 2 seconds, a real hop down and hop back up.

When I was done the clock read 7:19. Last time I did Fran four months ago I made my goal to get a sub 7 Fran. Now I want a sub 4 Fran. At this rate, I'll be there next year.

Every time I have done Fran I have broken a record. This is a tradition I can get used to.

Clean one rep max

So Tuesday's wod was find our one rep max, and I loved it.

I learned something very important in the warm up. Mellisa mentioned that we should use the hook grip for the clean, and I thought we should only use the hook grip for the snatch. That's a little embarrassing considering that I attended the Oly cert.

Anywho, during the warm up, I had issues racking the weight, and this proved prophetic.

My goal was to break the 200# barrier, and I did so with ease, like ten minutes in. And it was a real power clean too, almost no squatting involved. It went up so easily I thought it would be ok to bump it up to 225.

That was a mistake.

I got the bar up to my shoulders, I just couldn't get the rack right. The bar kind of bounced off my shoulders/chest and fell to the ground. It was so close I went two more times, and had the same result.

I backed it down to 205, and missed that one as well. My speed strength was still there, so I went down to 195 and got it. However when I look at the video I notice that I pull early. I used to do that (it helped set off the tendonitis), so it looks like I'm just a little rusty. When I think about how effortless the clean used to be, how I had such hip extension Chriss joked he could feel it six feet away. I just need a little bit to get the rust off.

My shoulder felt it a little, think I might go see Dr. Bills and see if he can work on that pebble that is in my shoulder. That sucker is as hard as a rock, I can feel it popping out and around the pressure I apply.

I fully expect to get 225 next time, i've got the strength, I just need to incorporate the hook grip and get back to thinking of my arms as straps.

Very happy about this.

OHS running and lateral burbees

Again we had a WOD that was a variation on the first exercise for the MAC hopper challenge. This time we did running instead of push ups. Because of the weather we haven't ran in a long time, but it felt good/bad to get back out there and run.

400m run
15 OHS (Elite @ 115), Lateral burbees
400m run
12 OHS and Lat Burbees
400m run
9 OHS and Lat Burbees

Did this in 16:something. Still wouldn't have made the 15 minute cut off, which is a little frustrating. However, I learned a lot about myself when it comes to OHS's. I didn't have a problem for the first set, but I had great difficulty with the second set. After the first rep I found it so difficult I thought about lowering the weight. Then I calmed down a bit, and told myself I could do it. I had to break it up two more times, but I did it. Then I learned what my problem was in the last round.

The difficult part for me isn't keeping core tension or leg strength, it's keeping active shoulder. Once I figured that out I was much more successful, and did the last 7 without problem.

I should've remembered that active shoulder should be the thing to focus on, since that is the first to go when I try my 1 rep max. Regardless, I shall store this into my memory bank and will remember for next time.

My lateral burbees were great at first, but then my form quickly degraded. I haven't been doing the push ups as frequently as I should, hopefully this week will be different. After this wod I tried to do the butterfly kip but it was an epic fail. In a perfect world, I will try to come into the gym in the morning to work on skill, and then do the wod in the afternoon. We'll see if I'm able to get this done, although I doubt it.

I have been doing a good job on rolling out that pebble of a knot in my shoulder. The sucker really doesn't want to give at all, but I will leave it no choice: either it quits or I will quit. And I ain't quitting.