Back to the grind

Started my first day of 2nd semester yesterday - already flooded with homework.  On the first day?  Cmon.  What happened to syllabus week??  Also was fortunate enough to land an internship at Atlantic Records - starts this Friday.  Needless to say my life is about to get pretty hectic.

Anyways, CFV was hosting a cert yesterday and continuing today, so I got my WODs on at the NYU gym:

1/19 -

11am
Deadlifts
5x5 @ #165 (just over 50% of max)
3x3 @ #225 (should have gone heavier)
3x1 @ #300

On the 5x5 and 3x3 sets, I was going for speed.  Cranked the reps out as quickly as I could while keeping good form (done in front of a mirror).  I know speed deadlifting at lighter weight is key to raising my 1RM (which is currently pathetic).  Should have gone heavier on the #225 - felt super, super light.

4pm
2k Row
7:36 (PR)

Slowly getting better at rowing.  Still tops my suck list, but starting to feel more comfortable on the machine.  Paced this well - started to pick up the pace at 500m left.  All out sprint at 250m

1/20

Bench
1x5 @ #135
1x5 @ #165
1x5 @ #185
1x2 @ #210 (PR)

Bigtime PR for me.  The 2nd rep of #210 was quite the struggle, but I eventually got it locked out at the top.  I'm really impressed with the strides I have made on the bench press over the last couple of months...now if it could only translate to increased push up strength...

Tabata KB Swings
10, 9, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9

Done in front of a mirror to make sure I was locking out with a straight handle at the top.  Good to work on these - need as much help as I can get locking out my swings

Tabata Squats
19, 18, 18, 16, 16, 16, 17, 19

Diet for yesterday:
Breakfast - 1 egg, 2 egg whites, 1 salmon patty, broccoli, cashews
Post-wod - dried pears
Lunch - 2 bowls of paleo chili, banana
Snack - beef jerky, cashews
Dinner - 2 chicken sausages, broccoli, cashews

Diet for today so far:
Breakfast - protein shake, cashews, carrots
Post-wod - dried pears
Lunch - 1 chicken breast and assorted seafood w/ salsa, broccoli, spinach, mixed raw nuts

Lets hear it for New York

Just got back to the the Big Apple today, and about to begin my second semester at NYU.  It was really great being home the last two weeks - I got to do nothing all day and WOD with my favorite people at night.  Heaven.

However, I  was very exited to return to Crossfit Virtuosity today and get back to East Coast WOD'ing.   Crossfit South Brooklyn is closed, so Virtuosity was flooded with BK'ers looking for some competitive action.  Needless to say, I wasn't feeling 100% today from the get go.  This could have resulted from a) a long travel day, b) just having an 'off' day, or c) the ribs and chocolate cake I had last night.  Lets not point any fingers.

Started off with 5x5 back squat.  Normally my favorite lift, I fell well below my expectations.  Failing at #245 after the 3rd rep did not make me a happy camper.  Dropped down to #230 and finished the remaining sets of 5 at that weight.  Just wasn't mentally there for these today.  Oh well, on to the metcon.

3 rounds of:
21 push press #95
15 double unders
9 pull ups

5:49

Semi-satisfied with my time.  I was making great time until the last set of double unders.  Normally a skill I am quite proficient at, I completely fell apart.  Just couldn't find my rythm on that last set.  First round was completely unbroken.  All pull ups unbroken.  Good to be back in NYC - looking forward to more CFSBK competitiveness.

Diet for the day:
Breakfast - 3 eggs, 1 avocado, 1 apple
Lunch - Bag of beef jerky, almonds
Pre-wod - Deli turkey, cashews, carrots
Post-wod - Dried pears
Dinner - 2.5 bowls of paleo chili

Anticipation...

Really excited about tonights workout - couldn't even wait until after the WOD to start blogging.  Gonna hit it hard tonight:

25-20-15-10-5 of
KBS (heavy)
Box jump
Wall ball

Honestly I have no idea what time to shoot for with this WOD.  Sub 10?  Who knows.  I'm gonna be swinging the big daddy 2 pood, and he usually takes control about halfway through a workout.  The hardest part of this WOD for me will be keeping the kb upright at the top of the swing.  Need the coaches to be on my ass about this tonight (ehem, Jonny).  Can't have any of this going on...

Diet for the day so far...
Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 egg whites, fresh fruit, almonds
Snack - beef jerky

F*ck Deadlifts

Crossfit Total tonight - 755.  Breakdown:

Back Squat - #285

Shoulder Press - #145

Deadlift - #325

Not very happy with this.  All three were previous PR's.  I've had that deadlift PR for almost a year.  Might have gotten #335 or #345, but I attempted #350 three times and failed all three.  Couldn't move the bar past my shins.   I'm the definition of stripper deadlifting.  Even after tips from Rudy and Bryce, the Flip Cam didn't lie - my hips shoot up as soon as I begin to lift the weight.  Shooting my hips up takes away most, if not all, my power away from my legs and engages my lower back almost 100%.  Not good.  Need to work on driving my heels into the ground, keeping my chest big, and PICKING THE F*CKING WEIGHT UP OFF THE GROUND.  Sorry, I'm just a bit peeved about this.

Had some good support from Kerry, Tim, Bryce, and everyone else in the gym.  I think I need to channel my old girlfriend, Jolie.  A private session or two on how to avoid the stripper deadlift should do the trick.

Diet for the day:

Breakfast - 4 eggs, apple, grapes, sunflower butter, 4800mg fish oil

Lunch - Chicken, broccoli, carrots

Pre-wod - Muscle Milk

Post-wod - Muscle Milk, dried pears, beef jerky

Dinner - Chicken w/ spicy mustard, brussel sprouts, apple, sunflower butter, 4800mg fish oil

Back to business...round 2

Just got back from a 4 day long trip to Denver to visit my sister.  Ran out of jerky, nuts and dried fruit within the first day - not off to a great start.  Overall, however, I'm quite impressed with the diet I maintained over the course of the trip.  Other than one large cheat meal (half pound bison burger w/ gorgonzola, beer-battered mushrooms, fries, and over-the-top amounts of ketchup), I remained relatively paleo w/ a few unavoidable exceptions (dressing on salad split w/ family, regular mayo instead of organic, etc).  Even in Breckenridge, where I spent two days skiing, I was able to keep paleo on the mountain with pulled pork (no sauce), beef w/ veggies, fruit and nuts.  However, I should mention that I was extremely hungry after my flight home.  Shortly after arriving at my parents house in Wilmette, I quickly remembered that nothing, and I mean nothing, is open nearby at 10:30pm on Monday.  Desperate for sustenance (and too lazy to drive long distances), I opened the freezer.  Turkey meatballs.  Ingredients at bottom of package - turkey, breadcrumbs, sugar, yadda yadda yadda....and the kicker - CONTAINS WHEAT AND GLUTEN.  I ate 7 of them.  

For those of you who check my facebook profile, you've probably seen the picture I posted of the newly renovated 'core performance' gym at the Sheraton.  I walk in and to my left the entire wall is lined with mirrors - completely with sleeveless guidos staring at their biceps as they curled up #30 dumbbells.  I chuckle to myself and move on.  Dumbbells, elliptical, treadmills, and shiny, complicated weight training machines.  NOT ONE SINGLE BARBELL.   I repeat.  Not one barbell...save for the one attached to the machine (I really don't know how to describe it - its a barbell that slides up and down two poles - if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about).  I'm about to give up, but then I see some foam rollers and a jump rope.  A breath of fresh air.  Didn't have a stopwatch with me for any workouts.  The three workouts completed at hotel gym...

On Friday...
45 OH walking lunges
21 pull ups
30 OH walking lunges
15 pull ups
18 OH walking lunges
9 pull ups
weight used #45 plate

On Sunday...

3 rounds of:

30 double unders

#135 bench press (#155 was RXd, but did not have a spotter and was new to the 'sliding barbell machine' so I scaled back)

On Monday...

5 rounds of:

20 double unders

10 burpees

Workouts weren't terrible considering I was in a crowded hotel gym with a sh*tty jump rope.  Couldn't get much weight training in w/out a freestanding barbell, so I worked on HSPU and regular handstands before each WOD.

Saturday and Sunday morning I went skiing at Breckenridge w/ my sister and one of my best friends.  This was my second time skiing as a crossfitter - it really has paid off.  While it may not have been the best idea to do 93 weighted lunges the day before skiing, my legs held up particularly well.  But where I really noticed the difference was in my core.  I was able to maintain the ski position for much longer periods of time than in the past, and really felt my core engaging on each turn.

Anyways, I'm back in Chicago and ready to get back to business at the gym.  At this time, I'm not going to participate in Crossfit Chicago's Strict Paleo Challenge.  The Northeast Sectionals are almost a month after CFC's in the Midwest region - I will most likely go strict paleo 30 days out from my qualifiers.  However, I'll be eating as paleo as I can with minimal cheats up until that time.

All aboard!  

Back to business

Just finished a 4 day long bender in the big apple with Mango and Coach.  I'm pretty sure the stuff we got into knocked a year or two off our lives, but it was most definitely worth it.  Ate like crap, partied all night, great time overall.  But now, its back to business as usual and training for sectionals.

It's great to kick off the new year back home in Chicago for the rest of my winter break.  Went back to CFC tonight and received a warm welcome from all of my friends.  It's good to be back home.

Worked on jerks tonight, and its a good thing too - jerk are one of my weakest areas.  Took my 1 rep max, which is #200, added 5 pounds to that, and took 90% of that weight which turned out to be #184.5.  Worked 3x3x3+ @ 70%/80%/90% of #184.5.  Weights were #130, #147.5, and #167 respectively.  Push jerked the first two sets - my push jerk is weaker than my split jerk so I figured I'd get some work in on those while the weight was still on the lighter side.  My split jerks with #167 felt really strong - I ended up with 6 on the last set.  My splits were nice and long - usually this is one of my biggest problems.  Felt really solid - eager to try and find a new 1RM.

Worked handstand pushups for 3 sets max reps with 1 min rest in between sets.  Ended with 5, 2, 3.  Used a mat - HSPU are bigtime on my sucklist.

WOD
4 rounds of
15 push presses #87 (60% of my 1RM strict press)
15 pull ups
5:09

WOD felt awesome.  First two rounds unbroken.  Hit a wall on the third set which was the most broken out of all four.  PP's were 5, 5, 5.  Pull ups were 8, 7.  Fourth round of PP's were 8, 7 (thanks to Bryce yelling in my ear) and pull ups were very scattered.  Very long wrist tightness after this workout - I'm clearly overgripping.

Diet for the day -
Breakfast - 3 eggs, 3 slices turkey bacon, 1 avocado, grapes
Lunch - Chicken w/ spicy mustard, 1 apple, 1 red pepper, hummus, almonds
Snack - Beef jerky, cashews
Pre-wod - Muscle milk
Post- wod - Beef jerky, dried pears
Dinner - Chicken w/ spicy mustard, broccoli, celery, grapes, strawberries, beef jerky, cashews

Need more veggies!