Must Find Motivation!

I know it's been a while since I have updated. With my crazy schedule for the holidays along with battling this cold that won't seem to GO AWAY, I haven't been able to dedicate the time. I know some of you were wondering how the competition went.  Lets just say some of it was good.

First off, being surrounded by so many CraicHeads is incredible. I have never met such a dedicated and inspiring group. Even for ones that weren't competing who made the drive, you complete me. I love how at every competition, we are the largest and loudest group. I love it! We spread our infectious ways faster than a zombie outbreak. With a little less blood as well.

CraicHeads!

I found out what the WODS were a couple of days ahead of time. Nothing really scared me, but I knew I would have difficulty with some of the movements. This was a non-firebreather competition. Meaning the people competing are training for life. Firebreathers are the ones you see on ESPN.  They are also the ones who don’t seem to feel pain, or at least they don’t allow it to stop them, or even slow them down. After this competition the only thing I have in common with a firebreather is I don't allow the pain to stop me. We'll get to that later.

WOD 1- "The Mayflower"

21-15-9

Hang Power Cleans 95#

Lateral Burpees over the Bar

10 minute cap

6:03

25th place

An okay time. Lets put it this way, I knew I had no chance of winning this competition with this time. It had to be under 4 minutes to be able to compete. Plus, when I saw  Paul Teehan walk into the box the other day saying he was in the competition. I knew I was fighting for second place. In case you forgot, this is Paul...

Funny because the night before I was talking to the Caveman about strategy and how realistically you should be able to do this WOD in 3 minutes. Yea sure, maybe if you are an elite athlete. I might look like I might be good, but I suck harder than a pro am on her first casting couch.  I was right about the time though. Everyone who was in contention finished close to that prediction.  I knew I never had a chance when I saw burpees listed. I really knew I didn't have a chance when I went through the motions of the WOD the day before. Looking back on it maybe I shouldn't have done that. I think I mentally fucked myself by realizing I was gonna suck at this WOD before I had a chance to do it for the competition.  I called the Caveman immediately after and said, "We are fucked on the 1st WOD!"

Yes that's me sucking at Lateral Burpees!

Paul and how you are supposed to do a Lateral Burpee!

Now the 2nd WOD! Oh baby this is what I was waiting for. I get to lift heavy!

WOD 2- "Myles Standish"

 5min

5 rep max Front Squat in 25 secs (25 seconds start when bar leaves ground)

Immediately following the 5 minutes, Max jump rope passes in 90 seconds.

This is a separate scored workout.  Triple Unders= 3 points, Double Unders=2 points, Single Unders=1 point

215#  5 rep max Front Squat

146 points Jump Ropes

5th Place!!!!

I knew I was going to do well with this one. You had to power clean or squat clean the bar up before starting your reps on the front squat. I've been able to power clean 215# for a while now so I knew no matter what I was going to get at least 205#. I also knew that I would be near the top. It's not easy cleaning that much weight off the floor. I had to figure most people would have trouble with it. I game played here a little bit. I wanted to only have 3 chances before resting for the jump ropes. I knew my legs were toast from the burpees and I needed to conserve as much energy as possible.  So I went heavy right away.  I didn't want to fuck around with warm up weight and have no time left.  185# was my first attempt and then I did 205# right away.  I had plenty of time left so I was only going to attempt 215# once whether I made it or not.  Super psyched that I was able to do this. The video below is my attempt at 215#. At the end you see my left hand slip off and kind of slap me in the face. Ha! Ha! I held the bar up there for an eternity with one arm. It seemed like forever till the judge called that last rep. I was gonna be pissed if it didn't count.

I decided to do double unders for the second part of the WOD. I haven't done them in a while so my timing wasn't spot on like it has been in the past. I was doing okay for a but, but my legs were killing me. With 30 seconds left I switched to singles and my total score was 146. I was thinking afterward that if I just did singles to begin with I probably could have cranked out at least 200 points. I don't think in the end it would have mattered much. 5th place on the Front Squat is awesome!

215#

Paul crushing it at 245#  Bastard!

Now the dreaded 3rd WOD! Looks pretty straightforward on paper.

WOD 3- "Squanto's Revenge"

Run 300 meters

5 rounds

9 Deadlift @185#
12 Box Jumps @24 inches

15 Wall Balls @20# with a 10 foot target

Run 300 meters

20 minute time cap

DNF

(Did Not Finish)

I can run 300 meters without gassing myself so I didn't mind that.

Girls always run faster than me.

Deadlifts are right in my wheelhouse, especially at that weight.  

Oh Baby! My favorite movement.

Box Jumps, Uh Oh! I knew at some point these were going to kill me and slow me down immensely. 

This is in reference to any WOD with Box Jumps. Notice no picture of me here...

Wall Balls, only 15 at a time. I can do those. I knew they would be tough toward the end, but doable. 

Obviously before my back said FUCK YOU!

I was hoping to fall into the 13 to 15 minute category time wise. Oh Boy was I way off.  At some point during my second round of Box Jumps something happened to my lower back.  Not really sure, but I was in pain. Badly. True to Tony No Bread fashion I kept going. I could barely stand up on the box to complete my reps. Wall Balls became super painful as my range of motion became non-existent and the Deadlifts just hurt. At this point I was in my own world. My back was killing me and I couldn't hear anyone or anything except my judge. I vaguely heard Mike Power saying something about not being stupid, but as we discussed later no one was going tell me to stop and no one would have stopped if the positions were reversed.  In some fucked up way I still thought I could finish in time. I believe I ended up being 9 Wall Ball reps and the last 300 meter run from finishing.  I don't know what hurt more at that point. My back or my pride. TNB let out a little cry after that one. 

In the end I wasn't really happy. I mean I pretty much knew where I would finish with each WOD. I have enough experience in the past year to know what my strengths and weaknesses are.  No real surprises. Just the fact that I couldn't finish that last WOD. I was so mad and disappointed. I actually felt like I let the CraicHouse down.  I hurt my back and I feel like I was kicked in the balls. I am having a really hard time getting motivated again. It's now been almost a week since I have worked out. Partly because of my back, but also because I am mentally handicapped because of my finish.  I know there were some highlights in there for me. The 2nd WOD finishing 5th and the fact that I never quit. Still doesn't make me feel any better though.

On another note the CraicHouse kicked some serious ass! Of course Paul Teehan came in 1st Place in Men's Rx, but we also had Sara McEvoy win the Woman's Rx with Shazam coming in 3rd and in the battle of The Yardhouse, Ed came in 2nd over Daniels in 3rd in the Men's Scaled division.  Here is CrossFit Providence's Recap. The CraicHeads were all over the standings. I am very proud of everyone and would like to thank our coaches John, Glen, Sara and Jarrod for making us better physically and mentally everyday. If it wasn't for you guys we wouldn't be able to crush all of these other CrossFit Boxes!

Till next time....

Teehan showing off the goods. This picture depresses me! Ha Ha

Throwdown!

I haven't been able to update in the last couple of days. I have been too busy, but I will catch up and post the two WODS I did.

I have been taking it kind of easy this week because today I am doing my first competition. Woo Hoo! Turkey Throwdown held at Crossfit Providence. I am nervous and excited at the same time. My plan is not to embarrass myself. I will update sometime tomorrow.

Get Some!

I'd rather be running.

Today's WOD was a quick burner. It also brought back memories of Winter rowing. Now everyone should know by now how much I hate running, but I forgot how much more I hate rowing. I just can't win. My knees always seem to swell up when I row. It's gonna take some time to get used to again, but I am gonna just have to push through it and continue with the rebuilding of my legs. Maybe it would be easier to just buy new ones. At one point during the WOD I actually thought that I'd rather be running.

WOD
3 Rounds for time
Row 250m
15 Push Press 115#

6:52 Rx

This was not a time that I was happy with.  Besides my affinity for rowing, the push presses would harder than I thought. I always seem to have trouble with heavy weight on Monday workouts. I don't know if it's a combination of taking the weekend off and not being warmed up or the fact that on the weekends I work, which was this past one I lift hundreds of cases of beer.  I would actually like to try this one again. I believe that I should definitely be sub 6 minutes on this.

Just like Iceland Annie, Lego Men smile while they row!

My Eyes Were Bigger than My Mouth!

When I was a kid I would go out to eat with my family and I would order a ton of food and I would never be able to finish what I ordered. It was always a bit too much. That's what today's WOD felt like to me.

WOD

Run 400m

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlift – you pick the weight
Pullups
 Run 400m

19:23

Running, blah! Deadlifts and Pull Ups, Gooood!  I get to pick my weight? Excellent. Oops!

I flirted with the idea of 315# for the deads. Why, I'm not sure. I was channeling my inner TapeFactory and I really wanted to set the bar high.  I quickly realized that I have done these schemes before and although it looks easy, that weight gets heavy real quick. I put on 225# and it felt light so I threw on 20 more for a total of 245#.  Johnny Deadlift came over and told me that if I want to get faster this is not the way to do it. Strength is not my problem. It's conditioning. I told him I felt that 245# would work for me. He then said if that's the case, make sure I do everything unbroken.  He knew I would be miserable.

The WOD started off great. I tried to set a comfortable pace on my first 400m run and I came in through the door first at 1:40 seconds. Exactly where I wanted to be. The first 10 Deadlifts were easy as well as the first 10 Pull Ups. Round 9 went similar. On round 8 I had to focus more and I could tell that I was going to be in trouble.  My energy levels were quickly being zapped. Round 7 sucked balls! At this point I was taking a lot of extra time between sets so I could finish everything unbroken at least. Oh why, oh why don't I listen??? 

I was disappointed with myself at the end. I really thought I could blast through this WOD in 15 minutes or less. I like to lift heavy and I think it's hurting my progress at this point. I talked with John later that night and we agreed that I need to focus more on lighter weights to help bring my conditioning up to speed. From now on Johnny Deadlift calls the shots. I am not even going to think about it. When I walk through that door he's just going to tell me what to do and I am going to listen. End of story. Hopefully it get me to where I think I should be and sooner than later.

Oh and we finished up with a 100 sit ups afterwards. Those were fun....

What I see when I look up at Johnny Deadlift!

Kick That Goat!

If he did CrossFit he could kick it harder!

Strength workout today! Yea! I love these days. Oh Shit! Squat snatches and a 1 rep max OverHead Squats. Um, maybe I should pass...

Skill/Strength: Squat Snatch

 65#

 

Strength: OverHead Squat 1-1-1-1-1

 

135# PR!!!

In the past I totally would have skipped this workout and by the look of the board today, it looked like a few of my fellow CraicHeads did. I have said it before and I'll say it again, but I'm not going to get any better at something if I keep avoiding it.  Especially one of my biggest Goats, OverHead Squats. 

 

I look at it as voting. I have had heated arguments with people about politics and candidates and at the end of the conversation I continually find out that most of these people don't vote. Shut the F up! Your opinion doesn't matter to me.  Just like I can't feel compelled to cry about not being able to do a movement if I never put any effort into it. I can't complain about if I don't do it.  So now that I went today, let me complain....  :)

Squat Snatches... Oh man I had a tough time with them. I just can't get my head into the movement. I don't know if it's my limited range of motion or just a fear of sucking at something.  I only worked up to 65# because I just wanted to work the movement. I didn't do very well.  I have a new Goat now. JOY! Add it to the list.

Oh Baby! OHS not my favorite movement, but I have been making an effort to work on them and I think it payed off today.  1 rep max, 135# Never in a million years would I have thought I could ever do this. With my junky shoulders and mental blocks I would have been happy to continue to use the bar, but what good would that do? I had written down that my 1 rep max was 125# before, but I know that I didn't get my butt down toward the ground on that. Since that's the case 95# was my 1 rep max. I crushed it! It felt really good to get it done. Johnny Deadlift was nice enough to take a video of my PR. 

 

Check it out!

P.S. Bite me Ray!  <--- New TapeFactory for a few movements.

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun.

WOD 1 and WOD 2

I was looking forward to today's WOD or should I say WODS.  They both looked easy, but if there is one thing you learn real quick with CrossFit is that no workout is ever easy.

WOD 1
10 min amrap
5 Pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

9 rounds + 4 reps

Rest 5 mins

WOD 2
10 min amrap
Run 200
10 KB swings 70

4 rounds + 1 run

 

Both WODS are pretty basic and are simple. This is more about pacing for myself and not about strength. My focus was on being consistent. The problem is that I get so bored mentally with these type of WODS. They seem so repetitive to me that I tend to lose focus which in turn makes me lose count and I just wait for the time to finish.  WOD 1 is only half of a benchmark workout called "Cindy" which is 20 minutes total of the same movements.  I would need a professional counter and Johnny Deadlift holding a bamboo stick whacking me every so often to keep me motivated.

WOD 2 I had nothing in the tank for. My legs where just jello from the air squats. I literally saw an old man on a lark drive past me on one of my runs. The KB swings were  a nice break. Those were pretty easy for me. I really need to work on my running. It's getting to a point where I am starting to mentally fuck myself even before I begin.

I need to buy this shirt!

Heavy Days are Here Again

I am liking it. Once again today's workout focused on strength with a mix of skill work.

Tabata Hollow Holds

Skill: Toes to Bar

Strength: Shoulder Press 5-5-5-5-5
Max effort bar dips in between each set

15 minute cap

Rest exactly 3 mins between efforts

 145# / 13 reps

First off anything Tabata sucks. Choosing Hollow Holds as the Tabata. Pure Evil.  I joked around halfway through them that if this was my first day at CrossFit I wouldn't come back. 4 minutes of hell! It's funny because I dread doing anything Tabata, yet I kind of like the torture. The results are great as well. Painful, but worth it.

Tabata's follow this structure:

• Push Hard for 20 Seconds
• Rest for 10 Seconds
• Repeat this Eight Times
• Totally 4 minutes

We then went right into strict shoulder presses. The last time I did shoulder presses I did a 5 x 5 which equaled 25 reps @135# for each set.  The difference with this one is that I had to increase my weight on each set along with max effort dips also.  The dips were a killer. Totally sucked any extra energy I had in reserve. My sets went as the following:

• shoulder press 5 reps @95# / Max effort dips 13 reps
• 5 reps @115# / 11 reps
• 5 reps @125# / 10 reps
• 5 reps @135# / 7 reps
• 5 reps @145# / 7 reps 

Pretty happy with my weight. 145# is a lot of weight for 5 reps. I was shooting for at least 135# and I  honestly thought that with the dips thrown in there that there was no way I could achieve that. The 3rd set was pretty tiring. I had to walk out a few times so I could focus. Some days I can get distracted pretty easily with my surroundings. When that happens I tend to fail more often then not. I'm getting better at it though. I can recognize early on when it's happening. The only question is if I can reel it in in time.

Johnny Deadlift/Playboy then threw in a 10 minute 100 Toes to Bar to finish. Ugh!  First off I could barely hold myself up on the bar after doing a 145#'s for 5 reps. Plus, I did a 100 T2B a few weeks ago with Glen. Not exactly my idea of a good time, but I welcomed it anyway. I decided to do kipping T2B the whole time. I did have delusions of attempting to finish in the time limit, but I knew between 40 and 50 that I was taking too much time. I was having a tough time hanging onto the bar. I stopped at 70 and left it at that. That's 70 more than nothing. My flabs hurt...

Still pushing for Tabata Beer Chugs...

My Kind of Day

Oh Baby! I saw today's WOD and I was psyched. I really love heavy lifting days. I do well with them and they always make me feel good about myself and today was no different.

Skill/Strength: Squat Clean

15 mins to work to a heavy single

 205#

Strength: Front Squat 1-1-1-1-1

The weight of your first Front Squat should equal your heaviest Squat Clean

15min cap

 265#

I knew that my squat clean would fall somewhere between 205# and 215#.  My 1 rep max is still at 215#. I am still chasing that elusive 225# mark. With only 15 minutes to work I knew I wouldn't have time to attempt a PR.  205# at the 15 minute mark.  I was right where I thought I would be. What was great about it was that I shared a bar with Dork and Jack.  I love lifting with those guys because they motivate me to another level. We all have our strengths, but when it comes to lifting heavy it helps to have these Manimals with ya. 

Front Squats. I made sure I stretched out my wrists well beforehand. In the past I have either forgotten or started too late. With my flexibility still not there yet, it can become quite painful without proper stretching.  My last 1 rep max front squat was 245# I PR'd it by 20#!  265#!  Oh Baby!  I was super happy. Dork and I kept pushing each other and that helped me a great deal. We both attempted 275# a few times, but failed halfway. Oh well. I really can't complain too much. Overall one of my best days in weeks. Feel motivated again.

Dork

Chipper

And that is what I did. Saw this WOD last night and I wanted to do it, but I didn't. On paper the WOD didn't look bad except for that first part . Burpees!!!!

WOD

 50 Burpees
40 Situps
30 Jumping lunges
20 Pushups
10 Pullups (Chest 2 Bar)

6:58 Rx plus

I have to say I was pretty happy with my time. I could definitely improve, but overall I was right there. I was able to blast through the first 25 burpees pretty easily and then it went to shit, but it went the way I thought it would because I know I suck at burpees.  25/6/4/5/5/5 Ugh! I hate them! I knew if I could just get past the burpees I could breeze through the rest of the WOD. The sit ups weren't bad. For some reason I stopped at 25 and I had a bit of trouble getting my momentum back. The jumping lunges weren't as bad as I envisioned. 20/10  They used to kill me back in the day.  Sometimes those Goats fall off the mountain. Who knew? Push ups were easy, but again I broke them up for no apparent reason. 10/5/5  I could have substituted Handstand Push Ups here, but I'm no there yet. Well, at least for 20 reps. I could have done them, but it would have taken forever. I did PR with 4 reps earlier in the class. Getting there. The Chest to Bar pull ups were a little tough. I gave myself two no reps as I didn't hit the bar with my hairy chest. 

I had fun with this one. My recovery afterward was awful. My cold has moved to my chest and it felt like it was going to blow up after. It burned badly. Took about 20 minutes to recover. 

File that under.... COLDS SUCK!

Fight Through!

Had a tough time at the CraicHouse today. I don't know if it's the cold I am fighting off or I'm just perpetually tired, muscle wise.  When I saw today's WOD I figured I would do well, but I just didn't seem to have it.

3 rounds
Run 200m
5 Hang Power Clean @60% of the weight used for Strength work
10 push ups
15 Toes to bar

12 min cap

 9:18 Rx

Before we did the WOD we did some strength work beforehand. 

Hang Power Clean
Work to a weight for the following:
1rep on every 3rd min for 15min

185#

Figured no problem. I power cleaned 215# the other day like it was nothing. I thought I would be able to do at least 205# for 5 reps in 15 minutes. Nope. I knew right away that today was going to be a struggle. 185# was the weight I used for the 5 reps. Not exactly heavy, but I struggled a few times with it. It's frustrating because I know I can do it. I just have to keep plugging away and work through these periods of mental/physical fatigue.  In the end I will be better because of it. This I know.

The WOD itself wasn't really that bad. For the Hang Power Cleans I used 135#. That was a light weight for me and I was able to work straight through them on each round.  My only issue with the workout was the toes to bar. I'm usually pretty good with them. I had issues with my kip today and I couldn't string together more than 5 in a row. It was really frustrating.  Someday I'll reach that carrot.

I'm ready for my close up Mr Deville.

It's been a few days since I had a chance to workout. It's good for recovery, but I am still feeling weak and sore. I fear taking too much time off as I might become a lazy sloth again. Plus, whenever I take extra time off I feel like I am starting over and I hate that feeling. When I saw today's WOD I hesitated to go, but knew I had to.

5 rounds
3 High Bar Back Squats
50% max effort Deadhang Pullups
50% max effort Dips
Rest about 2 mins between rounds.

250# plus 7 and 7

I dislike doing squats for one reason. My legs are junk for days afterward. I can already feel them getting tight and sore. I always say every time after I do them that I am going to do some squats every week or so so when I have to do them again in a WOD they won't kill me for days after. Oops! Yea, I need to make a bigger note next time. I then had an issue with figuring out my 50% max effort on deadhang pullups and dips. I have no idea what they could be so I was guessing the whole time on what my 50% effort would be.  I know I have done around 15 deadhangs and I know I have done in the mid 20's on dips before.  I was definitely a bit off as I screwed around on my last set and did 10 pull ups and 10 Dips at which I stopped for no apparent reason. At some point I will find some extra time to figure out both. I was happy with 250# on my back squats. Last time I recorded 245# for a 5 x 5 rep max.  So I was happy I chose the right weight there. It was just heavy enough for the 5 rounds. 

I stayed after class and did yesterday's WOD. 

21-15-9
  Hang Power Snatch 75/45
Box Jump

10 min Cap

6:10 RX

This WOD was more difficult for me than normal. Yes I hate box jumps, but I was too distracted by Johnny Playboy and his photo shoot. I believe lululemon was taking photos for his ambassadorship.

I had to do my WOD in the back corner where the jump ropes used to hang. I couldn't be in any natural lighting that would take away from Johnny Playboy's shoot.  It was tough to be in that corner as there wasn't much room and I was restricted with my movements with being under the pull up rig. Let's see, I banged my head off the pull up bar on a box jump( it killed) and I couldn't fully extend on some of my snatches as I kept hitting the pull up bar going up. It was a tough quick WOD, but I would like to do it again at a later date. I think I should be able to finish within 5 minutes.

It was kind of cool watching the photo shoot. I have done them before in the past when I was involved with acting/modeling.  Jack was there with me and we had a ton of fun with John and the photog.  He seemed really cool. I of course couldn't help myself. I took some photos of my own. 

Oh Baby! Nice work Bro!

Membership has it's privileges.

L Sit, courtesy of Jack.

Looking good.

Now what do you want me to do?

Take my shirt off? I excel at that!

Halloween WOD

Coming for ya!

Halloween

5 rounds for time

Run 200m

30 Box Jumps  @24'

30 Kettlebell Swings @53#

RX - Costume

30:00

I wasn't really planning on working out today. My body has been in revolt lately and for some reason it feels more tired than normal. I didn't want to miss out on today's WOD though because I thought it would be great to workout in a costume with my fellow CraicHeads. The trick was to find a costume that I could have fun with and be able to function in as well. As you can see with the above picture I chose Jason. Easy costume to put together, but I had an issue with my lower half.<---That's what she said!

Now I knew that if I wanted to really go after this WOD I would have worn shorts, but have you ever seen Jason wearing shorts? It was bad enough that I had to wear sneakers, but I sure as hell couldn't have worn boots for my running and box jumps. I ended up finding an old torn up pair of pants I had gotten from Abercrombie a million years ago. They were perfect to wear for mobility reasons, but quickly turned into a nightmare halfway through my first round. My pants kept falling down. I was tripping on them during the run, but the worst part was trying to box jump with them on.  Why was I tripping on them every two seconds? I lost 40 pounds. Guess it's not a bad reason to have. John said that the time cap was 30 minutes and I used up all the time on purpose.  I wasn't trying to break any records today. I had a lot of fun with it. 

Kept costume on the whole time. RX!

We never looked better.

Tonight was the CraicHouse's Halloween party. Like any true CraicHead party we went late and had a ton of fun. Highlights include, drinking, arm wrestling, crazy Pukie tactics, shotgunning of beers, burpee challenge, food throwing, passing out, dancing, bread eating, walking into things, more drinking, jello shots, and more. I know there are pictures out there and I have a few, but they shall not be revealed. CraicHeads only.  I don't think I got home until 4am. Love our parties.