Burpees

After my extended rest I finally hit Open WOD 12.1

7 minutes as many reps as possible

Burpees

80

So I ended up doing exactly what I thought I would do. Yes, in my mind I wanted a 100, but with the way my legs are and my lower back I wasn't really surprised with this number. It was truly 7 minutes of hell. Not a fun WOD at all. It literally crushed everybody. Even the mighty Teehan broke his cherry on this one. 

I could see why people attempted this a few times. There is always ways to improve and also game play it as well. For days I had worked out a couple of strategies and it worked, but I just couldn't get it going. In my mind I knew I could do better and I contemplated doing it again the next day. The only problem would be that my body would probably tell me to Fuck Off. Since that is a term I have grown accustomed to as of late I decided not to listen to my body this time and I dragged myself in there the next day to attempt it again.

When I walked in Johnny Deadlift asked what I was doing there.  I told him and he said that no one has ever done better the next day without rest. Gee, that was comforting. I said I might surprise ya. Inside I was regretting my decision to come in. In my head I thought that I would be lucky to hit 70 with the way I felt and past experiences watching other people attempt back to backs this week.  At that point I just decided to do it and chalked it up to extra cardio. Hey it can't hurt right?

7 minutes as many reps as possible

Burpees

83!

Oh baby! Not only did i survive, but I actually did better. Yes it's only 3 reps, but if you've done this workout those 3 reps aren't easy to get. I used a different strategy here, but basically I just wanted to keep moving as much as possible. Dare I say that I might be tempted to try this WOD from time to time?!?!?! For once I proved John wrong. It might have been my first victory over him besides drinking for time.

One final thought. I will never, ever, ever complain about burpees in a WOD again. After doing this twice 10, 20, 30 burpees in a WOD is nothing now. Thank you headquarters!

p.s. Still need to get that t-shirt made.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Yesterday's WOD... The Good!

WOD

1 Rep Max Bench Press

275#

Oh Baby! That was a 30# PR. Last time I did it I struggled with 245#.  I crushed it. To be honest I didn't think I could even do that much. Bench is not my strongest or most well liked movement. My right shoulder always starts off really tight, I was able to do more than I expected. I figured going into today that maybe, just maybe I could get 255#.  Very Happy with this. Who knows, maybe the 300 club is around the corner with this one. It also helps when you can harness that inner anger and utilize it toward your strength movements. 

Today's WOD...  The Bad!

15 Minute AMRAP

5 Pull Ups

10 Burpees

15 Front Squats @ 75#

5 rounds + 20 reps

SUCK!  I knew going in that my burpees would be the problem. Pull ups were fine and the front squats were fine after I got my right wrist loose, but those fucking burpees!  Johnny Deadlift taught us a new technique on the burpees. I actually found it a bit easier on my legs which helped me immensely, but my back started to get tight and that was it. I slowed down big time and as a result my front squats suffered. I can front squat a ton of weight so 75#'s is nothing, but with my back telling me to Fuck Off again it crippled my score. It's too bad though. I honestly think I can get 7 rounds plus here. Maybe someday, but not anytime soon.

Monday's WOD...  The Ugly!

3 Rounds for time

10 Deadlifts @ 275#'s

50 Double Unders

8 minutes maybe...

What the Fuck! Double Unders!  Let's see, during warm up I pretty averaged 41/42 in a row just to get warm. Heck, even the first round I did over 40. That God Damn second round. It literally took me three or four times to get one. For some reason it got into my head big time and basically I ruined the WOD from a mental standpoint. I know I shouldn't let it get into my head, but it ran wild. I don't know how long that second set of DU's took, but it destroyed my time. I should have had this WOD done in under 6 minutes. Man was I pissed. When they re on they are on and when they are bad, Oh Baby they are bad.  Next time fuckers... I am sure I'll see them in the Opens during the next few weeks. Joy!

The Deadlifts weren't an issue. All 3 sets unbroken. The prescribed weight was 225#, but John had me bump it up to 275#. 

With everything that is going on with my life, getting into the CraicHouse has helped me forget and set aside everything when I'm there. For that one hour a day it lets me just lose myself in the WOD regardless of the results. Who really cares. It's about being intense and pushing your limits. Being around friends and lifting heavy shit is great therapy. Till next time.

B-Ball tonight. Should be fun! 

Work Capacity Wednesday

Welcome to another edition of Work Capacity Wednesday! Brought to you live from CrossFit Craic!

This WOD was pre-recorded

7 Minute AMRAP

7 Toes to Bar

7 Wall Balls 20#

7 rounds + 5 reps

When I saw this one on the site I was excited yet hesitant. Last time I did Toes to Bar I tweaked one of my flabs. It hurt to laugh for a few days. Plus wall balls...Ugh! These things tend to kill me more times than not. I don't know what it is. 

I had the luxury of having resident owner and local celebrity Johnny Deadlift for my judge.  I had no wiggle room with reps. He is a no repping machine. Actually I was only no repped a total of 3 times. 2 for T2B and 1 wall ball.  John actually miscounted 1 rep for me, but I didn't really care. I need the extra work regardless. Plus since these work capacity wednesdays are set up in the style of competitions so I can't sit there and argue with a judge over one rep. Just do it again until they say it's good.  

I was hoping I could do 8 rounds. The T2B got to me toward the end and I ended up doing singles. Who knew though that I was able to use the wall balls as recovery though.  I rather enjoyed them.

Tonight is the first night of Basketball with the CraicHeads. I am looking forward to it. Should be fun.

So wish I could grow a Fro

SQUATS AGAIN!

Okay, I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't worried about toasting my legs again for the week when I saw the WOD for today.

1 Rep Max Back Squat

325#

Oh Baby! That's definitely a PR.  I was nervous that I might have trouble hitting 300 again after last week, but I knew I had to try. Figured it would be less reps since we only have to do 1 rep at a time and I should be fine. 

Here's how my reps went:

135# 

185#

225#

285#

305#

315#

325#

At 305# I knew I had 10 more pounds in me. I wanted to match my friend Johnny D @ 315#. Surprisingly this weight wasn't as hard as I thought it would. Don't get me wrong, that shit is heavy and I definitely felt it afterward, but I knew I could do more.  325 was the benchmark. Johnny Deadlift was nice enough to video my last attempt. My chest comes forward a bit, but I got it. Super psyched!

I pray my legs don't go junky on me. Really looking forward to this week's worth of WODS.

Wheelhouse

Been having a rough go of it lately. Everyday routines have been tough. John got on me earlier this week to get my ass in gear. To lose myself for 1 hour a day. He's right and so I did.  It helps for a bit. Just have to keep moving forward.

Today's post is dedicated to Glen though. Glen has been busting my balls to get my blog back on track. So here I stand @ the CraicHouse typing this post while Glen devours another dozen eggs. Soon we'll be crushing back room beers again my friend! Until then I'll keep up the pace up for you.

WOD

50 Lateral Bar Hops

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Deadlifts

PVC Overhead Squats

50 Lateral Bar Hops

Rx weight 185#

6:06 Rx

I really wanted to come under 5 minutes, but those last 50 jumps were brutal. My legs were literally jello. The Deads went about how I planned. I breezed through them with ease and the pvc overheads were fine. Easy with no weight. Now I know how Johnny Deadlift feels when he overheads 135# for reps. All day baby! 

Been a relatively good three days @ the CraicHouse Yesterdays WOD was a 5 rep max Thruster. I ended up doing 176#. Sic. I really wasn't sure where I would end up considering I loathe Thrusters and along with my 1 rep max being @ 195# I figured I was in for a long hour. Now I am excited to see where my 1 rep max might be at. 

The third WOD I hit this week was 6 min AMRAP 10 KB Swings @ 70# and 10 Push Ups.  Brutal. My total was 10 full rounds plus 1 rep. My hands and arms were toast. I was really happy that I did all the swings unbroken. Felt pretty good. 

Until next time, please remember if you drop a piece of meat on the ground I will still eat it!

Yuck

So today I finally made it back into the box. It has been over a week.  11 days to be exact. That is an eternity for me.  Besides when I tweaked my back this has been the longest layoff I've had besides those multiple years leading into CrossFit when I became a manatee.

I wish I was this cute

I knew coming in today my ass would be handed to me a bit. My cardio sucks anyway so with the extra time off I knew I could potentially be miserable. I haven't exactly been taking care of myself too well as of late. I haven't been able to get enough sleep. My diet has been shit. I'm not eating bad, but more of a lack of eating. I could tell something was up. My body has been in slow motion as of late and I feel like I have lost some muscle. I had to get my ass back in there. I blame Johnny Deadlift for going on vacation. Hey, I gotta blame somebody. He always lights a fire under my ass!

Don't Fart

Todays' WOD,

Row 250m

21 Box Jumps 24in

21 KB Swings 53#

Row 250m

15 Box Jumps 

15 KB Swings

Row 250m

9 Box Jumps

9 KB Swings

Row 250m

13:34

I started off well, but somewhere between my first 21 KB Swings and my 2nd Row I got wicked dizzy. I wouldn't say I was seeing stars, but I felt like I was gonna pass out. I think the lack of care toward my body caught up to me today. I also forgot my water bottle so I had to go into the bathroom and drink from the faucet. That didn't help much.  I got the sweaty pale look going on. It sucked. A WOD that I realistically should have finished within 10 minutes took longer than anyone. I was hugely disappointed, but wasn't surprised. These layoffs tend to do more harm to me than good. I felt like I got punched in the face. 

This was how I felt.

Tomorrow is another day.

Last Week's Recap

 11/11/30

I had a tough time getting back into it last week after that competition. Yes my back was still tender, but emotionally I will admit that I was bagging it a bit. I was joking around about my pussification with Johnny Deadlift. I wasn't serious about anything, but there was definitely a moment where I thought I was done with it. It sucks when you know you should be better, but your body just isn't there yet. I told him I was having a tough time focusing again. He showed me no mercy and called me out on it.  He told me to get my ass into the gym. Listen to him and he'll take care of the rest, but he can't help me if I don't come in. He's right. I am too far along to just quit. Christ I am Tony No Bread! What kind of an example would I be if I did that? He was right. Next WOD... I'm there!

Oh Shit! Box Jumps. Of course....

WOD
10 mins to complete
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Pullups
Box jumps -pause at the top
 

Rest 3mins then
 

10mins to complete
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
KB swing 53#

Situps

6:35 WOD 1

4:24 WOD 2

Total: 10:59 Rx 

Really???  Box Jumps on my first WOD back? My back isn't fully recovered yet and I was hesitate to come in and do this one, but I had to get my ass back in there. No excuses. Just take the Box Jumps slow. That's exactly what I did. 

How this WOD works is you do 10 Pullups then 10 Box Jumps. Then 9 and 9 and 8 and 8 and so on. My only focus on the first WOD besides not destroying my back anymore was to do all of the pull ups unbroken.  Unbroken! Yea Baby! The pull ups weren't hard, but sometimes I lose focus and just drop off the bar for no apparent reason. I needed to stay focused which I did. Now the box jumps started to hurt a bit toward round 7. I just took my time with them and I finished with an okay time. 6:35.

I knew I would fly through the second WOD. Kettlebell swings and sit ups are not a problem for me. I was able to transition between the both pretty well. As I got closer to the end I went beastmode and finsihed, had a cigarette, milked the cow and brushed my teeth by the time anyone else finished. 4:24.

I made up some serious time here which helped my overall time @ 10:59.  Besides my back being a bit sore. I felt pretty good after this one. It was good to get that first WOD over with and to tell my psyche to go fuck itself!  Again...

12/1/30

This one didn't look so bad. Ha Ha 

WOD
Row Your Wallballs Off
 

Row 500m
25 Wallballs
100 Double unders
25 Wallballs
Row 500

10:40 Rx

Oh the joys of rowing. Actually the last time I rowed I felt pretty good afterward. Good as in barely able to breath and flopping on the floor good, but nothing was sore afterward. Bonus!  The 1st 500m row went exactly as I planned. I took it easy and finish around 1:40. Unfortunately the second 500m row killed me! My knees swelled up and I think I added another 15 seconds to my original time. My knees and thighs were on fire for hours after. I don't think the swelling went down til the next day. I never know what's going to happen with me and the mighty rows. Less swelling would be nice though.

I was worried about the wall balls here. I wasn't sure if they would affect my back or not. Especially when the day before where those Box Jumps reignited that burning feeling in my lower back. I ended up having no real issue with these. I went unbroken on the first 25 and I think I almost went unbroken on the second 25. No pain!  

Double Unders. I felt those would hopefully seperate me from the group. Not! I had a tough time finding a rhythm early on. It was extremely frustrating. By the time I reached 50 I was pissed. It took way too long for me to get there. The second 50 I crushed. 35 and then 15 I believe. I should have had that done in a minute tops! I think I need to put a little extra time back into the DU's again. Just so I can stay comfortable with them on a consistent basis.

Overall this WOD was hard. I couldn't believe how gassed I was halfway through. Even though it crushed me it felt good as well. Trying to stay consistent here. Next time I will blow through those double unders and finish under 10 minutes. 

12/2/30

My schedule wasn't really working for me today. I texted Mr. Deadlift to see if he was around in the afternoon so I could sneak in. That didn't work so he suggested 10am. That also didn't work. Shit, I really wanted to keep this going.  Finally he just texted me, "Make Time!"

I don't know if that last text had a subconscious affect on me or not, but for some reason that may never be understood, I woke up at 5am. I tried to fall back asleep, but that was a no go. I walked around the house like zombie, trying to figure out what to do. I looked at the clock. Do you know what it said?

Make Time!

I quickly ate something, played with my son real quick and left for Glen's 6:30am class. I walked into the middle of the 5:30am's WOD and Glen just pointed to me to spot The Condor. He looks up at me on the bench and the first thing he said was, "Is that TNB? It's like seeing Santa Claus!"  Ha Ha  Lets just say that I rarely go to any early morning classes.  Afterward, Glen brings me over to the 6:30am group and introduces me.

Glen: "This is Tony No Bread. You probably won't ever see him this early ever again."

TNB: "Hi"

Glen: "Did you pull an all-nighter?"

TNB: "Not this time."

The WOD....

WOD
4 rounds – each scored separately
Max rep bench press in 1 min @ 100#'s
Sprint 400m
10 burpees

score = reps/time

post best and worst round

This WOD was brutal! I underestimated how difficult this would be.  My times for the rounds are the following. My best is is green and my worst is in red. Pretty easy to figure out.

1. 43 reps and 3:24
2. 26 reps and 3:44
3. 24 reps and 3:40
4. 21 reps and 4:05 

When I came in after my first run I could barely lift myself off the ground for my first burpee. My arms were toast form the first 43 reps. WTF did I get myself into here? I actually thought I could do more than 43 on the first set. I was flying. I think I had 30 in 30 seconds, but all of a sudden it went to shit real quick. That got heavy! I was wondering why everyone needed a spot. It's only a 100 pounds.  Geez...

As usual my runs sucked ass. Like I had on cement shoes. My times weren't that bad, but if I could ever get that leg transplant I would be all set. Fun WOD, but my chest was sore for days afterward. Glen even made us do a 5th round for shits and giggles.  Thank Glen.

By the way, I love you guys and I love Glen, but you can keep your Craic O'Dawn classes to yourselves. Way too early for me. My ass was dragging later at work. I still need a nap!

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...

What Has Two Thumbs and Overtrains?

This guy!

I've been working really hard lately and this week was no exception. I am starting to see some pretty good results and I gotta tell ya, it's getting extremely addictive. So I took Johnny Deadlift's advice and decided to take Friday off. I usually take the weekend off anyway, but the extra day is much needed. I hit the CraicHouse pretty hard all week, but Thursday was crazy. I basically did four workouts in two and a half hours.

Strength Work 

Establish a 1 rep Power Clean in 15 minutes

215#

My previous one rep max on the Power Clean is actually 215# so I am not too surprised here. The difference was that I only had 15 minutes to establish this and strip the bar down. Previously I think I spent around 45 minutes to get to that same weight. After a few warm ups I cleaned 215# in around 9 minutes. It felt pretty light which gave me visions of a PR(personal record) I put on 225# and went for it. For some reason I started to over think the movement and I could tell that I wasn't jumping enough. I tried 225# twice and failed. I think I can achieve this weight if I had more time. 

We then hit a quick WOD right after this.

21-15-9

Power Cleans 95#

Burpees Lateral jump over the Bar

 10 min Time Cap

7:23

My time was a little slower than I would like. With the extra work of late and my continued hatred of burpees I mentally checked out in round two. I did however blast through my last 9 burpees. Mostly because I just wanted to finish. If I only did that earlier. I need to figure that out.

I was getting ready to leave when Jack walked in. He mentioned that he was looking to grab some lunch, but John and Glen needed to workout first.  Jack decided to join in, which made me join in as well as the Catdoggg.

3 round for time 

10 OHS 

50 Double Unders

6:42

Not a bad time. I love the fact that I can now do double unders in a WOD. Everyone scaled appropriately and we all finished around the same time. It was hard, but really fun. I was getting ready to leave again and I heard some mumbling about another workout. Maybe doing Friday's today or something. Catdoggg left, smart girl. Jack yells out Angie! I hear an okay and I join in. Oh Shit! Angie...

100 Pull Ups

100 Push Ups

100 Sit Ups

100 Air Squats

27:55

I should have left with Catdoggg, but I'm not one to back down. So we get into it. The 100 pull ups were tough. I felt like they were never going to end. I wish I could have butterflied them but I have been having some issues with my shoulder and that movement lately so I just kipped the whole time. It was exhausting. If I was fresher I could have been faster of course. The push ups weren't too bad. I almost caught up to Glen on those, but when I hit 85 he finished and I lost my motivation for a bit and the last 15 took forever. 100 sit ups were next and I cranked the first 50 out quick. The other 50... Not so much.  They sucked! Between our regular WODS and those extra 100 Toes to Bar I did the other day my flabs were toast! Air Squats, a 100 of them. Not one of my favorite movements, but I wanted to bust through them as fast as I could. Halfway through both my legs cramped up badly. It hurt, a lot! I felt like I was at the Tough Mudder again.  My goal was to finish in under 30 minutes and make the board which I did. I was happy, but in pain and extremely exhausted.  John said to me that I better not come in the next day and be stupid. I said I needed the work on thrusters and I wanted to be like him minus the funny accent. He said, "If you wanna be like me bro, then do what I do and rest."  Gotta do what the doctor ordered.  Plus to tell you the truth I could barely move the next day.

This was how I felt.

Suck it up and Go!

I have to admit, today I was hurting. I drank a little too much last night and was feeling the repercussions this morning. I looked at the WOD for the day and wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Not because it seemed hard, but because my energy levels weren't there.

"Anniversary WOD"

20 Minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

10 Body Weight deadlifts

16 Double Unders

9 Pull Ups

This is Johnny Deadlift and his wife Sara's concoction to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Gee, thanks guys! Actually, congratulations to you both for making it to year two.  You only have another 70 plus years left to go. Get after it!

I really didn't have any delusions about crushing this one. The workout wasn't terribly difficult. I just wanted to set a good pace and take my time. I went into it thinking that I just wanted to sweat the night befores fun out of me. I do believe John said he could smell the booze on me. YUMMY! I chose 205# for my deadlift weight and I know I weigh a little less, but my head was pounding and it was too much math to figure out. 205# was easy to set up. For some reason they got real heavy, but the main problem was I thought my head was gonna burst every time I picked it up.  Double Unders.... This was my first WOD I did that I was able to do double unders. I felt like Buddy Lee out there.... Not!  For the pull ups I ended doing kipping instead of butterfly. When I warmed up I could feel some pain in my shoulder when I did a few butterfly's. Didn't want to do any more damage. It's nice to be able to do both and switch between them like John said. Advantage.

I did 7 rounds + 2 reps Rx. I was surprised I did that many. I really took my sweet ass time out there. Might sneak this one in sometime soon for my extra work to see how many rounds I could actually do on a normal, non hungover day.

There are a few positives I can take out of today's WOD. First was that I was able to do DU's in a workout. It's so weird knowing that just a few weeks ago I really couldn't string more than 2 in a row and now I'm looking forward to the next WOD that has them in it. I never thought I would ever say that. Secondly, I dragged my ass into the CraicHouse to do this WOD. Normally if I felt like shit I wouldn't even think about coming in and working out, but I knew if I didn't I would be thinking about it all day. This is a huge mental hurdle I jumped. I'm not going to get any better if I avoid a WOD because I have a hangover. Any work is better then none. So I am giving myself huge kudos for that.

PR'd Double Unders after "Grace" on Saturday @ 56 in a row. 

GloboGym. Turn that Frankenstein into Frankenfine!

I wasn't looking forward to today's WOD. It reeked of GloboGym. 5 rep max Bench Press. I had a really difficult time convincing myself to go, but forced myself regardless. How else am I supposed to become the complete package? Oh Baby! One of the many reasons I came to CrossFit though was to get away from these types of workouts. Albeit, this is only the second time we have done them this year, it's still a turn off for me. Part of the reason as well is that I generally suck at bench press. Even when I walked around aimlessly at a globogym I avoided this movement as often as I avoided farting in private.

• A) I could never do any heavy weight.
• B) It was intimating lifting next to a bunch of meatheads glaring you down because they lifted more than you. Dude, your roided chest is huge but the chicken I ate last night had bigger legs than you.
• C) Yea it's great to promote shoulder stability, but it by no means is the determiner of performance.
• D) Give me core strength and working from the middle out any day of the week.  

I walked in and checked out the board. Jack put up 275# for 5. No chance there. Crazy Mike did 245#. No way! Rico put up 235#. Nope. TapeFactory 225# Ugh I could shoot for a tie, but it's gonna be tough. Honestly I felt I could do 205# for 5 and that was it. So here I went.

• 135# for 5. Easy
• 165# for 5. Keeping it light still.
• 195# for 5. Getting heavier, but manageable.
• 215# for 5. I jumped higher than my intended 205# figuring that I still had energy and shoot for it now.

I was then going to do 225#, but Johnny Deadlift convinced me to put the 1/2 pound plates on like he did with Paul T last night. This would be the second day in a row that TapeFactory would be done in by one more pound.

Fuck it! I'll go for it. The first three reps weren't that bad. The fourth rep was tough and then I made a mental mistake...I paused at the top for too long before I attempted my fifth rep and I barely got it up a quarter of the way. Fail! That sucked. I also tweaked my hamstring a bit. The worst part was that Johnny Deadlift was taking a video of this so he could potentially post it up and we could antagonize TapeFactory again. Damn. I was thinking about attempting it again, but I wasn't there mentally until guess who walked back in???  TapeFactory! He immediately starts to give me shit. Oh I can't do it and if I do he'll do 230# right after. Blah Blah Blah. That fired me up and I start to prepare. Johnny Deadlift starts yelling at me to focus, Tapefacory is still giving me shit and then I hear Sean Curry out of my left ear calling me a Pussy and to just do it.  It was go time!

• 1st rep - Done
• 2nd rep -Done
• 3rd rep - Done
• 4th rep - Heavy
• 5th rep - Oh Shit! Puuuuuuuush!

I struggled badly, but I fucking did it. It felt so good to complete that 5th rep and not fail again. Yes, it was on video and TapeFactory did attempt to beat it, but he didn't have anything left in the tank. I'm not sure if the video will be released, but if it is I will definitely post that shit.