CrossFit Florian

Last Saturday I went over to CrossFit Florian for their Grand Opening.  I was hesitate with my back still being pretty tender. I knew it wouldn't be easy when I saw the WOD.

3 Rounds

21 Box Jumps

15 Thrusters @95#

9 Pull ups

I don't remember my time maybe 10 minutes

I knew I would have some issues with my back with those fucking box jumps mixed in with thrusters. My thought process was to move as fast as I can before the pain would seep in. That worked out well for one round at least. Ha Ha

I burned through the 1st round pretty quickly. Everything was unbroken. About 5 or so jumps into my second round of box jumps I could feel my back getting angry with me. I slowed it way down, but that didn't seem to help. When I finally got to my thrusters I had to switch my weight halfway through so I could finish. Once again people were telling me I should have gone lighter because of my back, but per usual I did not listen. I wanted to impress my friends at their opening. I have come a long way, but as it goes to show I have an even longer way to go. On another note the pull ups were fun. I decided to do butterfly's so I could show off. Unbroken on all of those.  Too bad it wasn't a pull up WOD. I would have dominated. Well, maybe done okay...

Bill and Beau's place is great. Great energy and a fantastic atmosphere. It was so great to be around so many positive and like minded people. I loved hanging out with my fellow CraicHeads and seeing former members for the first time in a while. The highlight of the day was watching Johnny Deadlift vs Paul Teehan battle each other in the final WOD.  Until they ripped their shirts off it wasn't official. Oh Baby!

Congrats to Bill and Beau on the opening of their box. I wish them nothing but success and can't wait to go against them in the years to come. Big shout out to all the the CraicHeads, Florians and future Crossfitters who participated in the event. It was a tough WOD which made those after beers oh that much more enjoyable. Stay thirsty my friends.

Here are some pics from the day.

Me, Jack, Paul, Sean and Thom. Jack always laughs in the face of WODS!

Hey Box! F U!

Bill watching me struggle. I need blue Inov-8's!

John and Paul after what they do best!

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!

Mental blocks need to be Broken to become the Unbroken!

I've been pretty sore for the last few days. As always my shoulders are tight, but I keep plugging away regardless and I continue to show improvement everyday. Today's WOD looked simple in theory, but I learned a while ago that WODS that look easy usually kick your ass.

5 Rounds for time

20 Kettle Bell Swings 53#

20 Wall Balls 20#

15 minute time cap

Rx is weight, but also Unbroken

Unbroken. Ugh! Meaning that every 20 reps of the two movements above have to be done unbroken. Can't split them up. Cant's drop it at 17 reps. Well you can, but then it doesn't become an Rx workout unless you start that set all over again. No way am I doing extra reps if I don't have to. It's funny because Sara C and I were discussing before class that sometimes we have to get past that mental hurdle of stopping short of your goal because you just feel the need to. Sometimes I call it being mentally numb. Ok I will shoot for 15 reps and then see if I can finish. Well that doesn't work sometimes because there are times you hit 15 and stop just because. You get to that point and you get mentally numb and stop. You really don't know why, but you just do it. You become numb to your surrounding and tend to feel enclosed in your own box. It's a weird feeling for me. Fuck that! You gotta just keep going. It's only 5 more reps. Sometimes you just can't because you're not physically there or your skill work on a certain movement isn't so great, but at this point for myself I am and I shouldn't really have too many excuses.

My goal was to do it unbroken. I decided right before we started that I was going to use the whole 15 minutes to accomplish this. Now I know I could have gone out there and blasted through the first 2 to 3 rounds, but I know what would have happened to me. I would have gassed myself out and I would not have had the strength to continue the sets unbroken. Plus it would have fucked with me mentally. I've been trying to set a consistent pace lately to help stop my over gassing of WODS. It seems to be working as of late and I'm not too concerned if I am using most of the allotted time. Just get it done.

I felt really good about myself after this WOD. I accomplished my goal of doing it Rx unbroken. It wasn't easy towards the end. The last two sets of wall balls around the 14/15 rep mark my shoulders reminded me how much they hate me sometimes. They were screaming. I was really happy with my wall balls for once though. I felt that I had good depth on all of them and I'm slowly starting to enjoy them. Who knew... The kettle bells weren't too difficult. My hip drive was on point. My only issue towards the end was that my hands were getting sore so it made it difficult for me to hold on.  I have been known to almost drop the bell on my head a few times. Overall I was really happy with my time today. Gonna get after it tomorrow again.

14:13 Rx Unbroken