General: Can't believe tomorrow is 2011. Time for a solid year of training. Not going out on New Year's because I'm getting up early to get one last trail run in before my ultra next weekend. Hoping to go 2-3 hours. I really didn't care about going out anyway so I'm looking forward to the morning.
Nutrition: Good, had some ice cream and might have a clif bar or something before bed to make sure I'm carbed for the morning. I was in ketosis earlier.
Body: Shoulders tight, otherwise feeling good.
Sleep: 9 hours
Reflections: I wrote my programming for 2011, as you can see from the pictures above. I based the strength portion of the template I made off CFFB, Witchita falls, Starting Strength, and Justin Lascek's newest strength program he came out with. Once I finish this CFSB cycle, test my 1rm's, finish my 50k next weekend and take a few days off to get ready I will be ready to get my programming on the road in preparation for my 50 miler and to get closer to my strength goals for 2011. I estimate to start somewhere around the time my next semester at school does.
5x Max rep chest to deck standard pushups with 20# weighted vest
15 12 9 8 7
COMMENTS
General: Despite a terrible cold, minor nausea and severe stomach problems today I somehow managed to PR. I didn't even work out until 9:30pm. I'll take it either way but needless to say I was a bit baffled.
Nutrition: Good
Body: This cold has me feeling like shit, but nothing was really sore minus some feeling in my squat muscles.
Sleep: 9 hours. Loving this melatonin experiment.
Reflections: Nada really. I think I had 7 PR's in total this week which was pretty awesome. Got a rest day tomorrow and a long run Saturday. I'll be skipping the back squat on Saturday and try to recover in time to deadlift Sunday, but other than that I'm not sure how I'm going to approach next week as far as tapering goes still.
General: I was thrilled with the 2 PR's on squat, especially the huge PR on high rep back squat. Opted not to do the third set because I got the stimulus I needed and would rather be fresh for my run on Saturday than risk it. I think I had something like 5 PR's in the last 3 days of training which is really motivating. A lot of my success I am starting to attribute to my switch to a post-wod concoction of whole milk and whey powder, whereas I used to eat a huge paleo-style meal.
Nutrition: Ate really clean but had some ice cream and a good sized vanilla shake for dessert at my birthday dinner. Felt really sick from it. I guess I can't handle that much dairy in a day.
Body: Shoulders were a bit sore, but other than that I've been feeling really good this week. I am in the middle of a bad cold though which has been awful to deal with.
Sleep: 7.5 hours. Once again the melatonin may have contributed to me feeling really good on a rather short night of sleep. It also could be a placebo effect so I'll continue to monitor my sleep.
Reflections: Looking forward to tomorrow and would love to hit 2 PR's on shoulder press and high rep shoulder press. That would be a great feeling going into the rest day with so much accomplished this week. Happy birthday to me.
135# Power Clean 50# Dumbbell Swings (Not to full extent, limited ROM because of ceiling height limitations) 135# Floor Wipers
Time: 14:09 (PR by 3:11, last done on 7/1/10)
MWOD complete
COMMENTS
General: I was really pleased with the PR on this metcon today. I was not even really expecting to get a PR because I wasn't sure how I'd perform on the power cleans, but they were actually my strongest part. I do remember being hungover last time I did this WOD, but I'll take it nonetheless. I also found out today that my 24 hour challenge video might get posted on the Crossfit Endurance website, which made me really happy.
Nutrition: Good
Body: Tight lower back, but other than that I felt really good today.
Sleep: 8-9 hours. The melatonin seemed to do something for sure because I always remember at least one dream the next day and I didn't remember any when I woke up. It also took me like 10 minutes to drag my butt out of bed this morning when I did wake up which may have had something to do with it.
Reflections: Nothing really to reflect on. Tomorrow's my birthday and I'm hoping for 2 strength PRs on front squat and high rep back squat and a solid metcon. 18 was a great year of training and I made some really awesome gains since I reached this age.
No training. 3 hours of shoveling driveways for money.
COMMENTS
General: Nice rest day in general. I'm hoping to get the MWOD's going again tomorrow. I purchased melatonin and vitamin D today and will be experimenting with both over the next few weeks. Also purchased Converse Chuck Taylors for powerlifting when I join my new gym in a few weeks, and Yaktrax which go over my shoes to allow me to run safer through snow. Really excited to try all my new stuff out.
Nutrition: Good
Body: Lower back and chest are kind of sore.
Sleep: 7-8 hours
Reflections: Nothing to reflect on. Going for one long trail run on Saturday to finalize preparation for the 50k and then it's taper time. I won't be scaling my training until 3 days out from the race most likely, but I'll figure that all out as we get closer.
General: The deadlift felt great today. I PRed on the 3-by sets, and had Dan's bar not come loose I would've easily gotten more reps of 225. I felt strong today for whatever reason. The metcon was awesome and I will start programming both of those movements more often.
Nutrition: Great
Body: Feeling awesome
Sleep: 8-9 hours
Reflections: Now that the holiday is over I'm ready to get serious for the ultra and getting my strength #'s back. Looking forward to it.
General: Had planned to do a second Crossfit work out later in the day with my girlfriend, but the plans we made ended up going a little too late and we were both too tired to do anything else. Good work out in general although I wish I had used 135# like RX'd calls for. I wasn't sure how my elbow would hold up but I think it's OK. Keep in mind I rested yesterday between this and the endurance challenge.
Nutrition: Bad. Did work on party food. I got the Primal blueprint cookbook for christmas and will be waking up tomorrow to a crockpot of chicken that I made. Trying to get the nutrition better before the race.
Body: Overall I wasn't that sore from the event, but really really tired. My calves and achilles were pretty tight, and they were the limiting factor on the hang cleans in the wod.
Sleep: 11 hours
Reflections: Nothing. Going to deadlift tomorrow. Fully healed pretty much from the challenge so I'm good to go.
Video capturing everything from the beginning to the end of the challenge
A little background:
My name is Ben. I am a believer in the Crossfit methodology and most of my programming (at least now) has been involved with improving at the sport. My good friend Dan (His blog can be found at http://rotatoridan.blogspot.com ) and myself have been avid Crossfitters for nearly three years, although we have taken substantial time off in between for lacrosse seasons, experimentation with other programs (P90x), etc. We are currently doing Crossfit strength bias. This challenge was in no way to improve any form of our conditioning, although I am currently planning on running a 50k in 3 weeks that I should receive benefits from off this challenge.
Dan and I decided a couple of months prior to this day that we wanted to try something really difficult that would test our mental and physical endurance. I remembered that during the summer when I was following Crossfit Endurance that on the 4th of July a work out came up that took over a day. It seemed like it fit the bill perfectly for something we could try and had been talking about doing it for a while. At some point, we decided to give it a shot when we both were home from our respective colleges for winter break. We thought it would make it even more difficult and actually hoped for bad weather to make the challenge even more "epic." In the end we received our wish and got snow along with 24 of the hardest hours we've ever gone through. The following is an attempt to recapture some of this event.
The work out was simply as follows:
10 minutes on, 50 minutes off x 24. Use the 50 minutes in between to rest, recover, sleep, hydrate and/or fuel.
We began the work out at 9pm on Wednesday December 22, 2010. From what I remember the first couple hours went by rather uneventfully. We were fully indulged in games of Madden that captured our attention for much of the 50 minutes in between running sessions. We were happy with the pace we set and decided to keep it consistent the entire time in hopes of reaching over 24 total miles covered. We ran the same loop repeatedly. 22 of the 24 intervals were done on the same loop. The other 2 were deviations to end at my house (down the street from Dan's) for my mother to make us a breakfast in support of us finishing, and the other was to try a new one that we ended up not liking.
The challenge started to get interesting around 1am. By that point we were starting to get pretty tired and burnt out from Madden, and started watching TV. I think Dan would agree with me that the 50 minutes in between was harder some of the hours than the actual run portion was. There was times where it felt like 2 hours was going by, and it got discouraging when 30 minutes felt so long. The time period from 1am to sunrise was kind of weird to think about. I can honestly say I do not remember a lot of it. I would try to sleep in between for maybe 10-15 minutes, but it wasn't really sleeping. I've always been one to take a while to fall asleep and by the time I was nearly ready to relax and doze off the alarm would be sounding to get my butt up and go again. The weirdest part about this portion was how surreal it was. It seemed like Dan's dad had only gone to sleep an hour ago when he was arising 7 hours later to go to work bright and early. The night went by with us getting more tired and looking forward to the sun to hopefully wake us up. We were granted our wish of getting snow during our runs, and although it only happened during 3-4 of them in total it was nice to see.
During the night I made the mistake of eating a little bit too much. I'm blessed to have an iron stomach for when I run. I can put down large quantities of anything and usually feel fine. I had some peanut butter, oreos and an apple around 3AM. For the next 12 hours I had severe heartburn that would not go away no matter how many TUMS I consumed. I know it was the peanut butter and will never eat that again during any running or endurance work out.
From 6AM to noon was also a slight blur. I was really out of it at this point and it was starting to just get tedious. 8o clock in the morning marked the half way point for runs, and by that time I was just pleading for the event to end. I would rather be honest with myself and say that there was many times I would've loved to quit. I'm still developing the sense of telling myself that I am not quitting under any circumstance. Dan had some nagging injuries and there was times where I was praying he would ask to stop because of them. On the bright side, had he suggested that we end the challenge I probably would've said no, but I know there would've been some manjor reluctance. I would rather put this in writing now so that when I'm more experienced with endurance challenges I can look back and hopefully see that this has improved.
My mom cooked us breakfast at 10AM. We refueled with some primal food that tasted good after all the junk we'd been putting down. By this time I was over tired, but was not very beaten down physically. My legs were well prepared for this event after the ~23 mile run I did a few weeks prior. I think I was much better prepared for this run as I tend to excel at running where Dan tends to excel in the weightroom. We've become different athletes where we used to be pretty much even (at least with weights and running) and both had interests in the exact same form of training. A lot of this stems from my rehab from elbow injuries and deciding to give ultra-running another shot.
I noticed in the early AM that it was crazy how little it took to entertain us. Dan and I began to get really loopy during our conversations. As weird as that sounds, I'm sure he would vouch for what I'm saying. We would find ourselves having weird conversations running down the road, or bringing up random things from our past that had no relevance to anything. That and my speech was beginning to slur slightly, and I would forget what we were talking about too. During the night me and Dan also both admitted to seeing things on several occasions that were not there. The stuff we were watching on TV would make us laugh just for the sake of laughing. In retrospect I feel like we needed to keep laughing to keep our spirits up and forget about the daunting number of times we had to venture out into the cold again.
Once the afternoon rolled around we began to get a little antsy. We moved out of his basement for a change of scenery as everything was getting to repetitive. At this point we went and showered for the second time (first one being in the early AM) and changed clothes which felt nice. One of the hardest parts of the challenge was the severe chafing we both got which was alleviated with showers and Gold Bond. From 1-4pm was probably the hardest part of the whole challenge. It seemed like the end was near but it was still so far away when you thought about it. Besides a 20 minute nap on the rock hard floor I took in the early afternoon, the only sleep I got the whole challenge was at 5am for about 15 minutes, and one last quick snooze right before the last 10 minute interval. Each run was beginning to get more and more frustrating because we knew how long we had to wait until the next one was scheduled to start.
The sun going down on Thursday was pretty crazy. We started the challenge in the dark, watched the sun rise, then saw the sun go down again. This whole time we were running what seemed like random ten minute intervals when in reality they were calculated and schedule. The realization of this was kind of interesting and sort of motivating. Probably the best part about the last 5 runs was that the 50 minutes in between there were good TV shows on which helped pass the time.
The last interval finally came. I was awoken by Dan and told it was time to go. We strapped on our gear and headed out. At this point there was only 10 minutes from us reaching our goal and I didn't even care. It wouldn't be far away from the truth to say I've probably never been this out of it, and the amazing thing is I was sober. The 10 minutes went by and seeing that last road of our loop was a great feeling. When 10 minutes struck on the Ipod timer I believe my exact words were "Fuck you challenge, we just kicked your ass." I was thrilled to have finally finished.
It didn't hit me what I'd done until we got into Dan's basement. We took off our stuff and his Mom took a few pictures of us and his family congratulated us. His brother had a joke going about picking what hour we would quit the challenge at. Major props were given to us for completing it. At this point I was pretty much gone mentally. I had a slight euphoria feeling from finishing but I could not wait to pack everything up and go home. We filmed the rest of our tape (9 minutes of footage by the way; hoping to get a video made and I'll edit it in) and I packed my stuff in my car and headed back to my house. I ate a lot of food, not really caring what I shoveled down and headed downstairs. I was asleep by 10pm and slept over 11 hours.
All in all I can honestly say this is the hardest thing I've ever put my body through mentally or physically. The toll of waiting far outweighed the actual running portion in my opinion. Me and Dan completed 24.29 miles in total. Some things I learned:
- Never eat PB during a run again.
- Pick a pace early and stick to it.
- Feed off other's energy if its there for the taking to keep you going
- Don't think about what's ahead. Don't break it up. Just keep it as far out of your mind as possible and think about the positives
- Set a goal on how much you realistically think you can accomplish
- Focus on hydration more.
- Address stride issues if you need to, because it makes the run portion 10x worse if you don't.
The distances from each interval, taken from Mapmyrun and logged after each interval was completed:
I'm hoping that this challenge will help me succeed in running my first ultra on January 9th. It was all that and more and I'm really glad me and Dan pushed through and finished. I don't know if I would ever do it again, but if I did I would probably rather start in the early AM so that the portion during the night could be used for more sleep. I would also probably try and get more people to join in and try it out.
I sort of had an emotional connection to this whole event, which was not planned at all. We had planned to start it much earlier in the day, around 6pm ideally. However, life doesn't always stop for your plans. I was at a wake until around 8:15pm on Wednesday. A kid I grew up with that lived down the road from my old house was killed in a car accident on Sunday morning of this week with alcohol involved. It's just a reminder to love my life and stay smart in all my decisions. R.I.P. Joey. I often thought about him during the runs and used that energy to fuel some of the harder parts of the race.
In the end, this challenge was a positive experience. I would recommend anyone willing to partake in a challenging endurance event to give it a shot. I can promise you it will not dissapoint. For anyone who dos not specialize in endurance training this would be one hell of an accomplishment. Now that it's over, all I can say is it's time to catch up on some sleep and enjoy the holidays. Merry Christmas to everyone.
__________________________
The best picture of the day deserves to be the biggest. End of the challenge and time for bed.
___________________________ Some of the other pictures we took during the challenge. Us flipping random fingers up are to indicate how many intervals we've completed at that point. Props to Dan's mom for getting us on camera sleeping. Didn't even know they were taken until we uploaded all the pictures.
General: Really good day of training. I was irritated with the fail on the 5th rep of the last set, but it was more of a form thing than strength. I really need to get a weightbelt and stop being so cheap, especially since I'll soon be lifting really heavy often. The Chief was a good one that I'll do again. I took a hot/cold shower today that I think I'll add to my recovery arsenal. Can't wait to start taking ice baths again.
Nutrition: It was pretty good, but I had some fried clams at dinner. Last night at dining hall tonight, had to go out with a bang... As Pat Sherwood would say "You can't pass up that opportunity."
Body: Good, my back was so sore during the work out. I don't know why it won't heal.
Sleep: 11 hours... needed it big time.
Reflections: Good day in general. Last work out tomorrow before I move home for at least the forseeable future, so my training will begin to adjust in the near future. This was a fun portion of my life, but I'm happy with the decision I made to return home. College life just wasn't for me and I'm excited to get back to a more sustainable lifestyle that I enjoy even more.
By looking at my goals, you could infer that my main focus this year will be on getting stronger and being capable of running long distances (with emphasis on becoming more competitive in 2012 with ultra running, although that isn’t spelled out). I don’t really know exactly how close or far I will come to achieving my strength goals as I’ve never made strength my main focus before for longer than about a month. I tried to make guesses on what I could achieve in a year’s time and those were the numbers I came up with.
Although I still love CrossFit and have spent almost all of the last 2-3 years using it as my main training method, I made a decision to lower the amount of CrossFit I do in favor of ultra running and dedicated strength training. This decision involves a couple different trains of thought. I feel like I never have a chance to be competitive in Crossfit. Maybe someday I could contribute on an affiliate team, but other than that I’ve never been a stand out in the sport. I noticed that once I started to get into running that I am really good at it, which is surprising because I never ran when I was younger and haven’t done a whole lot of running specific training. I’m young and if I’m ever going to be a stud at any sport I think now is the time to focus on it because the opportunity might go away as I get older. The other main reason behind why I might not do as much CrossFit revolves around a similar train of thought. I realized that if I’m not training for health and I’m not doing it to be competitive in CrossFit, then what's the point in making that my main focus? Some people use Crossfit as a daily work out to be healthy and fit, and then there are the ones who do it to be competitive. I’m stuck in between and I don’t see myself wanting to be on either spectrum (or being able to for that matter). I know the benefits of intense training, and I will not be eliminating the intense metcons totally. I’ve never been great at bodyweight stuff; I couldn’t even do a pushup until the end of my freshman year of high school. The skill work goal I made will be very bodyweight-oriented and I think that it will help me become stronger, overall fitter and when I do go back to Crossfit it will make my transition back a lot easier. The skill work goal will require about 8 minutes a day of work to reach 48 total hours during the year. My only worry in general is I might burn out, and if I do I will simply re-evaluate my goals and figure it out from there. I will never be consistent with a training program that I hate doing, so I need to make sure I’m happy as well as training to reach my goals.
A typical week would be something like
Day 1: Powerlifting/Strongman/Strength Work (possible metcon in the PM) Day 2: Metcon + CFE Style Run Day 3: Powerlifting/Strongman/Strength Work (possible metcon in the PM) Day 4: Rest Day Day 5: Powerlifting/Strongman/Strength Work (possible metcon in the PM) Day 6: Long(er) Run, Ranging between 1-5 hours Day 7: Rest Day/Skill Day/Bodyweight Work
The possible metcon would only happen 1-2 times a week, and if it begins to affect recovery then it could be eliminated.
I’d like to get bigger and leaner this year. My main diet will be a paleo + whole milk hybrid and living at home will make this a lot easier. I’m lucky to have someone to help me support how I eat and I look forward to seeing what getting a lot stronger will do to my body composition. I generally don’t care what I look like anymore. My main concern comes from feeling healthy and feeling capable of training, so recovery will be key this year. With one long run every 1-2 weeks I will also have days where I do not follow my diet and as long as I limit those days and I am smart about it (which I admit I need to work on) then I should be OK.
I also want to make pretty clear that if my elbows do end up getting injured again, I won't go through the crap I did this fall. I will focus on ultra-running and become a runner, and probably start running 4-5 times a week. If my elbows get injured to the point where I cannot train in a suitable manner then I won't do a watered down version of Crossfit and instead will focus on running a 100 mile race this year. My idea behind this is that if I can't accomplish any of my goals, then I should probably pick something crazy to do and focus all my efforts to that.
I don’t really know how everything will work out. I don’t have many options for suitable Crossfit-type gyms in the area because I don’t like how the affiliate near my new college programs their workouts. The gym I will be joining is powerlifting and strongman dedicated, with 2 rooms full of equipment for each. If I like this gym enough, I may get a year membership. I'll be in this area for a while so I may have to look into buying my own stuff for home if I do end up deciding to go back to a Crossfit type training style. I can do short metcons there with barbells for sure, but I may be limited with other stuff. I will have a really busy schedule with work and school this year so I might have to work around time constraints that will limit my training some days.
One thing I know is that I'm ready for whatever comes and I'm going to leave 2011 behind with some pretty awesome goals accomplished.
General: Missed my PR by almost 60 from the summer. The sub was not the main reason. I was just gassed severely after the first round. Looking forward to the high rep back squat tomorrow.
Nutrition: Good
Body: Feeling pretty good
Sleep: 8 hours
Reflections: Nothing much. My back was really sore from the DL's a few days ago and that held me back really bad today. Other than that just looking forward to tomorrow. Me and Dan will be doing the 10 min on, 50 minute off by 24 rounds workout from CFE last summer on this upcoming Wed/Thurs. Looking forward to it.
General: As scheduled took today off. Didn't really do much.
Nutrition: Not good. I went out to dinner for my girlfriend's sisters birthday. 'Nuff said
Body: Good in general, elbows were feelin a bit tingly today
Sleep: 9 hours
Reflections: Ready to go tomorrow. Bought a car today so I'll be able to start training endurance again at trails wherever I want when I move home Tuesday.
General: The calluses on my hands caused me not to PR this week. I had to rip my shirt and use them as grips. I'm not that mad because I definitely got stimulus to get stronger for next week, so I'm just explaining why there was no advancement. Solid metcon.
General: Solid day. The metcon went well and I plan to incorporate more of these style WODS into my training for power-builing purposes. 20# PR from week 1 on squat.
Nutrition: Pretty good, had 2 brownies for desert ;)
Body: Good. My back was really holding me back on the metcon, especially on the last round.
Sleep: 9 hours
Reflections: Looking forward to deadlifting tomorrow if my hands hold up. In general a good day of training
General: Good day. Felt OK to wod today. I was really sucking wind on the WOD and didn't PR from last week on the shoulder press. Guessing it was a mix of getting over a fever and not eating pre-wod. Rest tomorrow or maybe going to Crossfit Iron Will
Nutrition: Not great... going to get it going tomorrow now that I feel better
General: I have a fever right now I concluded and that's why I've been sick the last few days. The 185 felt like I was PRing, although I did 205 for 3 a month ago pretty easily. I started doing the high rep set, got to 7 at 185# and almost failed. Clearly shouldn't have set foot in the gym.
Nutrition: Not great. Can't eat normal when I'm sick
Body: Alright. Elbows have been OK
Sleep: 8 hours. I woke up at 4am last night and it took me 90 minutes to fall back asleep.
Reflections: Going to rest for 2 days in a row and hopefully get back on CFSB on Thursday.
General: I was really sick all day today. Spent about an hour in the library doing work and it got to the point where I thought I was going to puke so I went back to my dorm and laid down. I was dizzy and out of it all day until about 8-9pm. The worst part was I couldn't sleep. No work out tomorrow if I feel anything remotely like today.
Nutrition: Not good. I can't stomach paleo food when I'm sick so I had to resort to some less than ideal food. Tried eating salad and almost puked.
Body: Sore back, lats, biceps and shoulders. Really tired in general.
Sleep: 10 hours
Reflections: Shitty day. Hopefully I'll be good tomorrow.
General: I was really humbled by today's wod. After the first 15 squat cleans in the first round I could no longer do anymore than 1 at a time because I was so sore from yesterday. The high rep set yesterday torched my CNS and my body was not ready for this whatsoever. The WOD quickly turned into a death march and the last round took me about 15-20 minutes. I was practically walking because running was hurting my back as well. I can honestly say this was the hardest WOD I have ever done, not because of the actual wod but because of the circumstances I went into it with. I broke down 3 times during it and refused to do anything for 2 minutes each time because I was so pissed off, and my time reflected it. I felt bad because the owner of CFIW let me work out for free and I acted childish during it. I apologized after. After the WOD I felt like crap the rest of the day and I've done little to nothing all day. In general, a day to forget.
Nutrition: Solid, got really bad stomach cramps from all the milk I drank and thought I was going to vomit in the afternoon. Body is adjusting to all the dairy I guess.
Body: Back torched, biceps, shoulders and lats really sore as well. I can't bend over with a straight back without twitching.
Sleep: 9.5 hours
Reflections: Going to rest tomorrow and move on because I want to rebound strong on Monday. We all have bad work outs so I feel like the only thing I can do from here is forget about it.
•General: On the deadlifts, I was getting really frustrated because I couldn't grip the bar. The gym at Springfield really sucks for that. I was very out of it and frustrated by this problem; enough that I was focusing on pulling and hanging on so much that I actually bit a small hole through my lip on one of the sets. It didn't even hurt until I put it down but that was definitely a first. I'm going to be very sore tomorrow to say the least... I was twitching pretty badly for a long time after.
•Nutrition: Good. I got lactaid pills last night so I'm excited to see how I do with dairy now.
•Body: My upper body was pretty sore in general. Could probably use some rest.
•Sleep: 9.5 hours
•Reflections: Solid day today. I will be going to Crossfit Iron Will (Springfield, MA) tomorrow to do "Badger", even though its a scheduled rest day. To make up for this I will be going to bed early, and drinking lots of milk and eating to support recovery. Going to rest on Sunday again and pick up where I left off with CFSB on Monday. Also not going out tonight, so I should be OK.
General: The squat was a lot heavier than I would've liked. I was really tired all day, and I think that might've been why. Also feel like I might have a minor cold. Metcon was good.
Nutrition: Pretty good.. not sure how I'm going to approach this cycle with eating. Got 2 lbs of whey today.
Body: Good overall, tired though
Sleep: 8.5 hours
Reflections: Lots to talk about, will type out more tomorrow.
General: Tried to do Tabata This! but I felt really sick halfway through the squats, like I was going to puke. I stopped and it was a good call because I felt shitty the rest of the day.
Nutrition: Not good. It was hard to eat strict today because I didn't feel good
Body: Alright. Elbows hurt
Sleep: 7 hours (Pats jets game)
Reflections: Rest tomorrow, hopefully cfsb after dattttt
Right now this is my tentative list of goals for 2011. Of course I will have to re-do all these goals if my elbows don't heal, and I end up needing surgery or something which could of course happen. Surgery would put me completely out of the game for about a year. If that is the case, I will end up running my first 100 miler in 2011 without a doubt. Otherwise....
Crossfit • Fran in under 4:30(7:01 as of 1 year ago) • Complete Diane as Rx’d • Complete 25 hero Wods. Scaling allowed if necessary, as long as scaled appropriately. This comes out to one every 2 weeks. This is to honor the soldiers that lost their lives so I can worry about such little things like my goals that I'm training for.
Other Life Goals • Have $4000 more in total assets (Bank, Schwab account, cash) on December 29,2011 than on January 1, 2011 • Write and be able to perform my first song on guitar • Eliminate unnecessary stress from my life • Pick up a new sport
General: Run went really well. No low points during the run, and I was going at a solid pace. I had planned to do more with strength, but I didn't want to push the elbows and those 3 sets were surprisingly a lot more taxing than I thought they would be after the run. My pace on the run was consistent the whole time. My bench press #'s are just pathetic.
Nutrition: Good
Body: Felt surprisingly good. I took an ibuprofen before the run. Had a hangover in the morning but it went away pretty quickly. Ate junk last night so I felt that today too.
Sleep: 9 hours
Reflections: Decided to start a CFSB template this week on Thursday. The only thing I'm going to change is on the 20 minute metcon day I will instead go for a 1-2 hour run. Might also do bench press on squat days, because obviously my bench sucks. I don't think it will change a whole lot. Probably will drink milk during the program, but not a lot. Many of my metcons will be running ones, so it will be pretty similar to what I'm doing now. The time in between now and Thursday will be a rest day (or two) and I'm not sure what else.
3x20 Leg Lifts 3x15 back extensions with 25# plate
No mwod
COMMENTS:
General: I'm going to start programming back extensions with a plate to make my deadlift go up even more. I didn't know we had one of those in our gym. 2nd PR on 3 rep back squat this week, so I was pretty happy.
Nutrition: Good during the day. Drank too much and had a Big 100 bar as my drunk food. Not really caring about the drinking because at most I'm going out 2 more times and I want to go out with my friends before I transfer.
Body: Good. Writing this the next morning and my elbows hurt this morning.
General: Safe to say the first real metcon kicked my ass. My body was not used to picking up weight with my heart rate jacked and normally I'd be able to push through that but I was so gassed I would have to wait 10-15 seconds to unrack the bar. Only a 5# less max from my previous best SP, and I got 135 half up. My shoulders were also pretty tight today to begin with.
Nutrition: Good, going to drink tonight but not going to eat junk during/tomorrow morning.
Body: Good, elbows didn't "hurt" but I can tell they had mixed emotions on what I did today.
Sleep: 9 hours, 1 hour nap
Reflections: Solid day of training. OK with drinking tonight because it never effects my long runs which I'm doing tomorrow (1-2 hours). All in all pleased with today.
General: Body was pretty beat up today. Didn't have time to run so I did the Mwod, some foam rolling and heating and I'll be good for tomorrow.
Nutrition: Strict
Body: Shoulders, lats, lower back, biceps are all really sore. Elbows felt good today.
Sleep: 9 hours. Really tired all day though.
Reflections: Not sure exactly what tomorrow will consist of, but I think I'll be using the elbows. Looking forward to it. Planning a long run (1-2 hours) on Saturday or Sunday as of now. I'm hoping to start working on my list of 2011 goals within the next week, but I'm going to wait to make sure my elbows hold up before I get my hopes up with upper body strength goals.
Deadlift 1-1-1-1-1 (Heavy, not 1 rep max attempts) 275 325 345 355 355
1x20 @ 185 (heavy not max attempt)
500m Row Test: 1:31:00
MWOD COMPLETED
COMMENTS:
General: Pleased with the row PR. Done no rowing recently so I guess it was more of a "go" thing than anything. I was pushing for >90 seconds, but the last 200m I was pulling as hard as I could and just couldn't pull any harder, so I know I gave it my all. I did today's MWOD to loosen up my shoulders, and then did some glute and hamstring work.
Nutrition: Not great
Body: NO elbow pain. None before, during or after the work out. Not ready to jump the gun just yet, but I'm starting to get pretty optomistic.
Sleep: 9 hours
Reflections: Rest tomorrow, or maybe an active recovery day with an hour long slow run in the vibrams possible. I have a busy day with classes and work tomorrow so we'll see. I was thrilled about how I felt today. I can't wait for it to be Friday so I can give it another go.
