Tuesday 12/19/17

If you read my first post and are back, thank you for returning. If you are new, a quick intro. I am using this as a resource to track my training as a slightly above-average cross-fitter. I will post my workout each day and provide some insight into the day. I hope that someone else following a similar course can use this as motivation and guidance. Happy reading

Workout:

Morning Swim

• 1x200
• 1x200 with paddles 0:20 Rest
• 3x50 with fins 0:20 Rest
• 3x50 0:20 Rest
• Cool down
• 2x50 slow
• Total 800m

Evening Crossfit

• A - Paused Front Squat - 7x2 @ 90% of 1RM Squat Clean
• B1 - Handstand Walk - 5x50 UB if possible
• B2 - Back Racked Yoke Carry - 5x50 AHAP
• C - "Strict Elizabeth"
• 21-15-9
• Power Cleans @ 135 pounds
• Strict Ring Dips
• D. For Time:
• 1000m Ski Erg
• 100 Kettlebell Swings @ 70#
• 50 Strict Pull-Ups

Performance and Insight:

Morning Swim:

I am by no means a great swimmer outside of using it as a survival instinct. While I coach sailing, I am for the most part sitting in a motorboat and only in emergency scenarios in the water. A few weeks ago I joined a pool to start swimming again. I am following basic programming that Speedo put up on their website. My goal with the swimming is to increase my overall lung capacity, target some muscles I may not regularly use, and to have an "easier" training session.

The 200m swim to start was terrifying when I read it. I get up at 5 AM to go swim by 5:30 AM. I had only hit that distance once, the week prior and that was midday and after warming up. To add on top of it all, I had to share a lane with someone. Thankfully, I survived it and was able to do it unbroken. I haven't purchased fins or paddles yet so I modified these portions. I moved the 50's up so that I didn't go right into another 200. Again, my goal here isn't necessarily to be the best swimmer, so I was comfortable making this adjustment. I feel that if I had gone right into the 200 again, my day would have been over after that.

In total, it was about 20 minutes in the water and I am beginning to feel more comfortable with it.

Evening Crossfit:

1. A - I was surprised to see more squatting but I will not complain. I currently can front-squat 300 and have a clean of 255, leaving tonight's weight at 235. The weight itself wasn't a huge issue so I used this to focus on hitting decent depth as well as keeping good form throughout the movement. I struggle with mobility so holding in the bottom position can be tough. I am truly jealous of ass to grass squatters. I was able to do all sets pretty smoothly and comfortably.
2. B - This was a slight love/hate portion of my night. I so badly want to succeed at gymnastic movements such as the handstand walk. I can do each movement, just not with the greatest of ease. The goal was to go 50 unbroken. I failed all 5 sets *womp womp.* However, I got the closest I ever have before and the positioning upside down began to click. I had the highest amount of control while on my hands. I never hit 50 in one go, but I was getting 30-40 feet each time. The big difference makers for this movement, in my opinion, have been focusing on my breathing and worrying more about my hips and center of mass than my hands.
3. The yoke carries are just fun. It crushes your body a bit and tears up your shoulders, but is still fun. Nothing like loading up 585 pounds and taking it for a stroll.
4. C - I always try to go into a workout with a plan. I could not settle on a good plan as the 3-2-1 go was happening. I had thought about going sevens for the round of 21, fives for the round of 15 and then unbroken for the round of nine. Didn't happen. I ended up going 11, 5, 5 for the first set of cleans and maintained sevens on the dips. 135 for a power clean is relatively light but it wasn't moving right tonight. The bar felt like it hit low each rep and I could not comfortably cycle. The rest of the plan was there for the most part. Not the best I feel that I could have done with this one. I think I was to adrenaline charged at the start which caused me to try hitting a big first set. Gotta remind myself, it is the whole workout, not the first round that matters. Total workout took 6:14.
5. D - This one was gross. 1000m on the ski erg is just slow and boring. I took an easy pace here so that I had life for the rest of the metcon. I am still trying to figure this machine out to the level I have figured out the rower and bike. The kettlebell swings is where it got nasty. 70 pounds isn't exactly light but I had thought I would be able to hit five sets of 20 and move through this portion. I got the first two sets but needed to go to sets of ten to finish it out. It may have been the ski first that added into the swings, but my back got lit up. **Side note: My back is fine, I am not injured. At the time of the workout, it felt a little tight and I knew to pace it more. I don't want people thinking by saying "lit up" that it was injured.** To finish it out, I chipped away at the strict pull ups. I probably could have done bigger sets but chose to do singles the whole way through. Nothing special there. The workout took 16:58

Final Reflections:

Tuesday was a decent day. I was happy that I was able to get up and go swimming. Slowly making progress there. As for my training, a good bit of it was mediocre performances. This was a level of effort and output that I can do pretty much any day. Not exactly one for the record books but rather one to be happy I got through everything successfully. I will say that the handstand walks were a highlight. I have thousands of times kicked up into this position to only move one finger and be falling over. To be finally able to move over 30 feet at a time is a huge milestone. Especially since there is a rumor they will be in the open!!