No Tears (rhymes w/ Fears) for Tears (rhymes w/ glares)

Thursday, June 27;

I knew I wouldn't make it in to Friday morning's class. I also had a little bit of free time Thursday afternoon, so I decided to take advantage of the hot temps and down time. Right after I got home from work, I threw on some running pants and shoes and headed out the door. I did a quick mile and a half run to these pullup bars that are on Four Mile Run. I thought it would be a great idea to hit a partial Cindy, and then run back home for a cool down. I was really pumped about doing a crazy, quick workout at the pullup bars, and I was really excited about a pseudo-Cindy. I haven't done that workout since the shoulder blew, because the pullups and pushups were no good.

Workout:

1.5 mile run

10 rounds

5 pullups

10 pushups (from knees)

15 squats

1.5 mile run

The pullup bars are just monkey bars, so I'm able to hold on to two bars and do the pullups with my hands parallel. They feel really good on my shoulder. The only downside is that the bars are medal and then covered with paint. Trust me.. it can lead to a little suffering.. I'd come to find out soon.

I got myself set up.. Layed out 10 rocks so I could keep track of my rounds. Staked out the perfect spot for pushups (which turned out to be a little less than perfect, but made me look like a serious bad ass).. and got the stop watch set.

3, 2, 1...

The first few rounds were great.. I got through round 4 or so in less than a minute each. Then around round five I realized that the pushups (still done from my knees) were kicking my ass. My back was on fire, and so were my arms, and my shoulders (in a good way).. another thing I didn't forsee was that my knees were also a mess. The place I had staked out to do pushups was actually a dirt pit filled with rocks. What I didn't realize was that the rocks and dirt stick quite nicely to you, especially when your sweating balls.

By the time I got to round eight is was covered in rocks, dirt and sweat, and I was dragging some serious ass. I was encouraged to finish up because a group of middle school boys on their bikes had begun to gather and gawk. A little creepy.. usually when this happens I say something like.. "If you're going to watch, you have to join me." That generally scares people away.
I make it to the end of round 9 and take a look at my hands, which are also covered with rocks, dirt and sweat. I can make out a glorious callous tear on my LEFT HAND!!! You got it.. the injured left arm is now the proud owner of callous. Pure proof that it can take a serious ass kicking once again. Yay!

I had one more round to go.. I finished up, hit the stopwatch, and noticed the beautiful tear on my right hand. I guess sweaty hands and pullup bars aren't a great combination. God, I love Crossfit! My time kind of blew, but I think under the circumstances it's sufficient. Then I dragged ass all the way home to clean up my hands and hop into a much needed shower.

Shame Storm

Wednesday, June 25;

Jerry's been out all week and Andrea and Chris have taken over the reins at CFOT. I didn't make it in on Monday, but the showing on Wednesday was nothing short of shameful! The workout was Pain Storm.. if you're not familiar these tend to be crazy long workouts that take forever to finish. They are also good at kicking your butt. Let me just explain a little more..

It starts out with a situp that is more like a deck squat.. then goes into a barbell clean and jerk. For simplicity sake I will call it a "deck squat, clean and jerk", then you had the choice to pick five exercises from a grab bag of various movements.. pushups, burpees, squats, knees to elbows, box jumps... You finished the round with a complex Turkish Getup.. that means a TGU with two lunges in the middle.

It's a ladder exercise that starts at 12 and in a perfect world goes to 1. My world was not perfect..

Workout:

12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

deck squat, clean and jerk

box jump (4 mats)

Pull up

pushup

KB Swing (45lb)

squat

TGU/lung complex

The complex movements too up so much time that it was impossible to get everything done in 35 minutes or so. I hate not finishing a workout, but I was only able to get through the first 4 rounds before I had to leave to go to work. Argh, work gets in the way sometimes doesn't it?!

On a positive note, I was able to finish my rough draft of my first term paper. At least I completed something!

John Kerry's got Nothing on this Flip Flopper

Sunday, June 22;

You may wonder how I get through workouts quickly? I have this really sweet distraction technique. I think about how I will title the blog. I was in the political frame of mind on Sunday after spending all weekend writing my first Grad school paper, and spending Saturday night at Stewart's party. Then of course my lack of running shoes made me hone in on my second choice foot garb (my flip flops). The obvious next step, if you put flip flops and politics together is John Kerry is the political nickname that followed him during the 2004 Presidential Campaign. Then I thought, what a great tactic and how damaging. Four years later I can remember the 527 campaign ads aired against him. It showed him saying, "I voted for the Iraq war, before voting against it." Ouch!! His campaign was doomed. Clever on the behalf of the Republicans.

I digress.. My point is that I kicked John Kerry's "flip flopping" butt today much more than President Bush did in 2004. (That's not really saying that much.. thanks Ohio). As I mentioned before, I forgot my running shoes, so I had to curse when I realized that we were heading outside for the day's workout. I was inspired by pictures of Charlie's performance sans running shoes earlier in the week, and I figured what the heck. Running in flip flops is just like working out barefoot on mats.. maybe just a little bit more noisy. Another more noteable moment for me was going overhead in a workout. It was the first time I had gone overhead with a heavy barbell in a workout. It went well too, so I was thrilled about it. It hurt the first few times, but the key was to stick the bar into a solic, active shoulder. Get there and get down quickly!

Workup:

Push press:

35lb x5, 45lb x5, 55lb x5 (I think I stopped at this point.. didn't want to push it.. pardon the pun!)

Workout:

5 Rounds for time

15 Clean & Push Press

400 meter run

Total: 15:49

wanted to finish in under 15, so I was kind of bummed. I'll take this one though.

It didn't work..

Friday, June 20;

So, I tried the same "How much money are you paying for this class?" tactic again this morning. Today, it didn't work.

Damn!

I Can't Workout in the Morning

Thursday, June 19;

Before meeting Jerry and joining CFOT, I was one of those people who believed they would not be able to workout in the morning. The idea of getting out of bed to go do something torturous didn't seem like a possibility and definitely not a good idea!

I remember the first time I talked to Jerry about joining CFOT I asked him if there were any afternoon workouts. You know, something I could do after work. I still remember his exact words, "maybe this isn't for you." Well, Jerry.. forget you.. I thought! How dare you challenge me to waking up at 6 in the morning to go workout. I'll show you. I'll wake up and I'll kick butt too.

My first workout was one of the 8 am outdoor Saturday classes. It was rough getting up. I was nervous about being late, so I was up a little earlier than I needed to be. I remember being so impressed that all these young guys were up so early to workout. They hadn't gone out the night before to get drunk (at least that's what I assumed.. I hadn't!) It was a great workout and I started my early morning workout routine the next Monday. I haven't stopped since.

The point of me rehashing this story was to reassure you that I still have problems rolling out of bed. My alarm clock goes off at 4:45am. I hit snooze for about an hour. No joke. Then I finally role of out bed. Sometimes I have trouble getting out of bed. Especially lately I've been hitting the snooze a little longer than I should. I did that this morning and had nearly convinced myself not to go in. Then I said to myself, "Adrienne, How much money are you spending to do this Crossfit class??" That worked! I got out of bed.. the usual, hair in the pony tail, brush the teeth, pack for work.. go to CFOT. You can use this too if you'd like. It's quite effective!

Warmup:
One arm cleans from the bottom to the bottom

Workout:
10 rounds for time:
6 pullups
9 one arm Cleans (25lb right, 5lb left.. these things are scary on my left, so I went super light)
15 pushups (from knees.. to save the shoulder)

Time: 24:14

Wonderful Wakeup Call

Wednesday, June 18

It's been a few days since I've updated this thing. I guess my whole balancing work/personal/school life is cutting into some of my former activities (mainly updating this thing). Anyway, this is long overdue.

Monday's workout was a little tough for me. It started out well but once the workout start my shoulder went on a revolt. We started with cleans. I've been able to work up to some decent clean weights, but I'm still not where I used to be. Pre injury I was able to clean 110, but I'm probably maxing out around 90lbs maybe 100lbs if I'm focused. The deal was to workup to a heavy 5 rep max. I could complete 5 reps at 80lbs, which I was happy with. I bailed out of the 90lb max rep test at rep number 3. I forget that I just don't have the strength I used to have pre-injury. I'll have to workup to it. Slow progress I guess.

Then the WOD started. I should have known better. The movements.. Hang Squat Power cleans, Pullups and pushups. Am I serious?? What was I thinking? I limited the pullups to just 5, but seriously everything hurt. I knew after the first round that this was not a good idea. I stupidly went through 4 more rounds before finally calling it. I've called a workout once before in the blue room. It was the last day I worked out on my shoulder. After that I went into a 3 month heavy, left arm lifting hiatus. That one I called because of unbelievable pain. This time I learned. I had noticeable pain, so I said to myself, "self, this is stupid." Then I stopped. Way to learn from past mistakes!

Monday, June 16;

Workup:
Heavy barbell cleans
35lb x5, 55lb x5, 65lb x5, 75lb x5, 85lb x5, 95lb x 3

Workout:
AMRAP in 15 minutes
7 Hang Squat Power Cleans
5 Pullups
11 Pushups

5 rounds

100 situps with the Abmat

This post was titled "Wonderful Wakeup Call" and I'll explain why now. Since the whole shoulder rehab thing started I've woken up with shoulder pain. It's not horrible, it's just noticeable. It usually goes away after I move around a bit. (For the record, I am 26.. I shouldn't be having body pains yet!!!) This morning.. I went through the usual wakeup routine. Alarm goes off at 4:45am. I hit snooze about 10 times. Then the second alarm goes off on the other side of the room and I get out of bed to turn it off. Trust me, this is an improvement. There was a point when I was using 3 alarms. One of which was battery operated in case the power went out. Obsessive much?

I rolled out of bed and realized my shoulder did not hurt. Not only did it not hurt, but I had been able to sleep on it all night and it still didn't hurt. I was thrilled! I got out of bed and once I got to CFOT I was even more pumped when Jerry said that our workout wouldn't be shoulder intensive. SWEET! Bringing on the squats.

Workout:
For time:
400 meter run
50 squats
400 meter run
50 squats
400 meter run
50 squats
400 meter run
50 squats

Total: 11:05

25 ring dips (I got on the pink band today!!)
100 Abmat situps w/ 10 pound ball
no time.. just practice

Sparticus at Christmas 2007 trying to steal food. Typical!

On a sad note, we had to put my cat Sparticus to sleep this morning. He was a ripe ole 19 years old. He was a great guy, and he'll be missed.

Exercising the Body & Mind.. or I am a Murderer

Sunday, June 15;

I couldn't decide what I wanted to write about today. Then I realized my two options were both pretty limited in terms of substance of matter, so I figured I'd do both.

Exercising the Body & Mind:
It's been a busy day. I've been hard at work balancing working out, life and school work. Generally my "life" has been the loser in this equation. I was at home Saturday night working on a term paper and up early this morning to go workout. Great little workout for all the fathers out there. Some wacky movements that still kicked my butt. I'll give you the run down in a bit. Then the rest of the day was spent finishing up first grad school paper and mailing it in. (Yay, it's done! In all honesty, it's only just begun though) Then I bought groceries and did some cooking to give my mind a break. After that I went back into doing research and reading. I'm hoping to start writing my term paper this week, but I have a series of very exciting interviews lined up, so I'm not sure if I want to start writing before talking to them. (Thanks Stuart a.k.a. "The strongest pundit on the hill" for your help!)
A friend is coming over right now, so I can feel like a human and then it's back at the books as soon as she leaves.
Anyway, I feel like today was a good day for both body and mind... I'll get to the murder part after the WOD.

Warmup:
2 Rounds of Cals (Ouch.. it's been awhile)

Workout:
2 rounds AMRAP.. 2 minutes rest between the rounds
Turkish getups
Squats (divided by 2)
KB swing with rope
Walking Lunges (20lb DB)
Elevated Slamballs (15lb)

Total: 408

I divided the squats because everyone else was doing wallball and my squat numbers would throw my numbers off. I wanted to have a comprable score. I think it worked nicely.

I am a Murderer:
Here's the part you've been waiting for.. I killed something today. It still gives me the creeps thinking about it. I was on my way home from CFOT. I had just turned down this little neighborhood road and I was talking to my mom on the phone while driving. (I swear that studies have not proven that this is not safe.) I was totally paying attention and looking at the road.. but there was this little gray thing that blended in really well to the pavement. By the time I got close enough to realize that the little blob was actually a bird.. it was too late. I had hit it. I yelled into the phone, "Oh my g-d, I just killed a bird." I heard it's little bird body hit underneath my car as I drove over it. Ewww.. I glanced in the rear view mirror to see if there was a big carcas or anything.. all I could see were feathers.. flying in a little cloud of bird body. Oh my!

It was pretty horrific.. I won't lie. My mom said it was even traumatic for her on the other end of the phone. I hope I'll sleep alright tonight. It may be tough.. because I'm a murderer!!!!!

Friday, June 13;

Ralph Wellington Hoar Jr.

1945-2001

To the fathers who were taken from us too soon.

Tons of Testosterone

Thursday, June 5;

Usually, the 6:45 is a good mix of guys and girls. Often, there are more girls than guys, which is cool because all of the ladies in that class are tough as nails. Today was a very different story. I was in the midst of doing my shoulder exercises, when I realized it was going to be just me and the guys today. I have to say I don't mind it. The CFOT guys are nutso, which forces me to be a little nutso as well (not that I need much encouragement).

Right before we started the WOD, Chriss donned the 45lb weight vest!!!! Then everyone jumped on the weight vest bandwagon. If I counted correctly the total was 5 weight vests in this workout. I took the 10 pounder. Peer pressure is a wonderful thing.

I loved today's combination of movements.. first we started with some barbell work. Hang power squat cleans. Does this sound familiar? If your an avid blog reader, you'd know I did a ton of these on Sunday. My forearms were just beginning to feel normal too. Damn! After that we did some bodyweight movements. That's always a good excuse to go crazy, because you don't have heavy weights to slow you down.

Workout:
Hang Power Squat Cleans
9 reps.. workup as heavy as you can, without sacrificing form
35lb x9
55lb x9
65lb x9
65lb x9
75lb x7
85lb x4 (bailed on 4th rep and didn't want to push it)

I felt my form failing at 85lb.. the clean is fine at that weight, but recovering from the landing position is the tough part. I'm still fighting my butt positioning. At this weight I have a tendency to push back before coming up.

WOD
AMRAP in 20 minutes
10lb weight vest

15 pushups (done from knees)
15 jumping pullups
30 squats

Total: 8.66

Two Post Injury PRs

Wednesday, June 11;


What a day! A really freaking early morning after a really freaking late night. I have learned that two cups of Starbucks regular coffee is enough to keep me up for hours.. literally hours. I was so amped up last night when I went to bed at 11pm that I tossed and turned at least until midnight.

I've also learned that two cups of Starbucks coffee is enough to wake me up really early in the morning. I was still amped up (and had to go to the bathroom like a small child on a road trip) when I woke up at 5am. Ouch.. still also a little sore, but I figured there's no way Jerry is going to make us do pullups again after doing them on Tuesday. Right? Right?? I'm wrong so often!

We started off the morning with strict overhead presses. I haven't done heavy overhead presses for a long time. I'm not as strong as I used to be, but I have been working really hard on my form. Tight core, tight butt, tight quads.. and then push. I started light with just 15lbs and moved up to 35lb, 45lb, 55lb and then 65lb!! I actually hit a post injury PR there. I only did one, but that's because when I pressed up the barbell, I felt this really creepy liquid gush into my injured shoulder. I've felt this sensation once before when I was first started doing pushup agains. It's really gross. It doesn't hurt exactly, but it's a strange feeling.

I was excited to hit a post injury PR though.

Workout:
Strict press:
15lb x5, 35lb x5, 45lb x3, 55lb x1, 65lb x1

3 rounds of..
200 meter run
Dumbell Push presses (I did this with 15lb on left, 25 on right) 30, 24, 18
Pullups 21, 15, 9
Total: 18:20

Take a look at this most ridiculous kipping pullup ever!!!

How did my hips get all the way up there? What was I doing? I'm not sure if that's a result of the new pullup style. I know I am certainly using much more hip power.. Maybe I'll call it "mastering the wave of contraction from hip to core to extremities." Jerry, don't you love that one?? Then I look at the other pullup pictures and they don't seem so bizarre.

Take a look at this one.

My main concern is that I don't think the first picture is a very efficient use of force. If you look at it, it almost looks like I'm doing a benchpress or maybe a benchpush.. does that exist? No, I just made it up. That's enough of pullup technique talk. It's still a work in progress.. Oh I should also mention my second post injury PR of the day. I can't believe I almost forgot. 9 pullups in a row. Such small progress, but I also have what appear to be calluses on my left hand. I can't wait until they tear from too many pullups. Sick, isn't it?

I May be Going Crazy

Tuesday, June 10;

I hate to admit it but my new schedule may be having an affect on me. I woke up for class this morning and forced myself out of bed. I was exhausted. I stayed up late last night to read a book for class. I started going through my early morning routine.. brush the teeth, put the hair in a ponytail.. but before I could put the contacts in I decided to just go back to bed. I hadn't packed for work the night before, and the thought of putting my clothes in my luggage at that moment was just unmanageable (the silly things we think when we're half asleep!).

I slept for another hour and then got up feeling a little more rested. I went downstairs for coffee and hopped in the shower. Did the makeup and hair as usual. No issues there. Got dressed.. packed up my stuff for work and left. Everything seemed to be going well. In fact everything was great.

It wasn't until lunchtime that I noticed something was wrong. I had just run downstairs to drop off some dry cleaning. I was in the elevator at work heading back up to the office when I looked down at me feet. Something wasn't quite right.. I stared a little longer and it hit me. I had put on two different shoes!! Who does that??!!

Usually, when I do something stupid like this I have an excuse.. like I got dressed at work and forgot to pack something, or I packed the wrong thing.. but no, no excuse this time. I picked the shoes straight from the closet, got dressed in a well light room, and did the one over in the mirror. At least they are the same color and their's no noticeable difference in the feel of the shoe. Let's just hope I get some sleep soon.

Plus.. my freaking body is in so much pain right now. My lats are on fire after my trip up to the top of the pullup bar, and my abs are burning from weighted situps, and my forearms are still weak from Sunday's hang squat power clean.. ouch, ouch, ouch!

Getting on the Bar

Monday, June 9;

No, no.. not that kind of bar. Trust me, I'm not that wild any longer. It was a big day for me in the blue room. Meaning I did two things I haven't done since February. I did Pullups (thus the getting on the bar reference) and I did full out burpees!!

I never ever, ever thought I'd be so excited to do pullups in my life. In elementary school when we were doing the Presidential Fitness test I was a super star at everything, except the pullups. When Jerry said this morning our workout was a simple couplet with these movements I thought to myself. I can totally do this.

Jerry suggested cutting back on the reps, which I thought would be wise. The prescribed workout had us going from 1 of each, to 2, to 3.. up to 15. I knew there was no way in hell this little shoulder was going to do that many pullups. Instead I decided to do an ascending, descending, ascending ladder. I'll explain below. Regardless, I did the pullups and it didn't hurt that much. I have to admit the shoulder did feel a little loose during the workout, which is what I'm trying to avoid. The reason I didn't stop was because I didn't feel the ripping pain. I figured no terrible pain.. means pullup away!

I've also adjusted my pullup form. My physical therapist had suggested that my pullups may have been a factor in the shoulder injury. Instead of getting that big, old load for the pullup with my head forward and my shoulders way back, I really use my hips and try to think of pulling my shoulder blades together. The movement is much more efficient, but it'll take some getting used to. I think I'll be ready for a max effort in a few weeks. {wink, wink}

Workout:
"Cleaning the Gutters" (because I had to go up and down the ladder a ton of times to clean the gutters when I was little)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Pullups
Burpees

Total time: 19:??

Cleaning Up

Sunday, June 7;

I cleaned up everywhere today!! I'm pumped because I just finished my first grad school paper. Actually, I just finished the first rough draft. It's written, but I just need to tweak it so it's perfect. Yes, if you haven't noticed, I am a perfectionist. I had set this weekend aside to write the paper. My goal was to finish it and I did! The best thing is that it's not due until next Monday. That means not only am I not being a procrastinator like I was as an undergrad and as a student throughout my life, but I am being an overachiever. Nice. If anyone's interested the paper is on cameras in the House chamber. Sound like a snoozer? I think it's so interesting. Does that make me lame?

Besides being a superstar grad student, I loved today's workout. The prescribed workout was "Extreme Bullfit" which involved snatches and thrusters. Both movements I haven't done in workouts due to shoulder issues. Instead, I subbed in hang squat cleans and right arm dumbbell snatches. I love these kinds of workouts, because the faster you go the worse it feels. Get it over really quickly and you are destroyed. That was my goal. Get it done! That's what I did.

Workout:

Hang Squat cleans - 45lb Barbell

Right arm Dumbbell Snatches - 30lb

12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3

Total: 12:39

Nasty Couplets

Friday, June 6;

There were no real ground-breaking revelations with today's workout.

I still suck at doing high reps of heavy front squats. As Danny so kindly pointed out.. I push out with my butt from the bottom. I must get stronger before going heavier.

On a positive note, I went down to a smaller band for my ring dips. I started on the green band, then to the blue band, then to pink band for the third set. This whole colored band thing is so weird to me. It may be time to start working on pullups again. It's going to hurt.. a lot.

Workout:
Front squats
Ring Dips
21, 15, 9
Total: Don't remember time

KB Swings (45lb)
Jumping Lunges
21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3
Total: 4:33

8 rounds Hollow rocks holding 10lb ball
15 seconds on
15 seconds off

Ouch!

Back into the Swing of Things

Tuesday, June 3;

I hate going out of town. I have some decent powers of self control, but once I'm away from home base meaning home, work & Crossfit, all of my self control goes out of the window. I eat like crap. I don't workout. I sleep too much. I feel so sluggish.

I got back early yesterday and went on a run, went to the grocery store and got a Zone approved meal into my body. My "self" is revolting. I think I'm in shock. I feel dizzy, shaky and tired. All I want is to eat veggies and fruits and go to the bathroom. Is that too much information? Gross.

Needless to say, I'm excited to get back into the swing of things and to get back into my tight pants. Suck it up and suck it in! I guess?

Workout Monday:
4 mile run (didn't time)

I am the proud owner of a sweat angel!

Workout Tuesday:
800 meter run
50 KB swings (35lb)
50 box jumps (3 mats)
50 walking lunges (15lb dumbells)

800 meter run
40 KB swings
40 box jumps
40 walking lunges

800 meter run
30 KB swings
40 box jumps
40 walking lunges

Total time: 30:57