Dead and deader

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
Burgener warm-up

3x3 deadlift
KL: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x1 then 335/345/355(f3) x3
ED: 135x2, 185x2, 205x1, 225x1, then 275/285/295 x3

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps of
overhead squats (65#)
burpees

KL: 10:53
ED: 12:09

This metcon's a real sledgehammer, I was breathing hard the whole way. Planned on using 95# for the OHS but 65# was much better to keep it short and continuous. By the first set of burpees we both realized that the OHS-burpee doublet is a quad killer. OHSs unbroken but burpees in sets of 3s by halfway through, short pauses. HR 180 at the finish - down to 120s after 5 min, which is at least reassuring physiologically.

Totally screwed the pooch on the deadlifts, added weights wrong and ended up heavier than I meant to (325/330/335 or 325/335/345). Used a mixed grip starting in the middle of the 345# set, but might have been able to pull regular if I had not forgotten the chalk. On the plus side, first 2 reps at 355 felt fairly decent (compare to best 1RM at 365, 2 years ago).

Some serious foam rollering in store tonight...

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow.

- Thomas Paine

Back from vacation

Warm-up:
RDLs
muscle snatch + power snatch (65,85,95,105,115)

10x1 snatch (115,2x125 [f1],2x135,5x145 [f1,5])
7x1 clean + jerk (135,145,155,2x165,2x170)

Workout #2 from the Great Basin Qualifiers (aka, "Prison rape")
Complete 5 rounds for time of:
7 deadlifts (Male: 275#, Female: 185#)
30 air squats
7 handstand pushups

BL: 4 rounds in 11:20

Some inconsistent lifting today, but I'm just happy to be back on the platform. Some loopy bar paths on the snatches, and jerks were terrible (recovering forward, which I suspect means I'm drifting forward on the dip).

Metcon as bad as last time, and the improved time was largely due to 1) bumpers, which allowed me to reset between deadlifts easier (cf to hex plates), and 2) keeping one leg bent for the HSPUs; this was for balance, but it makes them easier as well.

Ouch

Warm-up:
overhead squat (3 sec pause at bottom; to 2x135)

2x3 overhead squat (155,165)
4x3 split jerk (45,95,2x115)

Workout #2 from the Great Basin Qualifiers (aka, "Prison rape")
Complete 5 rounds for time of:
7 deadlifts (Male: 275#, Female: 185#)
30 air squats
7 handstand pushups

BL: 4 rounds in 13:09 (1:07,3:25,5:20,3:17)

Paused OHS are awesome; a good active stretch of the hips and lower back, and can give you a few wobbles at heavier weights. Upper back felt OK on the jerks. Time to ramp up the overhead work again.

The metcon destroyed me. Even though I only did four of the the five Rx'd rounds, I'm still giving this the 'death' label. Deadlifts were easy, but coupled with the squats my legs became increasingly immobile. They were so freakin pumped that it was hard use them to kick up into the handstand position. I bailed on the last round cause the HSPUs were grinding singles by the fourth round (not so easy after all!), and I managed to fall on my head a few times. With a little practice I'll get this when it comes around in a month or so.

Thrusters + pullups = death

Warm-up:
pullups
thrusters

Crossfit WOD 062008
AMRAP in 20 minutes:
10 thrusters (65#)
10 pullups (I used rings to stay by barbells)

BL: 9 rounds on the dot

Brutal. Pullups limiting, due to extremely limited kipping in the power rack (height and space). Probably doesn't matter anyways, cause I only figured out how to kip on rings by round 5. Little surprised to find that I've lost about 4-5 pounds; I've noticed I'm a bit leaner but didn't realize how much. Partly due to the increased bike riding; time to eat more food!

Edit: Scott pointed out that our previous attempts are here and here.

Failbear

Warm-up:
dips and situps

The Bear
5 rounds of:
7 sets of
Power Clean
Front Squat
Pushpress
Back Squat
Pushpress

Rest between rounds as needed, increase to max load.
95, 105(f5), 95, 100, 105(f5)

2x
20 steps one-armed overhead walking lunge (25#)

I apparently used up my limited supply of wisdom talking Scott out of doing the Murph today, because I tried the Bear despite too little sleep last night and too many glasses of red wine today at J Anthony's celebratory fete.

Great workout, the bear complex really gets your HR up. Disappointed with myself, because despite the technique and strength issues, this was ultimately a failure of willpower - I think I could have pushed through those failures with enough drive. Linked the squats and pushpresses as thrusters for as long as I could, much more efficient that way. Rested with the bar on my shoulders when I needed to. Cleans were messy - started out basically muscle cleaning, devolved into proper power cleans, and by the end was essentially reverse curling the weight.

This bear has claws.

Three bars of death

Warm-up:
deadlifts
cleans

Crossfit WOD 030308

Linda, aka "Three bars of death"
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the triplet:
Deadlift: 1.5 x body weight (210 = 1.5 x BW)
Bench press: 1 x body weight (115 = 0.82 x BW)
Clean: 0.75 x body weight (115 = 0.82 x BW)

Set up three bars and storm through for time.

BL: 53:21 (4:23,7:46,6:58,7:30,7:52,6:05,4:46,3:35,3:00,1:23)

Full squat cleans. No bench available, so I did floor presses instead. I thought these might be easier but they weren't, the eccentric portion was harder cause I was trying not to smash my elbows into the floor.

I was pretty nervous beforehand given how Linda destroyed me last time. I wasn't disappointed this time around. No other workout has produced anything like the misery I feel after 2 rounds with Linda.

"Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong."

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Light of Stars"

HT to Sean Manseau for the quote.

Ouch

Warm-up:
0.25 mi run

Crossfit WOD 022408

"Eva" (aka Helen's angry stepmother)
Five rounds for time of:
800 meter run (treadmill, incline=1.5)
30 kettlebell swing (2 pood = 70.4#, subbed 55# DB)
30 pullups

BL: 4 rounds in 54:25
round 1 = 4:01/1:39/3:07
round 2 = 5:03/3:06/6:06
round 3 = 5:57/4:04/5:53
round 4 = 6:41/2:44/5:57

Lost ~1 minute each way transitioning from treadmill to pullup bar.

A new Crossfit WOD in honor of monster athlete Eva T. I saw this last night and thought it was a typo! Then I got nervous. I couldn't finish due to a time constraint, but I can honestly say I was a little relieved. The runs were painful after yesterday. Swings were OK, done in sets of 10. Lots of trouble stringing kips together today. Even at 4 rounds, it deserves the "death" label. Hope to finish it next time.

The word of the day is HUMILITY

Warm-up:
plate swings
cleans
deadlifts

Linda, aka "Three bars of death"For time:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:
Deadlift: 1.5 x body weight (205 = 1.46 x BW)
Bench press: 1 x body weight (105 = 0.75 x BW)
Clean: 0.75 x body weight (115 = 0.82 x BW)

BL: 76 minutes, compare to those damned CFers.

Absolutely brutal. I had doubts that I would even survive. I've read about CNS failure, but hadn't experienced it until today. Very hard to describe, but the motor-neurons just stopped firing midway through two of the cleans; I just dropped the bar. The cleans (full squat cleans) were by far the worst part, most of my time was spent resting between each rep. Bench can go up next time.

Funny numbers from the Performance Menu's power output calculator:
Work Performed:
106263.55 joules
10835.69 kg-m
78379.99 ft-lbs
Power Output:
23.3 watts
0.03 horsepower
17.19 ft-lbs/sec

Misery does indeed love company

Warmup:
2x barbell complex (50#)
1x6 inverted rows

WOD from 062707

3 rounds for time:
50 thrusters (45# bar)
35 pullups

KL 22:09
SS 22:30 (2 rounds)

Wow, so deceptive. This one walks the line between muscle failure and exhaustion (and plain ol' mental anguish). Went out hard in the first round (4:45) and suffered the consequences, all thrusters afterwards in 10 rep subsets, pull-ups in 5s and 6s.

Someone called this the Franathon, I think it merits the creation of a new tag for miserable workouts - "Death". Brian, props to you for taking this beast on alone (and without kipping).

Never again

Warm-up:
10-5-5-5-5 overhead squat (45,65,85,95)

WOD from 062707

3 rounds for time:
50 thrusters (45# bar)
35 pullups

35:50

Heart rate at 204 BPM at the end of last set of thrusters (apparently I still have β-adrenergic receptors on my heart despite my age). Forced to use Gravitron due to total muscular failure (aka pussyarms). Everything hurts.

Should only be done in groups.Source: Higginbotham et al., 1986

Murph

"Murph"

For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

KL: 48:05
BL: 51:20
SS: 67:35

Ouch.