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good luck with the total JT. it is a fun one

last nite

15 minutes on the minute

2 110 lbs including saftey squat bar and purple bands good morning
4 V sit ups

tonite

5 x15 barbell bench 80-90-95-105-110
5 x 15 dbell bench row 60 lb
5 x 15 15lb dbell side tri extension
50 sit ups un broken
50 green band good mornings un broken

saw the physio today for the first time re my foot. she does not think it is all that bad and something that i may be able to work the issues out on my own at home with a lacross ball, bands and calf raises. lets hope!!

keep up the great work everybody

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BACK from ski trip.

Took a pretty hard spill on Saturday on a double black (crossed the tips of my old school 195cm Heads), the brunt of which was on my right hip, ribs, shoulder and oddly the middle of my clavicle, all of which have been sore for a few days.

Did some light stuff the last couple of days then got back fully into it this AM.

WARMUP
20 SDHP 53#
Uphill walk/jog


PTP/DEAD LIFT
3x275
3x245


CASHOUT
3x:30 Uphill Sprints (7.5MPH/10 degrees)

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Claw and Augie at Norcal Masters (Part One)

Saturday morning dawned a beautiful day with at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, a former Ford assembly plant. The Norcal Masters for Crossfitters over 40. There were men’s and women’s divisions, ages 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-60, and 60+.

I had several goals throughout the competition which evolved as the competition went on. Primarily I was concerned without embarrassing myself and I think I achieved that. I also wanted not fail any of the WODs. As the organizers publicized the WOD’s in the week leading up to the competition, I realized I would be capable of scoring in each one, so my goal changed simply to not finish last.

Augie and I drove up to Richmond the day before and stopped by the Craneway Pavilion to make sure we knew the way. We doubled back to our hotel in Jack London Square in Oakland. It was definitely a dive, but it was not expensive and I did not get any bed bug bites. That’s about it for the hotel.

The first night I did not sleep very well; a combination of nerves, road buzz from the drive, and the coffee I had to make sure I would not fall asleep during the drive. I also subjected Augie to three hours of legal ethics continuing education tapes that I needed to fulfill my MCLE requirements. I actually think Augie was more interested in them that I was.

I got up bright and early Saturday morning and had a hard-boiled egg, some nuts, and fruit which I brought from home, and the thin cheap “brew your own coffee” that is available in hotels. We got to the Craneway Pavilion pretty early because we needed to check-in.

My nerves before the first WODs were pretty serious. There was enough time to stretch out and warm up in a haphazard fashion. In any event, I think I was warm enough for the WODs. There were three main WODs and three mini-WODs, the mini-WODs substituting for the floater WODs sometimes found in other competitions.

Mini-WOD 1 was “Youngin’”: 3 min to achieve heaviest Weighted Pullup and 1 min of 10m Farmers Carry with pair of kettlebells (70/44).

During warmup I hit 53, then did 53 during the WOD, then 58, then failed at 63 twice and went down to 60.5 but by then was too tired, so 58. The Farmers Carries went quite well, I was moving well, but on my second to last round I thought I heard the judge yell “five seconds left” (there was no visible clock so it’s difficult to track the time) so I sprinted to the end, and stumbled and dropped the bells, then realized there was time left so I got up and heard a real five second warning. Because of the fall I probably lost one length, getting nine instead of 10.

Main WOD 1 was next.

OLY SMOKES! 5 min EMOM. At the top of each minute for five minutes you will attempt: Burpee over barbell ( must do at least one) and one snatch—one attempt per minute only for the Snatch. (Your snatch attempt can be a power, muscle or full squat. You must show complete control and once again, you will only get one attempt each minute. You will have as many Burpee over Barbell attempts as you would like. You must start with your Burpee over Barbell and once you attempt your Snatch you cannot return to the Burpee over Barbell.)

Rest one minute while changing weights

5 min EMOM. At the top of each minute for five minutes you will attempt: Toes to Bar (must do at least one) and one Clean attempt-one attempt per minute only for the Clean. (Your Clean attempt can be a power, muscle or full squat. You must show complete control and once again, you will only get one attempt each minute. You will have as many Toes to Bar attempts as you would like. You must start with Toes to Bar and once you attempt your Clean you cannot return to the Toes to Bar. You will be allowed to preload your bar.)

Score: 50% is number of burpees plus toes to bar. 50% is total weight lifted (snatch plus clean). If you failed a rep, you get a zero for that minute.

I mistakenly assumed I would be in the same heat for all WODs, so I was very late check-in and had to blast through some warmup. It turns out the requirement was bar over buprees, not bar facing burpees, so I was able to get even more burpees that I planned. I don’t know my counts, other than the first round was somewhere and 16 and I think I always kept it at least 10.

Since scoring was 50% burpees and toes-to-bar and 50% Oly lifts, I planned on blasting the burpees and toes-to-bar and not push the Oly lifting. My snatch was 80#

I planned on doing T2B in sets of 5 to keep a decent pace, but these were very fatiguing. I think I got maybe 10 or nine my first round, and then slowly dropped from there. In the fifth round I got just a couple before two consecutive no reps, so I did my last clean with about 30 seconds to spare. Cleaned 140 pounds, again staying with my plan of going for safe and easy lifts and focusing on the burpees and toes-to-bar.

There was a several hour break before the next WOD. The athlete waiting area was cold. Note to self: Next competition bring warm clothes and beach chair to sit in.

Main WOD 2.

Hellenita!
Part A: 3 rounds for time: Run 150m shuttle; 10 swings (53/35); 5 pullups.
Part B: Immediate AMRAP that totals 10 minutes including the first three rounds.
(Runs will be broken up into 25m lengths so athletes will shuttle run down and back 3 times per round to total 150m.)

Scoring for the AMRAP portion: Each 150m run gets 12 points or reps. Each 12.5m gets 1 point. Each round of the workout is 27 points (12 for run, 10kb, 5pullup).

Score: 50% Time for first three rounds. 50% total reps in 10min.

The movie standards on the kettle bell swings were interesting: an athlete did not have to have his arms fully extended at the top of the swing but the base of the bell had to be parallel to the floor. I figured I could keep my arms bent and reduce the radius of my swings, and combined with a slight tilt of the bell back at the top of the swing, I would be able to go quickly and efficiently on this one.

The wrinkle was that half of the score of his WOD was the 10 minute AMRAP and half was how quickly you can perform first three rounds. My plan is generally “slow is steady, steady is fast,” and my plan was to do everything continuously, focusing on scoring well on the AMRAP. I started running at about 80%. When it came time to do the kettle bell swings, I got a couple no reps because, although I did get the kettlell overhead, I was not getting the base parallel to the floor. I compensated for that by twisting the bell backwards with my wrists over my head to get the base parallel to the floor.

Frankly, I thought this standard was poor for two reasons. First, allowing an athlete like me to swing the bar with bent arms made the swing easier, and then having to twist it back over my head meant there was 50+ pounds of iron hanging over my head, held only by my wrists.

In any event, as I started my second shuttle run, I looked around and realized no one was ahead of me in my heat of about six athletes. At that point I decided quickly to change my tactics and pour it on in the three rounds for time, aiming for a high score on that half. My strategy worked because I ended third of the 21 athletes in my division, my highest score of the entire competition.

After the 3RFT I was really out of gas so I took it easy on the fourth round, then picked up the pace again on the fifth and subsequent rounds. I ended it with nine complete rounds, placing 10th of the 21 competitors. I had to break up the last two rounds of pull ups. All kettlebell swings went unbroken, except on my very last kettlebell swings and with seconds left, I dropped the bell and headed for the pull up rigs, only to be no-repped by my judge, meaning I had to come back, bang out one more kettle bell swings, and time was called literally as I dove to the pull up rig.

At the end of day when I was in 14th place of 21. This is when my expectations begin changing, because I wanted to at least maintain my position in the top two thirds, and hopefully move up from 14.

I met up with several Crossfitters who I only knew via Facebook for dinner and we ate fairly clean with a couple beers. I went back to the hotel decided to have another beer at the hipster tavern across the street. Those were probably not my best decisions, because after that third beer I realized I was still hungry, so I found a soul food restaurant and blues bar down the street from my hotel, had a second small dinner, another glass of wine, that I heard some amazing blues. I got back to the room fell asleep pretty early, all things considered.

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Claw and Augie at Norcal Masters (Part Two)

I woke up Sunday morning having slept pretty well, with no bed bug bites, but feeling bloated and a little hung over. I also didn’t really have any food for breakfast, other than some of the chemical food which is provided by the event sponsors and the protein bars which were in my CPC gift bag, plus the weak hotel-brewed coffee.

(By the way, the CPC gift bags were awesome, especially the cards. At dinner the night before I was eating with other Crossfitters and coaches, and nobody else’s box did cool stuff like that!)

Anyway, I packed quickly, we checked out, and we headed off to the Craneway Pavilion, again arriving early.

While there I was able to hydrate and warm up and shake off most of the lethargy from the previous night’s adventures.

WOD 3 (The Fat Gripz Master Chipper)

20 Cal Row
50m Bear Crawl;
13 Thrusters (95)
13 Up and Over Box Jumps (24)
13 Deadlifts (165)
13 Wall Balls (10 feet /20)
13 Ring Dips.
And then back down

I thought I would perform fairly well on this one, but it was really burning starting with the thruster. Judging throughout the events was fairly inconsistent, with most judges being fairly strict and several judges being much less strict. I was actually fortunate to have strict judges, and although I got no repped multiple times throughout the weekend, it really drove home to me that I need to make a 2014 goal of good clean reps on everything, meaning all thrusters and wall balls with hip crease below the knees, all wall balls hitting the target, and my toes actually hitting the bar on toes to bars.

The thrusters were miserable, the box jumps were okay, but the fat grip 165 pound deadlifts were also extremely difficult. It’s surprising how much harder deadlifts are with the grip twice as big around as normal. The wall balls really sucked, just like the thrusters, because I was being called out multiple times for incomplete reps. The ring dips required shoulders below elbows at the bottom and full extension at the top, meaning I got no repped a few times here too. Coming back I was really lagging. As I was on the box jumps, I was half wishing time would be called so I wouldn’t have to face the thrusters. I got to 10 of the 15 thrusters before when time was called.

I was pretty sure I was last or second to last. As I went to check the scores which were being posted almost real-time fashion, I came in at 14th place, meaning I at least maintained my position.

Mini-WOD 3 was originally designed to inclue a prowler push and double-unders, but the night before it was discovered that the prowlers damaged the floor, so the WOD was changed.

I had very high hopes for the final mini-WOD. It was 35 Air Squats, run to the other end of the Mini-WOD arena, pick up 2 plates (45/25), run plates back to start, add the plates to the wheelbarrow, walk/run wheelbarrow straight back down same path, stop half way and perform 35 more air squats, continue to move wheelbarrow over finish line, and 100 double unders, for time, with a five minute time cap.

There were vendors at the Pavilion both days, including one selling speed ropes. I tried one out for demo the first day and very first time I touched it I strung about 40 double under together, which is pretty close to PR. I goofed around with it a little and it was an instant sale.

I consider air squats and double-unders both to be strengths, so I had high hopes for moving up in the standings after the mini-WOD. Looking at earlier heats, I realized even at a fairly casual pace I would be the start of the double unders at about the three minute mark, leaving me two full minutes to do 100 double unders. I actually even envisioned doing 100 double under straight through.

In any event, I stuck my game plan and finished everything about the three minute mark. The wheelbarrow was a little more taxing than I anticipated, but not too bad. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting started on the double unders, was finally able to string a couple strings of 20 and 30 together, but at about 70 fell apart, and was only able to complete 81 double unders before time was called. I was extremely disappointed with this result. I ended 15th on the mini-WOD but maintained my place in 14th place overall.

All in all, this was an amazing event. TJ from TJ’s Gym and team just a first-class job all the way around. It would be hard to imagine a better run event.

On the drive back, Augie he asked me what my take-away was. It was a good question, and I think my primary take away is, as noted above, to really make sure I perform full range of motion on the movements which historically have given me trouble, thrusters, wall balls, and toes to bar. It is funny how expectations change, because my first goal was simply to complete the WODs, then not be in last place, which I accomplished. At the end of Day 1 I wanted to maintain my position in the top two-thirds and for while I was disappointed because I didn’t move up, but then looking back I realized that I did attain my goals. Most importantly, I did my best (well, except for the Chipper when I was hungry and hung-over.)

With the Open coming up in about two months, I’m looking forward to once again giving it my all on all WODs.

Claw

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thanks for the report Claw. I know you are a busy guy and it took some time. I may consider doing this sometime in future. I have one daughter in S.F. so I could combine a few objectives.

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1-24-13 Thursday

W/U: SSROM 15 each. Practice each of the movements a few reps, esp the squat cleans to get the creaky parts lubed and warm.

3 rds
50 s.u.
25 kb swings (52 lbs)
15 squat cleans 58 lbs.
10 push-ups (to bench)

19:41

Buy out: splitting headache, drinking lots of water and posting here.

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[QUOTE=Jim Cordes;1129064]

I met up with several Crossfitters who I only knew via Facebook for dinner and we ate fairly clean with a couple beers. I went back to the hotel decided to have another beer at the hipster tavern across the street. Those were probably not my best decisions, because after that third beer I realized I was still hungry, so I found a soul food restaurant and blues bar down the street from my hotel, had a second small dinner, another glass of wine, that I heard some amazing blues. I got back to the room fell asleep pretty early, all things considered.[/QUOTE]

Claw, I read both of your posts totally, very impressive. The quote is the part that made me laugh out loud though. Love the blues! I'll tell you about back in the day in Kansas City some time. :pepper:

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Great work guys! Especially Claw & Pat for the NorCal & that Diane time!

[B]WU: (In Base "Globo")[/B]
.5555556 mi run
100 SUs
DU practice
2 rounds:
10 Push Ups
10 Air Aquats

[B]WOD:[/B]
10 RFT:
10 24" Box Jumps
10 TTB

19:13


[I]!st WOD this week and I felt it!! This was a slog. Tried to keep constant on the Box Jumps (Look forward, rest on TOP of the Box, use your arms...). Overheard a couple of guys on the tricep station comment that they couldn't believe how hard I was working & that I made them tired just watching me! Kinda cool![/I]

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Claw I also read both of your posts and enjoyed the read
sounds like a fun event, Congrats

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Thanks for all the nice comments on the trip report. It was a great experience!

1/23 WOD
Traver's 37th Birthday WOD

370 m Row (Modified with 400 m run))
37 Man-Makers (12 kg. kettlebells)
137 Double Unders
37 GHDs (modified to go only to parallel, not all the way to touching floor)
37 Sledgehammer Blows with yell
37 Pull Ups*
37 Ring Dips*
* modified from 37 Muscle Ups
37 Box Jump Overs (24") (jumped on box, stepped down back side)
37 Deadlifts (modified to 185#)
37 Pistols (from floor but held vertical support)
370 m Row

38:48.
At KJ’s urging, we came up a crazy birthday WOD for Traver, and then about half the class decided to join in, including me. I decided to scale movements to not crush myself. My time was actually pretty fast, due to the scaling. Great to celebrate Traver’s birthday, but this one wasted me.

Claw