Freeze Fest 2015, Credence Comp, following a new program, and the little things....

I have started a new program with Zach, which has had it's ups and downs, but overall I think it's going well. In fact, this past week I've had PR's on pretty much all my lifts, which has been awesome. I seem to always be in a somewhat of a rut when it comes to Oly lifts and squats, so I've come to really be happy when I get a 5lb PR, instead of dreaming big for those 20+pounders.

The program with Zach started October or late September, so it's been about 3 months. It's very different compared to anything I've done because I am actually following one program, and also because I haven't done or added any of the swim, bike, or run stuff. The tri training and running has officially been on the back burner. The first month was very different as I was used to doing way more, but at the same time the strength and load from the program took some time getting used to. I've had to really be diligent when it comes to my diet and eating more overall, as well as mobilizing ALL the time!! All in all I think the last couple weeks to a month I've been really dialing things in, or at least I think. I can always eat more of course =) Aside from strength the WOD's started off pretty rough, but have been feeling pretty good lately. I have added a few wods here and there on test days or off weeks, but nothing too crazy as I am trying to be smarter exerciser now.

I haven't done any comps since GG which was also a challenge as I really like to compete and do WODs...but strength takes time, and the best thing you can do with strength is REST, so competitions have had to go on the back burner as well (not my choice), but I listened. So the only competitions that I did end up doing was two which were both partner comps. I figure those aren't as taxing, and you can in a way train though them without getting too burned out.

Kim and I did the Credence Comp which was pretty fun. We had never competed together. I remember not feeling too great at that one, and had some stomach issues the night before. We didn't' do too great, but it was fun. And I snatched a high at a competition, a huge 115lbs ;) It's the little things...starting to think that's my 2015 motto...

FreezeFest came last weekend. I was supposed to compete with Danny but another guy from the gym, Christian really wanted to do his first comp before the OPEN so Danny gave up his spot. It was fun to compete with Christian and he did really well being that this was his first comp. I like the workouts a lot better this year. There was snatch, clean and DL ladder. Both Christian and I got stuck on the snatch, which for me was a 125 and him 195. We both didn't hit the weights, boo! There was also a sled sprint event and then a 12, 9, 6 thruster and burpee right after. I was super excited to do that one but we ran out of time as the guys had to do first and the time cap was 7min. A lot of people were dying out on that one...wonder if it was the combo of pushing the sled and the workout that really made that one tough. We just got through the 12's on my side before the time was up. We did do pretty well on the snatch/MU wod.

WOD was 5min time cap
9 snatch at 95/135
2/3 MU's.
We were both able to get through 2 rounds. I was even able to string together the snatches and do them power! Big step for me as I believe last year my max snatch was 100lbs.

WOD 5 was a little rough as Christian was not able to do 50 unbroken DU's, but he tried really hard!! I think the DU's should have been at the end to give people a chance to at least do the whole workout, but oh well. I came home and did it with Gabe =)

All in all it's been a really good few months. I've been trying to stay positive and patient with my strength. I knnow that my limiting factors is my love for the WOD's, so the strength will just take a bit longer, but it's an ongoing process. I have time! Very pumped going into the open and the next cycle of training gearing up for the open which startes on Monday.

Progress thus far:

225 BS, 340DL, 180bench, 125 snatch, 165 clean and jerk, 170 clean, 200 for 3 rep max FS, 3:46 1K row, 7:50 2K row, 178 10min AD test, 115 strict press, 23 unbroken HSPU, 6 unbroken MU's, 35 unbroken wall balls. Rowing has gotten way better but I still dislike it.

Retested 7min burpeesx2...133 first time, rest 2hrs, go again, 135 second time. Got 102 in 2012, which was huuuge.

Granite Games 2014, team style!

The GG this year had a very extended qualifier, and after regionals I was pretty exhausted more mentally then physically. I decided to give GG qualifier a shot anyways because that's just what I do =).

After the long long qualifier I managed to make it into the RX division, but the whole time thought how I didn't feel great during the whole qualified...maybe a little tired still from regionals who knows. After not thinking too hard I decided to do a two person team with Amanda from KF. Less pressure, more fun, Amanda is stronger then I am...it was a good decision!

After competing all weekend with Amanda, the team thing was just what I had expected...a good thing. The first workout was similar to last year a snatch ladder, I managed to get 110lbs, tried 120 a few times but no go. I had gotten 120lbs earlier in the week at KF. My nerves still get the best of me when it comes to olympic lifting and one rep max stuff. At least I got the 110 though, whereas last year I couldn't even get 98lbs...progress =) Amanda did awesome and got 140lbs for a PR! We were in fourth place after the first event which was awesome, even with my non so heavy lift.

Second event was the deadly ropes 3 rounds per person 2 rope climbs, 4 DL at 205 and 6 burpees. That one went well too, and wasn't too bad.

Second day was the chipper. I thought this one went really well. The workout was
150 DU
30 S2OH
40 BJ
70 C2bar pull ups
30 S2OH
40 BJ
150 DU
I was able to get a PR of 100 DU in a row on the first one, which helped Amanda  save her shoulders for the first set of S2OH, otherwise we broke up things pretty evenly.

Second event on Sat was a bit heavier 30 cleans and 30 MU's cleans at 140 were a bit tough for me, since Amanda could handle more weight it worked out. I did one for every 2 reps she did. And I did all of the muscle ups or as many as I could do, which was 13 total. Amanda tried a few times and she was super close! I really wanted 15, but the rings were super high so Amanda had to help me up every time which made things go slower. Either way still have to work on my MU's and getting stronger.

Third day was a 5K run, I was looking forward to that one. Even though I haven't been running as much as normal, the run is still the run for me, it's a familiar territory in a sense. I got 20:40 which wasn't horrible, 6:40 pace and second in our RX division. Amanda did pretty good too, so we were able to get 3 place overall in that event with our combined times.

The last even was the sprint which was 6 rounds of 100 meter sprint and 20 TTB. I love TTB's!! We were able to get first place in that event, which was awesome!

Top 12 teams make it to the finals and we did, being 2 place overall after all of the events.


The last event wasn't too great I thought. Last year seemed longer and more fun. This year it went...One partner does 30 cal row and 30 HSPU then the other partner cleans as a  heavier speed ladder up to 165lbs, then you switch and the other partner does 15 cal row, 15 HSPU and the other partner does a lighter clean ladder up to 145lbs. This worked out perfectly for Amanda and I!!! We did pretty good in that event as well as were able to walk away with second place overall for the weekend!!!

All in all I wasn't nervous at all like I've been in the past, which was a good thing. There is a certain amount of calmness knowing you have another person out there with you, but at the same time there is a little pressure to make sure you aren't holding your partner back. I think Amanda and I made a really good team though. We balanced each other out well for sure. The rest of the KF crew did really good as well, and there were a lot of people doing their first ever comp. Kurbs and Stacy did pretty well in their division, crushing the run for sure!

Next up...more strength, the story of my CF endeavor.

CrossFit Regionals Chicaaaaga...I EXCITE =)

Regionals finished up last weekened and what an experience. From the nerves, to disappoitment, to ripped fingers, to awesome memories, as I look back now the weekend was a great learning experience. The more I think about last weekend and reflect on how things went, I am not unhappy with how I did, but wish I was a little more prepared. Then again I remember how little time I've devoted to CrossFit, after getting pretty serious right after Granite Games in October, and I guess I've come a long way, but still feel weird being at the bottom at Regionals (that's just my competitive side).

I had a lot of nerves going into the weekend, and especially after hearing the first two events were a snatch event, and handstand walk (snatch still a scare for me, and hanstand walk I had never done). I practiced the HS walk a lot, but to this day still can't really do it. The snatch event didn't go very well because I was so nervous coming out I accidentely put on 10lbs more then I wanted on my second attempt without knowing it. When I missed I thought I was at 100lbs, so I put on another 2.5 on each side, and when asking the judge what weight I missed the second attempt he said 110, I was like shit! But once you put the weight on the bar you can't take it off, so I had to attempt 115, which was NOT in the game plan...Oh well rookie mistake...The HS walk didn't go great either, got 0...oh well on to the next event of Nasty Girls V2.

Day 1
Nasty Girls V2 (3 rounds 50 pistols, 7 MU's, 10 hang cleans at 115lbs) went alright, I really struggled with the MU's more then normal. I think I was not used to not jumping up as I had to start from a dead hang position and swing which required a lot more energy. I still really need to work on my transition with the MU as well. I can dip no problem, but that transition really messes me up! I ended up in 28st place out of 31 for that one, with one MU into the third round.

Day 2
The events started at noon which was nice. The teams always went first in the AM. 21, 15, 9, 6, 3 Strict HS Push ups, FS at 125lbs, and burpees 20min cap. I got through the 3 of the 6 handstands. I was pretty happy with that, my goal was to complete 21, 15, 9 which I did...I had just learned how to do strict HS a week before after they anounced the workouts, so that was also a bit rough for me. I was able to grind out the FS ok, but had to break up the 21s and 15's. So close to getting to that 6 FS...next time! 21st on this one.

Later in the day was the legless rope climb, another thing I had never tried until they announced the workout the week before. I had practiced a few times at KF, but the rope there was made of different material and wasn't as high. The WOD was 10 rounds of one climb legless, and 200 run, 11min cap. I started out on the first one really good, but then it all fell apart, and I had about 5 or 6 where I was so close, but couldn't not get all the way up there. It was a soul crusher!!! I finished with only 2 climbs, sad! I ripped my finger too coming off the rope after I decided to take my gloves off half way through the workout. I think maybe not wearing gloves might have been better, as it seemed I had better grip when I took those off.  26th on this one.

Day 3

The 50's the workout I tried at KF, got all the way through the Box jumps in the 21min time cap when I tried. The WOD 50 cal row, 50 DL, 50 WB, 50 ring dips, 50 WB, 50 DL, 50 BJ, 50 cal row. The thing that stuck out on this one was how many no reps I got on the wall balls, geez!! The height was the men's height which I found out later, and you had to hit a small round target, which was something I hadn't practiced either. Either way I was able to finish 13th for this one, my best placement, finishing with 15 DL coming back the 50's. I apparently am also pretty good at ring dips, since I was able to pull away from some of the leaders after getting to that movement. That WOD took a lot out of me though, physically. I'd say more so then any other WOD the whole weekend.

One an hour or so later was the dreaded 64 pull ups and 8 OHS WOD at 135lbs 6min cap. The dreaded more so because the 135 OHS was really hard for me, and I was really aiming to get through one rep suceesfully. Then again I think I sold myself short because after I got the one after coming off the PU bar first I sort of told myself well you got one that's good enough....(not a good thing to tell youself). The pull ups went well, first time trying butterfly during a workout. If I could keep the rhythm I wouldn't have had to come off the bar as much as I did. Another thing to practice!

I felt like there were a lot of things I need to work on skill wise. It gets to be frustrating when I know I can grind through workouts but was stopped because I couldn't do legless climbs, or strict HS push ups well, but that's the beaty of CrossFit, you have to be able to do it ALL!!!

A little time off the barbell for now, as I'm having some major elbow issues. Have a triathlon I signed up for in June and another trail run, then likely get back on the serious training for CF again with goals of working on skills, strength as always, and oly lifting. I feel a bit less preasure now with time on my side, and not having to rush to get stronger or learn new skills weeks before a huge competition.

The support from everyone that came and everyone back home was amazing!!! At times I feel so weird to have this much attention because I still feel like a newbie to the sport of CF. The weirdest part was when we had our athlete meetings and the head judge said you guys are all elites athletes in CF, and we want to get the best of you to Carson for the games, and I thought to myself how the heck am I sitting here right now...I know I deserved to be there, but at the same time it was like, how am I sitting here amongst these beasts, and a place I never thought I'd be at a year ago. It's a crazy feeling. I did try my best to enjoy it all and take it all in. Also the volunteering and the overall event was awesome. Super organized and very professional venue.

On a side note we had some good food while in Chicago and got to see the bean! Also the bars in Chicago aren't open very late as we found out trying to go celebrate on Sunday night..

The Crossfit Open and making Regionals

The CrossFit open was a tough, but as always a humbeling experience. I went into this open with no real expectations but to do all of the workouts, since I haven't really been able to do that in the past opens due to various surgeries or vacations. I had been working hard on strength since October and re testing some of the past open workouts had been going really well, so I really didn't know what would happen this year, but again no expectations. I still feel like a scrawny triathlete compared to the rock-stars the regionals and open women are.

Week to week it was exciting to watch the live announcements and a little nerve wrecking at the same time. I tried to keep calm and not put too much preasure on myself, which didn't really happen the first week but I got better as the weeks went on. There were various times during the open I just had to step back and say to myself you're doing this for fun, even though I was watching the Leaderboard daily or even hourly =)

The highlight of the open was going to San Fran and meeting Kelly, Diane Fu, Christy Phillps, and doing the open 14.4 at Petrero Hill. The last two open workouts were my best, and I was really happy getting 10 MU's in 14.4 since those have been my goat the past two years. It felt good to finally be able to knock those out, although my form still needs help.

14.5 was another good workout for me, thrusters and over the bar burpees, I got 16th in the region for this workout, and did 20 sec better doing it the second time. I re did this one on Monday which was the final day of the open, so after that it was a waiting game to see where I'd land and if Regionals was in the books this year. All in all I was really happy with my accomplishments this year, Regionals or not. Yeah the more I thought about making it the more pumped I got, but honestly if I wouldn't have made Regionals this year I would still be very content. Well I got the email today saying my video was accepted which means, yep I'm going to Regionals!!!! UNBELIBABLE! =)

My emotions: shocked, excited, scared, nervous and many more, but at the end I don't even care if  I place last in each workout (well maybe a little). My main goal now is to try to be prepared for the volume, and be well rested going into Regionals in 5 short weeks. My body is feeling sore after this weeks training, but all in all I'm feeling pretty good. I have to pay a lot more attention to eating a little extra, resting, and hydrating more.

Super pumped to have the Kingfield crew come and Danny to be in the back helping me calm my mind (he seems to know what to say to make things more manageable). I've had a lot of support from the KF crew along with G-dawg, Kurbs, and even little Oscie who comes to the gym with us every Saturday and most days of the week.

FreezeFest 2014, Shrugged Program, Okoboji Throwdown, and some PRs

I was doing this event again this year, and had signed up all the way in October at the GG. The qualification for RX were a little heavy but I decided to go for it, as I figured I'd hopefully be there in the four months. We also started the barbell shrugged program in Oct which has been huge in helping me reach some awesome PR's in Oly lifts as well as squats. I can honestly say I had never squatted like I have until we started this program, which is a good thing.

Back to FF. I wasn't too excited for the programming, and was only really looking to the Thrusters/Pull Up/Run WOD. The event was huge this year, 70 teams, 6 events with the final three being the final.

The first WOD was a clean and hang clean ladder, I surprised myself and got 145 for both, but could not clean 155 which would have been a PR clean for me. Danny did awesome with a PR 235lb clean.

Second WOD was a partner carry, with sandbag squats, nothing too crazy there.

Third, Forth, and Fifth was a dead lift 3min, 1min rest, burpee box jumps 3min 1 min rest, and handstand walk 3min. That went pretty well, expect that I could not handstand walk, but my partner Danny could! I felt a little dumb walking behind him, but I was glad that at least one of us could do it. Something to work on for sure!!

The day was long and since there were a lot of teams there was a lot of down time. The last WOD was the only I was looking forward to, and I felt awesome doing it, but we didn't finish in the time cap 6min, not many did.
WOD was 12 thrusters 75lbs, 12 C2Bar pull ups, while one person does work the other runs 175meters around the Union Depot. I felt great, and was bummed that we didn't make the last three workouts...Oh well, next year!

Gabe and Kurbs did FF too, and also did awesome in the last event. Kim did all the pull ups, and G all the thrusters, it was a perfect combo! They finished in the time cap too.

Accomplishments thus far 110 snatch PR on 2/14/14 V-day!! 155 squat clean same week two days before, re did GG WOD with the DL and BS, in 8:16, in Oct I did not finish the WOD in the 12min time cap, so I was happy!

All in all the training has been tough, but I'm liking it a lot. Gearing up for the OPEN and retesting some WODs has been really good. I know my strength has improved, but I know I have more strength to gain. It's a long process and I finally am OK with that!

Last but not least Kim and I did a mini comp in Iowa two weekends before FF, it was a lot of fun. There was a fun swim WOD which I had never done, and I got second. Kim did really well also in one of her first solo comps!!

Some Pics from the Okoboji  Comp

Freezing weather, getting back to some running, and STRENGTH!

 ----Pic from the Rigor Throwdown we did on Turkey Day!

Last time I blogged was right before getting the little growth out of my knee, that happened in March. The recovery wasn't as bad as the ankle, since the doctor told me to start moving right away, but I still have some swelling and little bump even 8 months later! Good thing is, the knee hasn't been bothering me like it was before, but I also have dropped off on my running a lot due to a new program we started (Barbell Shrugged Muscle Gain).

The new program has been going well thus far, we're about 10 weeks in. I have seen a lot of strength gains on my squatting and improvement for sure on the oly lifts. The only lift are definitely a work in progress. I'm still predicting that my focus will shift in 2014 towards CF, but I'll continue to do the endurance stuff as my secondary "thing". Right now I'm still trying to do the swim, bike, run at least hitting each one once if not twice a week but the CF program is definitely the focus. I have also signed up for a few races in the summer but will race Age Group. I have a few competitions coming up. A fun one in Iowa January 25th, Freezefest, and I did the Mi5 a few months back, as well as a Turkey Day partner WOD with Danny at Crossfit Rigor which we got four in, but only because of our deadlift event, the other events we placed top three. G and Kurbs got 3rd at the same comp in the scaled division!!!

Kurbs and G have improved a lot, Kurbs is almost snatching as much as me and squatting is about the same!!! Awesome to see such quick improvements =)
G has started to do a lot of overhead stuff and doing really well!

All in all I think 2013 was a tough year with injuries, surgeries and such so I'm looking forward to see what 2014 has to offer and just hope for no injuries and steady progression. One thing I have learned with the strength and oly stuff which has sometimes kept me up during the night is I can't be hard on myself if  I don't PR one week or get a lift, it's a working progress and unlike tri's there is a lot of skill that goes into this stuff. Skill means constant practice and consistency and most important PATIENCE!! So I've tried to step back these last week or so especially in the new year and  enjoy the journey =)

A little about my diet too, I've noticed that strength makes me very hungry...I've talked to Danny about this a bit, and I feel like I can do the endurance stuff almost on an empty stomach but with the strength I'm constantly eating, most likely because my system is just not used to this stuff yet and uses up a lot of energy for something like a 3 or 5 rep max which we have been doing on a weekly basis for squats and presses.

Last but not least with my random post the weather has been freezing, negative 22 today with a windchill of negative 49, G's work even shut down!!!

Cabin trip is this weekend in Tofte can't wait!

Granite Games, training, and 5 MUSCLE UPS PR

What a month and half leading up to the Granite Games!!! Tri season was over early September and then it was some serious training for about a month leading up to the big CF comp. I knew I wouldn't be able to get much strength in such a short period of time, but I worked hard on some skills and tough WOD's to get me ready mentally and physically.

I was feeling good and a little tired after doing a few tough HERO wods in the weeks leading up to the competition along with a 6 girl WOD challenge that was posted on the CF page. Rich Fronning challenge, so of course I had to do it =) Kurbs also followed along! We did a 5K before,  the Camp Odayin annual run that my work sponsors. I did only 14 sec slower then last year, so I was pretty happy considering all my non running. We then went to Kingfield and did this crazy 6 girl wod! It was great, tough, but good =)

So granite games...what an experience. First off I'll definetly be back next year, I was happy with how I did, I definetly have things to work on, and need to focus on strenght and Oly lifts. It was nice of Kim to have us say at her aunt's place, it was nice and cozy and we saved some money so a win win.

Day One Snatch Ladder:

I was not looking forward to this one. When I head about the first event a week prior I got sick to my stomach as it was not specified in the movement standards that snatch would be somethign we'd have to do in the RX division, but knowing CF you have to be ready for anything, so the week before I practiced snatch every day, and actually went from a 90lb PR to a 100lbs, so I was happy! Sadly when competiton came I was way way to nervous and not warmed up so I missed both attempts at 98lbs, and just did 14 deadlifts to get some points. I was 39th out of 41 for that day...

Day 2 Run/Thrusters, Air Dyne and 8min AMRAP, much better!!

I was excited to workout. The first day was over and I was honesly happy to get out and finally do some work. Man the run/thrusters wod hurt. I had tried that one earlier in the week and actually did 15 sec faster in the comp, but the weight felt so heavy...The wod was 180 run 10 thrustesr at 95lbs, all the way down to 2 with no run at the end, got 6:58 for that one, 21st out of 41 women.

Later that day was the airdyne, "the devils ride". I did a little worse on this one then when I tried it earlier at Kingfield, but felt the best in this event. We had a 5 min transition and then it was into 100 DU, 50 swings, and 25 muscle ups. Yup muscle ups!! I had only done one muscle up to date and got 5 in the WOD! I strung two in a row during warm ups so I was just hoping to get one or two in the WOD. I really felt strong after the Airdyne, and felt like I had a lot of energy going right into another WOD (the endurance side payed off). After Sat I was in 11th place for RX, top 12 made it to the Final WOD on Sunday. I  got 4th in the airdyne 2:37 for 50 cals and 88 calories for 5min, and then 8th for the 8min WOD.

Day 3 BRUTAL, TTB, then 3 rounds of 15 DL, and 15 BS at 123lbs.

Wow this one hurt bad...time cap was 12min, and I got through the last round with 6 more BS to go. I was really dying...Had trouble cleaning the weight, and the combination of movments and yestedays WOD's kind of killed me.

Sadly I didn't make it into the Final WOD, got 14th place after the Sunday AM WOD. I was sad of course because the last one was a chipper. We came home and did it though in the garage gym with a few modications with G and Kurbs =)

The Final WOD was

500 Row we ran at home21 15 9
Wall balls did plate thrusters 25lbs
Pull ups

15 12 9
G2O 85lbs
Pistols

9 6 3
Burpee Box jumps
KB OHS 16kg

3 2 1
Clean 125, dropped to 115 after 3 reps for S2O
S2O
27:30 was dead!!




Key takeaway: It was very tough to get used to no warm up right before the WOD's. The weights were not easy for me, so when I would warm up it would be fine, but then we'd get corraled 20min before and then doing the WOD "cold" so to speak was tough getting used to. I'd say it got better as the day went on Sat and better Sunday but definetly a change and different experience.

I loved every min of the weeeknd, a lot of Twolf peeps did the competition and dominated per usual. Danny also did awesome from Kingfield. The experience was great, and felt like a high end competition, espeically since there were a few Games and a bunch of Regionals athletes there. Truly inspired and humbled!

Next up, get the "growth" out of my knee and hopefully be ready for a partner competition in Nov and then for sure FreezeFest in Feb!!