kettlebellguy

Archive for December, 2008

Snowed during the night. I really fought with myself about going to Crossfit this morning. Finally I decided to start off and see how far I could get. Lucky for me at 5:30AM there is not much traffic, even less with this being New Year’s Eve. I only have two spots I worry about for the trip. There is an incline I have to go up with a light, usually red. Then I have another actual hill. During the summer I did some investigation and found a side road I could pull off onto that runs parallel to the main road and comes out below the hill, giving me a straight shot. This was the first morning I had to use that and it worked fine. I made it to Crossfit on time.

Eric, Matt, Karen, Charlie and Monique were there with Brian coaching. No Jerry this morning.

Skill for today was Med Ball Cleans. I can do these without too much problem. The squat portion of the movement does start to tear me up after a while.

WOD “31″ in honor of the 31st day of the last month in 2008.

31 Med ball Clean
31 Knee to Elbow
31 Push Press(45lb bar)

**3 rounds for time***
Results

Charlie–9:39
Matt–11:37
Eric–13:56
Terry–15:00
Caryn–16:44
Monique–17:27

The only thing that saved me this morning was the push press. That movement does not hurt my shoulder and there is no lower body involved, such as a squat. I can really pump these out.

My knee to elbows must look like a man hanging from the gallows, just swining in the air. My shoulders are a limiting factor in this move.

The med ball cleans are ok but my legs really get tired with the squats and my form starts to really suffer. 31 in a row is a lot.

Just me this morning at Crossfit at 6A. Brian coached and Jerry did the workout along with me.

Our warmup consisted of Kettlebell carries, swings, pushups and pullups.

For skill we worked on rower technique.

WOD:

300 Meter Row
5 Pushups
5 Dips
5 Weighted Setups
5 Dead Lift (135lbs)

AMRAP in 20 minutes.

I got 6 rounds, Jerry got 7. I really thought Jerry was further ahead of me. For workouts like this I just keep going until the time is up and let the rounds fall where they may.

At Crossfit at 6AM. Andrew (this will be his last visit until around Easter. He is going back to his base), Matt, Ted, Dave, Eric, Kelly with Brian and Jerry coaching.

Feeling a little off this morning. Really sore even with the rest day on Sunday and my eating has really been off track. I know that is part of the issue.

We worked on Front Squats as our skill. This technique is causing some issues for me. Getting the correct squat position is not easy.

Our WOD looks bad on paper, and was just as bad in person.

6 Front Squats(I used 95 lbs)
50 Pullups (jumping)
6 Front Squats
50 Pushups
6 Front Squats
50 Setups
6 Front Squats
50 Air Squats
6 Front Squats

This was brutal. I was really fading by the time I got to the Air Squats and last set of Front Squats. Ok, I will tell the truth, I was fading after the very first Front Squat of the workout.

Jerry worked with me several times on the Front Squats. It seemed that everytime I fixed one thing, something else was out of wack.

I was really a mess by the end of the final set of Front Squats. It was so bad that Brian made me do the last set over. Clearly something I need to work on. Good times.

People continue to make fun of my fivefingers. Jealousy can be such an ugly thing.

Crossfit class at 9A. Ryan, Andrew, Eric with Brian and Jerry coaching.

Our WOD this AM was

10 95lb Front Squat
15 Push-ups
20 Wall Balls

***5 rounds for time***
Results

Andrew–11:03
Ryan–11:54
Terry–13:26
Eric–15:38

I had a lot of trouble with the front squats. I was not getting down far enough at all. It was really sad but I worked really hard and used a lot of energy.

Here is a picture of my fivefingers in action.

At Crossfit at 6AM. Ted, Dave with Brian and Jerry coaching.

Wore my fivefingers for the first time in a workout today. Noticed a real difference with rope jumping. I could feel different muscles working in my leg. Just the absence of a shoe heel made a big difference. Of course the fact that we did an extra 800 rope jumps today might have had something to do with it. Felt much more solid when in the squat position. I think I will really like them once I get use to them.

For our warmup:

4 Overhead Lunges with 45 lb plate overhead
8 Window Wipers with 45 lb plate overhead
12 V-ups
16 Push Ups

Repeated 2 times

Jerry worked with us on squat therapy. That is where you squat with your body just inches away from the wall. Not really a fun thing.

WOD

21-15-9 Reps
Buy in to get started = 400 rope jumps
Burpee to a pullup
Overhead Lunge (25 lb plate)
Wall Balls
Box Jumps (24″) I did step ups
Buy out to stop = 400 rope jumps

I may not have completed all 400 rope jumps to stop. I was so tired I kept losing count. Also, I though I would do better with the fivefingers on the rope jumps because I would not have a chance of my shoe laces getting lose or in the way. That worked but I got the rope caught between my toes several times.

For the Burpee to PullUp I used a six inch box for my hands on the burpee rather than going all the way down to the floor. I then jumped on the 6″ box for the pull up and then a jump down. It was good jumping practice. I am still not up to trying a 24″ box jump.

The tech came early today and worked on my second line. Replaced some wires. He found an old bee’s nest in a box on the pole and cleaned that out. Second line is working and DSL continues to work so I hope that things will be working ok now, at least for awhile.

Slid all the way to Crossfit at 6AM. Everything was a solid sheet of ice.

Ron, Matt, Ted, Eric, Andrew and Kelly with Brian and Jerry coaching.

WOD

Results

Andrew–19:33
Matt–20:11
Ron–20:16
Kelly–21:52
Eric–22:04
Terry–25:52
Ted–27:00

You do this workout the way the song goes. 1 Dumbbell Clean and Squat, then 1 Dumbell Clean and Squat and 2 Overhead Squats, then start over at 1 again. Over and over and over until you are doing all 12 days. It sure kept me busy for about a half an hour.

Still dealing with my DSL issue and discovered today that my second line used for fax and a backup dialup connection is dead. Took a phone out to the Network Interface Box and no dial tone there. Could there be a connection between my low download speed on one line and a second line that is dead. Who knows but I have a second ticket open for another Tech to come out Friday to look at the second line.

Then the miracle happened. I was on the internet, limping around slower than dial up and what to my eyes do I see…..everything whizzing by just like I had high speed. Could this be true? I started doing speed tests and I am very, very fast now. Did someone actually do something to bring my DSL back to life on Christmas Eve? I checked the second line and it is still dead. I think this must be a Christmas Miracle. Wonder if it will still be working in the morning? We will see.

My fivefingers are here! They actually fit and I am getting use to them. I think they are going to be a lot of fun at the gym. I will get a picture/video of them soon. I ordered them last Sunday and made it here in 2 1/2 days, right before Christmas. Perhaps another bit of a Christmas Miracle.

Location Date Local Time Description
AKRON,OH, US 12/24/2008 2:26 P.M. DELIVERY
12/24/2008 8:21 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
12/24/2008 8:01 A.M. DESTINATION SCAN
12/24/2008 8:00 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS,OH, US 12/24/2008 4:23 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
12/24/2008 1:48 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
BUFFALO,NY, US 12/23/2008 9:38 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
12/23/2008 5:38 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SHREWSBURY,MA, US 12/23/2008 6:31 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
12/23/2008 1:37 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
NORWOOD,MA, US 12/23/2008 12:34 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
NORWOOD,MA, US 12/22/2008 10:15 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 12/22/2008 3:00 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

At Crossfit at 6PM. Eric was their along with Brian and Jerry coaching.

Furnace out again so Brian had brought a space heater in. It really did not matter, once we got going on the workout the cold was not an issue.

Warm up workout:

Repeat 3 times

Worked on Split Jerk for skill.

Brian mentioned that since it was just Eric and I we would have some fun. That is not always a good sign.

WOD:

The person with the KB can hold it however they want but they need to remaing standing and the KB cannot touch the floor. Sounds easy but it was really very hard to hold that KB for the 2 minutes after coming off the rower.

It was a really hard workout and I can hardly move my shoulders or hips at this point. Good times.

Hoping that the DSL repairperson makes it today and can quickly fix whatever is messing up my DSL download time.

Where are my fivefingers?

Scheduled Delivery Date: 12/24/2008 (On Time)
Date/Time Location Activity
12/23/2008 17:38 Buffalo, NY Arrival Scan
12/23/2008 06:31 Shrewsbury, MA Departure Scan
12/23/2008 03:04 Shrewsbury, MA Location Scan
12/23/2008 01:37 Shrewsbury, MA Arrival Scan
12/23/2008 00:34 Norwood, MA Departure Scan
12/22/2008 22:15 Norwood, MA Origin Scan
12/22/2008 15:00 US Billing Information Received

DSL Problems:
My download speed has dropped to the point where I can hardly get around on the internet. It’s like being back with a 9600 baud modem. I have been on the phone, had a tech out, bought a new modem and at this point I am waiting for another tech to come out on Friday morning. In short, a nightmare experience. Trying to stay patient and let the process take it’s course.

Cold, cold, cold this morning. At the gym at 6AM.

Eric, Matt, Kelly, Dave and Ron with Brian and Jerry coaching.

Temp was 44 degrees. The furnace was out and Jerry and Brian were not able to get it started.

Not a problem, I just kept my sweatpants on and we got to work. I wonder what the reaction would be in a big box gym to no heat?

I was stif as a board this morming and the cold was not helping me get moving.

The warm up workout today was

15 Squats
15 Set ups
15 Push ups

3 sets

Then on to the Filthy Frigid Fifty WOD:

50 24″ Box Jumps (I did step ups)
50 Jumping Pullups
50 Kettlebell Swings (35LBS)
50 Walking Lunges
50 Knee to Elbows
50 Push Press
50 Back Extentions
50 Wall Balls
50 Burpees (Brian had me do my modified Burpees or I still might be there doing them)
50 Double Unders (I did 150 jump ropes)

This took me 32 minutes and I was beat to a pulp when it was over.

Ron needed to take off to get to work so he left and the rest of us slowly got ready to go out into the cold. All of a sudden Ron was back. He had managed to place his car into the ditch along side the gym driveway. Some of the guys went out to see if they could get it to move but were unsuccessful. They could not get the car out so I dropped Ron home so he could take his other car to get to work.

There is no end to the excitement you find at a Crossfit workout.

I had noticed the last several days that my downloads seem to be getting slower and slower. Streaming video was breaking up. Did a speed test and my download speed is 10-15 kbps. That’s no good. Called for tech help and they determined that my DSL line has a very week download signal. Repair Tech scheduled to be out tomorrow. Hopefully it’s just something in the outside wiring that can be easily fixed and I will be back in business again.