KETTLEBELLGUY

Be sure to check out the progress of people on the 100 Days of Push Ups Challenge. Click on the little guy below for the current status.

This week ended up being a good workout and eating week.

Connors final cross country meet got cancelled Wednesday night due to rain. Hopefully that will happen this coming Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday morning the big accomplishment was an actual overhead squat with a bar and some weight over my head. Granted, 65 pounds is not much but those that know me know that getting anything over my head has been a goal for a very long time. This has been one the hardest things to accomplish. The trick will be to see if I can duplicate this but I am confident I will.

Here is a picture. I know it looks like just a big ass but for those that know me and my struggle with an overhead squat it is significant.

Thursday evening I worked on my bench press and did 10 singles, reaching 200 lbs. Could not make it past the 200 mark. Will and I finished up with a modification of Tuesdays WOD.

Will
500 M Row
15 Power Cleans 135lbs
15 Pull Ups
3 Rounds

Terry
300 M Row
8 Power Cleans 135lbs
8 Pull Ups
3 Rounds

It was significant that I did good power cleans at the 135 weight.

Back at SPC this morning. Did lots of stretching and worked on back squats.

I will be back at it in the morning when we will be doing Connor Birthday WOD. Not sure what that will be but it will have 13 of something for sure.

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ONE YEAR AGO

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CrossFit at 6AM. Tried to get a few bench press lifts in prior to class. Of course, I had to spend time chasing off people setting on the bench press and those setting on the weights. They make it hard for a guy to get something done but at least I have an audience.

Cindy visited the box this morning. Here are my previous Cindy numbers:
August 3, 2008 = 10
October 31, 2008 = 14
January 30, 2009 = 15
March 12, 2009 = 19
January 21, 2010 = 17
October 21, 2010 = 16+5

Today I came in with 16+5. The significant difference for me was that I did regular pull ups. No bands, no box, no jumping. I feel really good about the number and feel that my performance was pretty solid. My push ups could always go lower, along with my squats but I was pleased.

Warm Up	20 Mountain Climbers 10 Shuttle Runs 20 Shoot Throughs 2 Rounds
WOD	“Cindy” 5 Pull Ups 10 Push Ups 15 Squats *AMRAP in 20 Minutes
Results	See Whiteboard

Tom was in the box so we got weighed. 204.6 for me and 207.2 for Tom. I know you have a lot going on Tom but you have to kick something up. Come on, people are already asking me if I am wearing my Skeletor costume early for Halloween. I can’t lose anymore, it’s up to you. I am not going to gain weight just so you can say you weigh less than me.

As quick as I could get myself ready after the WOD I went for the Lake Anna run. It’s time for a sweatshirt and long pants now, along with a hat. I was wearing my new Inov-8 195′s (I am the only one with these really cool shoes in the box and if it sounds like I am bragging, that is just what I am doing). I bet other people will get them after seeing mine just because they are so cool.

I think that the 3 1/2 mile run right after the workout twice a week is one of the things that has really kicked my progress up.

Will and Caryn ran this morning. As usual they start about 10 minutes after me and finish about 10 minutes before me. I just don’t get it. As they run by me I feel like me feet are moving the same as theirs but they just keep getting farther and farther ahead of me.

There was a big difference in running with the new shoes. My feet feel fine but I felt a little shin splint activity in the left leg and my right hip and hamstring is shot. I also was just running much slower than usual. I made it in just under 44 minutes so this was my longest time on this run, almost 8 minutes more than my best time. The new shoes are going to force a change in my running style.

Last night I had dinner with Eric, Connor and Will in celebration of Connor’s 12th birthday. Went to Outback in Cuyahoga Falls. Can’t reveal too many details here but we had a great time. What happens at Outback stays at Outback. Happy Birthday Connor. You can see below that cell phones have really enhanced conversation over dinner. To be fair, it just happened that both of their phones rang at the same time. They did not spend all night on the phone and it gave Eric and I a chance to talk.

Lining up to be another busy weekend. Going to work on some self defense stuff with Jerry tonight, tomorrow is a day off so WOD’s at 6AM and 11AM, Free CrossFit class at 9AM on Saturday morning followed by Akron CrossFit Grand Opening on Saturday afternoon and running on Sunday morning at 8AM.

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ONE YEAR AGO
CrossFit at 6AM.

Terry
Brett
Miranda
Tom
Steve
Eric
Will
Stacia
Kelly
Joe
Conner
Brian coaching

Continuing to avoid the pull ups. Worked on GHD prior to class. Steve and I were racing the GHD’s. Not a pretty sight.

Did OK on the rowing. I was next to Brett so I just tried to keep up with him on pulling. In my head it seems like I should have gone as far as he did but that was not the case in reality. My times were consistent across the four rounds and I kept it above 500.

Overhead squats were a total fail. Went to front squats and then back squats to get some depth.

Today’s WOD
Click for larger image

Warm Up	15 KB Swings 10 KB Front Squats 2 rounds
Skill	Overhead Squat
WOD	Thank you CF Cleveland 2 minutes max distance on Rower Rest 2 minutes Rinse and repeat 4 times Finish up WOD with 75 OHS for time (45lb bar)
Results	Terry 509-535-515-512 3:36 (FS and BS) Brett 560-579-556-576 4:52 Miranda 509-480-483-490 3:06 Tom 585-556-529 ? 5:35 Steve 489-479-472-450 4:14 Eric 563-546-533-513 2:36 Will 629-610-577-566 2:50 Stacia 460-457-453-442 1:59 Kelly 421-431-428-417 2:50 Joe 534-520-510-520 4:04

Eating—Thinking about skipping my weigh in for tomorrow morning. Just feel like it might be bad news that I don’t really need. What I am eating is under control but my portions may be up too high. We will see what I feel like in the morning.

What hurts today—Feeling better over all but right elbow is still very tender and sore. My heel has been doing better. Have not had any headaches in the past several weeks.

This is why we don’t use a treadmill in the gym

Be sure to check out the progress of people on the 100 Days of Push Ups Challenge. Click on the little guy below for the current status.

Last night I had a really good massage from Alan. He worked on my hamstrings and made me yell out in pain a couple of times. I think the hamstrings is what causes my many of my problems. Alan said a couple of times it would be a really good idea to rest on Wednesday to let my hamstrings recover. I could not argue with that.

So much for the rest day, I was at SPC at 5 AM.

Will and I worked on hamstring stretching for about 45 minutes and then worked on warming up for the morning WOD.

Eric, Jeff, Will and I did the following:

30 Overhead Squats (I did 30 back squats at 135 lbs)
800 Meter run
30 Handstand Push Ups (I did 30 Pull Ups)
800 Meter run
30 Thrusters (I used 115, Will used 135 and I did not catch what Jeff and Eric used)

The major accomplishment in this workout for me was actually doing thrusters. I actually never completed a workout with thrusters doing them correctly. This was a new experience and a real sign of growth.

Part of the success was the hour warm up prior to doing the workout.

Some people can walk in, do a few basic stretches and pump out a workout like this. I just cannot do that. I have to spend a long time warming up. It’s the only way things will work.

Hoping the rain lets up so I can attend Connor’s last cross country track meet tonight at Walsh. Today is Connor’s 13th birthday. Happy Birthday Connor!

Thursday is typically a rest day. We will see what happens.

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ONE YEAR AGO

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CrossFit at 6AM. Some quick work on the bench press prior to class.

Wore my new Inov-8′s and I am really happy with how they feel. They are going to be wide enough and are very light especially when compared to my Brooks. Actually feel as light as my 5 fingers but I really like that I can make them secure with the shoe laces. Anxious to see what happens tomorrow morning on my run. I think they will force me to change my running style a bit, hopefully for the better. I am a confirmed Zappo’s customer now. Their customer service is fantastic and not paying for return shipping is great when you are concerned about the fit of a shoe. The other thing I found out is that they don’t sell something they don’t have. None of that backorder crap. They either have it or they don’t. Thinking about ordering a second pair, as soon as I can find one. I got the last 11.5 that Zappo’s had for now but they have a cool service where they will notify you when a certain size/style comes in.

I did not feel well at all this morning but I went to workout anyway. I really believe you can just work your way out of not feeling good most of the time. I can’t need a rest day because I did nothing on Saturday and Sunday.

Double unders and Knees to Elbows this morning. I am getting some push to try double unders again. Perhaps I will but not today. I have made a real break through in the Knees to Elbows and once I can get the rhythm going I can get about 10 out unbroken. Problem is when you are getting up to 30, 40 or 50 I can’t keep the intensity up and fall back to 2 or 3 at the most chained together. Had the longest time again. All I can say is that I did the very best I could on getting real Knees to Elbows. They just take me a long time.

Warm Up	10 Plank K2E 10 GHD Back Ext 10 Windmill KB 3 Rounds
WOD	10 K2E 50 Double Unders 10 KB Swings 20 K2E 40 Double Unders 10 KB Swings 30 K2E 30 Double Unders 10 KB Swings 40 K2E 20 Double Unders 10 KB Swings 50 K2E 10 Double Unders 10 KB Swings *2 Singles = 1 Double under
Results	12 in class, see white board for results

I came back last night and did the a CF Endurance WOD with Nick on the rower.
3 rounds of
250 Row
500 Row
750 Row
Rest between each row the exact time that it took you to do the previous row

Nick did a lot better than me on time. I was running several seconds off what I would normally expect. We took the rowers outside but I had to run and grab my sweatshirt. The sun had gone down and it was really getting cold.

What I knew would happen if Nick really starting applying himself is happening. He was quicker on all the rows yesterday and this morning he was way quicker than me on the WOD. This is what I mean about potential. When a new guy in his 20′s or 30′s who is out of shape comes in and does a WOD I can usually beat him good and can keep that up for some period of time, however, if he sticks with it for awhile he will soon be beating me. That does not mean that I am not constantly improving it just means that my potential for improvement is more limited and improvement is on a smaller scale. It’s just the way things are. Good job Nick.

I decided to take a break from self defense classes on Sunday and Tuesday for awhile and I missed not being with the guys in the class. Lot’s of reasons for my decision that are too complex to detail in the blog. Mark wrote me a really good email with his ideas about what I might be going as far as saturation with the things I have been learning. I am just going to let that simmer for awhile. It looks like Jerry J and I are going to work on some self defense stuff tomorrow night so I have not completely moved away from it, just changed things around for a bit. Maybe working with someone else in a different environment for awhile will give me a kick start. I am pretty sure I know Jerry well enough that he won’t end up going Rambo on me….I hope.

Tom continues to deal with issues related to his Grandmothers health so is still AWOL from class. I hope being off a schedule does not screw his weight program up. By that I mean I just hope he does not pack any more pounds on. If you are reading this Tom make sure you are making good choices. I got 205.6 this morning when I weighed in so I seem stabilized in the 204-206 range for now.

Looking forward to a guys night out with some friends this evening so I am going to eat really light during the day.

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ONE YEAR AGO
CrossFit at 6AM.

Eric
Terry
Dave
Brett
Will
Miranda
Brian coaching

Today’s WOD
Click for larger image

Warm Up	10 GHD Sit Ups 10 Hollow Rocks 3 Rounds
WOD	7 Barbell Press 7 Pull Ups 7 Turkish Get Ups 7 Rounds
Results	Eric 26:28 Terry 28:42 Dave 26:46 Brett 29:08 (8 rounds) Will 19:54 Miranda 22:45

This was another long and difficult WOD for me. I used 75LBs on the press, green band on the pull ups and 20-10 lbs on the Turkish Get Ups. My hips continue to be tight this week.

Eating—On track.

What hurts today—Good sleep last night. Did not wake up until the alarm went off. Right elbow and hips are the big issue right now.