Check out the box

Nifty huh? It almost looks like sunny California, complete with hot babe.

In the next photo I show off two things. First, the hot babe again then second, our jealous and perhaps mildly amused neighbour. He asked us how he could join our club not realizing he is already in- he no longer works, like the two of us.

Life is good my friends, life is good.

Double trouble

Backyard box again; Overunder and I two-timed today's crossfit:

21, 15, 9 reps of cleans and dips

We didn't time it. We took turns doing each round so we could switch up the weight on the bar (I used 65, he did 95), and because I did bench dips and needed someone to hold the back of the chair I was using.

I could pretty much do 12 dips in a row, then had to do the rest in sets of 3. My partner is the master of dips and powered through, making it look easy.

glorious dunk

jog: 55 minutes/avg heart rate 146/7km (4.75mph or 12:38 minute miles). fairly terrible. but a starting point.

rest 5 minutes.

hill repeats: run up 20 yard-ish hill, walk down. 10 times (~5 minutes)

dunk head in elbow river.

walk home.

Lat blaster

I did what he did. With additional scaling.

In a more parse-able format, the workout cycles through:
Row - 1000, 750, 500 m
Thrusters (95) - 21, 15, 9
Pull-ups - 21, 15, 9

My result:
Rowing pace for each set - 2:20/500 m
Thrusters - scaled to 45 lbs
Pull-ups - scaled to 10, 7, 5 jumping chin-ups.

In 23:50 minutes. (Less time than McPie because of the pull-up reduction. His rows were much faster than mine.)

It was really hard. But a really full friggin' body workout. Based on that, it will likely be one I pull out on a regular basis.

Ho-Hisse

What the French say when they row...

We hauled out Daddy-o's Concept II to the backyard box for a scaled crossfit WOD.

For time row 1000m, 21 55 lb thrusters, 21 pull ups, row 750m, 15 thrusters, 15 pull ups, row 500m, 9 thrusters, 9 pull ups. Time was a crappy 26:45 (3:50, 2:59 and 2:00 on the rows).

I had to scale back the thrusters to work around a still ill-working knee. They should have been 95lb and I thought I could manage 75lb. Anyway, the 55 lb thrusters were easy. The pull ups were all straight hang and done in sets of as much as 9 or as few as 3.

strength

I was sick for a few days and then we went camping for the weekend down in Waterton. That is amazing stuff there.

squats: 215 x5, x5, x5
bench: 135 x5, x5, x5
chins: 7, 7, 6

5 minutes between sets on the squats. Alternated between bench and chins with 3 minutes between.

calves . . .
eccentric calf: 55 x5, x5, x5 a side
anterior calf: 20 x10, x10, x10 a side

finisher I - 2 1/2 minute tabata, 15lbs db thrusters. 53 reps (10 was the least completed in the 20s work period)

finisher II - (after 5 minutes rest) 2 45lbs plates, farmer's walk up the stairs. 2 1/2 minutes. 6 1/4 reps.

Back to School

Ms. Hedda and I could have our 'box' in our back yard.

I helped her do squats today by hoisting the bar to her shoulders. I did presses in between her sets; 95 lbs X5, X5 (4 + push press), X5 (3 + 2 push presses). Afterward I took mini McPie around the block while doing lunges (150). Finished with son #1 counting out reps of push ups with feet on a ball (20, 20, 20) and pull ups (10, 10, 10). closed out with Ms Hedda on finisher presses; 55 lbs x15, x8. Weak.

Speaking of weak, only one week left until I return to working in a cube.

Annual review, featuring The Squat

It was almost exactly a year ago that I stopped training for progress and started training for pregnancy. So it feels like a good time to report that today I squatted 100+, finally. (When I worked out on my due date at the end of March, I squatted 25 lbs. The heaviest I've ever done was 110 lbs back in April 2008.)

Today, my husband showed his support of my training completely literally: he was my squat rack. Our borrowed rack isn't set up yet, and I was itching to go over 100, but it wasn't a good time to go to the gym. So he cleaned 105 lbs and plopped it on my back. Apparently, this service will be good up to 135 lbs. I assume we'll have the rack set up by that time. :-)

Anyway, I did squat at 105 x 5, 5, 5, and followed it up with a 5K in 30.
And some presses - 45 x 13, 9; 55 x 4.

So. It would seem I'm getting back into action. The next thing to do is to set some goals. For the time being (say, now until Christmas), mine will be more regimen- than performance-oriented. I've been able to be active this summer thanks to McPie's support -- taking the baby so I can go to the gym, frisbee, a run, etc. But he goes back to work next week, so the hardest thing will be to simply DO a workout, whatever it may be. So, I'm proposing this:

• Four workouts a week.
• I'm letting my gym membership lapse; workouts will be home-based, with the bonus of Daddy-O's equipment.
• Weekly regimen to consist of 2 weight workouts, and 2 runs (a shorter and a longer). Possibly 3 weights and one run.

I'm assuming that three of the workouts will be at home alone with Mini McPie. So whatever I can eke out during "naps" or while he looks on from his chair or the floor will be what I do.

Runs? you ask. With the chaos of the last few months, pleasant though it is, I've been craving the meditative nature of the jog. I've enjoyed a few lately. I want to do them again. Plus, it's something that Mini can potentially participate in.

I'll re-evaluate at Christmas to see how realistic I've been, how much progress I'm making, and at that point I'll get more specific about objectives. I also need to keep in mind that Nats are in Sherbrooke next summer, and I need to be in the right shape to pick up with a non-practicing team. ;-)

95's with a happier aftermath

Hi. I worked out again, finally. Actually did something last week (other than frisbee) involving a 5K run and some sit-ups and push-ups but I forget the details other than the run was easy and the other stuff was hard.

My gym membership is running out in a month, so I'm going to try to get there a few times before then. Yesterday before noon was nice and quiet there, so I did this:

3 rounds:
500 m row (2:18 min each - finally beat the 2:20 hump!)
Squats - 95 x 7, 7, 5
Bench press - 65 x 10, 10, 8

Killed the legs and chest with:
18 x 45 lb squats
22 x 45 lb bench

Then for the back/core:
Bent-over rows - 30 x 8; 35 x 4, 4 (each arm)
Back extensions - 11, 10, 10
L-sits on the roman chair - 10, 10, 10

In 35 minutes or less. And I beat the boys home so I could eat my avocado salad without dripping it onto Tim's pate.

The giant neck strain from the 95 lb squats I did several weeks ago is finally abating, thanks to a bit of massage therapy (the professional kind), and a little less baby-carrying. I think I can move on to 100+ now. Finally.

Next post: new goals for the upcoming training season!

Back Entries

A few lame-o workouts to report. Wounded knee is still healing, slowly (I know the real Wounded Knee will always be a sore point...)

Last Thursday was 7 x 1 rep presses. I did 95, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115 (failed) 110, 105. Then 95 x 3, x 3. Finishers 55 x 15, x 12.

Last Friday was a circuit-y thing: as many rounds in 20 min. of 180 skips, 5 pull ups, 10 push ups and 15 squats. Without too much effort I did 6 rounds in 18:55.

Saturday was 2 games of limptimate.

Monday was a 3 round (tried 4 but I was just too tired) circuit of 1 minute of 75 lb sumo high pull deadlifts (25, 21, 15) 2 minutes of skipping, 1 minute of sit ups (31, 25, 29) and 10 pull ups.

can you have two finishers?

squats: 205 x5, x5, x5. 5 minutes between sets.
press: 105 x4, x4, x4. this was tougher than i expected, and then i realized that it was not 95 like i had intended. yay.
chins: 6, 6, 6. 3 minutes between alternating sets of presses and chins.

finisher I
thrusters - 15 lbs db's, 20s work/10s rest * 4 = 2 minutes. 37 reps. lowest reps in a set was 8.

finishers II
farmer's walk on a flight of stairs - 2 45 lbs plates. 5 trips in 2 minutes. both of these were hard. but i can see adding more time to both. i might wait until i can hit 4 minutes before i make the db's heavier for the thrusters.

some time later
swimming: 40 laps (1000m) in 27:55. Shaved 8 minutes off :-) I just tried harder.

milestone

So, normally on this day I would post my totals and compare my progress to a) the year before and b) to my very start (my training age is 2 years today).

However, my back injury from the spring and summer has sidelined my progress and I'm not ready to deal with my regression in bold, stark numbers. I'll just acknowledge it with a hat tip and move on. I'm looking for big things this next couple of months and, in fact, the next year. I may even have boldly stated to joseyposey that I will be in the best shape of my life by July 1st, 2010 (the significance of that date is obvious below, the World Championship begins on July 3rd).

I'm going to talk about the next year, why it's important to me and the milestones that are out there.

Timeline Stuff
Late October is the American frisbee championship in Sarasota, Florida (regionals Oct 10th, 11th; nationals Oct 29th-Nov 1st).
Next July is World frisbee championship in Prague (3rd-10th July).

my situation
I am a member of the Black Aces. The team within a team. Borne of the realization that we are the end of the bench on our team, we have bonded. I play on a great frisbee team, one that very convincingly won Nationals and is getting stronger for the Fall series. I like being on the Black Aces - earlier in my career I never would have imagined playing on such a great team. But I still want to contribute as much as I can. Though I spent the last few years as a d line starter, I know that I am not that guy on this team. But I can be a good team mate that contributes more. I want to move from two points a game to six. I want my legs to be able to run so that somebody else can rest. And maybe I can kill-a-handler^TM.

So, that's my goal.

my thoughts on the requirements of frisbee
I'm sure I've talked about this before but here goes:
game length = 90m.
average points per game = 25 (15-10 game?)
dead time from half and timeouts = 10m.
time between points = 90s.

play time = 90m - 10m = 80m
time allocated to a point = 80/25 ~= 3 minutes.
time allocated to a point - time between points = 3m - 90s = 90s

therefore, the average length of time you are on the field running your butt off (obviously there are calls and turnovers but you're still out there) is 90s.

therefore, I think, if you trained for a super intense two minutes, you'd be well prepared for your average point of frisbee.

what does this mean to training? well, suppose that my goal was to play 6 points per game, then I could set up a training program of (120s work/90 s rest) x 6.

now some caveats. I know that some death points will be ten minutes long. But really, the goal is to be fitter than your check. And maybe you can end the point earlier ;-) Also, doing some 4 minute tabatas and crossfit workouts would help with those death points . . .

also, if there was a two minute high intensity point, you won't be on the field the next point -- you'll be taking at least one off (5 minutes rest) but keeping the recovery time to 90s keeps the fitness level high and the workouts manageable.

my training
- swim for cardio when i can to rest my joints
- try to work out twice a day, two days on, one day off, strength training once every three days.
- squats, pressbench, chin-ups
- do 120s w/90s r * 6, tabatas (20s w/10s r * 8) * 3/4?, crossfit (the girls)
- stay healthy so i can keep working out

I would write more but I'm already getting flack for having written so much . . .

hitting the pool

The Talisman Centre has three pools (not counting the diving pool and the "learning" pool).

40 laps * 25m/lap = 1000m in 36 min. (54s/lap)

I think this is not good but man, I have not swum in a while. And laps in a much longer time. It's been longer since I swam laps than since I rode a bike (went mountain biking in the summer of '01 (ms. hedda was there!)

Went biking. Nothing hard core, just cruising about the city (getting to the disc golf course and to various patios). It was giddily fun.

first post-nationals workout

at the very swanky Talisman Centre.

squats: 195 x5, x5, x5.
bench: 135 x5, x5, x5.
chin ups (neutral grip): 6, 6, 6.

I am avoiding deads and cleans as I want to not hurt the SI joint. I will sort out my issues with these lifts in the off-season.

Sucked back in.

Mini McPie was sleeping in the backyard so...

Monday's crossfit looked easy: 2 minutes of double unders, 2 minutes of sit ups, 1:30 of the same, 1 min, 30 seconds. Count the totals of each time. (I can't do double unders all that well and my knee sucks, so I did regular skipping.)
200/48, 140/35, 125, 27, 80/17.

Worst workout ever,

Nats was. First game, early in the second half I went up for a D and landed all wrong. My knee sleeve, which was apparently ill adjusted, failed to hold my patella in place and I went down to the sweet sound of a giant knuckle cracking and popping. Awesome. I made the D and the continue pass though. Yay me. Carried off and out for the rest of the tourney, I was happy to cheer my teammates on, as long as they did not do anything stupid. Let me just say there was some stupidity and the bile is still high in my throat as a result.

So, overcoming the disappointment of so much preparation and tuning and envisioning has been a challenge, but I have found some solace in the details of the short game I did play. Here they are, with no apology for blowing my own horn:

I was fast and always open on O.
On D my mark got the frisbee only 3 times.
I made 3 D's (2 skies and a run through on which I scored afterward)
I caught the first point of the game (tourney), a jumpball for a hammer in a crowd.
I scored 3 other points (our total was 10 in that game). Only 2 were scored after I went out.

Based on this, I would like to think that I would have helped my very short benched team in some of the close games we did have.

So, this big disappointment just inspires me (I think drives might be a more appropriate word here) to prepare harder for next year. It won't prevent this type of injury from happening, but it will provide a nice sink for my anger.

OM, my goodness...

Five yoga classes in seven days, and both my body AND mind need the rest day. Mostly because a solid game of ultimate last night has left me pretty beaten up. Yogis aren't supposed to have bruises, cleat distance apart, up their legs, are they? Seems I still have some aggression to work out that yoga just can't seem to release - I will need to find the right balance with time. Expect my personal trainer will be able to help me out.

Good luck, and fun time to all in Winnipeg! Wish I was there, had my hopes up high for a glee club (+1) dinner.

Nats Prep

Well, its the best I can do after mending a pulled hammy.

Last week I built a deck. It wasn't exactly meta-con, but it was tiring enough.

Played Frisbee on Wednesday with little mention of any problems from said hammy. The lungs on the other hand...

Went to the park with lil' Tim yesterday and did a bunch of sprints, hills, throws, pistol squats and a 17 amongst all the baby management. Worked out pretty well in the end.

Just-a-jog

I finally got new running shoes on Saturday, so I took them for a spin. The weather was PERFECT for a run -- not to hot or cold, just a bit cloudy. It was lovely. The last time I went for a "just a jog" was back in November, in Florida,when I was 18 weeks pregnant.

Leisurely pace: pretty much exactly 5 km in 30 minutes.

It felt great. Without any real speed goals right now, I might make a habit of this just-running thing.

Five

Games of frisbee. Which isn't actually very many for a tournament, and we tend not to post about frisbee here since it is usually a given, but because it's been nearly a year since I've played so much all at once, I just wanted to mention it. Also, ouch. I can sure feel my cutting muscles (ie: inside of thighs, and core).

And, I could not have eaten more roasted almonds on the weekend. (In fact, I am STILL eating them.) One point two kilo jar, I love you!