Crushed It!

The announcement for workout 15.2 came out last night and I was very troubled by it. I don’t think I was the only one, judging by Michele Letendre’s facial expression right after the reveal.

I looked up my post on 14.2 from last year (you can read it here) and then it all came back to me. I had fallen on my butt so many times, just trying to stabilize that bar overhead. I remember trying my little heart out for those 3 mins and only managing 2 reps. I then looked up the scaled option for the WOD and figured it wouldn’t help me at all: I don’t have C2B nor do I have my unassisted pull-ups. All right. I made the decision to do it Rx. I knew the weight of the bar would be heavier (65# vs 45#) and I wouldn’t get a C2B with my attempt, but I figured, if I can manage the OHS Rx, I’ll at least score higher than all the people scaling the workout. I was hoping for at least 3 reps, with a goal of somewhere between 5 and 10.

The 0600 class was split into 2 heats and I was in the second heat. I offered to judge Karen and she did amazing. Then, it was my turn to do it. 3-2-1-Go!

I managed 3 reps of the OHS without putting the bar down. I was slow and calculated on the down, but I felt like I could do this. I had already PR’d my previous attempt, so all was good. Rep #4 was tough. I started to squat, felt the bar really wobbly overhead and stood back up. I stabilized the bar, braced my core and managed to squat it. I think it took me about 2mins to do all 10 reps. Like I said, I was slow and calculated, but I was doing it. I never lost my balance like I did last year and I never fell on my butt. Much improved IMHO! I made my way to the rig to attempt a C2B, but failed miserably. To be honest, I didn’t care! I had just surpassed my goal by at least 7 reps! I tried 3 or 4 times to get a C2B before the 3 mins were up, and that was it for me!

I’m floating right now. Just to know how much I have improved in the past year and how much more I can do compared to when I first started this journey. It is so freakin’ empowering!

Under Coach Caleb’s watchful eye

One rep completed!

Big shout out to Apprentice Coach Graham who took these pictures of me. It’s rare that I get to have pictures of myself working out for the blog and I have to say, I’m proud as punch of these!

Feeling Good

So, I started this 28-day detox last Monday (from Haylie Pomroy’s The Fast Metabolism Diet). It’s pretty much a paleo kind of diet that allows for legumes. It splits the week in 3 phases according to the days:

• Phase 1: Monday and Tuesday
• Phase 2: Wednesday and Thursday
• Phase 3: Friday, Saturday, Sunday

You eat certain foods according to the phase of the week. Some days are high carbs (sprouted grain and fruits), some days are heavy protein and some days are a combo of carbs, protein and healthy fats. You have to cut processed sugars, gluten, dairy, soy and caffeine and I did that cold turkey (cold cut just for you Krista if you happen to read 😉 ) I had a massive headache for 3 days at the beginning of all this last week, but I’m now fine. I still miss my coffee though and that’s one thing I plan on re-integrating when I’m done with this.

So far, I’ve lost 4.2lbs in a week, so yeah, the detox is working. I also feel more energized and felt like I had more stamina this morning during the WOD. All bonuses if you ask me! It takes a lot of planning and prep, but it’s giving me results so I’m going to stick with it and re-assess at the end of the 28 days.

Here’s what I had stamina for this morning:

I worked on my DUs and managed to slow down my speed on the jumps in order to have the same speed when I do a single and when I do a DU. I managed to get 10, not in a row, but in a much smaller time than before, so I guess it’s slowly working. I just have to keep at it! (Thanks Linda and Mark for the inspiration and the tips)

Source

Skill: Push Jerk 6×3 E90s

Those felt good at the beginning and I found myself struggling with 70#, but I kept going and managed a new PR at 80#. My shoulders were definitely feeling it!

55#-60#-65#-70#75#-80#

WOD: Escalator

There were a lot of us so 7 of us agreed to do the front squat from the ground instead of from the rack. The one perk was that if we clean squatted it, that squat counted towards our reps. I scaled with these modifications:

• HSPU: I did those from 2×5# plates + 1 yoga block stacked. I did a mix of strict and kipping reps
• C2B: red and blue bands of those. I managed to string 5 in a row
• Front squat: 65# from the ground

I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to finish all rounds within the time cap, but I was pretty happy with where I ended up: 8 full rounds + 5 HSPU.

All this HSPU gave me quite the hairdo and I only realized once I got home:

Instant pompadour!

I got a chance to talk to Coach Phil (sub-ing in for Coach Caleb) about the Open coming up and I think I will register in the scaled category in order to be able to do more of the workout and enjoy myself!

Alright, I have to leave the computer in order to cook some meals in advance for this week since I’m back to work in a few days!

Double Unders And Weak Bladders

I am off work until December 13 and I plan on making the most of my time at the Box until I get back to work! I started off this morning with this:

 

It was cold this morning. So cold that the lock of my car door was frozen in the “open” position and I had to hold my car door closed while I was driving. Good thing I didn’t have to drive too far in order to get my workout in! It was cold when I got in the Box and I hopped on the death bike Airdyne for a few minutes in order to warm-up. It worked well and then, I went to stretch for the WOD. To be honest with you, the warm-up kind of felt like a WOD in itself, but it helped with getting warm!

Source

 

WOD: Spealler Virtuosity

That was a short one, but we had to split the class in two heats since there was so many of us. I really wanted to try the FG2, but I warmed up my squats with 85# and I could barely do 2 in a row before having to re-rack the bar. I decided to go down to FG1 and use 75# instead.  I was in the 1st heat and I managed to do the first set of 10 front squats without having to rack my bar. I then moved on to the burpees. I did my first set geriatric-style and managed to jump the 6″ to touch the pull-up bar for each rep. That was the 1st time we ever did burpees with the mandatory 6″ jump. It went better than I originally thought. I then got onto the rig for my pull-ups. I had the red and blue band and got so much momentum that I ended up doing C2B for all my reps.

The second round was harder. I had to rack my bar after 5 front squats, did 3 more before I racked it again and finished up my last 2 reps. I moved onto the burps and forced myself to do them the proper way before getting onto the rig for the C2B. I finished with a time of 6:09. At first, I was kind of disappointed in myself for my time and the weight I used. I really wanted to do 95#. I know I have to be patient with myself and my progress. I’m really trying to focus on nutrition lately and am doing the 40-30-30 Formula / Zone with hopes of losing some fat without losing muscle mass. Thinking back on it, I did end up squatting 1500lbs in just a little over 6 mins so it’s not too bad in itself, but I want to be faster and stronger. Baby steps, Val, baby steps!

After I was done and while the 2nd heat was giving it a go, I decided to work on my double unders for a bit. I wanted to practice until I did a total of 20 DUs. Now, I’ve never talked about it on the blog before, but I’ve had 2 kids in 2 years so my bladder isn’t as strong as it used to be. No matter how much I make sure to empty it before doing any heavy lift (Squats, mainly) or jumping (burpees, DUs), there is always a small amount of leakage happening. This morning was particularly brutal in that department. I was afraid during my DUs that I’d have to mop the floor once I was done. It didn’t get to that point, but let’s just say I was a tad uncomfortable. 😦

I found out the ever-cheerful M. at Crossfit is expecting a girl and that sparked all kinds of knitting tingles and thinking about girly projects I could cast-on. I’ll have to have a look at my Revelry library and pick a few projects to get going on! 😉

Upside Down And Pumpkin Farm

I was awake again at 0400, for the second night in a row. Nothing else to do but get ready to WOD!

Source

Skill: Hand stand push-up (HSPU). That was a new thing for me. You go into a handstand, then lower your head and try to push back up, like a push-up upside-down. Yeah, that was tricky! I managed to lower my head onto 2 yoga blocks stacked up one on top of the other, doing a strict HSPU, but I couldn’t figure out the kipping HSPU to save my life! 🙂 Oh well, practice will make things better in time, I hope! 😉

WOD: DIANA I ended up doing the FG1 because of the following modifications:

5 rounds for time of:

• 5×105# deadlifts
• 2x strict HSPU onto yoga blocks
• 9x kipping C2B with red and blue band

I finished in 10:34 and, for once, wasn’t the last to finish! I think I was the 3rd or so to finish today and I must have surprised Coach Caleb because he was cheering me on to keep going when I replied I was done! Haha!

I came back home and got ready for a fun outing with the girls. Rina’s preschool was going to Galey Farms and although it’s not a usual preschool day for Rina’s class, we were all invited to tag along. It was actually more fun than I expected and the girls had a blast riding the train, going on a hay ride and picking their pumpkins. I managed to get a few good pictures of the girls and it was fun to watch their faces while we were discovering everything!

Béa, unsure about the train moving

Rina is loving it!

The Blenkinsop Trestle and all the geese. One more reason I love Fall so much!

Train ride!

BeZU, enjoying the bumps on the hay ride

My very own Pumpkin Patch kids!

A rare picture with me in it!