WOD: Puppie Murph

Kirsten was not feeling her best, so we lazed out. With a little extra time this morning, I tackled 'Murph,' scaled for puppies. The original workouts come from Crossfit.com and the scalings are courtesy of Crossfit BrandX.

WOD Puppie Murph. For time:

Run .5 miles

35 pullups (jumping)

70 pushups (2/3 scaled to a bench)

120 squats

Run .5 miles

At our CrossFit cert in February I thought I really nailed my POSE running technique; I was running easier and faster than people in waaay better shape. A few weeks later with no real running practice, though and I was stuck back in heel-strike mode. Kirsten saw me and had this horrified look on her face. It hurt, too. I'm working on it again. Today's WOD with it's 1/2 mile runs was a good opportunity to practice.

Three drills have been helpful.

1. Change of balance. One foot to the other, standing still. Without a pause, it's called a 'pony.'
2. Lean into a partner. a. With their hand on your chest, pony and lean forward. b. Partner lets you move forward some, still supporting. c. Partner removes support and you continue to run forward. This was a real turning point for my perceptions.
3. Running in place. Pony, lean forward to run, lean back to check and reset form, repeat. If you're doing it right, when you stop leaning forward, it should feel the same except you stop moving forward.

I did the last one quite a few times in today's WOD. I was going to try and burn the last run in. I had gas in the tank, but I decided to just keep concentrating on form. No, really! I still have a lot of work to do there.

Interestingly, this WOD allows you to slice and dice the moves in between the runs. I did 7 rounds of 5 pullups, 10 pushups and 20 squats. This also meant that the 7th round had no squats; I had finished with them in 6 rounds. That left my legs that much fresher to run. I did full pushups until I felt that I would have to do them one at a time; then I scaled it, maybe about the 3rd round.

My time: CW 33:11

Here's the data. Note that I left the clock running even while doing the other stations; that accounts for the slow average pace. The first 1/2 mile took 7:57.

Name:		Murph (puppies)
Date:		Mar 23, 2010 9:33 am
Map: (valid until Mar 20, 2010)		Google Maps
Distance:		1.64 kilometers
Elapsed Time:		33:11.2
Avg Speed:		3.0 km/h
Max Speed:		10.9 km/h
Avg Pace:		20' 12" per km
Min Altitude:		243 m
Max Altitude:		279 m
Start Time:		2010-03-23T13:33:19Z
Start Location:
	Latitude:	47.113079º N
	Longitude:	88.568486º W
End Location:
	Latitude:	47.113130º N
	Longitude:	88.568333º W

Kirsten may do this later today or else we'll row. We'll see how she feels.

Ciao,

Charles

Dan Onramp 6

Dan started with a warmup run, DROM and a shoulder mobility circuit.

The buy-in:

Review of the shoulder press; Dan worked up to 75# -still just getting the movement down.

Skills: Wall ball and rope progressions.

WOD

5 rounds for time:

7 wall ball (14#, 8' target)

7 pushups (rounds 4-5 to a bench)

7 body rows

Dan's time 12:46

Stretching for the cash-out.

With a steady rate and good form, Dan worked great on today's WOD!

Ciao,

Charles

CFE Tempo WOD

Today we're on the rowers doing a CrossFit Endurance WOD:

5km at 85 - 90% of race pace.

Now, the math on this is fuzzy for me. For instance:

• My best 5k pace/500 meters is 2:03.
• If I take 90% of that though, I get 1:50.7 - a smaller number - a faster pace.
• So I increased my time to 110%, getting 2:15

A larger number means a slower pace. But is that really 90% of race pace? Any of you math wizards who can sort that out for me, please comment. I'd love the formula!

Here's the numbers:

Goals:

• KW 2:15s
• 90%= 2:28
• 85%= 2:35

• CW 2:03s
• 90%= 2:15
• 85%= 2:21

Results:

• KW 24:05, 25 spm (2:14.5/500m)
• CW 22:25, 25 spm (2:24.5/500m)

A bit too quick; I don't know if that's bad. At least it wasn't too slow. Kirsten was running late for an appointment. A big thanks to Terry Smythe for letting us use the ergs in her basement!

Tomorrow, a mini-Murph!

Ciao,

Charles

WOD: Deadlifts & Presses

Saturday afternoon:

Jumprope, DROM and POSE drills for a warmup, then a few practice lifts and right into the day's WOD:

Deadlift 1-1-1-1-1

Press 1-1-1-1-1

Each set is only a single rep, so we're aiming at going heavy. The numbers are not impressive; we were well below our PRs. That's because, after such a long time emphasizing the xc technique for the Bear Chase, we're making a cautious start back into strength work. This in-between time is great for ramping that up, too. Our first priority is dailing in form; stance, midline stability, balance in the heels, vertical bar path, active shoulders. We'll try to get one or two heavy lifting days a week.

That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it! Here's the numbers:

Deadlift

• KW 100-115-125-135-145
• CW 185-195-205-215-225

Press

• KW 35-40-45-50-55
• CW 65-70-75-80-85

Ciao,

Charles

Ice, Snow & Dirt!

Kirsten wanted to have a little ski. I said, "sure" and out we went to MTU Trails. Just a little jaunt. We had to skip around some bare spots, but there were still places to ski. The temperature was well below freezing. The remaining snow base previously slushy had re-frozen to ice, with a quarter-inch of new snow on top.

This was our first time using our old skis as 'rock' skis. Kirstens had been ground and waxed very recently; she had a great time. Mine haven't been seen to since last year; they had round edges and maybe no wax. I certainly learned more about traveling on a flat ski, surprisingly on my right side. I enjoyed being able to keep going; I only took one pause, more grumpy than tired. I had a grudgingly good time.

Here's the data:

Name:		Ice, Snow & Dirt!
Date:		Mar 20, 2010 10:16 am
Map: (valid until Mar 20, 2010)		Google Maps
Distance:		2.71 kilometers
Elapsed Time:		23:10.5
Avg Speed:		7.0 km/h
Max Speed:		16.3 km/h
Avg Pace:		08' 33" per km
Min Altitude:		225 m
Max Altitude:		281 m
Start Time:		2010-03-20T14:16:41Z
Start Location:
	Latitude:	47.107406º N
	Longitude:	88.552440º W
End Location:
	Latitude:	47.107588º N
	Longitude:	88.552380º W

Ciao,

Charles

Row Models

Another day on the indoor rowers. Kirsten, as always, was an animal. I, on the other hand, couldn't be bothered to go fast; I was more concerned with smoothing out my technique. Yeah, right!

In about an hour:

KW 12k

CW 10k

Anyone wants to lift at the house Saturday at 4pm We'll be doing best 5 deadlifts and best 5 presses overhead. Let me know If you want to come.

Ciao,

Charles

Rowing, Sad day for the old gym, Dan's onramp 5

We rowed this morning because:

1. End of ski season.

2. Time to get it together for rowing season.

3. Concept 2 Global rowing challenge. Our local fitness center has been among the world's top for several years, winning twice.

KW 3400m

CW 8000m (I rowed twice)

The sad part is that the owner of the building where the fitness center is has decided to close it down. Perhaps he has a more lucrative offer for the place. Him being an elected official, I'm guessing that it will cost him more than a few votes. What happens to the facility, a nice gym in the traditional sense, including a great boathouse for indoor rowing and a spinning room. What happens next is very up in the air. The fitness manager is a bulwark of the fitness community and a very determined woman. Very sad, that facility serves about 400 members.

On to Dan's workout.

An intro to rowing. Dan already has some experience. 1017m.

Shoulder mobility.

Getting weights in and out of the rack.

Knees to elbows.

WOD 3 rounds for time:

60 jumprope singles

5 KTE

10 push presses 35# bar.

Dan's time: 5:48

Stretching after.

He's doing well.

All for now,

Ciao,

Charles