Friday

Fridays are probably the best day of the week.

Friday AM Workout, 5:45a @ Fitness Formula:

Nothing too crazy this morning.

Press 5x5

135-135-135(4)-125-125

With all of the clean & jerks last night I knew my shoulders weren't too fresh, but think I could get these all at #135 if I was at 100%. Focused on staying tight from my core down to my legs, which helped tremendously.

Treadmill Run:

A.
0.5 mi @ 7:30/mi pace
1 min rest
0.5 mi @ 7:00/mi pace

B.
3 x 1:00 on / 1:00 walk
1) 6:00/mi
2) 5:45/mi
3) 5:30/mi

Total: 1.75 mi

Supplemental work: DB curls, dips, situps

Friday Diet:
5:30a: whey protein shake
7:00a: shake--coconut milk, whey protein
10:00a: 2 eggs over paleo chili (no one at work has noticed I eat chili at 9-10 am in the morning yet, which I'm happy about)
12:30p: our firm randomly ordered in lunch today from Bar Louie (this is why Fridays are the best). Got a salad with chicken, hard boiled egg, avocado, shredded carrots, and cucumber. Ginger-peanut dressing. The salad came with a bread stick that was covered in melted cheese. It was wrapped in a paper bag, and the grease was making a little sweat stain on the paper. I threw it away before I even tried to take a bite.
3:00p: Think Thin protein bar

Pretty good weekend coming up, although it may be tough to strict diet-wise--will probably have one or 2 cheat meals. One of my cousins is moving to Chicago next summer for his surgical fellowship, so I'm heading to dinner with him and my aunt tonight. As always, college football all day tomorrow, and going to my first Bears game on Sunday. One of my old roommates is pulling my teeth to go to Fogo de Chao, so I'm trying not to cave--would not actually be too tough to stay Paleo there, but their rolls are delicious. Trying to keep it together since I have a feeling Halloween next weekend could be bad news.

Going to try to fit in at least 2 workouts as well this weekend.

Back on Track

Feeling much better this morning after 10 hours of sleep.

Thursday Diet:
7:00a: shake--coconut milk, casein protein, cashew butter
9:45a: paleo chili
12:30p: Whole Foods hot bar--two slices of pork loin, chicken breast, zucchini and broccoli. I think the box weighed in at 1.2 lbs today. I have come to the realization that is it nearly impossible to spend less than $10 at WF, but it is delicious.
3:00p: Think Thin protein bar
6:30p: ready to drink protein shake
8:30p: paleo chili over sweet potato chips

Thursday Workout:

7:(15)p @ CFC:

Was finishing up some stuff at work and missed the Metra train so made it in a little late to class last night. Commuting to and from the box during the week gets a little frustrating since I don't have a car, but I enjoy it so much that I usually don't mind. Also have a number of good friends who offer me a ride home, which is pretty awesome.

Workout:

Clean & Jerk ladder @ #135

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

In between each round of C&Js do a round of Cindy (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats) for 10 rounds of Cindy total.

Time: 19:58

Really shooting to get sub-20, and happy I got it. PR of about 6 min from the last time I did this in February. These longer metcons with a strength element are great mental challenges, as it gets tough to keep the intensity as the 15 minute mark passes and I start to get fatigued. My Cindy rounds were not as fast as usual, but after getting called out by Rudy on my squats at the start I went slow and made sure to get full depth. I think the issue for me there is still the tight hip flexor, which is probably why I start my air squats by not going down all the way.

Coming off of a sick/rest day, this felt good. The rounds of 8-9-10 were a battle, and though I wasn't cycling the C&J as fast as I would have liked, I pushed through them to hit my target time.

Hump Day

No workout this morning, heading to CFC tonight. May do a longer time domain workout on my own.

Wednesday Diet:
7:00a: shake--coconut milk, casein protein, cashew butter
9:00a: 2 egg scramble w/ roast beef, chicken sausage. Carrots and coffee.
10:45a: handful of nuts
12:30p: 1 skewer of steak kabob, 2 skewers of roasted veggies, 1/3 of a pita (yes I know the pita wasn't Paleo. When we usually go to the Mediterranean place by my office I get a chicken or steak pita sandwich along with everyone else, since the other options aren't too solid. I got a steak kabob plate, but nixed the rice. It wasn't very much food and 2x the price of what I normally get, so I took a few bites of the pita...)
3:00p: bag of jerky and nuts
7:45p: paleo chili over sweet potato chips

I woke up Wednesday morning feeling a little sick, and felt worse as the day went on. Felt like I had a fever coming on, so didn't go to the box last night. Instead, ended up going to bed around 8:30p and waking up around 6:30a. I think in the past I would've attempted to workout, but getting better at listening to my body to know when I need to rest. I need to do all I can to prevent soreness and injury during this training season.

Weight was at #156 Thursday morning, already down from starting weight of #163. Obviously a lot of factors go into this, and I'm not really watching my weight right now, but pretty eye-opening in terms of seeing how Paleo can affect body composition.

Squats

Headed in to Fitness Formula early this morning. Didn't fall asleep until about 11:00 or so and woke up around 5:20, so I was definitely dragging. I can't make it to the box everyday and don't know how late I'll be at work usually, so I have to get these training sessions in during the morning. Unfortunately, my strength numbers usually suffer compared to when I lift in the evenings.

Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3

185-205-225-245-255(2)

Not feeling great today, legs weren't sore but the weight just felt heavy. Need to start lifting heavy on a consistent basis so that the higher weights don't feel as much of a shock to my system.

CF Endurance Workout, on the rower
C2, 5x1000m, 1:30 rest in between intervals

1) 3:59
2) 3:59
3) 4:04
4) 4:08
5) 4:10

Brutal. Wanted to keep a sub-2:00/500 m pace for all the intervals but my legs felt smoked. Contemplated quitting after round 3 as I felt like I had no energy, but finished off the workout. While I don't excel at these workouts by any means, they are probably the best mental workouts I've done, since 1) I suck at rowing 2) I fatigue during rowing more than other movements and 3) I get bored easily. Pushing myself on these should help when competition time comes.

May try to make it back to Fitness Formula tonight for more lower body strength work. Planning on sending in my list of training points to Coach Rudy today, so it will be great to see what he prescribes.

Tuesday Diet so far:
5:30a: whey protein shake, few bites of unsweetened applesauce
7:00a: coconut milk, whey protein, casein protein
9:30a: 2 egg scramble w/ roast beef, chicken sausage, coffee (black)
12:30p: potbelly's Farmhouse salad--2x chicken, greens, tomatoes, bacon, non-fat vinaigrette (I switched to this dressing last week--for about the last 4-5 months I have eaten this salad with everything on it (bleu cheese) and a roasted garlic vinaigrette--there were times when I ate this for lunch as much as 5x per week. Found out last week that the vinaigrette push the fat content of this salad to more than 50g, which is insane. Obviously made the switch as soon as I saw this).

I've been pretty good since the last challenge has started with cutting out some of the non-natural foods from my diet (Think Thin protein bars), but still have some in there (protein shakes, jerky) for convenience. I'm also trying to eat larger snacks/meals so that I don't eat every 2 hours, but I try to bring enough food for the day so that I can do this if needed. Since I'm not overly concerned about my actual weight and more focused on my performance and body composition in terms of gaining lean mass, I basically eat whenever I'm the least bit hungry, albeit with clean foods.

Rest of Tuesday Diet and Workout:
3:30p: pulled chicken breast, 1/2 sausage
6:00p: 1 hard boiled egg, 1/3 avocado, 1/2 sausage
9:00p: chicken breast, carrots

Tuesday PM Strength:

Bench Press 3-3-3-3

155-185-195-205

Front Squat 10x3 @ #200 (80% of 1RM @ #250)

Day 1

Monday wasn't the first day of CFC's Team Paleo Challenge, but marked my first day of training for Sectionals. While my exact training plan should come together during the week, I've already identified the areas I need to work on over the next few months. I'll give a quick recap of my weekend and Monday.

Saturday:

Ran the Urbanathlon (9.75 mi) in 1:31. Finished in the top half of about 500 guys in my 20-24 age group. I hadn't run anything over 7 miles leading up to the race and wanted to just have fun the first time around, so I was content with my performance. Didn't have much trouble with the obstacles, which I was happy about since a lot of them weren't designed for the vertically challenged (jumping over marine hurdles that were taller than me, climbing over walls).

Saturday was my cheat day, and had a number of beers throughout the day, a few burgers for lunch, and McDonalds on my way home from the bar. I know this seems like a big cheat, but I hadn't gone near 10 miles in awhile and the meals help me reset for the week ahead. In the grand scheme of things, as long as I don't go too crazy the non-paleo weekend treats should be ok.

Sunday Workout:

Did some light strength work in the morning. Deadlifted and worked up to #275x3 for three or four work sets. Mixed in deadhang pullups and dips. Legs were pretty sore from the race on Saturday so just wanted to move around a bit.

In the afternoon went to Core Power by my place for an hour of hot yoga. I'm planning on doing this either every Sunday or every other Sunday to help out with one of my major weaknesses--balance/flexibility. I find that my hip flexors end up feeling much better after yoga. Also helps to unwind after the weekend.

Sunday Diet:
10:30a: protein shake--coconut milk, whey protein, casein protein
12:30p: Whole Foods--salad w/ greens and hard boiled egg, lean cut beef brisket (the stuff is delicious and I am convinced it has something akin to nicotine in it, which is not good because it is expensive)
6:00p: brisket, 2 egg omelette w/ mushrooms


Monday Workout:

7pm @ CFC

OHS 5RM 5-5-5

#135-155(3)-155-165

Still not where I'd like to be on these, but getting better. My leg strength is fine, but I get weak and lose my tightness in the bottom position.

Metcon, Performance Challenge #1:

3 rounds
15 hang power clean (Rx'd @ #135)
15 burpees

Time: 4:20

This was one of those workouts where I was both excited/dreaded to do it. It was a Fran-type workout where you wanted to hit it as hard as you could. #135 is not a super-light weight for me, but one that is pretty doable for 45 reps. I was happy with my performance, as I did the first round of cleans and all of the burpees unbroken. Failed my second to last clean. I broke up the cleans too much in the second and third rounds but think that when I get stronger I could definitely do this in sub-4. Rolled on the ground for a few seconds after this one.

Monday Diet:
7:45a: 2 egg scramble w/ roast beef, mushrooms, chicken sausage, coffee
9:45a: muscle milk, small handful of nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans), green tea
12:00p: chipotle--salad w/ 2x steak, salsa, fajita veggies
2:00p: bag of trader joe's jerky, nuts
5:30p: slices of roast beef
8:30p: brisket, chicken, 1/2 avocado

Prep Week

Just a few days until the Urbanathlon on Saturday. I'm excited since I've wanted to do this race for the last few years but haven't been able to due to it being the week immediately following marathon. On the other hand, I am also itching to get firmly into training mode for Sectionals next year. As Rudy has pointed out, my programming has been pretty erratic. As the next few months progress, I'm going to map out a more structure plan with the coaches that hones in on my weaknesses while at the same time trying to maintain my better movements and overall conditioning. The start of the Paleo Challenge also couldn't come at a better time, as I've been slacking on diet (on the weekends big time) and gained what feels like some pretty unnecessary weight.

Monday Workout, 7pm @ CFC:

Did Tuesday's workout as I had just done a 50 minute run on Sunday afternoon:

Power Snatch: #135

Pretty terrible. Well off my PR of #150-#155. I also squat snatched #140 just the other week, and have hang power snatched #140-#145, so it's evident the the Olympic lifts will be a central focus over the next few months.

Metcon:

15-10-5
Power cleans (Rx'd #165, used #155)
CTB pullups
Burpees

Time: 7:33

I felt awful during the workout. Had a friend in town over the weekend and diet as well as sleep were not good at all. Power clean form was sloppy as my elbows were way too slow and I was receiving the bar falling back much of the time. Pullups were broken up all over the place when I can usually get these numbers unbroken. Head wasn't in it mentally, so just one of those ones I trudged through. Good wake up call.

Pre-Paleo Challenge Weigh In: 162.8

Usually have been at #155 but have been at #160 over the last few weeks. Not thinking this is good weight. Planning on having my body comp test with Rudy during the next week or so, as well as talking with Zack on creating some meal plans for myself.

Did back squats and a rowing workout this morning (Tuesday), and plan on getting in yesterday's CFC workout tonight.

Breathing

Finally manned up and started to post some pics. Fight Gone Bad @ Atlas Crossfit, 9/25/10.


Pretty nice and relaxing weekend, didn't train too hard nor did I even go out. It was actually nice to just hang out and relax. The summer weekends were definitely fun, but I felt like I didn't get any down time between the work weeks so they were definitely tiring--also not conducive to training. Will still go out on the weekends (I mean, it is college football season), but probably not as much as in the summer.

Saturday, 10/2

10 min AMRAP of:
6 Cleans (must pass through full squat) (120/65 or 45% of 1RM)
12 Pull-ups
24 Double-unders

5 full rounds + 5 squat cleans

Did this workout alone early in the AM before coaching the 9am class. This was a really fun workout and I think I could have gotten closer to 6 rounds if I had someone else to do it with. The clean weight was really light but the entire workout was just an exercise in controlling my breathing. Pullups were pretty much unbroken, and my butterfly made me a little out of breath so I had to steady myself before hitting the double unders. Will revisit this one in the future.

Was able to help coach all three classes Saturday morning at CFC and it was a good time. With having people in town and FGB the last few weekends, I haven't gotten a chance to get in my hours. Jonny and Rudy let me have a little group of my own during the classes and I was able to attempt to teach the power clean as well as explain the workouts. As I'm still pretty new to coaching, I had a tough time explaining how to power clean the first time around for some new athletes. I'm saving up for the Level I cert, but will continue doing my own homework on teaching the different movements.

Sunday, 10/3

Urbanathlon training run--40 minute training run

Felt pretty good. The Urbanathlon is next weekend. The furthest training run I've done is probably around 7 miles, and I'm really just looking to have fun during the race. Since this is the first time I've done this I'm planning on feeling it out, and then perhaps next year will try to get a more competitive time. Will still go pretty hard though. Can't complain, as about this time last year I was getting ready to run 26.2 miles instead of 9.

Monday, 10/4

AM, 5am @ FFC

20 rep back squat set @ #180

CFE on C2:

3x1000m, 2 min rest, steady pace

1) 3:54
2) 3:57
4) 3:54

Need to start pulling at a faster stroke rate–can’t get any faster when pulling around the low-20s, so will try to get it up to 25/26 strokes per minute. Had a lot left in me at the end so I think I can handle it cardio-wise. I need to have a better strategy doing rowing workouts, as I certainly can't dominate a workout based on rowing but could be more efficient. I'm trying to pull longer and harder, but am still having trouble pulling anything consistently under a 1:55 or so for more than 1K.


PM, 7p @ CFC

Strength:
2 power cleans / minute for 10 minutes

Sets #1-7: #175
Sets #8-10: #185

No fails, felt solid the whole way through.

Workout:
10-8-6-4-2
Shoulder to overhead (#155)
Burpees
KB Swing (2 pood, #70)


Time: 6:46

Bryce said I should be able to get this around 5 minutes or at least the jerks unbroken. Tough workout, as my shoulders were done after the first round. Jerks were the only thing broken up. Jerks went 10, 3-3-2, 3-3, 3-1, 2. Definitely used up time cleaning the bar back up. One of the things I saw I need to work on is being able to pick up and lift the weight when I'm gassed. I realize I spent time each round going from the kettlebell and then taking my time to set up to clean the weight. While I shouldn't rush it to the point where I fail a rep, I know that in order to be more competitive I need to learn how to lift the weight under duress. Games champ Graham Holmberg recently had a video where he talked about learning how to move loads while fatigued, and how it helped him in competition. Just another thing to work on.