Not every day is a PR day

April 21 & 28

April 21 Training Day

I went to StoneWay CF to work with Scott, as usual. I have been lifting heavy and feeling very good about where I am at strength wise.

That said, I have not pulled 225# in a year and a half. That was before my knee surgery and before entering in to Seattle Fire Dept recruit school in Feb 2013. Its taken quite a while to get back to where I left off, and I still wasnt sure I had made it all the way back yet.

Today, 4/21,we spent time building up to a heavy Clean & Jerk. 1 rep every 90 seconds until failure.
This video is a few of my lifts, 195, 205 and 215# fail. I have NEVER clean & jerked 215#. In the past, I have done each one separately but not together.


Watch, C&J work, building up to a 1 RM.
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Not every day is a PR day. I have been learning this lesson and I am becoming ok with knowing that not every day in the gym will go well, or even if it does go well, it might not be a PR. That is OK! and I am starting to understand what it means to take what you can get and come back later to try and reach that goal.

Monday 4/28, PR Day

Today, things went well. Like I said before, my life time PR Clean is 225#, here is that video, pretty ugly lift.



So, for today the WOD was prescribed as follows:

Against a 15:00 running clock, complete,

Row 1k

1 RM Clean & Jerk

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I took the row easy and was off the rower in 4:01.
I started with 185#, then hit 205# and went right in to 215#.
Youtube 215# C&J PR


I got that with surprising easy! After last week missing 215#, I was pumped to hit it and have some room left in the tank.

So, with plenty of time left on the clock, I attempted to get under 225# for the first time in at least a year and a half.

Watch, 225# attempt


Not only did I pop out of the hole, I hit 225, twice! No jerk, but that's ok, I have never felt so good moving that kind of weight around. The difference in the old 225 from the first video and the 2 reps from today are night and day difference.

I think one huge learning lesson is to TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GET. Dont beat yourself up over the missed rep, accept the PR and the fact you did more today than you have before. Sure you missed a lift, but you also had a PR and then a double at 225. Accept the good and build on that... dont dwell on the bad.

After all this Scott and I knocked out a grueling partner WOD that pushed our shoulders to failure.

Great day at the box.

Wed & Thursday

Wednesday 4/16

Rest day!

After three hard days of either double WODs or Hero WODs, it was a much needed rest day. Camel back mountain was about a 15 minute drive away, so we headed up early in the day to get in some active recovery.

 The hike started at 1600' and was a pretty gradual path to start out. At about 2400' it got pretty steep and even a few parts where you had to scramble on the rocks to get to the next part of the trail.
Once on top, you had a great 360 degree view of all Scottsdale.

 Rest day and active recovery, complete.

Thursday 4/17

Last day of WODs in AZ. Brady had a "great" idea of what to do for our am WOD. Yoke walk and farmers carry... partner style, switching off as needed. I thought it sounded kinda easy, but I had never done that before so I thought sure, what the heck.

We decided on an empty yoke, the set up is 190#, so its not nothing. We used 53# KBs for the farmers carry.
OH and one last detail... we are going 1 mile. One full mile.

WOD
Farmer carry 53#s

Yoke Walk 190#

1 mile, for time

The first round went good, we walked about 200' maybe more. I was on the yoke and felt great, but as we switched and I grabbed the kettlebells I realized how wrong I had been about this WOD. The yoke sits right on top of your traps and you have to use your delts to keep the yoke from slipping off. As soon as I picked up the KB and started walking I felt my traps engage to hold the weight and my delts and traps start burning with pain. I started to doubt if we could make it a mile with all this junk.

We tried to hold on as long as possible before making the change. But each round got shorter and shorter. There was no easy way to move, everything hurt and the rest didn't seem to relive the pain at all.
Once we made the half way point, I knew there was nothing to do but grid it out.
With about a quarter mile or so left, we found out that going for 20 seconds and then doing a quick switch was far more effective than going as long as we could holding on to the KBs.

We shuffled back into the drive way at 23:05. Like I said, WAY harder than expected.

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With bradys pull up rig in the back yard, we decided on an impromptu final WOD. Swimming and pull ups, very similar to the workout last year in the CrossFit Games.

PM WOD

2-4-6-8-10 Lap swim

20-16-12-8-4 Pull ups

Brady was really good in the water, he is a strong swimmer, I knew if I wanted to beat him I would have to do it on the pull ups. He finished in 10:15

My sets of pull ups went fast. But the swim.... I know I'm not a great swimmer, but when I can slow down and focus on my breathing, I can do ok. 

Well, when I can't breath, I cant get my head in the water so I swim with my head up. Extremely efficient and slow. 

I linked 14/6, and then got 12/4 and then unbroken, but the last set of 10 laps, that is what did me in. I climbed out of the pool and did my last 4 pull ups, time - 10:46.

So, I have a WHOLE new respect for the Games WOD last year with swimming and muscle ups. That one must have been awful!

It was a fun day of new workouts I had never attempted before. Im glad we got to try both of them, as painful as the both were.
Can't wait until the next week of vacations WODs to see what other stuff we can come up with.

Visit to CF Infinite Strength

Tuesday 4/15

The whole crew, Allison, Jess, Brady and I, headed over to CrossFit Infinite Strength  which is a huge gym with pretty much every piece of equipment you can think of. They have a super nice facility and more space than an MICF'er would know what to do with!

Allison and Jess did the "competition" WOD, which is a workout set up for their elite athletes. Brady and I decided to do the CrossFit.com (main site) workout of the day.

WOD

Nukes

8 minutes to complete:
1-mile run
315-lb. deadlifts, max reps
Then, 10 minutes to complete:
1-mile run
225-lb. power cleans, max reps
Then, 12 minutes to complete:
1-mile run
135-lb. overhead squats, max reps

Do not rest between rounds. Post run times and reps completed for each exercise to comments.

This was just what we needed, a long, heavy WOD to battle through... and it was very well balanced for both Brady (the heavy stuff) and me (the running). After a short warm up we set the clock and the door for our two 800m loops.
The first mile was quick, 5:50, and the deadlifts were easier than expected, but going back out on the run was awful.
the pace was much slower on run 2, and I scaled the power cleans to 205#. Those were very difficult and I only pulled off 8 reps. Brady made the 225# look easy.
The final run I tried to put as much distance between myself and Brady as possible. I came in well ahead of him and went to work on the OHS @ 135#. I got two sets of 8 and my shoulders were burning. I saw Brady break after a short set and I knew I could get a good lead if I pushed it.
After it was all said and done, I have 30 reps, Brady had 20.
That was a great WOD, part heavy, part fast. The perfect choice for us to go head to head on.

Watch: Corey & Brady take on Hero WOD Nukes

Brady definitely got the RX but I still had more reps on the DL and OHS... so, well call this one a tie!

Day two MICF vacation in Arizon

Monday 4/14

Time for some more strength training at CrossFit Bankson,.

Starting off the day with 8 sets of Clean & Jerks, I started with 75% (155#) and added from there. The weight moved fast and felt good. I go heavier than I expected but kept adding the weight as long as it was going up!

After the strength, we decided on a short spicy met-con of rowing, yoke carry and DUs

WOD

3 rounds

250m row

80' yoke 370#

30 DUs

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I was able to pull ahead of Brady right there at the end, 7:00 to 7:08. Good one, the heavy yoke along with the fast high speed components was a fun pairing. 

Day two, and its all tied up! 

CrossFit Vacation with the Banksons

Sunday 4/13

We landed in AZ, and made a short drive to Scottsdale to spend a week with our good friends Brady & Jess. Its a little bit hotter and flatter than we are use to but its a nice change of scenery from the grey, cold seattle weather.

The week will include multiple CrossFit WODs, visit to CrossFit Infinite Strength, some hiking, swimming, and some good cocktails by the pool of course!

Brady has build up quite a nice garage gym and we plan to get in a lot of the workouts right there in the garage.

Sundays first WOD started with some strength training. Back Squats, Ever Minute on the Minute 3 reps, for 8 sets. I used 85% of my 1 RM which is 260#. This is part of my strength program but I have never done it on the minute before. So, I was pretty skeptical that I'd be able to pull off this weight every minute. Usually I take plenty of rest time between sets. Things went great. I felt good, and got all the sets, on the minute.
After the last set we rested until the minute ended and did 50 burpees. The strength stuff was in Bradys wheel house, but now we were on my turf. As soon as the last burpee was done, we took off for a 1 mile run. Our legs felt like lead... lungs got burning pretty good too. We got back collapsed in the usually CrossFit recovery position and called it good... for now.

We took a break for an couple hours and then it was back to it. We did a short fast WOD, 21-15-9 Deadlifts and Box jumps, 225# & 24"
Watch 

Brady edged out a victory in this one... but the week has many more opportunities for me to even up the score!

Day one, done. It feels great to be on vacation and still getting in WODs, inface, more that I do when at home! I can already tell I'm gonna be feeling these tomorrow.

Open WOD 14.2 & SFD Graduation

3/7/14 Thursday Open WOD 14.2

I got to do 14.2 with the 5am class at MICF. I love when I get the chance to jump in with the early morning crew. It is super fun to get to workout side by side with any class but the early morning group is our "fire breather" class for sure. They are long time members and always push me to the limit.

CrossFit Open WOD 14.2

0:00-3:00 

10 OHS 95#

10 Chest to bar pull ups

2 rounds

3:00-6:00

12 OHS 95#

12 Chest to bar pull ups

2 rounds

6:00-9:00 

14 OHS 95#

14 Chest to bar pull ups

2 rounds

etc, etc...

 

137 reps, 7 pull ups short of finishing round of 14's

 

Watch: Corey & Ray Open WOD 14.2

 

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The OHS were pretty easy, but the trick to this workout was that even though the squats weren't too hard, they burned up the shoulders. So, then once back on the pull up bar the shoulders just kept getting worked. Plus, the additional range of motion from Chest to bar pull ups was really cardio intensive.

 

Seattle Fire Department Graduation

Friday Night was the official Seattle Fire Department Graduation.

 

This was the culmination the most mentally and physically challenging year of my life. And it was only able to be accomplished with the constant help for the other people in my life. Allison, cooking, cleaning, and running the gym and making sure to take care of everything I needed to get through Recruit School and the next nine months of probation.

 

Also our friends who helped support Allison, brought us food and came by for the occasional cigar or whiskey to help calm my nerves!

 

And of course my parents who have given a lifetime of encouragement and lessons & leadership. Without the work ethic and skills I have learned throughout the years this job would truly be impossible.

 

So, to everyone Thank you!

Saturday Rest day

Sunday 3/9, Re-Test 14.2

Re-test 14.2 and failed to PR.

I think it was a combination of the parties that we had both Friday and Saturday to celebrate SFD graduation that lead to a lower score on 14.2.

 

Part of this blog and the reason I am doing it is the hope that it will encourage others, and not because of what I accomplish, but some times in spite of it. Some days it might come from the fact that even for a coach or long time CrossFitter, not everyday goes as planned, not every day is a PR, not every day do we succeed.

Today I did not PR, I got a lower score than before... and its good to see that everyone has those days and that we can learn from failure. So, on the days that don't go as you hoped... move on.

 

 

 



March 3 -5th

Monday 3/3/14

Strength

starting a new strength Cycle.

3 sets, 10 reps at 65%

Felt heavy, but its been about 3 week since the last strength cycle ended and I haven't been super consistent.

Hang Snatch
3 reps, 5 sets
95
105
105
110
110
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Fight Gone Bad

317 reps RX

 

The good: way more consistent than the last time I did FGB. In the past my first round was 125(ish) and dropped off significantly each round, with the last round in the 60's.
So, being able to get over 100 each round felt great.

Chris Martin crushed it, coming out swinging pulling in over 125 reps round 1. He dropped off each round but still pulled in a great score and beat me by about 20 points.

3/5/14 - Wednesday

Feeling good lately and working on doing more than one WOD per day. Basically, Rich said, "lift heavy stuff at least once a day and breath hard... a few times a day". So, I am working to see what my body can handle and what kind of load I can take... and how I recover from it.

WOD
1, 2, 3...9, 10, 9....2, 1

Front Squats 95#
Push press 95#

 

3 burpees OTM

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16:49

So, this WOD is a repeat, but the 3 burpees are a new addition. It was way harder than I remembered. The first few minuets went quick but the WOD really starts to drag out at the reps of 8, 9 & 10...

 

 

 

 

 

Post WOD Strength

 

10 minutes to build to heavy 3 RM Hang Power Clean

3 reps at: 135, 165, 175, 185, 195x 1, F, F

 

So, I think the point is that its ok to fail. Its important to push yourself to see what you can get... and the only way to set PRs is to have a few (or a lot) of failed reps!

 

 

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WOD5 rounds

3 power cleans 175#
40 Double Unders

 

4:57

 

 

I have a blog?!?

I have a Blog?!

Man, I honestly totally forgot about this blog.

So, the 2014 CrossFit Open started last week and the workout 14.1 is a  repeat of the 2011 Open WOD #1. I was looking back online to see if I could find my old scores for 11.1 and some of the other workouts and I came across my old blog. And as I started to look through it so many memories and experiences came back to me. I am extremely glad I had taken then time to write out what was going on. And so the MICF Coaches blog is reborn.

As I looked through the old workouts there were so many I had completely forgotten about and the best part is many of them have comments on how it felt or thoughts I had during or after the workout.

This blog is mostly for me to track what I am doing and how I am progressing, but as a gym owner and coach if it helps others along the way, even better. I think it will also help keep me accountable and allow anyone who might take time to read it, to see I do actually do the WODs I program for class.

Ok, here we go!

CrossFit Open 2014

Last Wednesday night I, along with about 200,000 other folks, gathered around our computers to see the live announcement of the CrossFit Open WOD 14.1.
I was texting friends, guessing what it'd be.. and eagerly awaiting the chance to get to the gym and do it.

As it was announced... a repeat of 2011 WOD 11.1, I scrambled to find my old scores. Scott almost instantly had a video of his 2011 workout sent to me. 347, Gheez! I found my score, hand written in an old notebook, 280.

Brady, down in AZ was first to attempt 14.1, and got a respectable 290. Friday morning I met up with Scott at StoneWay along with Joe Bauer of All Around Joe and a couple other regulars.
I love working with high level athletes because it really helps to discuss strategy, performance and even mental prep before the workout starts.

Joe and andy went first with scores of 317 and 306.
Scott and I were next. I could see him pull ahead on each set of Power Snatches, but somehow I would catch up on the DUs. I tripped up a few times which was unusual and frustrating. But somehow I was still pretty close to him... In the final minute he was ahead of me by several reps. I pushed as hard as possible and lost track of where he was. After it was all said and done, we got our scores and after 10 minutes of shoulder burning pain, we were dead even at 315.

Come to find out, CJ Martin of CrossFit Invictus posted a link to the 2011 results and after 3 attempts to improve our scores... we had both submitted dead even reps again, both achieving 347 reps! Great to have such a steadfast training partner!

Friday 2/28

WOD
CrossFit Open WOD 14.1

30 DUs
15 power snatch 75#
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315 reps
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Here is Scotts video, just happen to catch us both, side by side! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hog7KL3vTs

 

Saturday 3/1

Today we took on the Hero WOD "Murph". Here is everyone before we got started...

 

 

WOD
"Murph"

1 mile run
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 air squats
1 mile run

 

You may break up the middle part any way you weight, but must start and end with the 1 mile run. Wear a #20 vest if you have it.

time: 40:22

 

So, its been a LONG time since I did Murph, and never with a weight vest (RX for murph is with a 20# vest on). I announced we would be doing it on the MICF blog and FB page not expecting anyone to really show up. Well, 6 people showed up and we had a great crew to suffer through it together.

Everyone did great. We all agreed, the push ups were by far the worst part. So that is something we will be working on more during regular classes.

 

My weight vest fell totally apart and went straight in to the trash post WOD. It hurt my time a little, so I'm looking forward to re-testing with a new vest and stronger push ups!

 

 

 

Tuesday 30th & Wed 31st

"Mainsite Month", for the next month Scott and I are doing the main site every day that we are able to workout together. If it is a rest day on the main site we can pick a WOD that we missed from earlier in the month.



Tuesday Jan 30th
"Tyler"


5 rounds of:
7 muscle-ups
21 SDLHP, #95

Time-14:35

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Wednesday
January 31st, 2012

30 HSPU
40 Pull-ups
50 KBS, #53
60 Sit-ups
70 Burpee
Time-14:12

Wednesday 6-29

This workout was harder than I thought... The KBs really caught up to me. I was super gassed, so then the DL were hard to keep good form. The Pushups were definitely the rest station!

CrossFit brothers - por vida!

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WOD: 4x
20 KBS #70
15 DL @55% of 1 RM - #190
10 True Pushups

for time:
8:48

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10 Muscle ups for time - 43 seconds
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Thursday 6-30-11
Press at #95
6, 6, 5, 5
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WOD
Tabata with #20 vest
Wall balls - 48? I messed these up on counting and maybe on rounds too...
Sit ups - 68
Box Jumps 20'' - 65
Pull ups - 64
Lunges - 84

Great week of WODs, cant wait for the weekend!

Tuesday 6/28

Today was Ally's first E-WOD! She did awesome, keeping me on my toes the whole time.

So proud of the newest member to the e-wod club!!

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a) 4x 10 Deadhang pull ups - switch grip each time

corey - deadhang

allison - blue band/ blue & red band

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1) 4x
200m row

3 wall climbs

6 wall balls

9 OHS 95/65

200m run

-

Corey - #105 OHS - 14:49
Allison - #50 OHS - 16:42

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B) allison: max C to B pullups in 120 sec. - 30

 50 ring dips

Monday 6/27/11

"Badger"
3x
30 Squat cleans #95
30 Pull ups
800m run

25:41
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DL 5/3/1 week 2
70, 80, 90%
225x3
260 x 3
290 x 12