Back in the saddle again

After 2 days off and 1 short little Metcon yesterday, I woke up this morning feeling awesome. Actually, when I went to bed last night I noticed that I was looking (feeling) strong, and refreshed, and just HOT. I feel okay saying that, because I'm usually the type that goes around pinching her possibly-imaginary fat rolls and critiquing every little thing that is wrong with me. But, it's amazing what some sleep/rest/food can do for my attitude.

I had a big day planned - including one of the toughest metcons I can think of, that I have been pushing back for weeks at a time. On top of that, I had a 3RM back squat planned that would shatter my recent 1RM. Plus, I decided I would start the day with some snatching. I plan to attack "Isabel" soon, so I have to get ready for her. (Isabel is 30 reps for time of 135# Snatch - we use 85# at our gym, currently, but I'd like to do it with 95#)

Buy-In:

Burgener warm-up
Snatch

• 35# - some hang power and hang squat snatches. Feeling good today.
• 65# - a few singles. This felt good
• 85# - didn't feel quite as good, but still not as heavy as 85# usually feels.
  
• 105# - failed 2 reps (didn't even try to get under the first, didn't get my head through on the second, but nailed the 3rd).

I'm really pleased with that. 105# was my 1RM snatch up until March 1. Of course, you can see the video of my 110# snatch here. Actually, my old 1RM was 48kg, which is closer to 106#. Whatever. This is only my second near-max Snatch attempt since last July.

Then, I moved onto the back squat. Today, I focused on keeping a wider stance when I squat. Whenever I Clean and Jerk, or Snatch, I always land with a sorta wide stance. Not too wide, but sorta wide. Clearly, that's the way my body wants to squat. Warming up, it felt good.

Back Squat 3-3-3

• 45x5x2
• 95x5
• 135x2
• 165x3
• 180x3 (recent 1RM AND 3RM PR)
  
• 190x1 (recent 1RM PR)
  

So, I have no excuses for not getting that 190x3. That first rep felt easy, so I think I kinda let down my guard, so to speak. I think I didn't approach reps 2 and 3 with the same sort of intensity. It's a fine line we must walk in our heads. If you think for a second "I can't do this" then, you won't. But, if you are too confident and think "this is easy" you might not try hard enough to get a rep that is heavy. You have to think "this is really, really hard, but I can do it!" and then you can do it. You have to be ready to attack that bar - to not let the bar defeat you. In this case, the bar defeated me.

But, I'll show that bar. Next time, I'm getting 195 for 3!!!

Metcon
"Heavy Squat Grace"
100# Squat Clean and Jerk, 30 reps for time:

8:18

Only sort of pleased with that time. My goal was under 10, so I got my goal. But, I was also hoping to be a bit faster. My lower back was smoked from those goblet squats, so the front squat was the hardest part of this WOD. I also suck at push jerk, so that was really hard, and my form wasn't that great. I am going to attack the push jerk for a few weeks - work that sucker until 100# feels easy. I'm just not great with weight overhead. Look for a fun video of this WOD in a couple of days :)

And now, for your viewing pleasure, some videos of me squattin':

090330 Back Squat 180x3 from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

090330 Back Squat 190x1 (3 rep attempt) from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

I heart Goblet Squats

I got 11 hours of sleep! Woot woot! I feel great, but I also feel like taking a nap. I could sleep probably twice as much as I do, if left to my own devices.

Today, I did just a metcon.

WOD 090329

10 Rounds for time of:
10 Pushups
15 Goblet squats, 16kg

11:17

I was hoping for closer to 10 minutes. But, I suppose that's pretty good. My pushups felt awesome! The goblet squats were really hard - they particularly worked my lower back. That was the hardest part of the whole WOD, actually.

Other than that, I've just been working on programming for the next couple of weeks, eating lots of food, and working on my quilt. Nothing major going on today!

Later

I could NOT sleep last night. For how tired I was all day, I was really surprised when I went to bed at 10:30 and couldn't fall asleep for a loooooong time. I don't know how long - I try not to look at the clock because it stresses me out.

As a result, I didn't workout this morning. My shoulders are also incredibly sore - I need to get a massage! I just really wasn't feeling like working out this morning, which is rare for me, so I took it as a sign that I should either rest, or workout this evening if I feel like it.

Last summer I hurt my shoulders by doing too much to them, so I am trying to avoid that! My dips have regressed, and I'm pretty sure it's because I've been over-using my shoulders. My HSPU are coming along nicely, but pushups and burpees hurt, and I'm pretty sure there's a better chance of me doing burpees than HSPU at the games.

So, if I workout later, I'll post it tomorrow. But, here's a cool pic from this morning. Just one guy showed up for 5 a.m. (the other 5 a.m. people are out of town/slacking!!!), and I put him through the WOD: 10 rounds for time of: 10 pushups, 15 goblet squats. Ouch. (Maybe watching him do the WOD is what psyched me out of it!). Anyway, Derek is a trooper, and he did great! Here's him in pushups, with me and Mikey cheering him on:

Okay, so he's resting here. That's okay, it's still a neat photo of the gym, and Mikey is so cute!

How high?

Too much ice cream last night. I definitely wasn't feeling good this morning. At all. I also had a glass of wine last night - maybe that was it. I think it was probably the combination of the two. I hardly had any ice-cream at all - just one single 1/2 cup serving!

I'm considering going totally paleo again - that is, no dairy or legumes. I really hardly eat any dairy or legumes, but I'm wondering what a 1-month paleo challenge could do for my body composition and performance. Might as well make it last 7 weeks - all the way to the games.

WOD 090326

Front Squat 5-5-5

• 45x5x2
• 75x5
• 95x3
• 125x2
• 135x5
• 150x5 (PR)

Back Squat 135#, 15 reps. I almost went for 20 reps, but again I kinda tweaked my back (what the hell am I doing?), and I wasn't sure if I should keep going. I wasn't sure I could make it 20 reps without reaching muscle failure, but I probably could have. I wasn't sure if I should go to failure or not - I'm thinking that's kind of the point. Anyway, I'm pretty stoked on this, because this is more than bodyweight!!!

5 Rounds for time of:
3 Power Cleans, 105#
5 Box Jumps, 29 inch box
7 Burpees

6:49

This was pretty hard, but it didn't really get hard until round 4. I probably could have gone a bit faster, but at the same time, I had to rest for the tall box jumps and the heavy power cleans. So maybe I couldn't go any faster. I collapsed on the ground at the end, as usual, so that means I tried pretty hard.

I had a post-workout meal of 1 7oz container of Fage greek yogurt (yum!) with a small banana and honey. Not very paleo, I know. I had a big craving, and I like to listen to my cravings (as long as I'm not craving girl scout cookies and pizza, anyway). It was delicious, but now I am seriously craving vegetables!

Oh yeah, here's a video of my recent DL PR:

Jenna picks up 225# (watch out ben dodge! here I come!) from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Today is Maggie's birthday! Poor Maggie, for her birthday we did that horrible AMRAP in 30 minutes WOD that was on the mainpage 2 weeks ago (on MY birthday, incidentally). Normally nobody shows up for the 6:30 a.m. class on Wednesdays, so Meriah and I get to workout together. But, much to our surprise, today a car pulled up at 6:30, and in comes Maggie! She won't be able to make it to the normal 6:15 p.m. class due to birthday festivities. She's such an awesome dedicated crossfitter that she gets up early on her birthday to fit in her workout! Sweet!

As Many Rounds As Possible in 30 minutes of:
5 Pullups
5 Ring Dips
15 Situps

19 rounds (plus pullups, ring dips, and 5 situps!)

Maggie and I are really close on a lot of things - ringdips being one of those things. Maggie is the only other girl at the gym (besides me) who has done WODs involving ring dips with no assistance band. I actually only did that 1 workout with no band, and since then my ring dip has gone downhill.

We decided that we would do all of our pullups Chest To Bar. Maggie usually does anyway - I don't know if she counts the misses or not, but she has the most fabulous pullups in the 6:15 p.m. class, and she always has the height, even if she doesn't make contact. I sometimes try to get her to NOT go chest to bar, for the sake of the intensity of the workout, but she refuses. Hey, that's okay with me!

We also decided we would try to do as many rounds as possible with no band for the dips. I was hoping for 15 rounds, and I was hoping to not use a band at all. I made 5 rounds before I gave in. From the beginning, my dips were singles, with a couple of doubles thrown in. I have done sets of 5 before, several times! I don't know where my ring dip went. I guess I got too comfortable with it.

Maggie made it 6 rounds with no band, and she did 19 rounds plus pullups and maybe some dips, too. She probably would have beat me, or at least we would have tied, if I had done 6 rounds with no band like she did.

Rock on!

---

Alrighty, I wanted to take a minute to discuss my diet, etc. As you can see from the above photo, I am slightly soft. I mean it! I weighed 132# this morning, naked and fasted. That's on my home scale, but I prefer to be around 128 on that scale. I think I might have gone through an over-eating phase last week, because I think I gained a little weight and this week I have not been hungry at all. The past 2 days I have had to practically force my food down. So, I skipped dinner last night (munched on some almonds and peanut butter instead - but not much at all), woke up this morning pretty hungry, and after the workout was only sort of hungry. I went home and had breakfast so that I wouldn't get too hungry in the middle of the 9 a.m. class, and so that I could stay after class and work on stuff at the gym. I got really, really full during breakfast.

I'm trying really hard to listen to my body and feed it what it wants. It's tough to go from the strict (albeit modified) Zone to "eat whatever you want as long as it's paleo". Paleo might be a stretch - I eat peanut butter and some dairy. But, I avoid sugar, and the bulk of my foods are meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, and little starch.

And, maybe i'm not soft. Maybe it's all in my head. I guess there's no way to really tell. I just wonder if my lack of a ring dip has anything to do with my extra 5 pounds around the midsection.

I also wonder if my lack of appetite is due to overtraining. I just took 2 extra rest days about 10 days ago, after the 10k. I have felt pretty tired since then, but I have just begun sleeping more, taking more naps, and, most importantly, NOT working my weekend away. I think I'll at least finish this cycle out, see how my appetite is, and then go from there.

There's a DH mountain bike race this weekend that I really, really, really want to do, and would give me the perfect excuse to "rest". It's in Spokane, WA. I wasn't going to go, but I might want to think about it. Of course, I have to ask the boss for the weekend off if I want to go. ;)

Get back on the bar and snatch it

Okay, as promised, here is the video of my OHS/burpee WOD, in which I was brought to both tears and a temper tantrum. Actually, it was in the reverse order. Tantrum first, then tears.

I'm not proud of it. In fact, I'm pretty embarrassed. For one, I forgot the camera was on. For another, I had group of people watching including some good friends/clients. I did this WOD during our "open gym" hour on Sunday, and I was hoping to just kind of blend in and hopefully nobody would be paying attention. For some reason, they were all watching.

But, I decided to post this video anyway, because I'm sure that every one of us has felt this way during a workout, or a race, or something. I usually stay pretty calm during workouts, but I was super tired before this workout, and I think I was just a little vulnerable. This will be a lesson to me that I should 1) Rest More, and 2) Not try to do a skill-intensive WOD if I am tired but am working out anyway. Oh yeah, and 3) Make sure I don't have an audience if I am trying to concentrate during a WOD. As you can see, when I turn away from the camera, I didn't really appreciate having an audience. I guess I might have to get used to it if I am going to compete in the games qualifiers!

Oh yeah, this video is really long. I ran out of time to edit properly, and I also don't have a fast-forward function in my video editing software. I'll have to find something new. The tantrum happens in round 5. This video is really long, but if you have 10 minutes to kill....go for it.

OHS/burpee WOD looonggggg video from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

On the rebound

Oh my, I just got up off the couch to let my dog out and it just hit me. My posterior chain is F-R-I-E-D. I was feeling pretty crappy today and almost didn't even workout, but once I got going I felt great and ended up putting in a great performance.

Deadlift 3-3-3

• 75x5x2
• 95x5
• 135x3
• 165x2
• 185x1
• 190x1 (was going to do 3, but changed my approach)
• 195x3 (that was easy)
  
• 210x3 (that also was easy, PR for 3 reps!!)
• 225x1 PR!!

Metcon:
5 Rounds for time:
10 Walking lunges with 16kg KB overhead
15 KB Swings, 16kg (American swings)

4:34 (PR by 56 seconds!)

090323 DL 210x3 from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

5.10 baby!

That's right! Yesterday, I successfully climbed a 5.10 at the climbing gym, with NO REST. It was a 5.10 lead climb, but I top-roped it. So much fun. It was really overhanging, but with fairly big holds. It kind of played to my strengths a bit. But, that's okay. Afterwards my arms were pretty fried, but luckily there were no pullups in yesterday's WOD.

Let me start with Saturday. Saturday was Day 1 of this 3 day cycle, hence it was a metcon. I opted for "Barbara", but I decided to do 1/2 Barbara, but do chest-to-bar pullups.

5 Rounds, each for time of:
10 Chest-to-bar pullups
15 Pushups
20 Situps
25 Squats

2:05/1:54/1:55/2:06/1:55

The round that took 2:06 was because I was trying to time other people as well and all of a sudden I realized it was my turn to go, and I had to run over to the pullup bar, climb up on it, and go. My first round I think was long because I had to start my watch, climb up on the pullup bar, and go. Sometimes it sucks to be the timer.

In retrospect I should have done something like 12 pullups, 18 pushups, 24 situps, 30 squats. Maybe even 15/20/25/30 or something. 2 minutes is too short for each round. I was shooting for 3 minutes per round, and last time I did barbara each round took more than 6 minutes. Oh well, better too short than too long, for now. Also I was nursing a torn palm on my left hand, so it was good to keep the pullups short.

Yesterday, Sunday, was day 2. I really, really wasn't feeling it yesterday, but I got in the gym anyway. I slept until 11 a.m., went climbing for about an hour, and had a really chill day. I should have had tons of energy, but I think I am just catching up on all that energy I have been using up the last few months of working at the Cafe in addition to the gym. I am really looking forward to having just the gym, and being able to get more rest and train harder for the games.

Anyway, yesterday's WOD:

Back Squat 5-5-5

• 45x5x2
• 95x5
• 115x2
• 135x1
• 155x5
• 170x5 (recent PR, so I stop there)

Skill work: Snatch, work up to weight I will use for my WOD.

Metcon:
5 Rounds for time:
5 OHS, 95# (from floor)
10 Burpees

10:34 :(

My original plan was to use 100-105#, but take this from the rack. But, the racks were in use, so I decided to take it from the floor. I wanted to use 95#, which is really kind of hard for me to snatch (it's all in my head though). I knew it would be a challenge to snatch 95# after doing burpees, but I decided to go for it.

All in all, I guess it went okay. Rounds 2 and 5 I had some major trouble getting the weight overhead. In round 5 I kind of broke down a little bit, threw a bit of a temper tantrum at the bar. It was not pretty. I was exhausted and really emotional, and failing to get that weight overhead over and over and over brought me to tears. It was kind of embarassing. I have it on video, too. I'll post that tomorrow, for your rest day viewing pleasure :)

But, for now, here's a video of my recent 5RM PR in the back squat. Old PR was 95kg (208#) but I don't know how I did that.

Back Squat 170x5 090322 from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

Mmmmm, coconut!

It never really got sunny but I did my afternoon Metcon anyway:

7 Rounds for time of:
65# Hang Power Snatch, 5 reps
7 Knees to elbows
9 Burpees

11:00

I was pretty hungry for this. I hadn't really eaten since 10 a.m., except for delicious bite of homemade coconut milk ice cream that I made. I got an ice cream maker for my birthday (Thank You Meriah!!!). (I think maybe she is trying to sabotage me?!?!???) The inaugural dish was chocolate coconut ice-milk, I shall call it, because there is no cream. However, I'm positive it is more than 12% fat, so legally it is ice-cream. Whatever.

Chocolate Coconut Ice-Milk
3 cups Coconut Milk (I use Thai Kitchen - the best! This is almost 2 cans. I just happened to have 1.75 cans open)
2/3 ish cup Cocoa Powder (I used Dagoba)
2/3 ish cup sugar (next time I will use Agave Nectar. I just didn't have any)
a bit of Pure Vanilla Extract

Precise, I know. It's the chemist in me ;)

I put it all in a blender, blended, poured into the pre-frozen ice cream machine, and viola! Dessert! It is done when it reaches a nice soft-serve consistency. I put it in the freezer to harden it up a bit, but I really prefer it when it is fresh.

Enjoy!

More rolls, please

I wish I had more belly rolls. Contrary to what you might think, I believe that the number of rolls a person can create on their belly is inversely related to their body fat percentage. I decided so this morning when I was trying to create a fat roll in order to prove to my boyfriend that I really was "fat". Of course, it's all one big joke. I mean, yeah, I would love to get rid of all the extra fat sitting around my lower belly, but I'm not really concerned.

All this was sparked by me stepping on the scale at the gym, which is, of course, a huge mistake. Not only was I fully clothed, but I was drinking coffee, water, and had already eaten breakfast. That's gotta account for, like, 10 pounds, right? ;)

But then, I set a deadlift PR (finally!!!). So, who cares? It just goes to show you that the only weight that matters is the one on the bar.

Now, time to catch up on the last 2 days of workouts. I haven't been slacking, I've just been extremely busy. Today is no different.

Wednesday, March 18.

Front Squat 5-5-5 (this was frustrating)

• 45x5x2
• 75x5
• 95x3
• 115x2
• 135x5
• 145x5
• 155x2 (damn)
• 150x4 (I think I had that fifth rep, but for some reason I couldn't concentrate on anything except my right index finger which was hurting like hell. Clearly, I wasn't in the mood to lift).

Back Squat 95# for 20 reps. Um, this was too easy.


Metcon:

85# Thrusters, 50 reps for time.

6:58

Food yesterday: Not measured. I ate more fat than normal, and more protein, too. About the same on carbs.

Today, March 19.

7:30-9 a.m. session (included lots of playing around with skills)

Skill work: HSPU. I finally figured out how to use the assistance bands effectively to work on my HSPU. I was not making progress using the kip against the wall. It's that last couple of inches down (and up) that kills me, and using the kip makes it so I don't have to push through that. I used the red band, which really doesn't offer a whole lot of help. I focused on keeping my core tight and keeping that hollow position, and it was much easier to do the HSPU that way.

Lifting: Originally planned a shoulder press session, but my shoulder has been kind of tweaked lately. Strangely it didn't hurt during HSPU at all. Anyway, because I missed my deadlifting last week I opted to deadlift instead, but I went for a 1RM. I haven't PR'ed the DL since last July, and I had my boyfriend with me this morning. His job was to trick me into setting a PR, because I think it's mostly in my head.

Deadlift:

• 55x5
• 95x5
• 125x3
• 185x1
• 185x1
• 195x1
• 205x1
• 220x1 PR
• 225Fx1,000,000
  

I actually used a regular overhand grip for all of those lifts, which is rare. Usually I switch to reverse grip around 155, but I need to work on my grip, so I thought I'd try to do the normal grip for as long as possible.

I plan to do my metcon around 2:30 or 3 p.m, in the warm sunlight :)

Spring, or not?

The sky just can't make up its mind about what it wants to do here in Bozeman. Yesterday morning it was practically spring, and then it snowed all day and night, and now it's almost springtime again. I'm fine with it being spring. I can't wait to open the garage door for most of the day and workout in the beautiful sunlight. Ahhh, spring in Montana.

Yesterday was a rest day for me, so I got a massage. I still can't walk. My calves are seriously messed up. I think I could probably run right now, but I can't seem to just walk. My massage therapist spent most of her time on my back - I've got some crazy knots in there. I'm not sure if it was the massage or "J.T." on Sunday, or both, but my left shoulder is kinda tweaked.

I ignored it though and still worked out today. It didn't really bother me in the workout. We did an old favorite - a repeat from Oct 21, 2008. The first time I saw this WOD prescribed was June 7, 2008, I remember because that was my Level 1 cert and I saw Jolie, Dave Castro, et al do the workout at lunch.

10 Rounds for time:
12 Pullups
12 Burpees

18:25

Last time: 22:37, so today was a PR by 4:12. Not bad. Also, I did 3 rounds of chest-to-bar pullups. I didn't do more than that because my hands were feeling really tender today, and CTB pullups are really hard on your hands. As it is, I had planned to do 1/2 the rounds CTB, but felt extremely close to ripping my left hand open on the bar as it was.

Then, I ate breakfast, took a nap, got up and ate lunch, and here I am. I never get enough sleep, so I have to get that nap in. My nap today wasn't long enough, but it's better than nothing. We're thinking about getting rid of our 5 a.m. class. It's just not busy enough to warrant keeping it!

Run to the Pub

I can barely walk today. Yesterday was the Run to the Pub 10k. The morning was cold and slightly overcast, but it cleared up by race start. The race organizers had buses that transported all the runners from the finish line up to the start. The buses dropped us off early and there was a HUGE line for the porta-potties. I opted to drop-trou by a parked car for a last-minute bladder emptying.

My strategy was the start the race relatively slow. I was cold, I couldn't feel my feet, and I was afraid of going out too fast. The course was a straight away for the first couple of miles, so I decided that when the road turned I would try to kick it up a bit. I was focused on running POSE. I'm not very good at it - I haven't practiced enough to make it second nature. I was definitely over-thinking it yesterday.

Around mile 2 my calves started cramping and my right IT band was seriously hurting. Damn. That's the one thing I was afraid of. I considered stopping and stretching, or stopping to walk. I was having a hard time keeping up with the crowd and was starting to get passed more and more. Suddenly, around mile 3-ish, I decided to forget about POSE and just run. I started passing people left and right. Of course, that's about the part of the course that ventured onto the trail system, which was covered in snow, and so to pass people I had to run in the deeper snow on the side of the trail. I was heel-striking a bit, but I was still leaning forward and pulling my feet up as fast as I could. Sort of a hybrid POSE method.

Anyway, i ended up finishing in 44:22, which is a PR by nearly 8 minutes!!!! I was blown away by my time. I thought I would set a PR, but I was expecting to run somewhere in the neighborhood of 48-50 minutes. I think if I was focusing less on the POSE method of running, I would have run a faster race. I just need to practice more, and hopefully it will become more second-nature.

I could hardly walk today though. My calves are soooo tight and sore. My right IT band is also pretty sore. I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow, thankfully. I got a gift certificate for a massage for my birthday, and I tried to schedule a massage for Thursday or Friday, but the soonest I could get in was Monday. Suddenly, I am glad for that :)

Today, I was going to rest, but we decided to tackle "J.T." (21-15-9 reps of: HSPU, ring dips, Pushups). It's all upper-body, so the fact that I couldn't walk didn't matter, right? In the middle of the workout I decided to switch to 15-12-9, because by the time all 3 of my workout buddies had finished their 21 HSPU, I was on number 12. This was going to take me all night.

I finished in 14:47, and I used a purple band for the dips. I thought I could either do all my dips one at a time with no help, or I could do sets of 5-ish with the purple band. Clear choice for this WOD :)

Looking forward to tomorrow's rest day, massage, and sleeping-in (last chance 'til Sunday).

Constantly varied

I've been slacking a little bit on the posts. I took yesterday off for a couple of reasons. I was exhausted, my back was still kinda hurting, and my schedule just didn't work out. Plus, I have a 10k to run today, so I kinda sorta wanted to rest up for it. I will do yesterday's workout tomorrow.

However, the exciting news from yesterday is that I got my first strict muscle-up! I got 3 of them, in fact. Here's the video:

Jenna's First Strict Muscle Up from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

I really didn't think I could do that. I guess I haven't tried in a long time, mostly because I didn't think I'd be able to do it. I'm happy to check that off my list of goals :)

Week 3

I didn't get to quite finish my thoughts earlier on my birthday, and why we celebrate birthdays in the way that we do. Kind of like all holidays, everyone always tries to cram as much fun activity into one day as possible on their birthday. You know what I wanted to do? Nap. Eat a steak. Nap some more. Instead, I got up early, worked out, didn't have time for a good breakfast, went climbing, ate cake, ate at an italian restaurant, came home, thought about more cake, and went to bed. Climbing was fun, my cake was great, and I really appreciated the thought of being taken out to dinner. But, all I really wanted was a great big long fat nap.

It just made me think about how next year, I'm not going to do anything on my birthday. It'll be on a Thursday - very non exciting. I'd like to go climbing maybe, but that'll have to come after my nap. Because today, I woke up on the first day of my 25th year, feeling like crap. I would have much rather woken up refreshed and rested. Maybe I should have cake the day after my birthday :)

Back to business: my workout of the day.

Backsquat 5-5-5

• 45x5x2
• 75x5
• 95x5x2
• 115x3
• 135x2
• 155x5
• 165x5
• 175x4

I tweaked something in my back on the 4th rep at 175. Nothing major, and I don't know how it happened. It was a great squat - no bad form that I felt at all. I am pretty damn sure I could have gotten that 5th rep, but as I tried to squat it all I could think about was my back and I failed it. Next week.

Metcon

40-20-10 reps for time of:
Pushups
Situps
Wallball, 14#

11:05

I hate wallball. Our targets are extremely high - they are bottomed at 10', not centered. We use 14# balls. I'm short. On the upside, our wallball targets make every other wallball I've ever tried seem super easy. When I went to Front Range CF a couple of months ago, we did a WOD with wallball, and it was a joke! They use 12# balls and have targets centered at 10'. I'm going to keep it up with the 14# ball though, because that'll make everyone else's wall balls seem like a walk in the park.

My metcon today included a good sob session. I don't know why. Well, it was those damn wallballs, but that usually doesn't do it for me. I was just feeling extra emotional, and I was frustrated, and tired, and coming off a sugar high. Second day in a row that I shed tears in a workout. Very unlike me.

Happy Birthday?

Yesterday was my birthday, hence, no post. I was too busy "celebrating" by eating sugar-laden foods and doing fun activities. It was, by all conventional definitions, an excellent birthday. It started at 6 a.m. where I stopped into Rockford Coffee on my way into the gym. I was in the throes of an ice cream hangover from the night before (early celebration) and wanted Rockford Coffee to help wake me up for my early workout. Ryan, the owner, and my old boss, accused me of coming in to get free coffee on my birthday. It was a joke, but that joke wasn't then, never had been before, and never, ever will be funny. "Here's your free coffee. Happy Birthday, cheap-ass!" just isn't the birthday wish I wanted to hear first thing in the morning on my birthday.

So, I might have kinda-sorta-just-a-little-bit chewed him out. I believe my exact words were "No, actually Ryan, I just wanted a cup of f*cking Rockford Coffee on my birthday" followed by hurling my $2 at him. He felt terrible, as he should, and so he gave free coffee to both me and Ben. It was awesome.

Then, I went to the gym and did my all-time favorite workout.

"Nasty Girls"
3 Rounds for time:
50 squats
7 muscle ups
10 Hang Power Cleans, 95#

15:59 (whew, just under the wire!)

I was hoping for sub-15, but my last muscle up I had to re-do, and it took me a couple of tries. Well, I missed it once because I didn't get through the transition. Then, i missed it again because I didn't press it out at the top (though later I was informed that I had pressed it out plenty, but I didn't think I had). So, I had to re-do it. At that point, I was on the verge of, and maybe slightly in, tears. But, I finished off strong with all 1o HPC in a row.

This is a PR by about 30 seconds, and last time I did assisted MU and pullups. I didn't ever feel like I was pushing super hard yesterday though. My back/hip is kinda hurting from when I dropped 105# on myself, and I was so hungover from all the sugar that I just wasn't performing very well.

One thing is clear - I need to work on my muscle ups more!

The highlight of my day (food-wise) had to be the 4 layer chocolate cake with white buttercream frosting that one of my athletes made for me. It was hands-down the best cake I have ever had (except for possibly the carrot cake that she made for our party last weekend). If I ever get married, I think I know who's making my wedding cakes!!!

The cake did send me into a sugar high followed by a sugar low coma. But, I think I had recovered from that by the end of the night, and I managed to sleep pretty well. I even got to sleep in until 8 a.m. today - though I feel like I could have slept a lot longer. I woke up pretty darn sore. I think I'll cash in on that gift certificate for a massage that I got for my birthday!

Time to do today's WOD - hopefully it'll help flush the remaining sugar out of my system and I can start over.

Crossing off another one

Today, I did Diane. Finally. My virgin Diane experience was one year and 2 days ago. I used 125# and did regular pushups. It took me about 8 minutes (for some reason, I don't have an exact time written down). I remember the deadlifts being extremely hard. More on Diane later.

Patrick commented on yesterday's post, regarding me hopping forward when I clean/snatch. I think it's pretty interesting, and I cleaned again today, so I thought I'd discuss what he said and how it helped me.

Technical question: Have you always started your oly lifts with your hips so high, or is that something that just carried over from your new DL start position? I'd think that a more upright start position would help limit that forward movement, although looking at your snatch vid, the first pull looks good and the issue appears to be related to you driving off the balls of your feet on the 2nd pull.

There are two things that seem to be going on. Your elbows are rotated back somewhat, and you're opening your hips with your weight forward - popping them forward rather than driving them up. As a result, The bar is leaving your body around your navel, and that's going to limit the amount of weight you can handle. Fortunately, you've got great strength, balance, and coordination, so your numbers are still pretty damn good.

I'd recommend working hang power snatches and hang power cleans, focusing on driving through the heels and keeping the that bar close to you. Once you get that down, go to hang squat versions and then gradually work your way down through the hang positions to the floor, until you redevelop that heel-driven power.

BTW, I totally blame your biking for this fault. Your quads are too damn strong. As a former cyclist myself, I have the same issue on my jerks, but I've gotten it squared away on my pulls. On the bright side, this means you now have a good excuse to work the olympic lifts more often, which means life in the gym will be more fun.

I actually don't usually start with my hips as high as I think in my last video, where I cleaned 135. I had forgotten about my lower-hips start until I was in Park City and Spealler reminded me to lower my hips. Duh. How could I forget?

So, I pretty much ignored all the advice that Patrick gave me today (about doing hang power cleans, then hang squat cleans, then squat cleans) because I was under a time crunch. I was late getting to the gym and had to get my cleans in before the 6:30 a.m. class. I did, however, focus on reaching full extension and driving through my heels, not pulling with my arms, etc. I think I did okay. I wasn't hopping forward today like I usually do.

Summing it up, it was great to have another set of eyes checking out my olympic lifting. I've got 3 more videos of today's session. What do you see?

WOD 090309

Clean 5-5-5

95-105PR-115PR

Then,

"Diane"
21-15-9 reps for time of:
155# Deadlift
Handstand Pushups

12:26 :)

Very stoked with this time. I used 1 abmat for the HSPU, but I put all my weight on the abmat and it compressed so it was almost like doing it to the floor. I am just a little scared of not having an abmat there. Next time though I will have to put my hands on weights so that when I use the abmat it's the exact same as doing it to the floor. I feel sorta like a cheater, but not really. My goal time was 20 minutes, so I'll take this :)

Jenna Cleans 95x5 from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

Jenna Cleans 105x5 from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

Jenna Cleans 115x5 from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

I think it's working

I feel strong. Today is the second day that I have ever used more than 100# for cleans in a metcon. Clearly, my program is working. Lifting heavy before metcons might slightly hamper my performance in the metcon of the day, but I know that it is making me a lot stronger. That, and I've been eating a lot better (mostly). I've also been trying to make sleep more of a priority, which is hard to do, but necessary.

I just hope I can keep up the good work all the way until May 16/17.

WOD 090308

Front Squat 5-5-5

• 45x5x2
• 75x5
• 95x3
• 115x1
• 125x5
• 135x5
• 145x5

Skill work: deadhang pullups AND cleans. I have a habit of hopping forward when I clean, so I did some cleans up against a wall. I'll have to get a video or picture of it sometime - it probably looks pretty odd.

Metcon:
3 Rounds for time:
105# Clean, 5 reps
10 Burpee-Pullups
250m Row

10:31

I thought that would take a LOT less time. I was shooting for about 8 minutes. The burpee-pullups definitely slowed me up. I haven't done these in almost 1 whole year. My technique definitely needs some work. I will start incorporating these into warm-ups. If my technique were better, I could probably be at least 1 minute faster, if not more. Hard to say, really.

Even though my time isn't as fast as I wanted it to be, I felt pretty confident on my cleans, and my row was even faster than I thought. I don't recall any splits, but I remember always being surprised at my pace when I opened my eyes to peek at my progress. I think I finished up my last round at a sub-2 minute pace! I tried really hard, and it was definitely very intense. That's the whole goal, after all.

Food today:

• Calories: 2140
• Protein: 100 g (20.1%)
• Carbs: 83 g (16.6%)
• Fat: 141 g (63.3%)

Not bad. I feel good. I also slept in until 11 today (well, 10 really, but 11 'cause of daylight savings). That's 11 hours of sleep. I needed it!

Screw it, I'm eating peanut butter

I know, I know, peanut butter isn't good for you. Or is it? Who really knows? There's the paleo diet, which forbids peanut butter. Then there's Gillian Mounsey, who eats peanut butter sandwiches and has a 3 minute Fran.

What I do know is that trying to force Almond Butter down the pie hole is a huge waste of money. I just don't like it. I actually sort of hate it. I love almonds - raw, dry roasted, toasted - whatever. They just can't be...ground.

So, I will now resume my normal peanut butter eating habits - peanut butter on apples, peanut butter on bananas, peanut butter in my smoothies, and peanut butter on a spoon. Yum.

WOD 090307

"Fight Gone Bad"
Push Press, 55#
Row
WallBall - 14#, 10ft target
Sumo Deadlift High Pull, 55#
Box Jump, 20" box

Score - 268 (PR by 19, but with 10ft target. Old PR was set with an 8 ft target).

Like a dummy I left my score sheet at the gym, so I can't give too many details. I do know that my pushpress was all above 20 (26, 21, 24 I believe), my row was 12 or 13 each time. I got 20+ box jumps each round, and 18-23 SDLHP each round. My wallball is pathetic. Absolutely, terribly, awfully pathetic. I got maybe 15 the first round, 11 the next, and 8 on the final round. I am awfully uncoordinated, the 14# ball is extremely heavy for me, and 10 feet is really high. The bottom of our targets is at 10' - higher than most affiliates' targets, but it makes doing wallball at another affiliate seem like a walk in the park.

Overall, I am happy with my performance. I worked all freaking day yesterday, ate like shit because I threw a birthday party for a friend of mine, got up and worked 5:30 - 2 slinging single, skinny, tall, sugar-free vanilla, decaf "Lattes" to the addicted population of Bozeman. I was exhausted, hungry, blah blah blah, and I still managed a PR by 19. I am now closer to 300 than 200! I really do think that with just an 8' target, I have 300+ in the bag.

Holy snow, Batman!

Woke up this morning to several inches of snow. I had the opportunity to go skiing with a couple of buddies who were playing hookie from work, but unfortunately I was too exhausted and my back was kinda hurting. I blame today's WOD.

I warmed up with some handstands on the parallettes. I've always been afraid to kick up into a handstand on them, even against the wall. Today, I overcame that fear!

WOD 090305

Deadlift 3-3-3

• 75x5x2
• 135x3x2
• 155x1
• 180x3
• 190x3
• 200x3
  

Well, that was better than last week. That's not a PR. I have pulled 200 for a set of 5 before - kind of recently, in fact. Oh well. I felt way better than last week.

Metcon:

"Texas-Cardio"
2 Cleans on the minute, every minute, for 10 minute.

I used 115#

This was....kind of hard, but kind of not. I failed 2 reps in the 6th minute. The first one I pulled and just didn't get under it. The second one I left too far out in front and couldn't stand up with it.

More skills:
Ring dips: 4 sets of 3

Food yesterday:

• Calories: 1958
• Protein: 104 g (21.8%)
• Carbs: 75 g (15.7%)
• Fat: 133 g (62.5%)

Still seems a bit lot, and it is really odd that I am following essentially the same diet as I was 2 weeks ago, but my calories are much lower. I clearly changed something about my weighing and measuring or planning, but I'm not sure what.

"Miranda"

Today's workout was courtesy of Miranda, some other girl (I forget who), and Ben. Sort of. Saturday at the training seminar with Dutch, we had to make up workouts. The workouts were supposed to be triplets that would take 7-9 minutes. All I can say is that Miranda is evil (in a good way).

Warm-Up

• 500m Row
• OHS with PVC
• pushups

Back Squat 5-5-5

• 45x5x2
• 75x5
• 95x5
• 125x3
• 145x1
• 150x5
• 160x5
• 170x5 (recent PR)

It seemed to take me forever to warm up today. I did so many warm-up sets I was afraid I would wear myself down for the actual work sets. 145# seemed heavy, and 150x5 was hard, but do-able. 160x5 was really hard, and I was really nervous about doing 170 for a set of 5. I missed my 3rd rep on 170, as in I had to have my spotter help just a bit. I didn't get my hips underneath me and my torso was falling forward. But, I recovered and did 3 more reps to get the set of 5. Those last 3 reps felt the absolute easiest of the whole day. Amazing!

Metcon:

"Miranda"
3 Rounds for time:
10 Deadlifts, 165#
400m Run
20 Pushups

9:41

The Rx'd workout was actually at 175#, and with pullups instead of pushups. Everyone's hands are all torn up from yesterday, so we opted to do pushups instead. Also, I chose 165# because I wasn't sure I would be able to get through the first round of DL at 175# unbroken. I have never done a WOD with more than 10 reps of DL at any more than 155#, so this was a big step for me!

Skill Work:
HSPU

• 2 HSPU to 1 abmat, no kip
• 3 HSPU to 1 abmat, no kip
• 3 HSPU to floor, with kip

I can't believe how these are coming along. I'm so proud of myself! Not to sound full of myself, but I have never had any appreciable upper body strength, and for a year my attempts at HSPU were nothing short of pathetic. It just goes to show you that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve it!

Okay, now for the boring diet stuff. Well, I don't think it's boring, but I think most people do! Food, yesterday:

• Calories: 1736
• Protein: 99 g (23.5%)
• Carbs: 68 g (16%)
• Fat: 113 g (60.5%)

Wow, really low. No wonder I was so hungry. I have been trying to stick with 11P/7C/34F (in the block system). Yesterday night though, I was so hungry immediately after dinner that I added in a 1 block snack. Very hungry today, and now I see why!

Week 2, Day 1

It has been more than 1 week since starting the CFSB-ish program I am doing, but since I was in Utah and not doing my own programming last week, I didn't count it.

I have so much to do here at the gym, and so I haven't really gotten enough sleep/rest/food the last couple of days. I woke up feeling exhausted this morning. Luckily, Meriah came in at 6:30 to workout with me. She's the greatest :) I definitely would not have pushed as hard if I were working out alone.

Metcon - "Mary"
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
5 Handstand Push Ups (HSPU)
10 Pistols (one legged squats), 5 each leg
15 Pullups

Meriah and I decided to scale this back. She was worried about 15 pullups each round, I was worried about 5 HSPU each round, so we both scaled it back so we were doing the same WOD.

"Mini-Mary"
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
2 HSPU
4 Pistols
8 Pullups

16 Rounds + 1 HSPU

The HSPU felt great today. I can't believe I got through as many as I did. They definitely felt stronger than ever before. I did them to 1 Abmat, but I don't just touch and go - I rest on the abmat and then pushup (with a kip usually). I figure I compress the abmat enough that it's almost like doing them to the floor.

The pistols were easy - I should have done more per round. I could have handled 10, but then the rep scheme would have been all messed up!

I did all 8 pullups in a row each round. Most of them were chest to the bar, but towards the end my hands were starting to get really sore and feel like they might tear, so I didn't kip as hard.

Food yesterday:

• Calories: 1824
• Protein: 90 g (20%)
• Carbs: 67 g (15%)
• Fat: 131 g (65%)

Hmmm, weird. The calories seem low, carbs seem low, protein seems low. It all seems low. I was really hungry this morning, even after breakfast, so maybe I need to up the calories a bit!

Playing with HSPU from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

Change of pace

I spent last week in Park City, UT, skiing (yes, skiing. It's the only time I've been to Utah in the spring without my mountain bike.) Wow, what a change of pace. No waking up at 4:20 a.m.. Not to mention that on Monday I was mountain biking in 60 degree weather, and on Wednesday I was skiing in, well, actually, it was about 40 degree weather.

The snow was awful, but the skiing was still pretty fun.

The highlight of my vacation included my trips to CrossFit Park City where I had the pleasure of being coached by Chris Spealler. If you are ever near Park City, his gym is worth the visit. It's a cool gym with an even cooler coach. I managed to get in 3 WODs while I was down in Utah.

WOD 090225
CrossFit PC WOD:

5 Rounds for time of:

• 3 Rounds Cindy (1 round = 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats)
• 5 Clean and Jerks, heavy (I used 95#)

22:59

Skiing: 15,600 vertical feet

WOD 090226
Skiing: 18,200 vertical feet

WOD 090227
CrossFit Park City WOD:
100 ft walking lunges
21 pullups
21 situps
100 ft walking lunges
18 pullups
18 situps
100 ft walking lunges
15 pullups
15 situps
100 ft walking lunges
12 pullups
12 situps
100 ft walking lunges
9 pullups
9 situps
100 ft walking lunges
6 pullups
6 situps

13:05

Skiing: 20,000 vertical feet

Saturday, Ben and I attended the Dutch Lowy training seminar. It was a great experience. Dutch is a great guy. He's super friendly, funny, engaging, smart, and a good speaker, too. We learned about programming (good versus bad workouts), training (intangibles and responsibilities of being a trainer), and other random things. Chris went over the 9 movements that we are responsible for being able to train people at for the Level 2 cert. THEN, I had to teach the Overhead Squat to my peers, with no warning, and in front of Spealler and Dutch. I completely idolize those guys, so needless to say, it was an intimidating experience to perform in front of them and be critiqued afterward.

I feel like I did terrible, but I know that I never do as poorly as I think I do. I know what mistakes I made. I know what I need to work on. Overall, I am glad that Chris made me get up (first, might I add) and teach a movement. I am bummed because if I hadn't been so nervous I think I would have done a lot better and been more impressive. But, I can't change the past, so I have to just learn what I can from the experience and hope that Chris is a grader at my Level 2 cert so I get another chance to WOW him :)

We made up a WOD based on our least-favorite exercises. Lucky for me, though, I happen to LIKE the exercises that were the most-commonly hated. I didn't think it was that bad.

WOD 090228

5 Rounds for time:
12 OHS, 55#
7 Burpee Box Jumps, 20" box

6:32

Very happy with that. When I snatched the barbell to get ready to squat, it felt amazing. I hadn't had a snatch that felt that good in a LONG time. Dutch actually commented at the end of the day. He told me I should lift more. At first I thought he was saying I wasn't very strong, so I started to explain how I was starting the CFSB program in hopes to get stronger. He said "No, i mean, you should lift more. I saw you snatch the bar during the workout. It looked great!" (um, probably not his exact words. I was a little starstruck). I decided that on Sunday I would snatch if I got home early enough.

Sunday
WOD 090301

Snatch!

65 - a bunch of times
85 - a few times
90 - fail about 5 times
85 - once more
90 - nailed it once
95 - nailed it
100 - nailed it
105 - failed about a million times, including the one time I dropped it on my back. ouch.
100 - once more
105 - nailed it (old PR)
110 - nailed it (PR)
115 - scared of it. Plenty of height, just need to commit.

I just happened to have the camera out for this lift:


Jenna Snatches 110 -woot! from Jenna Rettenmayer on Vimeo.

I fell off the diet bandwagon while I was on vacation. Not too bad, but I am excited to be back at it!

I also used my new programming skills to program in some very exciting workouts for the next 2 weeks. I can't wait!