Thursday's Workout: Sectionals WOD #3

One of my first ever muscle ups!

8/26/10

After posting twice yesterday, I figured I'd wait a bit to post my recap of Thursday's workout and diet to avoid blog overkill.

Muscle Ups:
5 pre WOD
5 post WOD

Didn't manage to string any together this time around, although I got about 3/4 of the way there on 2 of them.

Sectionals WOD #3:
5 min row - 72
4 min box jump - 90
3 min hang snatch (45 lb) - 14
2 min wall ball (14 lb) - 33
1 min HSPUs - 0

Feb. 2010 total: 176
8/26/10 total: 209

This would have placed me 23rd in the event at Sectionals.  I don't remember what my breakdowns were in each of those exercises, but I know my score was substantially higher on box jumps.  Bryce told me I should have stopped earlier on the hang snatch to grab some more wall ball reps, and I'm sure he's right.  Either way, it was another big improvement.  Just have to get those HSPUs!!!

So, here's my breakdown from the 3 workouts, using the scoring method from Sectionals:
Air Force WOD: 7:00 min --> 420 pts
Ground to Overhead: 36 reps --> -180 pts
5-4-3-2-1: 209 pts --> -209 pts
Total: 31 pts

Therefore, with those scores, I would have placed 3rd overall in Sectionals.  I know you can never compare scores from one point in time to those from another (everyone has improved, different conditions, etc.), but that is nonetheless eye-opening for me and REALLY lights a fire under my ass for next year.  Bring it on.

Diet Update:
Day 2 of the V-Diet was mostly uneventful.  My energy has still been high throughout the day.  By eating roughly every three hours, I am not only never hungry but also avoid any crashes.  I think the casein in each shake really helps since it's such a slow-digesting protein.

Dave and I did indulge a smidgen with 2 of our friends by having a bit of tequila with soda water and unsweetened lemon juice.  I had 2 weak glasses and promptly fell asleep.  I had to wake up for my bedtime shake, which I'm glad I did since that's my favorite of the meals (the bedtime shake contains 2 tbsp of natural nut butter...yummmmmmmmmm)!

Newlyweds vs. The Velocity Diet: An Introduction

The Guinea Pigs: on our honeymoon in Barbados

So, Dave and I have decided to embark on the infamous Velocity Diet, which is essentially a 28 day all-liquid protein fast.  This was Dave's plan, and, being the supportive brand new wife that I am, I let him talk me into joining him.  Here goes nothing...

My diet breakdown is here: http://velocity.t-nation.com/programs/vdiet30/downloads/V-DietMenu1.pdf

The "Superfood" is comprised of a crapload of fruit and veggie extracts.

The "Flameout" supplement is fish oil.  The diet site also calls for a specific thermogenic (Hot Rox), but Dave and I are substituting Nitor for it.  We're also adding a fiber supplement.

We eat 6 liquid meals a day, with a post-workout drink on workout days.  Once a week, we get an "HSM" (healthy solid meal).  It's not a cheat, though.  The point of the diet--apart from being a brutal mental challenge--is to shed weight quickly but also to develop a different approach to eating.  What I've seen from people's logs and discussions is that post-dieters tend not to have as much of a sweet tooth and make healthier, cleaner food choices.  All of this sounds great to me.

So far, I'm midway through Day 2 and feeling good.  I haven't felt fatigued, and I haven't missed real food...yet.  Dave is convinced that I'll still make strength gains even on a strict diet like this since I'll be getting so much more protein than I usually do on a daily basis.

We'll see how the Sectionals Workout #3 feels tonight.  I felt good doing the strength work yesterday combined with the short (5 min) met con, so it will be interesting to see how the V-Diet affects me on a somewhat longer time domain.

Wish us luck!

Revisiting the Sectional WODs - Workouts 1 & 2

This week at CFC we've been attacking the WODs from the Sectionals in February 2010.  This was a sore subject for me since I fared so poorly at Sectionals back in February after having spent the last 6 months traveling non-stop and battling illness throughout the month of January.  I was in a bad place, and my performance showed it.  I know that my conditioning, strength, and body composition have all vastly improved since February, but I still get knots in my stomach anticipating these workouts.

8/23/10

Press 5-3-1+ (70-80-90% of 1RM)
63 x 5
72 x 3
81 x 7

It's time to get that 1 rep max higher than 90 lbs.  Need to hit pressing more often.

Sectionals Workout #1: The Air Force WOD
20 min. cap
Women's Rx: 65 lbs
Start with 4 burpees, then do 4 burpees on the minute until all 5 movements are complete.
20 thrusters
20 SDHPs
20 push press
20 OHS
20 front squats

Feb. 2010 time: DNF -- went decently fast until I hit OHS (around the 8 minute mark I think), and then I couldn't control my legs and got too dizzy to stand after a burpee.  My body essentially shut down, and I ended up on the floor surrounded by medical personnel with a bottomed out blood pressure.  Not quite the auspicious start to Sectionals I had been hoping for, to say the least.

8/23/10 time: 7:00

Quite the improvement.  Would have been 4th place going purely by Sectionals results, although I have no doubt that everyone has improved since then.  Still, it felt great.

8/25/10

Deadlift 5-3-1+ (70-80-90% of 1 RM)
(warmed up with 135 x 10, 185 x 5)
245 x 5
280 x 3
315 x 5

315 felt heavier than I'd anticipated.  Note that I used my 350 lb 1 RM, although the heaviest I've gone lately is 345.  Hoping to try for 355 or 360 after I finish the Velocity Diet (more on that later).

Sectionals Workout #2: AMRAP 5 Minutes Ground to Overhead
Women's Rx: 105#

Feb. 2010: 24

8/25/10: 36

I was shooting for 30 on this and was surprised by how easy--and quickly--the first 15 reps flew up.  I focused on resting the bar at my shoulders for as little time as possible because I tend to lose my breath faster the longer I hold the bar in the clean.  Split jerked the last 2 or 3.  This would have been good enough for 6th place based on Sectionals results. 

Wednesday was my first day of doing the Velocity Diet (more info here and here), too, which is my 28 day "protein fast" challenge that I've embarked on with my husband.  It was his idea, and he convinced me to join him.  My energy level felt good, and I wasn't hungry at all throughout the day.  In fact, it felt like I was having to force feed myself to "eat" (i.e. drink a shake) every 3 hours as prescribed.  The post-workout shake was too sweet, so I'll have to water that sucker down next time.

Back At It

I know a lot of my CFC brethren stopped blogging after Sectionals, and I was one of them.  The primary reason was that I was so disappointed with my Sectionals performance that I wanted to distance myself from it for awhile.

Well, the CF 2010 Games are over, and it's time for a whole new year of training.  Maybe this time around I can spend some more time in the States so that I can stay healthy and hit up the box as often as I'd like!

I have met some goals in the past 6 months, so I'll recap them here:

Bench 1 RM: 150 lbs

Press 1 RM: 90 lbs

Note that this is not really a milestone, and I'm not HAPPY to only be pressing this weight.  Still, it's an improvement from being stuck at 85-87 for so long.

Squat 1 RM: 245 lbs

The most I've ever squatted was 275 lbs, but I weighed about 15 lbs more than I do right now, so I've had to accept the decrease in strength.

Strict Muscle Ups: I can get them one at a time, FINALLY!

Multiple Muscle Ups: By "multiple" I mean 2 with a kip.  Hey, progress is progress.