Monday, August 26 Week 14, Day 1

AM

Row 1 min @ 85%

Rest/Walk 1 min

x 6

+

Airdyne 1 min @ 85%

Rest/Walk 1 min

x 6

+

Run 1 min @ 85%

Rest/Walk 1 min

x 6

PM

A. Deadlift - Build to a tough 5 (not Tng)

(good back position)

B. Weighted GH Raises; 6-8 reps x 4 sets; rest 2min

+

EMOTM for 10 minutes:

5 Hang Power Cleans @ 185#

20 Double Unders

Results

AM

Done:

Row: 1:45 avg - 285m avg

AD: 350 avg (this was tough tonight for some reason) - 23 Cals avg

Run: 275m avg

It was hot as hades again so the heat was on!

PM

A. 345 - this was TnG and felt solid so I stopped there.  Happy with how this went since my back is still recovering.  It felt good and felt I had 365+ but probably would have compromised my back so 345 was a solid stopping point for this week.

B. 20# x 8 reps each set

Done.  All HPC and DU reps UB.  Reps were fast and felt good on HPC and never slowed down.  Lower back started getting fatigued around set 8, but after the heavy deads and GH raises I would expect that anyway.

Saturday, August 24 Week 13, Day 4

10 minutes @ 85%:

10 Ring Dips

10 KBS @ 70#

10 GHD Sit-ups

30 Double Unders

rest 5 minutes

10 minutes @ 85%:

10 Pull-ups

10 Wall Balls

10 No-Pushup Burpee Box Jumps @ 20”

100m Run

Results

5 rounds + 10 ring dips

&

4 rounds + 50m

After a couple weeks of fall weather, summer came roaring back.  It was ridiculously hot and humid today and that always makes for a fun map session.  This went well I thought.  With my back I felt out of rhythm having to skip a couple sessions this week, so it was a little difficult to get into this.  Pacing was good, started to get breathing up on the last couple rounds of the 2nd piece.  The combination of movements, especially Wall Balls to the Burpees would get me going.  I underestimated the effect of the no-push-up Burpee box jumps.  They got the heart rate up and the breathing going and the legs more tired than I expected.  I think any more time past 10 min and my power output would have started falling off considerably.

Friday, August 23 Week 13, Day 3

AM

Row 7K @ Easy Pace

PM

A. Squat Snatch; (3 @ 70%, 2 @ 75%, 1 @ 80%) x 3; rest 2 min b/t sets

B. Squat Clean @ Jerk (3 @ 70%, 2 @ 75%, 1 @ 80%) x 3; rest 2 min b/t sets

C. 1 1/4 Front Squats; 4-6 reps x 5 sets; rest 4 minutes

Results

AM

Completed in 30:03 around 2:10 avg pace

PM

Rested back as it was still sore and tight

Wednesday, August 21 Week 13, Day 2

AM

Back Lever Eccentrics into a Skin the Cat; 4-5 reps x 4 

sets; rest 2 minutes

+

EMOTM for 10 minutes

4 pHSPU

+

5 rounds for time:

40ft Handstand Walk

10 Pistols

PM

For time:

50 Double unders

21 Thrusters @ 95#

21 Pull-ups

75 Double Unders

15 Thrusters @ 115# (change weight yourself)

15 CTB Pull-ups

100 Double Unders

9 Thrusters @ 135# (change weight yourself)

9 Bar Muscle-ups

(goal = sub 6:45)

AM

Did tuck back levers into skin the cats, forgot how tough levers are!

Done all sets UB - felt good on this, figured out I'm stronger closer to the wall than further away as I have been doing them.

6:10 - was rushed so jumped right into this about 2 min after pHSPU EMOM, UB on 1st 2 HS walks but broke them up decent amount from there.  Pistols felt terrible after last night's work, but still got through them quickly enough with very little pausing.

Tuesday, August 20 Week 13, Day 1

AM

Row 1 min @ 85%

Rest/Walk 1 min

x 5

+

Airdyne 1 min @ 85%

Rest/Walk 1 min

x 5

+

Run 1 min @ 85%

Rest/Walk 1 min

x 5

PM

A. TnG Deadlift; 10, 8, 6, 4; rest 3 minutes

B. Weighted GH Raises; 6-8 reps x 3 sets; rest 2min

+

For time:

30 Hang Power Cleans @ 225#

Results

AM
Row - Held 1:45 pace for all 5 sets
Airdyne - Was a little all over the place on this trying to get my pacing correct:
         AvgWatts/Cals
                  380/24
                  416/31
                  390/29
                  399/26
                  432/27
Run - Lowest distance covered was 250m (first), longest was 285m (last) so probably averaged 265m

PM

A. 315-335-355-365(x2) - I was very happy with how good my deadlift was feeling in light of last week's unimpressive 1RM, even though my back was still a little beat up from the end of last week's extra work.  Warming up felt good and 315 and 335 were solid.  Unfortunately I got a little greedy and went for the 20# jump to 355x6 and strained my back a little on reps 4-6.  I thought I was fine, so I only went up 10# for the final 4 @ 365.  I picked it up on the first rep and could feel my lower back as well as on the 2nd rep so I dropped it there so as not to push it further.  It was too big a jump, I need to be more conservative on the deads and make absolutely sure I'm doing weight that I can maintain perfect form on when my back isn't 100%.

315x10 http://youtu.be/ppAY-dNaaa0

335x8   http://youtu.be/fIvUwYkxW5g

355x6   http://youtu.be/WQmERXUIH-8

365x2   http://youtu.be/sGmvTrdXHDk

B. these were fine.  Went with a 20# plate after trying to go with a 30# slam ball and not doing so well. I did have the GHD setup so I was extended out pretty far though.  Did 8 reps each time.

C. 5:27 - (5-3-3-3-3-3-3-2-2-1-2) Even though my low back was a little sore at this point, I still thought I could do this.  So I warmed it up and it was fine.  I was very cautious to not put any undo strain on my low back so that definitely slowed me down a good amount being so mindful of it.  I basically did mostly high hang power cleans just in case which was a lot harder for me than going hang to mid thigh or above the knee.  The weight felt light compared to what I feel like 225# cleans have felt, and it definitely felt much better than in 2012 at regionals when I had to split clean every catch and bang the bar so hard off my upper thighs that I had deep bruises for at least a week.  Tonight I did legit hang cleans with no bang.  I think if I hadn't been so concerned with my back and also not fried from the heavy deads and GH raises, I could have done this in the 3:30 range so I was pretty happy with how this went but more how it felt considering.

Sunday, August 18 Week 12, Day 6

AM
Weightlifting max session.

Snatch - warmed up elaborately and built to max for the day - hit 225# no problem though post chain felt fried, but missed 235#.  I decided to not try it again, though I know I would have hit it and gone on, but I didn't feel like I was going to hit 250 today and pr, so quite there.

Clean & Jerk - again, another long warm up; missed 295 once then hit it on the 2nd attempt.  Another guy and I decided to miss big instead of tie our pr.  Went for 310 and got under it but it crushed me.  I was happy to hit 295 as it's been a while and I was very fatigued so to hit it in that state made me think maybe a pr is coming soon.

Looking forward to a good rest day tomorrow as my back and legs are beat up.

Saturday, August 17 Week 12, Day 6

AM

Row 1K TT

PM

Airdyne 3 minutes


Results

AM
3:16.5 - Held a 1:35 pace for the first 500m then fell off gradually to finish with roughly a 1:41 pace for the 2nd 500m.  Quads and butt were burning, pretty sure this is a big 1k pr though by at least 5 secs or more.  It gives me hope that there is a sub 7 min 2k in the near future.

PM
I had the last minute opportunity to attend a weightlifting seminar today and tomorrow.  Unfortunately I underestimated the amount of work we'd be doing.  Did medium to heavy squatting, pressing, deadlifitng, and other posterior chain exercises.  Needless to say I did not have the energy nor the time to hit a 3 min airdyne for cals.

Friday, August 16 Week 12, Day 5

AM

Run 35 minutes @ Easy Pace

PM

AMRAP in 10 minutes:

30 Power Snatch @ 75#

30 Power Snatch @ 135#

30 Power Snatch @ 165#

AMRAP @ 205#

(video)

Results

AM

Done.  I couldn't find a way to get it in earlier, so I ended up taking my son for a run in the jogger around the neighborhood.  I definitely didn't go too fast and it felt awkward running with it especially on hills, not fun especially up hills.  My gluten were tight from maxing out yesterday for sure.

PM

78 snatches - feel blah about this result.  In one sense it's a 2 rep pr over what I've done on this workout and its variation in the Open the last 2 years.  But what I feel more is this is still miles away from where I should and need to be.  I don't know if it's high rep power snatches in general or what, but it's frustrating.  I feel like I would have hit just as many if not more squat snatches in that same time frame.  They just really take it out of me and I find myself not wanting to get back on the bar.  Watching the video it really is frustrating to see how easy I move the weight but the loooong rests between sets and reps. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as the power snatch is explosive power and speed incarnate and that's my biggest weekness.

I did a 3:25ish Isabel and I had 3 min remaining when i started 165# and hit 18.  I lost about 2 min to plate change transitions, which I didn't move quickly on at all.

http://youtu.be/C88JSWjVZX0

Thursday, August 15 Week 12, Day 4

AM

A. Snatch - Build to a max

B. Front Squat - Build to a max

B. Deadlift - Build to a tough single (keep back safe)

PM

Row 350m @ 90-95%

rest 5 minutes

x 8 sets

Results

Well, I feel like today was a good day, but there was some good, some not as good:

AM
A. 240# snatch (haven't hit that in a while so that's good) - felt like technique is coming back and my pull felt better on this today, though it didn't feel as good as it did on Sat at the comp.

B. 325# - this is a lifetime 10# pr and it felt solid too.  It's been at least a year if not longer since I've pr'd on the front squat.  I went for 335 after this and missed it but it felt a lot better than I thought it would as I didn't simply get crushed by it I actually got back to the quarter squat and it pulled me forward

C. 385# - this didn't go as well as I'd hoped.  I don't know if it was realistic to expect a pr on this or even a strong pull today but 385 felt tough.  My back was locked in and solid, so said my buddy who was watching, even though it felt pretty heavy and bad to me, and that's definitely a improvement.  I cut it there per instructions but I don't think I could have done more than 405ish even if i allowed rounding badly and humping it up.  I also was disappointed not to pr because 315 felt really solid and easy compared to what it normally feels like.  I jumped to 365 and it felt tougher than I anticipated and then jumped to 385 where it was very tough.  I don't know, having done only one workout with deadlifts in the last 3 months I guess I should be happy my technique was solid and back was safe at weights that normally would have been bad after maxing out snatch and front squat.

PM
Unfortunately that's it for today.  I didn't get the row sprints in as I couldn't workout until late today and didn't want to do the sprints in the AM before the 3 maxes.

Tuesday, August 13 Week 12, Day 2

AM

A, Snatch Balance - Build to a tough single

B. Snatch Snatch @ 80%; EMOTM for 10 minutes

+

10-8-6-4-2

pHSPU

30 Unbroken Double Unders after each set (5 sets total)

PM

AMRAP in 7 minutes:

75 Wall Balls

50 Pull-ups

AMRAP Burpees

AM

A. 265 this felt ok, but didn't feel like my overhead was 100% today.  I was happy I hit 265 with solid speed, since that's 10# under my "dynamic overhead squat" 275 I did when I tested this a while back.  I think I've got 285+ in me on a good day.

B. Done, had to rush this a bit so didn't really warm up much so it took me a few reps to lock in my technique but by the last several reps it was feeling very solid.

7:08, I could definitely tell when I started doing this that my overhead strength was indeed lackluster today as I felt from the snatch balance as I had break up my pHSPU so much.  I went 5-3-2, then 2s all the way to finish.  I wasn't resting too much, but I feel like I should be able to go 10 UB and then 4s and 3s.  Doubles were fine, but shoulders were burning during last few sets.

PM

41 burpees completed in 2:15 minutes remaining.

I went into this again focused on hitting a big set of wall balls to start instead of trying to break it up, all though that might have been the better strategy the way my shoulders were feeling today.  Break down went:

WBs: 50-25 (12-15 secs rest between) finished in 2:45ish

Pull-ups: 20-15-7-8 finished in 1:45ish

Did about 20 burpees the first minute and 21 in the last 1:15

My shoulders were blasted when I got to the burpees and I gave it what I had left.  My goal was to have around 2 min+ left and hit 50+ burpees, but I guess I still have work to do on fast burpees when my shoulders are fatigued.  The pull-ups were tougher than I thought tey would be, I was looking to hit 30 to open, but just didn't have it today.  I don't know if it was more grip or just being blasted from the wall balls and earlier overhead work or a combo.

Monday, August 12 Week 12, Day 1

AM

Airdyne 30 sec @ 85%

Airdyne 30 sec @ 50%

x 30

PM

Back Squat - Build to a tough 3

+

EMOTM for 10 minutes:

5 TnG Clean & Jerk @ 135# 

Results

AM

Legs definitely didn't have it today, might still be recovering from the comp this weekend as I was much more sore then I expected to be.  Avg 330-380 watts, just didn't feel very powerful today.

PM

355x3

This went much better than I expected since the Airdyne intervals weren't great and I wasn't feeling very strong.  My goal was to hit 355 or 365 for 3.  Since I tested my 1RM squat at 365 3 months ago, I'm encouraged by the fact I just hit 10# under it for 3, even after a long Airdyne AM session.

C&J EMOM went well.  I felt fast and fluid.  Was hitting 11-12 secs per 5 reps each time.  Makes me excited to retest "Grace".

Thursday, August 1 Week 10 Day 4

AM

A. Snatch - Build to a tough 3 

B. Clean & Jerk; Build to a tough 2

C. Front Squat; 5, 5, 3, 3, 3; rest 3 min

PM

Row 350m @ 90-95%

rest 5 minutes

x 6 sets

Results

A. 215 - felt solid on this.  Had more in 

     me and wanted to go for 225, but 

     kept it to tough not maximal.

B. 275 - very strong on this too.  Jerk felt 

     extremely solid today for first time in a 

     while.  Probably because I wasn't 

     doing it after 3-5 heavy front squats.  

     Again had more in me but kept it 

     tough not maximal.

C. 275(5)-285(5)-295(3)-305(1)-295(2)

     Got a little too excited with how strong everything was feeling and deluded myself into thinking I could hit 305, my last 1RM, for a triple.  Well that didn't happen.  Went back down to 295 but it was too late, I'd blown myself out a little and could only hit 2 reps.  Oh well, it felt good so I went for it.  Felt like I could have definitely hit my all time pr of 315, and possibly more.  Very good session.  Haven't felt strong on my weightlifting numbers for a very long time so I needed this one.

PM

Had to cover a late night class and I switched my schedule around for tomorrow and am covering 5:30 and 6:30 AM classes so I didn't get row intervals in tonight.  In planning on hitting these as my AM tomorrow and then the 25 min run as PM on Sat or a recovery session Sunday.