Workout 5/29: Nicole

Whew! It felt good to get out there and run again. After Monday's Trevor workout, my legs have barely felt like moving, but today I decided to get them going again to work out the last bit of soreness. It's interesting how running actually helps sore leg muscles. Loosening them up and stretching them out felt great. I was considering not doing anything this morning, but I am very glad to have done that. Otherwise I probably would have felt worse throughout the day.

Workoout: "Nicole"
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
400m Sprints
Max. Pull-ups (keep a count of # of pull-ups each round)
(6 Rounds + 400m; Pull-ups (3+6+5+5+7+6)=32 Total)

*I really got my hips involved in the pull-ups today. Kipping really does help get one up and over the bar, but there is technique and comfort that needs to be fostered. So today I began working that kip. I have a ways to go, but I think with more practice I will get there.*Photo courtesy of CrossFit Eastside

Workout 5/28: Shoulder Presses

You can count on Trevor to fry your muscles. Every little muscle in my body is fatigued. Just ask my family as they have seen me hobble around the house and roll off the couch and bed. Every trip up and down the school stairs is a journey. And every sneeze or cough reminds me of what happens when you do sit-ups with Abmats. But even under these conditions, CrossFit whispers my name. And I'm crazy enough to answer those whispers. So this morning I attempted some weights with already-taxed muscles. Yes, the numbers seem lower than normal due to the status of my muscles, but sometimes we are in those situations.

Workout: Shoulder Press 3-3-3-3-3
95#
105#
110# (failed)
105# (*needed to scale back to boost my confidence)
110#*Photo courtesy of CrossFit Sunnyvale. The scenery looks beautiful over there. Check out their page and see what I'm talking about.

Workout 5/26: Trevor Win'E Memorial Day Challenge

Four teachers...two pull-up bars...a floor...four Abmats...three medicine balls. Throw all that together and you get a fantastic start to a Memorial Day tradition. "Team CF Teachers" started Memorial Day fun off with the Trevor Win' E Challenge. The ultimate goal of this challenge is to raise money for cooling vests for soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the secondary goal of this challenge is to push yourself to the limits to see if you and your team can accomplish a daunting task.

Team CF Teachers were the guinea pigs of the challenge as we were the first up. And since one team could go at a time, everyone watched us. Ugh! But the good thing was that everyone watching was encouraging. I am so happy that this team pulled together and cheered each other on too. I wasn't sure how it would go since I was the only one who knew each individual, but everyone came together so nicely. WAY TO GO CHATTY, SCOTT, and TANYA!

Trevor Win'E Challenge:
For Time as a Team:
300 Pull-ups
400 Push-ups
500 Sit-ups
600 Squats
(Time: 43:11)

Caption Contest!!!

Everyone seems to like funny pictures. What makes some even more funny is that one can add some fun comments or words to it. So, try this one on for size. Please add captions to comments. This goes out to Katie on her birthday! Happy Birthday, and Happy Blogging!*Photo courtesy of Jerry's CrossFit Challenge

Workout 5/23: Hips on Fire + Sprints

Okay, "Hips on Fire" is not my wife's nickname for me, but I would accept it if she wanted to call me that. Nor is it the title of a dance seen on my favorite TV show "So You Think You Can Dance?" By the way, there are some truly "sick" dancers on that show. I never thought I'd appreciate dance, but "Wow!" is all I have to say. If you don't watch talent shows because you think they are lame and there really is NO talent behind them, watch this show. I can 98% guarantee you that you will appreciate the physical awesomeness of some of these dancers. Back to "Hips on Fire," it is a perfect title for what CrossFit made me feel this morning. Here it is...

Morning Workout: CrossFit WOD lovingly named "Hips on Fire"
5 Rounds for Time of:
15 Dumbbell Swings (35#)
15 GHD Sit-ups
15 Back Extensions
15 Knees to Elbows
(Time: 19:48)Afternoon Workout: Sprints
2x200m w/in 60 seconds each
3x400m w/in 90 seconds each
*If any sprint is + or - by more than 3 seconds, you foul! Each foul means 1 minute of max. burpees.
200m #1)0:47*F
200m #2)0:56*F
400m #1)1:29
400m #2)1:29
400m #3)1:29

Workout 5/22: DL+HSPU and 5k

So far this week there are no red marks on my training calendar. That's a huge improvement from last week. I think I finally worked out all the kinks and realized how to work them around my schedule. And right now, my muscles notice the lack of missed workouts. And that's a good thing!

Morning Workout: Deadlifts and Handstand Push-ups
5 Rounds (rest in 3-5 minutes between rounds as needed in the style of "Lynne")
255# Deadlifts x 3
Max. HSPUs
*(HSPUs per round = 10, 9, 5, 5, 4)*Photo courtesy of Physical Subculture. Notice how the shoulders and hips rise at the same "pace" without rounding in the back. That's near-perfect form.

Afternoon Workout: 5k @ 90% 1 Mile TT
Goal Pace: 7:41/mile
Actual: 3.06 Miles in 24:30.40 (8:00/mile pace)
*Looks like I have some work to do. However, the fact that I actually got out there to run this 5k was an accomplishment in and of itself. I have four accountability partners to thank for that (you know who you are). I think my body is still getting acquainted with CFE.

Workout 5/21: 1 Mile Time Trial

Not too long ago (well, about 10 years ago), I noticed a few things about myself. I was in my early 20s, I was trying to be active with youth through teaching and at church, but I could not keep up for very long. Fortunately, there were some other things going on. My wife was losing weight, she was getting active, and we had friends who were trying to encourage us to run a 5k. Well, 215 pounds did not fit me well, and it surely did not bode well with a running career. But our friends kept encouraging us to run the upcoming, non-competitive 5k with them. So I agreed to start training myself. I strapped on my shoes, pulled on shorts and a shirt, and hit the pavement. My goal: Make it around the block.

Um, yeah, that didn't go so well. I made it around, but not in championship fashion (picture Rocky in Philly). That was a sign to me...I need to train. Build up to it! It was in those building moments that I began to lose weight and make goals for myself. 5ks, 10ks, running into my 40s, dare I even say marathons.

Five years later, with some 5ks under my belt, I was curious to see how fast I could run a mile. I hadn't timed a mile since high school gym class where I tried to keep up with my buddy who was an in-shape tennis and soccer player. He was kind enough to pace slowly so that I could keep up with him until after the third lap. That's when he took off, and I just hoofed it around the track with whatever I had left in my tank. I vaguely remember that high school time being about 8 minutes, 30 seconds-ish. So how would I do now after having run for 5 years and run distances longer than 1 mile.

That went better than that first trip around the block. I never actually recorded my time but I remember it being about 7 minutes, 40 seconds-ish. Not bad! Not world-record time, but decent.

So that brings us to today. Under my belt are numerous 5ks, few 10ks, 2 half-marathons, 3 marathons, and now more than 1 year of CrossFit training. In fact, I have begun CrossFit Endurance training for those of you who read sporadically and haven't heard me mention it yet. CFE is a training system for individuals interested in "endurance" racing including marathons, ultra-marathons, triathlons, etc. Part of CFE includes "time trials" which is an all out effort. As their webpage states, "There should be nothing entertaining or fun about it... Until it is over of course, and if you are PRing it!" Well, I am glad to say that this one was "entertaining" after I glanced at my watch when I was finished.

Workout: 1 Mile TT
Warm-up
Dynamic Stretches
1 Mile TT
(Time: 6:59.89)

*PR!!! 7 minute mark broken! 'Nough said!

Workout 5/20: Shoulders on Fire!

I had no idea what to call this workout since it's not one of the CrossFit Girls nor a CrossFit Hero. One thing it WAS was pure torture on the arms and shoulders. As one person posted on a chatboard, "It addressed everything I suck at." Okay, I don't suck at all of these things, but it did try me and push me. Anything that makes your arms shake uncontrollably at the end must be making you a little bit stronger. Also, this was supposed to be for time, but when you have to share a pull-up bar, time becomes impossible to get accurately. My arms appreciated the break though (thanks Tanya)! So here it is:

Workout: Shoulders on Fire!
For Time:
50 Push-ups
30 x 65# Sumo Deadlift High-Pulls
35 Dips
20 x 25# Weighted Pull-ups
15 Handstand Push-ups
(Time: N/A)*No, my weighted pull-ups were not this fun looking. In fact, some people were concerned for my family jewels when I did mine, but I finished unscathed. If you weigh 25 pounds, you can be my next partner...any takers? LOL! Maybe a weight vest or backpack is a better idea. Photo courtesy of CrossFit Portland.

Workout 5/19: Tabata Running

Track season is over! Time to start planning the new X-Country team! Does it ever stop? Nope. But now that track is over, I really have no excuse to not do my two-a-days that are planned. For some of you who are keeping me accountable, thanks! And for those of you questioning me, notice I deleted the 5k from Friday. I should have just sucked it up and got out there immediately after school let out, but I waited and procrastinated. I even changed at 4:00 PM, but my legs just would not move my butt out that door for 3 miles. So, this week's goal is to not miss any workouts. I will keep everyone of you accountability holders aware of my plan, so you have to hold me to it. I will try not to make your job hard by just doing it before you get on my back, 'cause I just can't handle the extra weight.

Workout: Tabata Running
Warm-up
Dynamic Stretches
Tabata Running (All out effort; :20 on, :10 off; 8 Rounds; 4:00 Total)

*Who knew 4:00 of work could be so hard. My lungs were/are burning! I am NOT looking forward to Tabata Treadmill Running! Here's just a peek of the fun to be had with that. A Video Clip of the Fun!

*Video courtesy of CrossFit Newport Beach

Workout 5/16: English Teacher Beating

Punishment paid! Katie designed a WOD titled "Beating of an English Teacher," and I deemed that it would be better titled "Massacre at Hancock High School." She advised that the workout would take 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I had to make a sub to her original workout, so 45 minutes would have been a dream time for me. I think I paid my dues though.

Morning Workout: "Massacre at Hancock High School"
For Time:
Run 800m
[25 Box Jumps, 25 Burpees, 25 Knees-to-Elbows, 25 DB Swings (35#)] x 2
Run 800m
(Time: 30:58)
*Her original workout called for 4 rounds with SlamBalls rather than Burpees, but I was not comfortable doing a new movement without coaching. So Burpees and K2Es killed my time. One day I'll do it as published. Maybe when I visit DC and go to CF Alexandria.

Workout 5/15: 5k

Enduring endurance training is difficult. Who knew? So I think I need to work up to CFE sorta like adapting/modifying WODs from the CrossFit main page. Or maybe I am just making up excuses because I'm not in the mood. Today just happened to be a rough day. But as I told my students today if they didn't meet a project deadline--I don't want to hear/make excuses. So I will stop making excuses and plainly state what I did.

Workout:
Run 5k
(Time: 24:20.64)

*Decent! Five seconds off my PR! And this wasn't an "all out" effort since I thought maybe I'd have time to do another 5k after 10 minutes of rest. But I think I'd rather go home and enjoy time with my lovely wife and kids. So, to the second half of my workout...I'll catch up with you tomorrow.

Workout 5/14: Deadlifts + 1 Mile TT + 400m Sprints

This is my first two-a-day. I am glad that it worked out the way it did with heavy lifting in the morning and distance in the afternoon. If I had to do Fran on top of distance, I think I'd keel over and die. Maybe I shouldn't speak too soon though 'cause I'm sure that sort of a workout is just around the corner.

Morning: Deadlift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
(155#-185#-215#-235#-255#-265#-275#)
*275# is a PR for me. YEAH! Before long I'll be DLing 300#...whew!*Had to work that posterior chain today! Deadlifts keep me upright (dare I say erect) while running.

Afternoon: Did I say I was going to do my first two-a-day workout for CF Endurance? Really? I did? Well, someone got to thinkin' and self-image won him over. I didn't really want to go to a meeting one hour after working out without taking a shower. Who wants to stink among their peers? So, this yahoo decided to skip his afternoon workout. So, I'll make it up by doing "The Beating of an English Teacher" as designed by Katie. However, I still don't know what that is, so until she tells me what the workout entails, I'm off the hook! Tomorrow is a doozy anyway, so I think my skip is called for. I'll make it up on Friday.

Workout 5/13: 200m+400m Sprints

Okay y'all! No, I'm not from Texas, but I will be visiting TX over the summer, so I figured I should start preparing myself now. I'll be spending a week down there in the Dallas area for a conference (I know you are all jealous). This means I might get a chance to visit some of the CrossFit affiliates in that area, some of which I have heard wonderful things about (i.e., GSX Athletics and CrossFit Plano). So, I'll be counting down the days until then...life is jam-packet before then anyway, so it'll probably sneak up on me.

So as advertised, I have started CrossFit Endurance training. Thanks to individuals in the CF community who are also triathletes, marathoners, and ultra-marathoners, I now have a resource to go to in order to receive free training calendars that incorporate the CrossFit method. This has sparked new interest in my training, and I hope to see some cool 5k and urbanathlon results due to this new training. Fortunately, I have a long way to go which makes it much more exciting.

CrossFit Endurance:
1 Mile Warm-up Run
Dynamic Movement Stretches
4 x 200m Sprints (:90 rest between each rep)
2 x 400m Runs (2:00 rest between each rep)
Cool Down and Stretch

*As you will see in the near future, CrossFit Endurance usually calls for a morning and an afternoon workout. For my schedule, I will be doing a WOD on Mondays, a CFE workout on Tuesday afternoon, and two-a-days on the other days of the week. Sundays will always be rest days, and I will have another rest day during the week. So, that's how it is.*Photo courtesy of CrossFit Eastside

Workout 5/12: Fran

Too weak and shaky to write more than this!

Workout:
Dynamic Warm-up
CrossFit-"Fran"
21-15-9 rep sets of:
60# DB Thrusters (30# each arm)
Pull-ups
(Time: N/A)

Ugh!

Workout 5/10: 5k

So today I started my CrossFit Endurance Training. I was supposed to do a time trial, but I forgot to start my watch. So, I ran 5k and will use my old PR for a starting point (5k PR = 24:15; 7:49/mile Pace). We'll see how things go. I think things can only improve if I stay true to training. 3-2-1...GO!

Recovery Fun

I'm nearing a return to a CF/Running schedule after a bout with the flu. So in the meantime, I have been reading up on track and field goings-on. I've determined that I wouldn't mind being one of these dudes when I'm their age.

My Least Favorite Recipe

Combine all ingredients in your body at the same time:
1) 102.2 body temperature
2) A case of "double dragon"--fierce out both ends
3) Every aching muscle in your body as if you've just completed all the "girls" of CrossFit at in one single workout.
Shake well while your body temperature spikes;
Then crash continuously onto your bed.
*If you've gotten everything perfect, you will have a wonderful weekend as I did recovering from the flu.

It amazes me every time I get the flu how hard it hits. It hits like a train, and it leaves you pulverized in bed and occasionally on the cold tiles of your bathroom floor. So, my last post left off on the excited note that I would run my first 5k of the season and begin doing CrossFit Endurance training. But if you've recently had the flu, you'd know how stupid that would be if you wake up the morning of that 5k hugging the cool porcelain throne. So, I'm playing the waiting game now until my body has fully recovered. Hopefully I can get out there this upcoming Saturday to run a pseudo-5k course to get a time trial in. *Wishing I was the person on the left, not the person on the right.

Workout 5/2: Suck and Blow II

I am pretty excited that tomorrow marks the beginning of the running season for me. The past few years have focused on marathons and half-marathons, and the training is intense and takes all summer long. This year, my big race is the Men's Health Urbanathlon. Sure, it's 12 miles long, but it has an obstacle course feel to it as well. Climbing walls, jumping over taxis, crawling through culverts. So it should be fun. My other focus is the 5k distance. After running marathons, I have decided that the most intense race distances are the 5k and 10k. For a marathoner, 5k (3.1 miles) seem like a sprint, but there is so much strategy behind running it well and to the best of your ability. Intensity is key! So, tomorrow is the first of a few 5k races that I plan on running this year. I need to get a training schedule put down on paper so I can hold myself accountable. To all runners, cheers to a new season! To CrossFitters, cheers to a combination of running and CrossFit (which is what I plan on doing for my training schedule; CrossFit Endurance Rocks)!

Warm-up:
1-mile run
Dynamic Stretch Routine
CrossFit:
"Suck and Blow II"
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
25# (each arm) Dumbbell Thrusters x 10
Pull-ups x 10
(Exactly 6 Rounds)

*I had 6 seconds to fit in my last pull-up; I hung there for about 3 and it took me about 3 to get my chin over the bar. My pull-ups have really fallen by the wayside. Reason #1: Stupid extra poundage. Reason #2: Lax training. Reason #3: Stupid extra poundage.
*Urbanathlon Hit Chicago Streets

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Now playing: Demon Hunter - Follow The Wolves
via FoxyTunes

Ah, Sportsmanship...A Breath of Fresh Air

After being involved in sports for one season, I have seen the good and the bad when it comes to sportsmanship. Track and Field is not necessarily unique, but I felt a higher level of good sportsmanship in this sport that I did not expect. I have seen coaches and athletes help each other understand the sport and the techniques of the sport on many occasions. My shot-putter owes his success to a coach at Northside College Prep. Athletes have made successful baton exchanges because of a helpful reminder from judges. And last-place runners cross the finish line with vigor when they hear their "teammates" from across the city cheering and clapping for their efforts. Now, of course, there are the bad sportsmanship moments, but why should we dwell on those? I encourage everyone to read the story below to remind them the attitude we should have towards others in life, not just in sports.

Helping Out a Home-Run Hitter