This was either going to be really good or disgusting...

I was craving sushi the other day but was a) in mourning and b) wanting to avoid rice since it makes me cranky (really, it does...).  And rice now contains bitter, bitter memories.  Screw you, safe starch.  Anyways. combining mourning with cranky and then covering it with a sauce of bitter memories seemed like a bad idea.  So instead I tried to approximate what I like about sushi with no rice.  As I was making it, I thought to myself that this was either going to be the grossest thing ever concocted or kind of yummy.  It was yummy.

Take some mixed veggies (in this case red onion, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, bean sprouts and pea pods*) and saute them bitches all up in some coconut oil, rice wine vinegar** and sesame oil* and put it in a bowl.

Top with a whole lot of roasted chicken (really, any kind of fish or fowl will do) half an avocado, wasabi, pickled ginger and a dollop of home-made mayo (yes, I make my own and it's way yummier than store bought so worth the five minutes it takes to make it).  Mix it up and eat it.   

Ps.  I really miss Otis.

*Not really paleo (OMFG IT'S A LENTIL AND A SEED OIL!!!!!) but it's not going to make your tight junctions explode or cause you to die from omega 6 induced oxidative stress or anything if you eat either of these in moderation.  The sesame oil is just a touch for the flavour and pea pods are more veggie than anything else.

** I know it's made of rice.  My bitter memories and crankiness are only with ricey rice and not a liquid made of fermented rice juice. 

All of a sudden, I really didn't care about taking pictures of my food.

Otis, requiring a hair cut. He had to be knocked out at the vet's to be groomed.

On Thursday, my dog Otis blarked up all over the floor. His appetite had been off since starting him on a different food. That evening, after going to town on some (according to him) very delicious tripe we picked up to settle his stomach, he went down with some pretty spectacular GI upset. By Friday morning, he wasn't keeping down water and there were some blood spots in what he was bringing up. We rushed him to the vet to get the nausea under control and to get some fluids into him. He also got a shot of antibiotics. Bloodwork checked out. Vet said it was just a GI thing and to bring him back if he didn't start eating by Sunday. He seemed to be rallying and was able to keep down water. Yay! Saturday evening, he started to really worry me, though. His breathing was not good and he refused to eat. Sunday morning, there was specks of blood on his towel and on the floor. He was still drinking and keeping the water down so I was crossing my fingers that was a good sign. We, again, rushed him to the vet. This time, they admitted him. X-rays showed his lungs were filled with fluid. The vet said it could be pneumonia, blasto or something with his heart but, after talking through the options, we settled on pneumonia as most likely and started treating for that. That meant oxygen, and fluids and antibiotics by IV along with sedation and pain management. Eight hours later we got the call. He wasn't responding and was only getting worse. He'd brought up a lot of blood. His breathing was shallow. We didn't want him to die alone in the night. Our vet was great and it was peaceful. I got to hold him, tell him how awesome he was and give him a good ear rub as she administered the needle into his IV.

Otis when he was about eight. This was the last time we could convince a groomer to touch him. Seriously, look how cute he is! And sweet! And love-able. He was all of those things.Except when you attempted to groom him.

He was an older dog - almost 15 - but he'd been healthy. I couldn't understand how the hell this could happen. What had I missed? How didn't I know that something was going wrong? How could he be fine on Wednesday, barking like a goofball when Jill came to pick me up for work that morning, and dead from pneumonia by Sunday. Turns out it was very likely aspiration pneumonia, which can develop if you accidentally bring gastric fluid into the lungs when vomiting. It's serious and life-threatening. For Otis, it was catastrophic.

Otis with some of his most favourite people.

I miss my buddy so much already and it hasn't even really hit yet that he has died. He was an awesome dog. A complete and utter character. I'm dreading the day that it snows again and all of the tracks he made in the snow in the backyard last week are covered and there won't be any new ones. Because that's going to mean he's really gone.

Otis, on the best day of his life.  Of course it's the best day.  He's on a boat!  In the mountains!  With his family.

I heart various things...

But I will eat the same thing all day long, which really doesn't demonstrate variety.

This will be my breakfast, lunch, second lunch and supper tomorrow. 

I'm in training with muckety mucks tomorrow who, apparently, ARE NEVER SEEN EATING.  My boss has advised me to attempt some level of professional behaviour (hahahahahahahahaha) and I am to eat my many meat meals not in the training room because it freaks out the muckety mucks too much.  *sigh*

Edited to add:
It wasn't my supper.  Here's my supper - six fried eggs with salsa with two tomatoes done up in slices.  You can't see the tomatoes, though.  They're hiding under all that egg.  And my cholesterol is more than just fine, FYI.  This is post workout.  I'm now contemplating what kind of fruit something I'd like to eat with whipped cream.  Hmm...

 

I also take a couple of supplements every day.  If I bought all grass-fed meat and didn't enjoy the perpetual darkness of the frozen Canadian hinterland (horrible exaggeration... I'm no where near the actual far North), I probably wouldn't have to take anything. There's 4g of fish oil, some vitamin D and magnesium.

Edited to add: And it was strawberries for a GIANT BOWL OF WIN!

It was a really big roast.

It was a massive roast.  Still eating it!  This time, I'm having it with horseradish and garlic mashed cauliflower (tastes just like mashed potatoes, only better because there's a massive amount of butter in these babies).

Having this for three different meals.  Supper will be some kind of chili-like deal-eo, since I'll be out of roast at that point.

 

It's yummier than it looks. 

I squatted yesterday for the first time since July.  Kept it light with 3x5's at 185lbs.  And my ass isn't falling off today.  Yay!!  I think my ass injury may finally be healed!

Edited to add:

I did have the chili deal-eo and it was very tasty.  I also had a small banana with about a third of a cup of home-made whipped cream while I was cooking said chili after I got back from the gym.  I should have taken a photo because it was devine.  Less devine was a misshapen hard boiled egg that I scarfed in advance of my workout. 

I also haven't taken the before pictures I said that I would.  Tomorrow, I'll find the camera.  Besides, at this point I'm coated in bruises so, hell, why not?  I'm already back to my fourth belt hole from the third that I'd been using for the past few weeks.  And I PR'd on both The Bear @ 105lbs and my weighted DHPLU at 20lbs today. 

Nom, nom, nom

I'm feeling ready to tackle phase two of my plan to snort fire and shit rainbows, CrossFit-wise.  This season will not be last season.  At the end of this season, I'm going to know that I really, actually tried and gave it my full effort instead of spending a good chunk of it shitting the bed.

So, yeah, phase two.  Get back to a decent fighting weight.  I don't have many muscle ups in the tank right now and HSPUs are nothing but a daydream.   I've got this notion to post what my meals look like over the next little bit and then do a little before/after comparison to gauge how well I did with the cleaned-up nutrition.

Beef - it's what's for breakfast (and lunch, and second lunch and then supper)...

Slow cooked black angus baron of beef roast in a red wine reduction with zucchini and coloured bell peppers sauteed in white wine, garlic and butter.  Yes, my food contains two kinds of wine.  Delicious!

I'm also going to have sliced strawberries with home-made whipped cream when I get back from the gym tonight.  Edited to add the photo.  These were delicious.

Playing around with some ideas

Just ignore.  Easiest place to put this is on the blog.

Mondays
3x3 Tall Snatch
3x3 Hang Snatch
3x3 Snatch Pulls
3x5 OHS

Skill Work:
HSPUs
C2B PLUs
Ring Dips

Tuesday
SS
Metcon

Thursdays
3x3 Tall Clean
3x3 Hang Clean
3x3 Clean Pull
3x5 Push Press

Skill Work:
Muscle Ups
Toes to Bar
LSit

Friday
SS
Metcon

Saturday
Optional Metcon

Smokey Chili-Garlic Mayo (and soon to be) Grilled Pepper Aioli

After hitting the gym this morning, I decided to try my hand at making my own mayo.  I like things spicy and savoury so I played a bit with my first batch and came up with Smokey Chili-Garlic mayo.  It is really, really yummy and dead simple to make.  I just had some on a beef brat for lunch and, yeah, so good.  I also grilled up a nice looking red pepper that's going to get blended into one of the jars just as soon as it cools.

Smokey Chili-Garlic Mayo

In a food processor, blend the following until thickened.  I emptied the dishwasher while I did this.

2 eggs
1tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp smoked praprika
2 cloves garlic
the juice of half a lemon

Then, while continuing to blend, slowly add:
1 cup olive oil
1 cup walnut oil
1 tbsp chili garlic paste

Put into a glass jar and allow to sit in the fridge for a few hours to thicken.  To make the aioli, return to the food processor and blend in one cool, grilled red pepper.  *sigh*

Ps.  Kind of enjoying that I'm posting a recipe for mayo on what initially was a weight loss blog.

Three and Six Month Goals

Three month goals:
 - Squat 250lbs for reps (preferably 3x5's but I'll take what I can get)
 - Rx 30 MU for time
 - Sub six minute Isabel

Six month goals:
 - Rx Linda
 - Strict HSPUs
 - Rx Amanda to Games Standard (jumping up to rings)

Oh, and to be half as awesome as this chicka...

 (Angie Pye)

She's also in her mid thirties and just destroyed it at Canada West Regionals.  Being two thirds as awesome as Nancy M or Jennifer D would be cool, too.  They are also around my age.

I've got a few check points that I'm working towards.  I've signed up for the Spartan Race in Calgary as part of Team Meathead.  I'm also going to do the Prairie CrossFit Challenge in September, SK Powerlifting Provincials (REALLY want to qualify for Nationals again) in November and then FrostFit in January, if Winnipeg hosts it again.

The three things that pried me off the couch...

There were three things that finally pried me off the couch.  The first was Amberly during our "Phat Club" days (oh my...) who pointed something out to me after dropping my first 20 or so pounds while eating low fat whole wheat muffins and yogurt (it's the official food of women... watch the video, I'll wait)



Back to Amberly, she asked me how much weight I could have lost if I'd actually, you know, got off the couch. So I did. With Fit to Strip. Yeah....

The next was Kat Carney, who runs the SoulCysters site posting a link to a few research papers on the benefit of resistance exercise on improving insulin resistance in women with PCOS (the couch/pizza ordering existence did me no favours - my body was like a car on blocks parked in someone's front lawn...). That got me dusting off my old copy of Bill Phillips' Body for Life book and doing bicep curls and leg extensions in my half storey.

The third, and most profound, was Mistress Krista's posts about the shaky man in the gym on her Stumptuous website. Neil has Parkinson's and has been doing intense physical exercise and heavy weight training since sometime in 2005. He's caught the interest of Parkinson's researchers with the positive outcomes he's experienced. Parkinson's and Dystonia have a lot in common. Same area of the brain, same neurotransmitter and a lot of the drugs developed for Parkinson's are used to treat people with Dystonias. The drug I had been on, trihexphenidyl, was an anti-Parkinson's agent. Reading his email exchanges (here, here and here) got me wondering if there was a better way to exercise and wondering if intense physical activity could also help me with my Dystonia. Sure enough, it did! His emails also made me realize that doing supersets with a 12lb dumbbell was maybe selling myself short a little.

Krista just posted another update about Neil. According to her post, he's featured in a video created for Professor Bastiaan (Bas) Bloem, who is a world-leading neurologist in the field of movement disorders. Oh, the link to the professor includes a great TED presentation and a really fun presentation of a guy with Parkinson's who can barely walk but can ride his bike just fine... yay for the adaptive power of grey matter!  Hmm, this could be why I can clean 135lbs for 2 reps when I'm so symptomatic I can barely stand and putting my own plates on the bar is impossible (thanks for loading my bar, Ang!).

Check it out! Dude's achieved a level of fitness that most people never will. And did I mention he's in his 60's? Yeah, pretty cool.



I know I've been yammering on about Dystonia a lot lately. But I think it's important to try and get the word out there that there ARE people out there with neurological disorders who are seeing benefits from intense physical activity. I know what it's done for me and I also know that, being without a neuro right now, no one in the medical community even knows it. I think it's worth studying and I'm so pleased that Neil's experiences are getting some attention.

I thanked Neil a few months ago for getting me off the couch. I don't know. Maybe someone with a movement disorder will stumble across my blog some day and this will encourage them to give their local CrossFit gym a call.

The clarity that comes after 5 gin and tonics...

The alternate title for this post was "So not the way I wanted to raise awareness that it's the start of Dystonia Awareness Week". Heh!

After I crawled into bed last night, post Spring Fling and 5 gin and tonics, I had a moment. Earlier that night Taryn had asked me if I was going to try and figure out where I would have placed if I hadn't had a bad day with my movement disorder and it hadn't meant taking a huge hit on the first WOD. I came in dead last on that one and even though I crawled my way up on the rest of them with a second and two firsts, it wasn't enough to make up for it. I told her I didn't' want to because it would just bum me out even more.

And yeah, I'll admit it. I was bummed out. And my ego was smarting. I'm probably a bit too competitive for my own good. I don't like it when I don't do well and I REALLY don't like it when it's because of my dystonia.

Enter the gin.

My dystonia is a part of me. It's part of who I am as an athlete. I bring it with me to every competition just like I do all of my other skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. I did how I did based on what I bring to the table - the whole package. Figuring out where I would have placed if I had been symptom free that day would be like figuring out how I would have placed if I was a different person altogether.

Today, I sat down and sketched out my training from now until sectionals start up again next year. I took a look at my weaknesses and where I want to go and what I want to accomplish. One of those things is showing a little more grace when it comes to being a disabled athlete.

Best kind of training day.

Gorgeous Sunday morning, friends and a big ass muddy hill...

It's you verses you

CrossFit Subzero's FunBobby posted this up on Facebook.



It's you verses you in CrossFit. I've always been really talented at tripping myself up. I think that's one of the reasons why I love CrossFit so much. After every workout, you can see very clearly if you gave it your full effort or if you're doing something that is holding you back. It keeps you honest with yourself. I've been half-assing my life too much recently. Last year at Regionals, OPT said "full effort is full victory" during his opening speech. After the open sectionals, I want to look back and know that I gave it my full effort. And it's not just about CrossFit. When I'm 100 percent committed to doing my best in competition, everything else in life kind of just lines up, too. It's like you can't go all in without it spilling over into everything else.

Having a chance to compete on CFR's affiliate team at the Games last year was an amazing experience. I want to help us earn the chance to go again.

New levels of full body destruction

Thank you, FunBobby!  Yesterday's Intergalactic Throwdown c/o CrossFit SubZero was a seriously fun competition with great, well-planned workouts.  I don't think I've ever hurt this much the day after, though.  I mean, I thought I was busted up after 7 minutes of thrusters at Sectionals but now I realize that was only a small fraction of the ouch I have going on today.  Everything hurts.  EVERYTHING!

First off, I just wanted to say it was fantastic seeing people who've never done a competition before come out and throw themselves into a three-a-day!  These WODs were some of the hardest I've ever seen programmed into a competition.  I mean, we really could have stopped at SuperBeast, given ourselves a pat on the back for taking on something that nuts, and gone home feeling damned proud for just showing up.  But then we came back to the gym for more.  And then a little more after that!  Kick ass!  There were some amazing displays of awesomeness yesterday and I am very proud of our CrossFit Regina crew.

As I mentioned, the first WOD was aptly named SuperBeast:

3 rounds of
30 double unders
20 chest-to bar pull-ups
10 chest-to-deck burpees
Then
10 deadlifts 315/205lbs (dropping bar after lockout is permitted)
10 clean and jerks 185/125lbs
for time, with 17 minute time cap

It felt like I was on the pull up bar pretty much the entire time.  C2B PLUs are still a goat for me and so I was pretty pleased that I only had two failed reps in the last round.  The burpees were easy as were the double unders.  The deads felt really heavy by the time I got to them and I couldn't string any of them together, which I had expected to do.  I've been off heavy deads and squats for a month to get the hammie healed up for sectionals so perhaps that's why they felt challenging?  The part I was nervous about was the jerk.  Originally when I read the WOD, I just read power cleans and thought SCORE!  I love power cleans and 125 is a nice weight.  The night before, I realized there were jerks.  D'oh!  My 1RM is about that weight and I've only gotten it once and it was ugly.  I got about 4 or 5 cleans but only one exceedingly ugly jerk. I honestly thought my ribs were going to pop out.  Definitely something I'll be working on between now and Sectionals (yay for Jamie and his offer of training on Saturdays!).  Afterwards, Paul came over and laughed at me saying that he thought my jerk was mostly fixed.  Only at a lighter weight, aparently!  My score was 3 rnds +11.

At 2:00pm we reconvened at the gym for Captain Intensity and Franklin.  They were as follows:

“CAPTAIN INTENSITY”
Combined score of these two events completed in 10 minutes:
4 minutes of rowing for total meters
1 rep max front squat
Notes: athlete has 5 minutes to post best weight lifted taken from rack loaded by the athlete
total score is reached by adding meters and pounds lifted
10 minute time period includes 1 minute transition from rower to squat rack and for
volunteer to clear plates off bar from previous athlete


“FRANKLIN”
Max reps in 7 minutes of
Handstand Push-ups
and/or Back Squats 135/95lbs
Notes: squat bar will be taken from the floor and the athlete has a choice of the two movements and you can split reps however you like, scoring is 1 point for a back squat 2 points for HSPU

I pushed pretty hard on the rower.  My strokes were hella inefficient but I was trying to save my legs for the squat madness afterwards and instead aimed for a strong pull with the arms and back.  I got 1035m, which I was cool with considering I'm of hobbit stock (hairy feet and short stature doesn't make for good rowing) and then went to go attempt a decent front squat.  Yep...  I way overestimated what I could do.  Tried for 175lbs and failed.  Then I just did 115 to get on the board (um, good thing, too) and then loaded the bar to 165 and failed again.  WTF!  I thought I was supposed to be good at squats.  At this point, I had little time left on the clock.  I tried loading the bar to 155 but the timer beeped before I could even get the plates on the bar.  My score was 1150.  Lesson learned.  Don't get greedy.  Start at a lower weight and built up, not scale back and get frustrated.  LOL!

The last workout was seven minutes of squats.  I can't do HSPUs strict, kipping or after sucking on a helium balloon.  So, the plan was to just squat.  And then squat some more.  And then keep on squatting after that.  Kat was awesome and came over to shout at me to keep moving.  I dropped the bar twice, once at the 5 minute mark and again at the 6 minute mark.  The quads were burning but it was the weight on my back that was getting to me.  I did 104 and that was my score.  I wouldn't have got the last four or so if it hadn't been for the cheering because all I wanted to do was never squat again.

After, Ang asked if I wanted to do one of the tests she needs to do for work.  Since it didn't involve squats, I was game!  We had to do max DHPLUs, rest one minute, max PU, rest one minute, max SU, rest one minute and then max ring dips.  She told me what the minimum numbers were (5, 30, 40 and 10 respectively) so I went for that and got it.  Good times!

Two days later, I still can't walk without looking like an old man who's crapped his pants. 

The photos are c/o CrossFit Regina and were posted to Facebook.

Coconut Chicken Soup

I've been making a massive pot of this every week for the last two months. I've yet to get tired of eating it. I don't have a pretty picture to add. Use your imagination and just picture a bowl filled with awesome. Oh yeah... Not only is this stuff delicious, the fat found in coconuts is pretty darn fantastic for you, too.

This makes a lot.  Like, I have an oversized pot that I do this in and it's pretty much full to the brim. 

1.3 kg diced boneless, skinless chicken thighs
0.6kg diced chicken breasts
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp each of dried coriander, star anise seed
1/4 cup chili garlic paste
a bag of slivered carrots (2 cups)

Roughly cube your chicken. Melt the coconut oil in a large frying pan. Add the sesame oil, chicken and spices. Allow to brown. Midway through, add your slivered carrots. Once the chicken is cooked, set the pan aside.

In a large pot, combine:
3 cans coconut milk (at Walmart, they have coconut milk that's just coconut and water - Arroy D Brand)
1 head of broccoli, chopped
2 cubed zucchinis
3 cans water chestnuts
2 chopped red pepper
1 container (2 cups) sliced mushrooms
3 cups or so of bean sprouts
3 tbsp fish sauce
chili garlic paste (however much, depending on if you want more heat)
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 cups vegetable broth (I use Kitchen Basics from Sobey's that's just veggies so its everything-free)

Cover, bring to a boil, drop heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add in your chicken mixture and allow to simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add:
The juice of two limes
Chopped fresh cilantro.

Makes 12 servings

Maybe I'm a jerk?

Okay, maybe this makes me a jerk?



Today on Facebook, CrossFit.com posted a video of a guy named Tod doing some burpees. Go Tod! First, can I just say I think it's awesome Tod is doing burpees. Frankly, I think it's awesome when anyone does burpees.

The post goes on to claim this video is "the most motivational 8 seconds of your day". Hey, I get you. Burpees can kind of suck and it is motivational watching someone duke their way through a set. However, it wasn't the burpees, per say, that were considered most motivational but more so the fact that the person who was doing burpees had legs that ended somewhere around the knee cap.

Why do we make the assumption that physical fitness is the sole-purview of the able-bodied?

In the comments, many people posted how inspiring and amazing it was that Tod would engage in physical activity because he's got a physical disability. While I think it's lovely that people felt inspired by him, it also demonstrates that most people have made assumptions about physical disability that maybe it's time to let go of. Is it really so completely and totally amazeballs for a person with a disability to workout? I don't think so.

While our bodies might work in a different way, the vast majority of people with physical disabilities certainly can (and do!) work out. It's not like our responsibility to care for our physical selves magically absolves the moment we take on the additional adjective "disabled"? And how do you know that we don't make the same damn excuses as the rest of you for occasionally skipping going to the gym or not eating healthfully or whatever? And who's to say that the barriers some able-bodied people face with getting fit aren't as or even more challenging than whatever accommodations may be required for the physical disability.

You know what would be really awesome? I'd like it to just seem completely and totally normal for everyone and anyone to be physically active - old, young, skinny, heavy, light, tall, short, disabled or able-bodied.

Countdown

48 days until the the CrossFit Games Open begins. I can't believe it's come around again this quickly! That gives, what, seven weeks to get ready? I've got some work to do, especially on the lifestyle front, that should help me fill some of the gaps in performance. I've been kicking the bejeesus out of my cardio capabilities and gravity isn't as good as a friend as it could be to help with some of the gymnastics movements. Two skills I'd really like to work on would be fixing my jerk and getting HSPUs. I also have that lovely right hamstring injury I'm trying to heal up. Being off heavy squats and deads should give me extra time to spend on oly and gymnastics. Yay!

Even though I had a blast traveling to Edmonton last year for the sectional event, I kind of like the new format. It's less stress on the body and the pocket book. I will miss getting to meet people from other gyms and the excitement that comes from competing in-person, though.

Mmm, burgers

I love burgers.  I might dig the snow out from around the BBQ today to grill some up!

Burger Recipe
2lbs grassfed beef or bison
1 egg
1 diced red onion
2 tbsp chili garlic paste
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp ancho chili powder
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt

3 tomatoes, cut in half, lengthwise
1 tbsp bacon fat or coconut oil

1lb bacon
3 red peppers, chopped
3 cups chopped mushrooms (use a mix of different kinds)
2 tbsp bacon fat or coconut oil

Fry up your bacon and set aside.  If you've used a good quality bacon, keep the fat.  If not, you're missing out (use coconut oil instead and be sad because your burgers just got way less awesome).  Mix the first set of ingredients in a large bowl.  Shape into patties and put on the grill.  Brush the tops of your tomatoes with bacon fat and also put on the grill.  In the house, fry up your red peppers and mushrooms in the bacon fat.  When everything is cooked, place your burger on your grilled tomato and top with bacon, red peppers and mushrooms.  I also like to add a big dollop of guacamole (see recipe below).  Easy!  

Guacamole
3 avocados
the juice of 1 lime
1 clove of minced garlic (or more, if you like garlic)

Put all of your ingredients into a bowl and mash together.  Yum!

A couple of days into the new schedule

I'm a couple of days into the new schedule.  Originally, when I asked Aaron for advice on what to do next, I was going to go to Nationals for powerlifting.  Looks like that isn't in the cards for this year so a goal for me in the coming year will be to qualify for it again when I lift at Provincials in the fall.  So, this may mean another talk with Aaron to figure out if I want more oly and less powerlifting.  Regardless, it's a wackload more cardio than I've done in a while.  My cardio is still there, for the most part, but the volume is kicking my butt pretty hard.  I can barely type today as I have hand DOMS thanks to Monday's bellswing ladder.

Monday
Oly lift of the day
10 minutes of opposite oly lift on the minute
5-7 minute metcon

Tuesday
5x5 squats
5-7 minute metcon

Wednesday
3x5 press (alternate bench and shoulder... going to just do shoulder press, I think)
10-12 minute metcon

Friday
3x5 front squats
5-7 minute metcon

Saturday
Cardio Party so Painstorm or Hero WOD or a WOD with a trip to the track after.

Skill work like muscle ups, HSPUs, C2B PLUs, deadhangs, weighted ring dips, etc can all be worked into warm ups.  I've also been looking at scaling up to using the men's weight in WODs where it makes sense.  I've done it twice this week so far and enjoyed it!

Starting lifts!

Well, Tuesday was a bit of a gong show with trying out some starting numbers.  I've been drinking about 6L of water a day and, well, that's not particularly helpful when playing around with heavy singles.  235lbs for squats went up without incident (240lbs would have meant a puddle on the floor) and my depth was good so that'll be where I'll start and I'll go from there.

Squat: 107kg
Bench: 52kg
Deadlift: 120kg

Robin lent me her singlet and it fit so that's awesome (thanks Robin!).  I'm still about 6lbs over the weight class I was hoping to lift in (yay for being a woman) so we'll see if playing around with water will work.  If not, it's all good!

Edited to add:

Here's How I Did

It was a fantastic first introduction to powerlifting.  Everyone at the meet was so supportive.  Ryan and Rhea Fowler helped Tiff and I with our warm ups and Ryan Stinn explained the judging process and then did a mock judged lift with us during the warm up so we'd be used to the cues, etc.  For my lifts, I ended up going with some more conservative numbers and hit all of my squats, all of my bench press attempts but only the first deadlift.  It's a good thing I went with a number I knew I could hit because if I had missed my first deadlift attempt, I would have missed out on getting my first total.  I used wrist wraps and a belt for my lifts but otherwise lifted raw.

Here's what I did:
Squat: 112.5kg (247.5lbs)
Bench Press: 55kg (121lbs)
Deadlift: 120kg (265lbs)

My total was 287.5kg and was enough to just barely qualify to compete at Nationals this year in Charlottetown.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it so I'll just have to requalify at Provincials in the fall in hopes that next year's Nationals are a little closer to home!

Figuring out my lifts for Last Chance

On the very last day, I got my application in to Ryan to compete in the 2010 Last Chance Powerlifting Meet in Moose Jaw next weekend.  Robin has kindly offered to lend me her singlet and I'm trying to find a tee shirt that covers my delts and reviewing the nine million page document of rules that govern the meet.

I've been playing around with some numbers and I'll make my decision after squats, bench and deadlift on Tuesday night.  I'm just going to think about the numbers in kilos as pounds are about 2.2 times more scary.

For squats, if I get 230lbs for my 5's, I'll go for 108kg, 113kg and 118kgs.  If not, then do 105kg, 110kg and 115kg.  The first set pretty much will get me a double bodyweight 1RM!  I'd be super excited to hit that milestone.

Bench is set.  It's a very weak lift for me and the pause at the bottom makes it really hard.  I'll start with 52kg then try for 54kg and 56kg.

Deadlift is last.  If I get 255lbs for 5, I'll go for 125kg, 130kg and 136kg.  If not, I'll play it a bit safer and go 120kg, 125kg and 130kg.  I'm really wanting 136kg, though.  Really, really badly.