a year in review

There you have it. 2013 is in the books. Done with school, moving out, and off to the races with my first job. Wrt my fitness goals, I've fallen behind where I'd like to be. I hope I'm able to get up to speed with the new year. I think it might be a good exercise to outline what I believe a healthy lifestyle looks like i.e. time management of a healthy person.

05:00 -- Wake-up
05:30 -- Morning stretch/yoga/cardio
07:00 -- Breakfast (eggs/sausage)
08:00 --12:00 -- Work
12:00-13:00 -- Lunch (chicken/greens/avacado)
13:00 -- 17:00 -- Work
17:30 -- Snack (protein shake)
18:30 -- 19:30 -- Evening strength/CrossFit
20:00 -- Evening meal (meat/veggies)
21:00 -- Read/blog/reflect/relax/music
22:30 -- Lights Out

Given this schedule the following ought to be evident:

• Enough sleep
• Mindfulness
• Consistent meals (no junk)
• consistent energy levels
• Cardio / Strength / Function balance
• Focused and motivated

Goals:

•  Lose the chub
• 195 now, goal weight 185
• Regularly compete in events
• GoRuck in April, Crossfit Open, Crossfit Throwdowns, Triathlons
• Complete a marathon
• Cycling
• Regain lost strength. Goals:
• Bench: 225#
• Squat: 365#
• DL: 405#
• Clean: 275#
• Snatch: 205#
• Read 2 books / month (400 pgs)
• To read: finish don quixote, the codebreakers , brother's k

a few logs

Yesterday:

Work to heavy clean
Load: 225

10-9-8...3-2-1
95# thrusters // bar facing burpees
notes: consistent pacing but didn't crush it.

Day before yesterday:
30 wall balls @ 16#
20 kbs @ 55#
notes: crushed it.

Sunday run:
5k out and back
solid pace; felt good

Notes:
Mind: Not a fan of this time of year. Less sunlight; harder to get up in the morning; growing colder.
Body: I ought to work in more starting strength type of stuff into my routine. I've lost a lot of strength having been away from it for awhile. Otherwise, flexibility is good. Two weeks ago I did Angie (50-40...10 GHD situps and double unders) and couldn't finish it. My abs are still only about 90% recovered. I underestimated my ability to get back to those so soon... I'm going to have to on ramp.
Spirit: I've been reading quite a lot lately. I finished two books in the past 3 weeks: 1) Beyond Good and Evil; 2) The Portrait of Dorian Gray; and now I'm about 1/5 of the way through Don Quixote. Going to continue to make this part of my daily routine.

Weekend

Pretty good end of the week. I didn't, however, log as I hoped that I would. I really need to get back into a routine of consistently training and eating well. Now that I have moved into a townhouse that is close to the gym, I have the tools needed to put everything together. The following template is what I will be copying and pasting each day.

YEAR/MONTH/DAY

ACTIVITY:

Warmup / WOD / Cooldown
Training-specific notes

NUTRITION:

Timing / Quantity / Type

DAILY REPORT:
Training notes, how nutrition went, feeling throughout the day, musings

MOOD / FATIGUE / SORENESS:
(10 pt scale, 1 is baseline; lower=better)

20131007

AM Workout: 10k row (1k, 3, 5, 7, 9 = easy/light pace; 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 = hard/fast pace)

Breakfast: 2 eggs, vegetables, chicken breast
Lunch: chicken breast, a few strawberries, veggies

Day in review to come....

I'm back.

After a 5 month haitus from the blog, I'm ready to get back at it. I've still been training consistently, though not as consistently as I'd like to. I've also gotten away from my diet a bit and ought to begin logging here to get back on track. Tomorrow I will begin logging all of my workout and a brief overview of each meal.

9:00 AM workout before finals.

8x2 Bench Press w/ chains. 135 + 1 chain for sets 1-6, 2 chains sets 7,8

3 sets for time
25 kb swings w/ 1.5 pd
25 burpees
(not timed but unbroken. w00t.)

5x500 row @ 85% intensity
1:50 - 1:38 / 500

daily report

• body: arms are very sore.
• mind: feeling good today. diet is solid.
• spirit: just took my final undergraduate exam. great to be done, but feel like i'm just getting started.
• m/f/s: 2/4/5

training

Yesterday @ Crossfit Fast Factory

3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 - front squat
70% of 1RM for all 7 sets
for load: 225

21-15-9
pistols /leg
ring dips
for time: 6:25

today:

row 5k @ 85%
18:27.8

daily report

     Was fun to check out one of the better boxes in St. Cloud yesterday. Great facility and community going on there. Front squats felt good, ring dips need improvement. Lightening up a bit will go a long ways there. 5k row was decent. Recovered I could hit 17:30 I think.

• Body: Legs are sore.
• Mind: Good. Carbs last night but otherwise strictly zone. Eating more during the day needs to be a priority.
• Spirit: This sums things up nicely: (Hamlet. Act I. Scene IV.)

Ay, marry, is't:
But to my mind, though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honour'd in the breach than the observance.
This heavy-headed revel east and west
Makes us traduced and tax'd of other nations:
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase
Soil our addition; and indeed it takes
From our achievements, though perform'd at height,
The pith and marrow of our attribute.
So, oft it chances in particular men,
That for some vicious mole of nature in them,
As, in their birth--wherein they are not guilty,
Since nature cannot choose his origin--
By the o'ergrowth of some complexion,
Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason,
Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens
The form of plausive manners, that these men,
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect,
Being nature's livery, or fortune's star,--
Their virtues else--be they as pure as grace,
As infinite as man may undergo--
Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particular fault: the dram of eale
Doth all the noble substance of a doubt
To his own scandal.

HORATIO
Look, my lord, it comes!
[Enter Ghost]

HAMLET
Angels and ministers of grace defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd,
Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou comest in such a questionable shape
That I will speak to thee: I'll call thee Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!
Let me not burst in ignorance; but tell
Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death,
Have burst their cerements; why the sepulchre,
Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd,
Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again. What may this mean,
That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel
Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon,
Making night hideous; and we fools of nature
So horridly to shake our disposition
With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?
Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we do?

[Ghost beckons HAMLET]

update

Welp, here I am again after awhile away from logging. I have lost my rhythm a bit with everything going on at school and in my personal life but have still made time to train. I enjoy training most when I have some place to log and share it so I am going to remember that going forward.

This past weekend I ran a half marathon that I didn't train too specifically for. It was mentally challenging but I made it through in 1:56::58. I would most certainly participate in another one, though I realize that nutrition and hydration is more than half of the battle. Having to poop on mile 4 was one of the worst feelings of my life. I did, however, make the entire distance without stopping and for that I am proud.

I've been roughly following OPT's big dawgs training, and I plan to continue with that. I would like to see a significant increase in my clean&jerk and snatch so this will be a fairly good program at helping me with that along with increasing my abilities in other GPP type activities.

For nutrition, I am going to be zoning for at least the next week. I am only one meal through but I can see the best in myself come out when I eat clean and see myself sticking to it. I will report back. Beach season is among us, at least, and that is certainly motivation in itself.

Lastly, the weather has been really crummy here in Minnesota. It is April 22 and there is still snow on the ground. I hope to get my bike going as soon as the snow melts. In any case, I think the weather will be fair for the Triathlon this Friday that I will be participating in and I look forward to that.

Body: Legs are sore from the run. Otherwise pretty good.
Mind: Clear. Zoning rewires your relationship to food and I am living the benefits of weighing and measuring. Not long term, but at least for a week. Maybe two.
Spirit: My classes right now are some of the best I have ever had. Ethics and Metaphysics never cease to inspire a new outlook on life. The Magus alone had a profound impact on how I comprehend our subjectivity and what it means to live freely within out limitations.
m/f/s (mood/fatigue/soreness, lower is better): 2/2/4

front squats, snatch, heavy elizabeth

1 1/4 front squats - 6, 4, 2; 3 min rest
185, 205, 235

power snatch - work to 3RM TNG
135, 155, 175, 185, 205x1

21-15-9
deadlifts-275#
box jumps-30"
for time: 9:20

daily report

• body: pretty sore back, but otherwise good. back got better as day progressed.
• mind: terrible diet this weekend. detox this week i.e. back to low carb.
• spirit: "It doesn't take long to learn the mechanics of a job. What's important is that you bring soul to it." -- Gary Eichten answering a question tonight about his liberal arts education

fran pr

behind the neck push press - 5, 5, 5; rest 2 min
155, 185, 205 (f)
amrap sets of 3 hspu - 7 min
20 sets x 3 = 60 reps
+
fran
21-15-9
thruster-95#
pull ups
for time: 3:20

daily report

• body: a bit sore, but this session felt good. shoulders were tight but had a good warm up.
• mind: felt great after pwo drink. shit diet last night but much needed cheat.
• spirit: "right now, and in every moment, you are either closing or opening. You are either stressfully waiting for something - more money, security, affection - or you are living from your deep heart, opening as the entire moment, and giving what you most deeply desire to give, without waiting." David Deida, "The Way of the Superior Man" vaia OPT

happy friday

power clean (pause above knee) -- 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1
225, 235, 245, 255, 265 (F), 265
power snatch (from high block) -- work to heavy single
95, 115, 135, 145 (left some in the tank... but felt solid)
+
open 12.2 -- amrap 10 min
30 snatch-75#
30 snatch-135#
30 snatch-165#
amrap snatch-210#
for reps: 70

daily report

• body: very, very sore. wednesday's front squats crushed my lefts. arms feel very heavy. lack of carbs may be part of the troubles here.
• mind: thinking clearly. no carbs/sugar since last saturday. will have a slight cheat for the next 24 hours and then back at it for next week.
• spirit: "Whatever you get paid attention for is never what you think is most important about yourself." -David Foster Wallace

OPT x 3 (mon,tues,wed)

Monday

Deadlift 5,4,3,2,1; rest 3 min
for loads: 315, 335, 345, 355 (two singles), 365
+
For max reps
3 min squat clean-165#
2 min squat snatch-135#
1 min thruster-105#
for reps: 16, 10, 6

notes: recently got off of a fast so strength work felt slow. happy with 365; all things considered it was a good lift. second part had little 'pop' out of the bottom, but kept up a solid pace. good session.

Tuesday

Incline bench press; 8-10x3; rest 2 min
for loads: 135, 145, 155 (x10,x9,x8)

for max reps:
5 min burpees
4 min double unders
3 min rowing (no calorie meter :/ )
2 min push press-75#
1 min hand release push ups
for score: 71, 223, (85% intensity throughout, no meter on the rower), 33, 20

Wednesday:

Weighted chin up 2,2,2; rest 2
30, 60, 65
+
15 min amrap
100 power clean-95#
75 chin up
50 front squat-95#
25 t2b
for score: +5 t2b

daily report
body: fucking sore
mind: good, especially after 3 day fast. getting back into it. feels good to be light but need to watch calories. should be eating more to keep up with activity level.
spirit: high
m/f/s: 3/3/7

Long overdue

I'm not quite sure why I quit posting here a few months back. Around the holidays I was working out, but haven't been hitting lifts or following a sound diet as well as I could have been. While this is still worth of reporting, I guess, I just fell off the wagon.

I've been lifting 3-5 times/week since the beginning of the year. Through January, I've finally came around in my course work and have found a rhythm. Last semester I would frequently sleep past 9 or 10 AM, for example, and this semester it is seldom that I wake past 7:30 with most mornings being at 6.

I especially enjoy morning workouts, and have come around in my lifts. With ease, last week, I cleaned 265. I have not done that for awhile, and certainly could have gone heavier. I did not, as it was the last single of my set. I've seen other things come around too, such as aerobic capacity and solid lactate efforts.

For now, I'm focusing on leaning out a bit for spring. I haven't put on too much weight, but I am heavier than I was when I returned from HK. I think that I am around 195 now, and I'd like to get down to a working weight of 185. Especially with the Crossfit Open right around the corner (and I plan on competing) it will behoove me to compete at a lower weight.

I'm attempting to follow a keto-style diet, with weekends being a little more flexible. It's been good so far, and after getting away from grains I feel much better. Especially in the classroom I can tell that I'm better at listening and being attentive. I will do my best to update here, and again possibly will get the fitday.com logs going again.

Drew