Maigrey's Battle Log of Awesome

[maigrey]

Okay - I'm starting a battle log here, and as my nickname is Maigrey Awesome, this will be filled of awesomeness. And, because I am me, it will be filled with plenty of random rambles. Please keep your hands inside the car and make sure your harness is securely fastened before the ride starts!

 

Here are the basic things I'm working on, and what I want to focus on for the rest of the year and 2015:

 

1) Get strong.

 

I joined crossfit and I really like it - especially the lifting part.  My box has an oly track and I'm going to do those classes twice a week, and at least one other CF class (most likely on friday) during the week.

 

I also need to work on my ankle mobility especially.  I cannot do ATG squats on my own, but I can with a 2.5 lb weights under my heels.  So, I want to aim for 10 min of ATG squats per day, or some other ankle mobility exercises [note - I need to ask @wufkar what she and littlewings were doing for their PVP]

 

Adding in yoga would be great, too, but I have a tendency to over-commit and under-deliver, so we'll start here

 

2) Lose Weight.

 

I know the scale lies, but at 5'6" and 217ish pounds, I don't think anyone can argue that I've got a lot of weight to lose, even with getting stronger as part of the agenda.

 

Right now I'm in the middle of holiday foo, and taking a trip to Texas for christmas/new years, and Ill be honest - I know it's going to make things harder, but right now I am not at the point where I'm ready to limit my food.

 

I am ready to start something on Jan 5th, the Monday after I get back.  I'm thinking about the 21 day Primal Challenge or another Whole30.  I also need to really think about how I want to go about this.  I had a lot of success with the fast 2 days a week (~500 cals) earlier, and I actually grew to like it, but when I added crossfit into the mix, I really didn't have any clue how to fit that into the rest of the week.

 

In addition, I really want to get into a routine - I need to make healthy use of my google calendar to schedule in workouts and weekly food planning/prep.  Although, my crossfit box does have a paleo premade food service that I WILL look into for January just to get everything started on the right foot. Maybe I will start taking pictures of everything I eat.

 

The honest truth is, I know what I should do here, the issue is in the execution.  This means I need to really be honest with my food and my feelings and get back to going to meetings and using my tools, which I have really let slide.  I can be okay without carbapalooza, I just need to be a better parent to 'little maigs' and remember that sugar will only make you feel better for about 5 min, and guilty for about 3 days, etc.

 

Key for me here is - planning foods weekly, and doing a weekly cookup so I always have something decent in the house to eat.

 

I could go on and on about the 800 things I need to do here, but I think this is enough for now.

 

3) Get the rest of my act together.

 

There are about 400 things I could put down here.  Overall, I love my life, don't get me wrong.  But I'm well aware of the fact that there is so much more I could do!  But for now, I will focus on two things:

 

1. Declutter my house. [i love gadgets and have a putting things away issue, so I really want to get this under control]
2. Get back into dating.  I explained a lot of this in my challenge, but I would like to spend just 15 min a day revamping my profile and shopping for rejections.

So, this is just a start.  Most likely you'll get a bunch of rambling thoughts throughout the day and the above will all modify and change.  Annnd we're off!

 

[maigrey]

Wed Dec 17, 2014

I so didn't want to go to OLY class this morning. I'd woken up at 3 am and my dog Wrigley gave me the stare of DOOM which I can feel when i'm trying to sleep. So, I got up to let him out and BRRR cold, and 1.5 hours later... finally fell asleep. For those of you who don't math, that's 4:30 am.

Oly starts at 6:30 am. When my alarm went off at 6, I was warm, cozy, and tired. The only thing, honestly, that got me out of bed was that I couldn't do OLY Monday (because of going to MNF game), and I'm going out with a good friend tonight when the other OLY class is this week. So, off I went.

Funny enough, no one else really wanted to be there either, but it was a great session:



A) Hang Clean High Pull: 3 x 3 - I did these with just the 35 lb bar and then up to 45lbs. I tried putting 10lb weights on for 55lbs, and neeewp wasn't happening. But I did get improvement on my technique, and I felt good about these

B ) Jerk Balance: 4 x 3 - I seriously love jerks. I continued with the 45 lb weight, because I really wanted to work on form. This was a little tricky to get the hang of, but it really helped me get lower in my jerk. I have so many issues with mobility, it's laughable. But, getting there.

C) Hang Clean & Jerk: 5 x 2 reps at 75% of CJ 1RM - Not sure if I did a 75% or not - but kept with the 45 lbs since it was working fine, and again I think I made big strides in my form and 'getting it'. I have trouble getting down into the squat, and no problems with the jerk, because I love jerks (this must explain my love life), so I know where I need to put my accessory effort.

D) Front Squat: 3 x 5 reps at 80% of FS 1RM - I went down to just the 35lb bar for these, so since I THINK my 1RM is around 60 lbs, I was somewhat in the area, but I didn't really care about that. Again, I was trying to work on form. When I put small plates under my heels I have much less issue getting into a squat (again, mobility issues), so I think these were better. I just need more wrist and tricep mobility.

And this was DEFINITELY 800x more fun than the CF WOD:
 

A. power clean: 1.1.1 x 3; rest 2 minutes (rest 15 sec b/t cluster reps)
+
how far can you get in 10 minutes?
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
thruster, 95lb/65lb
burpee

Yuk.

Also this morning was productive. I dropped puppy Ivy off at day care to run some energy off, dropped off laundry, got breakfast, mailed secret santa gift. And, I also got all my lists and stuff together in my bullet journal so my life is somewhat organized.

... I need to remind myself to not take a month between weekly updates of my to do lists. UGH.

And with that - I'm off to try and grab a nap before picking up the puppy and dinner with Beth.

[maigrey]

Thursday, December 18

 

Today was pretty uneventful - it was a rest day, although there was a weightlifting WOD posted for today.  I'm going to have to talk to my coach about that and see how we're expected to do that; is there an OLY open gym?

 

I did make a lot of progress on life stuff though.  I had my 3 most important tasks, and knocked those out; one of these included going through the 2 months of paper mail that has accumulated.  I don't know what it is about paper mail, but oof, it's annoying.

 

... lot more going in my brain, but I'm exhausted... so bedtime.

[maigrey]

Friday Dec 19

 

I decided to pass on the morning WOD in favor of sleeping in.  I promised myself I would do the 5 pm strength work out today instead [spoiler: I went].   Sleeping in was gloooorious.  I woke up at 8 am on my own and didn't have any commitments until 9, so I got to take the puppy to daycare, get breakfast, and take a leisurely shower. So nice.

 

I only had two work meetings today, and got my Christmas shopping done.

 

I was debating going to the CF WOD, which was press and push press day instead of going to strength class, but I went to strength class.   I wish I went to the WOD, because strength class was a bunch of what felt like conditioning.

 

Warm Up:

2 sets of:

3 DL

3 hang cleans

3 push press

10 ring rows

 

... and that's all the lifting we did.  The workout was:

 

6 sets of 8 walking goblet lunges + 4 switch lunges

10 sets of hell... aka 5 box jumps (onto a 45 lb weight for me), 15 russian kettle bell swings, 30 box step ups [ugh].

 

We were also supposed to do 4 reps of 60 s farmer walk with rest as needed, but the 10 sets of hell took us all way too lon that we were over time, and I passed on completing it, as I needed to get the puppy and get home.

 

And now, laundry is done, dishes put away and now... this update is done!

[StarGazer]

Ohai. Commence stalking.

[maigrey]

Ohai. Commence stalking.

Ohai!

[Muscle Professor]

Keep destroying those workouts, and keep fighting the battle.

[maigrey]

Saturday December 20:
 
I must have been exhausted, because I basically slept until noon.  But, I was then pretty crazy productive after that; the major thing was getting my filing 90% done.  Huge task, as I hate filing, so all the stuff I have to file generally accumulates and in December I file 12 months worth of stuff.
 
This was the picture halfway through where I'd sorted everything into 'file folder piles' before actually getting them filed:

 

 

I'm not sure exactly what else I did, but I checked a few other things off the list - like hanging up the key rack thing that fell down last week.

 

Sunday Dec 21:

 

Didn't get to a meeting this morning, but did drag my butt in for Open Gym this morning.  My coach was there (who is also the OLY coach) was the coach on duty that morning, so we talked about what I can do while I'm in Austin over the holiday.  We decided I'd do the workout I didn't get to yesterday.  After a couple malfunctions (note to self, make sure headphones are charged before you bring them in), I got to work.

 

... and was shocked when I looked at the time when I finished and it was about 90 min later.  What???  I lost track of time while exercising??  [Awesome, though]

 

Weightlifting Workout (Week 2 – Day 4):

A)     Snatch: 3 x 2 - 15lb (training bar) x1; 35 lb x3 x 2

B )      Clean & Jerk: 3 x 2: 15lb x 1; 35lb x 3; 35 - 40 - 40 lb

C)      Back Squat: 3 x 5: 10.8 kg x3; 16.8 kg x 3; 21.8kg x 1

D)     Strict Press: 3 x 5: (kg) 8.8 x 3; 11.8 x 3; 16.8 x 3; 18.8 x3; 21.8 x 2,  21.8 (F)

I have still so much to learn, and my squats still need a lot of work, but I'm still amazed that I didn't notice the time passing.

[maigrey]

If anyone out there is reading this, I'd love to know what sort of system you use for tracking workouts and PRs.  I feel like I should track mine somehow, but the options are overwhelming at the moment.

[maigrey]

Catch up post:

 

Dec 22nd -

 

I rushed over to the box to get to OLY class - I had a 6 pm appointment and the class started at 7, so I was a bit late (but it's a flexible schedule for this).  We had a sub coach, Tennessee. I did my warm up and then I was supposed to start with snatches - 5 reps x2.   I do my first squat at 20 lbs and Tennessee says "That is the ... most interesting squat I've ever seen."  And he, of course, doesn't mean interesting in a good way.

 

 

He then has me start with a barbell complex using the 35lb  bar - DLx3; Front squat x3; push press x3

 

We then do:

20x3ish snatch grip deadlifts

20lbx5 push presses

20lbx3 hang snatches

 

and then we tried 20lb OHS ... which I fail miserably on, and get a "well, that was a good bail out, though" from Tennessee.  He then has me move to the PVC pipe and do

 

Front Squats x7 - my issue is not ankle mobility, it's coming up in one piece

Snatch balances x5 or so

 

Then, Tennessee needs to go sub for the 7:30 pm WOD, and on my own I do:

 

Clean & Jerk - 35 lbs x 4rep x 2 sets, which are much better.  At least my form for the jerk is pretty decent.

 

I'm going to have to investigate if I can get Tennessee as a personal coach; his style really clicked with me, but he has a reduced coaching load.

[maigrey]

Dec 26th - Another catch up post...

 

I'm in Austin for 10 days, so I've gotten a week pass to wufkar's gym.  My crossfit box posts the OLY workouts each day, so I picked one of the once I'd missed.  Unfortunately for me, wuf's gym only has 45 lb bars, which meant things got interesting.  But honestly - this workout is one I could get excited to do every day.

 

Weightlifting Workout (Week 3 – Day 2):

A)     Clean & Jerk: 4 x 2 reps at 75% of CJ 1RM, Rest 2 min

I have no notes here on what I C&J's here - just that I did some hang clean work at 45x2.  I'm guessing that the C&J were about the same or slightly heavier, as we made our own blocks to make up for the lack of bumper plates.

B )     Push Press: 4 x 4  Building to a challenging weight Rest 2 min

45lbs x4; 45x4; 55x4 for 3 sets - push presses are one of my two favorite lifts

C)     Front Squat: 3 x 5 reps at 80% of FS 1RM, Rest as needed

I did these all at 45 lbs.  I failed one in there about midway through, but that is what squat racks are for!

Overall, this was a great workout.  Wuf was awesome for being there and helped with some of my cleans, and that was awesome.

[maigrey]

Dec 29th, 2014

 

Back to Wuf's gym, but on my own this time:
 

A)     Snatch Snatch Balance: 5 x 2 reps at 80% of CJ 1RM, Rest 2 min

These were supposed to be snatches, but I can't snatch 45 pounds yet.  So, snatch balances it was.

45lb x 5; 50(F)-50-50-50-50

I really need to learn how to just drop the bar; I have a couple more bruises on my arms from this.

 

B )    Jerk: 4 x 2 @ 75% Rest 2 min

45-45-50-50-50; 55-55-60-60-60 

 

C)      Front Squat: 3 x 5 reps at 80% of FS 1RM, Rest as needed

I did these wrong and thought it was 5 sets of 3 squats; whoops.

45-45-45; 45-45-45; 45-45-45(F); poor form on this set: 45- 45(F)-45; 45-45-45(F);45-45-45

 

These did go pretty well and I felt good about the workout.  It's funny how I don't mind getting sweaty while lifting.

[maigrey]

Jan 2, 2015

 

Lifting with nerds over at Hyde Park.  Unfortunately I didn't take advantage, and didn't get nerd coaching this round, but they were off understandably with StarGazer who hasn't done much lifting.  And again, things were a bit weird because they had mostly 45 lb weights.  There were some 35s and some training bars and one incredibly light bar, and some medium weight ones.  Which means that I really have no clue if these weights are correct. Again i got my reps and sets mixed up, so they're all backwards.

 

 

A)     Snatch Power Snatch: 3 x 2 reps at 75% of SN 1RM, Rest 2 min

I still really can't do snatches, and I'm going to work on that when I get back.  I've arranged my schedule so I can do that Monday.

15lb x 3 warmup; 25-25-25; 25-25-25

 

B )     Clean & Jerk:  3 x 2 + 1 reps at 75% of C & J 1RM, Rest 2 min

35x3; 45x3

 

C)      Back Squat: 3 x 5 reps at 80% of BS 1RM, Rest as needed

35x3; 45x3; 55-55 (bad form on this one and strained something in my back)-45; 50x3; 50x3

 

And now, I'm busy icing my back after filling mah belly with steak and shrimp fajitas and blood orange margaritas (delicious).

[Haikoo]

uh... fell into your thread. Didn't know it was here >_>

[maigrey]

uh... fell into your thread. Didn't know it was here >_>

*picks you up and dusts you off and offers you the comfy couch*  Hey there

[StarGazer]

Lifting with nerds over at Hyde Park.  Unfortunately I didn't take advantage, and didn't get nerd coaching this round, but they were off understandably with StarGazer who hasn't done much lifting.

 

Sorry I stole them. I'll be better at sharing next time, I promise.

 

*hoards the nerds for lifting coaches*

[maigrey]

Sorry I stole them. I'll be better at sharing next time, I promise.

*hoards the nerds for lifting coaches*

Hah, like I should believe you are good at sharing, Thief. <3

[maigrey]

Okay, so I wasn't going to start a challenge thread, but I just did.  Maigrey Prioritizes - come join the fun!