DarK_RaideR's BattlE_LoG

[Xena]

On 10/5/2016 at 1:30 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

This is stupid. I feel like I'm double-posting stuff here and on my current challenge. Dividing isn't obvious either. Nutrition reports, do they go here or do they go on my challenge since they affect saving for TEW? And since my current challenge is with the Monks, shouldn't I be expanding there on the Muay Thai stuff? This is ridiculous, I moved to the BL because challenges weren't working for me, I don't know what went to my head and led me to putting up a challenge, I could have simply made it a minigame inside this BL. Whatever.

 

It might not be working for you, but it wasn't stupid to try. I can understand wanting to try another challenge. There is some excitement around them etc etc. It does seem like it's just doubling your work though. Also frustrating about the "meh" feeling to MT. I think SRLF's advice makes really good sense. Try it for some fixed period of time and then decide. Your posts about it don't really have the same excitement that you had talking about Crossfit, but as you say, there could be lots of reasons for that.

 

Sorry about the family stuff. It's gotta be hard on you and also hurtful to SRLF. Great news about her job offer though!

 

Friday I saw a guy a coffee shop wearing a Warhammer shirt. Got all excited. Then remembered that Wahammer is  "not exactly the same" as Nerdhammer and he sure as hell wouldn't know what I was talking about if I started referring to the latter. Close call :-)

[DarK_RaideR]

16 hours ago, Xena said:

I think SRLF's advice makes really good sense. Try it for some fixed period of time and then decide. Your posts about it don't really have the same excitement that you had talking about Crossfit, but as you say, there could be lots of reasons for that.

SRLF is actually saying that she's not seeing the same excitement, meaning I should get back to Crossfit. She says I should stick with MT for a couple o months more, maybe until the end of the year, then get back to Crossfit

 

16 hours ago, Xena said:

Sorry about the family stuff. It's gotta be hard on you and also hurtful to SRLF.

It's not getting any better.

 

16 hours ago, Xena said:

Friday I saw a guy a coffee shop wearing a Warhammer shirt. Got all excited. Then remembered that Wahammer is  "not exactly the same" as Nerdhammer and he sure as hell wouldn't know what I was talking about if I started referring to the latter. Close call :-)

All those Nerdhammer references from you and @ShadowLion keep giving me a warm feeling inside

 

This was my Friday and Saturday. Friday was actually more fun, got to meet some friends from the old CF box (Chalandri) and watch the bands with them. Walked in to hear the final couple of songs from Beggars, a local band that's actually a quite good rock n roll act. Sadhus (The smoking community) were the evening's surprise and that's coming from someone who's neither into the slow, doomier sounds nor the screaming vocals. Plus their singer rocks the best skullet since the Devin Townsend days and his eyes were those of a man posessed. Really wanted to see Black Rainbows and they did not disappoint in bringing the house down in their first ever appearance on Greek soil. Truckfighters actually let me a little down, partially because of the bands that came before them and partially because I haven't kept up with their shift from a classic stoner rock sound to more psychedelic avenues. Local heroes 100mods delivered as always, but I took my chance to sit on the stairs and rest since I've seen them twice or thrice already. The night ended with Red Fang and me amazingly not having had any beer.

Spoiler

LARP and beer

 

ZomBeers! Run!

 

God f'n dammit, these guys know how to make videos

 

Seriously, these guys are such nerds they should join the Rebellion. Beer might be a problem though...

 

 

 

Day 2 saw several acts like Cough, Elder and Colour haze cancelled. I arrived just in time to see most of Steak's set, then returned home for some rest since Karma to Burn had been moved to the 00:15-01:30 time slot.

 

Sunday had me sleeping until noon, then doing a little housework while the SRLF was at work. Also went to a short movie festival to see one made by a friend of the SRLF. Totally worth it.

[DarK_RaideR]

Monday, October 10

Ate clean for the entire day and made it to Muay Thai class. That's about it.

[DarK_RaideR]

Tuesday, October 11

Eating was ok, but we went out at night with our guests and while I did not overindulge myself, it wasn't textbook stuff either.

[Mr_Willes]

On 10-10-2016 at 0:49 PM, DarK_RaideR said:

and me amazingly not having had any beer.

Great win!

 

Really curious how the MT/CF is gonna progress, made up your mind yet?

[DarK_RaideR]

Wednesday, October 12 - Thursday October 13

As expected, eating wasn't stellar

 

I did make it to Muay Thai on Wednesday and to answer your question @mr_willes I think it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Kru had a kid lead us through warmup while he drilled a junior instructor in the ring and that guy was terrible. He didn't care about actual instructing, it was more of a "I'll do my thing and try to keep up". I don't know why he had to be so showoffish and competitive during a warmup, especially with cheap little tricks like telling us to do burpees when he was already coming up from the first rep. Plus his low voice that wasn't heard over the music and commands like "now this" where I had to pause and look to see what was the next exercise. I thought I'm so done in my head while doing this.

 

Still, I tried to convince myself that one bad experience can happen. Then we did the drills while right next to me I had some young showoffish kid that had brought his idiotic gf along. They were fooling around instead of training, plus when the kru caught onto them she went into full bimbo mode with stuff like "omg that hurts" and "I can't do that". Honestly, I told myself that people like that were equally likely to show up at a crossfit box (if not more) but the difference is I just couldn't stand them at the dojo. Blame me, I want spartan discipline and an iron hand when I'm doing things like that.

 

Either way, I miss CF and the SRLF has caught onto that, like I said she urges me to get back at it after the end of the year. I think that's too long, I've paid my October subscription but I might as well pull the triger once November comes around and join CF Pireaus.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I think you've realized what we've all known for a while, you're a Crossfitter who, while interested in martial arts, needs his WODs in a Box.

[DarK_RaideR]

Update for the following 2 days is here, along with some thoughts/explaining on jumping back into Crossfit.

 

In other news, Shadow Warrior 2 is out and they've finally included co-op and a Borderlands-style loot system. This one I'd love to rock with folks like @Wild Wolf and @Raxie

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

That is so cool about Shadow Warrior 2. I played the hell out of the freeware version of the first one. Lo Wang rocks.

[DarK_RaideR]

18 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

That is so cool about Shadow Warrior 2. I played the hell out of the freeware version of the first one. Lo Wang rocks.

I used to play the original game back in the day, when it was more of a Duke Nukem 3D ripoff. Was so glad to see a remake and already own the new SW, not sure I can grab this one yet. Total Extreme Wrestling 2016 is a priority and I might have to wait until SW2 is on discount. Plus I need to upgrade my system, at least to x64 Windows, as it won't play XCOM2 or We are the dwarves for that reason alone.

 

Sunday, October 16

Kept my eating in line with plenty of pumpkin puree, even if it gave me a wobbly stomach at night

[Raxie]

Oooh Shadow Warrior! I didn't know they were gonna drop the second one so soon! Excite.

[shaar]

8 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Sunday, October 16

Kept my eating in line with plenty of pumpkin puree, even if it gave me a wobbly stomach at night

 

PUMPKIN!

 

IT MAKES YA POOP!!

 

[DarK_RaideR]

18 hours ago, shaar said:

PUMPKIN!

 

IT MAKES YA POOP!!

Every fall, NF be like

 

I had a little revelation yesterday, while rocking out (after admittedly quite a while) to Monster Magnet during dinner preparation. I used to joke about living the rockstar life, never knowing what would pop up at work every day or if I'l even have a work or any money on the side at all. I was surfing a sea of insanity and randomness, somehow staying afloat. I was the NSFW version of Monster Magnet

Spoiler

Minus the Messiah complex, satan cosplay and females in varying degrees of nudity.

 

These days I'm more of a mellow Monster Magnet version, fronted by a melancholic, recovering-from-prescription-drug-addiction&overdose Dave Wyndorf

Spoiler

 

 

Things ain't gonna change on their own unless I move my butt. I said I'd wait until the end of the year before getting back to CF, then it moved to early November once my Muay Thai subscription would be over. I'm bringing it closer even. I skipped MT yesterday and didn't even care, it felt like skipping a day of "oldschool" gyms and I just do.not.want.that.

It's time to shake things up and it starts tonight with a visit to Crossfit Pireaus

Spoiler

 

 

[shaar]

3 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I skipped MT yesterday and didn't even care, it felt like skipping a day of "oldschool" gyms and I just do.not.want.that.

It's time to shake things up and it starts tonight with a visit to Crossfit Pireaus

 

 

YESSSSSS

 

DUDE YOU'RE LEVELING UP

 

Your analogies are perfect.

 

Also holy snacks Probot, blast from the past, I had forgotten about that side project and was listening to it and suddenly LEMMY, and I'm all like, that sounds like LEMMY?!, and it was Lemmy, because that was his track on their album.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

7 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Things ain't gonna change on their own unless I move my butt. I said I'd wait until the end of the year before getting back to CF, then it moved to early November once my Muay Thai subscription would be over. I'm bringing it closer even. I skipped MT yesterday and didn't even care, it felt like skipping a day of "oldschool" gyms and I just do.not.want.that.

You have traveled far and learned much on your journey, now it's time to return home.

 

[Jarric]

Sounds like exactly the right choice man, and love the songs to illustrate it

[DarK_RaideR]

15 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

You have traveled far and learned much on your journey, now it's time to return home.

It's funny, because the word stuck in my mind yesterday at the box was "homecoming".

 

Coaches remembered and welcomed me before I could even say hello. Mind you, I've only been there once last summer during the community meetup, couple o' times this year for the Open and once again this summer for Compete Live Athens and barring the Open, all the others I was one of hundreds attending. After we were done with the paperwork, I hung around and watched the weightlifting class. Somehow there were more people than what I'm used to and even they were all taking and joking, it didn't feel like "noise" and it was somehow disciplined; nobody was being lazy and thankfully nobody was shooting 1RM videos for social media (yeah, I've seen that often at my old box *sigh*).

 

WOD itself was a 4,5 min AMRAP race: 60" Deadlifts, 60" Handstand Pushups, 45" DLs, 45" HSPUs, 30" DLs, 30" HSPUs.

- How this would have gone down at my old box (CF Chalandri): Coach shows the scaled HSPU using a box, has us do a few DLs to warmup, probably sets up his own work stations to join in and we're off. Situp pillows are mandatory for HSPUs for security reasons.

- How this went down (CF Pireaus): Coach shows the scaled HSPU using a box, elaborating on shades of scaling achievable by either bringing the hands closer to the box or turning it over to have the body higher. He says there's no point having it all the way up (70 inches) like he's seen some doing, it's non-functional and it's better to move on to the wall. He then explains the movement standards (full range of motion, locked elbows, hips touching the wall plus the latest addition of a "height minimum" for the ankles at full extension) and that for this WOD, best case scenario is to do strict HSPUs but if we use kipping it doesn't affect scores (he goes on to show both movements). He explains that HSPUs only count if the head touches the floor, but we can use one of the yoga mats if we like; anything else (i.e. situp pillows) is considered scaled. After we do some deadlifts, coach tells us to load up to a point where we can pump out many reps real quick. He explains there's no point going heavy and struggling in a 4,5' WOD so we should leave our egos aside and go as light/scaled as needed because finishing with a score of 20 is not "having worked out". He also gives us a little tip, that since such WODs are quick sprints, it's best to enter them with a high heart rate, so he has us doing burpees before the clock starts.

Do I even need to comment?

 

For the first time ever, I did the "proper" HSPUs using a mat. Got a total of 114lbs (~50kg) on the bar and scored 60 reps plus 3-4 no reps on the HSPUs. I got my WODify access codes a few hours ago and I can now log in to see that I ranked 28th out of 37 male athletes (the first 11 being those that Rx'd it at 225lbs), which somehow makes the scoring feel like it matters, moreso than just writing it down on a blackboard. Especially CF Chalandri's blackboard which nobody checked and nobody cared if you actually wrote down your own score.

 

This WODify thingy also lets me know that today's WOD is a 5 - 5 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 1 Back Squat.

 

 

 

Watch out @Endor

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

You have found where you belong. I'm happy for you.

[Agnarr]

Sure sounds like a homecoming. I'm happy for you, Commander

 

 

Also, that WODify thing is awesome!

[Endor]

20 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Watch out

Ha ha I thought my DL PR might stir your competitive spirit again!  Glad to hear you've stopped fannying about with knee pads and got back to the real work!  Piraeus sounds like just the ticket.

 

Bring it on, a new CF box opens 1km from my house this Saturday and I'm friends with the owner......

 

[DarK_RaideR]

Some days you just walk into the box to find the guys installing a pegboard...

 

The horror

 

...and despite the mixed feelings of awe, excitement and terror, you know you've made the right choice to join them.

 

I meant to attend the 18:00-19:00 class but found out there was only a beginners class scheduled. Gave myself 10' to try out the Assault Air Bike for the first time ever and think things through. Since a part of the box was available for Open Gym, I thought I'd spend the hour there and be home to the SRLF on time instead of waiting until the 19:00-20:00 class. Did a little double unders work, a skill which of course has deteriorated after 1,5 month of single unders using heavy ropes in Muay Thai, before I noticed a guy setting up racks and a barbell. I asked and he was planning on doing squats, so I suggested we take turns, load weights together etc. Turns out we both had the same thing in mind, to use the Open Gym hour in order to try out the WOD.

 

This is how it went for me

10 x 64 lb

5 x 74 lb

3 x 94 lb

3 x 104 lb

3 x 124 lb

2 x 134 lb

2 x 154 lb

1 x 164 lb

1 x 184 lb

1 x 194 lb

1 x 214 lb

1 x 234 lb

Last one was the first to give me a little trouble and I felt like I had a heavier lift or two in me, but since my rough calculations (234 lb ~ 117 kg) said I was close to my PR, I went to check on a printed comparison chart that stands by the entrance. Apparently, it was more like 106kg but by the time I got back to the bar, it had been unloaded by the other guy, who thought we were both done. Kinda felt like a douchebro if I was to load it again, plus I'm fresh back into crossfitting, so I decided to call it a day.

 

Soon, @Endor, soon...

[Endor]

lbs are just wrong

 

what's your BS PR at the moment? I hit 122kg last week  

 

never tried peg board, I agree it looks awesome/awful/scary/fun! 

 

I think you've found a great box by the looks of it, so exciting!

[DarK_RaideR]

lbs are just wrong

I'll have to agree, but CFP uses those so I went with that. Guess it's because they want to be followinf CF/Open/Whatever standards to the extreme

 

what's your BS PR at the moment? I hit 122kg last week  

I thought either 110 or 120 kg, which is why I went to check (and it all went to hell). Apparently, my BS PR is 115kg and 120kg is my DL PR. Considering how 234lb/106kg felt, I think I'm well within range of crushing yours

 

never tried peg board, I agree it looks awesome/awful/scary/fun! 

True that. The running joke was "never mind if you fall from the top, if a peg stays up there how are you gonna retrieve it?"

 

I think you've found a great box by the looks of it, so exciting!

You know it. It's their t-shirt that fueled most of your PRs

[DarK_RaideR]

SRLF's Krav Maga instructor invited people for a friendly workout on Saturday and since I missed Friday's running WOD at the box due to rain, I attended. Of course, it was raining again but at least there was less running involved. Dude said he was "inspired by Murph and wanted to do an endurance-style workout with basic moves and running inbetween". This translates to a 1km run before and after the moves, but due to rain the first part was turned into 40x5m shuttle runs.

 

Here's what it looked like:

200m shuttle run

50 pullups

200m shuttle run

50 Handstand Pushups

200m shuttle run

50 KB Swings

200m shuttle run

50 Goblet Squats

1km run

 

My matress has been giving me lower back pain for a while now, so I was done by the HSPUs. Having to reach down and touch the ground after every 5m shuttle run didn't help either, so I pushed hard to get past the swings and squats (20kg KB) and never made it to the final 1km run. I should also note that my double under skill is slowly coming back, this time I was able to consistently string together 8 or more DUs. Baby steps again.

 

Here's Seth Rollins being significantly more badass than me

 

[DarK_RaideR]

Monday, 25 October

Eating was spot on and first workout of the week was Helton, a Hero WOD:

 

3 Rounds for time of:
800m Run
30 Dumbbell Squat Cleans, 50lb
30 Burpees

 

Did round 1 using 14kg kettlebells but my back came to haunt me again (first thing after paying off my Masters', I'm getting a new matress) and I got slowed down and handicapped for the rest. Other two rounds were done using 7,5kg dumbbells and kudos to the crew there that kept me around while the next class warmed up, allowing me to finish in a gruelling 43:30. At the old box of CF Chalandri there would have been a time cap to stop me and clear the floor for next class. Worst part, it would have made me drag until the clock saved me. CF Pireaus won't stand for that crap, such WODs are meant to be finished and that's exactly what happened.