Human Race 10K in Jaco Beach

This weekend I went on a trip to Jaco Beach- 2 hours outside of San Jose. My plan was to do a little sight seeing and learn to surf. Having done a lot of boogie boarding growing up and trying a surf board a few times, I was fairly confident I would be able to go out and start catching waves. I was feeling pretty cool walking to the beach with the board under my arm until I actually strapped it on and took it in the water. The coolness quickly turned into "total loser"! As I paddled towards the oncoming waves I was unable to lay on the board long enough to get through them and was thrashed around like a rag doll. After many attempts at trying to paddle out past the white-wash, I finally gave up on the surf board and took it back to swap for a boogie board. My broken ego was quickly restored after catching some nice waves.
The next day, at the surf shop, we saw a flyer for a free 10k. It wasn't official but it was organized to run as the Nike Human Race that was being held around the world at the same time. To make it a daily Crossfit workout I was going to run it hard and shoot for 45 minutes. Thanks to a guy ahead of me, I ended up running it in 40.10.

Almost puked at the finish line but a good end to the month!

Deadlifts

Wow, this one caught me by surprise. Not your usual fatiguing workout but more of a strength exercise. I can definitely see I'm gaining strength. Here's the workout with my weights in parenthesis.

Deadlift: 1 (205)-1 (235)-1 (245)-1 (265)-1 (285)-1 (290)-1 (300) reps

That last one was a killer!

No time to think!

Ok this workout went so fast that I wasn't able to keep up with the number of reps I did for each excercise. I guess it's a good way to keep your mind focused under rigorous situations. The numbers in parenthesis are the total number of reps I think I did. So here's how it went:

"Tabata Something Else"

Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where:

the first 8 intervals are pull-ups (27)
the second 8 are push-ups (95)
the third 8 intervals are sit-up (150)
the last 8 intervals are squats (100)

Week 9- Back to business

Even though last weeks workouts were tough, I'm feeling I could have done a little more. Being away and around old friends for a week makes a bit difficult to get the proper workouts in. Anyway, I'm back in Costa Rica and starting the week off with surprisingly good results. In this workout, I was able to do the entire workout without much rest. I'm finally able to do kipping pull-ups (see video), which are much more efficient than your regular pull-up. Here's the WOD with my scaling in parenthesis.

Three rounds, 15-12- and 9 reps, for time of:

-135 pound Thruster (90lb)

-Muscle-ups (3 pull-ups & 3 bar-dips to count as 1 muscle-up)

Crossfit gym in Altanta

I was driving through the neighborhood where I'm staying and noticed a Crossfit gym. I drove by to get a closer look but they were closing up. Luckily they had pull-up bars outside so I came back at a later time to do the WOD. I had to substitute the dips with push-ups. This time I was able to do 15 pull-ups without stopping.


For time:
50 Pull-ups
50 Push-ups
40 Pull-ups
40 Push-ups
30 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
20 Pull-ups
20 Push-ups
10 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups

In Atlanta

I'm in Atlanta for 6 days so I'm going to have to make some adjustments to my workouts. I went running with my friend Lenia this morning. I ran 4 miles and she ran 5. After the run, I did a little jump rope. Here's the workout:

4 mile run
3 rounds of 50 double unders (see video)

Long Workout

This workout took me 1 hour 5min to complete. I had to take a lot of breaks in between the 50 and 35 pullup rounds. I also adjusted the weight from 95lbs to 90lbs. Tough workout!

For time:
10 GHD Sit-ups
10 Hip & Back Extensions
90 pound Thrusters, 30 reps
50 Pull-ups

30 GHD Sit-ups
30 Hip & Back Extensions
90 pound Thrusters, 20 reps
35 Pull-ups

50 GHD Sit-ups
50 Hip & Back Extensions
90 pound Thrusters, 10 reps
20 Pull-ups

Week 8- 5K

I was definitely looking forward to this one. I was shooting for 22 minutes and surprised myself with: 21:21

Own workout

My gym was closed today so I tried sticking to Crossfit but not as hard. I ended up running to the park and did 70 pullups and 70 pushups. I ran a total of 4k at a moderate pace with a few hills thrown in the mix.

Wallballs

This was another new one for me. It called for a 20lb medicine ball so I had to go to Hiper-Mas (a Wal-Mart store) to purchase a basketball to make into a medicine ball. I cut a 3 inch gash into the ball and filled it with dirt and rocks. After weighing it on a bathroom scale I stitched it up and covered the stitches with silicone adhesive to keep as much air as possible when reinflating. I then covered it with duct tape to keep the gash from reopening. Here's the workout and a video.

150 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
(I had to break these up into 25 rep sets)

New excercise and more pullups

I did a new excercise today (see vid below) and of course, more pull-ups. I can feel the pull-ups are getting easier- I can now do 11 w/out stopping to rest.

45 pound Dumbbell squat snatch, left arm, 21 reps (20lb d-bell)
45 pound Dumbbell squat snatch, right arm, 21 reps (20lb d-bell)
42 Pull-ups

45 pound Dumbbell squat snatch, left arm, 15 reps (20lb d-bell)
45 pound Dumbbell squat snatch, right arm, 15 reps (20lb d-bell)
30 Pull-ups

45 pound Dumbbell squat snatch, left arm, 9 reps (30lb d-bell)
45 pound Dumbbell squat snatch, right arm, 9 reps (30lb d-bell)
18 Pull-ups

Week 7- Strength Check Today

I like these short workouts. They're still tough but they end a lot faster. By the way, I took Monday off.


Back Squat 5-5-5-5-5 reps

Weight used: 185-225-225-225-230lbs

Running

Today's running workout included a little twist- running 400m backwards. I'd never done this and found that it burns the hamstrings. Also, my goal for these runs is to keep it under 1:30 per 400m. I missed it by a few seconds on this one.


For time:

Run 800 meters (3.01)
Run 400 meters backwards (forgot to time)
Run 800 meters (3.07)
Run 400 meters backwards

Sumo Action!

As with most of my workouts, I had to substitute the rowing and lower the weight on the Thruster. You can view demos in previous posts.


Row 1000 meters (substituted with 45lb Sumo Dead Lift High Pull)
85 pound Thruster, 21 reps (used 75lbs)
15 Pull-ups

Row 750 meters
85 pound Thruster, 18 reps
12 Pull-ups

Row 500 meters
85 pound Thruster, 15 reps
9 Pull-ups

Easy Day

Today I decided to take it easy and do my own workout. I went for a moderately paced run with a few hills- approx 5k. Took 22 min.

More Pull-ups!

Crossfit really likes pull-ups. Actually this workout called for muscle-ups and since I don't have the equipment for those, I used their suggestion and did pull-ups and bar dips. Plus, I can't do muscle-ups anyway........at least not yet.

120 pull-ups (actual: 90)
120 bar dips (actual: 90)

Week 6- Back to Regular Workouts

Again, I decided to take Monday off after a fun filled weekend at the volcano. Tody called for more running and some weight training. This time I'm doing 400m runs and will be pushing for under 1min 30sec per.

Three rounds for time:

400m (averaged 1min 25 sec)
21 dumbell swings (30lbs)
12 pull-ups

Another active weekend

Friday afternoon we went to check out Arenal volcano in La Fortuna. Many activities to do there (water rafting, hiking, swimming, horse back, quad riding, zip lining and probably more). Saturday morning we all hiked 7k to a waterfall near the base of the volcano. The hike is fairly easy until you have to climb (almost vertically) back up from the waterfall. The next morning we did a shorter but more difficult hike to Cerro Chato- a lake-filled volcanic crater. This hike was probably only 2 km but the majority of it consisting of almost vertical hiking. Check out the pics.

Here's Cindy ready to conquer the mountain.

And me smiling at it!

Legs sore from yesterday's run but still pushin'

Yesterday was tough but after a good night sleep I'm ready for today. Plus, it looks like a short workout anyway.

1 rep of each for weight:

Squat: 265lbs
Shoulder Press: 175lbs
Deadlift: 225lbs