Marathon

An exert from my 'Life Journal':

Sunday 28^th August 2011

"I accomplished a real achievement today, something I had wanted to do for a while. A test of both physical capability and mental toughness. A Marathon. It was the annual Perth City to surf Marathon, that’s 42.2km or 26 miles. I had previously done the City to surf last year, though only the 12km course. This year I decided to give the marathon a go as my good friend Matt was planning on running it as well. Matt had the second round of his golf club championships the same afternoon, and the plan for him was to run in the morning, have a few hours rest and then play in the afternoon; I was so impressed he was going to do this, I offered to caddy for him! Matt had been training for this for a few months leading up to it; this included a 30km run 2 weeks before the event. My training was not so focused and never really happened apart from a session at Jacobs Ladder and some middle distance interval training. However, due to crossfit, I have never felt fitter or more capable physically and mentally in my life. It started at 6am, like usual Marshall/Lord style we got to the start line late and every athlete had already gone. The course took us from St Georges Tce towards the WACA, back down riverside drive, continued along Mounts Bay rd all the way to Tawarri, then back to the city through UWA. This was the first 21km, and we were feeling pretty good striding through the city as people cheered us on. From there we ran to Kings Park and through it, coming out we continued along Kings Park rd, through Subiaco, and then the final leg along Underwood Ave and down Oceanic drive (this was by far the most gruelling part). We had our arms around each other for the final 100m and stumbled through the finish line, both in a time of 4:44:00. Not bad for our first marathon. My body had never been that sore, I could barely walk. We both agreed there was no way we could walk 18 holes of a golf course and laughed at the naivety of the fact we thought we could. I had achieved something only a handful of the human population experience in their lifetime. Almost 5 hours of continuous running and discomfort; a lifetime of glory." 

catching up

Monday 22/8
WOD # 1:
5-5-5-5 hanging power cleans
My last 5 reps were at 65kg

WOD # 2:
5 rounds for time:
-10 hanging cleans  (40kg)
-5 push presses      (40kg)
-10 pull-ups
-5 toes to bar
My time= 11:02 (a real forearm burner!)

Tuesday 23/8
WOD # 1:
3-3-3-3-3 hanging squat cleans
My last set of 3 were at 60kg.

WOD # 2:
400m run
then 6 rounds of:
-3 squat cleans     (70kg)
-6 burpee bar hops
-9 air squats
400m run
My time= 14:08

Wednesday 24/8
WOD # 1:
Tabata dips on box
My accumulative score= 96 (avg 12 per round)

WOD # 2:
3 rounds:
-18 cockroaches
-12 push-ups
-6 box jumps   (28")
My time= 2:31

WOD # 3:
3 rounds:
-18 sit-ups
-12 pull-ups
-6 burpees
My time= 4:41

WOD # 4:
3 rounds:
-18 supermans
-12 dips
-6 pistols
My time= 3:10

WOD # 5:
50 air squats
My time= 51 seconds

Lots of short, fast, body weight workouts. This is good for a change, crossfit is constantly varied and so it is important to not only test yourself on the gruelling long workouts (30+ mins) but also on the short sprints. You never know what we may have to do in life!

Thursday 25/8

WOD # 1:
On the minute, every minute, for 10 minutes:
-5 power cleans (60kg)
-10 push ups
My score= completed all 10 rounds

WOD # 2:
Bottom-to-bottom tabata squats:
My accumulative score= 100 (avg 12.5 per round)

This is like the normal Tabata squat workout (20 secs work, 10 secs rest; 8 rounds) however, for the 10 seconds of rest you have to be holding the squat position... this makes it very interesting!

WOD #3:
1km run (clock starts as soon as tabata squats finish):
My time: 4:59

                         New Cooee Fundamental Group - Graduated

Congrats to huey, Naomi, Chris, Simon & David (not pictured). Looking forward to working out with you all in the near future!

Soo many thrusters

Wednesday 17/08
WOD 1:
15 min AMRAP:
-Run 1 km
then...
1 pull up/1 push up,
2 pull up/2 push up,
3 pull up/3 push up.. and so on until the end of the 15mins.
My score= 12/23
(meaning I completed 12 rounds of both, plus finished the 13 pull ups but only got to 10 push ups.)

WOD 2:
Max thrusters @ (45kg)
My result = 16 (note for self: nearly went through the window... maintain form!)

WOD 3:
AMRAP 2 mins of American KB swings:
score= KB weight x reps
My score= (28kg x 37) = 1036

Thursday 18/08
WOD 1:
400m sprint for time:
My time= 1:08

WOD 2:
21,18,15,12,9,6,3
-thrusters                    (45kg)
-one arm KB swings   (24kg)
My time= 17:56

This workout was intense! Was stoked that I was able to complete it under the 20 min cut-off. Anyone who has done thrusters would know that 84 of them is no joke! Funnily enough they didn't feel as bad as the KB swings as my legs and lower back were wrecked for these. Here's a pic of the final seconds of the workout.

                       Female gun, Jeni, and myself busting out the final few reps...

WOD 3:
Max pull ups:
My result= 22 (slipped off the bar while trying to reach PR of 26. Still only able to kip, time to practice the butterfly technique)

being lazy

So I've been lazy lately and am not keeping up with my workouts, so here they are:

Friday 12/08
WOD:
400m run
21,15,9,15,21
-American KB swings  (28kg)
-dying cockroaches
-double unders
400m run
My time: 12:45

Monday 15/08
WOD 1:
4 minute AMRAP
-5 pull ups
-6 weighted get ups (10kg)
-7 double unders
My score: 3/14

Weighted Get Ups are my most hated movement, there isn't one part of your body that isn't hurting during/after them. It is essentially getting up any way you can while you keep the weighted bumper plate above your head the entire time. Especially taxing on your shoulders, core and the one part of your ass you "fall" down on!

WOD 2:
4 rounds for time:
-10 pull ups
-15 weighted get ups (10kg)
-20 double unders
My time: 14:08

Tuesday 16/08
WOD:
5 rounds for time:
-5 Handstand Push ups
-10 front squats              (35kg)
-15 double unders
My time: 22:26

In true crossfit style I did this workout in my folks garage, late at night after work. There was something so liberating and peaceful about this setting. I managed to find a skipping rope, an old barbell Tim and I used to bench with during our "get big" stage and a bare wall; more than enough to work with. The squats and skipping were a breeze, but they were enough to elevate my heart rate for the handstands. This was by far the most time consuming movement, and one I really need to improve. In saying that i still managed to complete 25 of those bad boys by the end of the workout.

'Our Coaches'

My coaches blog recently got put up on the Cooee website under 'our coaches'. This is awesome!

JACK MARSHALLThe other Marshall – Forensic Investigation student, Jack – grew up playing a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, AFL and golf. However, after finishing high school he struggled to find a sport that challenged him both physically and mentally… until he was introduced to CrossFit via brother Tim. He quickly became hooked on the competitive yet undeniably friendly environment at Cooee CrossFit and knew he wanted to be a part of it. Jack is now a certified Level One CrossFit Trainer and Senior First Aider. He had his first taste of the sport side to CrossFit by competing in the 2011 CrossFit Games Open and has set a goal of one day representing Cooee CrossFit on the world stage at the CrossFit Games. He encourages everyone to work towards his or her own goals and will do anything to help them achieve it.

Marathon Training

I have signed up to do the city2surf marathon in less than 19 days! I have not done any real training for it until yesterday. I am really hoping crossfit will have prepared me enough for the 42km of misery. That being said, i met up with my good friend Matt who is also preparing for it. note we have a $50 dollar bet on who wins... seemed like a good idea at the time. We ran from Walcott st in Mt Lawley to Jacobs ladder (approx 4.5km), I did Jacobs ladder 7 times, Matt 8; Then ran home, another 4.5km. needless to say my legs were jelly the next day.

The plan is to do some longer runs (20-30km) this week, then some shorter runs in the week leading up to it. If that wasn't crazy enough to do a marathon with little training, Matt has his final round of his Golf Club Championship the afternoon of running the marathon. So he's going to play 18 holes of golf afterwards, I was so impressed i decided i had to see it for myself, so i'm caddying!...can't wait to see how this goes.

A Week's Worth

So i haven't posted for about 7 days as it is the first week back at uni, but i have done a few workouts amongst other things in that time.

Thursday 4/8
Wod 1:
Tabata Squats (20 secs on, 10 secs off. 8 rounds)
My score- 160 squats (20 per round avg)

Wod 2: (A cheeky one I programmed!)
3 rounds for time:
-20 pull ups
-20 box jumps     (24")
-20 burpees
My Time- 8:56

The second group of Fundamentals i have helped coach graduated tonight! Look out for them over the next few weeks as they tackle their first Cooee Wod's. Congrats to Alex, Paul, Beth, Pip, Jac, Sally, Esther & Junie!

Friday 5/8
wod:
4 rounds for time:
-25 thrusters         (40kg)
-400m run
-25 cockroaches
My time: 22:34

              Here is a look at the Cooee Box, and the 6am crew working hard through their thrusters!

Monday 8/8
Wod 1:
-800m run for time
My time: 2:46

Wod 2:
-10,20,30,40,50 double unders
-25,20,15,10,5   box jumps       (24")
My time: 5:19

Wod 3:
2 rounds for time:
-50 squats
-25 push ups
My time: 3:55

Tuesday 9/8
Wod 1:
21-15-9 of
-clean + jerk                 (40kg)
- american KB swings   (20kg)
-burpee bar hops
My time: 12:18

Wod 2:
For time:
-100 one-arm KB push presses  (12kg)
My time: 2:40

Wednesday 10/8
Wod: (Another design of mine)
-600m run
-20 hang cleans        (40kg)
-10 push ups
-20 front squats        (40kg)
-10 pull ups
-20 push press          (40kg)
-10 sit ups
-20 overhead squats (40kg)
-10 air squats
-600m run
My time: 15:32

Snatch Wednesday

The Snatch
3x3 wide grip deadlift  (80kg)
3x3 hang high pulls      (60kg)
3x3 snatch balance      (40kg)
3x1 Snatch                  (55kg)

WOD- "Isabel"
-30 snatches for time    (40kg)

My time= 3:31

Today was certainly a good day for practicing your snatches. The weights in brackets indicate the weight for the final set of each. I matched my Snatch PR of 55kg which felt pretty light, but piked out of even attempting to get under the 60kg. Also did the benchmark workout "Isabel", beating my old time of 5:17 with the same weight; An improvement but not nearly enough to match the almost unbelievable performance below..

http://youtu.be/PWNoy3RLmEY

Well worth a watch!