Saturday 31 Dec 11

Morning: Track

Run 6 x 400 meters (rest 90 seconds between intervals)

1. 1.09
2. 1.17
3. 1.20
4. 1.24
5. 1.23
6. 1.23

Notes: This interval work is great, but it's really difficult. Today's format made this interval work more difficult than in the past due to the short rest periods. I took 2 minutes when I was running 200s, and 3 minutes when I was running 800s. Taking only 90 seconds really changes the stimulus. My goal was to run each 400 in less than 70 seconds; however, as the records indicate, only my first interval was sub-70 seconds. Something to shoot for, I guess. I took a contrast shower as soon as I got home to help prepare for this afternoon's session. 30 seconds of hot water followed by 30 seconds of cold water for about 10 minutes. This really helps to recharge the body.

Afternoon: Balance Gym

Snatch drilling up to 60kg

Metcon: Complete the following:

Tabata sledgehammer strikes (16#)
Rest 1 minute
Tabata burpees
Rest 1 minute
Tabata sledgehammer strikes

Score: 11/5/10

Notes: Instructions from Choizilla were to work up to 60kg, my projected opener for the Baltimore Open in February. Things felt great up to 57.5kg; unfortunately, once I put 60kg on the bar, things fell apart. I took 3 attempts at 60kg and failed all of them. I'll be more concerned with the Oly lifts after Charlottesville. In the meantime, I'm just going to stay positive because most other areas of my fitness are trending in the right direction. I really love this metcon -- it's a CrossFit Football classic. I started out with 7 burpees per interval for the first four rounds, but I couldn't maintain the pace. I dropped to six for the next two rounds, and eventually down to five for the last two. I think 6 is an achievable score for tabata burpees, especially if I didn't start out trying to hit 7. The 16# hammer was heavier than what I've used in the past and it made a difference. All in all, it was a solid day of training and my body is become acclimated to the higher volume of training.