My First Fran & An OPT Tester

"If I were a smoker I would have died today"
A lot of words today. I bolded the important things for the skimmers, like myself. Videos below. Overall a good week of training. Week 5 is hell at school, it is the halfway point of the quarter. I had 3 mid terms this past week, so I was relatively busy preparing for them. I also had a handful of testers this week in my training as well. Nothing crazier than what I have been doing, but rather benchmarks with a "name", so I get a bit more anxious leading up to these ones.
I knew Fran was coming up in my training, it was just a matter of time. My past few Sundays have involved sessions that were very "Fran Like" in terms of time domains and how I might essentially feel, so I knew I would soon be doing it. On Monday I got my week of training. I skimmed through it at first and saw Grace on Friday, and Fran and an OPT tester for Sunday. I knew it was going to be a tough weekend, and it was only Monday at that point. I hadn't done Fran before, but everybody talks about Fran and how awful the work out is. I didn't think it would be harder than anything I have done leading up to it, except it has a name and is a benchmark so it seems like a bigger deal. My plan was to attack Fran and hoping to walk away not feeling any worse than I have previously felt in other work outs.
Sunday - LEnd3 x 2 sessions
AM
Fran as rx'd - go all out, no pacing, trust your engine!
3:23
Well, I felt horrible. Crashed on the set of 15 pull ups and everything from then on was tough; thrusters, pull ups and even jumping up to the pull up bar which has never been an issue. I thought I would make it through the 15's and 9 thrusters unbroken and the only thing I thought I may have to break were the 9 pull ups. I managed to keep the thrusters unbroken , thank god or else I would have been really upset. I look at the video and see myself resting a lot and it's annoying but I felt awful and was trying my best, it was a lot worse than it looks. Definitely hope for a better time next time (like always), especially now that I know how I held up and where I fell apart. BUT, I hope it's a while until I do that again, it was just as awful as everyone talked it up to be. I threw up after and recovery was about 20 mins. Does anybody know a good female Fran time? Sub 3? I've been looking and seeing things from 2:40 all the way till 4:00 for some of the top athletes, some stats are old and some are new so I guess this is a good general time frame and I fall in the middle which is cool; a 3:23 Fran for me is good. A few months ago I would tell people that IF I HAD to do Fran I would hope for sub 5. I have come a long way in the past 6 months and today I knew sub 4 was possible, and wanted more like 3 mins, which is what I was shooting for. Testers are always tough but a great way to evaluate my training and hard work, which seems to all be heading in the right direction! Thanks Michael.

PM
For time:
Row 250m
15 pushup burpees
25 Kbs - 24 kg
15 pushup burpees
Row 250m
4:15
I looked up good scores for this, some of the better females were about 4:30 back in November, so I feel pretty good here, I would not have done this well in November though. Rows were fast and everything felt good. Second set of burpees was slower than I was shooting for, but overall I felt good here kind of took KBS as my recovery but 25 reps was a bit too long and I felt like I was working rather than recovering by rep 18. Last row was finished a few seconds after my last pull, I didn't pull all the way till 250m but waited till it rolled to 250m. I think the rows were about the same time but I was definitely trying harder and feeling worse on the second one. After, I had bad lung burn but overall felt like a million bucks compared to this morning!

Fran from Chelsea Ryan on Vimeo.

OPT Tester: Row/Burpees/KB/Burpees/Row from Chelsea Ryan on Vimeo.
Overall a good week and weekend of training. I have looked up some scores and I feel that my Grace time is one of the better times I have seen. I compare myself to the best athletes (because I want to be the best) and I have a better performance on Grace than a lot of the athletes I looked up (men included). My Fran time falls in the middle range, which is fine. Grace is more in my wheel house than Fran, both mentally and physically. The OPT tester went well, I wanted under 4:30 and finished with a time that compares well with other lady Big Dawgs I felt good here there wasn't really a moment where I just crapped out, things slowed down but I stayed moving. I feel like I have a better handle on the 3 to 4 minute time domains than I did last week.

Power Snatch 2RM 138# & 180# Clean and Jerk

Another day feeling stronger than ever!
TRAINING:
A. Power Snatch, build to 2RM (5 sec b/t reps on ground)
B. Squat Clean and Split Jerk, 1 rep per min for 10 mins - add load slowly as you can, start @ 155lb
C. Hang Squat Snatch, 10-10-10, 10 min - 135lb for first set
RESULTS:
A. 138# (PR) never even done this for a single
B. 155#, 155#, 158#, 158#, 160#, 160#, 163#, 165#, 175#, 180# PR!

C. Did not complete. I got 3 in my first set before my hands ripped. Feel okay with 3 reps considering 135# was my previous 1RM for the hang squat snatch.

Left Thumb :(

I've never seen anything like this, so I probably did something wrong. Here's the pic in a non D-Bag way because I'm not proud of it and I don't think it's cool at all. I called it for today after this set of 3 because my hands were stinging and gripping even an empty bar wasn't going to happen. I thought about it for maybe 10 minutes on a way to somehow complete this part "C" but came to the conclusion that calling it for the day would be the smartest decision to make. Washing my hands after was a nightmare. 
Really hate when I can't complete a work out as written, but with 2 PR's today I can't be too disappointed in myself. I guess it's 3 PRs with 135# hang squat snatch being a new 3RM.
Hope the hands heel quick and back at it again tomorrow :)


138# Power Snatch x 2/ 180# C&j/ 135# hang squat snatches from Chelsea Ryan on Vimeo.

140# Hang Squat Clean x 10

A. Split Jerk, 2-2-1-1, 5 min
B. Power Clean Cluster, 1.1.1.1.1 x 3 sets, 5 min
C. Hang Squat Clean, 10-10-10, 10 min - 125lb for first set
RESULTS
A. 170#x2, 175#x2, 185#x1, 190# fail
B. 160#, 168#, 173# 1. F. F. 1. 1
C. 125#, 135#, 140#
Feeling strong today. Got annoyed that I missed the 190# jerk but moved on because I was excited for the next part of the work out.
Power Cleans felt solid, especially at 168# I felt really good. 173# gave me some trouble, reps 2 and 3 were soft, once I addressed this issue with a little aggression, I was able to make reps 4 and 5.
Hang squat cleans were good, I think I went a little conservative on the weights, I had never done 10 reps. I contemplated going to 145# for the last set but was too worried I would miss at rep 8 or 9, 140# was a good weight but I think I have some more in me.

Jan 20 from Chelsea Ryan on Vimeo.

ProAnox!

Today I got my frist sponsorship, ProAnox Systems Inc. Very proud to have been given this opportunity to represent ProAnox, especially during the upcoming CrossFit season. Overall today ended up being okay, but it was one of those days where I was running around doing things all day, especially being the first day back to school and having to buy books and get my classes squared out. Anyways not the best day but ended up hitting a PR and getting a sponsorship so it turned around!

TRAINING:
A. Clean and Jerk, build to a tough single
B. Power Snatch, 3 touch n go reps per min for 5 mins @ 115lbs
C. 10 sets ALL OUT:
3 HSPU
5 Chest to Bar Chin-ups
25 Double Unders
Rest 2 min
D. Row 2000m @ 80% effort

RESULTS:
A. 178# (pr) failed 183# but I know I can do that and maybe more. Still need to get a deeper split esp at the heavy weights. Squat clean was pretty tough but jerk still felt okay. Not really that stoked on 178#, wish I could have put up 180#+ but still a PR
B. Completed, rounds 1 through 3 were easy, 4 and 5 I didn't feel as controlled
C. Felt great. HSPU all strict and UB, c2b were butterfly and felt strong rounds were 23 to 27 seconds
D. 8:32.2 felt good and a true 80%

178# Clean and Jerk from Chelsea Ryan on Vimeo.

Dec 23

AM
4 x 60 sec Row @ 50%/90 sec Row @ 80-85% - damper @ 3
+
10 min rest
+
4 x 60 sec Row @ 50%/90 sec Row @ 80-85% - damper @ 3
2,275 m (2:11.9 ave, 50% about 2:35, 85% about 1:57)
+
2,292 m (2:10.9 ave, 50% about 2:35, 85% about 1:56)
Noon
A. Front Squat @ 20X1, 2-2-2, 5 min
B. Hang Squat Clean, build to 1RM
C. touch n go Squat Clean Ladder for time (6-->1 @ 135lb) - bar cannot rest on floor, only in front rack position, not at hips
A. 180#, 185#, 190# (new 2RM!)
B. 175# pretty frustrated, can't stand up with 180# but can catch it fine.
C. 3:20 .... may have done this wrong
PM
10 rounds for time:
3 HSPU
6 Chest to Bar Chin-ups
9 Box Jumps - 30"
12:55
HSPU and pull ups unbroken. BJ's were step down at a consistent pace. took a few seconds transition between exercises. 


Didn't feel 100% today. Been fighting some kind of bug and it hit me yesterday. Feeling better than I did yesterday, but heavy breathing causes lots of coughing! Recovery this weekend will be key and hopefully I will be healthy Monday!

Construction Series 2

Event 1:
25 min time cap
Find 1RM Power Snatch (in kilos)
1 attempt for max c2b
135# Power Snatch (61 kg)
25 pull ups


Rest 45 min

Event 2:
"LITTLE LIZ"
15 - 10 - 5
Squat Clean 135#/ 95#
Ring Dips
4:48
*Couldn't lock out the 3rd ring dip on the round of 5, so did 6 total there.


Rest 2 hours

Event 3:
27 Min
5k Row
do as many burpees in the remaining time
score is burpees
65 Burpees


I paced the row perfectly and felt great. I got off the rower hardly breathing heavy. Paced at 2:15 with 4 hard strokes every 500, 
Burpees were slow and even at a slow, consistent pace I died pretty early. 

Birthday Work Out

I'm 22 today! I'm aging like wine, the older I get the better! haha, but people keep telling me "the best is yet to come". Excited to find out what that means!
The past week has been brutal at school. For the past 4 years I have had finals over my bday. Here is a quick recap of what's been going on besides my work outs. 10 weeks of lectures and it comes down to this:
Last week
10 page paper due in my Central American History Class on the Mara Salvatrucha
December 6:
26 page paper for my capstone: The Effects of alcohol consumption and sports participation on academic achievement, and a 10 min presentation on my findings.
10 page paper: Proving that philosophy can be considered a religious tradition (brutal, i was in over my head this whole class. philosophy and religion.... woooaaa)
Today: Study study study
Tomorrow:
7 page paper on teenage tobacco use
Central American Final Exam (Definitely going to be challenging)
Deviant Behavior Final Exam (not worried about this, should be easy, actually forgot I had this final till this week)

Tomorrow I will be done with school until January 9th. This is the home stretch and I cannot wait! Dec 8 will start 4 weeks of 100% focus on my training because I will have no other obligations, woo!

TRAINING:
3 sets:
5 Power Snatch - 115lb
Run 90 sec @ 85%
Rest 2 min
+
3 sets:
5 hang squat clean - 135lb
Airdyne 90 sec @ 85%
Rest 2 min
+
5 sets:
10 Hand Release Push-ups
15 Unanchored Sit-ups
20 Back Extensions
2 min
RESULTS:
TNG all sets, 400m all sets (pretty cool, set 1 okay, set 2 sloppy, set 3 good first 4 reps the 5th was a lucky press out,  grip was tough and fatiguing even in the hook)
+
TNG all sets, monitor broken but 85% effort, legs felt like bricks
+
1:05/ 1:01/ 1:00/ 1:01/ :59

Feeling better today, much more rested and was ready to hit these work outs today! Probably should have settled down on the snatches a bit but I was excited to be able to do that them TnG, wasn't expecting that.

OPT Dec 5

5 minutes of work @ 80-85% aerobic effort:
3 HSPU
12 Walking Lunges
11 rounds + 3 HSPU (all strict hspu)


--5 min active rest


5 min work @ 80-85%:
5 Chest to Bar Chin-ups
35 Double Unders
5 rounds + 5 c2b + 31 DU


--5 min active rest


5 min work @ 80-85%:
10 Wall Balls - 14#/10 ft
10 Box Jumps - 24" - step down each rep
4 rounds + 10 wall ball


--5 min active rest


5 min work @ 80-85%;
3 toes to bar
3 push-up burpees
11 rounds + 3 t2b

OPT Dec 4

TRAINING:
AM
4 sets ALL OUT:
5 Thrusters - 115lb
20 sec Airdyne
+
4 sets ALL OUT:
15 KBS - 32kg
9 Push-up Burpees

PM
Run 3k for time

RESULTS:
AM
First set of thrusters took 15 seconds, bar positioning was a bit off so the reps weren't quite as fast. Sets 2, 3, and 4 thrusters were 11 seconds. Positioning on these sets was good and I felt really powerful today. (Bar taken from ground). Airdyne monitor doesn't work but kept the RPM's maxed out.
+
All sets 46 seconds. KB had a tilt at the top, I wanted to keep it fast so I didn't worry too much about keeping the kb vertical.

*Both of these intervals this morning were brutal. Just the right amount of weight, reps and work time to go all out and not slow down.
PM
13:43
Over a minute faster than at the Optathlon (14:57)
A new PR (previous 14:14)

Mentally broke it up into 7 x 400's paced at about 1:50, and just gave the last half lap all I had left. This went better for me, just trying to think 1 lap at a time. Some laps took a bit longer and others were a bit shorter, but the good news is the first half was slower than the second half, not by a whole lot though, but it tells me my pacing was better than previous times where I slowed down in the last couple laps. Lap 3 was the toughest for me, felt like I was pushing the hardest to maintain pace, but after that I got in a better groove, most likely a result of a not so great warm up.
I'm definitely exhausted after today.

Snatch PR!

TRAINING:
A. Snatch, build to 95% RM for a single
B. Clean and Jerk, build to 95% RM for a single
C. Back Squat @ 20X1, 3-2-1, 5 min
D. 30 Muscle-ups for time
RESULTS:
A. 153#
B. 173#
C. 195#, 205#, 215#
D. 10:21

No idea where the Snatch PR came from! I used to practice snatches all the time, and I have not touched a heavy snatch since right before the OPTathlon, when I was anticipating it to be part of the competition. Very proud, it has been about 5 months since my last PR of 69 kg. Still jumping forward a bit, having trouble keeping that upright torso, and not quite opening my hips all the way, but catch and speed under the bar seems solid. Still lots of room to improve!
Clean and Jerk felt okay today. Went with a power clean and 173# went up pretty easy, so made the jump to 180# and just barely missed the jerk.
Back squats felt good today
Muscle up notes: halfway @ 3:42, 2 fails on the pull, 2 fails on the dip, huge blister that ripped at the bottom of my palm from the false grip at rep 26.

A Nasty Thursday

TRAINING:

2 sets @ 90-95%:

25 Chin-ups
20 Thrusters - 65lb
15 KBS - 24kg

+

2 sets @ 95% effort - 2 min time limit:

Row 400m
AMRAP Burpees in remaining time limit

RESULTS:
Unbroken 1:45, 1:45
+
Row 1: 1:28.1 & 12 burpees
Row 2: 1:28.0 & 12 burpees

Happy to get those unbroken, butterfly pullups were a bit out of control today, i get too excited when i don't have to do c2b.After the first set of intervals I had a nasty cough and my forearms were cramping like crazy! I didn't think my forearms/grip would recover in 20 minutes for the rows, but they did in the later half. Definitely felt like my grip was fatigued during the rows.

OPT Nov 30

TRAINING:
3 sets:

6 touch n go clean and jerk - 115lb
Run 90 sec @ 85%
Rest 2 min
All runs 400m
+

3 sets:

9 hang power clean - 115lb
Row 90 sec @ 85%
Rest 2 min
390m (1:55.4 ave), 386m (1:56.5 ave), 380m (158.4 ave)
+

5 sets @ 80%:

5 Wall Climbs
10 toes to bar
10/leg pistols
60 sec rest
Wall climbs are tough to breathe on, but strong/flexible shoulders make the movement manageable, t2b were 6/4 till the last set where i did 5/3/2 because my hand was close to ripping, pistols went went fine too.

Squats

I got out of class early so I had some extra time and decided to do some squats. I have been frustrated at how weak my squat numbers are, but squatting is new to me and I have never really been on a squat program so the only way to go from here is up. The more I squat, the more I feel myself getting in a better position, especially in the back squats. Today would usually be a rest day but I had some time so here is what I did: I kept the reps short because the volume is what gets me sore and I did back squats rather than front squats since I feel less confident in a back squat. Based the rep numbers on feel in the later sets, and stopped while I was still feeling strong and in good form. My torso feels way more upright now and my ass feels like it drops down rather than sticking it way back.
No tempo.
165# x 3
175# x 3
185# x 3
195# x 3
200# x 2
205# x 2

OPT Nov 28

TRAINING:

4 minutes of work @ 80-85% aerobic effort:
1 muscle-up
25 double unders

--4 min active rest

4 min work @ 80-85%:
3 ring dips
10/arm KB Snatch - 16kg

--4 min active rest

4 min work @ 80-85%:
5 Power Snatch - 65lb
15 Box Jumps - 24" - step down each rep

--4 min active rest

4 min work @ 80-85%;
Run 100m
6 Wall Balls - 20#/10ft

RESULTS:
7 rounds + 1 mu (had a lot of trips today on du's)
+
run
+
4 rds
+
row
+
4 rds (box jumps felt better than last time even though today was more reps)
+
run
+
5 rds + 50 m (been a while since I have thrown the 20# ball, felt heavier than I remember)

Nov 27

TRAINING:
AM

4 sets ALL OUT:
9 Thrusters - 95lb
15 sec Airdyne
Rest 5 min

+

4 sets ALL OUT:
12 Push-up Burpees
12 SDLHP - 75lb
Rest 5 min

PM

3 x Run 3 min @ 70-75% HR/Run 3 min @ 80-85% HR

RESULTS:
AM
Thrusters felt good, I move well with heavy thrusters and the heavier weight doesn't phase me too much, so it's a good movement for me. All sets in 18 - 19 seconds
+
42s, 43s, 45s x 2
PUB are tough!

PM
150-155/170-175, 3150m

OPT Nov 26

TRAINING:

A. Power Snatch, build to a tough single, rest as needed
B. Power Clean and Push Press Cluster, 1.1.1.1.1 x 3 sets, 5 min
C1. Back Squat @ 20X1, 5-5-5-5, 2 min
C2. Wtd Ring Dips @ 30X0, 3-5 reps x 4 sets, 2 min

RESULTS:

A. 130#
B. 130#, 135# (failed 5th push press), 138#
C1. 168#, 173#, 178#, 183#
C2. 20# (5), 25# (5), 28# (4), 32# (3)

Nov 24

TRAINING:

5 sets @ 90-95%:
10 chest to bar chin-ups
12 clean and jerk - 75lb
15 push-up burpees
Rest 5 x work time


RESULTS:
1:26
1:32
1:33
1:57
1:52

Overall: Butterfly pull ups went well. I feel comfortable and finally feel like I know what I'm doing without thinking so hard. Burpees were painfully slow.
Round 1 through 3 were exactly how i expected, very difficult but I was able to make my way through. Times stayed relatively close. My grip was shot by round 3, but I absolutely crashed on round 4. About a minute after round 4 I started throwing up. This is only the second time I've ever fully thrown up on a work out. The other time was a work out with some disgusting intervals involving heavy KBS, high BJ's, and some other stuff. Anyways, after a few minutes, I attempted round 5 and still felt terrible. After round 5 I continued to throw up. Maybe I should have "called it" after round 4, but I just wanted to fight through it to see how I felt, obviously terrible. A few hours later, still not feeling great.


Anyways, happy Thanksgiving!
Can't wait to cool off and eat up later. Family from New York is in town for the week should be a great day to eat the delicious food my mom and grandma have made for us.

OPT Nov 23

TRAINING:

3 sets:
6 touch n go power clean - 135lb
Run 2 min @ 85%
Rest 3 min
+
3 sets:
9 back Squat - 135lb
Row 2 min @ 85%
Rest 3 min
+
5 sets @ 80%:
Handstand Walk as far as possible

50 ft bear crawl
50 ft walking lunges
90 sec rest


RESULTS:
Power Cleans completed with ease, runs felt really good. about 425m per round
+
Back Squats felt good, core felt solid. Row paces were 1:58.1 (508m) 1:58.6 (506m) for sets 2 and 3. I guess it's a good thing I got the exact same score on sets 2 and 3. I may be learning a bit about my engine and pacing, cool!
+
HSWalks went okay, about 20 feet each time, set 5 was the best with 25 feet, first time bear crawling so that was fun and lunges were fine.

OPT Nov 21

TRAINING:
3 minutes of work @ 80-85% aerobic effort:
1 muscle-up
12 walking lunges
--3 min active rest
3 min work @ 80-85%:
5 chin-ups
10 box jumps - 24" - step down each rep
--3 min active rest
3 min work @ 80-85%:
3 ring dips
15 kbs - 16kg
--3 min active rest
3 min work @ 80-85%;
Run 100m
3 push-up burpees
RESULTS:
7 rounds (focused on 1 perfect MU with a good kip in the dip)
+
rested with a run/row
+
4 rounds (butterfly pullups)
+
Airdyne
+
4 rounds + 3 ring dips
+
Row
+
5 rounds

OPT Nov 20

I woke up today feeling great. I expected to be sore from yesterday because I literally gave all I had to get those front squat loads. Now that I think about it though, maybe I will have some delayed soreness that will hit me tomorrow. I was a little frustrated yesterday that I missed my 3rd squat clean rep at 173#, but there is not much I could do about it since my legs just couldn't push anymore, and I guess 173# is heavy. By the time front squats came in my work out yesterday, I was already tired, but still was able to exceed my expectations. I am excited to keep getting stronger, squatting is new to me, and although I am already seeing some strength gains, I still have a long journey ahead of me, which is good. My very first front squat work out from Michael was sets of 5's at 30X1, I did these at 160#, yesterday I did my last set of 5 @20X1 at 168#. Seeing progress like this in my training is very motivating and exciting. I have a week off from school right now for Thanksgiving so it should be a great training week. I will go back to school for 1 week of classes then 1 week of finals which will lead me to my Christmas break. I have an entire month off and I can't wait. It should be the perfect time to train, without any other distractions or obligations. It's going to be awesome!

TRAINING:
3 sets ALL OUT:
6 DL - 185lbs
Run 20 sec
Rest 4 min
+
3 sets ALL OUT:
9 KBS - 32kg
Airdyne 30 sec hard
Rest 6 min


Today I did some heavy sprints which is right up my alley. I'm not sure the last time I deadlifted but it's been weeks, if not months. 185# felt the lightest it's ever felt. My back felt locked in position and everything felt tight. I set up my deadlift bar on the sidewalk and sprinted while it was pouring rain, it was pretty fun actually. Runs were about 140 -142m per round.
KBS felt lighter than ever. I focused on a vertical kettle bell at the top, which taxes my grip quite a bit more. 30 seconds airdyne was the toughest part today. I got better the 2nd and 3rd set, but the first set I came out way too hard and died at about 20 seconds and just held on until 30 seconds. I underestimated the length and difficulty of a 30 sec airdyne sprint. Airdyne monitor is broken, but the RPM's were maxed out the entire time, except the final 10 sec of the first set, where it dropped slightly below.