Rebok open 18.1 ranking

I finished 6 rounds and 4 reps (196reps) in the first of 5 workouts of the 2018 CrossFit Open. 18.1 was as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
8 toes to bars
10 DB hang clean and jerks with a 50lb DB
14 Calories of rowing
My 196 reps put me at 17,398th out of 28,270 in the world of 40-44 and I was in the 38th percentile.
912th out of 1,377 in the South West region of 40-44, which is in the 33rd percentile.
And 6th out of 6 of the 40-44 at Bear Canyon CrossFit, which is the 0 percentile. Haha.
I've got a long way to go. But I've come a long ways to. When I first started in October I couldn't do a single toes to bar. For the 18.1 open workout I did over 50!

Helen and Max overhead squats

Today in crossfit we tested Helen. Which is 3 rounds of:
400m run
21 kettlebell swings with 53lbs
10 pull-ups

I still can't do that many pull-ups. So I scaled down to 35lb DB and ring rows. I finished with a PR scaled time of 13:09.

On the overhead squats I finished with 255lbs. I think I could have done 10lbs more,but we ran out of time. My old weightlifiting coach Shane Miller used to tell me, "if you can overhead squat it, then you can snatch it." That's kind of exciting to think about! I'm really looking forward to the two New Mexico weightlifiting meets in May and June that Joaquin Chaves will be hosting this year.

CrossFit Open 18.1

I've been working out at CrossFit for 3 months now. I've lost 70lbs and have built a lot more speed and endurance. I out sprinted all three of my kids playing football the other day with them. That hasn't happened in years. I decided to try the Rebok crossfit open. The first workout, called 18.1 was as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 8 toes to bars, then 10 one arm dumbbell hang clean and jerks, then 14 calorie row. The most toes to bars I'd ever been able to do was 4 in a row. So I assumed I'd only be able to get 2 or 3 rounds completed. But I did much better than I even dreamed I could. I completed 6 rounds and another 4 reps. 196 reps total. I can't believe the progress I've made in only three months.

Squat struggles

The last month I've been struggling something horrible with my squats. On Friday I was scheduled to do a set of 3 at 395 pounds. I could only get 2 reps at 375. All of my lifts have increased except my squat. Squat. This is kind of shocking for me.  Squats always been my strength. I've never struggled with squats before. But at least everything else is still gaining.

Pulled pectoral update

I had pulled my pectoral muscle a little less than a month ago. My powerlifting coach Vernon Smith has been helping me to build up the weights on bench again while avoiding injury. Yesterday I built up to a set of 3 reps at 225lbs. It felt great. No pain and the weight felt easy.

Have I mentioned how much I love my powerlifting coach? Out of all the coaches I've ever had he's by far my favorite. And I've had a grip of coaches. Coaches in Football, track, jui-jitsue, triathlon, weightlifting, Powerlifting, and more. There has probably never been a more unlikely duo. I'm a hard core libertarian, he's a devout socialist. But he's accepting of our differences, is able to figure out the best plan for just about anything in regards to training. I've got a hell of a coach, I'm happy to have him.

Diet focus and goals

I've been struggling with my diet the last few weeks. I've been dieting for 5 months straight. I still have almost 6 months left before I get to my goal weight. It was beginning to feel overwhelming. But a couple days ago I recieved an email from Joaquin Chaves, the president of The New Mexico Local weightlifting Club. He's set the dates for the two NMLWC meets. The NMLWC Youth and Master's championships on May 12th and the NMLWC weightlifting championships on June 30th. That helped motivate me again. Helped me refocus. If I can lose 40 more pounds in the next 4.5 months then I'll show up to the state games weighting 100lbs less than I did at last year's weightlifiting state championships.

New Mexico Local weightlifting club series announcement

I recieved confirmation last night that the New Mexico Games will no longer be the weightlifiting state championships. From now on the weightlifting New Mexico state championships will be held and put on by the New Mexico Local weightlifiting club (NMLWC). The NMLWC weightlifting state championships will be held on the weekend of June 30th and July 1st. They will also be hosting the NMLWC youth and master's weightlifting championships on May 12th. That meet will be my 10 year old sons first meet. He and I will be competing together.

New Mexico local weightlifiting club series and The New Mexico Games

I received an email from the president of New Mexico weightlifiting, Joaquin Chaves. Looks like there's some major changes going on for the New Mexico Local Weightlifting Club (NMLWC). I received an email stating the president of NMLWC won't be hosting the New Mexico games and will be starting his own local weightlifiting series. The first will be the the NMLWC youth and master's championships on May 12th, 2018. The next will be a big two day weightlifiting meet. It's going to be the NMLWC state championships June 30th and July 1st. The New Mexico games used to be called the state championships. But looks like it's officially not going to be anymore. Which is big news.

The other big news is that the email showed Joaquin Chaves is no longer signing as High Dessert Athletic Club. He's signing under Black Box CrossFit. I wonder if that means Joaquin, who I love dearly as a friend and weightlifiting coach, closed up his club completely? Is he now a coach for Black Box or a partner? Interesting stuff. Big stuff.

Duration of diet causing injuries?

On Tuesday I was playing basketball with my two sons and when I went to drive to the basket I pulled my left calf. It wasn't a bad pull. It hurt, but not bad enough to limp when I walked. Today I completed a CrossFit workout at Bear Canyon CrossFit without any problems. A little less than a month ago I pulled my left pectoral muscle while benching. That's two muscle pulls in less than a month. I'm not sure what's going on with my body. I'm wondering if perhaps it's from being on a calorie defacit and loosing weight for so long or if it's just that I'm 42 years old now. I've lost 68lbs in the last 5 months. If it is from the weight loss and I continue to get injured I don't think I'd be willing to stop. I want to get down to 220lbs so bad I'd rather be chronically injured than continue to be obese. I don't think that's a healthy way to look at diet and working out. If I continue to drop weight at my current rate I'll be down to 220lbs by July. Hopefully once I get to my goal weight I'll be able to train without the injuries and make taking care of my body a priority

Better days

After years and years of working 80-90 hours work weeks I'm finally to the point that I'm working less. I particularly love Tuesdays and Thursdays. I don't work until later in the day on those two days. So I wake up very early and workout before the sun comes up so that I can get back in time to hang out with my kids before school. Then I drive my daughter to school. It's just her and I. She really seems to enjoy that special alone time. So do I. After I get back from dropping off my daughter I take my two sons to school early and we play basketball or football until the school bell rings. I'm creating a lot of wonderful memories with them. This is probably the happiest I've ever been. That's a big difference from the 10.5 years my wife continually put us in bad financial positions that forced me to work ungodly amounts of hours that caused me to be miserable and depressed to the point of contemplating suicide. Since working less I've grown closer with my children, and have started working on me. I'm working out, getting stronger, losing weight, and am happier. These are good times.

Logging when falling off the diet wagon.

Every couple weeks I end up falling off the diet wagon. For a day or so I'll end up eating all the things I miss so bad. Corn dogs, ice cream, Chinese food, etc. I'd loose weight quicker if I didn't do that. But I doubt I'd be able to stick to a diet if I didn't occasionally eat the things I miss. When I log what I'm eating it makes it easier for me to keep control of how much I'm eating. And on the days I fall off the diet wagon I don't log. I'm going to try and log everything I eat the days I fall off the diet wagon. I think that would help me not eat so dang much on those days.

Chest injury

A couple weeks ago. I pulled a pectoral muscle. It wasn't a bad pull. But the last two weeks I've been having to lift with significantly lower weight and volume on bench. I'm talking 3X5 of 155lbs. Almost half of my max. Friday was the first day I was able to do dips since the injury occurred. I'm recovering quickly. Hopefully it won't be much longer until I can resume heavy bench training.

Speed, endurance, and cardio for CrossFit

Today's CrossFit workout was a lot of fun. The strength session was 3 rounds of max squat cleans with 2 minutes of recovery. The WOD was
40 calories assault bike, then 4 rounds of
15 DB push press
12 DB front rack lunges
9 devil press

I lowered the weight from 50lb DB's to 35 and I was still the slowest one in the class. My cardio and muscular endurance is really bad. I've decided I'm going to start scaling the weight even lower than I used to. That way I can increase my speed and intensity. If I practice going faster with less rest then in theory I should build more speed, endurance, and cardio.

Test day snatch and Fran

Today Bear Canyon CrossFit was testing max Snatch and Fran. Fran is 21, 15, 9 of thrusters and pull-ups. I wasn't looking forward to those. I gave up weightlifiting because I sucked at the speed exercises like the snatch. My biggest weakness in CrossFit is thrusters. And I'm still to big to do pull-ups.

When maxing the snatch I started out by missing 155lbs. That is much to light of a weight to miss. That didn't bode well for the day. I missed 155 again. Coach Rob Tapia came over and gave me some pointers. Boom. Nailed it. Went up to 185 and made the lift. From there I went up by 5-10lbs each lift. I had to take three attempts at 205. After some form correction by coach Rob again I made 205. Then somehow I pulled off a 215lb snatch! That's only 5 pounds from matching by lifetime best! But when I made that lifetime best I weighed 60lbs more than now.

I did horrible at Fran. I lowered the weight from the RX 95 to 75 pounds. I also had to do ring rows instead of pull-ups. Even with all the lowering of weights and scaling of exercises I still only was able to do an 8:10. One minute fifty seconds from the cut off time.

RX'd Burpees and 15th wedding anniversary

This morning I was able to do an entire workout doing burpees the way CrossFit says is proper and legal. Before today I couldn't do them because my stomach was to big and got in the way. In the last week I've had a few firsts. First time I was able to do box jumps, double unders, and burpees. I'm much more prepared for the CrossFit open now. And I'm very excited about competing this year.

Today is the 15th anniversary for my wife and I. From the way things have been the last few months I'd say this next year has the potential of being the best of our entire marriage.