Coach Nick and Co. at the San Diego Crew Classic’s Masters C event
- Happy birthday to Greg A!
Notes from Coach Nick
“Last month I got invited to join a masters crew that has competed together for the past eight or nine years at the San Diego Crew Classic, where I’d last raced in 1995. The event is called Masters C – the average age is 43 and up – and this team has dominated. So, in prep, I spent lot of time training exclusively on the erg – something I hadn’t done in a long time. Our start was skittish, and it took us 750m to relax and hit our rhythm. Once we settled down it felt great. We won by nearly 12 seconds!
And I gotta say: after the winter we’ve had, it was really, really nice to be in the sun!”
Notes from Mike O
Congratulations to Mike, the leader of CFSBK’s Endurance Team, who placed 14th in the Elite Male Division of the South Beach Triathlon on Sunday. He placed 34th overall with a time of 2:26:28. Below is a recap of his experience (with notes on each section of the race), along with some thoughts on how he wants to improve moving forward:
“South Beach Tri was retty solid balance of positive and negative feedback. First and foremost, my greatest success was going into this race with the correct lens and not getting sucked into destroying myself for minimal rewards. I am not considering myself an Olympic distance athlete this year. For that reason, my training has not been as power-based (which would help me hop off the bike and nail a solid 10K), but it has been strength- and endurance-based.
My swim fitness and conditioning were very poor. My posture flew out the window very early in the swim and thus my energy expenditure went sky high. Shoulder fatigue set in very quickly as I fought the water instead of using it. A stronger chain of shoulders-to-core would have put me in better condition to swim. Pull-ups, cleans, and overhead movements will help this in the long run to be in better condition.
Bike and leg strength were a huge success. The strength from squatting and deadlifting all winter reared its glorious head during the bike ride, which led me to my strongest and fastest bike split. I have struggled to get below the 1:05:00 mark for 40K on the bike, but I got it this time.
Running strength was still not up to standard. CFSBK’s Endurance Team might think me crazy for saying this, but running more hills and longer hills would help me. I came off with two miles in 12 minutes, but faded once they made us run through sand.
Strength + power + endurance win races. Some of the athletes at South Beach had that blend, but I didn’t have it all—yet. Overall, continuing on a squat and strength plan will benefit my first A-race in one month. My muscles need to be efficient in resisting the fatigue that builds up, thus more heavy conditioning work is going to be key. Enter Crossfit.”
How do you process and evaluate your performance after a race or competition?
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Please Explain: Insomnia and Other Sleep Disturbances WNYC
Lauren Fisher at Junior Pan-American Weightlifting Championships CrossFit Invictus
The F-Word The CrossFit Journal
Tomorrow's programming:
Snatch
Fitness: Snatch Segment Deadlift + Snatch
If you have a hard time organizing the pull off the floor then perform snatch from the mid-hang.
Performance: Work up to a 1RM Snatch
Try and set a new PR but take no more than 5 attempts over 90%. Misses count as attempts.
Back Squat
Fitness: 80% x 3 x 3
Performance: 80% x 3 x 3 (bias High Bar)
Take 80% of your recent 1RM.
FINALLY hit 88 on snatch. It's a weight I have routinely failed. I tried 85 after 83, just because I wanted to at least get some kind of a PR even if I failed 88 again. I think that might have been the psychological block I needed to break. Not that either 85 or 88 was perfect — although I would not call either an *ugly* rep, I didn't catch either in a full squat — but they were still legit power snatches.
165x3x3 high bar squat, accessory work with 20 kg KB, then I decided to try unassisted ring dips. Looks like I can do 2 at a time. I did 3 sets of 2, and I think I'll treat this like pullups in doing as many micro-sets as I have time for until I can do a longer set.
PS WHOA QUADZILLAS
Yup, definitely stoked and excited to hit those back squats coming up… that will be a much needed session for these legs.
Really like the question at the end today around evaluating a performance. I see this the same as any business evaluation out there in the world today. In order to evaluate something you need to first have a plan. The thing I find most commonly that is off about people's planning is that they are all created individually, and to always have to come up with your own plan all the time can be draining, plus its often "hard to see the forest through the trees." The fact is, in our own life, we are often buried in the trees, and it is there that an outsider's perspective can be helpful. Just as a team/company thinks up a plan for certain initiatives, a coach can help give advise and thoughts around fitness and performance plans. I get my plan from my coach, and then it is really easy to evaluate and find opportunities following a performance.
It can be as simple as "hey (coach) what should I focus on this month" or "what would be a good outcome for this race?" Rarely will someone say "just PR" or "just win the race." There are smaller things that lead to those bigger outcomes like "OK (athlete) you need to have a stronger pull from the ground" or "OK (athlete) you need to finish the last 2 miles of your race in better posture."
I think when you can dial in on the small, process-driven items (how was your hip extension or did you achieve your bike split) and avoid the OUTCOME driven items (i.e. did you PR or did you win?) then it can be EASY to figure out what you need to do to improve. The worst thing in the world to say is "Well I didn't win so I just need to get faster" because that doesn't give definitive advise. But to say "Well I didn't really swim that strongly" I can come out of that with the idea that I need to work on certain things to improve my swimming postural endurance.
Phew!
MO
Crew Classic! I love it. Such a beautiful spot to experience intense physical pain. I last raced Crew Classic in 1996, so Coach Nick and I must have crossed paths there back in the day.
8am with McD. My old 1RM on the snatch is 88#. I've tried 93# multiple times and never hit it. Today I hit it on my 5th attempt – PR! I'll take it. Then HBBSQ, 140# x 3 x 3. Old 1RM on the high bar is 150#, looking forward to maybe busting that up this cycle.
@Michael O, what a great post. Took lots of notes today on things I need to work on with my snatch this cycle. Focusing on little pieces of the movement, one at a time, is very helpful.
That was one of the least informative pieces about insomnia I've come across. Made a mental note *not* to go to that doc for treatment.
6am. Monday's WOD. Felt unsteady on the skin-the-cats today. Wasn't feeling comfortable being inverted. Bar muscle-ups felt wonky on the first round. Couldn't string two together. Kept getting better each round and finished with 3 fairly good ones strung together. L-sits were hard as usual. I think I need lighter legs.
I love back off week programming! Great noon class with McDowell. Thanks for the spots and the cues. One day I WILL get a kipping pull up.
@KH a.k.a Cage that is awesome. The little things definitely do make a difference in the long run! Especially with Snatch, I feel like you can break that movement up so many times and set mini-goals all year long… its amazing. Happy lifts!
Lauren Fisher did a double bounce at the bottom of her second and third clean attempts. Is that a common technique?
Jon – yes. It's not a good habit but a common one, likely due to receiving the bar soft. By soft I mean not braced and without the intent to stand it up as fast as possible. It's not ideal since the longer you spend under the bar the more energy you expend, but it can potentially save you in a pinch.
Christina – "Such a beautiful spot to experience intense physical pain". Amazing.
Worked from home today, so I was able to sneak into the 4:30pm class, which was just delightful.
Snatch (33, 53, 63 73, 73, 83) 88F, 88F, 88 (PR!)
HBBS 130x3x5
5 rounds: 1 min plan, 1 min rest
Jon- If a clean is received a bit forward and you miss the initial bounce, then bouncing a couple of times is necessary to stand up out of a heavy clean.
Clean and Jerk: (75%, 80%)x3
264, 286
Clean pulls@ 110%x2x3
396
HBBS@87%x1x5
396
Russian Twists 3×20 each side with 10kg
40 dips
20 Strict chins
20 Strict pullups
Such a chill day at the gym today. The gate was open, the sun was shinning, the people were few. As Katie said, "Delightful".
Echo-ing Lily….loved today's programming – great to practice a couple weaknesses (rowing + kipping) in a fun-so-the-burn-is-gradual sort of way, along with skin the cats which are just fun. And, HUGE thanks to McDowell for such thoughtful guidance on kipping practice overall, which then led to my first toes-to-bar and a few more after.
Evaluating my competitions so far has been easy: set a PR and it's a success. At some point that's going to be a problem though! I'm not sure how I "process" a competition. I experience it, stay in the moment and relish it as much as possible and then move on. It's like getting married. It's a great day, you'll always remember it (or parts of it) but it's just another moment that you need to be present and in the moment for, otherwise you miss it.
With the powerlifting lifts afterwards it's usually pretty clear where you need to focus, but most of the time it's just a matter of sticking to the program and working around and through injuries.
For me video serves an important tool both in training and at the competition. First I can make cool YouTube videos, 😉 but more importantly I can see the lifts and uncover flaws in my technique.
I was going to say that with powerlifting it's fairly simple– you just need to get stronger– but that's not really the case. At a certain point you need to push yourself past the low hanging fruit and figure out how to take each lift to the next level. It's pretty critical to have a very clear plan and keep dialing in the technical so you can repeat the lift in your sleep so for me the evaluation is mostly about technique. And improving my shitty bench press.
Wednesday's work today. Did 5X3 Snatch Pulls at 80KG beforehand.
Snatch: 70KG, 70F, 75, 82F, 82F. 82 woulda been a PR, got under it both times, but couldn't corral it. After yesterday's OHS work I now know I can pull it and squat it, just gotta work on receiving it.
Squat: 265X3X3. Based off an old 1RM because my #s from 2X10's won't give me an accurate starting point (the calculator says I can squat 365, joke's on you calculator.) These felt heavy after a week of no squatz, despite being 10# under where I finished my 2X10s. Lifting weights is confusing.
Assistance work with 24, 28, 32KG bell. My hands hurt something awful.