Tag Archives: crossfit

5k Day

A few months ago, I decided to run a 5k race at some point this summer. After some googling around, I found one here in Eden Prairie and circled the date. That day was today.

In keeping with the Crossfit philosophy of general physical preparedness, I purposely didn’t do any specific training for it. Sure, we run, usually 400m a couple of times per work out. But no “ramping up” or “tapering down” to prepare. I did the Workouts of the Day last week, just as I usually do.

The race itself was an interesting experience. I’d estimate that there were only about 200 runners, but the route was on a bike/walk path, so it was far narrower than a street. I purposely started near the back, which turned out to be a mistake. My thinking was that I wanted to run my own pace, and not have the psychological urge to keep up with anyone. Well, I ran my pace, and quickly got bogged down in traffic. The first half mile took 4:30, and I passed probably a third of the pack by then. I hit the one mile marker at 8:17, and by then things had thinned out. I fine at this point, and the second mile marker at 16:57. After about 2.5 miles, I started to fade a little. Once I could see the finish line, it gave me a good gauge for how hard I could go and when. With about 200m left, I opened it up as best I could and finished at 29:37. I promptly threw up in the bushes, walked a little bit to cool off, did a burpee for good measure, and called it a race.

Escaping the Back

Having some one’s back is the best possible position (in my opinion) to be in. And conversely, is the worst position to be in. And tonight, after a year and a half of jiu jitsu, I learned the proper way to escape it.

The way that we were taught is similar to Saulo Hibeiro’s method. First of all, defend your neck against the choke. Doing this properly, and you’re still in a bad spot, but you’re not tapping. The raise your bottom and scoop yourself lower in his grip. Kick a leg straight to get rid of one of his hooks, then scoot towards that leg and basically lay on it. This prevents him from just regaining that hook. Then you can roll over and grab his other leg, put your head on his stomach and transition to being on top. Because you were laying on this leg, he can’t switch to mount or an armlock.

After class I paired up with Derrick for a little bit. He was going at about the perfect pace and intensity for me. Enough to keep me moving, thinking, and allowing me some offense. I did get his back at one point and worked some top game too. He got me in a sit in guillotine choke at the end, and we drilled that a few times because I missed the day that it was taught.

Then I paired up with my old nemesis Matt, who I haven’t seen in forever. We rolled three times. He got me in the first one, with a baseball bat choke that crushed my jaw more than it choked me. The second time we went back and forth a bit before he pulled off the exact same guillotine Derrick showed me 10 minutes before. But our last time, I did better. I had him in my closed guard, and was working both the lasso choke and and armlock, but couldn’t quite get either. He tried to arm triangle me from within my guard, which I’m pretty sure can’t be done, so I hung out a little bit until he realized it wasn’t going to work. I pushed his arm off, and sat up into an octopus guard like position.

I started to take his back, but he rolled and I ended up mounting him. Lo and behold, his arm was in the wrong spot, so I secured the arm triangle, and switched to side control to finish it. He managed to roll me on my back, but I held the grip and got the tap.

A solid night of rolling. And Matt did comment that I seemed stronger than last time we rolled. And at the end he sounded pretty winded and I was still feeling pretty good. So, maybe there is something to this Crossfit thing.

Rickson’s Roll

It’s hard to put into words how good it feels to be back in action. I’m feeling good and doing good. My lower back is feeling good, getting stronger, and hasn’t given me any signs of trouble at all.

In class last night, we covered the barrel roll, which apparently has been attributed to Rickson Gracie.

Rickson is the oldest son of the Hélio Gracie, and widely acknowledged as being technically amazing. 11-0 in MMA. He’s never been tapped in BJJ competition, further more no one has claimed to have tapped him in practice either. In short, he’s The Man.

Mike and were the only repeats, so we were ahead of the curve. We stepped it up, working a bit more quickly and intensely, working on the timing of the roll. We eventually added the spin around armlock, and the running escape from the armlock, forming a new 101 cycle.

After class I paired up with JP for some variations on the theme. I’d start out in side control with head control, and he’d try to roll me while I defended. Damian was watching and pointing out the numerous things that both of us were doing wrong. Every time we’d go through it, he’d fix something. We must of done it 50 times. It was immensely helpful for me, just getting a better feel for what to be doing, what not to be doing, and what to be watching for in this position. An excellent night of training.

Crossfit this morning was solid too. I was running a bit behind, because my bed felt so warm and comfortable, and it was raining. However…only Damian and I showed up. At first, thankfully. Two other people rolled in, making this the smallest Crossfit ever. We did some back squats critiquing our form and posture, then doing 3 sets of 3. I bumped the weight up another 20 pounds and felt pretty good doing it. I’ll go up again next time we do it. Rounded out the morning with a 8 minute metcon of some rowing, pushups and flutter kicks.

Slow and steady

I’m beginning to like my new schedule. 4 days of exercise isn’t so bad, and the 3 days off is a nice break. My legs were pretty sore after doing the Cindy workout on Thursday morning!

The Submission Hunt is coming up again next month, so we’re starting to prep for it. Warm up was take downs, but I got partnered up with a new Ed to do side control 101 drills instead. Good, because takedowns wear me out.

No real lesson last night, just playing around with maintaining/passing open guard. Ed and I took it easy, switching back and forth, with both of us having our moments of success. We stopped and drilled the 6 hooks routine for a bit, then went back to open guard.

After class Mike and rolled a couple times, going easy. Even when he’s holding back, he’s still a handful!

In Crossfit this morning, I got to actually move some weight around instead of PVC pipe. 5 sets of 5 squats. Only 65 pounds, but it allowed me to concentrate on proper form. Then we did a 1600m run, 4 minutes of rest, 1200m run, 3 minutes of rest, 800m run, 2 minutes of rest, 400m run. My times were pretty linear, and I did the last 400 in 1:52, which is much better than the last time I ran a 400. Still, 2.5 miles of running, plus the squats, is a solid workout!

Crossfit Week 2

Things continue to be good. I’m still on “cotton-top” style Crossfit, but I’m doing it, feeling good, and feeling sore. Earlier this week we did 30 dead hang pullups (with assistance if necessary….which it was very) and for the next day and a half I couldn’t straighten my arms all the way because my biceps were so stiff.

I went to watch jiu-jitsu class last night. Big group, with several new faces. The lesson was about windmilling your feet back inside your opponents arms and defending the double underhook pass.

It was tough to just watch. Next week, I think I’ll actually participate. Finally.

Crossfit Week 1

Going back to Crossfit felt much better than I expected it to. Not physically, the aches and pains are the same, but “spiritually” for lack of a better term. Plus the weather has been extraordinary. Running in the sun has never felt so good.

I went twice this week and did scaled workouts. The second one Damian specifically picked to help strengthen my back and core muscles. It was a hero workout, “Micheal”, named after Navy Lieutenant Michael McGreevy, KIA in Afghanistan June 28 2005. 3 rounds, 800m run, 25 situps, 25 back extensions. I like the hero workouts. It gives me something to think about while going.

I feel great. Stiff and sore from getting back into the swing of things, but no back pain. I’m confident I could go back to jiu jitsu tonight if I wanted to, but I’m sticking with Crossfit only for the next week or two.

Working off the Turkey

A whole week without any intentional exercise…first time that’s happened in…well, a long time. But back at it now.

Lots of new stripes and belts on everyone last night. Mo got his 4th and Mongoose jumped all the way to white/blue belt. I’m usually not too far behind those guys. Tim was sporting his shiny new purple belt too. And now some of the colored belts have stripes too.

We had a long solid warm up with some fun joking mixed into it. The past month or so, Tim and I have been making “I’m watching you” motions now and then. Tonight he mixed in a Thiago Silva style throat slitting motion with a big grin.

Class was the armlock from closed guard with a triangle choke and omoplata backups. Mo and I worked the first two alot, and tried the omoplata a couple of times, but never really got the knack of it. The armlock from guard is such a bread and butter move that it’s something I really need to work on and perfect. The omoplata…not so much. Not that it isn’t effective, just it’s less common.

After class Tim and rolled a few times. I thought I did well, escaping an armlock twice, and ending up on top both times. Never passed, but still reversed him. I’ve got to work on keeping my posture in guard, getting broken down makes everything a lot more difficult. Tom and I went a few times next, most went the same way, him in my guard, with the occasional pass, followed up by me sweeping or reversing him, and then tapping him. He did get me in an americana in one. I did finally pull off the arm pull bait into a triangle. Pull on a sleeve to get them resisting by pulling back, then switch it suddenly to a push, stuff the arm, and go right into the triangle.

Rome just returned from New York where he had a chance to train with John Danaher. John’s reputed to be the best BJJ instructor in the world. He spent a few minutes showing everyone a technique that he learned that’s applicable to the armlock, kimura, and americana. All switch the joint lock into a slicer. So instead of pressuring the joint, it applies pressure onto bone. They hurt! Even Damian was impressed by it.

Crossfit’s going good. Did my first pullups with band (2) assistance this morning!

Flow With The Go

I’m beginning to enjoy Crossfit more and more. The morning gang is a good group of people, and I’m definitely feeling and seeing the benefits of the effort. Set personal records in the dead lift, press, and back squat this morning. Not that I had a previous personal best before…but you gotta start somewhere!

BJJ class tonight started off with our usual warm up. Then we did a Smackdown-esque conditional drill. 20 each of over the shoulder sweep, butterfly to full guard rocks, around the worlds, standing guard breaks, and torrando guard passes to knee on belly. Mo and I certianly got a pretty good sweat going. We were almost finished when it was just he and I and Mongoose and Derrick still going….Damian yelled out that the last pair to finish would be punished, and not one second later Mo did his 20th pass and I yelled ‘done!’ It almost seemed like we cheated it was so fast!

We then switched things up, and Damian introduced something new. “Flow sparring” It’s like a timing drill. Go easy, like 25%, but be moving continuously, working with your partner, doing move after move after move in a sequence. If he gets a submission, let him have it, tap, then escape and continue. I made the comparison to a jazz solo. Make it up as you go along! Se we did 8 minute rounds of this. Mongoose and I paired up and just had fun with it, trying different things and what not. Damian stopped us after about 7, and told us to get a drink and be ready to demonstrate what we were doing for everyone. Eeek! We did, with him providing some commentary.

We re-partnered and did another 8 minutes. This time around, I got Rod, the new guy and chatterbox. He’s big, probably about 220 or so, and just…will…not…shut…up. We did BJJ 101 for the first 4 minutes, with him talking himself through each move. Then we mixed it up and improvised the last 4. Well, I improvised, he did mostly the same things since that’s all he knows so far.

After class I hooked up with another new face, Mason, and did another 10 minutes or so. He’s a blue belt that’s getting back into things after a loooooong layoff.

Back to the Status Quo

And now…back to normalcy. Or hopefully what I can maintain of it during the busy holiday season. I’m dialing back to my normal 2-3 days week at class, but I’d like to stick to it as much as possible. And start doing Crossfit more often.

Big group last night, which is becoming the norm. Hopefully the new location has plenty of space! Damian said a few nice things about those of us who competed, and had our names and results up on the whiteboard for everyone to check out. All told, it appears that about 25 of us competed. Lots of chatter before class about how everyone did, what happened to who, and your typical war stories.

Class was the triple attack from closed guard: cross collar choke, armlock, triangle choke. We only covered the first two last night. I paired up with Tom and we drilled away. Nothing complicated, but this set of attacks is something that I need to work on and implement. I think I could be a lot more dangerous if I had this three way combo solidly ingrained.

After class Mongoose wanted to roll, but I just didn’t feel like it. My back is still a little sore from the double-leg slam I took on Saturday, so I begged off.

Phase 1 Completed

Well, I’m done with the first part of my plan, the hard training. Now onto the light maintenance and healing.

Yesterday I did Crossfit in the morning (Randy: 75 snatches for time), and was a little sore because of it all day. But that night, wow, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. Good thing I was planning on taking a night off because I don’t think I could have done jiu-jitsu no matter how much I wanted to! I even felt it Thursday morning, so I slept in and skipped my planned Crossfit.

No Damian in class last night, so just round robin rolling. I did pretty good against all the white belts, including dominating Tom and Ron, did okay against Tim and Sam. And got crushed by the blue belts, as usual. Felt pretty good all around.