Time to catch up on a few blog post.  Now that school is back in session I have to really structure my time.  Thursday was a teacher day for me - that required me to be at school from 7:30am to 8pm.  As far as training - I was able to do some 5 x 5 weighted pull ups and dips.  That was it.  I felt tired so the rest was worth it.  It will take me a week or so to get used to teaching all day.  But it does allow me a few small chunks of time that I can fit in some training.

On Friday I drove down to work with Brandon.  The drive was about 1hr and 35min - though I did get lost.  Once there we talked for a while.  I really loved his ideas and direction that he has planned out for me.  We started with some easy snatch technique work.  Lots of changes to make there.  Then I moved on to the last test which was:
800 Run
100 Wall Balls
400 Run
50 C and J @115lbs
200 Run
25 Burpee-Box Jumps

That was a long grind for sure.  I did struggle some on the wall balls and felt heavy on the running.  I could have been better at decreasing the rest between reps. Something to work on for sure.

For Saturday I warmed up slowly.  Then did a 20 rep unbroken deadlift set.  These were touch and go reps for 20.  I did 285lbs today(up from 275).  Then did some 5 x 5 work on close grip bench with 170 and pull ups.  I finished with 8 x 20sec on 10sec rest on the AD6.  That sucked for sure.

Looking forward to my new training block to arrive.

I had to change up my testing for the next few days due to school all day and then a parent open house in the evening.  I end up staying at school since I have only 1 hour between the 2 events.  Plus my drive home is 30minutes.  So today instead of a rest day I completed my 2000m row.  My time was 7:08.2.  I am happy with that since my rowing volume has been down.  My damper was set at 3 1/2 and my average stroke rate about 25-27.  I was happy with today's results.

I will rest Thursday and get back to completing the last few days of testing on Friday.  Just 2 more tests to complete.  Then it is onto structured training.  I am very excited.

Today I completed the following:
1RM Deadlift - did 405lbs - Traditional.  My sumo is actually 440lbs.  Then 1RM strict press - this is always been a weakness of mine - got 115lbs.

Then I completed:
30 snatches @95lbs - 700m Row - 30 snatches @95lbs:  8:21.  Felt much better on the 2nd round of snatches then the 1st.  Needed to warm up more I think.

Over all happy with my results.  My legs were tired from the front squats that I did yesterday.  I also did a few sets of close grip benching - those numbers were down as well.  Looking forward to a solid strength focus once I finish my testing on Sunday.

May look at competing in mid September at CFNE - 2 day event.  Would do scaled over RX considering there will not be a masters division.

So today included testing for my 1RM front squat.  I was way off what I thought would be my max.  In mid July I did 210lbs for 2 reps.  Today I barely got 230lbs.  WTF!!!  The knee did bother me once I hit parallel which is very frustrating.  So I did use a knee wrap which helped.  What ever I did 3 weeks ago at the team competition is holding me back.  Then I followed with:
10-8-6-4-2 of front squats and CTB pull ups.  I did 180lb from the rack for the front squats.  I could only do sets of 3 before I would need to rack the bar - rest and then go again.  The CTB pull ups went well.  I can still feel the lat some - but great progress is being made with that injury.

Over all I ended the day upset.  I hate feeling like I have fallen off and things are a struggle.  But this is why I hired Brandon to coach me.  I am hoping to work with him 1 on 1 this coming Friday.

Today was 10 minutes on the AD 6 - something totally new to me.  I spent some time warming up with rowing and some mobility.  Worked through some pull ups and ring dips as well.  Then a few minutes on the AD 6 to finish my warm up.  Once I started I felt great up until 3 and 1/2 minutes - then my ass was kicked.  That was brutal to say the least.  I expected 180 calories and only got 167.  My legs - especially quads were all cramped and I was so close to puking up.  A love - hate relationship with the AD for sure.  I do plan on changing out seats - the current seat is so bad.  Will install a race saddle instead.

One week down and one week to go with the testers.  Looking forward to regular training with more volume.  I am learning lots about where I need lots of work.  Looking on driving down next Friday to work with Brandon.

Friday's test was the following:

20min AMRAP of
- 20 Thursters @135
- 20 Pull Ups
- 20 Burpees

I completed 2 full rounds plus 12 thrusters of the 3rd round.  The challenge was the thrusters especially since I haven't done much for squats in the past 3 weeks.  I did complete the pull ups - I rolled out and warmed really well to get my left lat ready.  Woke up pain free in the lat area - so that is great news.  My frustration was not able to do more than 1 or 2 thrusters in a row.  Lots to work on for sure.

Today 10 minutes max calories on the AD - first time for this challenge.

Wednesday was a recovery day.  This will take some tie getting used to since I am a big volume person.  Bad habit from my ironman days.  Today's testing consisted of the following:

A.  Power clean - build to 1 RM

-rest 2 minutes-

B.  8 minute amrap @ 90% of A

-rest 5-10 minutes-

C.1  strict HSPU - 1 x amrap, rest 2 minutes

C.2  kipping HSPU - 1 x amrap,

So the max power clean was ugly. I was down 10lbs from earlier this summer. Then the 8 minute amrap weight was 162lbs. I did have 4 or 5 failed reps. My technique needs lots of work after seeing myself on video. But this is why I have hired Brandon to help me out. I ended up with 43 reps.

The HSPU's well dam they sucked. I am now able to get a few. Strict nothing. Kipping 3 yet 12 no reps(feet coming away from the wall). I have improved some since at the Maine Crossift Champs I got 10 HSPU's and last fall - nothing. But I still have a long ways to go.

I did get my AD 6 yesterday. I assembled it and tried it out for a few rounds of 20calories. Dam that really brings you to your knees. Looking forward to some fun times with that.