Well things have been progressing along quite nicely here on the Island. I'm having some great WODs and my diet has been pretty dam good. I've recently made a couple of sandbags out of old feedbags; one weights in at 31kg/68lbs and the other 34kg/75lbs, which is half my bodyweight. They're both shaped a little different from each other; the 31kg is square which is great for thrusters and overhead stuff, while the 34kg is more rectangular with a fair bit of extra room in it so the sand can shift around making it good for shouldering for weighted runs. Making these bags have made my WODs that much more intense, interesting and hard-hitting and I honestly think that if I was back home, I'd be doing much more sandbag style WODs like the ones I've been doing over the regular WOD on Crossfit.com. I've been really tinkering with my randomiser lately and have fine tuned it quite nicely to make some pretty good ones. On top of that I've been actually working on L-sits and handstands after my WOD, I've been neglecting them both for the longest time. When I left home on this trip I figured that I would be working on them all the time and have a freestanding handstand down no problem and be able to pull off a 90 sec. L-hold. I can hardly hold a L-hold right now so I'm starting up on the basics and working on tuck-holds and leg raises; you got to learn to walk before you learn to sprint.
Other than that I've been wracking my brain lately about Crossfit and how it pertains to me. My mind is all over the map with a thousand different theories and principles that I question and wonder what I should do about, but I'll post that later as I'm still trying to get all my thoughts out in something tangible to read.

"My babies"



















05/22/06
Kate's Farm, Snelling Beach, Kangaroo Island, SA
Modulate: Weightlifting/Metabolic/Gymnastic
"Helen"
3 Rounds for time of:
Run 400m
21 swings
12 pull-ups
Time 12:30
Comments:
Used my 17.5kg/39lbs rock for the swings and all sets unbroken. I did this one last time in 8:33 with the same rock but the distances I last time were not 400m as I had originally thought but more around 200m. that said I think the 400m runs were what slowed me down. I'd really like to try this WOD and every WOD with running on a true oval. My "track" is not that level and has some sharp corners that slow me down.

05/21/06
Kate's Farm, Snelling Beach, Kangaroo Island, SA
Modulate: Weightlifting/Metabolic
For time:
200m Sandbag Run
25 Pick-ups
200m Sandbag Run
20 Pick-ups
200m Sandbag Run
15 Pick-ups
200m Sandbag Run
10 Pick-ups
200m Sandbag Run
5 Pick-ups
Time 21:46
Comments:
Used a 34kg sandbag for the runs and a 31kg bag for the pick-ups which were from the ground to overhead. A pretty good WOD with a solid effort. I was hurting pretty good from yesterday's WOD and this one I'm sure isn't going to make me feel much better in the morning. I'm really enjoying (if that's a good word for it) these weighted runs, they make WODs that much more intense and painful and this WOD was not an exception. These sandbags that I made were some of the best things I've done in a long time. There's a part on my "track" that's slightly uphill and I tell you with that sandbag on my back it that slight incline feels like Everest. To top it off, right where it levels off is the duck/goose pen and there's this noisy goose that honks like a crazy bastard every time I get there, so basically just as I come up to the pen I'm barely hobbling along and there waiting for me is this goose that runs along side of me in the pen, honking away until I get past it. I kind of think of it as a coach yelling and running along side their athlete, trying to motivate them.

"Coach"















05/20/06
Kate's Farm, Snelling Beach, Kangaroo Island, SA
Modulate: Gymnastic
For 15 minutes do 20 seconds of work for each exercise for total reps of:
Sit-ups
Push-ups
Squats
Total Reps 553
Comments:
This was a nice little fun WOD based off one from a while back but with pull-ups instead of push-ups. How it works is, you do 20 seconds of sit-ups, 20 seconds of push-ups, 20 seconds of squats and then start over again with the sit-ups. Do it for 15 minutes counting total reps.

05/19/06
Kate's Farm, Snelling Beach, Kangaroo Island, SA
Modulate: Weightlifting/Metabolic/Gymnastic
21-15-9 for time of:
100m Sandbag Run
Hang Squat Cleans
Burpee-pull-ups
Time 13:13
Comments:
Used a 23kg rock for the Hang Squat Cleans and a 34kg sandbag for the runs. Speaking of runs, I was suppose to do this one the day before but had some stomach problems and after doing the first 100m, made a 20m dash to the toilet where...well we'll just leave it at that. Anyways, because I missed the WOD yesterday I was going to juice this one up to 5 rounds with 25 reps per but after hitting 21 reps on the cleans I realized dong that would just be insane. I stayed on course and did it as I originally planned and I'm glad I did as I'm sure I'd still be doing it if I had made the changes. I was getting pretty close to pukie and afterwards I was thinking about giving the WOD a name but decided against it. Regardless it was a good WOD and I recommend it. I'm finding that hang squat cleans and pull-ups to be a deadly combo, they just destroy your arms and shoulders. I'll also note that I did this WOD a little earlier than usual and found it much easier to get into, push myself harder and then afterwards work on some L-sits and handstands so the moral of the story is: workout earlier.

05/17/06
Kate's Farm, Snelling Beach, Kangaroo Island, SA
Modulate: Weightlifting/Gymnastic
21-18-15-12-9-6 and 3 rep rounds for time of:
Shoulder-bags
Pull-ups
Time 15:35
Comments:
I made myself another sandbag today, this one weighting in at 34kg/75lbs, which is half my bodyweight and change. It's a lot more pillow shaped so it should be better for runs and it held up quite nicely for today's WOD. Shoulder-bags are basically picking up the sandbag and shouldering it, I couldn't think of a better name so sue me. The shoulder-bags and pull-ups were a nice combo that fried my arms and made the pull-ups that much tougher.

05/16/06
Kate's Farm, Snelling Beach, Kangaroo Island, SA
Modulate: Metabolic
For time:
Run 100m
Sandbag Run 100m
Run 200m
Sandbag Run 200m
Run 400m
Sandbag Run 400m
Run 800m
Sandbag Run 800m
Time 28:48
Comments:
Made myself a nice sandbag that's weighting in at about 31kg/68lbs. It's a little too square and that made it really awkward and tough to shoulder and grip. I think I'll make another bag but more rectangular so it's easier to shoulder and keep the square one for thrusters and things like that. All in all a very painful WOD though and instead of drinking my bottle of water afterwards, I poured it on my head, good fun. After this WOD I'm realizing that instead of doing so much running as I have been doing while on the road, which I think is one of the main reasons I've lost a little weight, I should be doing more of the runs weighted. I think if I halve the run distances when doing weighted runs that that extra bit of weightlifting will be more beneficial than just running.

"The Gym"