“Fran” revisited

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Cindy

Carey and Crystal WOD December 5, 2008 from SICFIT on Vimeo.

I love that video. Two of the most inspiring women I know are in it, and when I saw this video for the first time, way back when I started Crossfitting, I simultaneously thought — “I want to be like them” and “I’ll never be like them.”

Fortunately, I now know that I can be whatever the hell I want to be, and I CAN be strong and fast if I want to.

It just takes some work.

The WOD for Tuesday was “Fran.” Again. We did this WOD back on March 8. Tuesday was our test. Had we improved? Had I improved? In March, I set a goal for myself — use the RX weight of 65# and a purple band or no band.

I didn’t chicken out.

“Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters (M 95# / W 65#)
Pull ups

I DID NOT FINISH. (I hate not finishing.) But I CHALLENGED MYSELF. And not because Zach fussed at the class about how we should be challenging ourselves (which he did).

There were times when I would drop the bar and scream “FUCK!” And pant. And drip. And then I would gasp and grab the bar again.

“5 more.”

“2 more.”

The pull ups were just as challenging. I used two purple. It was muggy. I was sweaty. My hands would slip. I hoped I could keep pulling.

Results: 2 rounds @ 65#

My shoulders and arms felt swollen afterward. Huge. Could I be developing some upper body strength? Finally? The girl who used to think that putting heavy dishes in the upper cabinets was hard?

Next time… gonna finish “Fran.”

My Fran goal

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Cindy

As I start this post, Madeline is rolling around on her playmat.

She’s kind of irritated. She’s not moving as fast as she wants to or where she wants to. And she’s upset.

But after fussing for a couple of minutes, she rolls again. And again. Constantly practicing. Constantly moving.

She’ll be crawling before you know it.

Challenges. We all face them. It’s how we deal with them that determines whether we make progress or not.

Madeline’s constant quest for movement reminds me of my own quest to get strong and fast. The WODs suck. They irritate me. They take me out of my comfort zone. But I get a little stronger or a little faster every time.

One of the most irritating WODs is Fran. I don’t hate it, but I certainly don’t love it. And it can be very grueling.

“Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters (M 95# / W 65#)
Pull ups

I wasn’t in the right mindset to take on this WOD Tuesday morning. I walked into class thinking, “I’m resting this week” rather than “I’m ready to do this!”

Big mistake. Anytime I do that, I’m already setting myself up to suffer. But at least I didn’t wuss out too much on the weight.

Time: 11:41 @ 60# (blue band)

I started off slow. I rested too much. I struggled. I certainly didn’t feel strong.

But you know what? The last time I did this WOD I was pregnant and used just the bar. And the time before that? Just the bar and the green band. And before that? The 35# bar! Look how far I’ve come!

Jeff told us we would revisit Fran again in 6 weeks, so I’ve set a goal for myself: I will do Fran at the RX weight of 65# and use either a purple band or no band. If I don’t finish, so be it. But I’m going to make the attempt.

Challenges make us stronger. You gotta keep pushing yourself to get where you want to go.

My kiddos remind me of that every day.

Stupid computer

Posted on June 6, 2010 by Cindy

The computer exploded. Well, kind of.

I came home from my workout Thursday morning, and Luke greeted me in his pajamas, “Your computer won’t turn on!” Andy was sitting at my computer trying to get it to work. Apparently, Luke had gotten up and asked to play a game on it, and the darn thing wouldn’t come one.

Long story short — the hard drive died, I’ve been using my iPod Touch to keep up with email, but not blogging. The computer is now in recovery.

So I’ll run through my workouts pretty fast.

Thursday:

Strength component

Push Press
3-3-3-3-3

45-55-65-70-70

-then-

Met-con

3 rounds
30 lateral dummy jumps
7 handstand push ups
10 hang power cleans (M 135# / W 95#)

I was not allowed to do the jumps as prescribed over a parallette bar. I substituted regular jump rope swings instead.

Time: 5:37 @ 55# on the hang cleans, HSPU on the box

Friday (at home):

“Baby Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters (45# bar)
Pull ups

Time: 14:15 RX

Saturday:

Strength Day

3×3
Dead hang pull ups
Shoulder Press (25# DB – each arm)
Lunge Step (holding 2-25# DBs)

Sunday:

Active rest day

Today I went for a very slow walk with Jenny and the boys along part of the Zilker greenbelt. I had planned a WOD, but I was so exhausted by 5pm, I decided to put it off until tomorrow. Then I ate a bunch of non-primal food.

There ya go.

Revisiting "Fran" — Benchmark Challenge 2009 Part 2

Posted on November 14, 2009 by Cindy

Today was the final workout in my gym’s benchmark challenge. I really wanted to do well this morning, so I made sure to eat well and get plenty of sleep the night before.

Still, I did not feel as good this morning as I did the first time. I have my suspicions of what it was. Needless to say, I was exhausted after 9 hours of sleep and feeling a little puny.

However, I had my cheering squad with me (Luke and Andy) and I geared up for the challenge.

“Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters
Pullups

The first time I did this, I finished in 6:25, using the 35# bar and the green band for pullups. This time, I decided to go with the 45# bar. It was exhausting. But I struggled more with the pullups than the thrusters to be honest — at one point I fell off the bar.

I finished in 7:52. Not an improvement in time — but it was an increase in weight, and for that I’m proud.

The coach who cheered me on and counted for me, Jen, gave me some fabulous advice after I finished on how to improve my pullups with dead hangs. I think I might have actually convinced Andy to build that box and power the pullup bar slightly this weekend so I can try it!

"Frantastic" workout — Benchmark Challenge 2009 Part 1

Posted on October 10, 2009 by Cindy

”Fran,” the workout, is a deceptive workout. It seems like it’s not too bad when you see it written down:

21-15-9
Thrusters
Pullups

But once you get into it, you understand why some dread Fran. I read a really interesting Crossfit Journal article about how Fran works all major muscle groups — squatting, pressing and pulling.

Crossfit Central made Fran the highlight of our benchmark workout month. The “Benchmark Challenge” began with a Saturday Fran workout, which will be followed up in 5 weeks with the same workout — to see if you can shave time off or perhaps go up in weight.

I decided to go “beginner” in this challenge, based on my previous experience with those Thrusters. That means a 35lb bar — 5lbs more than the last time I did Fran. (Rx’d weight is 65lbs for women.) At first they said beginners would only be able to do box jumps, but one of the coaches told me it was fine to use a band if I wanted for the pullups, so I grabbed one of the thicker ones.

I made a dufus of myself when testing out the band. The coach was in front of me, trying to help me get my foot in when my feet swung off the box, nearly kicking her in the face. It would have been a great Kung Fu move, but she did not look amused. Whoops. Sorry!

It went really well. The bar was tough, but I think I can up the weight to the 45lb bar next time for more of a challenge. The pullups felt good. I felt STRONG.

I finished in 6:25 — that’s 3 minutes faster! Of course, the last time I needed help getting my foot in the band, which slowed me down. But I also wasn’t nearly as fatigued as last time.

It will be interesting to see how things go when I do this workout again next month!

Laboring on Labor Day

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Cindy

Fortunately, the labor that I’m doing today has nothing to do with my regular M-F job. I spent my morning testing my endurance at Kung Fu.

Well, OK, I didn’t do that much in Kung Fu. It was all about teaching Andy 3rd Tiger and helping others in my class learn and practice their forms. Also, Luke was with us, so I had my eye on him most of the class so Andy could concentrate on what he needed to do. After class, Andy went down to the weight room to lift, and I continued to entertain Luke until we left.

After a hearty breakfast of sausage and squash, Andy and I took advantage of the day by doing a workout. I wanted something with pullups.

WOD:

“Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters
Pullups

To be fair, I scaled this workout DRAMATICALLY. The prescribed workout calls for a 95lb barbell. Um… yeah. Not quite there yet. I used 15lb dumbbells on the thrusters. And, of course, I used the band on the pullup bar.

Believe it or not, this was my first workout with thrusters, and — MAN! — they were exhausting. I can’t imagine using 65 MORE pounds. On the 21 round, I didn’t think I’d finish. I finally fell into a groove by the 15 round — but of course, there aren’t as many to do. I finished in 9:38 — slowed down my my own fatigue and waiting for Andy to pull the band down to where I could put my foot in it. (Can’t wait for a box! Maybe then I can do it by myself!)