Crossfit Benchmarks

I had a great day off yesterday! Finally. I taught so many extra classes last week, I felt like I was on a never-ending work streak for awhile.

I had grand illusions of sleeping in, but my body naturally woke up around 5:30am. That's just disgusting. I was so frustrated with myself that I laid in bed with my eyes closed for another hour before I finally gave in.  Sigh.

I started my day off with a run around Lake Union with my friend Jess. She is running a 100 mile race in a few weeks, so she is on taper time. We had a great 6 mile run that really flew by! It was sprinkling/showering for most of the run, but I have to say I hardly noticed it. It was good to a) be running in the daylight and b) have a friend to run with. My usual runs at 4 am are conducive to neither option.

We had grand discussions for after her race about doing speed work together. Maybe if I have a friend, I'll actually do it! I refueled after my run with another Picky Bar. This time it was "Lauren's Mega Nuts" flavor. I really love these bars. They are quite delicious. It's still a toss up whether I love these or Lara bars more.

I rallied for my evening Crossfit class.

We started off doing 4 sets of 8 bent over rows. I got up to 30 kilos for my last set, but probably should have used more weight.

Our workout included some benchmark Crossfit ladies! Our box hardly ever does benchmark workouts. While I think I would get bored of them quickly, it's nice to see where you're at sometimes. Case in point, our coach had about 7 or 8 of the ladies on the board for us to choose 2 from, and I think I had only done one of them before!

I chose "Grace" and "Diane" for my two workouts.

Grace is simple enough: 30 clean and jerks. I didn't get up to rx (women = 95 lbs.), but I did do 65 kilos for the entire thing, which was tough for me.

"Diane" is 21-15-9 reps of deadlift and handstand pushups. For the deadlift, I used 55 kilos. And the handstand pushups I did on the wall over some stacked abmats.

After Mondays leg extravaganza, the deadlifts were a bit rough, but I made it through!

I didn't get my times for either, but both were around 8 minutes. My new goal is to get to rx on both of these!

If you do Crossfit, what are your favorite benchmark workouts? I think mine is "Helen" (3 rounds: 400 meter run, 21 kettlebell swings, 12 pullups). I love the running aspect, obviously, and I'm anxious for the day that I can do all the pullups without a band.