Travis Holley and Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 7/21/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

120713 Friday

We arrived at the Home Depot Center at 8:00am, waited in line to park for twenty-five minutes, then waited in line to get in for an additional forty-five minutes. It took so long to get into the facility that we had to RUN from the gates to the track to make it in time to see their heat. CrossFit Central set up in the top right hand corner of the stands and cheered our team through the rainy relay. The team looked great with the girls leading the guys. They ended up finishing third in their heat and thirteenth overall. I was really impressed with how the handled the weather and they all looked like they ran smart 415s because no one died at the end or hit the wall too hard.

Then they took on the Big Bob. They did a great job of pushing the sled on the way down, but ran into trouble on the way back. From my standpoint in the stands, there was too much slack in the rope between the leaders, Michael and Karen, at the end of the rope and the middle women, Carey and Jess. They lost a lot of ground and ended up taking twenty-second overall in that workout.

I headed over to meet up with my friend Kenny Kane in the SicFit box to do a segment for the Wodcast Podcast. It’s a hilarious podcast about all things CrossFit and you should definitely give it a listen! We also took a stroll through the vendor area and it was PACKED! So many vendors and people – they need to quadruple the space for the vendors next year.

The next WOD for the team was the front squat and team triplet. We got settled in the also packed stadium and slathered on another layer of ever important sunscreen. It was hard to follow the weights the team was loading on, but I was pretty sure each of our athletes matched their PRs from last Sunday, which was solid, plus a few got to take another attempt, but missed. The men totaled 985lbs to take ninth and the women totaled 605lbs to take eighth.

Then they moved on to the Triplet. The wrench that HQ threw in the plan was that each of the “holds” (front rack, overhead) were done with axle-bars or fat-bars. This made cleaning and snatching the bars into position much, much harder. Our girls struggled with the fat-bar clean, and Michael had removed his shirt and the bar slid off his sweaty chest! We lost a lot of time to the fat-bar and finished twenty-ninth.

120714 Saturday

Saturday was a new day for the team. They did a great job of handling the yoke, which was again a different implement than expected with the weight swinging from cables. They finished tied for tenth and moved onto the clean-rope event. The girls got through their cleans, with Karen going touch-and-go on all of her reps. The girls finished their rope climbs, the guys CRUSHED their cleans, and they sprinted to the rope – but weren’t able to tally any climbs for the guys. They took twentieth place.

The final session on Saturday was the #DOorDIE situation they had all been waiting for. The team had managed to climb into eleventh place by Saturday afternoon and knew they had to do something ridiculous to get into the top six. They absolutely BEASTED through the bar muscle-ups with the guys registering 39 reps for tenth place and the girls knocking out 17 reps for seventh place.

The last workout was the team chipper. Jeremy breezed through the opening round followed by Michael and Travis. Michael got slowed down by the overhead squats and pull ups, but that was the bottle neck that all of the teams expected. The girls were led by Karen, followed by Carey and Jessica. By the time Michael was on the pull-up bar, I couldn’t stay in my seat any longer and ran down to be floor-side to cheer. I was SCREAMING my lungs out at the ladies to get through their reps. I was in Jessica’s face (sorry Jess!!) giving her updates on how much time she had left. She got through the overhead squats and three pull ups!! I was so proud of the team for absolutely draining themselves on that last workout. They were amazing! They ended up sixteenth in the final workout and thirteenth place overall.

This means the team did not move on to the final on Sunday, which is obviously not what we had wanted. In my eyes, we simply did not adjust to the twists thrown into the plan. The fat-bar really got to us, as we had not practiced that as a team at any point. I also think we did not put enough emphasis on super-fast transitions between movements and partners; from my view in the stands we could have been just a little bit sharper. However, to focus on the positive, the team did a great job of working AS A TEAM and making it look pretty on the floor. Communication was positive and there was an obvious sense of purpose and cohesiveness with our team. It was awesome to watch the team respond to the crowd and to take in the moment!

120715 Sunday

I went for another run to the beach and did a little sandy workout. 5 rounds of 20 squats, sit ups, and push-ups with a sprint from one volleyball net to the next in between. I also added 3 rounds of 10 pistols, forward lunges, and backwards lunges.

We watched the final workout from the stands on Sunday. It was really impressive to see the teams go through “The Girls.” But of course I would have much rather have been participating, or at least watching our team. Ute CrossFit did a great job of pacing themselves through the workout and finished strong with Tommy Hackenbruck going nearly unbroken on “Karen.”

The individuals were incredible the whole weekend as well. If I had been competing as an individual I would have been crushed by those ladies. They survived a triathlon, obstacle course, football style combine, track race, highly technical gymnastics elements, clean ladder, strongman technique, a timber sports test, and classic CrossFit. As usual, I wish I had been able to try all of that!! I can only hope that next year I qualify and get to play with the best of the best.

120716 Monday

We went out to Muscle Beach in Venice, CA to pay homage to the sports and fitness culture mecca. It was cool messing around on the rings and ropes, with 90% of the other visitors being CrossFitters as well. We really just enjoyed Southern California and visiting old friends and friendly places before the next leg of our trip.

120717 Tuesday

On Tuesday, Michael and I traveled to Idaho! My grandmother spends her summers in McCall and we make a point to visit her for a week. We indulged in top notch airport food of Sbarro Pizza and Cinnabon!

120718 Wednesday

Back onto our workout regimen, Michael and I visited Legend CrossFit to drop in for a WOD. Our good friend Joey Pietri welcomed us back with “Fran.” Mind you that McCall is 5,000+ feet in elevation and we were coming from sea-level. However, I felt pretty fresh from a week of doing nearly nothing. I set a life-time PR of 4:06, which would have ranked me 12^th amongst the top 12 women in the Games. Like I said – those ladies would have CRUSHED ME!!

120719 Thursday

Thursday we headed back for some more altitude training and did a WOD involving more than 1.5 miles of running, 50 burpee pull-ups, and 100 kettlebell swings. The workout took me just under 27 minutes and definitely stimulated a different energy pathway from the day before. I’ve noticed that I am not recovering as quickly as usual with more soreness than expected, but I felt pretty good during the workout.

120720 Friday

We dropped in early, but skipped the class WOD, which was the team chipper from the Games, as both Michael and I had done it within the week before. I did some supplemental band walks and pull-aparts, before getting in a nice snatch technique session. We plan to hit up a workout in Legacy Park tomorrow and hopefully it will involve swimming!!

My next sporting competition is on August 25^th, at the Camp Gladiator Games Finals. We’ve been told the events will involve three trips through an obstacle course, three loops of a 2k run, and a swim with a brick! I will then take on The Athlete Open, hosted by CrossFit Austin and the Garage Games Series on September 8^th. I am looking forward the variety of these events and getting in a little bit of competition before I start event director duties in the fall.

My training this year will largely focus on strength and Olympic lifting and putting on more weight! I want to be about 10lbs heavier during Games season next spring and improve all of my lifts by at least 30lbs. I also plan to take on an obstacle course style fun run at some point- Spartan or Tough Mudder style!

I want to thank you all for reading my blog over the past few months. I especially want to thank Becca Borawski for the opportunity to blog on breakingmuscle.com. I look forward to continuing to blog on my personal blog and breakingmuscle.com in the future!

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 21 – 7/21/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Travis Holley and Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 7/14/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Photos provided by Brian Sullivan.

Read our other CrossFit Athlete Journals:

Travis Holley and Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 7/14/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Photos provided by Brian Sullivan.

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 21 – 7/14/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Travis Holley and Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 7/7/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Photo provided by Brian Sullivan.

Team CrossFit Central heads to the CrossFit Games on Tuesday the 10^th. We are excited to get to the Best Coast and we are staying in Manhattan Beach. We will be around the venue as much as possible and I would love to meet any of you that read this blog. If you are at the Games please come say, “Hi,” and let me know that you read the blog!

This week we got on Facetime with Coach Rudy and talked strategy. We discussed the little things we needed to practice and finalized the team. The men will be Jeremy Thiel, Travis Holley, and Michael Winchester. The women will be Carey Kepler, Karen Pierce, and me! I am very excited to represent CrossFit Central at the Games and I am also incredibly thankful for all of the people who helped get me and the Team to the Games. Jessica Stephen and Jessica Estrada are both incredible human beings who put the Team first at all costs and got Central qualified for the Games. Thank you for demonstrating true sportsmanship and generosity to your teammates.

Our sponsors – including Trinity Sponsor breakingmuscle.com – have been huge supporters of me and the Team, thank you for your investment in us as athletes and voices of the CrossFit community on your platform!

7/1/12 Sunday

We rarely workout on Sundays, but we hosted a promotional event at our new CrossFit Trigger Point location on Saturday and switch the schedule around. It was a good decision as we also switched Wednesday to a rest day for the holiday.

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:

1) 7×1 Snatch
115F-115-120-125F-125-130F-130F-130F-115-115
Form felt good through the pulls, couldn’t keep it together overhead. Last week I PRd on the snatch, but this week I didn’t have it, so I dropped the weight and went for better form.

2)7×1 Clean
145-155-165-175F-170-175-180PR
(Old PR 175) This clean PR made up for the lower weight in the snatch. I have a pretty weak front squat, so every PR in the clean is a good thing!

STRENGTH:
5×5 High Bar Back Squat @ 175

CONDITIONING:
1) 5x
7 Overhead Squat (105#)
7 Bar Facing Burpees
5:31
Unbroken. This was a good workout for me. I’m pretty solid overhead so while the reps weren’t slow, they were steady and gave me enough rest to use some speed on the burpees. I also practiced full snatching my first rep to get that first squat knocked out quickly.

2)5x
7 Power Snatch (105#)
7 Chest-to-Bar Pull Ups
7:39
Not unbroken. I tried to go unbroken on these snatches, but did not have the grip for it. I ended up doing mostly sets of 2-3 on the snatch. I worked on butterfly chest-to-bar pull ups, so I did not have as much success with going unbroken. The butterfly is really draining on my grip and I should have been smarter about these reps.

7/2/12 Monday

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1) Vertical Snatch 7×2: 85-95-105-110-105-105-105

2a) Snatch Pull 4×3: 155-160-160-160
2b) Drop Snatch 4×3: 85-95-105-105. I really like drop snatches. They are technical and feel great when you do them right.

STRENGTH:
1a) 4x 20 Glute-Ham Raise: 12-14-10-13 Massive sets of glute-ham raises? Really coach?
2b) 4xMax-Effort Toes-to-Bar: 20-20-12-15

CONDITIONING:

5x

5 Muscle Ups
20 Burpees
7 Deadlifts @ 225#

Rest half the time it takes you to complete each round

1 – 3:03 (rings slipped ⅔, DL singles)
2 – 2:44 (¼, DL doubles)
3 – 2:48 (4/1, DL 4/3)
4 – 2:39 (MU Unbroken, DL 4/3)
5 – 2:30 (MU Unbroken, DL UB)

I really loved this conditioning. I love muscle ups and the DLs were slow enough that the rest seemed longer than it was. However, my name is Ingrid Kantola and I am a sandbagger. I am pretty afraid of “bonking” from going out too hard in workouts and usually save up for the last round. The first round wasn’t intentionally so slow – my rings slipped and became uneven and I waited for a teammate to finish on their equipment to switch. But still, a 15 second improvement from the second to the last round was a bit dramatic.

120703 Tuesday

PARKOUR!!

We headed over to the Camp Gladiator Arena to borrow their cargo net. They have a typical globo-gym set up with a sweet 20’ cargo net and a set of monkey bars. We got familiar with the net and bars and talked a little strategy, should those elements come into play next weekend.

After CGA we went to the Texas Department of Public Safety training course where we practiced getting over six foot walls. We did a circuit through lower wall hurdles, log running, parallette walking, and pull ups. It was really fun to get outside of our regular and do some random stuff and generally get creative and brainstorm some potentially epic workouts!!

7/5/12 Thursday

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:

10x 2 Three-Stop Snatch Pulls + 1 High Hang Snatch

85-95-105-110-110-115-115-115-115-115

CONDITIONING:

Partner WOD with Karen Pierce

100 Kettlebell Swings 16kg

50 Burpees

15 Muscle Ups

10 Snatches @ 120#

15 Muscle Ups

50 Burpees

100 Partner Wall Balls 14#

It was great to do some partner work this week. Friday the 6^th was exactly one week until the CrossFit Games begin! It was good to get into competition mode with a teammate.

Karen knows that muscle ups are a weakness for her, so she begged for a heavier load of the other movements. I went first on the KB swings and we divided them by 25. I then did 10 burpees to her 15. I knocked out 4 or 5 muscle ups on the first set and she jumped in with singles. I kept my sets to 2-3 for most rounds. The snatches were tricky, we both failed a rep early and things got a little bleak. However, I figured it out and didn’t miss anymore and Karen takes coaching really well and fixed hers as well. We finished with partner wall balls which were interesting – they feel very slow as you wait for your partner to return the ball. We did them unbroken and finished in 17:02!

7/6/12 Friday

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:

5X3 Split Jerk

STRENGTH:

1a) 10X2 Banded Deadlifts

1b) 5X5 Seated BB Shoulder Press

CONDITIONING:

1) 3X

12 Handle Handstand Push Up (4″ Deficit)

12 GHD Situps

12 Hang Squat Cleans 105#

2) 12 minutes Row for Meters.

30 seconds ALL OUT – 30 seconds Active Recovery

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 20 – 7/7/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 6/30/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Photo provided by Brian Sullivan.

I’m trimming down the workout journal since it has been over a week and there is some auxiliary work that seems a bit superfluous. But in all I am going to add some commentary to each day, so that it’s not just a log, but actually more of a journal.

120618 Monday

We went on a little “de-load” schedule for a few days. This does not mean that we did not lift, or that we did not do intense workouts. It does mean that we lifted sub-maximal loads, and did fewer intense workouts.

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1) 7×2 Vertical Snatch 85-95-100-105-105-105-105
2a) 4×3 Halting Snatch Dead Lift @ 145
2b) 4×3 Drop Snatch 85-105-105-105

CONDITIONING:
5 Rounds for Total Working Time of first part of set
75 Double Unders
10 Push Jerks 95
Rest 15 Seconds
Max Effort Chest to Bar Pull Ups
Rest 1 Minute

1:16 – 10
1:36 – 12
1:54 – 10
2:07 – 10
2:12 – 8
Worked on butterfly C2Bs.

120619 Tuesday

This was still during our de-load week. We had a 5 part workout- DURING DE-LOAD.

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1) 7x 2 Vertical Clean Off High Blocks + 1Push Jerk: 115-125-135-145-145-145-145

CONDITIONING:

1) 3 Rounds
25 Burpees
50ft Yoke Carry
6:27
2) 12 Minute AMRAP
10 DB Hang Squat Clean (45# DBs)
100ft KB Farmer Carry (53# KBs)
10 DB HSPU
3 Rounds

120620 Wednesday

At the end of the WOD we spent 30 minutes on ring HSPU, weighted pistols, and handstand walks. I can’t really do ring HSPU without using my legs entirely and the biggest challenge of the pistols were going OH, onto box, with KB, etc.

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1a) 10×2 High Hang Snatch: 3 sets @95, 3@105, 4@115
1b) 10×2 3-Stop Snatch Dead Lift: 3@125, 3@135, 2@145, 2@155

CONDITIONING:
4x 4 Unbroken Muscle Ups + Max Effort Dips
All MU UB – Dips: 6, 4, 3, 3

12Minutes Row- 30s All Out: 30 Active Recovery
In meters:
136-135-134-137-135-134-133-134-134-135-139-143
Total: 1629m working

Thursday – Bikram

Friday 120622

We were back ‘on’ from out de-load with a double day. The second session was especially great because we got to do Team workouts! While some members of our squad were missing, it was great to get to strategize and practice moving through a workout together.

9AM RBG
BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1) 7×3 Jerk from Blocks: 95-135-145-155(2)-135-135-145

STRENGTH:
2a) 10×2 Band DL: 165 on Bar + 4 Black bands on Yokes
2b) 5×5 Bench Press: 95-105-105-105-105

1PM Central
CONDITIONING:
1) Partner WOD w/ Winchester- 8 Rounds Total, Alternating Full Rounds
5 Hurdle Jumps 30/26″
Sprint 50m
5 Hurdle Jumps 30/26″
10 Front Squats 200/135#
15 UB Pullups
16:04

2) Team WOD w/ Jeremy, Karen, Winchester-

3 Rounds: 45seconds work, 15 seconds rest- everyone working at once, rotating stations
Wall Ball
Kettlebell Swings (24k)
Burpees
Toes to Bar
670 Total reps (179 by me)

Saturday 120623

I don’t always PR, but when I do, I PR in pairs. The first time this happened was on a snatch & clean Saturday. I got some video of these as well, to prove that it actually happened!

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1) 7×1 Snatch
130-130-135(Fail)-135-135-140-145(Fail)-145PR
2) 7×1 Clean
125-145-155-165-170-175PR-175(Fail)

STRENGTH:
7×3 High Bar Back Squat
175-182.5(whoops)-190-190-195-195-200(2)

Had a little trouble counting plates and communicating with my partner who was loading the other side of the bar…

CONDITIONING:
1) Team WOD w/ Jess E, Travis, Me, Winchester- each person cannot move onto the next station until the person before them has completed that station
Row 1k
20 Dumbbell HSPU
3 Rope Climbs
100 Double Unders
15 DB HSPU
30 C2B Pull Ups
400m Run
10 DB HSPU
3 Rope Climbs
Team Time: 32:41

2) Partner WOD w/ Winchester- each partner completes reps round then switches
21-15-9
Overhead Squats
Toes 2 Bar
Time- 7:43

120624 Sunday

Our coach has us occasionally going out for a “long run” day as they say in typical endurance training. This time we did a triathlon-ish set up. I just got a new bike- from my sister for $20- it is a single speed with pedal brakes. Made the hill climbs at Barton Springs especially entertaining.

at Barton Springs – approximate times within 20s
5 minute swim
1 minute transition
10 minute bike
1 minute transition
8:30 run
1 minute transition
5 minute swim
2 minute transition
10 minute bike
1 minute transition
8 minute run
Total time: 54 Minutes

Swims were great, just over 200m each. Bike was a leg burner, but lungs were fine, probably between 2.5-3.5miles each. Runs were the most shaky, but definitely on the 1 mile mark.

120625 Monday

Boy oh boy, do I suck at burpees. They seem so straight forward right? Stand up, lie down, stand up, lie down. But I can make that process so slow!

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1) 5×3 Snatch from High Blocks
85-785-95-95-100-100

CONDITIONING:
5 Rounds with 1 Minute Rest Between Rounds
9 Hang Squat Cleans
18 Burpees
1:47- 1:46- 2:06- 2:13- 2:15
Total Working Time: 10:04

120626 Tuesday

I can tell that my strength is improving. From week to week some things just get easier, the next set doesn’t seem as daunting. I am also practicing loosening my weight belt. What does that do? It makes me less mentally dependent on the belt during heavy stuff. I used to never front squat or clean without it. I loosen it up or take it off during working sets to get a stronger core and to feel from its support.

9AM RBG
BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
5x 3 Cleans from High Blocks & 1 Split Jerk
95-100-110-120-120

STRENGTH:
1) Low Bar Back Squat
5x 170, 3x 190, 2x 200, 2x 210
2a) 5×2 Pause Front Squats
145-150-155-155-155
2b) 5×2 Push Press
125-130-135-140-145(1)

1PM CC
CONDITIONING:
1) Every Minute on the Minute for 10 Minutes
4 Bar Muscle Ups & Max Effort Unbroken Double Unders
Completed all 4 BarMU Each Minute
DU: 37-0-23-16-12-16-6-6-0-3 = 119 Total

2) 3 Rounds for Time
400m Run
10 KB Clean and Jerk (Dual 16ks)
15 GHD Sit Ups
10:39

120627 Wednesday

Have you ever felt long? Not tall, not tired, just that your limbs are too long to move them any faster? During our conditioning we had to do KB sumo high-pulls and push presses. I could have sworn that I was catching my teammates, or at least keeping up with them. However, I was wrong. I was consistently 2-3 reps behind on every set. Not because my pace was slower, but because my movement turnover takes longer. It takes me longer to move my arms and legs to full extension than it does for my teammate who is 5’3”. I need to be more efficient with my movement cycle in order to keep pace!

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
10x 2 3-Stop Snatch DL & 1 High Hang Snatch
65-75-75-85-95-105-105-110-110-115-115

STRENGTH:
1a) 4x Max Effort Strict Handle HSPU & ME Kipping Handle HSPU
0/6 DBs, 0/5 Parallettes, 5Wall/6DBs, 4Wall+10#Plates/4DBs
1b) 4×5 Weighted Strict Chest to Bar Pull Ups (weight vests)
10#, 20#, 20, 20
1c)4×15 Reverse Hypers (on GHD)
15#db, 14#mb, 20mb, 20mb

CONDITIONING:
7 Rounds with 20 seconds rest between rounds
20 KB High Pulls (16k)
15 Push Press (75#) (6 out of 7 sets unbroken)
Total Time: 10:50 (without rest= 8:50)

120628 Thursday

Active Recovery

2x 15 minute bike rides on a single speed to and from work

Bikram Yoga

120629 Friday

This was a really fun day!! We had other things planned – banded dead lifts and dumbbell work and an HOUR of conditioning, but ran out of time. I’m glad because I was able to walk away with another PAIR of PRs and I felt really good about my experience with quasi-King Kong. Friday was a good day!

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:

10×1 Split Jerk

145-155-155-160-165-170-180-190-205FAIL- 200FAIL- 200PR

(Old PR 185)

STRENGTH:

Deadlift warm up

125-155-175-215-235-265-285PR

(Old PR 265)

CONDITIONING:

King Kong – Not As RX

5x 240# DL (a sub for 1 x 300# DL)

2 Muscle Ups

3 Squat Cleans

4 HSPU

6:07

Slowest part were the cleans.

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 19 – 6/30/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 6/18/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Photo provided by Brian Sullivan.

The last week of training had some high points – learning chest to bar butterfly pull ups and how to “fall” into linked muscle ups – and some low points – ripping both palms and having to do 50+ pull ups strict instead of kipping. But the best thing about the last week of training was feeling strong enough to get through it all. I wanted to run the 200s at the end of Tuesday’s marathon workout session, when most of the group had headed onto their next obligation. I wanted to complete the task list on Friday, despite my aching hands.

Having that kind of energy at the end of a long week of training means that it’s working. It means all of the mental and emotional battles to simply complete the work have been worth it because now I can, and I want to. It is one thing to know your PRs are improving and you are getting leaner, and it is another to be eager to walk into the hardest training sessions of your life and want to do it all perfectly.

I added some notes about the training sessions to the WOD log below. Let me know what you think of our training and if you have any questions about what we are up to! Less than a month until the CrossFit Games!

Monday 6/11/12
STRENGTH:
Weighted Chest to Bar Pull Ups
20-25-35-44-49-53-58-70F-70-70

(That’s a two pood KB! Leashed around the waist. Kipping allowed.)

CONDITIONING:
“Larry Bird”

60 Kettlebell Swings @ 20kg
50 Burpees
40 Pull Ups
30 One-Legged Overhead Squat (45# BB onto 12″ box+45# plate)
20 Dumbbell Push Jerks (50# DBs)
10 Muscle-Ups
100′ One-Arm Barbell Overhead Walking Lunges (45# BB – 50′ each arm)
25:22

(Very tricky workout! Started out really fast, then came to a screeching halt on the 1 leg overhead squat!)

Tuesday 6/12/12
BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1) 2x Clean + 2x Jerk Off High Blocks:

95-115-125-135-145- 2 sets of 1 Clean @ 165#

(Glutes were VERY sore from the previous days’ pistols.)

STRENGTH:
1) Back Squat: 8×160, 5×180, 3×190, 3×200, 3×200
2a) Push Press x3:115, 125, 140 (2x), 130, 135
2b) Pause Front Squat x3: 115-125-135-145- 2x2x155

SKILL/CONDITIONING:
1) Deficit Parallette Handstand Push Up: 3-5-7-5-4 (kipping allowed!)
2) 4 Rounds each for time:

• 10 Jump over the box 20″ (5 boxes in a row. Jump over each one in a row then turn around and go back. FUN!)
• 15 Unbroken Chest to Bar Pull Ups (All pull ups were unbroken, and managed sets of 7-10 of butterfly chest to bar)
• 50 Double Unders
• 15 Hand Release Push Ups

Rd 1 – 2:18, Rd 2 – 2:10, Rd 3 – 2:22, Rd 4 – 2:10
Total Working Time: 10 Minutes

3) 4x200m Sprint: 34.03, 34.70, 34.06, 33.89

Wednesday 6/13/12

BARBELL GYMNASTICS:
1) 7×2 Snatch Off High Blocks: 95-105-115-120-120(1x)-120-120
2a) 4×3 Snatch Drop: 65-85-95-100
2b) 4×3 Snatch High Pulls: All sets at 125

CONDITIONING:
1) 5 Muscle Ups/100m row
4 Muscle Ups/200m row
3 Muscle Ups/300m row
2 Muscle Ups/400m row
1 Muscle Ups/500m row
8:46

(All MU unbroken, practiced “falling” off the rings instead of dipping into the next rep.)

2) Every Minute on the Minute for 5 Minutes – 20 Burpees
:03 remaining- 15- 13- 14- 14

STRENGTH:
1a) 4X8 Weighted “Strict” Glute Ham Raise – with 10# dumbbell
1b) 4X3 Barbell Turkish Get Ups – 35-35- 45-45 (first two sets were 3 total, last two were 3 each arm)

Friday ‎6/15/12
CONDITIONING I @ 10AM:
1) 3 rounds for time:

• 50′ Yoke Carry
• 10 Hang Snatch (95#) (7/3, 5/3/2, 5/3/2)
• 30 Toes to Bar

12:24

(90 Toes to Bar = blistered hands)

2) 3 rounds for time:

• 1 Mile Run
• 10 Muscle Ups (4/3/3)
• Rest 4 Minutes
• 1 Mile Run
• 10 Muscle Ups (5/3/2)
• Rest 3 Minutes
• 1 Mile Run
• 10 Muscle Ups (4/2/2/2/2)

8:59, 8:56, 8:53

Total Working Time= 26:48

(30 Muscle Ups = ripped hands)

BARBELL GYMNASTICS: @ 1:15PM:
10×2 Jerk Every Minute on the Minute for 10 Minutes @ 150#

STRENGTH:
10x 2 Banded Dead Lift
165# on the Bar + Red Band

CONDITIONING II:
1) As Many Rounds As Possble In 12 Minutes

• 15 Kettlebell Swings (24kg)
• 75′ High Bar Prowler Push (170#)
• 15 Wall Ball (14#)
• 75′ Low Bar Prowler Push (170#)

4 Rounds + 3 Wall Balls

2) For Time:
60 Pull Ups (~56 Strict)
15 Thrusters (105#) (5/3/1/4/1/1)
30 Calorie Row
60 GHD Sit Ups
15 Over Head Squats (120) (5/5/5)
30 Calorie Row
60 Hand Release Push Ups
15 Power Cleans (155#) (Singles)
30 Calorie Row
38:37

Saturday 6/16/12
BARBELL GYMNASTICS:

Worked on cleans from low blocks – up to a few sets of 2 @ 135#

STRENGTH:

Every Minute on the Minute for 7 Minutes
3x High Bar Back Squat @165

CONDITIONING:
Partner Swim Workout with Jessica Estrada
Swim 25yd
Max Effort Burpees
Swim 50yd
Max Effort Pistols
Swim 75yd
Max Effort Burpees
Swim 100yd
Max Effort Pistols
Swim 125yd
Max Effort Burpees
(Each partners does both parts, switching off swimming and reps.)
Total of 220 Reps in 17:51

(I LOVE SWIMMING!!)

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 18 – 6/18/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 6/11/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Photo provided by Brian Sullivan.

‎‎Today you are going to see the details of my workouts: reps and loads. However, you are also going to see that I only worked out three times last week! ONLY 3 TIMES! It seems incredible to me that I have allowed myself to decrease my volume. It made sense at the time, though. Last week I coached a kids camp for seven hours each day, shadowed two classes as part of my coaching mentorship program, and ran the scoring for a local fitness competition.

While my number of workouts was low, the intensity was high and the quality of the workouts was excellent. I was very pleased with the output of work and how the workouts felt on top of the stress of being a working girl. I was also willing to listen to my teammates and to take the needed rest of the weekend. Thursday was planned rest; Friday I was heading to the gym at 8:30PM when Michael Winchester helped me to reconsider; Saturday I was again tied up with the fitness competition; and Sunday was planned rest and Bikram yoga.

The intensity of daily work plus Outlaw programming has me functioning on another level. The balance between mental and physical has become an essential focus of my daily activities. I’m happy to make it through each day and to be able to tell my acupuncturist that despite three hours of sleep I still have a physical energy level of six on a scale of ten. I feel like I am making progress as an athlete.

The best news of the week is that I made the eight-man squad for the CrossFit Games. Only six will check-in at the Home Depot Center, though. I am training for the Team and everything that I do in and out of the gym needs to consider what will help me to be the biggest benefit to the Team. So if taking four rest days a week will help to improve my mental fitness then I will take the necessary steps to being my best every day!

‎6/4/12, 6:15pm at Red Black Gym

Barbell Gymnastics
1) Tall Snatch 5×3 – 75/85/90/95/95
2a) 4×3 Snatch Grip PP + OHS – 115/125/130/135
2b) 4×3 Snatch Pull – 165/165/175/175

Conditioning
1) Row 20:40 – 100/99/100/101/101/98/98/96/97/100 = 532m
Rest 10 Minutes
2) 4 Rounds + Yoke Carry loaded + 100#
Rest 10 Minutes
3) 8:31 (24kb, 20″ box)
Rest 10 Minutes
4) Unbroken Muscle-Ups, Every Minute on the Minute – 5/5/3/3/2

6/5/12, 4:30pm at CrossFit Central
Barbell Gymnastics
1) Clean from blocks 140-145-150-150-155-155-160
2a) 4×3 Jerk Dip Squats @ 205
2b) 4×3 Jerk Balance @ 65-75-85-95

Strength
1) Low Bar Back Squat
8@ 160, 5@ 170, 5@ 180, 3@ 195, 3@ 205
2) 7×3 Deadlifts, Every Minute on the Minute @ 195

Conditioning
5x (equal rest to round time):

100m Run

15UB Chest-to-bar Pull Ups

10 Dual Kettlebell Thrusters (16kg each)

200m Run

2:42 – 3:10 – 2:57 – 3:00 – 2:53
Total working time: 14:42
All pull ups unbroken, broke 2nd set of kettlebell thrusters

6/6/12, 6:30pm at Red Black Gym

Barbell Gymnastics
1) Snatch off block 115-115-125-125-125-125-125F-125

Strength
a) Narrow Grip Bench
75-85-95-95-95
b) Supinated Grip Bent Over Row
95-105-105-105-105

Conditioning
3x
75 Double Unders (Unbroken, 40/5/30, 40/26/9)
15 Handstand Push-Ups (Unbroken)
10 Hang Snatch @ 95# (5/3/2, 5/3/2, 5/5)
10:29

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 17 – 6/11/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 6/4/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Photo provided by Brian Sullivan.

I added a “fun” event to my training protocol last week. The Camp Gladiator Games Tryouts are a fun little test that I have taken on. Last year the entire event was trials and finals of a five minute obstacle course. I absolutely LOVE obstacle courses! This year they held tryouts on six events to qualify for the finals.

Part 1 of the CG tryouts:

• 100m Sprint – 13.09 (hand time at finish line)
• 2 Miles: 16:21
• 20 Touch Cone Drill: 0:29.87

Tryouts Part 2 (did not remember my times):

• 400m Run with 25lb sand bag
• 120yd sand bell chest pass
• 120yd bear crawl with 50lb sand bag

These tests are an important reminder to have FUN! I easily get caught up in the competition and the emphasis on hard work. I forget fitness training is essentially play time. By allowing myself to take part in an event like the Camp Gladiator Games tryouts, I can play with events that don’t have much long term importance for me and do something different.

This week I coach a kids CrossFit camp at a local community center. I’m looking forward to lots of games, play, imagination, and FUN! We have plenty of relays, partner WODs, some swimming, and some educational discussions planned. But mostly I am looking forward to the kids teaching us some of their favorite games and having lots of laughs!

Friday May 25^th
Barbell Gymnastics: Power Clean and Push Jerk

Strength: Front Squats
Conditioning: Row – 3 Rounds of Dips & Double Unders – Row

Saturday May 26^th

Barbell Gymnastics: Snatch, Snatch Balance, Snatch Pulls

Conditioning:

3 Rounds

• Muscle-Ups
• DB Thrusters

5 min AMRAP of:

• Dead lifts
• Burpees

3 Rounds:

• 100′ OH Carry @ 185/120#
• Back Squats
• Shoulder to OH
• Run 400m

‎Sunday May 27^th:

Bikram Yoga

Monday May 28^th

Barbell Gymnastics: Split Jerks

Conditioning:

5x 200m sprint (:29, :32, :32, :34, :30)

5 Rounds:

• Thrusters
• Unbroken Chest to Bar Pull-Ups
• Double Unders

Tuesday May 29^th

Barbell Gymnastics: Power Cleans

Conditioning:

3 Rounds

• 50′ Handstand Walk
• Burpees
• Sled Push

3 Rounds

• 400m run
• Rope climbs
• Overhead Squats

10x 20 second Row for meters, rest 40 seconds

PM – Bikram Yoga

Wednesday May 30^th

Barbell Gymnastics: Snatch

Strength: Strict + Kipping Muscle Ups, Strict Press

Conditioning:

10 minutes ME UB Double-Unders

12 minute AMRAP:

• Hand Release Push Ups
• KB Snatch
• Tire Flips

Thursday May 31^st

Bikram Yoga

Friday June 1^st
Barbell Gymnastics: Power Clean & Push Jerk
Strength: Front Squats & Strict Handstand Push Ups + Kipping Handstand Push Ups
Conditioning:
5rounds

• 200m Run
• Rope Climbs
• Unbroken Push Jerks

Saturday June 2^nd

Off

Sunday June 3^rd

Off

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 16 – 6/4/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 5/21/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Photo provided by Brian Sullivan.

I’m writing this blog to you on a Thursday due to the holiday weekend. Usually my blog comes out on a Monday, so this “week” is a little bit abbreviated.

As you can tell, the last few weeks have been incredibly busy with a lot of family, school, work, and training obligations. I’ve done very well, despite the external factors, in staying on track in the gym and getting workouts done. However, they have not been my best performances physically or mentally. I find myself in “panic” mode after two or three rounds, breathing too heavily, hunched over on my knees, and coming close to tears. I am probably going too hard right out of the gate, forgetting to pace, and losing steam quickly. This is incredibly frustrating, to feel exhausted in the first few minutes of a workout.

I had a good talk yesterday with my personal coach, Don Ricci, about these “feelings” during metabolic conditioning workouts. He reminded me that a huge part of feeling confident during a workout is my physical positioning and simply standing up tall to catch my breath and to relax my face. This change in physical state can help not only to increase oxygen consumption through good posture, but have an effect on my mental state by presenting a confident stance. If you look good, you feel good – right?

Another small success I noticed was during a mile run to finish our workout. I have been able to remember a repeatable mantra while running and it creates a rhythmic beat for me to run to. Focusing on this mantra keeps my mind from wandering, holds a steady pace, and helps me to run better. The next step here is to remember to use this mantra during workouts in order to shift my body into automatic, and to simply be convinced of what I’m doing. If I am convinced, I am not questioning, not doubting, just doing what I need to do.

Training Log:

Monday:

Barbell Gymnastics: Snatch work

Gymnastics: Handstand Walking

Conditioning: Chest to Bar & Dumbbell Fran

Then 3x 500m Row with rest

Tuesday:

Barbell Gymnastics: Clean & Jerk work

Strength: Back Squat

Conditioning: 5 x 3minute Intervals with 1 minute rest

• Power Cleans
• Push Ups
• Air Squats

Wednesday:

Gymnastics: Handstand Push Ups

Conditioning: 5 Rounds

• Sprint
• Deadlifts
• Wall Ball 2 for 1s

Then a Mile Run for Time

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 15 – 5/28/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 5/21/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

One thing I forgot to share with you is that last Friday May 11^th was the two year anniversary of my heart surgery, and I totally forgot to share the mile stone with anyone! I am scheduling my two year follow up with a cardiologist in the next few weeks, just to make sure everything is on track and to “wow” doctors with my progress. I was lucky to have an exceptionally talented surgeon, Dr. Abbas Ardehali, and my follow up appointments are usually unremarkable, which is doctor talk for “good to go.”

We had another brutal week of Outlaw programming. Or maybe I just think it’s brutal because we are working on areas that are especially weak for me. I know I need to improve on high volume, low weight workouts, aka strength endurance. This includes high volume pull ups, dips, and push-ups as well as low weight squats.

I’m not going to go into full details on the numbers, but just trust me that they reps sets are usually over 20 and that my times have been terrible. I find myself immediately gassed and I need to work on pacing through the workouts better. And while my lift are improving, I still have a lot of work to do to be CrossFit Games ready and in a position to contribute to the team the way they need me to.

Monday

Barbell Gymnastics: Snatch work

Conditioning: 5 rounds with equal rest

Sprint

Unbroken Pull Ups

105lb Front Squats

Tuesday

Barbell Gymnastics: Clean & Jerk

Strength: Back Squat

Conditioning: 10 Minute AMRAP

Rope Climbs

Burpees

Wednesday

Barbell Gymnastics: Hang Snatch

Strength: Bench Press & Good Mornings

Conditioning: 4 Rounds

75lb Front Squats

Toes to Bar

Lateral Box Jumps

Friday

Conditioning: 2x

500m Row All Out

Rest 5 Minutes

20 Unbroken Chest to Bar Pull Ups

15 Ring Dips

20 24k Kettlebell Swings

Rest 1:30

20 Unbroken Pull Ups

15 Ring Dips

20 24k KB Swings

Rest 1:30

Finish with 500m Row All Out

Saturday

Barbell Gymnastics: Snatch

Strength: Muscle Up Volume

Conditioning: 5 Rounds

1 minute max back squats at 165lb

1 minute max double unders

On top of all that training, on Saturday I graduated from the University of Texas Graduate School with a Masters of Education in Kinesiology- specifically Sport Management with an emphasis in Facility and Event Planning. It feels great to be done with school and to be moving on to a full time position at CrossFit Central as the Director of CrossFit Sport and Events, as well as adding coaching duties and facility director duties as well.

On Sunday, I went back to bikram yoga for the first time since Regionals. I had been taking a little break, but I started to feel the effects of lack of mobility work and getting back to bikram was necessary. I could tell that my hamstrings were going to be sore from the second pose of the class! I pretty much stopped going to the chiropractor and acupuncturist after Regionals as well, and I simply need to take better care of my body as I am still training in “Games Mode” for the summer.

This week promises to be another tough week of training. I am looking forward to more yoga, getting back to the chiropractor and acupuncturist, and taking care of my body better!

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 14 – 5/21/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 5/14/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

I had to go back and look at my workout log from the week to remember everything that has happened!

First of all, Outlaw Rudy Nielsen, made his way to Austin with his beautiful baby Deacon in tow. They coached through four training sessions, including a team workout on Monday, two workouts on Tuesday, and another on Wednesday. Rudy (and Deacon) watched for our strengths and weakness and there were definitely a lot of improvements made. Rudy and the boys planned not to finalize the three ladies on the team until we know more about the Games. We hope to find out more about the workouts and procedures for our team before we make our final roster.

The team workout last Monday was my first team workout in a long time. I had done some partner WODs, but working together with two or more people on your team is something different. Team workouts are focused on work/rest intervals. The intensity of team workouts is a lot higher for me, as I don’t feel the need to take unnecessary rest, but to hold on until transitions to take my rest. The final piece of the team WOD was to find each persons’ 3-rep max front squat. I completed 3 at 165lbs, which is my 3RM personal best.

Rudy likes to program what he calls “barbell gymnastics.” He explained this term is based on the concept that Olympic lifting isn’t just heavy lifting, but that you have to be incredibly dynamic and coordinated, and have great bar/body awareness. I performed a 140lbs hang squat snatch in training on Tuesday. 140lbs is was my PR from the ground. We followed the snatching with a quick WOD and then went home to rest for the second session.

Tuesday night we went down to the RedBlack Gym to get on the platforms. We did more barbell gymnastics, working on our split jerks. Again, I PRd, putting 185lbs overhead. I’m going to have to figure out how to get that from ground to shoulder if I ever want to make 185 my clean and jerk PR. We finished with some squat technique, dialing in high-bar versus low-bar back squat styles. I learned I don’t fully utilize the stretch reflex at the bottom of my squat and lose the “bounce” to power out of the deep squat. A lot of my work with Don Ricci in the next year will be to get super strong and work on strength technique that I have not fully developed. It is one thing to be strong, but to make it look effortless is another task!

By Wednesday we were feeling pretty beat up, so we had a relatively shorter session with 4 sets of 3 minute intervals with one minute transition. We did thrusters, muscle ups, burpees over boxes, and rope climbs to completely empty the tank. I think we were all ready for a rest day on Thursday!

Then I headed off to College Station, TX, home of Texas A&M University, to see my sister receive her PhD. I am very proud of my sister and the work she put into her degree in rangeland ecology. Plus we got to take pictures in our silly costumes.

On the trip I got to do some CrossFit traveling and worked out at BoomFit and CrossFit 979 on Friday and Saturday. Both gyms had great spaces and were very gracious in letting me do my own programming in their boxes, not a common trend for many gyms. Following preset programming kept my visits organized, but working out by myself is never as much fun. I felt like I did a decent job of pushing myself, but know I would have had better marks with teammates in the gym!

This week is going to be another good week. I am starting responsibilities for my updated job position at CrossFit Central as well as my own graduation ceremony this weekend. Plus the NorCal Region competes this weekend, and I need to keep an eye on the leaderboards for my friends at CrossFit East Sac! By the way, did you see how close the finish was for the top spots in the women’s division in the SoCal Region? Eleven points between first and fifth!

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 13 – 5/14/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 5/7/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

Some exciting things have happened at CrossFit Central since last week. First, we have brought on an outside coach to help prepare the affiliate team for Regionals. Our new coach is Rudy Nielsen, aka Outlaw CrossFit. He will be in town today through Wednesday and he will be evaluating our team members on an individual basis to see how to most effectively utilize each of our strengths. We are looking forward to having a coach who is dedicated to the programming process. Our coach also won’t be working out with us and will serve as an outside pair of eyes.

Second, the team has decided to open up the evaluation process to more women than just the three who participated at Regionals. Karen Pierce, Crystal Nelson, and I will all be looked at by our new coach to see if we could contribute in a different way going into the Games.

As we move forward with our new coach, I am still entirely dedicated to the team in whatever capacity they may need me. If I prove that I have the strengths and skills that will improve our Affiliate team on the competition floor, and they want me to compete, I would be honored to represent CrossFit Central on the field. If they feel that the team they have is going to get it done, then I will rock out in the stands and be the best supporter. If they decide to add another girl to the team, I will support her fully as well.

Whichever way the team chooses to go, I am in full support of their efforts and know that they will be ready for the Games. In terms of my personal plans for training, I will see if I make the team first in order to understand the immediate demands that need to be met through training. If I am on the team, I will follow team programming and strategy full force, putting my personal training plans off until after the Games.

Third piece of excitement – if I do not make the team, I plan to implement a full force strength training cycle for the next six months right away. I will work individually with Don Ricci, as my strength and technique coach with a focus on getting great at all barbell work. Don and I have been friends since my time at CrossFit LA and I know that he is dedicated to perfecting the craft of being a coach and that he will be easy to work with as he is on board here at CrossFit Central.

I am really looking forward to the next two or three weeks as we decide the affiliate team, I finish grad school, and training is solidified. Change and opportunity go hand in hand!

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 12 – 5/7/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Mondays – Ingrid Kantola

Wednesdays – Travis Holley

Sundays – Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 4/30/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

My run at the 2012 CrossFit Games has come to a close with my fifth place finish at the South Central CrossFit Games Regional. It seems like just yesterday was the first day of the Open! I can’t believe how fast it all went by. I came two spots shy of making it to The Games. As you will read, day two was rough for me and that dropped me out of the running.

Here is a recap of my weekend:

Thursday April 26th

We departed Austin around noon after a morning of mailing my Regionals supporter shirts and making sure the CrossFit Central supporters had their wristbands for access to the event. We drove straight to check-in at our hotel, rested for an hour, and then went to the Freeman Coliseum for athlete check-in. We received our Reebok swag and attended the athlete briefing.

I got to meet The Boz, the event head judge, who is as awesome as his name sounds. We kicked around for a bit then battled “Fiesta” traffic for a steak dinner downtown. A quick team meeting before bed got everyone focused and on the same page for the weekend ahead. The “team” included our six affiliate team members, me, and Karen Pierce our other individual competitor.

Friday April 27th

Headed to the venue after a leisurely morning for a start time of 10:00am. The teams went first and I was anxious all morning. I loved leaning over the rails to cheer on our team! I was honored the team members all wore my “Heart CCs” shirt while competing! A lot of our devoted fans wore my shirt as well and it was amazing to have such great support, including my sister who came out for the whole weekend.

The first workout was “Diane” – 21 reps of deadlifts, then handstand push ups, then 15, then 9 of the same. I planned to do all the sets without putting the bar down or coming off the wall. I kept to that plan, though I did rest at the bottom position of the handstand push ups a few times. I got a time of 2:55, a personal best, which put me in fifth place.

The second workout was a 2,000m row, follow by 50 1-legged squats, then 30 hang power cleans. I set the straps on the rower too tight and lost about 10 seconds getting on the darn thing! I kept my pace between around 2:08-2:14 for the row and tried to save my legs towards the end by only doing ¼ squat pulls for the last 100m or so. I then did the 50 pistols unbroken, but I think I got “no-repped” a few times. It was VERY loud in the Coliseum and my judge was hard to hear. I stuck with sets of 5 hang power cleans and finished the workout in 14:10, again, good enough for fifth place. I ended the day ranked 3rd overall.

I took a redneck ice bath in a cooler in the back of a truck in the parking lot, then headed to the CrossFit grocery mecca – Whole Foods – for dinner. I took a more efficient ice bath at the hotel and we had another team meeting before bed. Jeremy Thiel reminded us not to get stuck in the venue for too long. It was loud, the air conditioning was really blasting, and the seats were uncomfortable. He suggested we head outside for some vitamin D every once in a while to escape the noise and stretch our hip flexors.

Saturday April 28th

I woke up a little sore on Saturday, with my glutes and hammies tired from Friday. We had another leisurely morning and arrived at the venue for the dumbbell snatch workout. I had practiced these a few times, but knew I wasn’t great at them. When my heat was up, I made sure I used good form for every rep, going with an alternating split snatch. I had only 3 “no reps” and finished just under the time cap in 9:32, for 10th place. I was still in 3rd place overall, but lost some ground.

After another ice bath and a long break, we were up for the long squat, pull up, shoulder-to-overhead workout. I was very anxious going into this one, and did not set a solid plan for myself. I had considered going for sets of 10, but lost focus and ended up floundering in this workout. I did not have a good pace and found myself putting the bar down more than necessary. I couldn’t keep my butterfly kip going and did some sets of 2’s and 3’s on the pull ups. I got through 14 pull ups on my final round and placed 13th. This dropped me down to 7th place overall after two days. My teammate Karen Pierce crushed both workouts and sat solidly in 2nd going into day 3. Her performances over the first two days were incredibly inspiring – watch out for this lady in the future!

I took another ice bath and we headed to the hotel for dinner. Our team meeting was brief, as we all knew what we had to do to execute and reach our goals on day three.

Sunday April 29th

We actually had to get up early on Sunday as the event started two hours earlier than on Friday. I got in a great warm-up in the parking lot and got quite a few good snatch reps before heading out to the floor. I did not miss a single double under and tied my personal best snatch at 140 pounds. I took one decent attempt at 145, then quickly grabbed my rope and got 33 extra double unders. I placed 4th on event 5 and moved into a tie for 5th with Karen. Azadeh Bouromand snatched 170 and was perfect on her double unders as well. Azadeh took 1st place five times, and 2nd place once time over the weekend. She is on another level and I think she has what it takes to go top ten at the Games. She an athletic specimen and will represent the South Central Region well!

The final event was “in my wheelhouse.” Muscle ups, toes to bar, manageable rep sets, and a good variety of activity. I was excited to give the top three a run for their money! I finished the MU/DL combo and got to the wall balls first, however, Azadeh caught me and pulled ahead. I chased her on the farmer’s carry and burpee/box jump, but she pulled ahead and Candice Ruiz was closing on me! I started my farmer’s carry back, but ended in a tied with Candice for second place. I definitely made the top three work for it, but in the end I had 39 points and third place had 36.

Overall Suggestions for Competitors

1. Fish oil. Take it – after every workout. I drank Stronger Faster Healthier straight from the bottle after every workout, usually with an SFH shake, while in the ice bath! This combination left me feeling fresh for the snatches on day three and recovery is KEY for this kind of weekend.
2. Watch the workouts. Learn from what others do well and avoid their disasters. Watch the workouts with other fans. It’s way more fun to have other people to talk to and to be closer to the action, except for the snatch ladder, where you want to have a view of the whole floor so you don’t miss anything.
3. Stick to your game plan. Strategize and come up with a plan and do it. Yes, there will be small variations as fatigue sets in, but limit your rest and do work.
4. Thank the staff/judges/volunteers. They are the truly devoted ones. They are probably bigger fans than the people in the stands. They absolutely love being up close and personal to the athletes and they did an amazing job of holding the standards and making the event run smoothly.
5. Enjoy the moment. Take a look around while you are on the competition floor. Look at your friends in the stands and thank them for their presence. Thank your friends for sending their positive thoughts through the universe, Facebook, Twitter, and text. It is a strangely fun thing we do, competing in brutal workouts, and don’t forget to love it and live in it!

What’s Next

I am probably going to take a week or two off from training. I am finishing up grad school in the next three weeks and I will be on board to support our Affiliate Team as they prepare for the Games. I am going to be the best Affiliate Team Manager you ever saw! Congratulations to all the competitors in the South Central, South East, and Canada West Regions this weekend! We made it! And good luck to all the Games qualifiers – see you in Carson!!

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 11 – 4/30/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.