the "the todd line"

First off, i just have to say how freakin honored i am that Evan has drawn me. He didn't have a photo of me eating a cupcake so he drew me deadlifting. I want to thank him for kindly removing my 2nd and 3rd chin and one of my love handles. Much appreciated Evan. So last night, i learned of another line much like the Oprah line or the P-Diddy line. Its the 'the Todd line". It looks like its just below the diddy line. I think he actually had a secret competition that even oprah didn't know about and he ended up beating her too. Good job Todd. If Todd could beat Oprah in his Shirt On days, then i'm hoping i can too. Now, Todd could mop the gym floor with Oprah as fit as he is. Any advice Todd?

free coffee

Today in class we had deep conversations about Portland. Lots of transplants at the Gym we have to look out for them. It was decided that Beaverton is the safest but that you could potentially die from boredom. I’m from Beaverton so I think its ok for me to agree with that comment. On the topic of marathon training, Nathan said that Oprah had the best trainer in the world and that’s why his money is on Oprah. What’s ironic is that I think his training is why I might have a chance against Oprah. He is going to loan me his GPS pace keeper watch so it can beep or shock me if I fall behind my pace. That should help. I may not work out next week to really taper. If my marathon is anything like today’s workout, I’ll go out in a 5minute first mile and finish the whole marathon in 6 hours. Actually, I think I’ll pace it pretty good. Last night we went to the ballet with kung fu monks. I’m not into ballet or kung fu but it was AMAZING. Those people are fit. They were my inspiration for today’s wod. Or at least for the first 30 ball slams. After that, I just wanted to stop and sneak out the back door. Ok, rumor has it Ristretto’s coffee house just opened on Williams and is giving away really good free coffee all day today. I’m outta here. J

Warmup

3 X

10 Pass-throughs

10 squats

Skill:

2 Warm up sets Dead lifts (95lb/95lb)

5 work sets but not to max because FGB is coming soon J

(135/185/255/315/315)

Glad we were not going for max today. My back still felt a little tender from my push press laziness on Monday.

WOD:

With a 20lb ball and 35lb dumbbell do the following:

30ballSlam/15dumbellSnatchEach Hand

24ballSlam/12dumbellSnatchEach Hand

20ballSlam/10dumbellSnatchEach Hand

16ballSlam/8dumbellSnatchEach Hand

8ballSlam/4dumbellSnatchEach Hand

4ballSlam/2dumbellSnatchEach Hand

2ballSlam/1dumbellSnatchEach Hand

11:01

Started out WAY too fast. That’s my signature move. Go out fast, die, fall to floor moaning and moving like joe cocker(that’s what Nathan calls me)

I'm not avoiding running, i'm just tapering

so the pressure is on with the marathon in 2 weeks. I think John and Nathan are placing bets on whether I can beat pdiddy. I don't think I'm allowed back in the gym if I don't beat oprah but now the bets are on for whether I can beat pdiddy. I heard talk of burpees. I think John's betting that I can do it and Nathan's money(burpees) might be on diddy. It should be fun. Nike makes these bracelets that tell you what your pace is. I might get one for the marathon. If ipods are allowed that might also help. Today's workout was another great one. Tried to stick to my new goal of grabbing heavier kettlebells than usual. It felt good but it definitely affected the number of rounds I was getting done. Kelly from work was back in the gym today. That was a super nice
surprise to see her. It was so dark this morning, I could barely make out the screen on the rower. I think I like it dark because it's a little cooler. I do better when its cooler. Looking forward to my first fight gone bad on Saturday. Don't really know what to expect since its my first time. It definitely looks hard but it also looks kinda fun. We'll see. Day 2 of wearing converse. Like them. They are cheap enough that I don't have to worry about them but they are also flat enough to lift in. Don't think I'll run the marathon in them though. Maybe next time :).

Warmup:
3x
3 tgu 35lb
row 250

workout:
set a
mr. Spec(24k)
10 double kb swing(2x35lb(oops was supposed to be 15)
2 rounds

setb
10 power wheel rollout
broad jumps
5 rounds

setc
10 double kb thrusters(45lb)
10 ring rows
3 rounds

Diet:
8am meal replacement (7gF/19gC/42gP) (this new one has different ratios
and more fiber but tastes like crap)
10am meal replacement (7gF/19gC/42gP)

2pm meal replacement (7gF/19gC/42gP)

6:30pm chicken burrito

11:00pm meal replacement (7gF/19gC/42gP)

Cures severe back pain too

So after yesterdays push presses, could barely walk. I let my core loose(my bad) during the presses and I really felt it in my lower back. I was in so much lower back pain the morning that I could barely get out of bed and considered staying home from work. I went to this morning's 6:30 workout and all pain went away after 10 minutes. Hasn't bothered me since too. SO happy about that. Also, I upgraded shoes. I'm now wearing converse. The problem with the keens is that they smell way too bad. I like the people at the gym too much to put them through the smell of my keens. Today we ran in our workout and they didn't suck as bad as I thought they would. My run sucked but it wasn't the shoe's fault. Todays workout was lots of fun but also hard as hell for me. Its what they call a chipper. Not because we're feeling chipper but because its one time through. I love chippers. Easier to be mentally strong on chippers. I didn't perform all that well today but I was pleased with myself for abandoning my trusty blue kettlebell(20lb) and trying some heavier ones. I ran out of my ready to drink meal replacements. I know they aren't ideal but its a convenient way to ensure I get some fiber, protein, and fat when my days get busy. I have loved the last 7 workouts more than usual. Not sure if the coaches have intentionally changed anything or if I've just found a new appreciation or if I am just feeling good. or maybe its that the class size has been capped. I also like workouts that don't allow me to slack or take the easy way out. Sometimes its a challenge to be self motivating that early in the morning. The stop watch, the tally, and the motivating coaches have been good for me. Now if I can dial in the diet, I may someday be able to fit in my pants again. :)
warmup:
monster walk
latteral crawl in plank
inch worm
frog hop

skill:(3 or 4 times. I forgot)
5Left 5Right
kb snatch 35lb
windmills 35lb
12 jacknife

wod:
1000M Row
4 x double KB Rack Walk 45lb
50 jumping pullups on rope
50 complete sit ups
50 2HKB swings 28K
Run around block for time
Time: 15:46

went for heavier weight than usual for me and I certainly felt it. :)

Diet:

8am meal replacement

9am Maple Bar(IBM rep brought it just for me. woulda been rude to refuse)

2pm turkey sub

4pm smoothie

7pm smoked turkey and lettuce

8:30pm meal replacement(new kind)

got to pull a tire for first time

Today was my first day to pull a tire. That was pretty cool. Felt like I was in a strong man competition or something. Not that I felt all that strong. Plus those guys pull tires attached to the rest of the vehicle. Today was push press day which is usually one of my favorites. My core felt really weak today. Its amazing how important core strength is to so many exercises. When I saw John front squat 5 trillion pounds a few weeks ago, I was in shock. I had never seen anyone front squat the amount of weight he was doing. He reminded me that so much of it has to do with core strength. I'm reminded of how true this is every time we do any Olympic bar lifts. Some exercises I can improve over time without much practice because my core is being strengthened through all the other exercises we do. Pretty cool stuff. I'm now responsible for getting 3 kids to school every morning so I'm cutting it close with my morning workouts. If there's no traffic and I skip out on the stretch, I seem to be ok. I'm trying not to be as much of a mental wimp in workouts now. I seriously used to pick kettlebells by their color. I love that blue one. However, I've decided to change the way I pick kettlebells and just pick heavy ones(heavy for me at least). We'll see how that goes. I'm also going to cut back on the cupcakes for a while. Melissa reminded me that the marathon is in 2 weeks. I should probably try to be as lean as I can for that(too late now I guess). I haven't figured out what it is but I'm feeling abnormally good and optimistic lately. Maybe its because I started eating steak sandwiches after being vegetarian for a bajillion years. It also might be that Hannah's new school is in the hood and that I never have to go to Beaverton ever again. Or it could be that the Office starts next Thursday.

Warmup (I was late. Only got 1.5 rounds of below

Curtis p's 25lb

100 jump rope

Push Press

115/135/145/165(tried for 185 on set 5 but couldn’t even budge it today. Shoulders felt great but core felt really unstable today)

cross chop halos 35lb

did 3 rounds of:

8 goblet squats 32K/32k/32k

8 jump squat

tire drag(lighter of the 2)

did 2 rounds of:

5 dead hang pullups(i chose to also make these slow negatives)

7 dips(only got 5 on 2nd round and even then had to break it into 3 and 2)

15 pushups elevated feet(24inch box)


Diet
8am: Meal replacement shake.

9am: americano

2pm: Perfect foods bar and betty lou pecan butter ball.

More to come I hope.

the oprah line

so yesterday Nadine said that Oprah ran a marathon in a pretty decent time.  i felt a sense of panic take over. my original goal was to beat puff daddy's time since i learned that he only started training 8 weeks out. i could live with myselft if i dont end up beating puff daddy. however, i dont know if i could say the same thing if i dont beat oprah.  i came across an article titled "how oprah ruined the marathon" by making it ok just to stagger across the finish line. I also saw that puff daddy's goal was just to beat oprah. So i've added a goal B to my goal. Goal A is to beat puff daddy. if that aint happening, then i'll be ok just beating oprah.  They call this new benchmark "the Oprah Line".  

This is a little blurb from the article:

When Oprah expanded the sport, she also lowered the bar for excellence. For the previous generation of marathoners, the goal had been qualifying for Boston. Now, it was beating Oprah. Her time of four hours and 29 minutes -- the Oprah Line -- became the new benchmark for a respectable race. (That was P. Diddy's goal when he ran New York.)

Melissa has the car today so i dont know what i'm going to eat. i usually make an event out of saturday breakfast/lunch/dinner and all the snacks in between. My computer was acting up yesterday which didn't allow me to update the diet part of my blog. thats a good thing because it just ended with more pie and one more burrito and 2 scoops of ben and jerry's.  

Workout:

none. sleep. eat. watch a movie maybe

Diet:

nothing yet. hope to eat burritos and something good.

Eating pumpkin pie again

I never stopped eating pumpkin pie but that's what i had for lunch today and realized i haven't had that in a long time. Today was my favorite of all workouts. The dead lift day. Only reason its my favorite is because its the only one i'm not afraid of getting hurt on. Squatting too heavy could hurt. Pressing too heavy could hurt. With the deadlift, my thought is that its either going up or its not. i like that about the deadlift. my next goal besides 20 dead hang pullups is to learn how to run fast. i've been working on chi running which is sustainable for long distances but i dont know how to just run fast anymore. Until a few years ago, i thought i knew how to run fast. If i do my running style faster, its still not fast. AFter the marathon, i'm going to go to the track and work on sprint intervals and limit all runs to 40 minutes max. If i speed up my running, then maybe i could join a ultimate frisbee team or something.


Skill:
Deadlifts
2 x 5 warmup set with 95
work sets
135x3
165x3
225x3
335x3
365x3

wod
3X
power wheel back and forth

Muscle up practice(pullups on rings for me)

med ball throws (12lb) (Stephen and Evan made this pretty damn fun. I really like having those guys around in the morning)

Diet:
8am: RTD Meal Replacement 330Calories(16gF/13gC/32gP)
11am Pumpkin pie
12pm RTD Meal Replacement 330Calories(16gF/13gC/32gP)
1:45pm Pumpkin Pie