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Posts concerning exercise

2017 Goals/2016 Goals Review: A Year of Treading Water

16:10 01 Jan 2017

On every front except work, 2016 was a bad year for me.

Not in big ways; I didn’t have any major setbacks, bad injuries, or dramatic blowups. It just sucked in a low-key but consistent way.

It was bad in terms of the goals I set myself at the start of the year, too.
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2013–2015 Goals Review/2016 Goals

18:16 01 Jan 2016. Updated: 23:21 01 Jan 2016

I haven’t written about yearly goals since 2013. Time to revive the practice.
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2012 Goals Review/2013 Goals

20:51 06 Jan 2013

I had five goals for 2012 and didn’t achieve many; arguably only one. I don’t feel too bad about this, partly because the most positive things for me last year weren’t related to anything on that list. Even so, I hope to do better this year.
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2012 Goals

11:47 01 Jan 2012

I’m deliberately giving myself fewer of these this year, partly because I particularly don’t want to start the year feeling as if I’m already behind, so I’m trying to make the first quarter, at least, one in which I don’t have a pile of self-imposed tasks. So, this year, a shorter list of goals.
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2011 Goals Review

13:41 25 Dec 2011

I feel as if I did worse than usual on my goals for 2011, but that could be due to getting a bunch of them done early, with not many coming in the second half of the year.
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CrossFit Milestones, June 2011

23:22 21 Jun 2011

Warning: this post contains images of me barely-clad.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Criticisms

19:56 15 May 2011

Through the seven weeks of the CrossFit Open, plus an additional week or so to allow for the system to settle on a reliable ranking for me, I’ve been focused on my own performance and hitting my goals. But it was impossible not to be very aware of the significant mess that CrossFit HQ made of the event, and the problems in the community this exposed.
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Me Versus “Sally”

19:42 09 May 2011

“Sally” isn’t one of the official CrossFit workouts, meaning that it wasn’t created by CrossFit HQ and posted on crossfit.com. My gym got it from CrossFit One World, who apparently got it from CrossFit Hardcore. It’s very similar to “Nancy”, which is an official workout. “Sally” is five rounds of a 400-meter run and 15 hang power snatches at 95/65 pounds, and as soon as I saw it last night I knew I’d be doing it rather than today’s CrossFit Football workout.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Overall Results

19:19 08 May 2011

Bottom line: I achieved my goal. There were 947 male entrants in the Northern California region, and my final rank is 387, putting me in the top 40.65%. I’m pretty happy with this, even though I felt that most of my individual performances could have been better.

I would also have liked to have finished in the top 50% of those who did all six workouts, but that’s not the goal I set in January, and in any case I didn’t know in advance if I’d be able to make it through all six. Overall a success, and one I’m proud of—last year I finished 244/256, or in the “top” 95.31%, and an improvement of just under 55% in my placement is no small thing.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Workout 6

23:24 01 May 2011

Last workout of the CrossFit Open. And for me, the worst. Not as gruelling as last week’s 20 minute grinder, but more dispiriting: rising couplets of sets of three of 100-pounds thrusters and chest-to-bar pullups.

I did it twice, and they were demoralizing in different ways.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Workout 5

23:48 24 Apr 2011

Workout five was the longest workout of the competition so far, and it appears to have been my worst, at least judging by the results I’ve seen up to this point. It wasn’t a big step up in terms of weight or movements, unlike three and four, but it made up for that by being 20 minutes long. 20 minutes of 5 power cleans at 145 pounds, 10 toes-to-bars, and 15 wall balls (20 pounds, 10-foot target).
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CrossFit Open 2011 Workout 4

22:17 17 Apr 2011. Updated: 17:07 19 Apr 2011

Workout four was simultaneously the toughest and easiest workout so far, the first workout where I had no hope of finishing a round but also the first where I hit my target. This time the increase in difficulty wasn’t through more weight, but through the addition of muscle-ups: the workout was 10 minutes of 60 “bar-facing burpees”, 30 overhead squats at 120 pounds, and 10 muscle-ups.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Workout 3

23:00 10 Apr 2011. Updated: 18:07 17 Apr 2011

This workout (three of six) was quite different from 1 and 2. Another “as many rounds as possible” effort, but with significantly more limited movements and a considerably heavier weight: five minutes of squat clean and jerks at 165 pounds. That’s enough weight to eliminate quite a few people who were fine in the previous two.
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My Current Paleo Diet

00:45 04 Apr 2011. Updated: 00:48 05 Apr 2011

As I’ve done a few times before, I’m trying the paleo diet for a while; this is my longest time on it yet, as I’ve been doing it since 24 January and intend to continue at least until the end of April (which is when the CrossFit Open 2011 ends). I’m considering extending it further.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Workout 2

23:05 03 Apr 2011. Updated: 17:58 17 Apr 2011

The second workout wasn’t that different from the first one, in that it also measures work with no or light weights over a given time period. This one was 15 minutes, and the rounds consisted of 9 deadlifts at 155 pounds, 12 pushups (with the requirement of lifting your hands from the ground at the bottom), and 15 box jumps (24").

I don’t particularly like this one, because I think deadlifts for time are inherently dangerous. Admittedly it’s a light weight, but even so it seems dubious to encourage poor form (form inevitably degrades when you’re tired and rushing) in a lift that can put so much strain on the lower back. I also don’t like pushups, but that’s because I’m not very good at them.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Workout 1 B

17:17 27 Mar 2011. Updated: 17:49 17 Apr 2011

I tried the first workout again on Saturday, but did worse rather than better. I’m not that happy with my score, but it’s good enough to put me ahead of my goal of top 50%.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Workout 1

15:11 20 Mar 2011

This year’s equivalent to Sectionals is a very different approach to the problem of qualification for Regionals. The whole Games structure is still three-tiered, with a qualifying stage for Regionals which is the qualifying stage for the actual CrossFit Games event. But whereas last year Sectionals were events themselves, taking place over two days, this year we have the CrossFit Open, taking place over six (now actually seven) weeks without any central location. Competitors can either compete at registered affiliates or video themselves doing the workouts.
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CrossFit Open 2011 Coming Up

22:13 08 Mar 2011

Registration for this year’s version of Sectionals, the CrossFit 2011 Open, is now open. I registered this afternoon, and am looking forward to competing and to seeing what the logistics of the competition are like—there’s no one central location per region anymore, instead any affiliate can run qualifying sessions, and in addition competitors can submit workouts on video. Another change is that it’s spread out over six weeks, with workouts announced every week starting 15 March. Workouts are the same of everyone everywhere, although regions still matter for qualification.

My goal is still to place in the top 50% in my region, and I don’t think that’ll be an easy goal to achieve. Like every competitor, I have to hope that none of the workouts contain major weaknesses for me—and that I’m able to finish all of them as specified, because no scaling is allowed.

I’m in much better shape, especially in terms of strength, than last year, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough.

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Sprint Finish

23:30 22 Feb 2011

I don’t always enjoy running. Sometimes I’m sluggish and leaden. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes I feel agile and fleet. It’s difficult to predict which of those a run will bring.
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Happiness Progress

21:06 14 Feb 2011

Long-time readers of this blog will know that happiness is a recurring concern of my posts. Recently, I seem to have made some kind of significant step, or crossed some important line, towards happiness.
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37

19:49 23 Jan 2011

I can check off my first completed goal for 2011, to celebrate my birthday. I did that last night, and it was great, although I could have done with less alcohol… Thanks to everyone who came out! For all who couldn’t make it, I missed you, and I hope I see you soon!
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The Jet Lag Zone

16:01 09 Jan 2011

I’m not referring to a physical zone here, of course, but mental states can often feel like places. Especially when confusion is one of their hallmarks.

Right now this is a mixture of jet lag, sleep deprivation, and tiredness.
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2011 Goals

04:02 02 Jan 2011

My goals for 2011.
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