Friday, June 24, 2011

Just another CrossFit Thursday

I've used this title for a blog post before. Chrome just told me so. I hope it doesn't screw up every search engine in the world. Maybe if I used the title "Gay Pride", I'd get a little temporary rainbow icon attached to my post. If that comment made no sense, go to Google and enter the term and look at your results. Do it quickly before the brouhaha subsides or Google changes the "catch me if you can" doodle.

Anyway, yesterday was a pretty typical day. I spent most of the day fighting with Windows 7. Actually, for ten days now, I've been fighting Windows 7 (64-bit professional). On two different hardware configurations at work, from two different manufacturers, the Windows updates from those days have caused all kinds of problems. My cloud-based shared drive and back-up service have been interrupted, and my config files were trashed, rendering some old backups unusable. I have probably been through 40 reboots of my own computer. I have had to purchase some software for a co-worker because Windows got so corrupted that his computer barely worked. He still has to attempt to re-apply the Windows updates now that he's repaired the OS. I can't imagine that we are the only two people who have had these problems, yet I've seen very few complaints on the web. As the IT director for our little company, I've now had to "decree" that Windows updates no longer be automatically applied. This, in turn, makes our anti-virus software unhappy, as our vendor there expects every Windows update that is security related will be applied immediately. Sometimes, I hate computers. Well, I really should just work on Unix/Linux. Or maybe a Mac.

After I finally got out of here yesterday, feeling very frustrated with computers, I took it out on some iron at CrossFit. After a more vigorous than usual warm-up, we worked on overhead squats for a while. We were supposed to use heavy weights, but my shoulder got really sore the last time I tried heavy OH squats. So, I kept the weight lighter and really focused on my form and good depth in the squat. I have some issues with shoulder and hip mobility that really make this a tough lift for me, and I am getting better, but I have a long way to go. Given my strength in other lifts, I should easily be able to do 135 pounds or more for an OH squat, but that just isn't the case.

After the OH squats, the MetCon was pretty straightforward:

12 minutes, As Many Reps As Possible:
Row 250 meters
10 DB Split Snatches, right hand (35#)
10 DB Split Snatches, left hand (35#)

The DB split snatch was a new movement to me. From the name, I instantly knew what the lift was, but I'd never done it before. I could tell that my form wasn't very good because the left side was much harder than the right. Yet, this lift should derive its strength from the hips rather than the arms, so if my weaker arm was limiting me, my form was the issue.

I made it through four complete rounds plus 95 meters on my fifth rowing round.

Today, I am scheduled to do Wendler cycle deadlifts. But, my current plan is to run with my wife instead. We really enjoy our hour-long runs when I get off the commuter bus on Thursday or Friday evening. We might get thunderstorms, and if that happens, I'll do my deadlifts instead.

Tomorrow, I want to do some 400 meter repeats on the track, and Sunday, I'll do a long run or a long hike.

And then it's back to work. I wonder what will go wrong with Windows next week.

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