Sconzo.com

Karate:

Body balance; body care. Lesson on not using the mirror. No, not the mirror on the wall, but the center and side-view mirrors. Bokutan. Sensei scratched our backs vigorously today… not really sure why. He has his methods. Maybe he’s “Miyagi-ing” me. Hangetsu kata. Extra stretching afterwards.

CrossFit:

Warm-up:
4 Rouds NFT:
10 Jumping squats
7 burpees
10 inchworm push-ups

WOD:
Fight Gone Bad

I was really worried about FGB today because my back has been extremely tight and at times, painful just to move over the last two weeks, since I PRd my back squat. But now most of the pain is only on the right side of my back.

I worked with Jeff counting his reps for his three rounds of FGB, while I did what I could to loosen up my back. It was still tight once I started, but my hope was the physical activity would loosen it up further.

Push press – 40,36,40; I was amazed. I had planned to do about 20 based on my previous score.
Box jumps – 28,27,28; step-ups. One day I’ll get past my fear of ripping open my shin again 🙂
Sump-Dead High-Pull – 18,16,17; I could have done much more but my back was limiting me here.
Row – 18,18,15; again; my back was limiting me or I might have squeezed out another calorie or two
Wall Ball – 20,17,17; I dislike wall balls. I need to get past it. I should be doing almost 30 of these. Yes, my tight back affected performance here too.

The good news is my score improved from 314 to 355. Most of this was from the push-press, which I practically doubled. I found it was largely about the form and timing of the push. I also thank Jeff for his support, coaching me along to get another rep or two. Also, my numbers were more consistent round to round, where back in May my wall-ball score tanked each round. I started out more conservatively on the wall-ball this time, so pacing certainly helped.

Karate – bassai dai bunkai; semi-free sparring; 2 on 1 attack drills

Crossfit:
Warmup:
Squat therapy

WOD:
5 Rounds for time:
400 m run
30 sit-ups
20 push-ups
10 box jumps
5 pull-ups

Citizen Bank Park Spartan Race
Finish time: 53:29 with the team from Crossfit
– Dave Szgeda
– Matt Fleming
– Joe (Dave’s friend)
– me

This was approximately 3 miles in and around the stadium, including:
ascents and descents on the ramps over and under bungee cords
30 slam balls
over/under/through obstacles
monkey bars (varying heights)
500m row in under 2 mins
6 foot Berlin wall
ascents and descents on the bleacher stairs
banded bunny hops
atlas stone raises to top of platform with rope
heavy rope jump rope
sandbag carries up and down bleachers
farmer carries with 5gal water jugs up and down bleachers
javelin throw (need to work on this)
rope climb
atlas stone carries with burpees
7 and 8 foot berlin walls
successive 5 foot berlin walls
box jumps
lateral wall climb
cargo net traverse
gladiator zone

Crossfit:

Warmup
10 3/4 pace 40 yard sprints, warm up slow
10 all out 40 yard sprints
Squat therapy

Strength
Front Squat + Jerk
80/3+1  3  (95#, 115#)
Split Jerks
5×3 (95#)

MetCon
12 Minute EMOM, one minute of work followed by one minute of rest
Complete 7 Burpees to start the minute
Stone Dead Lift the balance of the minute
I used the 145# stone for my deadlifts. Bad choice – Halfway through my back was angered, probably from PR-ing back squats on Monday.

Lunch:
BodyFit Class 1:15-2:00
60 seconds of each exercise, five or six times through (as time permitted)
Exercises included:
– Cleans with 110#
– Wide mountain climbers (foot to hand)
– L-sit holds
– Clapping pushups
– Snatch, 60#
– Russian kicks from reverse plank position
– Banded sit-ups
– Skiing motion with weighted bars

Crossfit:

Warmup:
400 m run
10 sit-ups, 10 push-ups, 10 air-squats

Strength:
Find 2-rep max Chest Press
Good Mornings 7 x 3

WOD:
1 min max effort situps
1 min rest

4 min AMRAP:
4 jumping squats (reach up and touch a target 1ft above your fingertips)
4 clapping push-ups (scale by just getting hands off the ground, or do flag push-ups)

1 min rest

4 min AMRAP:
4 Plank-overs (1 time over is one rep)
6 walking lunges (3 lunges with each leg)

1 min rest

1 min max effort sit-ups (try to meet or exceed the count from your first set)

Post-workout:

Worked on double-unders
Worked on halting deadlift
Worked on 95# snatch followed by 3 overhead squats

Karate:

Discussion topic: kami and ke; animal hair and human head hair.
ke and kami should be together. To demonstrate how we shouldn’t forget they should stay connected, he showed two ends of a piece of hard wire, then crossed them and twisted them together with pliers.

Worked on heian godan, meikyo, tekki shodan, bokutan (jodan oi-zuki, age-uke, jodan ude-uke, gedan-barai, slice through the next and then through the stomach).

Crossfit (7am, Dolph):
Warmup
Pass Throughs (shoulders were VERY tight after yesterday’s PRs and several training sessions)
OHS with PVC

I have been negligent logging my karate workouts and other miscellaneous workouts. I’m not sure how useful it is, so at this point I’ve decided to only log it when I have something of interest I learned during the class.

Karate (5am):

An interesting cue – use your forefinger and thumb to “brush” just below then through your eyebrows. Still trying to figure out what this really means. I’m sure it will reveal itself in time.  More boken training.

Crossfit (7am, Dolph):

Warmup
Coach led dynamic
Burgener warmup

Strength
Clean Work
3x thru
5x  1^st pull (from the ground, shoulders out past [not over] the bar, to just above the knee, shoulders still out past the bar)
5x 2^nd pull (pull from the top of the knees to the waist, keep arms straight, thrust hips forward, extend onto toes but don’t just go airborne)
5x 3^rd pull (“tall clean” – pull from the waist into the clean position. I need to check whether the knees should be in play here at all for this position.)

Worked with empty bar for Burgener warmup, then up to 145#. 

MetCon
16 Min AMRAP
400 meter run
3 Push Jerks, heavy (115#)
6 Box Jumps (24″)
9 Toes to Bar (I finally got a better rhythm for T2B – after touching toes to the bar, thrust shoulders and hips forward quickly as your bring your feet down)

I had just finished the 5th round at about 15:20, so began the 400m run of the 6th round. When I returned the clock read 17:00, but I finished the jerks, boxes, and T2B.

Core

8 minutes of the following:
– odd minute – hold plank for full minute
– even minute: 20 seconds of each:
— frog sit-ups
— russian twists with 16kg kettle bell
— v-sits

Lunch

5 mile recovery run
Pull-ups
Dips

I left for the Rock’n’Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon at 6:20am, and arrived around 7am, but there was nowhere to park nearby. So I drove away from the start and ended up parking near Broad St and Spring Garden, which is about 1.5 miles from the start of the race. I don’t remember it being this crowded in the last 11 years I’ve done it, but I must admit that most often, Jeannie drives and drops me off at the start.

I spent so much time searching for parking, that I didn’t head to the start until 7:40. I stopped and used the port-o-potties along the course because I knew the ones at the start would have huge lines. I arrived at the start during the National Anthem. I stopped in my tracks and waiting for the Anthem to finish. Then I worked my way toward corral #2 but ended up in corral #3. This was no problem since I was wearing a chip, but in retrospect, it did keep from rushing out of the start too fast. I took my GU and we started at about 8:02:30. My first mile was about 6:55, which is slow for this race. The next couple miles were around 7:05. My lack of training was already showing.

I wore may Garmin GPS watch but it was off by 1/10th of a mile after the second mile. In addition, I tried to use the RunKeeper app on my iPhone to track my time, give me audible alerts, and let the family know where I was with RunKeeper Live. Unfortunately, it couldn’t get a satellite signal at the start, and so I just clicked “Start” hoping it would acquire the signal eventually. It started giving me quarter-mile splits right away so I knew something was wrong. I hadn’t even finished the first mile, but it had given me way too many quarter-mile splits, announcing that my pace was about 30 seconds per mile. Phenomenal! The voice was getting annoying, but I kept it on with hopes that it would help the family know where I was. Once I passed Jeannie, Matt and Pete around mile 4.5, I turned it off. Without the GPS signal, it was useless and distracting. After the race was over, I checked the RunKeeper website, and it reported that I had ran 28 miles when in fact I had only run 5 before I shut it off. Next race, I will be sure to get satellite lock earlier. It’s a great tool to have the audible alerts and they have worked pretty well in the past. Hopefully this issue is a one-time thing.

At the point in the race when I saw the family, I was running slower than expected. My miles were edging toward 7:30 per mile, and this is no surprise really. I didn’t train properly for this race. I told Jeannie when I saw her that I would be later than expected. I had high hopes of a finish between 1:30 and 1:35, but with 7:30 miles, that wasn’t going to happen. In fact, my knees were tight and giving me pain, as was my right hip flexor. And because I knew my finish would be slower than usual, I wasn’t very motivated. I took my second GU and was feeling down and wanted to quit at mile 5. But then I thought about all the people that can’t run but want to. I also thought about all the people that might have to walk parts of the race and wish they could have kept running. So, I pushed on. I locked into someone ahead of me with a red shirt, and maintained their pace until I felt comfortable and passed them, thanking them in the process.

The run along Kelly Drive was scenic, and I counted down the miles: 6, 7, 8. The Falls Bridge was a welcome visual from about a half-mile away — mile 9! I knew from that point, I was heading back to the finish. Sure, it’s another 4.1 miles but at least I was headed in the direction of the finish. I took my third GU and set my eyes on another runner ahead to reel in. I worked through the next few miles, trying to keep my tempo in synch with the music: miles 10 and 11.

At mile 12, I called Jeannie to let her know I had a mile left. I tried using voice commands with my iphone 4 to call her, but it wasn’t understanding “Call Jeannie Sconzo”. So, I swiped while running and made the call. Hopefully the iPhone 5s works much better at understanding voice commands than the 4 does, especially while running. With the RunKeeper failure and problems with voice calling, I’ll be glad to have a new phone soon — Sept 20!

As I approached the finish line, I was feeling strong and sprinted. Overall, the issue I had throughout the race was I just couldn’t muster consistent speed, but at least I felt stronger once I overcame my depression at mile 5.

I met up with Jeannie and the boys, and we walked the 1.5 miles back to the cars. I split off to head to a jump-rope seminar with PunkRope at 11:30.

The race, as always, was exciting and the course was well marked. There were several people dressed in fun colors, or costumes, like Elvis. There were lots of spectators, and the bands along the course were great. One negative was that the water tables seemed slightly overwhelmed. It’s possible there weren’t enough volunteers to man the water stations because as I went through, many runners were retrieving their own water from the tables which seemed to cause some backup in places. But that is my only complaint. Great race — looking forward to doing it again next year.

Now, onto the Citizen’s Bank Park Spartan Sprint on Sept 28, Tough Mudder on Oct 12, Princeton Half Marathon on Nov 3, and Trenton Half Marathon on Nov 9.

Crossfit:

Warmup
1 R
Fight gone bad (FGB)
60% intensity

Strength

Deck Press
7×3, increase load. Started with 135#, worked up to 205#

MetCon

“Lunging Nancy”

5 rounds for time of:
– Walking Lunges to the curb and run backwards to garage door
– 95 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps