PR: Front Squat

Today I set a new PR for front squat:  242.5 lb.  That's a 7.5-lb improvement.

PR: Snatch

I don't have good data for my personal records for multiple repetitions of the snatch, so I have to assume that what I put up today, puny as it it, qualifies:

• 2 reps:  140 lb.
• 3 reps:  135 lb.

PR: Back Squat

On 2012.12.14, I set a new personal record for the back squat:  277.5 lb.  The low-bar technique is really helping me out.  That's a 10-lb improvement, and I think 280 to 282.5 would have been possible if I'd had more time.  I'm resetting my long-term goal at 300.

PR*: Fran

Today, I set a PR for Fran.*  My new record is 5:31, which is very slow by the standards of truly fit athletes, but it's a 12-second improvement for me.  For what it's worth, I did the pull-ups unbroken and broke the thrusters into sets of 11, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5, and 4 reps.  Next time, I'll try to break the second round of thrusters into sets of 8 and 7, and I'll try to rest less between sets.  I think 5 minutes should be my long-term goal.

* As of 2010, I'm only performing Fran by cleaning the bar from the floor, rather than lifting it out of a rack.)

PR: Back Squat

On Thursday, 2012.12.06, I set a new PR for the back squat:  267.5 lb.  That's a 22.5-lb PR, and it felt pretty easy.  I believe most of that improvement is due to my recent adoption of the low-bar technique.  I think 275 should be posible in the near future, and my long-term goal is 300.

PR: Cindy

The day before Thanksgiving, 2012.11.21, I set a new PR for the workout named Cindy:  24 rounds plus 15 reps.

PR: Back Squat

Today I set a new PR for 3 repetitions of back squat.  This also happened to be a PR for 2 reps and even 1 rep.  The new benchmarks were set using a low-bar or perhaps hybrid low/high-bar technique.  Even so, I think some of that improvement was due to greater strength.  Anyway, the new PRs are as follows:

• 1 rep:  250 lb.
• 2 reps:  250 lb.
• 3 reps:  250 lb.

(I'm listing them all individually to make them easier to refer back to.)

PR: (Power) Elizabeth

On Monday, 2012.11.18, I set a new PR for the benchmark workout called Elizabeth.  Elizabeth consists of 21-, 15-, and 9-rep rounds of cleans (135 lb for men, 95 lb for women).  As originally written, the WOD calls for squat cleans, but CrossFit.com and CrossFit Diesel have been relaxing the standard over the last year or so to allow power cleans instead.  The most high-profile example was in the final of the 2012 CrossFit Games.  For me, and for 135 lb, power cleans are much more efficient than squat cleans, so the new standard probably played a role in my improved performance   Still, my new time, 7:01, was just over 5 minutes faster than my old PR, so I don't think the power cleans explain all the improvement.

PR: Clean

Tonight I set a new personal record for the clean:  212.5 lb.  I believe most or all of that 12.5-lb improvement came from not even attempting any jerks as I ramped up my loads.  I gave up after just missing 215 because it was late and I was tired, so I think 215 or even 220 is possible in the near future.

PR: Nancy

Today I set what I believe is a new personal record for the benchmark workout called Nancy.*  The new time was 16:50, a 40-second improvement.  Like the PR I set for Nasty Girls on Friday, I'm a little disappointed with my performance.  Although I'm happy to have set a PR,  I'm frustrated at my apparent inability to push myself beyond a certain level of suffering.  I need to work on that.

* 5 rounds, for minimum time, of

• Run 400 m.
• 15 overhead squats at 95 lb for men, 65 lb for women.