Fitness - Press Work & "Helen" PR - 12/23

Man, my quads are so sore today. Those dumbbell thrusters did a real number on my shoulders and legs. I went into the gym today just looking to go light and get some active rest. But "Helen" was on the board and I can never pass up the opportunity to get after a benchmark WOD.

Focus: Strict press, cross sets, 5x5
5x5 - 61 Kg (135#)

I stayed low here and went after the presses with a sub-maximal effort. As I said my shoulders are sore and I wanted to leave some in the tank for "Helen". This did a great deal for me in terms of loosening up though.

WOD: "Helen" is 3 rounds for time of
400m run
21 kettle bell swings - 24 Kg bell
12 pull ups

Score/Time: 7:36
Calories burned (focus & WOD: 436

"Helen" was exactly how I remembered her, a short blast of hard work and sucking wind. Last time we ran through "Helen" was July 22, of this year. My time then was 7:49. Today was a PR by 13 seconds.

I'm stoked about the new PR but I feel like I can still get this lower. As I said my legs were destroyed from yesterday and they did not hold up well on the running. I tried to push through it though.

When I first did "Helen" back in July I could hardly do kipping pull ups. Now I'm flying through butterfly kipping pull ups. I'm sure that's what made the time difference and allowed me to PR. Butterfly kips are just so fast. My 400m runs were almost certainly slower compared to when I did it in July.

I want to attack this one when I'm fresh, I know I can get it under 7:30 at least. My ultimate goal with "Helen" is a sub 7:20 time.