Moore and More

Nothing caps off a week at Crossfit better than a hero WOD.  It's a shame we have to do them at all, as they are created in tribute to either a fallen soldier or man/woman of service.  Today I felt like I was going to put up a good showing in tribute to 29-year-old David Moore of Indianapolis, who sadly was shot to death as he approached a pulled-over stolen vehicle this past January.

WOD: "Moore"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
15 ft Rope Climb, 1 ascent
Run 400 meters
Max rep Handstand push-up

I've been steadily progressing with handstand pushups, and I was psyched for today because I hadn't run in a while, and it's been some time since I've been able to do a metcon with handstand pushups.

We did the standard sub for a rope climb, which was three two-handed ring pullups.  I lowered the ring just enough to be able to jump into it, as I'm definitely not ready for dead-hang ring pullups yet.  All in due time...the rope climb started the WOD.  We got set up and we were ready to...

3...2...1...Go!  We were out the door and down the stairs in a pack, and as is typically the case my immediate pace out the door found me many steps behind the pack.  I didn't want to gas myself too early, because I wanted to really give the handstand pushups my best effort.  That said I was running pretty much as fast as I can without sprinting...

I came charging back into the box and already had my plates set up against the pole...one 45, one 25 and one 10 pounder.  OK so that only gives me like 3-6 inches of depth, but it's what I need to gain the strength and confidence to develop this exercise.  As it is I'm amazed that I've been able to hold handstands for as long as I have, so any significant amount of reps at this point is a bonus.

I cranked through the first set and felt like I could keep going, but I didn't want to make this WOD like others where I've pushed too far on handstand pushups and almost messed up the workout (and myself in general).  I stopped after 14 reps.

On I went through the next few rounds...feeling great entering round four, as I wanted to at least get four rounds under my belt.  I finished the handstand pushups and we had 30 seconds, so Sara said to run the stairs and try to make it back up.  We heard her yell "Time" as we hit the bottom.

WOD Results: Four Rounds - Handstand Pushup Reps: 14 - 12 - 12 - 10

Wow...48 handstand pushups.  That's no joke.  Sara said it was time to take out the 10-lb plate.  I was pretty psyched.  I felt great to hit another benchmark with an exercise that a lot of people dread.  I kind of love these, so I look forward to getting more depth in the future.

Yet another great week at Crossfit NYC.  See you Monday!