Games WOD 5 - Getting Crushed on Film

So there's a reporter who's taken some interest in Crossfit, and he's writing a story that will feature my recent fitness escapades (not sure when it's coming out).  He came by the Black Box today to check out Games WOD #5; my first competition WOD in three weeks.  I missed #3 because I tweaked my hip, and I missed #4 because I was working late, and AMRAP Clean & Jerks on two hours of sleep is likely less than healthy.  So here I was...ready to take on another Games WOD and put up some numbers for the team.  Safe to say those numbers figure to round out the lesser end of the spectrum, but I was giving it everything I got, and would hopefully be in for a surprise.  Meantime the reporter requested to see a handstand, and it just so happened that today's warmup was Gymnastics Warmup #1:

5 Handstand Pushups
Frog Stand (10 secs)
5 Ring Pushups
10 Overhead Squats (PVC)
10 Kettlebell Deadlifts

I ran through the warmup a few times amidst conversations with the reporter, and we got to talking about today's Games WOD:

Crossfit Games Sectionals
WOD #5

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Power cleans (145# for men / 100# for women)
10 Toes to bar
15 Wall balls (20# to 10′ target for men / 14# to 9′ target for women)

The Power Clean

Power Cleans?  Not a problem, but not at that weight.  I think it had been too long since I did a bunch of them in a WOD.  I decided to do women's weight.  Toes to Bar?  More like a very spirited knees to elbows...I'd give it my best but that one figured to look a little ugly.  Wall Balls?  That's my shit baby...no problem.  Squats, Thrusters, Wall Ball, Deadlifts...you name an exercise that uses my lower body and I'll sum up my strengths in Crossfit.  This one was gonna be fun.  Load the bar?  Check.  Chalk the hands?  Check. Set up the ball?  Check.

3...2...1...Go!  OK so maybe I went a little light on the cleans.  These were fine...I should have made them a little tougher.  Toes to bar found me getting my knees up to just above parallel.  I broke these up into two sets when I could, but eventually I'd be doing 3-4 at a time.  Wall Balls were cake, even with the caveat that we had to hit the ceiling because of the height requirements from the Games folk.  I powered through the first few rounds without a problem.  Being a 20-minute amrap I just wanted to keep a decent pace but not gas myself too early.  I noticed the reporter snapping pictures of me...can't imagine he got too many ideal shots, as I was doing knees to elbows and that likely didn't make for good photo...we'll see I guess.

Before I knew it six rounds were in the can and I had to do the toes to bar six at a time.  If I only got through those a bit quicker I would have maybe nailed seven rounds...that would have been sweet, and was so attainable...BUT...with the countdown fast approaching I hit the wall balls hard, but still came up four reps short of seven rounds.

WOD Results
Six Rounds plus 11 Wall Balls

I'm definitely happy with the results, but you always look back and know that there were extra seconds you could have shaved off the clock by picking up the bar quicker, cranking out just one more rep per set, etc.  But at the end of the day this is what I had in me, and as I lay on the floor recovering I felt like I put up some solid numbers for where I'm at.  I thought this was a great workout...I can see myself doing this one again someday.  Not this week though ;).

Peace...

Getting Fed Through the Chipper

"Chipper"

You hear the word and it conjures up equal parts fear and excitement.  Two syllables and the average Crossfitter knows they're about to face an opportunity to blaze a new trail in their fitness.  It's the ultimate test of both the physical and the mental.  The chipper is in its own category of metcon...large amounts of reps, and an array of exercises that do not repeat...you just have to do a shit ton of each of them.  Some days you get fed through the chipper.  Other days the chipper feeds through you...

My first chipper was the Filthy Fifty.  I was happy to scale it to the "Dirty Thirty" at the time, but I know next time it comes around the days of scaling reps on something like that are done.  I've arrived, and instead of not even registering on the performance spectrum I feel like I've earned my place, regardless of how buried I am in the "novice" category.  Today's chipper was a beast, and I knew I'd have to bring my A+ game to make it through this one:

WOD
For time:
70 Burpees
60 Sit-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1.5 poods
40 Pull-ups
30 Handstand push-ups

I went to the store within an hour of seeing the WOD posted, as I had to find something to protect my knees.  The last time I did more than 50 burpees my knees were literally bleeding...something about the way I hit the deck scrapes away at the skin until the last 20 or so are excruciating.  I found some knee pads but they were too tight.  I ended up grabbing some big, flexible band aids that covered my knees...turns out they work like a charm.

I didn't know what to do for the warmup...I didn't want to waste an ounce of energy...so I did a modified version of Sara's gymnastics warmup day 1, which is:

Kick up to a handstand (3x)
5 ring pushups
frog stand (10 secs)
10 overhead squats (pvc)
10 kettle bell deadlifts (12 kg)

I usually do 5 handstand pushups for step 1 of the warmup, but I wanted to save every bit of those for the WOD.  So I just held the handstand for like 10 seconds and kicked back down.  We didn't do too many rounds of the warmup before it was go time.

3...2...1...Go!  You could feel everyone blazing out of the gate for this one...those initial bursts from a full class can be pretty powerful.  Once people settled into their pace everyone started getting a bit more methodical.  My approach, as always, was slow and steady.  I kept it going, the band-aids were holding out, and before I blinked I was halfway done with the burpees.  The last 20 or so were challenging, but I got some encouragement from some folks and kept at it. 

Soon enough I was on to the situps, realizing only then that I was a full round behind the pack...pretty standard (shrug). I asked Sara if I could do butterfly situps, and she was completely cool with it.  So I cranked through that set...my biggest problem with situps is keeping my mammoth legs together, so butterfly made it a lot easier for me.  Those probably took the least amount of time out of any of the exercises.  By far the kettle bell swings were my strongest exercise out of the lot, and I might have put the KB down 3-4 times during the set.  I love this exercise, and even though my form was messier than most other times, I was able to crank through this set without much trouble.  Pullups were just a matter of breaking up the reps so I was able to maintain explosive energy and momentum from the resistance bands.  The last 15 or so were tough, and a cool guy Matt who I've seen around the gym came over to help get me through them.  Sets of five became sets of four, became sets of 3.  Somehow I got there, and I was onto what became a WOD unto itself...the handstand pushups...

Matt is a fucking hero...I cranked out like 7 or 8 of them without much of a problem, but with 22 to go, and very little gas in the tank, we started with sets of three.  That quickly became sets of two as I fell out a couple of times.  I was breathing heavy, staring down the bumper plate that dictated my depth in this exercise.  With like 18 to go I was averaging two reps every 2-3 minutes, and I think while we were both determined, a distant cloud of doubt was floating into the room as to whether I was going to finish.  Very long story short, after what seemed like an eternity I got there.  HUGE props to Matt for sticking with me through that absolute mess.

WOD Time: 41:04

My reps weren't pretty, but I got full (scaled) depth and full extension.  I would say MOST of the WOD was challenging but very doable.  But that final hill of the handstand pushups was a vertical climb.  After launching into the chipper with strength and confidence, I got spit out the other end...shredded, in pain, but alive, well, and more fit than yesterday.

I like the chippers.  They don't quite like me yet...they'll warm up to me over time, I'm sure of it :).

Over and Over and Over the Bar...

I didn't even realize today was my fourth day at Crossfit this week.  I guess mostly that's because we started out the week with a skill day.  Those aren't too taxing on the body the way a metcon or heavy lifting day is, so I had no reservations about coming in and attempting this one:

WOD

Self-Portrait

With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able. Use as many sets each minute as needed.

Fun stuff...I did four rounds of the warmup, which was day one of Sara's two gymnastics warmups:

Kick up to a handstand (x3)
Frog Stand (10 secs)
Tuck L Hang (10 secs)
10 Kettle Bell Swings (16 kg)

Since I've had little problem getting into the handstand, I've been doing 5 reps of handstand pushups instead of just kicking up into the handstand.  I haven't explored much depth, as I keep three abmats stacked on top of each other under my head so I only come down a couple of inches for each rep.  Over time I'll take out the pads progressively, but I'm in no rush...

3...2...1...Go!  We started with one pullup (I used my typical 1.5 thick bands) and, as I'm sure is typical, people were laughing and making light of the fact that there was a minute rest after that.  But the minutes went by quick and one became two, two became three, and before I knew it I was eight minutes in, hoping to get through the round of nine.  I was breaking up all post-5 minute rounds into the first 5, then whatever was left.  It was a decent strategy, but skill (or lack thereof) caught up with me and I found myself one pullup into the 10th round and I was cooked.

So we're watching and encouraging as some of the more impressive CF'ers got into rounds 12, 13, 14, and I think one of them got close to 15 but alas we were all done after that, when all of a sudden Sara says:

"OK...same thing, but Burpees..."

I joked that I could be there all day doing burpees, but I petered out just before the round of 9.  That was a great audible from Sara...I don't think the class before us did that extra workout, and it was cool to get in an extra sweat while we still had time left.

A fun, solid WOD, and happily my last one of the week.  Time for some much-needed rest and relaxation.  Looks like only one WOD next week before the next rest day, so let's hope I come back to something serious.  Either way I'll be there, and that's what counts most of all...

Peace...

Squat...Me Worry!

I came into today feeling pretty damn good.  I hadn't done a decent volume of squats in a while, but I figured if I could power through the 100 burpees last week I could make this happen.  I think out of everything I attempt at Crossfit, air squats are my strongest exercise.  I knew once I hit the third round it would take some serious focus to power through the last 50 or so.  So I was a bit worried about hitting all 225 of them.

Warmup
Handstand (held for about a minute...flirted with the pushup while I was there)
10 Jumping Ring Dips
Frog Stand (20 seconds)
Death Stretch (ouch!)
Hip Stretches

Pullups - So Sara tells me she knew I got 1/2 a pullup last week because she reads my blog...<blush>. She asked me to set up the band so I could show her.  I got halfway up a couple of times.  Then she grabs another band and puts them together.  BOOM! I did 3 or 4 pullups with multiple bands...kind of surreal to be traveling over the bar...even if it did take a truck tire's worth of rubber to get me up there.  Gotta start somewhere...we talked about scaling the 12 muscle ups for the WOD (see below), and she decided on 24 jumping pullups and 12 banded ring dips per round.  Before I knew it, it was go time...

WOD
Three rounds for time of:
12 Muscle-ups
75 Squats

I cranked through the first round without much problem.  Sara said I had the best squat in the room (she's a good motivator), and she also was on me to keep going whenever I was hunched over, feeling I couldn't crank out another 40, 30, 5 ...whatever it was.  A couple of the guys helped me through round two.  When I finished the squats one of them thought I was done and he yelled "time".  He obviously isn't familiar with my pace ;-).

In round 3 I did the jumping pullups 1-3 at a time, and slopped my way through the ring dips (likely a couple of sketchy reps in there for sure).  Then came the final 75 squats.  I was really giving it everything I had and I didn't know how I was getting through this one.  I hit 25 and I really didn't know where the other 50 were going to come from.  I had the guys on either side of me eggin me on and Sara in the middle...she was relentless.  The problem (at the time anyway) was that she's seen what I'm capable of.  So when I came up from 5 more and hunched over she just wasn't havin' it.  I just kept chipping away...5 more, 10 more, 3 more, etc.  Finally I got there...

Time: 23:09

I know I'm still miles away from RX'ing an entire WOD, but it feels great to be cranking out these high numbers of reps.  I'm hitting milestones left and right, and it feels amazing!

It's snowing already...again.  Looks like another shovel WOD is waiting for me at home, and with tomorrow being a rest day I guess it's good timing that I'll have to wake up and shovel, missing yet another Crossfit day so my driveway doesn't end up a sheet of ice. C'est la Vie...

Psyched for Thursday!