Monday, April 11, 2011

Monday's Workout

The alarm jolted me awake in the middle of a sleep cycle. Getting up was the last thing I wanted to do; it took the blinding lights of the bathroom and a bracing splash of water in the face to get me going.

But I'm glad I made it to the gym this morning. I didn't know it before arriving, but we had a date with Fran.


But first things first.

Strength Skill:
Rather than sticking with trying to make 'em pretty, I tried to improve on last week's PR...and failed miserably.

Whatever. I was too distracted by the prospect of Fran to dwell on it.

Metcon:

"Fran"
  • 21 barbell thrusters (95 pounds)
  • 21 pull-ups
  • 15 barbell thrusters (95 pounds)
  • 15 pull-ups
  • 9 barbell thrusters (95 pounds)
  • 9 pull-ups


Tim likes to remind us that "some people can finish in less than two minutes." All I can do is laugh and shake my head. The first time I attempted Fran as RXed was back in October, and it took me almost 8 minutes to finish. I did it again in January, and as I wrote at the time, Fran punched me in the balls again. I finished in a molasses-slow 7:39.

Today? Still nothing to write home about, but significantly better than the last time around.

At the beginning, the thrusters actually felt pretty decent(!), and I managed to blaze through all 21 reps in the first round without pausing. The pull-ups, too, came fast and smooth, and I reeled off 21 uninterrupted. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself as I approached the barbell for the second round...


...and then the suckage started. Suddenly, the thrusters seemed a lot heavier. And my grip was gone. Five reps into the second round, I dropped the weight. Five more after that, I dumped the bar again.

Meanwhile, I could see Maddie cruising through her second round of thrusters; she was on her way to a 5-minute Fran. And a few feet in front of her, XFitMama -- in her third trimester of pregnancy -- was kicking ass, too. Those two breathe fire.

And the clock kept ticking.

Result: 6:32 as RXed. The pull-ups didn't slow me down, but the last two rounds of thrusters did me in. I'm happy that I cut over a minute off my previous effort, but I'm in awe (and envious) of Blake, who whittled down his Fran time by over three minutes(!).

Ah, well. I squandered too much time staring at the bar on the floor. The silver lining: There's plenty of room for improvement.