Monday's Workout

I hate it when my body quits on me.

It's the final week in our strength cycle, and I wanted to join the rest of the 5 a.m. class as they practiced overhead squats today. But thanks to my pulled groin, I still can't properly squat without pain.

Grudgingly, I sat this one out. I certainly don't want to tear up my adductors even more, but being sidelined annoys me to no end. I tried to stay productive by working on my handstand holds this morning, but it wasn't the same.

Thankfully, our metcon today didn't require any squatting:

• "Grace" - 30 clean-and-jerks (135lbs / 95lbs) for time.

After my last encounter with Grace (when I used a too-light 95-pound barbell), I'd promised myself I'd go up to 115 pounds the next time we faced this workout. But I already got a good taste of my stupidity on Friday, so to be safe, I went up only to 105 -- in other words, just a few pounds more than 17-year-old Kallista Pappas clean-and-jerked during the "Heavy Grace" event at the 2008 CrossFit Games.

During the WOD, I felt slightly more tentative and restrained than usual, and babied my right leg more than probably necessary. Still, the power cleans felt good, and my lockouts overhead were strong. I finished in 4:41 -- a half-minute slower than the last time around -- but frankly, I was just happy I got to play.