Wednesday's Workout: Hand in Glove

I got up a little earlier than usual this morning to make sure I had enough time to tape up my hands before the 5 a.m. class. The skin of my left ring finger was torn in a couple of places, but it's my right hand that's been bothering me. During Monday's workout, I'd pretty much flayed several layers of skin off one section of my palm, and two days later, the flesh underneath remains red and raw. So this morning, I carefully applied more Neosporin to the wound, covered it with a big bandage, and wrapped it all up with athletic tape.

Tim had shot me a message last night, advising me to wear gloves to the gym today, so I scrounged up a pair of cycling gloves and pulled them over my mummified hands. I stared at my black-gloved hands. If these don't protect me, I thought, nothing will.

I'm glad I wore them. Tim had mercifully modified the previously-scheduled WOD, removing the pull-ups and knees-to-elbows and substituting ring rows and med ball V-ups in their place, but the workout still involved gripping various things.

For time:

• 30 deadlifts (225lbs / 135lbs)
• Rest one minute
• 50 ring rows
• Rest one minute
• 30 dumbbell snatches on each side (60 total reps - 45lbs / 30lbs)
• Rest one minute
• 50 medicine ball V-ups

Oddly enough, I'd been so focused on the sorry state of my hands that I almost forgot about my sprained ankle. It wasn't until today's warm-up -- when I realized I still can't run properly -- that I remembered I needed to be smart about not putting too much pressure on my left foot. So I went with a relatively light barbell (205 pounds) and dumbbell (35 pounds), figuring I'd have trouble pushing off using my left leg.

I was right. The deadlifts felt uneven; I couldn't drive through the bottom of my left heel without feeling a twinge of discomfort shoot up from my ankle. And the snatches were lopsided, too. I winced each time my left foot stomped down onto the floor. To be honest, it's not that it hurt -- I winced in anticipation of the pain, and ended up favoring my left leg by shifting more of my weight to my right side.

The ring rows and med ball V-ups weren't affected at all by my hands or ankle -- but they were tough nonetheless. The first 30 ring rows came fast and smooth, but then I hit a wall, and was unable to string together more than 5 at a time. The V-ups, too, seemed easy at first. I kept me legs straight while transferring the ball from my feet to my hands, but with just two-thirds of the set completed, I found myself unable to continue without slightly bending my knees to shorten the lever.

Result: 16:08 (not counting the three minutes of rest between movements).

I'm pretty fried. I did my best to hang in there, but the nagging injuries -- however minor -- are starting to add up. I hate missing class, but I think I'm going to have to sit out Friday's workout. Boo.