Full-Strength Five Tribe

Hauling our butts out of bed and into the gym for a 5 a.m. workout isn't the easiest task in the world to accomplish. Given work schedules, family obligations, travel, and the temptation to hit snooze and catch a few extra Zs, it's rare that the entire Five Tribe is in attendance at CrossFit Palo Alto before the crack of dawn.

But we did it again today. A full house of 15 sleepy CrossFitters showed up to get some strength on. It was my first 5 a.m. workout in a week, and it felt great to be back with all of my fellow nutjobs.

Strength Skill:

• Deadlifts (3-3-3-1-1)

A number of folks hit PRs this morning, but I wasn't one of them. My hammies are still fried from Monday's scorcher of a workout, and I struggled to pull 255 pounds off the ground. Ack.

On the plus side, I got to partner up with Jay, whose consistently sunny presence in the wee hours of the morning never ceases to amaze. (In contrast, I'm usually a sullen zombie for the first half of class.)

Metcon:

• AMRAP in 10 minutes:
• 20 mountain climbers
• 10 ring rows
• 5 dumbbell squat cleans

The mountain climbers felt great. Throughout the 10-minute workout, I was able to crank out the mountain climbers quickly and smoothly. The ring rows were tougher: The first few rounds flew by, but I hit a wall about halfway through the WOD, and ended up having to take a mid-set break or two.

But it was the dumbbell squat cleaning that floored me. Even though I'd scaled down the weight (I ended up using a pair of 35-pound dumbbells instead of the RXed 45 pounders), and despite the fact that we were only required to complete 5 reps per round, the squat cleans murdered my legs. A few rounds into the workout, my hamstrings, glutes, and quads were already on fire. And we still had another 7 minutes to go.

Result: 6 rounds + 20 reps.

I'm secretly happy that time ran out just as I was supposed to start another set of squat cleans.