CrossFit Games - NorCal Regionals

The boys and I drove down to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds this morning for the third and final day of the CrossFit Games NorCal Regionals.

We arrived as the women were finishing the snatch ladder / double-under event.

The teams went next, and just like last year, we watched Danny Nichols of TJ's Gym lift an insane amount of weight. This time, it was a 295-pound snatch(!).

The individual men were next.

In the end, it came down to Neal Maddox and Jason Khalipa, with Maddox finishing first (with a 275-pound snatch) and Khalipa second (at 265).

Inspired by what he saw...

...Big-O decided to whip up his own WOD, running up and down and around the bleachers until he was red as a beet and drenched with sweat.

Lil-O didn't bother.

But after roasting in the hot sun for a spell, both of the boys demanded an icy treat. After downing bowls of (decidedly non-Paleo) ice cream in the shade...

We got back to the action.

The final team competition was insane:

• 20 muscle-ups while partner holds 225 pounds
• 60 wall balls (20 lb. ball to 10') while partner holds chin over bar
• 100' partner carry with 100 lb. dumbbell
• 40 box jumps, alternating on 24" box
• 100' partner carry with 100 lb. dumbbell
• 2 muscle-ups
• 20 muscle-ups while partner holds 135 pounds
• 60 wall balls (14 lb. ball to 10') while partner holds chin over bar
• 100' partner carry with 70 lb. dumbbell
• 40 box jumps, alternating on 20" box
• 100' partner carry with 70 lb. dumbbell
• 2 muscle-ups

I was exhausted just watching the athletes compete.

Diablo CrossFit gutted out the victory in front of a sea of screaming supporters.

And with that, we had to depart. I wish I could've stayed to watch the individuals' final event, but the boys were turning into pumpkins, and I needed a nap. (Not that I actually got one, but still.)

Monday's Workout: Sort-Of Heavy Thrusters

Lately, I've waking up earlier and earlier. This morning, my eyes popped open a few minutes before 4 a.m. I knew there was no chance I'd fall back asleep before the alarm went off at 4:20, so I got up and sent out a bunch of work-related emails. I'm sure my colleagues think I'm insane.

They may be right.

Strength Skill:

• Heavy Thrusters (3 sets of 3, 2 sets of 1)

I was inspired after watching Danny Nichols of TJ's Gym crush the thruster ladder WOD this past weekend at NorCal Regionals. The guy made heavy thrusters look like child's play, and ultimately set a world record by squat-cleaning 325 pounds before thrusting it overhead. 

But of course, inspiration is one thing, and ability is another. Here's the sad truth of the matter: The RXed weights for last weekend's thruster ladder workout starts at 155 pounds, and goes up by 10-pound increments thereafter. Today, my final rep was 145 pounds. And it was a PR.

Am I happy that I was able to do a thruster that exceeded my bodyweight? Yes. Am I satisfied? No. Looks like I have more homework to do.

Metcon:

I loved this one. L-O-V-E-D. Loved.

AMRAP in 10 minutes:

• 10 ring push-ups
• 15 Abmat sit-ups
• 5 30-inch box jumps

As you know, I'm a big fan of bodyweight workouts, so this was right up my alley.

This was the first time I'd encountered ring push-ups at CrossFit Palo Alto, but there's nothing too complicated about 'em: Just lower a set of Olympic rings to just-above floor-level, and do push-ups while holding onto the rings. In some ways, I found them to be slightly easier than regular push-ups because I could shift my hands to the most advantageous pressing position during the movement. Still, by the end of the ten minutes, I wasn't able to string together more than five in a row without taking a breather.

The Abmat sit-ups took some time, but went fine -- I focused on getting full extension with each rep, and most importantly, I didn't give myself an ass crack rash.

And the box jumps? They were fun, then frustrating, and then fun again. Thirty inches is higher than I'm accustomed to jumping, but in the first few rounds, I mustered enough energy to hop up and down continuously and get a decent extension while popping straight up off the top of the box. To maximize my reps, I was hoping to keep jumping without stopping and stepping off. As the WOD progressed, however, I got tired and sloppy, and failed to get full hip extensions at the top. "NO REP!" Tim kept calling out. "NO REP!"

He called it out four times before I got the message. I re-did the reps, forcing myself to pause at the top of each jump. I'd tuck-jump onto the box and land in a low squat position, stand up, and then step off the box -- and discovered that it was a hell of a lot easier than trying to go unbroken. Why didn't I do this from the start?

(Answer: I'm a dummy.)

Result: 7 rounds + 23 reps as RXed.