With Tim on vacation, Trish led us through the workout yesterday. Afterwards, she remarked that the 5 a.m. class was extremely "coachable" -- i.e., we follow instructions well.
"It's 'cause we're not awake enough to fight back," I told her.
Strength Skill:
Strict Presses (3-3-1-1-1)
Despite a couple of attempts at setting a new PR, I failed. It appears my max is holding firm at 120 pounds for a little while longer.
Metcon:
AMRAP in 15 minutes:
9 deadlifts (155lbs / 100lbs)
12 Games push-ups
15 box jumps (24" / 20")
This was a reprise of the second workout of last year's CrossFit Games Open, and I did nowhere near as well as some of the firebreathers who tackled 11.2. The deadlifts were fine -- I made sure to tap 'n go to keep momentum on my side. The box jumps weren't too bad, either. But the push-ups? Not so much. I cruised through the first few rounds, but early in the fifth round, I suddenly hit a wall and couldn't muster more than two or three push-ups at a time.
At coffee after class with Trish and XFitMama, I griped about my strict presses and push-ups. "Do a 100 push-up challenge," Trish suggested. It was a great idea, and we all signed on. The rules are simple: Do one push-up on Day One, two push-ups on Day Two, three on Day Three, and so on. One more wrinkle: I'm going to try to do 'em all at once rather than spacing out the push-ups throughout the day. This shouldn't get hard until Day 50 or so, but I'm fine with starting at 1 for now. I need a few weeks to get my stress levels down anyway.
The CrossFit Palo Alto community's been doing the Open workouts together every Saturday at 1 p.m., but Big-O's Little League season opener was scheduled for the same time. And although I've thoroughly somewhat enjoyed getting my butt handed to me by the Open WODs, I have my priorities straight. (Usually.)
So yesterday, after packing down a big bacon, spinach, and mushroom scramble and a couple of cups of coffee, I packed the kids in the car, and got ready to watch a bunch of first- and second-graders slide around a muddy field for a couple of hours. (It had been raining, but according to the city's Little League rainout hotline, the games would go on as scheduled.)
But of course, the game was canceled by the coaches upon our arrival. I don't think anyone wanted to spend an afternoon in the rain.
So I turned the car around and drove to the gym to watch people do 12.5. But when I got there, I knew there was no way I could resist joining the fun, even though I was dressed in a button-down shirt and a pair of slacks. Thankfully, I keep a pair of Oly shoes at the gym and a do-rag in the car. I rolled up the cuffs of my pants, took off my button-down, pulled on my lifting shoes, and threw my lucky sweat rag on my head.
I was ready to go.
Result: 64 reps. In other words, I'm still terrible at this. I took too many breaks, I'm still way too weak, and I completely lost my chest-to-bar pull-ups by the end. But with minimal warm-up, a churning stomach full of food, and a pair of dry-clean-only pants on, I managed to beat my score from last year by a few reps. Progress!
(Honestly, I'm just happy I didn't vomit all over the barbell.)
The boys were up all night crapping their pants. M knew I was still recovering from a cold, so she looked after our sick kids, generously allowing me to sleep through the worst of the ass-explosions so I'd be (relatively) well-rested for the 5 a.m. class at CrossFit Palo Alto. I know I don't say it often enough, but my wife is all kinds of awesome.
Strength Skill:
Single-Leg Deadlifts (5-3-3-1-1)
I'm tightening my gut and keeping my hips down low. I'm pushing off my heel, and I'm keeping my head in line with my body. But I still suck at one-legged deadlifts -- especially when I do 'em while balancing on my left leg. I'd make a horrible evil one-legged space pirate.
Metcon:
2 rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
20 ground-to-overheads (75# / 55#)
15 box jumps
10 toes-to-bar
This was reminiscent of this year's Open WOD 12.3 -- you know, the one that murdered me. Thankfully, today's version was a lot more sane, but it was still a kick in the pants.
I'd like to say I held back because I'm not feeling 100 percent, but the truth of the matter is that I simply got my butt handed to me. The ground-to-overheads weren't a problem (I did a mix of snatches and clean & jerks), but the box jumps knocked the wind out of me today.
All I can say is: Ouch. This workout -- an AMRAP of 15 box jumps, 12 push-presses, and 9 toes-to-bar -- was indeed a punch in the face. And gut. And crotch. Simultaneously.
My box jumps and toes to bar weren't too bad, but my push-presses stunk up the place. I resorted to split-jerking most of my reps because I'm evidently still too puny to push-press dozens of reps at 115 pounds. Even so, I lifted at a glacial pace and no-repped a half-dozen times. In the end, I managed to only get through 4 full rounds and 10 additional box jumps.
Gah -- 115-pound push-presses are on the menu for the Open WOD 12.3 at CrossFit Palo Alto tomorrow, along with a crapload of box jumps and toes-to-bar. That's a purdy heavy weight for me. I have a feeling that those eighteen minutes are going to be a punch in the face.
Good thing we had a chance to practice today.
Strength Skill:
Push-Presses (5-5-3-3-3)
I paired up with the Terminator, who has a bum shoulder, and therefore at less than full cyborg strength. We did the presses from a rack, and finished with 115 pounds on our final set. Tomorrow, we have to do 'em from the floor. Twelve at a time. Between box jumps and toes-to-bar. For eighteen minutes straight.
Again: Gah. Guess who's going to be doing some jerks tomorrow?
Metcon:
At least we had a nice barn-burner of a metcon today.
2 rounds for time:
40 double-unders
30 kettlebell transfers (24kg / 16kg)
20 Abmat sit-ups
10 ring rows
I tripped up a few times with the jump rope, but otherwise, this one blazed by.
Proceed through the sequence below, completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
30 snatches (75# / 45#)
30 snatches (135# / 75#)
30 snatches (165# / 100#)
Max rep snatches (210# / 120#)
Before today, my snatch PR was a measly 95 pounds, so I had a feeling I wouldn't make it past the first round of 30 snatches. I was right -- but happily, I did manage to establish a new PR. After my first 30 snatches were done, I incrementally added weight onto the bar, successfully snatching 95 pounds, 105 pounds, and 115 pounds. With the clock ticking down, I loaded 135 pounds onto the bar, and gave it my fiercest effort -- but couldn't manage to explode under the bar. I tried again. And then again. No go.
But the silver lining? I PRed by 20 pounds, and I didn't wreck myself. Plus, I got to watch my friends absolutely kill this workout. The energy in the room could power a city, and the cheers were deafening.
No wonder the neighbors called the cops about the noise.
"We're going for speed," Tim intoned as we scurried off to grab barbells and plates. None of us were going to overhead squat 135 pounds. And frankly, I knew I wasn't even up for the women's RXed weight. I've never managed to snatch over 95 pounds, so there was no way I was going to speedily get through 30 reps at that weight. Seventy-five, I decided.
It was a manageable weight -- heavy enough that I had to set down the bar in the middle of my last few rounds of snatches, but light enough to whip through this workout fairly quickly.
Result: 5:48.
But here's the sad part. One third of this WOD consisted of 30 snatches at 75 pounds. If a workout consisted of just those 30 snatches at that weight, I could crank through them fairly quickly. (Granted, it might look super-ugly, but whatever.)
At 5 p.m. tonight, the second WOD of the 2012 CrossFit Games Open was announced:
As many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
30 snatches (75# / 45#)
30 snatches (135# / 75#)
30 snatches (165# / 100#)
Max rep snatches (210# / 120#)
I'm not doing this workout until Saturday, but I already know my score: 30. That is, unless I somehow figure out how to add forty pounds to my snatch PR in the next two-and-a-half days.
I'm not exactly in love with burpees, but I was looking forward to the first CrossFit Games Open workout nonetheless. A seven-minute AMRAP of burpees was a perfect way to start the Open -- a super-accessible, no-equipment, bodyweight-only test of conditioning.
At CrossFit Palo Alto, about two dozen of us showed up this afternoon to tackle the WOD. We took turns judging, counting, and cheering for each other, and a number of spectators came to show their support as well.
Some of the firebreathers in the group absolutely killed this one. My partner, LaHo, tore through his reps like a beast on fire. So did a number of others, including Graeme and Trish.
Shane busted out 121. Insane.
Me? I shot out of the gate, and was happy to match Blake rep-for-rep for the first 80 reps or so. But then the wheels inevitably flew off, and as he peeled away, I stumbled and slowed. Usually, when I do burpees, my chest and arms are wrecked -- but today, my quads caught on fire and stayed that way. Jumping up to touch a bar just six inches beyond my outstretched arms turned out to be a lot more difficult than I expected, especially given my jelly legs.
Result: 93 burpees.
After we were done, Big-O and Lil-O got in on the act, too. Oddly enough, they didn't seem to think this workout was a big deal at all.
I'm doing the first CrossFit Games Open workout (7 minutes of burpees) tomorrow, so I was initially hesitant to show up for this morning's workout. Maybe it'd be better to get some rest, I thought.
But I'm glad I joined the rest of the 5 a.m. crew. Not only did I get to work on front squats again, but we got to practice burpees, too. Plus, with Tim on the East Coast, we were treated to another 5 a.m. coaching appearance by Trish.
Strength Skill:
Front Squats (3-3-3-1-1)
On my fourth set, I matched my previous PR, and felt strong doing it. Sadly, we ran out of time and I didn't get to shoot for a new personal best, but I definitely plan on continuing to keep front squatting at home. My immediate goal: New PR by the end of next week.
I was psyched to get a little preview of how tomorrow's burpees will feel, and used the WOD to try to practice what I learned from Carl Paoli's videos. The "kipping" motion doesn't feel smooth and natural to me yet, but I bet that after 7 minutes of burpees tomorrow, muscle memory will kick in. Either that, or the wheels'll come off in spectacular fashion. Regardless of what happens, it should be fun, right?
When I saw that the first workout is a 7-minute AMRAP of burpees, I flashed back to the 100-burpee workout from last September. It was painful. To streamline my burpees and minimize the pain, I'm going to need some help.
Thankfully, the amazing Carl Paoli of GymnasticsWOD and San Francisco CrossFit has shot an entire series on proper burpee technique -- along with a summary of tips for getting the most out of this year's first Open workout:
