Friday Night Lights

CrossFit SISU, ready for Friday Night Lights

Granite Games Online Qualifier 14.1...my first ever CrossFit competition.  It was an epic night of anxiety, sweat, effort, a bit of pain...and a whole lot of fun and celebration.

The Granite Games is (are?) a CrossFit competition that will be held in St. Cloud MN in September.  Apparently Granite Games 2013 was wildly popular; so popular that the spots in some divisions sold out within minutes of registration opening.  So this year the Granite Games feature an online qualifier, similar to the CrossFit Open.  Three workouts will be posted, one each week for the first three weeks of June.  Athletes complete the WODs in their home boxes and submit their scores online. CrossFit SISU encouraged all its athletes, of any level (or age) to sign up--so I did.  And I was happy to see that there was even a class for me...50+.  Although I have no illusions about doing well, even in the appropriate age category; there are, as CoachBoy 3 commented, "a lot of tough old broads out there."  Still, I figured it would be more fun to do the WODs "officially," instead of just informally, as I did a couple of the Open WODs earlier this spring.  So I signed up, and then I waited.

CrossFit SISU had decided to set up a Friday evening opportunity for its athletes to complete the weekly WOD, to socialize, and to cheer each other on: "Friday Night Lights."  So this week I was anxiously awaiting Friday evening and, just as importantly, the release of the WOD Wednesday night.  Because I knew darn well that there was a good chance that I'd be facing a WOD that was set up in such a way that I couldn't even complete one rep.  Sure, I've got a list of movements that I can do with no problem--wall balls, rowing, box jumps, kettle bell swings, Burpees, situps.  There's another list of things that I can do but where I may not be able to complete the reps if the weight is too high: cleans, jerks, squats, deadlifts, and snatches come to mind.  Then there is the list of "things I can't or shouldn't do because of my bicep tendon irritation," including pushups and pullups.  And finally there's the list of "you've got to be kidding" movements, which includes toes to bar, ring dips, handstand pushups, muscle ups, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting at the moment.  Combining all of those lists, there were a whole lot of ways I could start and finish a WOD without ever completing one rep.

So I was delighted, when the WOD was released on Wednesday, to see that consisted of a 12 minute AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) of one movement from my "can do if it's not too heavy" category: squat clean to overhead.  The WOD started at 65 pounds, a weight I knew I could clean and get overhead, and as a bonus, two of my recent personal training sessions with CoachBoy 3 had focused on cleans and split jerks, so I felt reasonably confident that I had a basic understanding of what I needed to do.

So the first part of the WOD, the 15 squat cleans to overhead at 65 pounds, was looking doable.  It was the second part that was causing some anxiety--the "15 squat cleans to overhead at 95 pounds."

The WOD allowed athletes to do either a power clean or a squat clean; if they chose a power clean they then had to do a front squat with the weight. They then had to get the weight overhead in any way they chose--push press, push jerk, split jerk, whatever. Thanks to a front squat WOD and a clean WOD earlier in the week, I knew I could clean 95 pounds to "front rack" position and then front squat it...but I'd never gotten more than 70 pounds overhead by any method--and because of my bicep tendon, I hadn't even attempted any overhead lifts in the past two months.

95 pounds was looking daunting.

Still, I figured that even if I only completed the 15 reps at 65 pounds and then spent the rest of my 12 minutes in a futile attempt to get the 95 overhead, that was a good deal better than getting a "0" on a WOD. (Oh, yeah...after the 15 at 95 pounds the WOD went on to 15 at 135--which might as well have been 200 pounds--and then a couple other weights so ridiculously high that I don't even remember them.   As far as I was concerned, the WOD ended at "15 at 95.")

So I arrived at Friday Night Lights cautiously optimistic and also a little anxious...what if I forgot how to clean?  Or split jerk?  Or for some reason couldn't even get the 65 pounds overhead?  After all, I hadn't put anything heavier than the 35 pound bar overhead in a couple months (well, I had done some snatches at 55 pounds, but I have no idea how that correlates with doing jerks.)

I quickly relieved my anxiety by doing a short running-and-mobility warmup and then loading one of the bars in the warmup area with 65 pounds, which I then cleaned, squatted, and pressed overhead.  Whew...first hurdle cleared--I could indeed still get 65 pounds overhead.  So then I could relax and watch the first heat of athletes complete the WOD.

Which, of course, brought back my anxiety because, well...they all looked so competent.  So strong.  So...as though they knew exactly what they were doing.  None of which adjectives, I was afraid, would be used to describe me when I completed my WOD in the second heat.

But I didn't have long to be anxious--a 12-minute AMRAP is, after all, only 12 minutes long, and soon (after a quick scramble to find someone to judge me--thanks Amy!) it was my turn.  As I waited by my bar for the start of my heat, a male competitor sidled past me and picked up the 45 pound plate that had been placed near my bar for the 135 pound reps.  He gave me a sheepish look as he walked away with the plates, saying "CoachBoy 3 said you won't be needing these."  Perceptive fellow, that CoachBoy 3.  And then the countdown started, and I was on.  So I started on the 65 pound reps, power cleaning and then squatting them because that seemed to come more naturally than squat cleaning them, and then getting the weight overhead with (if I remember correctly) either a push press or a push jerk.  Two minutes and thirty seconds later, the 65's were done and it was on to the 95's (note to self: when there is a 15 pound plate on each end of the bar, and a 15 pound plate waiting by each end of the bar, changing the weight on each end of the bar from 15 to 30 pounds only involves adding, not removing, any plates.  Nice time-waster there!)

I cleaned the 95 pounds, then squatted it...and then no-repped the jerk.  Damn.  Oh, well...this is what I expected.  Hmmm, I have another 9 minutes or so of no-reps to get through...better get going on that. Before I attempted the next clean, though, I heard CoachBoy 3 yell "get under the bar!"  Oh, yeah, that's right...I need to get under the weight rather than using force to push it overhead (I tend to forget things like that--there's a reason my speedskating coach used to call me "all force, no grace.")

So approached the bar again...

...cleaned the weight and then squatted it...

...and then psyched myself up for the split jerk attempt.

Hmm, I see that the goofy "biting my lip" expression that I typically assume

 during speedskating starts now has some competition.

And then this happened...

...and then this.

This particular goofy expression is the beginning of a very big smile.

And then I flung down the bar and indulged in what was likely an extremely inappropriate celebration--I say "inappropriate" because I didn't see any other athletes high-fiving their judges, jumping around with loud exclamations of happy profanity (the F-bomb isn't just for when you're mad, you know), and squealing--yes, I think I might have even squealed.

It was a very happy moment.

I went on to complete 6 more reps with the 95 pounds, as well as several no-reps.  By the end my wrists hurt (they look a little floppy in that last picture, and that was only the first 95-pound rep) and I was definitely tired and sweaty.  Oh, and my face hurt from smiling, because every time I got that 95 pounds up overhead I couldn't help grinning (and occasionally uttering another loud profane exclamation of delight).

Friday Night Lights, and my first online CrossFit competition, was--regardless of how the scoring turns out-- a huge success.

And now I have Friday Night Lights #2 to look forward to--assuming, of course, that the WOD doesn't feature items from my "can't yet do" list.  Oh, yeah...and there's this "real"--as in "not online"--CrossFit competition in Mankato in mid-July...and it has a "recreational" category for people like me with long "can't yet do" lists...and there's nothing currently on the Hubster's and my activity calendar for that weekend...