Open 15.1

Not much to report in the hammy department; I have an appointment with my surgeon for Monday, so hopefully I'll get some answers then.  In the meantime, at my last PT visit on Wednesday I whined extensively spoke persuasively enough that my PT agreed that I could resume lower body workouts until I see the surgeon.  Which meant that I was now able to do...

The CrossFit Open Workout 15.1!

For those not familiar with CrossFit, the Open is an annual online competition that is the first step in qualifying to compete in  CrossFit's "Super Bowl," the Reebok CrossFit Games.  The Open is really cool in that it's truly "open;" while the eventual competitors in the Games will use it as the first step in their road to the Games, hundreds of thousands of "regular CrossFitters" around the world will also complete the same workouts and will be ranked against all Open competitors in their bracket.  Starting at the end of February, every Thursday night for five weeks a new WOD is announced, and competitors have until the following Monday to complete the workout and submit a score.  CrossFit SISU, as usual, has a great plan for making the Open workouts a community event: every Friday they're hosting a three-hour "Friday Night Lights" where SISU athletes can complete the WOD, as well as act as official judges and unofficial cheering sections for each other.

Yesterday was the first of these "Friday Night Lights."  I was excited to compete.  Last year I didn't sign up for the Open, but ended up doing a couple of the workouts because they were programmed as the regular Friday class workouts during the Open.  I hadn't been able to do most of the movements in those workouts, but I figured that, even with the hammy issue, I've improved enough in the past year that I should be able to complete most movements that would show up in an Open workout.  Of course, I was hoping not to see any of my current Kryptonite moves--double unders, handstand pushups, pistol squats, and toes to bar--show up in the Open WOD.  So at 7:00 Thursday night, as I was preparing to leave school after my final Parent-Teacher conference, I checked my phone for the 15.1 WOD.

9 minute AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) of:
15 toes to bar
10 deadlifts
5 snatches.

Whee.

Oh, and then there was a 15.1a...6 minutes to complete a max clean and jerk.

Well.  This posed a dilemma.  This year, for the first time, the Open offers both "Rx" ("as prescribed," or normal difficulty), and "Scaled" (easier) options for each workout.  Athletes can choose either option each week; all Scaled competitors are then ranked below the lowest Rx competitor in the standings for a given workout.

I knew I could do the Rx weights--75 pounds for both deadlifts and snatches--although the snatch weight was only 5 pounds lower than my current PR and thus would be challenging.  No, it wasn't the weight that was the problem...it was the T2B's.  At the time the WOD was announced, my lifetime total of T2B's stood at a stunning 5.

Still, I know myself.  I'd rather try Rx and get a few reps of something I didn't think I could do (which happened in pretty much every Granite Games Master's Sectional workout last summer) than do an easier scaled version.  Besides, even one T2B completed would put me ahead of every 50-54 year old woman who chose the scaled option.

Not that I was paying attention to that, of course.

So I decided that I'd get to SISU early and try to few T2B's.  If I could hit one or two, then I'd go Rx.  If I failed completely, I'd choose the scaled option, which substituted "knee lifts" for T2B's and had a lower deadlift/snatch weight.

My first T2B attempt, as expected, ended in failure.  So did the second.  Then I thought for a moment.  I'd been trying to "kip"--a mostly upperbody swing that adds momentum to aid in getting your feet to the bar, but which I'm utterly abysmally horrible at executing (this goes for kipping in pullups as well).  But then I remembered hearing people talk about using a "monkey swing"-- more of a whole body, little-kid-on-the-playground-monkeybars sort of thing.  Having nothing to lose, I swung my entire body as violently as possible...and actually touched the bar with both feet.

Lifetime T2B's now stood at 6.

So I practiced my "monkey swing" a bit more, and was able to complete 6 or 7 more T2B's.  I was unable to link them; my feet descended so violently from the bar that my swing at the end of one T2B was completely uncontrolled and there was no way I could channel it into a second T2B without dropping to the ground and starting over.  This is how my kipping pullups go, to, though, so it didn't bother me; I was just thrilled to be able to consistently execute single T2B's.

So Rx it was.

So I conscripted a judge from the ranks of spectators, set up my bar, put on my handgrips (to hopefully avoid ripping my hands again), and prepared to do battle.

3, 2, 1, Go!

I jumped up, grabbed the bar, swung, and kicked the bar with both feet.

One.

Attempts Two and Three proceeded as planned as well: monkey swing, kick the bar, jump down, jump up and do it again.  Hmmm, maybe I'll actually get through all 15.  Maybe I'll even get more than one round...

And then attempt four.  Clumsy swing, feet nowhere near the bar.

No rep!

Attempt five.

No rep!

And attempts six and seven and eight and nine and...well, you get the idea.  All "No rep!"

Somewhere between reps three and four, I had completely lost the ability to do T2B's.

I was still swinging...

Nice monkey swing, eh?

...and sometimes my feet were even coming close to the bar...

I think this was one of the many attempts where a "no rep"

resulted from me kicking my hands instead of the bar

...but in the remaining 8 of the original 9 minutes, I only achieved one more T2B.

By attempt # 63 or so, the spectators were clearly unimpressed...

...while my poor judge, who managed to remain incredibly 

positive and helpful throughout the debacle, pondered

new ways to say "come on, you can get this!"

So I ended 15.1 with a score of 4.  15.1a, fortunately, went a bit better.  I've only done cleans and jerks once or twice since my injury, and I'm a little hesitant to hit a heavy squat clean or a hard fast split jerk (I jerk with my right foot in front, which stresses the bad hammy), but despite this I was happy to hit 105, equaling my pre-injury PR.

After the WOD (and after thanking my patient judge profusely) I peeled off my handgrips to reveal a bloody left palm.  Oh, so that's where that blood on the pullup bar came from!  

I spent the rest of the night cheering on my fellow competitors.  There are some true badasses at SISU, and it was fun to watch them.  I also talked to a fellow competitor who said he was planning to re-do the WOD during the weekend.  

Hmm...if anyone should re-do the WOD, it's me!

So I approached Coach JJ and asked if there was a time I could make another attempt at the WOD.

"What was your score?" he asked.

"Four."

"Four reps?" he asked, his eyes widening in horror.  "Yeah, you need to re-do it."

And we shall recap the re-do tomorrow.