Open 15.5...In Which My Obsessive Compliance Serves Me Well

(The more astute among you may be wondering what happened to Open 15.4.  Well, I did it--scaled, since I can't do handstand pushups--and it was somewhat uninspiring.  Then life got in the way of blogging about it and, well, here we are at Open WOD 15.5...)

Open WOD 15.5 looked like this:

27-21-15-9 reps for time of:
Row (calories)
Thrusters

Men use 95 lb.
Women use 65 lb.

CrossFit SISU suggested we might want to consider this:

But before I considered the "tortoise or the hare" approach to what was universally acknowledged to be a "lung burner" and just an all-around-frightening WOD, I had to consider the "Rx or Scaled" dilemma.

The rowing I wasn't concerned about.  I like rowing, and even if I sucked at it, rowing is infinitely scalable--you can go as slow as you darn well need to.

No, it was the thrusters I was worried about.  I've done 65-pound thrusters, but they've always felt like they're in that "edge of my ability" zone.  72 of them was looking daunting. And this workout had no time cap, so it was do or die--no nice comfortable AMRAP where you have a set amount of time to accumulate "As Many Reps As Possible," even if that turns out to be just one (or, as in the case of my Toes To Bar 15.1 debacle, four.)  No, in this WOD it was "do them all or DNF trying."

But still, I figured what the hell...I'll try Rx, and if I get to the point where I simply can't get the bar overhead one more time, I'll quit and try again--scaled--on Sunday or Monday.

So I tried a few 65-pound thrusters (in which you squat with the bar and then stand up and immediately thrust the bar overhead) in warmup, and they felt OK.  Then I chatted briefly with some of the young studettes in my heat, and the depth of their surprise at my decision to go Rx was a little worrying.  What was I getting myself in for?  But I stuck with my decision, finished my warmup, rounded up a judge (thanks Greg!), and prepared to do battle.

Here's the SISU box, looking all calm and innocent pre-WOD with the rowers and bars waiting for their victims:

Really, how bad could it be?

Everyone had been heavily emphasizing the "don't go out too hard" advice, and between my usual compliance with any and all rules/advice/suggestions and my fear of the 65-pound thrusters, I took this advice very seriously.  The more competent CrossFitters were planning to break the thrusters into sets of 10, or 9, or something along those lines.

I figured that sets of five, with a ten second break in between, sounded about right.

I was a little worried when the coach set the clock to 20 minutes (not a time cap, just a time they figured athletes would be finished by), but he just shook his head when I suggested that perhaps a longer time period might be necessary in my heat.

Specifically, a time period measured by a calendar.

And then it was go time.  3, 2, 1, Row.  Despite my judge's enthusiastic exhortations to use "big strong pulls," I motored along at a nice conservative pace.  I figured I needed to count on the rowing as part of my rest time.

Then the row was done and it was on to the bar.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5...that wasn't too bad.  Stare at the clock for 10 seconds, pick up the bar, rinse, repeat.

In the end, there were 16 minutes and 58 seconds of this...

...and this...

...and this.

I had one no rep, and ended up breaking the later sets of thrusters into groups of four and then three and I finished last in my heat by several minutes--but I finished, and well under 20 minutes.

I was thrilled.

And later, as I wandered around SISU in a happy daze, sipping a Diet Dew (hey, I was celebrating) and babbling to anyone who would hold still long enough about how much fun the WOD had been, I was reminded of my first (and to this day, only) speedskating 10K, in which I paced myself somewhat, um, conservatively and thus enjoyed the hell out of the whole experience, while my friend Mel pushed herself to the limit and ended up in a huddle on the edge of the track post-race, unable to remain standing.  Strangely enough, nobody I talked to had enjoyed the WOD as I had. There was talk of "Fran Lung" and suffering and agony and "there's no way in hell I'm re-doing this one.  Not for the Open...not ever again."

So in 15.5, as in my 10K, although I was delighted with my results and had exceeded what I thought possible, I was still left with the nagging thought that "I'm pretty sure I didn't do this right."  Oh, well...there's always next time to push myself to the point of tipping over or throwing up.  In the meantime, it was fun to have one of those "wow, I can't believe I did that" WODs.  

And with that, the 2015 Open comes to a close.  I've got no deep philosophical musings about the Open...just appreciation for the SISU coaches for putting on the Friday Night Lights, appreciation for the judges and spectators for the cheering and support, and a feeling of satisfaction for having been able to complete the Open 6 months after my hamstring surgery.

And I can't wait to do it again next year.

My CrossFit Open 15.3...A Yawnfest

Open WOD 15.3 apparently sparked quite a bit of controversy in the CrossFit community.  For the first time in the Open, a WOD began with Muscle Ups--a move which involves getting from hanging below a set of gymnastics rings to being above the rings with arms straight, and a move which, more than any other in CrossFit, serves to separate the Badasses from the Bad At It. (Of course, gymnasts simply refer to Muscle Ups as "getting on the rings so I can then proceed to do the real routine," but I digress). Because most of us average (OK, below average) CrossFitters can't do Muscle Ups, a great many people who did the first two Open WOD's Rx were now forced to do 15.3 at the Scaled level.  Naturally, this made a lot of Non-Muscle-Uppers cranky.

It just made me bored.

At my level of CrossFit--which I would place at "Just Above Suck"--many if not most competition WODs I've done have had at least one move that I'm not sure I can complete.  Toes to Bar, pistol squats, heavy overhead stuff, handstand pushups...the list goes on.  So I've become accustomed, in competitions like the Granite Games Qualifier and Masters Sectionals, as well as the first two Open WOD's, to there being an element of suspense in my effort.  Will I do it, or will I spend the entire WOD futilely attempting to clean something or jerk something or get some body part above the bar?  Sure, there are letdowns, like my "spend nine minutes to get four T2B" Open WOD 15.1 debacle...but there have been many more times when I've surprised myself and done something I hadn't thought possible--and while I realize that for most people competitions are more about "how fast can I do this?" than "can I do this at all?" still, I've become accustomed to that thrill of surprising myself in competitions.

And up until the WOD was announced on Thursday night, I was pretty  sure that 15.3 would not disappoint, and would contain one of those "can I do it?" moves.  Rumor had it that 15.3  would consist of double unders and pistol squats--pistol squats being one-legged squats that I had managed to achieve on my left leg for the first time in one of the Granite Games Masters Sectionals WOD's.  I hadn't tried one since I avulsed my hammy six months ago, and I was pretty sure I would be unable to do them--my right leg, which had previously been the one I had no trouble doing pistols on, is now, of course, my injured leg; and my left leg, the one that had barely been able to do pistols before,  has been taking an extended break from speedskating and heavy squats and other quad-enhancing moves in the months since its mate became injured.  To my surprise, though, when we practiced pistols in class Thursday morning, I was actually able to achieve three on my right leg, and was extremely close on my left leg.  So, I had the perfect setup for one of my thrilling (to me) "will I be able to do it?" WOD's--if I could just get a tiny bit lower, I'd have that left leg pistol...

As it turned out, though, in my 15.3 there were no surprises and no thrills.  For those of us who can't do Muscle Ups, the WOD was simply to complete as many rounds of 50 wallballs and 200 single rope jumps (as opposed to double unders) as possible in 14 minutes.

Yawn.

So I did my  wallballs and single unders, breaking the wallballs into sets of 5 and the singles into sets of "until I trip on the rope, suddenly lose all coordination, or run out of breath."  In the end, I did 541 unexciting reps.

What was exciting, though, was watching the athletes who did the WOD Rx.  Their 15.3 consisted of as many rounds of 7 Muscle Ups, 50 wallballs, and 100 dubs as possible in 14 minutes.  CrossFit SISU, as usual, was hosting a Friday Night Lights event to provide a time for athletes to complete 15.3 in a fun, community-building atmosphere.  It was really cool to watch the Rx athletes tackle the Muscle Ups.  Some were ecstatic to achieve their first Muscle Up ever during the WOD, while others nonchalantly knocked off three in a row before dropping to the ground.  There's often a moment--or many moments--of mid-muscle-up-struggle in which the outcome is by no means certain, and these moments are perfect times for the crowd to go wild and show their support for the athlete's skill and Sisu.  So even though I bored myself with my own effort in the WOD, it was still a really fun night.

But I'm still hoping to see something that I can barely do show up in 15.4

15.2--Short and Sweet

After 15.1's "nine minutes to achieve four toes-to-bar" debacle, 15.2 was looking mercifully short. 

 In fact, I was pretty sure it would take me just three minutes.

15.2 looked like this:

For as long as possible:

From 0:00-3:00
  2 rounds of:
  10 overhead squats (95 / 65 lb.)
  10 chest-to-bar pull-ups

From 3:00-6:00
  2 rounds of:
  12 overhead squats (95 / 65 lb.)
  12 chest-to-bar pull-ups

From 6:00-9:00
  2 rounds of:
  14 overhead squats (95 / 65 lb.)
  14 chest-to-bar pull-ups

Etc., following same pattern

We had actually done this WOD at SISU two weeks ago.  I was in the middle of my "lower body workout restriction" phase, so I had substitued 55 pound hang cleans for the overhead squats--and had still only achieved 25 of the 40 reps needed to advance past the first three minutes.  Still, I was fairly happy to see this WOD turn up for 15.2.  I can do chest-to-bars--slowly and with a lot of effort, but I can do them--and I was sure I could do the overhead squats at the Rx weight.

Well, pretty sure anyway.  A quick peek at "Wodify" had revealed that my one-rep max for this lift was only 70 pounds, and that was pre-injury, so success was nowhere near assured.

So when I started my warmup yesterday, the first thing I wanted to try was a 65 pound overhead squat.    I haven't done a ton of squats with weight in general since my injury, and no overhead squats with weight at all, as far as I can remember--but when I tried the lift at 65 pounds, I was able to successfully snatch it overhead and then squat it.  Of course, I couldn't do a second squat without putting the bar down, but I figured that the adrenaline of the competition would enable me to maybe complete my 10 reps in three or four sets of 2-4.  Then with any luck I'd still have time to do my 10 chest-to-bars.  I was thinking that I'd be pretty happy with a score of 20...and since my shoulder and hands were still sore from 15.1, I wasn't too bummed that my 15.2 would likely be over in 180 seconds.

Since I had (as usual) arrived at SISU insanely early, I was done with my warmup before very many other of the "Friday Night Lights" participants had even shown up.  So when Coach JJ asked if I wanted to do my workout right then, before the heats officially started, I figured what the heck.  Better to go now than to wait and have to warm up again.  

3, 2, 1, go.  I snatched up the bar, squatted it...and then, to my surprise, proceeded to squat nine more times without having to set the bar down to rest.  Yup, I managed to do the ten overhead squats unbroken.  (Insert small cheer here for "life's little victories.")  Then I went to the rig for the ten chest-to-bars.  I can't link them together so I didn't do them unbroken, but I did manage to do what I consider my version of unbroken: 10 singles in a row without a no-rep (except I did have to let go once before I attempted a pullup and then jump up again, when my initial grip felt weird).  I realized, in the middle of my pullups, that I had made a tactical error--I had chosen one of my favorite (as in, "more grippy") bars on the rig for my pullups, but it was facing away from the clock so I couldn't see how much time I had left.  But when I got back to the bar for the next overhead squats and could look at the clock, it didn't matter how much time I had left anyway...I was so out of breath that I simply had to stop for 10 seconds or so and breathe.  Man, I miss having my "skating cardio fitness!"

When I eventually picked up the bar again, I had to do the squats in sets of two or three.  A couple of the squats were iffy, and I had to do a lot of waltzing around with  the bar overhead before I was finally able to lock out and get the rep counted.  I had a couple of no reps when I couldn't get down without dropping the bar in front of me...and then the three minutes were up.

I had finished with a score of 28--and a big smile.  Three minutes for 28 reps is way better than nine minutes for four reps!

15.1, Take 2--Just a Swingin'

Yesterday morning, after a nice (painful) therapeutic massage on my recalcitrant hammy, I headed to CrossFit SISU to make a second attempt at Open WOD 15.1.  Normally I wouldn't try to re-do a WOD--if I couldn't do it the first time I figure it's highly unlikely that I'll magically be able to do it a second time.  This time, though, there was that glorious pre-WOD warmup, in which I had hit almost every T2B I attempted.  If I could just recapture that...

So when the Saturday morning Butt Camp crew had completed their workout, I started warming up for 15.1, Take 2. After some shoulder mobility stuff and a few light cleans and snatches, I tried some T2B's, and after about five attempts  I managed to achieve one.  Not a stunning success rate, but better than nothing.  And then Coach JJ came over and started helping me work on my T2B's.

First, he tried to get me to kip.  Nope, couldn't figure that out.  So then he tried to get me to monkey swing.  Nope, not happening either.  He then tried about five different ways of conveying to me exactly what I needed to do to achieve a T2B, but still all my attempts ended in inefficient flailing.  Finally, I saw him assume an expression I remembered well from when Coach TieGuy was trying in vain, for the twentieth time, to convey some simple aspect of speedskating to me.  The expression that says "OK, I'm officially out of ideas...and by the way, how can you be that clumsy and not fall down more?"  Clearly, it was time to stop practicing.

So Coach JJ gave me one more task.  "Here's your test-out," he said.  "If you can hit three T2B's in a row you can re-do the WOD."

So I jumped up and, miracle of miracles, hit the first one.  And the second.  The third was a bit sketchy--I think my right foot missed by a half inch or so--but he counted it and so I prepared to start 15.1 for the second time.

As it turned out, I might as well have saved my energy--and my hands.  After 9 minutes I had one less T2B than my first attempt, as well as (despite taping my hands and wearing my palm guards) a surprisingly large and gross amount of blood on my hands, on the bar, and on a chunk of chalk that I unthinkingly grabbed and dragged across my bloody palm mid-WOD.

After cleaning up my biohazard bar and washing the gore off my hands, I wandered into the lobby where the last of the ButtCampers were preparing to leave.

"Well, how did it go?" asked one.

"Not as well as last night.  I only got three."

"Three rounds?" he asked sympathetically; three rounds, or 90 reps, would have been on the lower end of scores achieved by the SISU athletes the night before.

"Uh, no...three reps," I clarified.

He looked at me, opened his mouth to say something, closed it again, and busied himself tying an already-tied shoe.

So yes, 15.1, Take 2, was quite unimpressive.  Not to mention quite frustrating; how can I be so bad at some of these moves?  So, in my usual "use the brain to try to compensate for the less-than-stellar body" fashion, I started thinking.  Swinging.  Kipping is a swing; monkey swinging is a swing; Coach JJ had mentioned something about swinging on a swingset.  If I could just figure out what I'm doing wrong in the swing...

Which is how I found myself today, at 2:00 on a frigid March Sunday afternoon, on the swingset in the park across the road from our house, diligently swinging back and forth as I tried to figure out the physics involved in getting my body to move in the right direction.

I may not ever master the T2B, but you can't say I haven't tried!