What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

Workout date: 1/28/15

So here is what didn't happen in Vegas: me exercising, me eating well, me winning the National Handicapping Championship, me winning $800,000, and me blogging.  Good, now we're caught up!

The NHC was a great experience once again, but this was not my year.  And with handicapping taking up 14-16 hours each day, there wasn't much time for anything else.  With that being said, I wasn't expecting things to go well tonight, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised.  Perhaps the biggest upset of the evening was that I didn't begin sweating profusely until we were a few minutes into the cash out.  Usually I can't get through the warmup without needing some paper towels.

Tonight's WOD began with finding a 3 rep max for shoulder press.  Shoulder press might be my least favorite lift at the gym.  It kinda reminds me of soccer.  Why can't you use your hands?  It's like they are intentionally making it much more difficult than it needs to be.  Same deal with the shoulder press.  I can't bend my knees?  Come on!  I can put up much more weight with just a little knee bend. Why am I rigidly standing there pressing weight over my head?

Of course, I do get why the shoulder press is done and what the benefits are, but when you start to struggle on the shoulder press, your mind can't help but think "bend your knees, stupid!"  So the combination of a lift I don't enjoy along with not having exercised in a week seemed ominous.  The 6 of us in the 7:30 class ended up breaking up into two groups of three, with Rachel, Eric, and I as one group.  We were supposed to do 5 sets and my goal was to get to 135.  I started off at 65 and that felt pretty easy, as did my next set at 85.  105 wasn't too bad, but I did start to have doubts as to whether my next jump to 125 was a wise one.  It turned out to be a good plan, as the second to last set should be at least a bit of a struggle.  The first two reps were fine and the third had a slight hitch, but I pressed it out and got ready for 135.  After Rachel and Eric had done their final set, I loaded up the bar and tried not to think about the number.  Sometimes I think I just psyche myself out when I get to a certain weight and 135 was that number for the press.  I remember how difficult it was for me during my first year to get to a point where I could press that bar up once with the 45 pound plates.  And honestly, I haven't gotten far beyond that as my 1 rep max is still 145.  But if I could put up 135 three times tonight, then maybe it would be time to revisit 150 for one rep.

I grabbed the bar and held it at my shoulders.  Surprisingly, it didn't feel super heavy, probably because I've gotten used to holding heavier weights like that when doing front squats.  The first two reps required some heavy breathing, but they were fairly smooth.  That last rep though...well that was not smooth at all.  I began pressing it up and tried to keep a tight core, but then I started to arch my back a bit and one side of the bar was raising a little faster than the other.  I kept pushing though, confident I could fight it up.  Despite the poor form, the bar kept moving upwards and I was able to fully press it out.  A 3 rep shoulder press at 135 was a very good result for me.

The cash out consisted of a 500 meter row, followed by 50 wall balls, and then another 500 meter row.  This would be a sprint, and since Rachel was sitting next to me, I couldn't help but try my best to finish the workout before her.  She's a really good athlete and there are very few workouts where I feel I can keep up with her, but this seemed like something I would have a chance at.  I also had a goal of staying under 7 minutes for the cash out.  We got going and I tried to row at a solid pace while maintaining a fairly calm breathing pattern.  I did not want to go nuts on the rower just to save a few seconds, only to fall apart on the wall balls.  The first 250M was at a 1:40 split, but the second 250M was at more of a 1:50 split.  I got off the rower around the 1:45 mark, but as I made my way over to the wall, Rachel was getting off her rower.  I thought I could do a couple of really large sets of wall balls, but it turned out that the shoulder press had taken its toll on my shoulders.  More than anything, I didn't want to keep my arms up.  I probably should have shaken them more between reps.  I quickly realized I'd have to break up the reps into smaller sets.  Even worse, I managed to throw the ball too low on 2 reps, meaning I was going to have throw that ball 52 times.  After an initial set of 12, I started doing sets of 5 and 6 before dropping, but I was quick about starting again since my lungs weren't killing me at that point.  After doing 33 reps, I managed to dig down and do a set of 9.  With 8 reps left, there was no way I was putting that ball down until I hit 50.

After tossing the ball for the 50th time to the 10 foot mark, I turned and ran back to the rower.  Rachel was still on the wall balls, but I doubted it would be for long.  I had a little trouble getting my feet into the straps, but then I started pulling as hard as I could.  Sure enough, I had company very soon.  I wasn't 50 meters in when Rachel sat on her rower, but she seemed to have some trouble strapping in as well.  Now sweating and breathing like crazy, I kept telling myself that I was less than 2 minutes from being done.  I tried to focus not on going fast, but making nice big pulls.  I could sort of see how far I'd gone, but really I was just concentrating on big pulls.  Before I knew it, the display said 400 meters and I knew it was time to give it all I had left.  12 quick solid pulls and I'd be done.  I counted them down in my head as I tried to finish as fast as possible.  At last, I hit 500M and gasped "Time!"  I had finished before Rachel, although she was done soon after.  My final time was 6:51.  I had hit all three of my goals for the night.  I was sore, but very, very happy!

Tomorrow's workout looks like a boatload of power cleans and pistols.  I do love me some pistols!  Hoping to make the 5:30.