Two semi-depressing notes before getting into tonight's blog post:
1) I forgot to post my time from Wednesday night's workout. It was 25:10. Most folks finished the workout in the 17-22 minute range.
2) Rich Froning, Matthew Fraser, Jason Khalipa, Josh Bridges, Scott Panchik, Ben Smith, Dan Bailey, Chris Spealler, and Lucas Parker beat me in last year's Open. Just those 9 guys. Oh wait...so did 65,000 other guys (ouch).
What made me look up the fact that I finished in 65,010th place among the men who did the Open last year? An inspirational article from a guy who didn't finish that far behind me and whose experience I can definitely relate to! If you haven't signed up for this year's Open and this article doesn't inspire you to, then nothing is going to work. Here's the link: http://games.crossfit.com/article/what-am-i-doing-here
Okay, time to get positive again. Tonight's WOD was "Samson". Well technically it is called "Rope Smuggler", but I think it should be renamed. Ryan Samson loves him some overhead squats and he loves him some rope climbs. When I read the workout, I imagined him sitting in front of his computer saying "What is this 4 minute rest between rounds crap? I'm going to do wall ascents during the breaks!" If there ever was a workout designed for him, this was it.
Now to be fair, I was also kind of giddy about the workout as these have become two of my favorite movements. But the combination of the two meant that I would have to wear normal sneakers for the workout, as lifting shoes do not mix well with the rope. And my overhead squats are not nearly as strong without my lifting shoes. I tend to get off balance and then I start meandering around the room. But counterbalancing that concern was the plan that I had come up with for the evening. And when it comes to my Crossfit plans, well...
(Note: not only does that not make any sense, it is also grossly inaccurate)
My Crossfit plans have become a bit like playing golf. You go and it seems like nothing is working, but then you get to the 16th hole and you hit a shot that stops about 5 feet from the hole and all of a sudden you say "I can do this!" I'm not sure what hole I'm on at the Crossfit Country Club, but we ain't reached the 16th hole yet, because none of my plans have worked. Tonight was the latest shank into the trees.
The workout itself was 4 rounds of a 4 minute AMRAP of 20 overhead squats (115/75) and 4 rope climbs (15'). After seeing earlier scores, I figured I would go with 95 pounds, as the RX scores indicated that people were never getting back to the overheads in a round. It seemed like a workout where you had to push through those rope climbs and get some cheap quick reps on the overhead squats before time was called. In between each round, there was a 4 minute rest. Was that the biggest flashing neon sign ever that I was about to have my ass handed to me? Yup! Did that give me any pause prior to the workout? Of course not.
I consulted with Coach Keith and he advocated using 95 pounds as well. My plan was to do big sets of the overheads, but instead of dropping the bar when I got tired, I would rest it on my back. Why did that seem like a good idea to me? Because putting the bar down leads to me walking away from the bar, before going into a squat to catch my breath, and then I start trying to remember the words to Bohemian Rhapsody and...oops, 30 seconds have ticked off the clock. This would force me to get active again and get to that rope as soon as possible. Not the worst logic, but like all my previous plans, it fell apart rather quickly.
First round was not so bad. I strung all 20 overheads, did pretty well in terms of staying active on the rope, was a bit winded for the second set of overheads, but got 15 done for a score of 39. Needed that 4 minute rest, but still felt like things were going the way I hoped. Stringing all 20 wasn't going to work for round two, so time to test out that fancy plan of mine. I did 10 overheads and then placed the bar on my back. When it was time to go again, I pressed it up and did 5 more, then another break, then the last 5. As I was finishing the last 5, I heard Cline tell me that I needed to lock my arm out. That's weird...
I got through the rope climbs again, and made it back to my bar in time to do 5 more overheads for a total of 29 in round 2. 68 after 2 rounds wasn't bad. The extreme feeling of nausea I was experiencing, however, was bad. I seriously considered going straight to the bathroom in case I needed to throw up. After all, I had 4 minutes to relieve myself of my ailment. I decided to sit down, drink a swig of water, and focus on my breathing. As I watched the group that was going while I rested, I saw them do rope climbs and felt nauseous again. The key to getting up that rope quickly is to draw your knees as high as possible on each pull, resulting in a mid-air crunch. My body wanted no part of that.
For round 3, I wanted to be as controlled as possible. It wasn't about score now, it was about not puking on the class from 15 feet above them. I broke up the overheads into 4 sets of 5, but Keith was now telling me that my arm was not locked out. Apparently, as I was push pressing from my rest spot back up to the overhead position, one of my arms was not fully extending, causing me to look incredibly awkward as I tried to overhead squat. Then on the 20th rep, I tweaked my wrist. My body was falling apart on me. I got to the rope, but I could only manage 2 very slow climbs, ending the round with a score of 22.
During the third round, Keith asked Paul what I could do to fix my arm extension issue and Paul had said to bring my right hand in closer when I gripped the bar. I was also done with my masterful "resting the bar on my back" plan. So for the final round, I used a closer grip on my right side and dropped the bar between sets.
With a bit of a breather in round 3, I was ready to make one last push for round 4. Except I was so caught up in watching the other group climb ropes, I almost missed the start of the round. Luckily Samson yelled over to wake me from my trance and I got going on time. In the final round, I did 8 reps, then 7, then 5, leaving me a smidge over 2 minutes to do the rope climbs. I really wanted to get back for some last second overheads. The first rope climb was slow, but decent. As I made my way on my second climb though, I felt my right calf clench up into a ball. Not good. I hate calf cramps about as much as anything, but climbing the rope with it was a whole new level of suck. Essentially left with only my arms, I completed that climb, but when I came back down, there was less than a minute remaining.
When Keith said "45 seconds", I jumped up and started to climb, but there is a reason I don't do legless rope climbs. I got a few pulls in, but then slid back down. With 15 seconds left, I figured I could suck it up one more time, and tried to get a 3rd rope climb. I shimmied up the rope slowly again, but I was able to tap the 15 foot mark before time expired. Final round score of 23, total score of 113.
I tried to do my best Samson impression tonight, but as the story goes, a Samson without hair becomes powerless. He also may have been on the Zone diet. It's been a while since I've read the Bible.
In conclusion, you should always be focused on the 4 points of performance:
1) Giggling
2) Knees Over Toes
3) Something About Your Lumbar
4) Ass Below Your Knees
Nutrition Challenge ends tomorrow, along with a baseline to see how far we've come! Until then...
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