Striped Socks

Workout date: 2/3/15

I was very eager to get back to the gym tonight, especially since it was a workout that would not be especially hard on my calves.  Tonight's WOD consisted of different varieties of rope climbing techniques, followed by a 5,000 meter tag team row.  Getting to the gym about 10 minutes early (miracles do happen!), I got to witness the tail end of the 6:30 class and their partner row.  Seemed unpleasant.  It was definitely nice to be back.

As much as I enjoy my goofy Crossfit t-shirt collection, I still need to step it up when it comes to my sock game.  Fayth had on some fancy socks for rope climbs in the 6:30 class and Michal was sporting some snazzy ones for our 7:30 class.  I had some boring white ones on that would soon be graced with a fresh stripe from the rope climbs.  I thought about wearing these new dress socks that I got that say BEER down the side, but it seemed a shame to ruin them tonight.  Gotta make sure I have laundry done for future rope climb classes.  The plain white socks just don't cut it.

There were 5 options for climbing the rope: the S hook, the J hook, legless, L-sit, and for the truly crazy, the Donkey Kong.  I had been stuck on the S hook for a long time, but once the J hook finally clicked, I haven't looked back.  I usually start each climb with a solid jump, so that my top hand is somewhere in the 8-9 foot range before I've even begun the true climbing.  So for the 15 foot mark, that is only a 6-7 foot climb, which isn't so bad.

The legless, L-sit, and Donkey Kong options all involve pulling yourself up with only your arms.  For those unfamiliar, legless is just what it sounds like, L-sit is legless while holding your body in an L-shape (serious abs needed), and Donkey Kong involves holding two different ropes with one hand each and pulling yourself up that way.  Based on my pull-up travails, I didn't have a ton of faith that I could get up the rope without my legs.  Thought about trying legless a couple of times, then chickened out.  I'm a mental case.

(Quick pull-up update: after a few days off, I jumped on the bar and did 3 strict pull-ups.  The bar was really slimy for some reason and I lost my grip.  My current PR, set when I was 25 pounds lighter, is 4 strict pull-ups.  I smell a new PR soon...)

To compensate for my lack of a spine, I decided to go up to the 20 foot mark during my climbs.  I've gotten a bit more efficient with my rope climbs, and I've definitely become more stable on the rope, allowing me to get up the rope fairly quickly, but not in a panic that I'm going to run out of energy or <gasp> fall.  I went up to the ceiling 4 times and decided that was enough.  Perhaps if I find my testicles, I'll try something new next time.

The 7:30 class consisted of me, Michal, Rachel, and Olan, so it was very obvious who the partners would be for the row.  Olan is a strong guy, so I was gonna be hard pressed to keep up the team pace on the row.  Not only that, it soon became clear that I would be competing against Rachel, as we both went second on the row.  Also, Michal and Coach Keith became super vocal any time that Rachel's split time was lower than mine.  There's just no winning.

Actually, to be fair, Keith gave me a tip tonight that I had not thought about while rowing which helped me significantly.  See I have a bad habit of believing in magic at the gym.  Like at the first Open workout last year, I thought I would magically start stringing double unders.  When I snatch, I don't pull enough, assuming that the bar will magically float above my head.  And when I row, I simply expect the handle to magically pull itself back to the starting point after I have made my pull.  When Keith told me to throw my hands toward the flywheel, it was yet another eureka moment.  (Which honestly should be happening less and less after 2 years, but apparently my learning curve is a horizontal line.)  One small adjustment and my split time started decreasing immediately.  Good stuff!

Olan and I worked pretty well together, although having different sized feet, we ended up losing quite a bit of time fixing the foot straps while transitioning.  Still, I thought our final time of 21:18 was solid and we were both wiped out at the end of the row.

One last thing!  Today (well it was today when I started writing this) is Derreck's birthday.  Derreck is probably the most determined guy I know at the gym.  He was feeling that same pain that I was on Saturday with Badger, but he still finished the workout RX, not with 17 bands hanging off of him like I needed.  If they did a bald remake of the movie Twins, Derreck would be the bald Arnold Schwarzenegger while I would be the bald Danny...I would be Danny DeVito.  Anyway, I hadn't mentioned him in the blog yet for some reason, so let me fix that oversight by wishing Derreck a happy 37th!