15.2 was indeed a repeat of 14.2. It was the same exact workout, and I had the same exact reaction to it, both before and after doing it. Last year, the chest-to-bar pull-up was not even close to being part of my arsenal, but some quick tips before the workout helped me get 8 when my goal was to simply get 1. And was I happy afterwards? Of course not. Once you realize that you can do something, your goals change on the fly. I was 2 lousy chest-to-bar pull-ups away from getting back to the barbell for some easy overhead squats. How could I fall short when I was that close?
As I mentioned in my last blog post, my goal this year was 30. Did I make it to 30? Sure did. Was I happy with the result? Not really. As you will soon see, a lot of the other folks in the gym made drastic improvements in this workout, which left me feeling like I wasn't even deserving of my "adequate" label anymore. What it really comes down to is that fact that I am the gym's worst kipper, and until that changes, I will continue to lag behind a lot of people in the gym.
What is kipping? Not only can I not do it, I may not even be able to explain it properly. But I'll give it a shot. Kipping is generating momentum with your body so that it makes body-weight movements easier to do. Think of a child on a swing set. They need that initial push to get going. But once they get going, they can use their legs and shift their body forward and backward to swing higher and higher. Same principle here. Except in this example, I am the awkward kid who needs a push every 5 seconds.
Because of work running long and 15.2 being a workout that can end quickly, I ended up missing most of the heats at the gym Friday afternoon. I got to see the scores though. Justin had improved from 38 last year to 62 this year. Flounder had gone from 36 last year to 59 this year. As I set my bag down, only one person was still going in the heat and that was Aimee. She had made it to the round of 16, which meant she had 144 reps already. When her last three minutes expired, she had jumped from 134 all the way up to 193. 30 wasn't sounding so hot now.
I signed up for the final heat and got to switch roles with Rachel from the first workout. Last week, she got to see me go in the heat before her. This time I would get to see how she did. And naturally, she destroyed it. I beat her in this workout 18-10 last year. Guess who got really good at chest-to-bar pull-ups in the meantime? (Spoiler: that person is not the author of this blog) When her six minutes ended, she had octupled her score, meaning this week's workout was over before it began for me. Even if I reached my goal, I was 50 reps behind.
It didn't matter. I was there to support Team Orange, donning my orange headband to go along with my spray painted orange goatee, my orange shorts, and my orange underwear. (Hey, there were orange underwear pictures taken last week. I made sure I was prepared this week.) Making things better, I had Derreck as my judge, so the bald vibes were strong before the workout even began. When things kicked off, I snatched my 95 pound bar and proceeded to fly through 10 overhead squats. Only 20 seconds had elapsed when I got to the bar. Time to get 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups.
There are a variety of reasons why I fail in the gym. Overthinking things ranks near the top. Before my heat, I practiced with fellow Orange team members Dana and Giulia (both of whom are great at kipping) so that I could get these dreaded 10 reps done. They showed me good technique. I did not replicate it at all. I had a few successful reps, trying to swing my legs further back to make my kip more powerful. But I never completed the most important part of the kip, the part that generates the power and sends your hips skyward. As a result, I was doing a lot of awkward, nearly strict pull-ups. Sometimes my chest hit the bar, sometimes it did not. And when it did not, I panicked. I started trying to think of new ways to get successful reps. At one point, I swung up, did not get my chest high enough, moved my right hand over while hanging there, and then pulled my chest to the bar. Maybe the worst technique ever. But I got a rep! (Yay?)
As time ticked away, I was getting very concerned that I wouldn't get beyond 8 again. Successful rep #9 was a mental relief. And when I got 10, I scrambled over to my bar, shoving Derreck out of the way so I could get to my beloved overhead squats. I had about 30 seconds left, but I was pumped. Slightly angry, but pumped. Here's proof:
I was so amped up that I actually jumped during two of my overhead squats. Did I mention that I was pissed that this will be the only opportunity to do overhead squats in the Open? Such a waste...
As I finished the 10th overhead, I saw that I had about 5 seconds left. I ran over to try and awkwardly do one last chest-to-bar, but we had crossed the line of decent form long ago. My last attempt was unsuccessful and I ended up with exactly 30 reps.
I should mention some other scores as well. Cate (Team Orange!) put up 131 reps as she continues her quest to finish in the top 200 worldwide in her Masters division for the second straight year. Michal scrambled like crazy at the end of the first round to get her last few chest-to-bar reps in, but she made it by a few seconds, earning her three more minutes on her way to a score of 59. Jill C. had 1 chest-to-bar prior to the workout, then cranked out 5 during the workout. And Shawna got her first ever chest-to-bar during 15.2. I love that stuff. It's the reason why the Open is my favorite event of the year.
Should I be satisfied with my score of 30? Maybe. I'm never satisfied. I always think I should be doing better. I don't know if I can fix my kipping issues before 8pm on Monday, but if I could get them straightened out, there is a real chance I could make round 2. And if I made round 2 and could manage 12 chest-to-bars during those 3 minutes, I'd have a real shot at a score of 76. So I will be working on my kip at Open Gym in the hopes that I can score even higher. Because let's face it, 76 sounds a hell of a lot better than 30.
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