42-30-18

Workout date: 7/9/15

But only if she's 5'3"!

(On second thought, those seem like really unhealthy measurements for a lady.  Shame on you, Sir Mix-A-Lot!  <ring-a-ling>  SHAME!)

While partaking in some adult beverages with Cline, Jim and Jess C., Leslie, and Flounder (sorry Jim, I guess that did end up on the blog), I waited to see what I would be doing the next morning.  At 9:59, Jim and I had our phones out, ready for the clock to strike 10 so that we could hit refresh and find out what was on Friday's menu.  Jim's phone refreshed first and his response was "hmmm...that's an interesting rep scheme".  Then the WOD showed up on my screen and I greeted it with semi-maniacal laughter.

The WOD I would be doing at 6am was Fight Gone Bad, except in a 42-30-18 rep scheme format.  To review what Fight Gone Bad entails, it is:

Wall Balls
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (75/55)
Box Jumps (20")
Push Press (75/55)
Rowing (calories)

In normal Fight Gone Bad, you go from one station to the next after spending a minute at each one.  After hitting all five stations, you get a minute rest.  There are three rounds total, meaning 15 minutes of work.  My highest score ever was 256 I believe, but I got to start with push press that day, the easiest of the movements for me.  Since this was 450 reps total, I was basically taking on two helpings of FGB.  What a great way to start the morning!

We got our lanes set up and did some warmup, but this thing was going to take forever, so it wasn't long before we got going.  Since FGB is 15 minutes of work (with 2 minutes of break) and this was about double the amount of work I would do in that workout, I figured 35 minutes was a reasonable time to shoot for.  But I wasn't overly optimistic as I had gotten little sleep and my legs were sore from yesterday's 5K.

Here's a recap of what I can remember from the workout.  Part of what we discussed over curmudgeon-y ales was my ability to recall rep counts and times from various points in the WOD when I write this blog.  This skill (if you want to call it that) has started to decline over time.  Today was a good example of that as you will soon see:

Round 1 (42 reps):
Wall Balls:  Was thinking 3 sets of 14 would be good, but I also hate breaking up sets evenly.  I'd rather do something like 16-14-12.  Got ambitious and did 19 reps before dropping.  Then did 11, leaving 12 to go.  Oops.  Finished the last 12 by doing two sets of 6.
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls:  These things are just really funky to do.  Keeping it level was more of a challenge than the weight.  I was slow during this round as I was the last one to make it to the box jumps.
Box Jumps:  You would think that training on a 24" box would make 20" box jumps super easy, right?  Yes and no.  I was not nearly as worried about tripping on the box when I jumped, but as I mentioned at the beginning, my legs were still fried.  I did manage to catch up to the group though, even passing a couple people on the way to the Push Press.
Push Press:  Finally!  You know the drill by now: it was hot, I was really sweaty, blah, blah, blah.  But I had to have enough energy to knock out some light push presses.  More than anything, this was mental.  I didn't want to do more than 2 sets, so I kept going and going as long as I could.  Did 26 reps in my first set, 16 in my second set.  Time to row!
Row:  Now I was only behind Shane, but he rows in his sleep, so I was about to lose some more time.  I tried to row at a steady but strong pace and got throw 42 calories in about 3 minutes. 

When I got off the rower, we had just eclipsed 14 minutes.  I was on about a 30 minute pace for the workout.  Seemed really good to me, although I was well aware that it was unlikely I'd maintain the same pace the rest of the way.  I took a swig of water and headed back to the wall.

Round 2 (30 reps):
Wall Balls:  Second round in a row where I did an extra set.  Wanted to finish this in 3 sets, but wound up doing 7-7-7-9.  Moving okay, but headed to the part of the workout I like least.
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls:  I know I was supposed to be popping my hip strongly to move the bar, but if I wanted to string a bunch of these, I needed control.  That meant doing them slow and using a lot of arms.  I did have a couple larger sets, but I couldn't tell you how many I did each time.
Box Jumps:  Even in this round, I knew my legs were shot because I could barely muster the small explosion it takes to jump on the 20" box.  Tried to do 3-4 at a time, but it was slow going.  Shane had opened up a larger lead again.
Push Press:  Pick up the bar, do 18 reps, drop the bar, pick up the bar, do 12 reps, drop the bar.  If only everything in life could be that simple!
Row: Shane was walking to his rower when I picked up my bar to do the last 12 push presses.  I ripped through them quickly and then marched to my rower.  Shane was taking a brief water break, so I actually started this part in the lead!  Not for long though.  Shane got off the rower pretty quickly as I struggled to get to 30 calories while getting my wind back.

After 2 rounds, I was under 25 minutes.  I have 35 minutes easy, right?

Round 3 (18 reps):
Wall Balls:  I wanted a big set to lead things off and I got 10.  But it took a lot out of me.  I couldn't handle the last 8 in a row, needing to break those in half.
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls:  Picked it up for my first rep and only the right side of the bar came up.  I tried to adjust by pulling the left side higher but that didn't turn out well.  I dropped the bar and needed to start over.  (Note: this is a very common problem for me while doing this movement.  Especially when tapping the weight off the floor.  Once the bar is no longer level, it turns into a mess.)  I went back to doing them slow and using mostly arms to keep going, but these took a while to get through.
Box Jumps:  The worst part of the workout.  No legs left.  Tried to do sets of 2-3, but couldn't manage more than that without stopping.  So sad.  The only thing that would have been sadder is if I didn't leap high enough and tripped over the box.  Thankfully that did not happen.
Push Press:  Please!  All 18.  There's no doubt that was happening.
Row:  Shane had finished right before I got on my rower, so he came over to yell encouragement and to correct my form on the rower.  And it was good advice.  I thought I was using legs than arms when pulling back, but Shane was clear that I wasn't extending my legs fully before pulling with my arms.  When I focused on doing that properly, I began getting more force on the pulls, helping me finish quicker.  I used the little energy I had left and finished the row at 34:44.

That last round could have been better, but overall I was pleased with my time.  If I hadn't done the 5K the night before, I think my legs would have been fresher and I wouldn't have spent nearly as much time on the box jumps.  Then again, maybe my time was not so great.  I stuck around to watch the 7am class and saw Laura P just destroy this workout, completing it in 24:05.  Pete finished in 28:10 and Jeff B. finished in 30:35.  Not sure I can blame the previous night's 5K for 4+ minutes of the time I spent doing this workout.

No Competitors Class on Saturday!  That's because I plan on doing some crazy workout on Sunday.  It's only 5 minutes long, but it features Grace and bar facing burpees.  We'll see how that goes!