The workout on Friday wasn't intended to be my last one before heading to Vegas for a week, but Winter Storm Jonas blew into town, closing the gym on Saturday and Sunday. I toyed with the idea of making it into the gym early on Monday, but I was too preoccupied with making sure I had everything ready for my trip. I didn't want to show up to the NHC and realize that I had forgotten something that I needed. So this would be my swan song before Vegas and it turned out to be a pretty fun WOD (yes, I actually read the details of the workout correctly this time). Here's what was on the program:
5 rounds:
250 meter row
30 double unders
10 DB snatches (75/55)
1 rope climb (20')
A couple of quick notes:
- I'm a sucker for rope climbs. Going to the ceiling and hitting the 20' mark? Even better!
- I'm a fan of DB snatches. 50 of them seemed like a lot though, so I was concerned about how heavy I should go for this workout, but I enjoyed seeing them in this workout.
- I got my new jump rope in the mail about an hour before going to the gym. I was able to adjust it to the proper size and do a quick set of 10 double unders before hopping in the car and coming to KOP. But I was a little concerned about how smoothly I'd get through 150 double unders with a rope I wasn't used to.
Since this workout was going to require a lot of moving around, I wanted to make sure I avoided the "New Year, New You" class that was going to be happening at 6:30. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea and showed up to the 5:30 class. Great minds, I suppose. 13 of us showed up for a workout where there were only going to be 5 ropes available. Setting up 13 rowers side by side took up a ton of space. We needed space for our double unders so that we weren't whipping our rowers or each other. And then we needed an area to put down our heavy DBs. Some of the lifters for Open Strength had arrived early, so they were using gym space as well. It was very tight quarters for this workout.
I took up residence down near the front of the gym. There was only one rope on that end, so if I got to it and someone was already on it, I'd have to wait my turn or run down to the other end where there were four ropes (although with the large class, there was no guarantee of a free rope on that end either). I had Steph C on my right along with Christine and Silver Fox on my direct left, with Justin R and Olan a little further down. The six of us would be the most likely to use the solitary rope near the front of the gym. Justin, Silver Fox, and I tried out the 75 pound DB, but it was a bit too much for Silver Fox and I, so we decided to scale that part of the workout. We all tried to find a little bit of space for double unders (I kept hitting my rower during warmups, but I couldn't move up very much from where I was). And from there we were ready to go.
There was no point in rushing through the row despite it only being 250 meters. I was off in under a minute and went to my jump rope. I took a deep breath, telling myself that if I remained calm, I could get through these 30 reps quickly. My hope was to string all 30 reps, but that wouldn't happen in any of the 5 rounds. Instead, I got sets of about 8-10 reps, trying to keep my jumping under control so that I didn't tire out. This workout was going to take over 20 minutes and I couldn't afford to fatigue myself during the double unders. After about 4 sets, I finished up the 30 reps and it was on to the DB snatches.
I had tried 55 pounds in the warmup and that didn't feel quite heavy enough for the workout. And 75 pounds felt like too much. So I split the difference and used a 65 pound DB. I was able to do 3 snatches on each arm before needing a break. Then I did the final 2 reps on each arm. I was ready to climb the rope. Only there was no vacancy on the rope. Silver Fox had gotten to the rope first. He looked like he was moving up the rope fairly quickly, so I decided to wait on him rather than jog to the other end in hopes for an open rope down there. When he came back down, I jumped on the rope, scurried up it as quick as I could and made my way back to the rower. One round in and I saw a problem already. If I didn't move quicker, I could be waiting on Silver Fox at the end of all five rounds. I needed to pick up the pace.
The row wasn't the place to do it. Silver Fox was a faster rower than I was. Plus the row seemed like the optimal place in the workout to get your breath under control again. And I was pretty sure that I would be slower than Silver Fox on the DB snatches. I would need to make up time on the double unders. As soon as I completed the row, I ran over to my rope and got started. Once again, the sets were in the 8-10 rep range, but I didn't take any breaks in between the sets. If I messed up, I straightened out the rope and moved right into the next set. I completed my 30 reps and moved over to my DB. As I did in round one, I did a set of 6, paused, then completed the final 4 reps. I turned to the rope and saw Silver Fox beginning his climb. Crap. I was two for two in getting to the rope too late. I looked down at the other end of the gym and saw two free ropes. I began to jog down there when two people at that end finished up their snatches and grabbed the free ropes. I have such wonderful timing. I turned back around and came back to the rope on our end just as Silver Fox was coming off of the rope. I did my climb to the ceiling and hurried back down to the floor.
Round three was not all that different from round two. Silver Fox was done with the row first, I caught up on the double unders, and he edged back in front of me on the DB snatches. He was at the rope first, but this time I showed no hesitation in running down to the other end. We were more than halfway through the workout and there was now some separation as far as where various people were in the workout. Several ropes were free when I got to the far end. I jumped on a rope, climbed quickly, tapped the ceiling and came back down. I had to run back down to my rower, but I was starting round four closer to Silver Fox than I had the previous two rounds.
Unfortunately I didn't make up enough time. If I could have strung together one set of 30 double unders, I would have been golden, but my routine seemed to stay the same for every round. Jess C helped me out by moving back from where she had been working out for strength, allowing me to use a larger diagonal space for my double unders. The double unders weren't tiring me out, but I wasn't stringing enough of them together. What was tiring me out? The DB snatches. They had definitely become heavy. It would have been nice if I could get all 10 without stopping, but I couldn't handle it. When I finished my 10th DB snatch, I turned to the rope and saw a familiar sight. Silver Fox had his hand on the rope, but had not yet begun climbing. I guess I had made up a few seconds that round. I ran to the other end, jumped on a rope, and tried my best to make up ground on the rope climb. I got back to the floor before Silver Fox did. But because I needed to run back down to the other end, Silver Fox got to his rower right as I did. I had one last chance to make it to the rope on the near end first.
Since it was my last round, I put a little more urgency into the 250 meter row. Silver Fox was done before me again, but I was right behind him. I needed a good round of double unders. I'm not sure whether it took me 3 sets or 4 sets, but I made sure not to take any sort of break whenever I had to start over again. I got to my DB and took a peek over to see if Silver Fox was at his. He was not. Gotta move! I did my first 6 reps before seeing Silver Fox grab his DB. I needed a break, but I was expecting Silver Fox to do all 10 of his snatches without stopping. This break would need to be short. I picked up the DB and knocked out the final 4 reps. It took 5 rounds, but I was finally going to get to use the closer rope without waiting. Hallelujah! I was excited about being able to find more at the end of a workout, as this has typically been something I have struggled with. I climbed up the rope, slapped the 20 foot mark, and slid my way back down. Final time: 21:26.
Afterwards I was talking with Silver Fox about how I had been trying to get to the rope first over and over again. He remarked that he saw me while I was doing my double unders and that I looked like I had really improved on them. It struck me as strange when he said this since my biggest set in the entire workout couldn't have been more than 15 reps. But then I ran into Jim C and he told me that my double unders looked so much better. Perhaps I had become so fixated on doing huge sets that I lost track of the fact that all of the work I had done on doing more efficient double unders was finally paying off.
There were a lot of good vibes from my last pre-Vegas workout. Could I bring those vibes with me to Sin City and take home $800,000?
Post-Vegas preview: Apparently vibes don't play in Las Vegas. And seven days is way too long to be there. After way too little sleep and way too much alcohol, I return home with zero winnings. Sounds like the perfect time to do Fight Gone Bad.
There was no point in rushing through the row despite it only being 250 meters. I was off in under a minute and went to my jump rope. I took a deep breath, telling myself that if I remained calm, I could get through these 30 reps quickly. My hope was to string all 30 reps, but that wouldn't happen in any of the 5 rounds. Instead, I got sets of about 8-10 reps, trying to keep my jumping under control so that I didn't tire out. This workout was going to take over 20 minutes and I couldn't afford to fatigue myself during the double unders. After about 4 sets, I finished up the 30 reps and it was on to the DB snatches.
I had tried 55 pounds in the warmup and that didn't feel quite heavy enough for the workout. And 75 pounds felt like too much. So I split the difference and used a 65 pound DB. I was able to do 3 snatches on each arm before needing a break. Then I did the final 2 reps on each arm. I was ready to climb the rope. Only there was no vacancy on the rope. Silver Fox had gotten to the rope first. He looked like he was moving up the rope fairly quickly, so I decided to wait on him rather than jog to the other end in hopes for an open rope down there. When he came back down, I jumped on the rope, scurried up it as quick as I could and made my way back to the rower. One round in and I saw a problem already. If I didn't move quicker, I could be waiting on Silver Fox at the end of all five rounds. I needed to pick up the pace.
The row wasn't the place to do it. Silver Fox was a faster rower than I was. Plus the row seemed like the optimal place in the workout to get your breath under control again. And I was pretty sure that I would be slower than Silver Fox on the DB snatches. I would need to make up time on the double unders. As soon as I completed the row, I ran over to my rope and got started. Once again, the sets were in the 8-10 rep range, but I didn't take any breaks in between the sets. If I messed up, I straightened out the rope and moved right into the next set. I completed my 30 reps and moved over to my DB. As I did in round one, I did a set of 6, paused, then completed the final 4 reps. I turned to the rope and saw Silver Fox beginning his climb. Crap. I was two for two in getting to the rope too late. I looked down at the other end of the gym and saw two free ropes. I began to jog down there when two people at that end finished up their snatches and grabbed the free ropes. I have such wonderful timing. I turned back around and came back to the rope on our end just as Silver Fox was coming off of the rope. I did my climb to the ceiling and hurried back down to the floor.
Round three was not all that different from round two. Silver Fox was done with the row first, I caught up on the double unders, and he edged back in front of me on the DB snatches. He was at the rope first, but this time I showed no hesitation in running down to the other end. We were more than halfway through the workout and there was now some separation as far as where various people were in the workout. Several ropes were free when I got to the far end. I jumped on a rope, climbed quickly, tapped the ceiling and came back down. I had to run back down to my rower, but I was starting round four closer to Silver Fox than I had the previous two rounds.
Unfortunately I didn't make up enough time. If I could have strung together one set of 30 double unders, I would have been golden, but my routine seemed to stay the same for every round. Jess C helped me out by moving back from where she had been working out for strength, allowing me to use a larger diagonal space for my double unders. The double unders weren't tiring me out, but I wasn't stringing enough of them together. What was tiring me out? The DB snatches. They had definitely become heavy. It would have been nice if I could get all 10 without stopping, but I couldn't handle it. When I finished my 10th DB snatch, I turned to the rope and saw a familiar sight. Silver Fox had his hand on the rope, but had not yet begun climbing. I guess I had made up a few seconds that round. I ran to the other end, jumped on a rope, and tried my best to make up ground on the rope climb. I got back to the floor before Silver Fox did. But because I needed to run back down to the other end, Silver Fox got to his rower right as I did. I had one last chance to make it to the rope on the near end first.
Since it was my last round, I put a little more urgency into the 250 meter row. Silver Fox was done before me again, but I was right behind him. I needed a good round of double unders. I'm not sure whether it took me 3 sets or 4 sets, but I made sure not to take any sort of break whenever I had to start over again. I got to my DB and took a peek over to see if Silver Fox was at his. He was not. Gotta move! I did my first 6 reps before seeing Silver Fox grab his DB. I needed a break, but I was expecting Silver Fox to do all 10 of his snatches without stopping. This break would need to be short. I picked up the DB and knocked out the final 4 reps. It took 5 rounds, but I was finally going to get to use the closer rope without waiting. Hallelujah! I was excited about being able to find more at the end of a workout, as this has typically been something I have struggled with. I climbed up the rope, slapped the 20 foot mark, and slid my way back down. Final time: 21:26.
Afterwards I was talking with Silver Fox about how I had been trying to get to the rope first over and over again. He remarked that he saw me while I was doing my double unders and that I looked like I had really improved on them. It struck me as strange when he said this since my biggest set in the entire workout couldn't have been more than 15 reps. But then I ran into Jim C and he told me that my double unders looked so much better. Perhaps I had become so fixated on doing huge sets that I lost track of the fact that all of the work I had done on doing more efficient double unders was finally paying off.
There were a lot of good vibes from my last pre-Vegas workout. Could I bring those vibes with me to Sin City and take home $800,000?
Post-Vegas preview: Apparently vibes don't play in Las Vegas. And seven days is way too long to be there. After way too little sleep and way too much alcohol, I return home with zero winnings. Sounds like the perfect time to do Fight Gone Bad.
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