Can't Stand The Heat

Workout date: 6/2/16

I mentioned that last Thursday I had the crazy idea of going in for the noon express class so that I could take that before heading to the track later in the afternoon for Endurance class.  I had that crazy idea again seven days later.  Why was I so dead set on punishing myself in this way?  Well, it's no secret that I struggle in the heat.  And my only solution for getting better at something is to practice it more.  If I wanted to stop wilting in the heat, I needed to be exposed to it when it was beating down on everyone in the middle of the day.  Then I needed to be out in it again when I was doing some serious cardio work.

That was the plan.  By now you know that the failure rate with my Crossfit plans is about 97%, so you can see where this is going.  Let's take a look at where this plan fell apart...

1) The WOD itself had some serious cardio work

I'm not sure if it has been intentional or not, but the recent Thursday WODs have all included running.  Maybe there is simply no avoiding running now that the weather has become much warmer.  I'm certainly not trying to avoid running.  In fact, I'm trying to push myself at Endurance classes so that my cardio improves.  But when you see what the WOD was on Thursday, you'll see that it was like an Endurance class on steroids.

Thursday WOD:
800 meter run
30 push press (135/95)
800 meter run
30 KB swings (70/53)
800 meter run
30 GHD sit-ups

A mile and a half of running along with all of those other movements while under the noon sun?  Probably not the day to do two workouts.

2) I knew I had to do this workout RX

There is always the urge to tackle a workout using RX standards.  It comes down to whether those standards are appropriate for you.  Appropriate doesn't mean that you'll cruise through the workout using those standards.  There's nothing wrong with testing yourself and doing a workout RX even if it will be difficult for you.  This is an area where I think Crossfit sends mixed messages.  They'll tell you to get comfortable being uncomfortable, but coaches will freak out when you take on a weight that makes you feel uncomfortable.  If that weight is going to put the athlete in danger, then the coach should definitely step in and advise them to use less weight.  But if it is simply going to challenge the athlete and cause them to go slower than they would with a lighter weight, then the athlete should be given the opportunity to take on that challenge.

There is no bigger offender at KOP than myself.  I'm always pushing for that RX.  Sometimes coaches have talked to me about scaling a workout that I wanted to do RX and they've made legitimate points which persuaded me to scale.  Other times they haven't and I stuck with the RX.  Does going for the tougher standard set me up for dates with the pity circle more often than I would like?  Sure.  But that's part of the trade-off.  You have to know that it might not play out as well as you had envisioned it prior to the workout.

But the main reason I go for the RX (or something close to it) is for mental reasons.  Coaches will give you very sound logic as to why going faster with lighter weights can help you improve physically at the gym.  However, if I've learned anything in my 3+ years doing Crossfit, it is that these workouts test you mentally as much as they do physically.  I struggle with heavy KB swings, especially in the heat.  It wasn't going to do me any good to use the typical 53 pound KB for this workout, even if it got me a faster time.  I needed to come into the gym, sweat pouring off of me having just run my second half-mile of the day, and prove that I could pick up that heavy 70 pound KB and get through 30 reps.  If that left me at the back of the class, so be it.  But I needed to know I could do it.  Then next time I have to do a workout with the heavy KB, I won't be as intimidated by it.

3) I didn't know I'd be taking class with the early morning beasts

I knew Queen Pam was going to be at the nooner, but I had already talked myself out of trying to keep up with her as I knew she was going to crush this workout.  But when I saw that JP and Mike Sim were in class, it was borderline impossible to prevent myself from trying to keep up with them, at least in the early going.  They were strong guys, but I felt like I could keep up with them on the barbell.  The KB swings were definitely going to be an issue, but I thought I would be finishing strong with the GHD sit-ups.  So maybe I could hang with them.  Or maybe not.

4) The push press was much more difficult than I imagined

Push presses at 135 didn't seem so bad and there were only 30 reps.  I could probably take care of that in two sets.  (Totally misjudged this!)

Yeah, so there were plenty of reasons why double-dipping on this day was not meant to be.  Let's get to the workout that I did complete (barely).  Coach Steph (who did warn us that the push presses were going to be more difficult than we might think) got us warmed up and then sent us out on our first run of the WOD.  JP and Pam took off early on and I had no intention of chasing after them on run #1.  I was in the second flight.  Early on in the run, I had been near the back, but I started moving up as we headed out towards the turn around point at the boat house.  As I passed Erika L, she told me that I should be carrying her during these runs.  I let her know that if we cut the distance in half I might have signed up for that.  (Oh the crazy things you'll say early on in a workout when you still feel fresh.)

I thought a pace of 4:30 was about where I should be for the first run.  When I came into the gym, I looked at the clock and saw 4:18.  That might have been a little fast, but it wasn't anything crazy yet.  JP was taking a break from the push presses, but Mike Sim was working on a set.  (Note: Mike Sim doesn't run, so he rowed 1,000 meters during each of our runs.)  There had been some playful discussion during warmups about how JP and Mike Sim needed to make sure they didn't re-bend their knees on these lifts or else they would be push jerks, not push presses.  I wasn't paying attention to their form when we did the push presses, but this discussion did cause me to become very focused on not re-bending my own knees.  If I was getting that RX, it was going to be legit.  And it was going to be painful.

I did 8 reps in my first set and had to push pretty hard to get that many.  So much for completing the 30 reps in 2 sets!  JP was directly in front of me and facing me (amping up that competitive feel to the workout).  He did 3 reps before dropping the barbell.  Crap.  I knew he was near the end of his 30 reps, but if he could only manage 3 at one point, how badly was I gonna need to break this up at the end?  He didn't take much of a break before doing the rest of his reps and heading out for his second run.  Meanwhile, I got in another set of 8 reps before needing another break.  Only 16 down and I was hurting already.  I took care of the remaining 14 reps in two sets of 7 reps, then slowly jogged back out into the heat.

Technically I was only one-third of the way through the workout, but for all intents and purposes, I was done.  I never stopped jogging during those 800 meters, but my pace was much slower than it had been on my first run.  Several people passed me, including Erika (who should be carrying who now?).  There was one guy who I didn't know that began alternating sprints with walking.  That was frustrating as hell as each time I caught up to him during his walk, he'd sprint away again.  When I got back into the gym, I was exhausted, but grateful that only one more run remained.

Steph had spoken about how she enjoyed KB swings in the warmup because it felt like a very natural movement to rep out as long as you had rhythm.  Did Pam look over at me at that point and begin laughing when I indicated that I may have discovered why I struggle with KB swings?  Perhaps.  While I'm not certain whether my lack of rhythm is behind my KB issues, what I am certain of is that I constantly worry about my grip when I am doing them.  Try as I might, I can't keep my hands dry during WODs and I have a genuine fear that the KB is going to fly out of my hands when I swing it.  A heavier KB means less control and more chance that it might come out of my hands and fall on my noggin.  Again, this is where the mental side of things comes into play.

I had decided before the workout that I was completing those 30 swings in 3 sets and I was off to a good start with a set of 12 to begin.  Was there an abundance of unfortunate professional female tennis player level grunting involved?  You betcha.  Did I require a long break before the next set?  Yup.  Were my sweaty hands giving me anxiety about death by KB?

I was able to hold on for 10 reps in my next set, leaving me only 8 for my final set.  There was another long break before I got into those, but I did manage to keep my pledge to myself that I would finish the 30 KB swings in 3 sets.

I desperately wanted to walk on that final 800 meters, but I wouldn't allow myself to, even though someone walking briskly probably would have went right on by me.  Erika was way ahead of me now and sprinting/walking guy was sprinting again long before I caught up to him on his walks.  I trudged into the gym hoping that the GHD sit-ups would be the one bright spot for me in this workout.  That was a foolish notion.  I did 12 reps in my first set and thought I'd be following the 12-10-8 pattern I used on the KB swings.  Except I could only manage 8 reps in the second set before I needed to stop again.  I really felt awful at that point, but I told myself I had to do the last 10 reps in a row.  They were ugly reps to be sure, but I kept my body moving and finished off the remaining 10 GHD sit-ups. Final time: 25:03.

This would have been a difficult workout to do on a day with mild weather, but doing it on a hot day made things all that much more worse.  Erika and I sat on the floor near the pull-up rig, chatting for a while, neither of us eager to move a muscle.  Eventually we got up, but then several of us started taking turns standing in front of the fans.  We were all feeling wiped out after this one.

I wrote off going to Endurance as it took me at least a half-hour before I felt comfortable getting behind the wheel and driving home from this workout.  During the drive I began reconsidering the idea, thinking that I might feel better around 5:30.  Instead, I felt nauseous as the day dragged on.  The heat was too much for me and attempting another workout that day out in the sun was a dumb and dangerous idea.  I could wait until tomorrow.

Friday preview: Back-to-back nooners, although the birthday girl is nowhere to be found.  John McHugh and I go back and forth on a medium-length workout made up of rowing, burpee box jumps, wall balls, and double unders.