Jenn does a lot of charity work through her company and even though the event we were going to on Wednesday night wasn't being sponsored by Aberdeen, we were attending it along with a group of her co-workers. With evening plans on the calendar, I had to head to the Wednesday nooner if I was going to get a workout in. On tap was a partner WOD that had a bit of a Fight Gone Bad vibe to it:
Wednesday's WOD
Partner workout:
8 total rounds (4 per partner)
20 calorie row
10 sumo deadlift high pulls (75/55)
15 front squats (75/55)
Just as Fight Gone Bad feels like a prolonged sprint with breaks built in, this WOD had the same setup. I knew that I'd have to move fast through my rounds and that I shouldn't expect too much of a break between rounds. The sumo deadlift high pull weight was the same as in Fight Gone Bad, so I knew how those would feel. We don't do front squats in that workout, but this seemed like a very light weight to me and I figured I'd be able to move through 15 reps pretty quickly. I was also feeling better about my rowing form after my performance in the final workout of the Brawl, so 20 calories per round wasn't worrying me. This WOD felt like one that I should do very well at.
Coach Gordy had eight people in his class. The even number meant no one had to play siamese twin during the workout (I'm not a big fan of being the siamese twin). Some of the teams were easy to figure out. Joe M and Tim H were definitely going to partner up. John McHugh and I were certainly going to be a team. That left Rich and the three ladies in class. When Seba and Meredith agreed to work together, the final pairing of Rich and Karen was set.
Gordy put us through our warmup and then explained that we should aim to be consistent with our rounds in this workout. You didn't want to have a blazing first round and then see your time drop off in the later rounds. (Maybe Fight Gone Bad wasn't a good analogy, as I always put up a strong score in round one and then see it plummet in rounds two and three.) Gordy suggested that we keep track of our individual times per round so that we could see how consistent we were during the WOD.
Despite hearing these directions from Gordy, I had it in my head that this wasn't a workout where you could pace yourself. I interpreted Gordy's directions like they were Coach Tim's directions at Endurance. Translation: Go fast, continue to go fast, stay at that fast pace, then finish fast.
As I scanned the earlier times on the board, Gordy told me about the 9:30 class, where two teams were neck and neck as they did the final round and began racing each other to the finish. Say what? I can't believe Crossfitters would be ultra competitive and not simply focus on their own performance. I'm glad I'm not like that.
Most teams had finished in over 20 minutes, which worked out to a pace of 2:30 per round. There were a couple incredibly fast teams that finished in the 16-17 minute range, or just over 2:00 per round. As much as I wanted to believe John and I could go that fast, it seemed like a bit of a stretch. So I went with 19 minutes as my pre-WOD goal for the two of us.
John was very eager to lead things off for us and I was more than happy to let him get us started. I tend to prefer going second anyways, but I also thought it would help me to see John do the first round and feed off of his intensity. He didn't disappoint. He was very fast off of the rower. He didn't take a break during the 10 sumo deadlift high pulls. And he gritted his teeth while moving through 15 front squats. He yelled to me that he was done and I began my first round.
In a lot of workouts, I approach the row as something that I want to complete quickly, but not at the expense of losing my calm. I don't want my breathing to be rapid when I come off of the rower. For this workout (at least early on), I decided to throw caution to the wind. There was one word that kept popping into my head and that word was sprint. You don't pace during a sprint. You go as hard as you can. So I tried to do my best imitation of John and rowed with gusto. My breathing was definitely rapid, but I tried to control it as best as I could as I moved to my barbell. I was a little off kilter as I began my sumo deadlift high pulls, but I didn't slow down as I raced through 10 reps. I dropped the barbell to change my stance and to give myself a second of rest before moving into the front squats. As I started those, I saw Rich get to his barbell. It dawned on me that I'd be racing Rich every time it was my turn to work. John had given me a lead in this first round, but could I maintain that lead in the later rounds? Better make the best of the lead that I had. I strung together my 15 front squats and told John to go. Time after two rounds: 3:30.
As I stood next to the rower cheering my teammate on, I tried my best to get back to calm. Except I was a long way from calm. We had gone very fast during our first two rounds and it was going to be tough maintaining the consistency that Gordy had asked of us prior to the workout. I was torn between wanting John to go fast (he's my teammate!) and wanting John to go slow (let me rest!). John finished his second round and I got started on my second row. The monitor let me know that I was not moving as fast as I had during round one. I couldn't tell how much slower I was going because I was looking at the calories/hr rate rather than the clock. I got to the barbell and began my sumo deadlift high pulls. I kept up my speed there, but I saw Rich get to his barbell before I finished my set. He was gaining on me. I had to keep moving through the front squats, even though they were beginning to burn. I mentioned how I was dropping my barbell as I transitioned from the sumo deadlift high pulls to the front squats. Rich simply flicked his wrists at the top of his final sumo deadlift high pull, moving his hand position in a blink, allowing him to go right into his front squats. I felt like I was racing the Terminator. He looked like he was marching along while I was sprinting for my life, yet he was clearly reeling me in. I finished my second round before him, but not by much. Time after four rounds: 8:00.
We were still on pace for 16 minutes, the pace those super fast teams had done earlier in the day, but we knew there was no chance that we'd keep that pace. John didn't struggle on the rower, but his pace on the barbell began to slow. When it was my turn to go, I continued to try and row fast. The monitor didn't seem to appreciate my efforts. I was straining, yet I wasn't generating calories any faster. I got off the rower and walked to my barbell, only to see Rich walking to his barbell at the same time. He didn't catch me on the sumo deadlift high pulls, but he passed me on the transition. I dropped my barbell and it bounced away from me, which is always frustrating. Rich did another wrist flick and moved on to his front squats. It was insane watching how fast he was moving without any sign of distress on his face. Meanwhile, I needed to pause as I went through my front squats. Never dropped my barbell, but I had to do some reps and then take a break while holding it in my front rack. I went 3, 4, 4, and 4. Rich went 15, 0, 0, and 0. He got Karen started on her final round while John waited for me to be done. Once I completed the 15th front squat, he got to work on his final row. Time after six rounds: 13:08.
Those last two rounds took more than 5 minutes, so 19 minutes was no longer a cinch as we hit the home stretch. John was working hard and his fourth round was similar to his third round. The row went smoothly. He grinded through the sumo deadlift high pulls. He chipped away at his front squats. He completed his work for the day and I began round #8. In all previous rounds, I had gotten a head start on Rich during the row. Not this time. Karen finished her last round almost simultaneously with John. I was doomed. There was no way I was keeping up with Rich for an entire round.
That might have been a blessing in disguise. Or maybe I got wiser in that last round. I was much more controlled during that final row. I knew I wanted to get through all of the barbell reps without pausing, so I focused on keeping calm as I rowed. I don't think that it cost me much in terms of time on the row, but it certainly helped me the rest of the way. Rich was already on his front squats when I got to my barbell. I did my 10 sumo deadlift high pulls and dropped the barbell, except I didn't have to chase after it this time as I prevented it from bouncing away. I got the barbell up to my shoulders and began the front squats. They burned. There is no other way to describe it. However, it was mind over matter time. I grimaced and kept moving. Soon enough, I had the 15 reps done. Final time: 18:05.
I was really happy with our final time, especially since I knew it meant that I had gone pretty fast in that last round. I was worried about staying under 19 minutes after round six, but we almost got it under 18 minutes in the end. We had captured the time elapsed after every round on our whiteboard, so I didn't know until the end of the workout how consistent we had been. Turns out we weren't very consistent. Each of us went too fast out of the gates and paid for it, most notably in round three. Our individual round times are below:
John's times are on the left, my times are on the right
If I did this workout again, I'd heed Gordy's advice a little more and I'd try to learn from my final round, where I eased up a bit on the row so that I had some energy in reserve for the barbell. I'd also try and channel the spirit of Rich, whose performance in this WOD was straight filthy. He was like a smiling assassin as he moved through this workout. Impressive, impressive stuff. I have a long way to go in terms of improving my cardio.
Thursday preview: My first muscle-up! (No, not really. Only through the magical lens of Ryan Samson.)
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