I'm not sure if it was planned this way, but we had one benchmark workout this year that was programmed on the same day of the week each of the four times it showed up on the schedule in 2016. I guess they wanted confirmation of how well I do Elizabeth at 7:30pm on Tuesdays. As a reminder, here's what's involved in Elizabeth:
"Elizabeth"
21-15-9
Squat cleans (135/95)
Ring dips
Aside from the 3RM push press, Elizabeth was the only 2016 benchmark workout that I would be attempting four times. I hadn't fared very well in my first three attempts:
- Attempt #1: Using 115 pounds for the squat cleans and a band to help me get through the dips, I finish in a less than inspiring time of 15:02.
- Attempt #2: A bit of an improvement on my March try. Using the same standards, I trim 85 seconds off of my time to finish in 13:37. Still pretty slow relative to most of the times in the gym.
- Attempt #3: This was always gonna be bad. In my second workout since taking 5 weeks off from the gym, I struggle from start to finish, stopping the clock in a very pedestrian 19:31. In the handicapping world, we would describe this performance as one you would "draw a line through".
The average time for most athletes on this workout seemed to fall in the 10-12 minute range and I was more than 90 seconds away from the high end of that range. 115 pounds didn't seem like too much weight for the squat cleans. For JJ, I performed 55 squat cleans using a weight of 155 pounds. This was 45 squat cleans using a weight of 115 pounds. It didn't make sense that I could handle more reps at a heavier weight in a different workout. I wasn't deviating from 115 pounds on this attempt. As for the dips, it doesn't get any easier than doing them with a band, so that standard wasn't changing this time around either.
Dudes After Dark was 80% dude this week as Esra joined four fellas for this workout. The other guys taking part in class were Neil, Cline, and Andrew. Those three were not messing around with the barbell as they all loaded up more weight than I'd be using in this workout. Cline and Neil were taking on Elizabeth using 125 pounds, while Andrew would be going RX (135 pounds, no band for the dips). After some sassy banter and warmup with our fearless leader, LC, we got ready to take this on. There was a second part to the workout that we would need time for and you never knew when someone was going to take nearly 20 minutes (ahem) to finish Elizabeth, so we had to keep things moving. LC started the clock and we all got to work on our first round of squat cleans.
I had the same experience with the squat cleans on each of my first three attempts at Elizabeth. It wasn't long before each squat clean felt like a punch to the stomach. When I've done a very heavy squat clean for only one rep, I've felt pain in my legs. There was something about the repetition of the squat clean that relocated pain central to your core. No one likes being punched in the stomach over and over again, so my natural tendency was to cut my sets short once that sensation started. It also made me walk away from the barbell and contemplate how badly I wanted to finish this workout.
As I worked through the first set of my final attempt at Elizabeth, I noticed that I was not having this experience for a fourth time. That was a relief. I was only a few reps into the workout and I knew already that my previous best time of 13:37 was in trouble. The absence of pain allowed me to start off with a much larger set than I had done in any of my previous attempts. I got through 9 squat cleans before releasing the barbell. This was definitely still a cardio test, but for the first time all year, it felt like a manageable one. With 12 reps remaining, I made the decision to do sets of 3 the rest of the way, making a gentleman's agreement with myself that I wouldn't take long breaks in between sets. Andrew was blazing through this workout and had already moved on to the dips as I took on my final two sets of three. I got through those and headed to my own set of rings.
The rings are set up with four sets in the front and four sets in the back. I staked my claim to a pair in the back row. It was easy enough to walk around to the back from where I was doing my squat cleans. I couldn't see the clock from there, but I didn't need to focus on that until the very end. I got up on to my band without incident. That really shouldn't be an accomplishment, but I've had all sorts of issues with getting on to my band in the past. I made it through 9 dips before coming down and shaking out my arms. I got 8 reps in my next set, then did one last set of 4 dips. It felt like I was moving quickly through this WOD, but I hadn't seen the clock yet. I came around the corner and saw 4 minutes and change.
With 21 of the 45 reps done on each movement, I was nearly 50% done with the workout. I probably wasn't going to maintain my pace from the first round, but with over 5 and a half minutes remaining before the clock struck 10 minutes, I had honed in on a goal for this WOD. If I could keep my time under 10 minutes, it would be an improvement of around 10 minutes on my disastrous attempt back in September. How often do I have a chance at a 10 minute improvement? Can you say never?
I took a deep breath when I got back to my barbell and set my mind to doing three sets of five. The sets of three that I did to complete round one didn't feel awful. Sets of five probably would, but I had to push if I was going to reach my new goal. I made it through five reps and took a break. I was okay with longer breaks in this round, but they couldn't be obscenely long. And I couldn't do less than five reps per set if I was allowing myself longer breaks. I stuck to that agreement, getting five reps in each of the next two sets. I headed back to the rings.
The plan for this round of dips was to finish the 15 reps in two sets. When I had to strain to get through 8 dips in the first set, I knew I might need a third set. The fear with dips is that once they go away, you can't get them back. My triceps were starting to burn and I began to get worried in advance about the final round of dips. As I started the second set of this round, I thought I might get all 7 remaining reps, but I couldn't press out dip #6. I came down from the rings, shook out my arms, then got back on the band and took care of my last two reps.
I may have looked at the clock on the way to my barbell, but I don't remember what time was showing. I was zoned in on moving through these 9 squat cleans as fast as I could. The squat cleans may not have been painful in round one, but they were no picnic in round three. I did one set of three. Then a second set of three. Ignored the pain of the last set of three. Nine banded dips and I was done. That shouldn't take more than two sets. I looked at the clock before I went around to the back of the rings. It read 9:10. I didn't need to rush, but I couldn't dilly-dally either.
How nice would it have been if I got on my band and fired off 9 consecutive dips to end the workout? Pretty sweet, right? Yeah...that didn't happen. Nothing ever seems to be easy. I did a set of 5, which was fine. That didn't take more than 10 seconds. Shook out my arms and got back on the band for the last 4 reps. Did two and got wobbly, so I came back down. Still ok, just shake out your arms and do two quick reps. I got on the band, did 1 rep, then couldn't press out the last rep. Seriously? What is wrong with you? Four sets to do 9 reps? Goodbye 10 minutes! I got panicky as it seemed like I had reached that point where my ability to do dips had evaporated into thin air. I just needed one more though. I hopped on to the band for a fourth time, dipped down, then pressed out using way more exertion than I should have needed to complete a single dip. I came off the band and ran forward a couple of steps to see the clock. Final time: 9:59.
Upon completing Elizabeth, we had 2 minutes to rest before getting 10 minutes to find a 2RM hang squat clean. I spent the entirety of those two minutes with a smile on my face. I was exhausted, but I finally felt like I conquered a workout that had slapped me around all year long. I would follow Neil and Cline's lead and move up to 125 pounds the next time I took it on.
Andrew had finished in under 7 minutes, so he was already working on his hang squat cleans. Neil finished near the end of my break. I spent my rest period next to my barbell before doing two hang squat cleans with the 115 pounds I used in the workout. Might as well make sure I get a score. I went and grabbed some 25 pound plates for my next set at 165. As I added them to my barbell, Esra finished up. Cline had his pain face on as he was grinding through his round of nine. I did two hang squat cleans with 165. My progression the rest of the way was going to be 185-205-225, so on my next trip over to the plates, I loaded up on 10 pound plates. Cline finished before I took on 185. That set was more of a struggle than I would have liked. I began mentally preparing for the inevitable failure at 225, if not 205.
Andrew's time had run out by the time I got around to attempting 205, so he stood by and cheered me on. The set at 185: little struggle. The set at 205: big struggle. Sometimes the first rep will be okay and then you have to work really hard to hold on and do the second rep properly. That was not what happened here. I caught the first squat clean and remained stuck in the bottom for a few seconds before I managed to stand it up. At that point, it didn't seem likely that I'd get the second rep. I guess I just knew that I'd be able to stand up with 205 if I got under it again. The second rep was exactly like the first. Once I started moving upward, I knew I had it.
I'm not sure why I even bothered with 225 after that experience. There might have been a part of me that thought I could pull off the same magic front squatting the weight from the bottom if I got under it. I waited until I had about a minute left before attempting 225. I sorta got under it, but not with great form. I fought the barbell for a few seconds before I finally relented and dumped it to the floor. I had no interest in making a second attempt. Tonight was about my Elizabeth time, not my 2RM hang squat clean weight. Final score: 205.
I joined Andrew as part of the cheerleading squad and encouraged Neil, Esra, and Cline as they performed their last few sets. Then it was on to the peg board as that was the Advent challenge of the day. Only one of us could really climb the peg board and that was Andrew. He went all the way up the peg board and came all the way back down twice. Then he made a third ascent just for good measure. I tied my previous best by advancing up two holes of the peg board. It might not be my specialty.
Wednesday preview: My last class before my holiday trip. All the heavy things are lifted. The Advent challenge lets me take on an adversary that I haven't seen in over a year.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.