Battered

Workout date: 3/27/17

In early March, I won a trip to Vegas to play in this year's Horse Player World Series.  Before the National Handicapping Championship came to be, the Horse Player World Series was the premier handicapping tournament in the country.  It's probably the third most prestigious now (with the Breeders Cup Betting Challenge being #2), but it's definitely on the calendar of most serious handicappers.  I would be flying out to Vegas on Tuesday night for the event, so Monday's WOD was my last opportunity to get a workout in before my trip.

To be honest, I had little desire to show up.  I felt a cold coming on.  My body was an unusual shade of yellow due to all the bruises I had on various parts of my body.  And the workout was one that I wasn't especially fond of (3RM deadlift).  When Bryan texted me early Monday afternoon to see if I was coming to the 6:30 class, I gave a very wishy-washy response.  I told him I had been feeling lousy all day, but I was going to try my best to get to KOP.  Around 6pm, I started packing my gym bag and a little while later, I unenthusiastically arrived for class.  Bryan was nowhere to be found.  I asked LC where he was and she told me that it was his rest day.  Son of a...

Coach Giulz had 11 of us there ready to deadlift.  After we were done with the deadlifts, we were supposed to do some skill work.  I wasn't sure how many of us were ready for 15 ring muscle-ups (the listed skill work), but that seemed to be an ambitious way to end the evening.  Luckily for all involved, Giulz had a reasonable cash-out ready as a substitute.  Once we were done deadlifting, we'd take on this short sprint of a cash-out:

Monday's cash-out:
30 wall balls (20#/14# to 10'/9')
30 KB swings (53/35)
30 alternating lunges
20 wall balls
20 KB swings
20 alternating lunges
10 wall balls
10 KB swings
10 alternating lunges

Finding a 3RM deadlift comes up quite often in our gym's programming, so I had a very good idea of how I was going to approach my lifts.  My current best is 375 pounds, so the goal was to try and make it to 385 pounds if I was having a strong lifting day.  I've already told you that I felt like death much of the day, so I wasn't banking on leaving for Vegas with a new PR for my three-rep deadlift.  The progression to that number wasn't gonna change despite the fact that I wasn't feeling optimistic about hitting it.  I'd move through sets of 135-185-225-275 before getting to the harder sets starting at 315.  From there, I'd move on to 345, 365, and 385.  That was the game plan at least.

The sets at 135, 185, and 225 were easy enough.  Giulz watched me do my set at 275 and told me to put some weight on the barbell.  The set at 275 usually gives me a feel of how heavy I might go in my progression, so it was a positive sign that it went as well it did.  It gave me the impression that I might be able to get 365 tonight.  I'd be shocked if 385 happened, but the set at 275 made me think I'd  at least be taking a crack at it later on.

The set at 315 made me more pessimistic.  I didn't have a terrible struggle with that weight, but when I was done with it, I just felt like my energy levels were waning.  I also had a bit of good news/bad news during that set.  The good news was that I kept the barbell super close to my legs like everyone is taught to do when they're deadlifting.  The bad news involved my right shin.  It has gotten so beaten up over the years that rolling a 315 pound barbell up and down it repeatedly causes a decent amount of pain.  Even if I had the strength to do 2 or 3 more sets, I wasn't looking forward to the additional discomfort.

The set at 345 let me know that 385 wasn't happening.  I got through all three reps, but they were very difficult (not to mention painful!).  My next set at 365 was going to be my final set, whether it was a success or a failure.  I'll let you take a guess which it was.  I got into my setup for the initial rep at 365 and barely got the barbell off of the floor.  I didn't struggle very long before I dropped it.  It just didn't seem worth it on this night to fight for that set.  Final score: 345.

It wasn't until we had started putting away our plates and barbells that I learned about the cash-out substitute.  I grabbed a med ball and a KB and took up a spot between Cline and Mike C.  I knew this was going to be a fast one (or at least it was meant to be).  Stringing all of the wall balls wasn't out of the question.  Stringing all of the KB swings would be tougher, but still not impossible.  The lunges were the default rest station along the way.  You could move at a decent pace through those but still catch your breath as you did them.  If I was taking breaks during this cash-out, then I was going to fall way behind.

I took a bunch of breaks during the cash-out.  It started out promisingly enough.  Giulz started the clock and I held on through all 30 wall balls.  It was when I turned around and picked up my KB that things went downhill.  I've had my fair share of struggles with the KB, but this was something different.  "53" was written on the KB, but it felt like it weighed 153 pounds.  And every time I swung it overhead, my shoulders felt like they were on fire.  I got through 12 reps before needing to put it down the first time.  I followed that up with a set of 9 and then another set of 9.  Pretty much everyone in class was lunging by the time I finished my first round of KB swings.

The 30 lunges weren't a problem and I tried to do them faster than I would have liked to just to catch up with the class.  When I came back to the wall, I got 12 wall balls in my first set.  I shook out my arms and caught my breath before finishing the last 8 reps.  I was dreading the KB before I even picked it up.  That probably didn't help my performance.  I needed to put it down after 8 reps.  Feeling like there was no way I could get the remaining 12 in one set, I split the last dozen reps into two sets of 6.  I was very grateful to move on to the 20 lunges.  I believe Cline was finishing up the cash-out as I completed my second round.

I was gonna be really pissed at myself if I couldn't suck it up and do all 10 reps of all the movements in the final round.  The 10 wall balls weren't that bad.  There was a decent amount of grunting to get through the 10 KB swings.  Then I did the last 10 lunges as fast as I possibly could.  Cash-out time: 9:07.

After experiencing pain during the deadlifts and the cash-out, you would think I'd be bright enough to call it a night.  Nope.  Never been very good with peer pressure.  That was apparent again on this night.  A week ago, I did a supersized plank tabata with Josh M after one of our classes.  He was recruiting me for something different on Monday night.  He was doing a series of exercises and needed a partner to do them with him.  It started with 25 GHD sit-ups.  That was followed by 15 back extensions on the GHD.  Then we'd be doing 10 consecutive strict pull-ups before finishing things off with 25 push-ups.  I let Josh know in advance that I didn't have the ability to do 10 strict pull-ups.  The most I'd ever done consecutively was 5 and I had only done that once.  I was willing to try for 5 again, although they might need to be done over the course of two sets rather than one.

The 25 GHD sit-ups weren't so bad.  I tend to whip through them quickly and my form deteriorates as I go along, but I can usually manage 20-25 in a row when I put my mind to it.  I got through all 25 without needing a break.  I flipped over and faced the floor to begin the back extensions.  My quads were positioned on top of the pads.  I went to do the first rep and immediately noticed a problem.  The pain I experienced with my right shin during the deadlifts and with my shoulders during the KB swings was mild.  This pain was sharp.  I did 2 reps and then stopped.  It wasn't like I had a strain or something like that.  My quads must have been much more beaten up than I had realized.  I tried 2 more times to do a rep, but both times I felt like Steve Carell getting his chest waxed in the 40 Year Old Virgin.  Josh told me that it was alright to skip the rest of the back extensions, but I was stubborn about it.  It was only 13 more reps.  I could bite my lip for 13 reps.  I told myself to just go fast and zone out the pain.  I made it through 9 more reps before needing another break.  I told myself that I had a week to recover after this was done.  Then I completed the last 4 painful reps.  Maybe not the best choice I've made, but I survived.

At the pull-up rig, I did a set of 3 strict pull-ups followed by a set of 2.  Then Josh and I returned to the area over by the GHD machines.  I thought I'd have to go 10-5-5-5 to get through these.  It went better than that.  I guess seeing the finish line in my mind drove me through this last station.  I did 15 in a row before needing a break, but I stayed in a plank while I paused.  From there, I did small sets, refusing to come out of a plank when I wasn't doing push-ups.  Push-up #25 was shaky, but I got through all of them without giving my arms a rest.

I was done!  Or so I thought.  Josh let me know that we were supposed to go through that rotation three times.  Not this guy.  I told Josh to have fun with the last two rounds as I was done.  Maybe I'd try to get through three rounds of that on a night when my body wasn't so battered.  My plan was to head home, pack my bag, and get ready for my trip to Vegas.

Post-Vegas preview: I don't come home with over a quarter-million dollars.  I do come home with bronchitis.  A bunch of bar muscle-ups should clear out my lungs.