<Rant begin>
April 6th marked the first day of the Endurance season at KOP. I was all excited about this. Even though I'm not very good at running, there is no class that I've enjoyed more than Endurance over the years. Coach Tim preaches the mantra of "getting comfortable being uncomfortable", something that translates very well into regular Crossfit classes. Endurance has definitely improved my ability to do metcons. I tend to drop a few pounds during the Endurance season. All those things are great, but the best thing about Endurance might be the fact that it is a class where you easily bond with others. Class size ranges from 6 to 12 people on average and you see mostly the same faces from week to week. Some of my closest relationships have come from Endurance classes.
That is why it was so disappointing to hear that the Upper Merion School District decided this year to try and fleece our Endurance group for money. We've been using their track free of charge for years, but that would be changing in 2017. Mind you, not everyone would be charged for using the track. The track is still free to the general public. But because we are an organized class with a coach, the Upper Merion School District figured they could hit us up for some dough. Aimee accepted their terms to keep Endurance going, but had to pass on the cost to us. On top of our gym membership fees, those attending Endurance would have to pay $10 per class, with a reduced rate of $5 per class if you buy in bulk (monthly or seasonal pass). Not a member at KOP? Endurance will cost you $20 per class, or $165 for a punch card good for 10 visits.
My initial reaction to this news was not positive, but I was willing to change my opinion based on the answers to the many questions I had. Some of the other Endurance regulars had the same questions and they were posted on our FB page:
- Q: Can we move Endurance classes to another outdoor track? (A: No.)
- Q: Can we move Endurance classes to a nearby indoor track? (A: No.)
- Q: Can we have Endurance classes at KOP instead? (A: No.)
- Q: Can we have Endurance classes along trails or in Valley Forge park since we hold some of our classes there anyway? (A: No.)
Sounds like we're stuck at the Upper Merion track. I guess I could be persuaded into paying if there was some perk to being a paid user as opposed to everyone else who doesn't pay a dime. Was there?
- Q: Since we are paying to use the track, would certain lanes be reserved for us that would not be available to the non-paying general public? (A: No, we'd be sharing the track with them.)
So those paying to use the track would have the same rights to the track as those not paying. Remind me again why we are paying? Because we have a coach with us? That's insane! There was one question that wasn't asked that I would have liked answered, but to be honest, I was firmly in the "bye bye Endurance" camp already. That question was this:
- Q: Multiple times each year during Endurance season, we show up to the track for class and are told we cannot use it due to football or lacrosse games. If we paid for monthly/seasonal passes to use the track, would we get refunds when this occurred? (A: ?)
Because from the sound of it, it seems like KOP athletes are being charged to use a track open to the general public without getting lanes reserved for them or even having the guarantee that the track will be available to use. That's total bullshit. So as much as it saddens me to have to miss out on my favorite class, I will not be attending Endurance this year.
<Rant end>
If I wasn't going to Endurance, that meant I'd be at KOP for regular classes on Thursday nights and that's exactly where I was as the first Endurance class of the year was wrapping up. I headed in for the 6:30 class with Coach Giulz, as did 12 other athletes. Even if Endurance wasn't in the cards for me this Thursday, I'd still get my running fix in this workout. Here's what was on tap Thursday evening:
Thursday's WOD:
21 deadlifts (225/155)
21 handstand push-ups
400 meter run
15 deadlifts
15 handstand push-ups
400 meter run
9 deadlifts
9 handstand push-ups
400 meter run
If this workout sounds vaguely familiar to you, it's because we have a workout called Diane which is everything I just listed sans the three 400 meter runs. When I came up with my list of goals for 2017, I was torn between Diane and Elizabeth as the workout that I wanted to complete RX. I mean, ideally I'd like to complete both of them RX, but I figured it was a stretch to even get one of them this year. I opted for Elizabeth because one of my other goals was stringing 5 handstand push-ups. If doing 5 in a row was going to be an accomplishment for me, completing 45 in a workout was rather unlikely. It was probably more realistic to think of completing Diane RX as a 2018 goal. My perspective did change a bit though when I started getting some handstand push-ups early in 2017. I was able to scratch off the goal of doing 5 consecutive handstand push-ups in mid-February. I can't claim that I've had a lot of success with them since then (see Open workout 17.4), but this workout seemed like an opportunity to test where I was at.
Our class began with a 400 meter run and when we got back, Giulz split us into three teams. There were cones on the gym floor and each team member would be performing a mini-suicide. Giulz would call out a movement and the team member would perform that movement out to the first cone and back, then out to the second cone and back. Early on, the movements we did were typical Crossfit warmup staples like the bear crawl. Giulz had something special in store for the finale though. The last mini-suicide would involve cartwheels. All of the girls in class seemed onboard with this idea. I was hesitant, to say the least. I began having flashbacks to my recent attempt at handstand walking, which ended with me doing a backflop (cousin of the bellyflop). It was painful and mildly embarrassing, but at least it wasn't 3 feet away from the glare of a large class. There was no hiding if I blew it this time. I was the anchor leg for our team, so all eyes would be on me as I tried not to be the last one done. Screw it, just attempt the cartwheels and hope for the best.
I can't be completely certain that the class wasn't just having a chuckle at the not-so-coordinated 210-pound guy who did one cartwheel after another, but I did receive some applause as I attempted them. Supposedly my form was good and I was told that it was impressive how I came down from one cartwheel and went right into the next one. The truly impressive part was that I didn't stumble into any of the GHD machines when I was done. All of those cartwheels left me very dizzy and it took me a minute or two to get my bearings.
Being kinda dizzy is not exactly the state you want to be in as you take on a workout where you are going to be upside-down frequently. Was that the reason I would end up struggling with my handstand push-ups in this workout? No. (Although I do think I figured out the cause of my struggles once the workout was over. I'll share that with you at the end.) I simply haven't practiced this movement enough to develop consistently good form and this isn't something where I can get away with shaky form.
At least I was realistic about my abilities before the workout began. I knew I wasn't going to be able to complete this workout RX. I knew that I would need to use ab-mats eventually as my handstand push-ups went away. I asked Giulz whether it was alright to start with no ab-mats and then add them in as I grew tired, but she recommended a different tactic. She told me that I wasn't going to get better at full-fledged handstand push-ups if I kept falling back on the ab-mats as a safety net. She said it was better to scale the reps and toss the ab-mats for this workout. Not a bad idea. Rather than go 21-15-9, I decided that I should try for 12-9-6. I also made the decision to scale down the weight for my deadlifts considerably. I'm not a big fan of doing large volumes of deadlifts and 225 pounds was just enough weight to put a hurting on someone of my ability. 205 pounds would have been reasonable for me, but I wanted to give myself the best chance possible of getting through that 12-9-6 sequence on the handstand push-ups. I decided to go with 185 pounds, a weight that I figured I could move quickly without exhausting myself too much.
As we were getting ready to start this workout, Giulz gave us a time domain for the WOD. This wasn't a strict time cap, but if we were still working beyond this point, then Giulz was going to question whether we scaled properly. Giulz told us that this workout shouldn't take longer than 18 minutes. That was 6 minutes per round. I kept that figure in my head so that I could see where I was at the end of every round and make sure I wasn't behind schedule.
We got the first round underway and I immediately felt good about my weight selection for the deadlifts. It was a weight where I probably could have done all 21 reps in a row, but I opted to stop after 12 reps for a very short break. Why put unnecessary strain on my back if I was only saving a few seconds? I got back to it and completed the final 9 reps. I was one of the first people to get over to the wall for handstand push-ups. When I got upside-down, I was able to do 3 handstand push-ups before coming off the wall. Not too bad. Three more sets like that and my version of the first round would be 400 meters from completion. Unfortunately, that would be the last set of 3 I would do. Not just in the first round. For the entire workout. On my next set, I did one decent handstand push-up and then one where I had to fight really hard to lock it out. I was up to 5 reps. If I could keep getting sets of two, I might still be on pace for a 6 minute round. But that last difficult rep wound up being a harbinger of how my handstand push-ups would play out for the rest of this WOD.
I'm not sure how many more handstand push-up attempts I made in round one. All I know is that none of them were successful. Also, everyone else in class had either gone out for their first run or had returned from it. I was dead last. When it became clear to me that I wasn't hitting a 6th rep in this round, I headed out on a 400 meter run. The run would give me a chance to shake out my arms and come up with a new plan for the handstand push-ups. Maybe 12-9-6 could become 5-4-3. That wasn't wonderful, but it would still be more handstand push-ups than I had ever done in a workout. As I came back into the gym from the run, I glanced at the clock and saw that it was near 6:10. I was a little behind schedule, but I could make that up. Plus, I might finish up the handstand push-ups a lot quicker in round two now that I knew I only had to do four of them.
I broke up the deadlifts again, going 9 and 6 during my two sets. I definitely made up some time at that station. However, my struggle at the wall persisted. It took several attempts before I got my first rep of round two. Another series of failed reps followed. I couldn't go off on my second run with only one handstand push-up completed in this round. I needed at least two. A sequence of 5-2-2 (or even 5-2-1) sounded much better than 5-1-1 or 5-1-incomplete. Eventually I was able to make a second handstand push-up happen. I didn't even bother going for a third. I headed out on my second run.
When I got back, the clock informed me that I was still behind schedule, but still close to the 18 minute pace Giulz asked of us. 12 minutes and 15 seconds had passed, but this last round was probably going to be quick. I could handle the remaining 9 deadlifts in one set (and I did). And the high-end goal for this round of handstand push-ups was 2 reps. I was also going to sprint at the end of the run, so there really shouldn't have been a time crunch. That is, if I had any ability to do handstand push-ups. After completing the 9 deadlifts, I embarked on another series of failed handstand push-up attempts. My shoulders were exhausted and I was having a hard time convincing myself that I could even get one rep in this final round. Finally it happened. Did I run out the door to complete my workout? Of course not. I'm a stubborn idiot. However, it didn't take long for me to realize that my attempts were becoming more and more pathetic. 5-2-2 wasn't happening. 5-2-1 would have to do. I expressed my displeasure by punching the wall after my final failed attempt at a handstand push-up. Then I ran out the door to complete my remaining quarter-mile. I definitely picked up the pace on the last 200 meters. That final burst not only kept me under Giulz's 18 minute time domain, it kept me under 17 minutes as well. Final time: 16:58.
I had grander aspirations than going 5-2-1 on the handstand push-ups in this workout, but that was the best I could muster. As I sat on one of the benches trying to figure out where I messed up, I thought back to the extra work I had done with Josh M on handstand push-ups. That was when it dawned on me that I had ignored the one tip that he had said to me over and over again. "Stay tight!" Every time I kicked up on to the wall, Josh had said that to me. Did I focus on keeping my core tight as I did this workout? Not at all. Is that the reason why I wasn't able to kip up out of the bottom of the handstand push-up? Probably. When I do any type of squat at the gym, I'm very conscious of keeping my core tight so that my body stays solid under the weight as I move down and up. This was no different. My body was the weight. I was going down then up (albeit upside-down). If I wasn't keeping my core tight, then I wasn't staying solid through the movement. I was simply using a bunch of energy to flail upwards with poor form. If I wanted to get better at doing handstand push-ups in workouts, I needed to remember to keep my core tight.
Friday preview: A favorite strength workout of mine makes a rare appearance in the programming. It's time to find a 1RM overhead squat!
I can't be completely certain that the class wasn't just having a chuckle at the not-so-coordinated 210-pound guy who did one cartwheel after another, but I did receive some applause as I attempted them. Supposedly my form was good and I was told that it was impressive how I came down from one cartwheel and went right into the next one. The truly impressive part was that I didn't stumble into any of the GHD machines when I was done. All of those cartwheels left me very dizzy and it took me a minute or two to get my bearings.
Being kinda dizzy is not exactly the state you want to be in as you take on a workout where you are going to be upside-down frequently. Was that the reason I would end up struggling with my handstand push-ups in this workout? No. (Although I do think I figured out the cause of my struggles once the workout was over. I'll share that with you at the end.) I simply haven't practiced this movement enough to develop consistently good form and this isn't something where I can get away with shaky form.
At least I was realistic about my abilities before the workout began. I knew I wasn't going to be able to complete this workout RX. I knew that I would need to use ab-mats eventually as my handstand push-ups went away. I asked Giulz whether it was alright to start with no ab-mats and then add them in as I grew tired, but she recommended a different tactic. She told me that I wasn't going to get better at full-fledged handstand push-ups if I kept falling back on the ab-mats as a safety net. She said it was better to scale the reps and toss the ab-mats for this workout. Not a bad idea. Rather than go 21-15-9, I decided that I should try for 12-9-6. I also made the decision to scale down the weight for my deadlifts considerably. I'm not a big fan of doing large volumes of deadlifts and 225 pounds was just enough weight to put a hurting on someone of my ability. 205 pounds would have been reasonable for me, but I wanted to give myself the best chance possible of getting through that 12-9-6 sequence on the handstand push-ups. I decided to go with 185 pounds, a weight that I figured I could move quickly without exhausting myself too much.
As we were getting ready to start this workout, Giulz gave us a time domain for the WOD. This wasn't a strict time cap, but if we were still working beyond this point, then Giulz was going to question whether we scaled properly. Giulz told us that this workout shouldn't take longer than 18 minutes. That was 6 minutes per round. I kept that figure in my head so that I could see where I was at the end of every round and make sure I wasn't behind schedule.
We got the first round underway and I immediately felt good about my weight selection for the deadlifts. It was a weight where I probably could have done all 21 reps in a row, but I opted to stop after 12 reps for a very short break. Why put unnecessary strain on my back if I was only saving a few seconds? I got back to it and completed the final 9 reps. I was one of the first people to get over to the wall for handstand push-ups. When I got upside-down, I was able to do 3 handstand push-ups before coming off the wall. Not too bad. Three more sets like that and my version of the first round would be 400 meters from completion. Unfortunately, that would be the last set of 3 I would do. Not just in the first round. For the entire workout. On my next set, I did one decent handstand push-up and then one where I had to fight really hard to lock it out. I was up to 5 reps. If I could keep getting sets of two, I might still be on pace for a 6 minute round. But that last difficult rep wound up being a harbinger of how my handstand push-ups would play out for the rest of this WOD.
I'm not sure how many more handstand push-up attempts I made in round one. All I know is that none of them were successful. Also, everyone else in class had either gone out for their first run or had returned from it. I was dead last. When it became clear to me that I wasn't hitting a 6th rep in this round, I headed out on a 400 meter run. The run would give me a chance to shake out my arms and come up with a new plan for the handstand push-ups. Maybe 12-9-6 could become 5-4-3. That wasn't wonderful, but it would still be more handstand push-ups than I had ever done in a workout. As I came back into the gym from the run, I glanced at the clock and saw that it was near 6:10. I was a little behind schedule, but I could make that up. Plus, I might finish up the handstand push-ups a lot quicker in round two now that I knew I only had to do four of them.
I broke up the deadlifts again, going 9 and 6 during my two sets. I definitely made up some time at that station. However, my struggle at the wall persisted. It took several attempts before I got my first rep of round two. Another series of failed reps followed. I couldn't go off on my second run with only one handstand push-up completed in this round. I needed at least two. A sequence of 5-2-2 (or even 5-2-1) sounded much better than 5-1-1 or 5-1-incomplete. Eventually I was able to make a second handstand push-up happen. I didn't even bother going for a third. I headed out on my second run.
When I got back, the clock informed me that I was still behind schedule, but still close to the 18 minute pace Giulz asked of us. 12 minutes and 15 seconds had passed, but this last round was probably going to be quick. I could handle the remaining 9 deadlifts in one set (and I did). And the high-end goal for this round of handstand push-ups was 2 reps. I was also going to sprint at the end of the run, so there really shouldn't have been a time crunch. That is, if I had any ability to do handstand push-ups. After completing the 9 deadlifts, I embarked on another series of failed handstand push-up attempts. My shoulders were exhausted and I was having a hard time convincing myself that I could even get one rep in this final round. Finally it happened. Did I run out the door to complete my workout? Of course not. I'm a stubborn idiot. However, it didn't take long for me to realize that my attempts were becoming more and more pathetic. 5-2-2 wasn't happening. 5-2-1 would have to do. I expressed my displeasure by punching the wall after my final failed attempt at a handstand push-up. Then I ran out the door to complete my remaining quarter-mile. I definitely picked up the pace on the last 200 meters. That final burst not only kept me under Giulz's 18 minute time domain, it kept me under 17 minutes as well. Final time: 16:58.
I had grander aspirations than going 5-2-1 on the handstand push-ups in this workout, but that was the best I could muster. As I sat on one of the benches trying to figure out where I messed up, I thought back to the extra work I had done with Josh M on handstand push-ups. That was when it dawned on me that I had ignored the one tip that he had said to me over and over again. "Stay tight!" Every time I kicked up on to the wall, Josh had said that to me. Did I focus on keeping my core tight as I did this workout? Not at all. Is that the reason why I wasn't able to kip up out of the bottom of the handstand push-up? Probably. When I do any type of squat at the gym, I'm very conscious of keeping my core tight so that my body stays solid under the weight as I move down and up. This was no different. My body was the weight. I was going down then up (albeit upside-down). If I wasn't keeping my core tight, then I wasn't staying solid through the movement. I was simply using a bunch of energy to flail upwards with poor form. If I wanted to get better at doing handstand push-ups in workouts, I needed to remember to keep my core tight.
Friday preview: A favorite strength workout of mine makes a rare appearance in the programming. It's time to find a 1RM overhead squat!
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