After completing the workout on Friday, I ended up spending some time chatting with Shawna in the lobby of the gym. Shawna is the one-woman decorating crew for the annual prom at our gym and she was scrambling to finish up her lunch before setting up this year's event. It reminded me of all the times that I've come in for the Friday nooner and witnessed Aimee scarfing down her lunch as quickly as she could so that class started on time. Shawna had a bunch of items on her to-do list, but the most daunting one seemed to be conquering the helium tank and creating a balloon arch for the festivities.
I think Shawna figured out the helium tank
Shawna had mentioned that she hadn't seen me in a few weeks. Even though we've rarely taken classes together in the past, I used to run into Shawna a lot because I tended to take the class right after hers. I'm not sure if she's started coming in earlier or whether I've started coming in later, but our paths had stopped crossing. I knew there was one way I could guarantee seeing her and that was by attending her mobility class. Shawna leads a mobility class in the annex once a month. She let me know that the May class was taking place on the upcoming Wednesday. I let her know that I would definitely be there.
Fast forward five days. I was sitting in traffic wondering why no one in front of me could execute a left turn. It felt like every driver from New Jersey was blocking my route to the gym. Shawna's mobility class began at 5:30, so I knew traffic was going to be heavier than it normally is when I drive to the gym for 6:30 or 7:30 classes. I thought I had built in enough extra time to get to the gym by 5:30, but as I sat there ripping out my non-existent hair, it became apparent that I was going to be late for class. It was almost 5:35 when I pulled into the KOP parking lot. I ran inside the main gym to drop off my bag (I was still doing the WOD at 6:30) before heading to the annex for mobility.
As I was dropping off my bag, Keithie asked me if I was there for class. He was coaching the 5:30 and the class looked like they were filtering back in after a 400 meter run. When I said I was actually there for mobility with Shawna, Keithie replied "oh that's right, I forgot you like the female coaches better". It was good-natured ribbing in response to a recent post that I had written about the changing demographics of the coaching staff at KOP. Keithie then told the class about my blog, which means that there may be 1 or 2 more people reading this simply because they were in his 5:30 class. The real number is probably zero, but a guy can dream.
While I ran over to the annex, I thought about what Keithie had said and felt a bit guilty about it. My intention in that post wasn't to make it seem like I prefer female coaches. More than anything, it was to point out that the coaching staff went from feeling like it was all-male to all-female (based on the classes that I attend). I wish it was more evenly split. There definitely isn't enough Keithie in my life. I've enjoyed the classes I've taken with Gordy. Jason's classes were always fun, but I think he only coaches one class per week now. Not one day per week. One class. So that rules him out. "Constantly varied" is part of the Crossfit mantra and I'd like to experience a little more variety with the coaches. A bit of what once was and a bit of what now is. Maybe I should just get my butt up on Saturdays and come in for one of Keithie's weekend classes.
I scrambled up the stairs of the annex (even tripping along the way) in a sad attempt to limit my tardiness. When I got upstairs, Shawna was guiding 2 athletes I knew (Donna and Sarah) and 2 that I didn't know (Leah and Natalie) through some stretches. I grabbed a spot by the wall near the door and tried to blend in. A few minutes later, Alona showed up and took over top honors as "latest to show up to class". During the next 50 minutes, Shawna put us through a series of stretches. Because I've never been the greatest with silence, I tried to lighten up the mood by making jokes whenever I had the chance. Didn't even matter if I knew the person I was bantering with. At one point, we were using the wall and a lacrosse ball to work out some spots near our shoulder blades and I had this interaction with Leah (or was it Natalie?):
Leah/Natalie: "I feel like I'm awkwardly grinding the wall right now."
Me: "Are there times when you grind the wall and it's not awkward?"
Leah/Natalie: "Touche."
(I imagine my incessant chatter would get me thrown out of KOP's yoga classes.)
One of the things we talked about during mobility class was whether Alona would end up doing the WOD at 6:30. She claimed she wasn't sure. I stated that I would bet just about everything I own that Alona would be taking the 6:30 with me. Alona and Jen are infamous for pulling two-a-days once Boot Camp starts up, so I couldn't imagine that Mobility class would keep her from today's WOD. Sure enough, Alona was at the 6:30 with me and 9 others. Coach Giulz would be advising us on how we should approach Event #2 from the upcoming Crossfit Regionals.
Regional Event #2:
21-15-9
DB snatches (80/50)
Ring dips
*For Regionals, this event had a 6 minute time cap. We did this without a time cap.
**Spoiler: This is the infamous workout that resulted in many pec tears during Regionals. There's a good chance that doing this combination of movements quickly is not wonderful for your body, no matter how fit you are. Thankfully, no one in our class tore a pectoral muscle during this WOD.
To ensure that no one had to wait on a set of rings, Giulz let us know that we were going to run this workout in two heats. She told us that we should be aiming to finish this workout in under 10 minutes. We went through the warmup in reverse order of how we'd do the movements in the WOD. The eleven of us gathered over at the rings. Eight people went to the main ring area, while I joined two others at the rings hanging from the ceiling. Giulz walked us through some progressions for the dips (holding yourself on the rings, various kips) before asking us to try and do 5 reps of whatever we planned on doing in the workout. I was going to use the band at my torso method, but there weren't any bands over at the rings I was using. So I attempted 5 kipping dips without a band. Good news: I got all five. Bad news: I could have used those dips later on in this workout.
From there, Giulz had us test out DB snatches. She wanted us to grab the DB we planned to use in the WOD and do a few reps in front of her. There was no part of me interested in using the RX weight of 80 pounds. I've struggled with some of the recent workouts that we have had that included the DB snatch. When we did Gordy's Masters qualifier event, it began with 100 snatches using a 50 pound DB. I fell apart rather quickly during that portion of that workout, so I wasn't flirting with going really heavy here. There were less reps in this WOD though (45 vs 100), so I was willing to go beyond 50 pounds for my DB. I split the difference between the 50 pounds I had used in the Masters qualifier and the RX weight of 80 pounds, settling on a 65 pound DB. Matt B was going with the same choice, while Rob C was determined to take on the 80 pound DB. Giulz let Rob know in advance that she felt 80 pounds was a mistake, going so far as to tell him that if he didn't finish in under 10 minutes using that DB, he would owe her 50 burpees.
Giulz asked us to do two reps with each arm. I was mildly worried that those four reps would expose my lousy DB snatch form. None of the reps felt particularly easy, but they made an impression on Giulz. Just not the one I was expecting. Usually Giulz will tell me that I'm going too heavy in a workout, but when I put my DB down, she told me that I could go heavier than 65 pounds for my DB. Matt did his reps next and got the same feedback. Neither of us were all that thrilled about being told we should grab a heavier DB (although it was nice to hear that the 65 pound DB looked too easy for us). We reluctantly trudged down to the front of the gym and grabbed 70 pound replacements. Meanwhile, Giulz was upping the ante on Rob. She let the class know that if he didn't finish in under 10 minutes, we would all have to do 50 burpees. I'm not sure if that tactic was used so that the rest of us would peer pressure him into going lighter or whether it was meant to make him feel guilty about the possible consequences for the class should he fail to meet her guideline. If it was the latter, it worked like a charm. Rob put the 80 pound DB back and grabbed the same 70 pound version that Matt and I would be using.
Everybody had settled on a DB weight and it was time for heat one to begin. Matt and I stood next to each other and began going rep for rep on the first round of snatches. I wasn't convinced that I could make it through 21 in a row, so I stopped after 14 to take a short break before completing my last 7 reps. I got to my rings just before Matt, but everyone in that heat seemed to arrive at the rings at around the same time. I had my band set up and got to work on the dips. I made it through 4 reps before coming down and that felt like the right amount per set for me. Using the scale where my torso hit the band was also the proper choice for me. Giulz explained in the warmup that by having my torso hit the band (rather than putting my knee on it), I wasn't getting any assistance in terms of bouncing up out of the dip. Instead, the band would simply be helping me stay stable on the rings. The five practice reps I had done without a band showed that I was strong enough for dips. However, there was the real possibility that my arms would get shaky as they began to tire out. The band would keep me from wobbling uncontrollably on the rings when I reached that point.
I went 4-4-4-4-3-2 to get through my round of 21. That doesn't sound too bad, but my breaks became longer and longer as I moved through that round. I kept trying to shake out my arms, but it wasn't helping a whole lot. Maybe I shouldn't have wasted energy on proving I could do 5 real reps in the warmup! As I headed back to my DB, I was either last or second to last in my heat. Matt wasn't far ahead of me though. He was working on his second round of snatches when I got back to my DB. I did three sets of five there with short breaks in between each set. I had moved pretty quickly with the DB. Unfortunately the reward for that was a quick return to the rings.
I got through one final set of 4 reps to open up the round of 15, but from that point on, my sets would be much smaller. Usually 2 reps. Occasionally only one at a time. A lot of those one rep sets would be sets that were intended to be 2 reps long, but I couldn't lock out the second rep. I had several no reps in this round and I'd have several more in the final round of 9. I started to fall way behind Matt. Soon, Cline and I were the only ones working. It took a while, but I got back to my DB. I angrily did 9 consecutive reps, even though I knew it meant I'd have to go back to the rings less than 30 seconds after I had left them. I received a lot of encouragement from the rest of the class as I struggled through the remaining dips, but single reps were the best I could manage. My arms were completely smoked by the time I locked out my 9th dip of the last round. Final time: 13:16.
I spent most of heat two rooting on Matt E and Rob, while also emphasizing to everyone that Rob had heeded Giulz's warning about not going RX for this workout. I never have the urge to do 50 burpees, but I certainly wasn't eager to do them after this WOD. It took Rob 11 minutes flat to complete the workout with the lighter DB, so I'm glad he didn't attempt to do this workout RX. His decision to scale didn't save us from burpees though. Giulz told us after heat two ended that we were finishing up with three minutes of burpees or, as she called it, "extra fitness". Come on! Giulz ended up showing us some mercy by trimming "extra fitness" in half, so we only had to do burpees for 90 seconds to finish off our day.
Thursday preview: HULK SMASH!!! I accidentally break KOP equipment.
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