Literally And Metaphorically

Workout date: 9/11/17

KOP has a special Memorial WOD that we do every year on 9/11.  It is a partner WOD with a bunch of symbolic elements to it.  I'll let you read what each team does during the workout and then go into the symbolism afterwards:

"9/11 Memorial WOD"

Teams of 2, one athlete works at a time

Bear crawl 500 feet

100 step-ups (45/25 to 24"/20")

100 sumo deadlift high pulls (75/55)

100 step-ups

Bear crawl 500 feet

200 meter buddy carry

According to the KOP blog, here is the symbolism behind each of those movements (as well as my guesses as to what I thought they represented):

• The bear crawls remind us that we may not always be able to walk tall into any situation but that should not deter us from the end goal of helping someone in need.  (I would have guessed the bear crawls represented staying low when trying to escape a building that is on fire.  0 for 1 on knowing the symbolism.)
• The step-ups remind us of the endless flights of stairs that many brave souls endured in order to help others in need.  (Definitely knew this represented the stairs in the towers.  1 for 2.)
• The sumo deadlift high pulls remind us of the rubble that needed to be removed in order to save the life of a complete stranger.  (I've never been able to figure out how sumo deadlift high-pulls are a functional movement, so I had no clue what the symbolism would be here.  I like what they came up with though.  1 for 3.)
• The buddy carry reminds us that we are all in this together and that life is the greatest of gifts and it is the only thing worth dying for.  (This movement had the clearest connection to that tragic day.  Just as first responders carried victims to safety at their own peril, we'd be carrying our partners to the finish line.  Final symbolism score: 2 for 4.)

I had only done this workout once before and it was with Oleg, one of my favorite people from way back when I started at the gym.  Oleg was a very good all-around athlete, but I learned during this WOD that he was exceptional when it came to bear crawls.  As in the best I've ever seen at our gym (still true to this day).  We split up the bear crawls at the beginning of the workout, but it made more sense to have him do most of the crawls at the end because he was just so much faster than I was.  I tried to make up the difference by doing most of the buddy carry, the only part of this workout that fell into my wheelhouse.

There were 10 of us in Coach Giulz's 6:30 class, a nice even number for this workout.  Breaking it down even further, we had 4 women and 6 men in class, so there were no awkward moments at the beginning of class trying to figure out which team would be a partnership between a guy and a girl.  (I'm not sure why that's always awkward, but it is.)  Of all the guys there, the one that I partner up with the most was Cline, so it was natural for us to join forces on this WOD.  The other male duos were Mike C with Borden and Mike M with Erik.  The two female teams were Danielle with Tia and Caitlyn with Brittany.

This was a long workout and there was plenty to go over, so Giulz got right into the movements and even dabbled in some strategy talk as well.  First up was the bear crawl.  Each pass down the gym was 50 feet, so each team had to complete 10 lengths before moving on to the step-ups.  When I did this with Oleg, all of the teams had athlete #1 go down the gym and back before tagging in their partner.  There was nothing wrong with that strategy, but Giulz offered up a better one.  Each time one teammate got down to the other end of the gym, they should yell to their partner to go.  Then they would wait until athlete #2 joined them before returning back to the starting point.  Why bear crawl for 100 meters at a time when it was more efficient to do half that amount?  I liked this plan, especially because I sucked at the bear crawl.

Before grabbing equipment for the step-ups and the sumo deadlift high pulls, Giulz talked to us about the buddy carry.  There were two ways to perform the buddy carry.  You could go with the scarier-looking, but more efficient fireman's carry or you could simply have your partner hop on for a piggy-back ride.  I was all about the fireman's carry.  It took some getting used to, but it was much easier carrying someone that way than it was to have them on your back.  Like the J-hook on the rope climb, there was an element of faith involved, except in this instance two people needed to have faith.  If the fireman's carry was so much better, why entertain the idea of going with the piggy-back?  Because when you got tired, you had less faith that you were going to hold on to your partner.  The piggy-back was slower, but more secure (like the S-hook on the rope climb!).

While Giulz was explaining the buddy carry options, I told Cline that he would have to carry me in this workout both literally and metaphorically.  How often do you get to say something that holds true both literally and metaphorically at the same time?  (Maybe I'm just being a geek, but I'm pretty sure the answer is "almost never".)  I was no match for Giulz though.  Every phrase that came out of her mouth while demonstrating the fireman's carry sounded like it had a double meaning.  My personal favorite was "put your arm between your partner's legs, it is the best way to pick them up".  I mean, that seems a little direct to me, but I'm sure it works.  Giulz had each of us attempt the fireman's carry with our teammate.  Cline had no trouble carrying me and I was okay jogging down the gym and back with Cline on my shoulders.  Tia and Danielle were not finding it so easy though.  Your partner is supposed to be draped over your shoulders like a mink stole, but Tia had Danielle wrapped around her like the WWE championship belt.  The discount double check might work for Aaron Rodgers, but it wasn't panning out for these two.

We moved on to the step-ups next, where I had delusions of using 45 pound DBs.  I could have sworn that is what I used when I did this WOD with Oleg and I still stand by that.  However, after having some time to reflect back on that workout, I'm pretty sure we only used a 20" box.  We were using a 24" box here and that had a dramatic effect on my ability to step up with heavy DBs.  I struggled during the warmup, so there was no reason to be foolish and use the 45 pounders for 100 step-ups in the workout.  I exchanged them for the lighter 35 pound models.  I could move better with those, but they were still no picnic.

The last thing to practice was the sumo deadlift high pulls.  Both Cline and I had to do these with a 115 pound barbell during the Festivus Games last year, so 75 pounds was relatively mild.  I think both of us find this movement to be awkward, but we'd probably spend less time at this station than any of the others.

Cline was leading us off on the bear crawl.  He scampered down the gym really quickly.  When it was my turn to go, I tried not to be too slow.  I wasn't as fast as Cline, but I wasn't awful during the first round of bear crawls.  I'd save my incompetence for the bear crawls later on.  All five teams got over to the step-ups at about the same time.  Cline and I agreed to do these in sets of 10.  When you were doing your 10 reps, it felt like the set was dragging on forever.  When your partner was doing their set, it felt like their 10 reps went by lightning fast.  Neither Cline nor I felt like we were getting enough rest between sets, but when your partner tagged you in, you had to get moving again.

Pain can't slow down Cline as I try to recover in my resting squat

I was happy to do anything other than step-ups, even if that meant awkward sumo deadlift high pulls. We continued doing sets of 10 reps.  For the first time in this WOD, I had found a spot where I wasn't slowing our team down.  I moved through my sets of 10 as quick as I could.  I knew I was going to struggle again on the step-ups and the bear crawl, so I wanted to make up time here if possible.

With 100 sumo deadlift high pulls in the books, it was back to the step-ups.  We each did a set of 10 before Cline suggested that we do smaller sets of five.  Sign me up!  We each did 4 sets of five reps, but I was having a hard time going right into my sets.  Cline would finish his five reps and then lay the DBs on the box, but I'd always take a few seconds before picking them up and doing my set.  Cline volunteered to do more of the step-ups to help me out and I didn't hesitate to take him up on the offer.  He would do four sets of 6 and I would do four sets of 4.

If I never do another step-up again, I'd be okay with that

I was definitely exhausted when we came back to the bear crawls.  Cline wasn't moving as nimbly as he had been in round one, but he was still much faster than I was.  My back had begun to feel sore towards the end of the step-ups, so I was trying to arch my back a variety of ways during the bear crawls to stretch it out.  When I got to the 4th bear crawl, I actually had to stop along the way because my back was bothering me so much.  I stopped not once, but twice.  I started to wonder if I was even going to be able to do the buddy carry once the bear crawls were done.  The buddy carry was my favorite part of the workout.  It would be really depressing if I couldn't manage that.

After completing my 5th and final bear crawl (this time without stopping), all we had left was the buddy carry.  Cline was going to carry me to the turnaround point near Frosty Falls.  I would carry him back.  Cline and I had done another partner WOD that included a buddy carry and I remembered that he wanted to step over the barrier in the parking lot even though he was toting over 210 pounds of dead weight on his shoulders.  Cline had a tradition of hurdling the barrier on every run we did at KOP and he wasn't going to break that tradition just because he was responsible for another person's safety.  To his credit, he didn't trip or drop me as he went over the barrier in that WOD.  As we got ready for this buddy carry, I asked him (rhetorically) if he was going over the barrier, to which he responded "of course!"

Over the barrier we went.  When we got down near the annex, Cline slowed down.  I asked if he needed a break and he said yes.  I climbed down off of him so he could catch his breath.  After a short break, I was on his shoulders again.  We were probably about 15 meters from the turnaround point when Cline put me down a second time.  This break was longer.  I tried to encourage him by telling him that he was almost done, but he didn't seem to be buying it.  Then I found out why.  He thought we had to each carry our partner for 200 meters, so in his head, he still had a long way to go.  When he realized that he had less than 10 seconds of work left, he told me to hop on board and jogged me to the turnaround point.

Getting to be a passenger for a while gave me all the recovery that I needed for the buddy carry.  I immediately got Cline on my shoulders and began jogging back to the gym.  Tia and Danielle were well ahead of us, but Tia was struggling again in her attempt to carry Danielle.  I was closing the gap quickly before Tia and Danielle decided to switch places.  Danielle knew I was about to pass them, so she hustled with her teammate to get back before us.  We were in a mini-sprint to the finish.  As we got close to the gym doors, I slowed down.  I'm not sure if I would have caught the girls if I had kept up my speed, but I decided that tradition trumped victory.  I wasn't going to sprint towards the gap that led to the gym doors.  I veered to my left towards the barrier.

Danielle and Tia speed off to the gym as I bring Cline to the barrier

Giulz had been yelling at both teams to hurry and beat the other, so she was confused when I put on the brakes.  It made even less sense when I yelled back that she had to move out of the way.  She thought I was nuts as I approached the barrier with Cline draped over me.  But there was only one appropriate way for this workout to end.

"Carrying" on a tradition

Once I had gotten over the barrier, I sprinted across the road and put Cline down inside the gym.  Final time: 30:00 (8 seconds behind Danielle and Tia).

Cline definitely carried the team through the majority of this workout, but it was nice that I could make a race out of it at the end by pitching in with a strong buddy carry.

Tuesday preview: Danielle makes an appearance at Dudes After Dark.  People have unique ideas with regards to what should be on their calendars.  I get to wander outside between rounds of a workout.