Performance Respected

Workout date: 7/18/17

You've already seen what my arms looked like after Monday's wall climbing extravaganza.  I didn't share pictures of my chest because...well, because I don't take shirtless pictures of myself.  That seems a little too Carlos Danger-esque for my taste.  You won't be surprised to learn that my upper torso was covered with bruises just as my arms were.  Crossfit is rarely confused with organized sports, but it sure felt like I had taken part in Monday night football.  I was hoping for a nice, relaxing strength session on Tuesday night that might allow me to recover a bit.  Lo and behold, a strength WOD was programmed!  Unfortunately, I wasn't specific enough with my telepathic request. This strength WOD would end with not one, but two cash-outs at the end.  That didn't sound like a recovery day to me.

There were seven of us sweating our way through another humid version of Dudes After Dark.  Esra was the only lady in class.  She would have to put up with the antics of Keith D, Neil, Bryan, Bret, Actuary Mike, and myself.  During the first half of class, we'd be working our way towards a 5RM back squat.  Then we would tackle the following two cash-outs:

Cash-out #1:
Using 70% of your 5RM, 1 min AMRAP of back squats (don't put your barbell down!)

Cash-out #2:
7 minute AMRAP
10 thrusters (115/75)
15 alternating DB snatch (50/35)

I wasn't terribly excited about either of those cash-outs, but I have developed a taste for heavy squats, so I started working on a game plan for my 5RM.  This was one of our benchmark workouts for the year and I was trying to keep a streak going.  When we had done this in January, I hit a PR of 285 pounds.  In April, I hit another PR when I did 5 back squats with 290 pounds on my barbell.  Tonight I would be trying to get my third straight PR by doing 5 reps at 295 pounds.  How would I get there?  I can name that tune in six notes: 135-185-225-255-275-295.

My upper body might have been extremely sore, but my legs were feeling good early on.  I rapidly moved through the sets at 135, 185, and 225.  Usually I'll pause a couple of times during the set at 225, but that wasn't necessary on this night.  The ease with which I did that third set made me reconsider my overall plan.  I had been steadily increasing my 5RM by 5 pounds every three months, so 295 was the natural next step, but wouldn't 300 pounds sound so much sexier?  I developed a Plan B.  If my set at 255 felt really good, I'd go with 285 and 300 for my final two sets.  If the set at 225 was a fluke and 255 felt like it normally did, then I'd stick with the original plan of 275 and 295.

Suddenly my fourth set of the night had a lot more riding on it than it typically does.  I could have gotten all anxious about it, but instead I watched a couple of the bigger guys in class easily dispatch more weight than I was about to have on my barbell.  I had never taken class with Bret, but he was very impressive to watch on the back squat.  He would end up doing a set with 345 pounds on his barbell.  I always joke that Neil doesn't know how strong he is, but I think he's starting to figure it out.  He would wind up with a top set of 315 pounds.

Watching those guys close in on some big-time PR's sent good vibes my way.  That crucial set at 255 required pauses, but I was never in trouble.  That meant I was headed to 285 for my next set.  I was very deliberate on each of the reps in that set, but my form remained excellent.  Didn't get stuck at all.  Didn't even come up on my toes as I'm known to do.  I was really feeling good about my chances on the set at 300 pounds.

Sadly, things wouldn't go my way on the last set.  If you told me in advance that I would fail on the set at 300 pounds, I would have guessed that I made it through 3 or 4 reps, then got stuck on a rep and couldn't fight through it.  It would have been disappointing, but I would have understood.  What actually happened was very different.  I took the barbell from the rack and prepared myself for the first rep.  The barbell didn't feel impossibly heavy or anything like that.  When I hit the bottom of the squat, I was confident that I'd be standing up with the barbell about 2 seconds later.  Instead, I barely moved from that position.  When I get stuck on a squat, it usually happens after I've come up from the bottom a little bit.  Not this time.  I couldn't get any drive out of the bottom.  As I tried to escape my predicament, I noticed some pain in my right calf.  I was not messing around with 300 pounds while cramping.  I tossed the barbell off of my shoulders and dove forward.  A promising night of back squats came to a disappointing end.  There would be no PR for me tonight.

The problem for me was that the next item on the docket was more back squats.  They would be lighter back squats, but I wasn't sure how heavy I should go (or if I should do any at all) because of the cramping in my calf.  I had some time between my last set and cash-out #1, so I spent it rubbing out the afflicted calf.  It felt like I had avoided the truly awful version of a cramp (sharp pain that won't go away) and was experiencing his mild cousin instead.  Could I do a minute of back squats with 205 pounds like I had done in January and April?  I hoped so.  If the pain flared up again, I was just going to stand with the barbell on my back instead of squatting.  (The rule for cash-out #1 was that you couldn't drop the barbell or put it on the rack before a minute was up.  I was pretty sure I could stand with 205 pounds for 60 seconds, if necessary.)

LC made sure everyone had shed 30% of their 5RM weight and got the clock ready for our sixty second sprint.  I made it through about 20 seconds before I started to feel some pain.  It wasn't so bad that I needed to stop doing back squats, but it wasn't something I wanted to mess with by trying to sprint for a full minute.  I slowed down my pace over the next 30 seconds, then tried to be a hero for the last 10 seconds or so.  After getting 18 reps in January and April, I only got 16 this time, although that was pretty good considering the circumstances.

Cash-out #2 was a new one for me.  The thrusters were moderately heavy, but there were only 10 per round.  Similar story with the DB snatches: moderate weight, moderate volume.  Just like the first cash-out, it seemed like something I could get through, but it probably wasn't going to feel wonderful.  I split up the first 10 thrusters into equal sets of 5 reps.  I thought the DB snatches would turn out to be the easier of the two movements, but it turned out to be the opposite.  I kept up my pattern of doing 5 reps per set, but every time I caught a snatch with bent knees, I felt pain.  I'm not sure why I didn't experience the same pain when I did the thrusters.  All I know is I was glad to return to the barbell.  I had to break up the thrusters more the second time around, going 4-3-3.  When I came back to my DB, I stumbled upon a pain-free way of getting through the snatches.  On my first rep, I grabbed the DB and threw it up over my head.  I forgot to bend my knees during the rep, making it a muscle snatch.  There's nothing wrong with doing the rep this way.  Instead of feeling it in your legs, you notice the strain in your lower back.  That was a fair trade for me.  I was having leg problems, not back problems.  Performing the reps this way was a bit more difficult, but I managed to complete 15 reps in three sets again.

When I returned to my barbell, there was less than a minute left in the cash-out.  I did 3 thrusters before dropping the barbell.  I was desperate for a break, but I told myself I could have as much rest as I liked once the cash-out was over.  As time was ticking down, I picked the barbell up and pushed through 4 more reps.  Final score: 2+7.

LC asked us for a summary of our workouts.  She went around the room asking what we got on our 5RM and if that was a PR or not.  Then she asked us for our scores on the two cash-outs.  She told everyone that they did a good job before adding "especially those of you who got PR's".  I knew I hadn't gotten a PR, so I felt a little left out by that comment.  The only other person in class to not get a PR was Mike.  He was more vocal about feeling excluded by LC's comment.  This seemed like a wonderful opportunity to give LC a hard time, so I chimed in as well.  We both knew that LC had no malice behind her comment, but we decided to have some fun with her.  LC tried to make us understand that she wasn't leaving us out, but we kept pretending to be hurt by what she said.  Mike and I proclaimed that we would need to console ourselves with ice cream at Frosty Falls.

In the end, nearly the entire class would head over to Frosty Falls for a post-WOD treat.  While we enjoyed some ice cream to cap off the evening, we took turns guessing what PR stood for in LC's mind.  My favorite interpretation of PR was "Performance Respected", because LC had only shown real love to the 5 athletes with PR next to their names.  (I kid, I kid!)

Wednesday preview: The environment inside the gym becomes pretty unbearable.  For the third week in a row, I struggle in coach Jenna's class.