After three days of destroying my legs, I needed a day off on Thursday. That wound up leading to a long weekend away from the gym. I knew I couldn't make it in on Friday as I had plans in the city. And I haven't come in for a weekend workout unless I had a compelling reason to do so. As a result, I got four days of recovery rather than one, but I can tell you that my legs were grateful for the extended break.
We had some strange weather on Monday. Hurricane Nate had been making its way up the East Coast and what was left of it reached the western suburbs of Philly on Monday morning. It looked miserable as I peered out the window, but I discovered that it was weather I liked when I went outside. It was a nice, gentle rain accompanied by some mildly warm temperatures. I could get behind that. I'd be really happy if I could bottle this up and bring it to the gym with me for the workout tonight.
Turns out I wouldn't get that lucky. The weather changed as the day went on and by the time I came in for the 6:30 class, it was extremely muggy inside the gym. Giulz told us a story while we got warmed up about how she was in an earlier class and had to deal with similar conditions. By the end of class, she found herself throwing up in the ladies room. Moral of the story: this workout was not going to be pleasant.
The weird thing about Giulz's story is that the Monday WOD wasn't some long drawn-out metcon that we had to suffer through. Instead it was the same format that I had seen in many recent workouts: one part strength, one part short cash-out. Here's what was on Monday's menu:
Monday's WOD:
3RM shoulder press
Cash-out:
30-20-10
Chest-to-bar pull-ups
DB push press (35/20)
*Time cap: 12 minutes
If that WOD looks familiar to you, then you have been paying really close attention to this blog. Good for you! You get a gold star. The 3RM shoulder press was a 2017 benchmark workout and we did the same cash-out back in July. (Note: A different cash-out was scheduled after the 3RM shoulder press when we did this in January and April.) There were 15 of us in class, so we needed to partner up on the shoulder press. Actuary Mike and I ended up sharing a rack for this one. Mike would be working towards a new PR at 110 pounds, while I would be chasing a new PR at 145 pounds.
As we made our way through some of the lighter sets, I took a minute to go over and talk to Neil. The Brawl In The Fall competition was taking place in November. This event is a bit different from the one held in the summertime. The summer version includes teams of 4 with two males and two females. You can sign up for either the scaled or RX divisions. The fall version recruits teams of 2 with one male and one female. You can still sign up for either the scaled or RX divisions, but if you have aged like a fine wine, you also have the option to join one of the age group divisions. The categories available are 35-44, 45-54, and 55+. Neil and his partner Ashley were not old enough for any of those groups, so they would be taking part in the scaled division. Kris had contacted me and asked me if I could brainstorm names for her team (she was signed up with Bryan) and for Neil's team. I came up with lots of ideas, but most of the ones that I came up with for Bryan and Kris weren't that great. I wasn't having much luck with Neil and Ashley's team name until Sunday afternoon. I was running around the yard with my dog Griffin when a really good team name popped in my head. I told Neil that I came up with a name for his team, but he stopped me in my tracks. He and Ashley had already signed up. And they had used the name I gave them last week. Huh?
Remember how I said we all hung out gabbing after last week's Dudes After Dark? Well one of the things we talked about was how much Mike enjoyed trying to complete the Flight Simulator at Open Strength on Monday nights. It had become so common that it felt like Open Strength on Monday needed a name, a la Dudes After Dark. So I came up with "Flight Night With Mike". The name got positive reviews overall, but it probably amused me more than anyone else. "Flight Night With Mike" tickled my fancy so much that I suggested one of the teams use it for The Brawl In The Fall. It wouldn't make sense to anyone outside the gym, but it had a nice ring to it at least. Little did I know that Neil and Ashley would actually go with it. I was flattered that they did, but it took the air out of the suggestion I came up with over the weekend. Neil and Ashley both work at Vanguard, so I thought they would enjoy "Vanguardians Of The Galaxy". Why did I prematurely push Flight Night With Mike?
Enough about the Fall Brawl, let's get back to the 3RM shoulder press. Mike made easy work out of his early sets at 75, 85, and 95. I didn't have any problems with my sets at 95, 115, and 125. I thought Mike would keep making 10 pound jumps, but he decided to be more conservative when it came to his 4th set. He only added 5 pounds, but still looked like he wasn't breaking a sweat as he did three reps at 100. I was going to be sweating a lot during my set at 135. In July, I had done a lot of contorting to get through three reps at 140. I knew I could handle a set at 135, but it wasn't going to be easy. It really came down to the first rep. If that went well, the rest of the set would probably be okay. Surprisingly, the first rep went very well and I didn't have much trouble with the other two. Could I really get three reps at 145 when the three reps I did at 140 in July were so ugly?
Mike moved on to 105 for his next set. I try my best to avoid tying my previous best marks, but Mike didn't have a problem with it. Once again, he made it look easy. This boy was definitely writing PR next to his name tonight. I was up next with 145 pounds, my 1RM. All I kept thinking about was how well the set at 135 had gone. This might be a struggle, but it's not impossible. Keep the faith! I took the barbell from the rack and only got stuck a little bit as I pressed out rep #1. Don't slow down, keep that barbell moving! I brought the barbell back down, let it hit my shoulders, then pressed up for rep #2. This rep was a lot more difficult. For a second, I thought I might not get it, but somehow it kept heading north. One rep to go! PR city! Make it happen! I bounced the barbell off my shoulders one more time and pressed up with everything I had. I was willing to grunt. I was willing to fight. But that damn barbell was more stubborn than I was. Eventually I had to relent and drop it to back to my shoulders and put it back on the rack. At least I got a new 2RM! (Hooray?)
I might not have been destined for a new PR, but Mike certainly was. We put 110 pounds on the barbell for him. I'm always more psyched to see someone else hit a PR and there was no doubt in my mind that Mike was going to be successful here. Rep #1: Yawn. Rep #2: Easy peasy. Rep #3: Uh oh. Mike hadn't struggled with a single rep yet, but he was going to have work on rep #3 if he wanted this PR. He never let the barbell stop moving and although it took a little longer than he probably would have liked, Mike pressed out the third rep and got a PR.
There was no point in trying 145 again because I knew I wasn't going to get three reps, so I decided to add 5 pounds to the barbell. Say what? No, I hadn't gone loco. I wanted 150 pounds on the barbell so that I could try and hit a new 1RM. I had never shoulder pressed more than 145 pounds. Having just done 2 reps at that weight told me that a single rep at 150 wasn't out of the question. It was nothing but positive thoughts and adrenaline as I approached the barbell for my final lift. I took the barbell from the rack and...it went nowhere. It was so much worse than my attempt to get the third rep at 145. I'm not even sure that you could have slid a piece of paper between the barbell and my shoulders. The set at 145 was the end for me. I just didn't realize it at the time. Mike would go on to try 115 pounds, but he had the same issues I did at 150. 110 would be his final score. My final score: 135.
We all got organized for the cash-out and Giulz asked us to grab our DBs. I was surprised to see that there were so many 50 pound DBs available in a class this big. Surely other people (Neil came to mind) would be going RX in this cash-out. Maybe they were warming up with a lighter DB? I wasn't sure what the deal was, but I couldn't complain about having my choice of the 50 pound DBs. I chose a pair with rubber ends (always gentler in case you drop them to the floor) and headed down to the far end of the gym where I'd be doing the cash-out. Giulz asked us to do 5 reps of the push press with our DBs. I knew these were going to be tough, but I made it through 5 reps. I had done well recently when facing mental hurdles and I was chalking up the heavy DB push presses as nothing but another one of those. I put the DBs down and shook out my arms.
We didn't have partners for the cash-out, but Mike was still looking out for me. He saw my DBs and asked me what the heck I was doing. I didn't understand his question. The RX weights were 50/35, weren't they? Ummm...no, they were not. Mike pointed to the whiteboard. It clearly said the RX weights were 35/20. I nearly made a huge mistake. I picked up my DBs and hustled back over towards the lobby where I could exchange them. My illiteracy explained why so many 50 pound DBs were available. It also explained why all of the 35 pound DBs were gone. I had no choice but to use 30 pound DBs instead.
Giulz broke us up into two heats to try and dilute the traffic that would be present on the pull-up rig. I was in heat two, so I would have to wait a couple of minutes before getting started on my chest-to-bar pull-ups. Once it was my turn to go, I realized that I was going to have to adjust my typical chest-to-bar pull-up technique. In order to hit my chest against the bar, I have to do a pretty wild kip. That means I take up a lot of space with my feet kicking out in front of me. Caitlyn was stationed at the next bar up from me and she looked close enough that I might hit her during my reps. I had no desire to kick the unsuspecting Caitlyn in the back during the cash-out, so whenever I swung forward on the bar, I flared my knees out wide. Depending on where she was on her rep, I imagined that my knees were probably appearing alongside of her. Hopefully that wasn't freaking her out too much. Once we slowed down and both needed breaks, I would simply wait until she took her rest before doing my reps. When she started again, I took a break. There was one moment where she pump-faked a break, stepping down on to her box before immediately getting back on to her bar. I accidentally bumped into her on that rep and apologized. (Esra was behind me and accidentally bumped into me once as well.)
I wanted to stay under 11 minutes for this cash-out, but the chest-to-bar pull-ups were really difficult to get through. A muggy gym plus a movement that naturally knocks the wind out of you is a recipe for getting time capped. Luckily, I had warmed up with 50 pound DBs, so the push presses felt pretty easy when I got to them. I went 20-10 in round one and 14-6 in round two. By the time I got to round three of the chest-to-bar pull-ups, I knew I'd stay under the time cap. It was simply a matter of whether I could beat 11 minutes.
To begin the last 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups, I did three sets of two quick singles. I was having a lot of difficulty breathing and couldn't convince myself to do more than that. Giulz's story about throwing up was also resonating at that moment. The clock can be a powerful motivator though. I knew these sets of two wouldn't cut it, so I willed myself through the last four in a row to get back to the DBs. I picked up the DBs and did 10 push presses as fast as I could, but it was too little, too late. Final time: 11:05.
I definitely needed some time to lie on the floor as I had no desire to heave up my lunch in the men's room. The conditions were awful in the gym. We really didn't do much in the way of cardio, yet here I was feeling as nauseous as I had ever felt at the end of a WOD. We needed cooler temps in the gym ASAP.
Once we had wiped down the pull-up bars and put our DBs away, it was time for Flight Night With Mike. Oh yes, Mike was feeling much better than I was and wanted another shot at the Flight Simulator. He got Esra and Caitlyn to join him, but I declined his invite. Even if I wasn't feeling pukey, I wouldn't have participated. Finishing the Flight Simulator was a cool goal, but once I had done it, I had no desire to do it again. I don't read a lot of stories about people coming down from Mount Everest saying "man, I can't wait to do that again next year!" That's basically how I viewed the Flight Simulator now that I had conquered it.
Mike and Esra were doing the full Flight Simulator while Caitlyn was doing sets from 3 to 30 rather than the normal 5 to 50. We recommended that for her because this was her first time attempting the Flight Simulator. How did they do?
Who doesn't love the Flight Simulator?
Mike was a rock star. The guy never seems to get tired, so fatigue didn't play as large a role in this workout for him as it always did for me. When I did this, I knew I couldn't mess up very much or I'd be too tired to get through it all. The only reason Mike hadn't completed the Flight Simulator up to this point is because he had a lot of near misses on big sets in previous attempts. That wouldn't be the case tonight. He only messed up twice while making his way through the 19 sets required. Throw in that he didn't need as much recovery time as I did and this bout was called early. Mike's final time: 18:24.
Esra had the best form of this trio. She also had the fastest rope speed. So it was odd to see her struggling so much during the first 5-10 minutes of this workout. She would jump back and forth during her sets and it is possible that was what tripped her up. It was hard to see what else it could be. She was stuck on the set of 25 for an eternity, but once she finally got past that one, she had a few successful sets in a row. She made it through the round of 40 before the 25 minute time cap hit.
Caitlyn was feeling good early on in her attempt. While taking a break after the set of 18, she told us that she wished she had done the regular format (where each set increases by 5 rather than 3). The Crossfit gods did not like that. Poor Caitlyn did set after set after set where she got 20 reps when she needed 21. She must have done 10 sets that ended somewhere in the 15-20 double under range. By that point, frustration becomes too tough to overcome. She was still stuck on that set of 21 when the time cap hit.
Esra and Caitlyn were on board with trying this again next week, but I had a hard time believing Mike would want to make a return appearance. Flight Night With Mike was already defunct. It needed a new name. I couldn't come up with something that rhymed with Esra, so I offered up "Flight Date With Cait". If you see a team with that name at the Brawl In The Fall, you will know where they got it from.
Tuesday preview: Esra breaks the rules. Bryan outduels me in the warmup. I begin to seriously question if Crossfit KOP is the right place for me.
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