Our Time to Change

I modified the WOD this morning to remove running and jump rope to allow less impact on my ankle.  Those movements are still painful.  Yet other movements, such as KB swings, where my feet are pretty much locked down, feel fine.  So I am going to keep going as I have been so that I can get back to 100%.  That said, here was the WOD I did:

20 minute AMRAP:

• 15 kettlebell swings @ 70lbs
• 500m row

I had two goals with this, the first being to keep every 500m row under 2 minutes and second, to do all of the swings unbroken.  I made it through 5 1/2 rounds and accomplished both goals.  Moving the 70# KB is starting to feel more natural and as crazy as this is going to sound, it didn’t really totally challenge me until the last set.  Of course by then the row felt like someone was tugging on the other end as well.

Post-WOD:

• 10-10-10 GHD situps

Deadlift:

• 275# x 10
• 275# x 8
• 305# x 6
• 315# x 4
• 345# x 2
• 375# x 1
• 405# x 1

And with that, I am officially tired of deadlifts this week.  Taking the pressure off my ankle with certain movements has really helped.  Figure I will keep that trend going this week and late next week try going for a slow run and see how that goes.

This morning was my first time back at CrossFit in over a week, trying to let this ankle heal up properly. As odd as it sounds, certain lifts where my feet stay planted feel fine. Others, where there is more movement will have to wait.

I tried some split jerks off the rack and got two at 185#. My ankle felt too tender with the split so I opted for deads. We did a ladder working from 135# up to 435# and then went back down again. I did a few warmup sets of power cleans and then did 5 power cleans at 165# every minute on the minute for about 6 minutes. Then I did 2 power cleans at 185# every minute on the minute for about 5 minutes. Felt pretty good, but tired.

I wanted to get some cardio in and did a 5K row (20:36) which felt pretty good. A tad bit of rocking and movement on the ankle but nothing uncomfortable or even painful.

Right now I feel pretty good. In tired, but not in pain. I was going stir crazy not working out. It was starting to mess with my head and have a negative impact on my mood as well. Going to take the next week and play it smart at CF so that I can heal up and get back to 100%.

I have had this on my mind for a while now but it keeps coming back up for some reason.  As any of you out there can attest to, the minute you lose enough weight for people to notice one of the very first questions asked is “How did you lose the weight?”  At first I was always really excited to answer that question but as time goes on it gets a little frustrating.  The answer is a lifestyle change through a change of how I eat coupled with exercise as well as more active life in general. 

But nobody wants to hear that.

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Photo by Sevan Matossian

I would venture a guess that anyone familiar with CrossFit is also familiar with Rich Froning, Jr.  And for those familiar with the winner of the 2011 CrossFit Games knows that the guy is almost inhuman in his ability to handle high volume workouts and recover as quickly as he is capable of moving through a WOD. The video is a little on the lengthy side, but well worth watching.

Video: A Day in the Life of Rich Froning

“Badger” is a hero WOD in honor of Navy Chief Petty Officer Mark Carter, 27, of Virginia Beach, VA who was killed in Iraq in 2007.

3RFT:

• 30 Squat Cleans (95#)
• 30 Pull-Ups
• 800m run

I had done this WOD before back in September.  It sucked then.  It sucked today.  But was nothing compared to what this guy did for our country.  Our gym opted to scale this down to 15 reps per round and label that as RX.  “Beast” was the actual WOD as written above.  Just didn’t feel right to scale it down.  These are meant to be tough and you just have to fight through it, chipping away at each round.  That was my game plan, to chip away, breaking this down to 5 reps at a time.

In the last set of pull-ups when I dropped down off the bar, I was suddenly struck with a giant surge of coordination, and landed right on the rack, rolling my ankle.  It took the wind out of me and sent a spike of pain up through my leg.  I sat down for a good minute or so.  I finished the row and the WOD in 42:38.  I was bummed that I did not beat my old time, but had that squat rack not come out of nowhere and attacked me…

Got home, ankle sore, and took some Ibuprofen.  Going to keep it elevated and iced throughout the day, hoping that the knot on it drops down.

Well, we asked for more fish and they refused to give us any more fish,” recalled Wisth. The restaurant says it was running out of fish and patience; arguing Bill has been a problem customer before.  They sent him on his way with another eight pieces, but that still wasn’t enough.

Seriously?

The full story is here and it is worth checking out (especially the video of the story). Someone who calls the police and protests because they were only able to get 20 pieces of fish for $10.95, and someone who has a RUNNING TAB for an all you can eat buffet, needs more than help from law enforcement. 

This morning was just one of those workouts. I think we have all had them. You know, where you are just out of sync. Nothing that required strength, just lungs and capacity, an area I really need work in.

Can’t wait for my feet to get back to normal so I can start on this cardio plan I have waiting on me. In a way, I’m quite thankful for workouts like these. They serve as a reminder of what I feel like I need to improve upon. And I will improve. Just have to trust the process.

Going to hit CrossFit again in the morning and hope for different and better results.

Live Jumbotron stream for the CrossFit Games Central East Regional competition.  You can also follow on Twitter as well as catch some action on ESPN3.

For fellow CF junkies, this is the one to watch.  The male competition will feature so many names that I can’t mention them all.  My money is on the big dog, Froning, who is going to show up to this in a big, big way.