13.1

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When I watched the live announcement I was immediately looking at the equipment.  I got so excited to see a barbell.  I was mentally prepared for a crap ton of burpees.  But still, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  Instead of hitting a WOD on Wednesday like normal, I opted for a swim at the pool.

Anyway, watched the videos, etc. and thought my goal would be 1 rep at 165.  Late last night one of the trainers texted me and told me he and another trainer just did the WOD and got 154, or 4 reps into 165.  They both have much stronger cardio engines than me so I knew right then that 165 would be hard.  My strategy would be to just work.

The 40 burpees were not horrible.  I went out too fast, something I told myself not to do.  Slowed it down a notch and just tried to keep pushing.  Got to the first set of snatches, broke them up, and got through them.  The set of 30 burpees was the worst and felt like it took me way too long.  Big guys ain’t fast at burpees, son.  It was here that I changed up my goals and just wanted to get through the set of 135.  I made it to 26 before hitting the cap.  

So here is the thing…  I met neither of my goals.  Failure?  Oh heck no.  This WOD was a combination of the first 2 Open WODs from last year.  In 12.1 I got 72 burpees in 7 minutes and in 12.2 I got 56 snatches (26 reps at 135) total in 10 minutes.  This morning, I did 40 burpees and 30 snatches in just under 8 minutes.  I was able to do 30 more burpees and 26 snatches with the remaining time.  To combine the two WODs and hit the numbers I did, I am more than pleased.

One of the guys that was doing the WOD with me has been one of the rabbits I have chased for a long time.  When I started he was always lifting heavier and moving faster than me.  He got to the barbell first each time this morning.  In the set of 30 he was about 8-10 burpees ahead of me.  All I could think about was getting to the barbell.  When I did, I was able to catch him and pass him.  Next week will most likely be some WOD where he will slaughter me. But we need to remember these moments as they drive us.  They show us that by working at something and having a goal, we can get there.  That is what I took away from this morning.

WLC, Day 3

This Whole Life Challenge also incorporates fitness, starting and ending with a measurable test. So my wife and I did the 7 minute burpee WOD from the CrossFit Games Open last year. Despite fighting off this cold, I managed 14 more than I got last year. 14.

Food today was not an issue and I stayed on point. I am now drinking coffee with Stevia and no creamer. Who have I become? Never thought that would happen. The clean food feels amazing and I enjoy it. Do not feel limited at all and the challenge of it all is fun to me.

The Hope WOD straight beat folks down this morning!  My two buddies at the bottom post-Hope. Hope is 3 rounds, where each round consists of 1 minute of burpees, 1 minute of pull-ups, 1 minute of power snatch (75lbs), 1 minute of box jumps (24”), and 1 minute of thrusters (75lbs).  You get 1 minute of rest (which felt like 4 seconds) in between each round. This thing sucked.  The weights are not heavy at all, but you are so gassed from moving from station to station.  This is definitely a grinder and harder than FGB.  If you have not yet done this, and plan to in the near future, my only advice is to pace yourself, especially in the first round.  Don’t go all out.  Remember you have 2 more rounds and will need some energy.  Round 3 is painful. For some reason, in the first round, I just felt empty.  No energy. I pushed through and was disappointed with my score, but in the end, who cares, right?  I came in, did a workout that a while back I couldn’t even do.  These kind of workouts are what make you better and keep you humble. I looking forward to hearing what my wife thinks about it when she tackles it this evening!
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The Hope WOD straight beat folks down this morning!  My two buddies at the bottom post-Hope.

Hope is 3 rounds, where each round consists of 1 minute of burpees, 1 minute of pull-ups, 1 minute of power snatch (75lbs), 1 minute of box jumps (24”), and 1 minute of thrusters (75lbs).  You get 1 minute of rest (which felt like 4 seconds) in between each round.

This thing sucked.  The weights are not heavy at all, but you are so gassed from moving from station to station.  This is definitely a grinder and harder than FGB.  If you have not yet done this, and plan to in the near future, my only advice is to pace yourself, especially in the first round.  Don’t go all out.  Remember you have 2 more rounds and will need some energy.  Round 3 is painful.

For some reason, in the first round, I just felt empty.  No energy. I pushed through and was disappointed with my score, but in the end, who cares, right?  I came in, did a workout that a while back I couldn’t even do.  These kind of workouts are what make you better and keep you humble.

I looking forward to hearing what my wife thinks about it when she tackles it this evening!

Heavy! WOD: EMOM (for 12 minutes), 2 dead lifts @ 75%-80% of your 1RM and then 2 bar facing burpees.  Score is the load. After yesterday, a workout like this was very welcomed.  Yesterday was full of stuff that was difficult for me, working my weaknesses.  Today worked my strengths.  Probably could have gone heavier on the deads but in the last few rounds it felt just right.  I tried to focus on maintaining control of the bar, instead of dropping it after each rep.  I wanted to guide it to the ground then touch and go again.  I figured the burpees would have really worn me out but with each set they felt better and better. I worked a tad over 80% of my 1RM this morning, going with 355lbs. Post-WOD: 3x10 Front Squat @ 95# On a side note, this week has been really great.  Tough yesterday, but something I needed, and a positive today.  It has been 2 weeks since I rolled my ankle and 4 since all of the other issues.  I am going to try and run in the morning, nothing all out, but a nice easy pace to see how the wheels feel.
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Heavy!

WOD:
EMOM (for 12 minutes), 2 dead lifts @ 75%-80% of your 1RM and then 2 bar facing burpees.  Score is the load.

After yesterday, a workout like this was very welcomed.  Yesterday was full of stuff that was difficult for me, working my weaknesses.  Today worked my strengths.  Probably could have gone heavier on the deads but in the last few rounds it felt just right.  I tried to focus on maintaining control of the bar, instead of dropping it after each rep.  I wanted to guide it to the ground then touch and go again.  I figured the burpees would have really worn me out but with each set they felt better and better.

I worked a tad over 80% of my 1RM this morning, going with 355lbs.

Post-WOD:
3x10 Front Squat @ 95#

On a side note, this week has been really great.  Tough yesterday, but something I needed, and a positive today.  It has been 2 weeks since I rolled my ankle and 4 since all of the other issues.  I am going to try and run in the morning, nothing all out, but a nice easy pace to see how the wheels feel.

File this under: “Crap you don’t do right after dinner” Since I had “suggested” Brenna do this (6x400m run with 20 burpees in between each run) recently I only felt right that I try it myself. How did it go? Well, I have already apologized to her. I hate burpees. I really hate 120 of them. I also hate that feeling like I am about to have dinner a second time. Time was 26:11.
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File this under: “Crap you don’t do right after dinner”

Since I had “suggested” Brenna do this (6x400m run with 20 burpees in between each run) recently I only felt right that I try it myself. How did it go? Well, I have already apologized to her. I hate burpees. I really hate 120 of them. I also hate that feeling like I am about to have dinner a second time.

Time was 26:11.

Really enjoyed this WOD.  It was a pretty nasty mixture, but a lot of variety, and it was a touch longer than the shorter AMRAPs we were doing pre-Games. I ran yesterday and my right calf has been extremely tight, almost locked up, ever since.  The WOD called for an 800m run but I subbed that for a 1000m row (3:40) instead, which I personally think is much harder than an 800m run.  For the ground to OH, I went with a clean & press.  Figured snatching the 115# would be quicker but my instinct said go with the clean & press.  To test my calf and ankle, I ran the 250m at the end instead of rowing.  Time was 16:40. Stayed after with Randal and did some shoulder work (strict shoulder press with 115 and push presses). Let me just say that I am pretty worn down this morning.  My right calf feels horribly stiff and my neck was tweaked during the WOD.  Friday was the Filthy Fifty, Saturday was heavy deads, the WOD (power cleans & 200m sprints), and a 5K later that afternoon, yesterday was a 5 1/2 mile run, and then the workout this morning.  I think tomorrow will be a rest day for me.
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Really enjoyed this WOD.  It was a pretty nasty mixture, but a lot of variety, and it was a touch longer than the shorter AMRAPs we were doing pre-Games.

I ran yesterday and my right calf has been extremely tight, almost locked up, ever since.  The WOD called for an 800m run but I subbed that for a 1000m row (3:40) instead, which I personally think is much harder than an 800m run.  For the ground to OH, I went with a clean & press.  Figured snatching the 115# would be quicker but my instinct said go with the clean & press.  To test my calf and ankle, I ran the 250m at the end instead of rowing.  Time was 16:40.

Stayed after with Randal and did some shoulder work (strict shoulder press with 115 and push presses).

Let me just say that I am pretty worn down this morning.  My right calf feels horribly stiff and my neck was tweaked during the WOD.  Friday was the Filthy Fifty, Saturday was heavy deads, the WOD (power cleans & 200m sprints), and a 5K later that afternoon, yesterday was a 5 1/2 mile run, and then the workout this morning. 

I think tomorrow will be a rest day for me.

I mean, 100 burpees…  What else is there to say about this?  I bumped the weight up on the deads a tad to 135lbs.  Eleven minutes and forty six seconds of suck.
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I mean, 100 burpees…  What else is there to say about this?  I bumped the weight up on the deads a tad to 135lbs.  Eleven minutes and forty six seconds of suck.

CrossFit Games WOD 12.1: 7 minute AMRAP: Burpees I knew this would suck going into it.  I am slow at burpees and carry around a little more weight than a lot of the other guys.  I had heard strategy after strategy on what to do and how to approach this.  In the back of my mind, I wanted 70 burpees, which would be a pace of 10 per minute.  Around 20 I stopped counting.  We had the full attention of our trainers and they were tracking reps, so I just focused on breathing and moving. I haven’t mentioned it here too much, but I have been having sharp pains in my right ankle.  My hands were shredded from last week and for some reason my lower back has been hurting so badly that on Wednesday morning I couldn’t bend over to get my shoes.  So I took the previous 2 days off.  Total rest.  I stretched and made sure I was eating right.  While this morning sucked and my legs started to burn half way through, mentally I felt great.  I was happy to be doing something that I could not do a year ago.  While my score is nowhere near the top of the leaderboard, I am proud of it.  It represents an accomplishment for me, further proof of this new life I am living. Welcome to the Games.
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CrossFit Games WOD 12.1: 7 minute AMRAP: Burpees

I knew this would suck going into it.  I am slow at burpees and carry around a little more weight than a lot of the other guys.  I had heard strategy after strategy on what to do and how to approach this.  In the back of my mind, I wanted 70 burpees, which would be a pace of 10 per minute.  Around 20 I stopped counting.  We had the full attention of our trainers and they were tracking reps, so I just focused on breathing and moving.

I haven’t mentioned it here too much, but I have been having sharp pains in my right ankle.  My hands were shredded from last week and for some reason my lower back has been hurting so badly that on Wednesday morning I couldn’t bend over to get my shoes.  So I took the previous 2 days off.  Total rest.  I stretched and made sure I was eating right.  While this morning sucked and my legs started to burn half way through, mentally I felt great.  I was happy to be doing something that I could not do a year ago.  While my score is nowhere near the top of the leaderboard, I am proud of it.  It represents an accomplishment for me, further proof of this new life I am living.

Welcome to the Games.

2 BURPEES for every $1 raised

Did he really say he wanted to do at least 500 burpees? ;-)

christwalk:

Make a donation between now and 10pm on 2/15.  I will do 2 BURPEES for every $1 raised in that time period.  I despise BURPEES, but I will do whatever it takes to hit my fundraising goal for TEAM 65 Roses benefitting Cystic Fibrosis.  

I would simply love to have to do at least 500 burpees…

Please share!

(via christwalk-deactivated20121230)

CrossFit Games Master’s Final: 2RFT Row 500m 100 mountain climbers 15 burpee box jumps (24”) Wall to wall KB carry (53#) What I haven’t mentioned here is that on Wednesday morning, I woke up with some really odd pain in my right heel.  Braced yesterday, I was still limping around a good bit.  My plan this morning was to row or do something active, just not really involving putting a lot of weight on my right foot.  So I hopped on the rower and as I got going and got really warm, I just felt good so I went into the WOD. Let me just say, burpees suck.  We all know that.  Burpee box jumps suck even more than that.  And burpee box jumps AFTER 100 mountain climbers is cruel and unusual punishment.  I went for that first jump and felt like my legs turned to concrete.  Just nasty. Wore the Garmin and heart rate monitor just to see the numbers.  Average heart rate was 158bpm and max heart rate was 169bpm. Time was 14:01 @ RX.Post-WOD we worked on split snatches, which felt a lot better than squat snatches for some reason, though the movements are relatively close.  Since anything that resembles an overhead squat seems to leave my left arm out of whack, I went low on the weight, stopping at a few reps of 105#. Photo was from this team WOD a little while back.
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CrossFit Games Master’s Final: 2RFT

  • Row 500m
  • 100 mountain climbers
  • 15 burpee box jumps (24”)
  • Wall to wall KB carry (53#)

What I haven’t mentioned here is that on Wednesday morning, I woke up with some really odd pain in my right heel.  Braced yesterday, I was still limping around a good bit.  My plan this morning was to row or do something active, just not really involving putting a lot of weight on my right foot.  So I hopped on the rower and as I got going and got really warm, I just felt good so I went into the WOD.

Let me just say, burpees suck.  We all know that.  Burpee box jumps suck even more than that.  And burpee box jumps AFTER 100 mountain climbers is cruel and unusual punishment.  I went for that first jump and felt like my legs turned to concrete.  Just nasty.

Wore the Garmin and heart rate monitor just to see the numbers.  Average heart rate was 158bpm and max heart rate was 169bpm.

Time was 14:01 @ RX.

Post-WOD we worked on split snatches, which felt a lot better than squat snatches for some reason, though the movements are relatively close.  Since anything that resembles an overhead squat seems to leave my left arm out of whack, I went low on the weight, stopping at a few reps of 105#.

Photo was from this team WOD a little while back.

GPOY.  Guessing this was from the WOD where we had to do plate to OH burpees. Burpees suck.