Before I recap, first I'd like to recognize SARAH V. for her incredibly generous and "courageous" work as a judge (volunteer). She was out there all day in the miserable weather and did an amazing job. By far one of the best judges that day. We wish you could have been on the other side with us but we know you'll be back sooner than later. THANK YOU SARAH... We love you!
Ok, now on to the events...
Team WOD #1
1.3 mile run with two 25# bumper plates
200 Deadlifts 225#/135#
The run portion of this first event turned out to be a non-factor, as it only served to be an equalizer by placing the athlete under metabolic stress before their strength was tested. Every team started the deadlifts just seconds apart. Then it was off to the races... Grip it n' rip it. I did 4 or 5 sets of 10-15 reps. I was not concerned about perfect DL form. I was trying to do as many reps as I could as a fast as possible and I will be the first to say that there was lots of "sloppy form." This is different from "incomplete range of motion." When you are intentionally trying to move as fast as possible, it is ok to allow for some deterioration in mechanics, only if you are aware of it and understand the consequences. Let me say that in a competitive environment, it doesn't really matter how you get from point A to point B, as long as you get there - but incomplete range of motion or short reps is not ok in competition and this should have been called by the judges. It was obvious that the judging at this event was not at the CF Games level but when the lack of attention becomes unfair, it affects the quality of the event. Range of motion was "loosely" judged and there were a few athletes that got away with short reps. All in all it was very close with all three LALANNE teams finishing just seconds apart. I am sure that the judging and reps on this workout will be a topic of discussion in class this week.
Team WOD #2
Athlete #1 performs 20 ground to overhead anyhow w/ 105#
- strips 10# off each side and carries weight 50 meters
Athlete #2 performs 20 ground to overhead anyhow w/ 85#
- strips 10# off each side and carries weight 50 meters
Athlete #3 performs 20 ground to overhead anyhow w/ 65#
- strips 10# off each side and carries weight 50 meters
Athlete #4 performs 20 ground to overhead anyhow w/ 45#
- carries bar 50 meters
Once all athletes are together, they must load 105# back on the bar and perform:
100 squats
50 shoulder to overhead anyhow
This second event was fun. I started us off with an unbroken set of 20 Power Snatches at 105#. It was the same story here. There were some short reps that were not called but remember - it's not the CF Games. My teammates; Aaron, Josh and Ty, handled the rest of the Snatches until we got to the Squats. The guys took turns doing sets of 10 or so, impressive work by JOSH C. who cranked out most of them. The shoulder to overheads were done quickly. Again, we lost by just a few seconds. What fun in the rain!
Team WOD #3
1 minute at each station:
Burpee Barrier Hurdles
KB Swings 53#/35#
Bear Complex 95/75#
Double Unders
We all did well on this last WOD except for the fact that I suck at DU's. My poor rep count at this station proved to be the weak link because we ended up finishing in 2ND PLACE by only 15 reps/sec. I appologize to my teammates and to my self. If I don't take responsibility and do something aout this weakness, it will continue to hold me back from competition and from enjoying CrossFit as a whole. Nuff' said.
The results from this competition have demonstrated the efficacy of our program. We are strong as hell and we are generally physically prepared for anything and what ever comes our way. The BREADTH and DEPTH of our athletic development is spectacular and I can't wait to see what we will do in the very near future!
After 3 full days of recovery from my battle with "The Seven" - I was ready get after it again. Missed yesterday and I like this WOD, so I chalked up the rings and got 'er done...
"Nasty Girls"
Three rounds for time:
50 Air Squats
7 Muscle-Ups
10 Hang Power Cleans 135#
9:29
Well, well - this didn't go as planned. I was hoping to string together the Muscle-Ups a bit better but that fell apart in the 3rd round. The 1st two rounds were actually ok which I finished at about 5 minutes flat. Need to be more efficient on the rings when fatigue sets in during these WOD's. This is what killed me at the SW Regional last year. Also... I feel too heavy. Someday I'll cut weight and go from 200 down to 185. Have you heard this before? All good, still PR'd by about 20 seconds faster than my last attempt back in June.
20 REP BACK SQUAT #4 230 LBS.
Watching Grant's 270 lb. 20 Rep Back Squat was impressive. Dude is getting strong!
"The Seven"
Seven rounds for time of:
7 Handstand push-ups
135 pound Thruster, 7 reps
7 Knees to elbows
245 pound Deadlift, 7 reps
7 Burpees
7 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
7 Pull-ups
29:28
I did it - sub 30. Many thanks to Maribel, Aaron, Mike M. and Amit for getting after this one with me. I had to overcome this WOD on a personal note. Here's how it went down. All day I'd been thinking of how I was going to pace myself with rest intervals after each round, but when the time came, that went out the window and I just went for it. Rounds 1-3 were quick, finished round 4 at 17 minutes. Then just did what I could to hang in there rounds 5-7. Absolutely brutal. This is on my TOP 3 most difficult main site WODs - ever. Back is tight from a bit of wreck-less driving but feel good, mentally and physically. To shine a light on some major improvement, the first time I saw this was 8 months ago at a time of 39:40.
95
135
155
165 (This felt heavier than it should have due to ring dips yesterday)
170
170 is the same as my most recent CFT. I decided to stop here due to an excessive "layback" which I could feel in the low back. My PR is 175. Can't believe Julian got 185. He's a strong dude on cleans and presses but I've got him on OHS and Snatch.
-break
WOD #1
Against a 6 minute running clock:
Run 800 meters, then Max Reps Push Jerk 135# 38 REPS (10,10,8,5,6)
Julian and Grant had about a 15-20 second head start after the run but I still got em' on this one. High rep Jerks require good use of hips, core and midline stabilization. Muted hip function (not engaging the lower body correctly) will kill your power-reps.
WOD #2
AMRAP 7 MINUTES:
7 KBS 1.5pood
7 Toes through rings
7 Burpees
7 rds _+ 3 KBS
185
205
215
225
235
245 MISS
245 MISS
245 MISS
245 MISS (Caught it in the whole twice just couldn't stand up. Need more HEAVY front squats)
Got some great tips from coach SARAH V... need to stop "hitching" and keep it one continuous movement. Basically - I'm loosing momentum, speed and power through the middle. This tip helped me immediately and I was able to catch the clean but just couldn't get up out of the hole. Lots to look forward to in terms of strength training.
Impressive as usual watching BIG TONY handle 290 LBS.... JOSH has excellent form and 255 LBS went up easily, sure he can clean far more. It'll be fun to watch him develop as a CrossFit athlete. Julian - you got me with 245 LBS.
-break
"Elizabeth"
21-15-9 rep rounds for time:
Squat Cleans 135#
Ring Dips 11:09
I had Scott throw this on the board for Saturday's WOD. When I saw his time of 25:25, I thought of a strategy that would put me at least sub-30 minutes.
We specifically came in to the gym on Sunday so I could do this before Ty's superbowl party...
"The Seven"
Seven rounds for time of:
7 Handstand push-ups
135 pound Thruster, 7 reps
7 Knees to elbows
245 pound Deadlift, 7 reps
7 Burpees
7 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
7 Pull-ups
DNF
(quit in the middle of round 3)
Ty, if you're reading this - since this happened I've been thinking and trying to make every excuse in the book; not enough sleep, poor diet, dehydration, training alone, etc, etc, etc.. THE SEVEN is by far one of the most difficult mainsite CrossFit WOD's ever but the fact is - I QUIT and it's definitely not sitting well with me. This is the first time I have ever flat out given up and I will not have it. So, if there's anyone reading this that would like the chance to actually finish this WOD. I'm going to make it happen (sub-30 minutes) this Friday @ 7:30PM. Even if you don't want to join me, show-up, I could use the help!
Look forward to pullin' some heavy weights in just a few more weeks:)
-break
For time:
Row 1,000 meters
30 Deadlifts 135#
30 Burpees
Don't remember my time but I do know that I lost to Cyril. Great to see yet another student demonstrate an increase in work capacity. Unfortunately these realizations come at the expense of my ego but in a weird way it feels good;) Way to go Cereal, so glad to see you quit drinking as you prep for the Courage Games... you're going to kick ass with the rest of us and I can't wait!
Front Squat
5 x 205
5 x 205
5 x 205
5 x 205
7 x 205 (I knew this wasn't but just checking to see if this was a true 5 rep max on the last set... guess not.)
Felt awsome to do some heavier Front Squats. Positioning felt good but I can feel that my core strength has gotten a bit weak due the lack of 'heavier' barbell work. Lot's to look forward to in March
Then we grabbed a finisher off the mainsite...
AMRAP 15 MIN:
Row 250m
25 Push-Ups 7 rds
GREAT COMBO of strength and met-con. Always fun to train with Rob E. and hope to see Lisa back at the 6:30's.
Bar Muscle Practice
I can do the two-arm job now vs. one-arm at a time. Still no strict MU on rings or bar. Then we watched WILL-THE BAR MUSCLE-UP LEADER rip off 18 straight. Nice work my dude!
I've been eyeing her since my last attempt about two months ago... Stuck with my plan (see above) and it paid off. My HSPU is pretty solid now-a-days thanks to all the BW skills and drills lately. DL's at 225 were unbroken no-problemo. Felt good to bag this one. GREAT JOB by the entire crew tonight - including Will, Aaron, Julian and TY for finishing Rx.
Never got past the first set of DU. Decided to stop here and do some soul searching for the DU. Here's what I found...
Ever since the beginning (2.5 years ago) Maribel would point out that my arms were coming out away from my side, causing me to miss and catch the rope w/my feet. I could fix this when doing singles but never on doubles. Over the years, various cues were offered; "jump higher", "too fast", "you're a spazz" "don't pike", "calm down", etc... Tonight, Sarah took a good look at what I was/not doing and it came back to what Maribel would always say... "you need to keep your arms nailed to your side." Sarah stressed the importance of this fault over everything else because you can change the speed of the rope and height of the jump but you can't do either if your arms are not kept close by your side. I can now do single-single-double at will and string together 8 to 10 doubles in a row. It's only a matter of time now that I will be posting a Flip doing 50 consecutive... Ok - I put it out there, that's my 3 month goal.
WOD
21-15-9 rep rounds for time:
Hang Squat Clean 95#
Burpee-Box Jump 24"
Hang Power Snatch 11:35
Can't remember the last time I trained at 7am. Always great to see the lovely RAF. This WOD was a good little number. Had to work hard in order to stay ahead of Rob L. - he'll sneak up on you when you least expect it. Also, scaling up to 95# gave me a slight advantage. Amazing to see so many students making progress over the past year, including Rob L., Rob E. Aaron, etc... on any-given-day, I need to be on-my-game.
