A Pride Check with a Side of Redemption

I'm back in the blogosphere (at least for tonight) and decided that it was necessary for me to comment on my experience at sectionals this past weekend in St. Louis. I am just warning you: There were some highs, and there were some definite lows.

Personally, I always like to start with the bad news first. (It's the whole rip-off-the-band-aid-quickly mentality. The faster you go, the less it'll hurt.) The bad news is that I got crushed by the first WOD of the competition. For those of you who aren't familiar with this little number, let me spell out it for you:

The Airforce WOD*

• 20 Thrusters (30 kg)


• 20 Sumo deadlift high pulls


• 20 Push jerks


• 20 OH squats


• 20 Front squats
  

*Every minute, on the minute, the competitor must complete four burpees.
*20:00 DNF

Guess who DNF'd?

Um... that would be me.

I did my first set of burpees and thrusters like a damn maniac; however, the weight started to catch up with me and the clock started ticking faster and faster, I lost momentum and found myself doing far more burpees than any person would ever like to do.

In the end, the OH squats did me in (I swear they are taking pull ups place as my ultimate enemy), and I found myself (very upset but) glad that the clock buzzed, indicating that my performance (or lack thereof) was over. I then retreated to the stands where I could hide amongst the rest of the crowd to await my second beating of the day, which consisted of a 5:00 AMRAP of clean and jerks at fifty kilos.

In short, I was not confident about the second workout at all. At that point in time, I hadn't cleaned over 56 kilos and the first WOD hadn't really boosted my confidence about my abilities as a CrossFitter. Regardless (because I'd rather have someone break my legs than quit for no reason other than pride; I am that stubborn/determined/possibly not very smart), I made my way out onto the floor, telling myself that my main goal was to get ten or more and to not waste any reps.

Well, I actually exceeded my expectations. Although I did fail two reps, I was able to get sixteen clean and jerks before the time elapsed. I was personally happy about what I had accomplished, albeit it was far from impressive in comparison to many of the beasts that were there. Little did I know that I would soon redeem myself at least slightly on the third workout.

The third workout was the 54321 WOD. We did five minutes of rowing for calories, four minutes of box jumps on a twenty inch box, three minutes of squat snatches at twenty kilos, two minutes of wall balls at thirteen pounds and one minute of handstand push ups. My numbers looked something like this:

• Row: 65 calories


• Box jumps: 115 (I was a box jumping machine.)


• Snatches: 15 (Eh. I rested with these.)


• Wall balls: 25


• Handstand push ups: 0 (I can only do two on a good day, and my shoulders were cashed from the day before.)
  

Total: 220

Now 220 may not seem all that impressive, but I did manage to win my heat. I also tied for the twelfth best female score in the third workout. Not too shabby for a girl who got her ass handed to her the day before if I do say so myself. Personally, though, I think it was the fact that I didn't wear a shirt that made me do so well. Garth may be onto something... (PS: I have zero idea as to what I'm looking at in that picture. Lord knows why they put it on CrossFit TNT's site.)

Overall, I did not qualify (let's get serious); however, it was a good experience. It was exciting and I loved being able to watch everyone else compete. Everyone from the Fort did an excellent job, and I'm so proud that I get to associate myself with CrossFit Fire [CFF] and the people that go there (yes, this is the overly sentimental part of my post). Plus, I'm even more excited that Pete and Stacy get to move on to Denver. There will be more good things to come, I'm sure, for both Pete and Stacy and for the rest of the firebrethers at CFF. And with that, I'll leave you with the words of a wise elder: GFO (That's "game f8&^in' on", for you non-CrossForters).

Four Men & a Lady

This past Saturday Pete, Matt L., Garth, Tom and I (along with the coaches) all woke up a little earlier to compete in a three WOD extravaganza in order to help us prepare for sectionals. Bill took the three workouts for the day from a competition that had been done earlier in Utah. The workouts looked a little like this:

WOD #1
For time:

500 m row
440 m run

TIME: 3:57

WOD #2
For total reps:

:90 clean and jerks (35 kg)
:30 rest
:90 ring dip push ups
:30 rest
:90 front squat (35 kg)
:30 rest
:90 burpees

TOTAL REPS: 65

WOD #3
For time:

440 meter run
10 deadlifts (65 kg)
20 box jumps (24")
30 kettle bell swings
40 wall ball shots (14#)
50 meters of OH walking lungs (10 kg)
400 meter run

TIME: 12:52

Overall, it was a great experience. Although I wish another female would have been there, it was great to workout with the guys. They're uber competitive and really pushed me to do better. (I was only disappointed that I wasn't able to show them all up in the last WOD when I was in the lead for a good ten seconds. ) All in all though, I did okay. When Bill calculated the final numbers I would have finished eleventh overall out the the 27; moreover, if I hadn't messed up on my final run (I was so excited I was in first place I forgot to run around the cone), I probably would have finished somewhere around sixth place, which is kind of exciting.

My Magic Shoes(?)

After a long day trapped under an avalanche of papers, I managed to crawl myself out of the rubble. Yes, my eyes were tired, my brain felt mushy but I persevered, and I was now off to exercise my body instead of my mind. I wanted to get in a rowing WOD before the actual workout so I quickly put on my shorts, tall socks, tshirt and began shuffling through my closet, searching for my running shoes when I saw them, sitting there like a ghost from my long forgotten basketball past: My Air Jordans.

I loved these shoes. Correction: I love these shoes. They are Jordans (by far my favorite basketball player ever); they are retro, and they are pink. I bought them over four years ago for my sophomore year of college basketball and was never able to get rid of them, despite the negative effects of that season. That is, however, a whole other story; the story here is that I couldn't resist. I pulled on my Jordans, smiling the whole time, and headed out the door.

When I arrived at the Fort, I ran upstairs to complete the rowing WOD, feeling confident that my pink sneakers (yes, they are retro shoes; a retro term is necessary here) would help me crush the workout:

Five rounds of 1000 meters with 3:00 intervals:

• Round 1: 4:15.5
  
• Round 2: 4:14
  
• Round 3: 4:20.5

As you can see I did not complete all five rounds. My failure to complete the WOD, however, was not my Jordans' fault, although I think subconsciously I did blame them a little (cute shoes but bad memories). It was rather that I am slow and did not allow enough time to complete the WOD. Regardless, I think my subconscious took over because I changed my shoes to complete the following strength workout and metcon:

Strength

Four rounds of max rep ring dips:

7-7-5-6 (All unassisted)

Metcon

AMRAP in 12:00 of:

• 5 Hang Power Cleans [HPC] (55 kg)
  
• 7 Box Jumps (24")
  
• 10 Clapping Push Ups
  

6 rounds + 5 HPCs + 7 box jumps + 2 push ups

In regards to both the strength WOD and the metcon, I felt pretty good. I managed to stay fairly consistent with my ring dips and was simply pretty excited about the fact that I didn't have to use the band. As for the metcon, I was pleased with the fact that my cleans are getting stronger and faster. I didn't do the prescribed weight (I only did 40) but was happy regardless. There were several times during the WOD that I felt myself dropping under the bar more quickly, which is really exciting for me considering that, that is my biggest problems with my cleans.

Unfortunately, I also scaled my clapping push ups. I substituted with chest to deck push ups; I can do clapping push ups but I can't do them consistently, hence the scaling. Besides, I figure once I get more consistent I can work my way up, and my push ups are getting stronger, which is all I can ask.

As for the box jumps - oh the box jumps - I nearly killed myself on my first rep of the first round. I rammed my knee into the edge of the box leaving an ugly, odd-shaped bruise and then damn near did it again on my second rep. Luckily though I managed to pull myself away before I felt flat on my face and/or tore open my leg/knee/shin.

Now you're probably wondering what the heck my super awesome Jordans have to do with this. Well, on my drive home, while I was contemplating my box jump failure, I decided that had I wore my Air Jordans that I probably would have not failed miserably. I mean, they're Air Jordans, right? They're supposed to make you jump higher. As a result, I have decided that I will need to break out the Jordans for the next time we do box jumps. They're a little overdue for some air time anyway.

Magic powers? We'll see.

If not, they still look cool...

And I'm Back...

For those of you who used to read my blog (I use past tense because I've been absent for awhile), I'm going to attempt to get back to your regularly scheduled blogging. As I mentioned before in passing that school has a tendency to take over my life. To be frank, not much has changed; however, with the semester winding down and my brain continually on the fritz, I am planning (and hoping) that getting back to my blog will help me maintain a sense of balance in my hectic life.

OK. So enough with the blah blah blah about school and back to what really matters: CrossFit. This week so far I have deadlifted, power cleaned, front squated, push pressed, and done more ring dips than a person cares to do in single day. Add tall box jumps, sit ups, running and body rows to the mix and you've got an amalgam of three days worth of WOD's.

Strength-wise, my power cleans and push presses are coming along nicely, especially my power cleans. I'm feeling much better about my cleaning ability, and I am determined to make myself love (and crush) them. Front squats - eh, not so much. I have trouble driving up with my elbows. On the other end of the spectrum, in the metcon area, my box jumps, runs, body rows and sit ups are still relatively strong and feel that, in many ways, they are improving, which is all I can ask.

Everything aside, I'm excited about where I'm going CrossFit-wise and hope that I am able to frequent my lovely blogger space more often. Also, the next time I get some time off, I promise to post something more witty.

An "Ark" Sandwich

I headed to the Fort for this past weekend for another Team Saturday. Mark R., Clark and I teamed up for the following WOD:

"Team Ladders"

400 meter run
3 rounds:

• burpee ladder
• box jump ladder
• wall ball ladder

400 meter buddy run

The ladders worked like this: Clark did one burpee, Mark did one burpee and then I did one burpee. Then Clark did two burpees, Mark did two burpees and then I did two burpees. This went on until we reached six burpees. We then moved onto box jumps and wall balls and completed them in the same fashion.

Overall this WOD was great because it allowed for just enough rest to really crank out the reps. Clark and Mark definitely kept me moving. So much so that the "Ark" Sandwich (Clark and Mark rhyme, my name doesn't, you get the picture...) was right behind The Garth Show, Stacy and Super Dave the whole time. In fact, we were going head to head going into third round before The Show pulled ahead into buddy run.

Then - it was over. Even though Clark and Mark were able to carry my fat butt all the way and that we were able to finish in 24:00, we did not prevail. At least we have a cool name.

Thirsty Thursday*

Yesterday, I was a busy day at CrossFit for me. I rowed, worked on my presses, did a makeover of "Cindy" and set a new handstand record. The entire thing made me a little thirsty, although not in the traditional way that one would think of "Thirsty Thursday." Anyhow, I digress. Here's how my Thursday at CrossFit went down:

To start off I was late getting to Fort. I arrived just as the Ladies' Class was beginning, and instead of changing quickly and jumping in, I decided to catch up on my rowing. There were three rowing WOD'S posted on the board: Tabata Rowing, 15:00 minute row at 90%, and another interval row. Since I did Tabata Rowing earlier in the week after finishing the burpees on the minute WOD (which I did terrible in by the way (rowing, not necessarily the burpees), I decided to go for the 15:00 minutes at 90%.

I grabbed my book, iPod and headed upstairs to spend some quality time with the rower. Once my feet were all strapped in and I put on my jam (a song not the sugary goodness that is jam), I was out for the long haul. I tried to focus on keeping a steady pace, particularly since I feel like my rowing ability has been less than spectacular lately, and to maintain good form. The bulk of the row went fairly well, although I did not get as many meters as I would have liked. My initial goal was 3500 meters and I tapped out at 3303.

After my rowing extravaganza, I went downstairs, wrote my meters on the board and then waited for the seven o'clock class to start. I practiced my handstands a little bit before Bill corralled all of us in for mobility drills and then the strength workout: Presses (6-6-6).

Since the rep scheme was high and I still have troubles with my press, the weights I used looked something like this: 25-30-34.6. I was going to try to go for 37.2 (my arch nemesis in the press world), when Bill reminded me that 34.6 was close enough to 37.2 at that rep scheme and that if I added just a little bit of weight to my presses that eventually I'd break through my 37.2 roadblock. I conceded. I'm typically not one to argue, and we still had to do the metcon. As a result, I decided that it would probably be better if I saved my energy rather than ruin myself on the strength WOD.

Needless to say, I was glad with my decision. The metcon was like "Cindy" but it wasn't. Instead of being AMRAP in 20:00, it was 15:00, and instead of doing fifteen squats, we did fifteen box jumps. Since it was Cindy-like, I figured that maybe I could get through seven or eight rounds, since I was able to complete ten or so with true-Cindy.

When Bill gave us the 3-2-1-Go!, I think I was either A) Really excited or B) Really stupid. I quickly went through my first two rounds. I did my pull ups and my push ups unbroken. I was feeling good: My pull ups felt fairly strong, even if they weren't chest to bar like specified, and my push ups had good depth (Bill told me; I asked). My box jumps are once again improving (for some reason I went through this stage where I felt like I kind of sucked at box jumps), and I was just trying to continue to maintain my frenzied pace.

Then round three came. I did my pull ups and went on to my push ups. I did seven and then the true suck fest set in. I began breaking up my reps more frequently for the rest of the third round and the subsequent rounds, doing reps of three, two and even one. As a result, I was only able to complete seven full rounds, plus five pull ups and seven push ups. I was able to reach my seven-eight round goal but for some reason or another I was upset that I wasn't able to reach eight. It was those dang push ups... I tell you...

After completing the WOD, I meandered about for a little bit and then decided to work on my handstands yet again. The Show was there and asked me if I wanted him to time me. I shrugged: "Why not?" And then began my attempt to beat my previous record board time of 20.94 seconds. My first attempt was not pretty, and my second attempt was even uglier. My third attempt, however, lead to my 24 second even handstand. I guess, three times is a charm.

All in all, it was a pretty successful (and busy) Thursday, and just reading over this, I feel like I did a lot. Okay, I did kind of do a lot. Regardless, it was a decent day CrossFit-wise.

*There were no liquid carbs (beers) or paleo margaritas consumed after the completion of these WODS. Okay, I had a couple sips of a margarita. That was all though.

Friday Goods

Thursday was Kilo's birthday and, as a result, he was able to pick the WOD for the following day. I'm not sure if he saw this WOD somewhere or if it was of his own creation, but it was awesome. We started out with some deadlifting, three sets of five (65-75-85), before moving onto the following:

Kilo's BDay WOD

With a 400 meter run in between each three rounds:

3 rounds for time:
7 deadlifts
7 box jumps

3 rounds for time:
5 deadlifts
5 box jumps

3 rounds for time:
3 deadlifts
3 box jumps

Like I said, "awesome," right? Well, I thought it was. Deadlifting, box jumps and runs are all good in my book; however, I was a bit hesitant to go too heavy during the WOD because I didn't have a whole lot of energy (It had been awhile since I had eaten, let's just say that). As a result, I did not go at the 85% of my five rep max that day (72 kg). Instead, I went with 60 kg so I wouldn't be completely gassed round four and so that I would be done in the 15-20 minute cut off period.

During the WOD, I'm not sure if it was actually the lack of food, if it was completely mental, if it was just the workout itself, or if it was all of the above, but the weight started to get to me more than I would have liked. In the end, I finished the WOD in a little over twelve minutes, and then I went home and ate. I had a good breakfast (some eggs and sausage... yummy); I had had a good workout. Friday was a good day.

Cleaning with Frustration

When I walked into the Fort last night, I knew exactly what to expect. The boyfriend (Matt: Look at that Tom. I gave him a name. *Smiles*) gave me the heads up on the WOD, most likely to help me wrap my head around it. As most of you know, I put my cleaning ability right up there with my pull ups; however, when I walked into the Fort that day, I was determined to clean 50 kg, a weight that has been alluding me for some time now.

The strength workout was 3-2-1-1-1 of power cleans. I did three reps of 35 kg; two reps of 40; one rep at 45; one rep at 47.2 and then moved onto 50. I stepped up, took a deep breath, told myself that I was going clean 50 kg, and then set up for a new PR. Then my lack of form stepped in. My problem this time wasn't dropping under the bar or my elbows but rather I didn't jump high enough and pulled my arms into the scarecrow position too soon. In the end, my new PR was actually an EPIC FAIL. It was frustrating and so I decided to channel that frustration into the metcon.

The metcon also included cleans, this time hang power cleans. The metcon consisted of:

7 rounds for time:

• 3 cleans (85% of PR = 40kg)
• 6 box jumps (mid-thigh = 26")
• 200 meter sprints

Essentially, I wanted this workout over and done with. I was annoyed with my lack of results during the strength WOD; I had a headache and was just generally not in the best of the moods. It didn't help that I felt like I had someone screaming in my ear throughout the duration of the workout. It also didn't help that after I finished I realized that my box was only 22" instead of 24" like I had thought, and so my box jumps were not as tall as I wanted. Regardless, I finished the WOD in due time, in a little over fifteen minutes, 15:11 to be exact. It was a tough one and I was glad when it was over.

On a side note, I will get that 50 kg clean if it kills me. Seriously.

Team Bug Zappers

I am a sales person's dream. Just imagine the following scenario:

I am walking around Woodfield, minding my own business, trying to decide if I should purchase those new pink Pumas or buy some new black pants for work. I think to myself: Black pants are necessary; however, Pumas are so much more fun and they're better for pose running. I pause, exactly two seconds too long, one foot inching towards the Puma store and the other towards Express, when a sweet, confident voice calls out to me: "Why hello there. Would you like to purchase this new iPhone?

I shake my head: "No. No thank you."

Mr. Confident is fully dressed in his AT&T polo and smiling. My 'no' has had little effect on him: "But it is fully featured - with a large touch screen; it holds up to 10,000 different applications, includes full Internet service, plays music and can practically wash your hair for you."

I remain semi-tough. "No thanks," as I turn to head back towards Puma.

Mr. Confident interrupts my departure, again: "But it comes in a variety of colors, including blue, lime green, orange, purple and pink."

Wait. What?

I stop, turn and head over to the counter, which Mr. Confident has littered with colorful iPhones. My eyes widen and both my Pumas and black pants are forgotten as is my two year contract with TMobile: "You say it comes in pink?"

While this situation did not actually happen (and is a bit exaggerated), there is some truth to it. I can often be easily talked into purchasing and/or doing things. (Apparently, Dare did not do a very good job with me in the whole "peer pressure" department.) Take for example this past Saturday.

I went into the Fort early Saturday to get in my final rowing WOD. I finished the WOD right before Team Saturday was about to start; I headed downstairs to grab my things so that I could go shower and get ready for the Cubs game that afternoon, when Bill asked me if I was going to stay for the workout. I looked over at my boyfriend, who was standing in the doorway, his bag over his shoulder, ready to go.

I shake my head. "No," I tell him and then walk towards the entryway to grab my purse and sweatshirt.

Jennie then stops me: "Are you working out?"

I peer back up at the whiteboard. It's the OPD Team WOD we did several months ago: 400 meter run - 80 deadlifts, 80 box jumps, 80 push press - 400 meter run. Me likey.

Begrudgingly, I tell her "no" and inch towards the doorway before Bill chimes in much like Mr. Confident from above and says that I have to stay to help even out the numbers. Once again, I look over at my boyfriend, who is still standing in the doorway.

"Do you care if I stay and workout?" I ask over the growing noise in the Fort. He shakes his head; I smile, and just like that I am a part of another Team Saturday.

Jennie and I partnered up. We scaled a little more than perhaps we should have, but we were both tired from the row we had completed earlier that morning; we also designated ourselves "Team Bug Zappers" because of all Jennie's mosquito bites. Regardless, when Bill gave us the 3-2-1-Go!, we were both ready to gut out the workout.

Long story short, we kind of flew through this. We completed the WOD in under fifteen minutes and we won the team challenge. Personally, I always enjoy pairing up with Jennie because she makes me work harder. (A little motivation and competition never hurt anyone if you ask me.) As a result, my primary focus (beyond winning) was to try and match Jennie in reps. I think I succeeded for the most part, and lucky for both of us, our pretty Team Bug Zapper picture will soon grace CrossFit Fire's mainpage for last Saturday's post.

For the record though, I should probably still work on that "peer pressure" thing.

Friday's Episode: "Caleb"

It was my birthday Friday, and while I usually hate my birthday (for reasons I do not care to get into here), one good thing did come out of it: I was able to pick the workout of the day.

Originally, I had wanted to do the rowing, burpee, running workout from the tryouts; however, Bill suggested that we stay away from rowing because a lot of people had been completing the extra rowing workouts for the team (Again, we'll talk about this later.) Not wanting to be difficult, I emptied out the corners of my brain for a good WOD. I quickly narrowed it down to three:

• Harco: Four rounds for time of: 200 meter sprint, 20 jumping pull ups, 30 push ups, 40 sit ups and 50 squats


• Michael: Three rounds for time of: 800 meter run, 50 back extensions, 50 sit ups


• Caleb: Eight rounds for time of: 400 meter run, 8 walking lunges and 8 box jumps (24")

Well, I eliminated "Harco" because I just kind of didn't feel like it; I eliminated "Michael" because I didn't feel like substituting supermans for back extensions; and so I settled on "Caleb." I had done this workout during my second week of CrossFit and wanted to see how I had improved.

In a nutshell, of course, I had improved tremendously. Not only did I beat my old time but I also did the box jumps prescribed; whereas the first time I completed the WOD, I did not. In addition, to improving my time; I was able to spend some time with the Graveyard Gang, which is like living in a sitcom itself. Here's some of the highlights from Friday's episode:

• Garth, shirtless of course, hauled ass and crushed this workout. Yes, it is worth both italicizing and bolding this word; he did that well.
• Tom reminded me mid-third or fourth round that I had no one to blame except myself if I was hating my life at that moment or if my legs were tired or sore tomorrow.
• Both of the gentlemen mentioned above were talking some major booty chatter (aka talking trash).
• Matt went outside to run beside my brother Nate on his last 400 meters, and when Nate reached the 200 meter point or so, he took off like someone stuck a hot poker on his butt, leaving Matt behind him. It was something to see.

All in all, it was an eventful morning, a good workout and a great start to my birthday. I loved the WOD, although I can't say the same for anyone else except for maybe Brian. Everyone was nice enough to wish me "Happy Birthday" throughout the day (I went in to the Fort later for rowing practice) but they also were not shy about telling me they hated my workout (e.g. Mark, Jennie, Season, Zach, Bender, etc.). I'm sure they will have their revenge though someday and our positions will be reversed.

On a side note: Thank you all for the birthday wishes and to those of you who were able to make it out on Friday night. I had an absolute blast and it was by far the best birthday I have had in a very, very long time (not exaggerating here either). So thank all of you. It meant a lot to me. *Tear*

Feeling Dirty?

When I looked at Tommy Mo's blog yesterday and saw that they did "The Filthy Fifty" at the Fort, I decided it was time for a little visit. Despite the fact that "The Filthy Fifty" is a tough workout, it is actually one of my favorites (I know... Crazy, right?). I enjoy chipper workouts though because once you finish that movement - you're done with it. There are sometimes when I'm going through however many rounds in WODs and the last thing I want to do is 21 more burpees or 30 more cleans, but I digress. Here is the outline for yesterday's WOD:

"The Filthy Fifty"

• 50 Box Jumps (24")
• 50 Jumping Pull-Ups
• 50 Kettlebell Swings (16K/12K)
• 50 Walking Lunges
• 50 Knees to Elbows
• 50 Push Presses (20K/15K)
• 50 Back Extensions
• 50 Wall Ball Shots (20LB/14LB)
• 50 Burpees
• 50 Double Unders

Well, let me just tell you how this went down. I completed the WOD as prescribed. My pacing throughout the box jumps went well and it was similar in regards to my walking lunges. I flew through my first 25 reps of my jumping pull ups and then nearly repped through the remaining 25; it was a similar situation in regards to both my push presses and back extensions. I did rep through my kettlebell swings (heck yes!). My double unders were okay, but I needed to push through them faster. Then there was the knees to elbows (K2E), wall balls and burpees.

Remember that wall I ran into before during that other WOD? Well, I bumped into it on my K2E, ran straight into the damn thing on my wall balls and then did it again on my burpees. My form on K2E's could have been a little better; they were decent but I wasn't focusing on laces to bars as much as I should have; instead I was focusing on not swinging (I'm not sure which is more important, but it's most likely the former). As for the wall balls, I don't know what happened except that I hit a wall at this point in the WOD last time. Guess, I need to focus on my wall balls, especially the pacing, because I unfortunately cannot rep through those beasts like Tommy Mo. As for the burpees... Well, I think Matty-Lo was absolutely right when he said: "Those are the worst 50 burpees you will ever do." And just like Forrest Gump said: "That's all I have to say about that."

In the end I finished in 32:19, which I felt okay with since I improved from 33:05. I had wanted to reach 30:00 mark but it may have been wishful thinking. Next time though, next time things will really get dirty.

The CrossFit Continuation of Awesome

Three things:

1. I went to the Fort this past Saturday for "Team Saturday."
   
2. We did the Stadium WOD from the CF Games.
   
3. It was awesome.

We started out with a short 800 meter run, mobility drills and some burpees because The Garth Show failed to introduce himself to Darryl, a visiting CrossFitter from Buffalo, New York. We then we all waited anxiously as Bill determined the teams.

I turned out to be pretty lucky that The Show failed to introduce himself to Darryl because I ended up being on a team with him, and I wouldn't have remembered his name otherwise. Jeff and Stephanie rounded out the rest of our team, and I was feeling pretty confident about our chances. All the teams seemed pretty evenly matched.

After everyone was sorted into their respective teams, set up began. It took longer than I think anyone anticipated; for some reason there were mix ups with where teams were competing and so on. Regardless, we got it all sorted out and were soon in our places to begin the workout. Just as a reminder, the Stadium WOD consisted of:

Stadium WOD

30 Wallballs (20lbs/14lbs)

THEN

• Row 300m
  
• 30 Box jumps (24")
  
• 30 KB swings (24kg/16kg)
  
• 30 Push press / Push jerk (40lbs/25lb)

THEN

30 Deadlifts (225lbs/135lbs)

Since there were a limited number of 20 lb wall balls, we did a stagger start with the teams. My team was one that started later; however, when we got the 3-2-1-Go!, Stephanie was off, repping through those wall balls like a mad woman. I was the next to go, then Jeff, and then Darryl. We were all there cheering each other on throughout, driving each other to do better. It was your typical CrossFit continuation of awesome.

After finishing the wall ball portion of the WOD, we moved onto our respective stations. I went from rowing, to box jumps, to push presses, to kettlebell swings. Out of all the exercises I was most pleased with my kettlebell swings and push presses. I almost repped through both exercises. I was less pleased with my box jumps and rowing. I was able to get a good string of about 12 box jumps in and then ended up having to stop every so many reps rather than pushing right through. As for the row, I'm not sure what I was doing there, but I know I could have rowed faster. Then came the deadlifts.

I love deadlifts. They are by far my favorite lift, and I felt pretty good about my pacing throughout, especially since I hadn't done them in awhile. I only had to stop twice and it was due more to my grip rather than feeling overly tired. Stephanie, on the other hand, was like "Psh. Who stops on their deadlifts?" and then repped right through all 30 of those beasts.

When we called "time," I was proud of my own and especially my team's performance. Stephanie had been a deadlift machine; at one point, I saw Jeff popping that kettlebell up like it was nobody's business, and I remember looking over at Darryl while I was rowing and thinking, "Daaaaaaaaaammmmnnnn." Let me tell you, Darryl took out those push presses faster than a mugger in Central Park. It was awesome. What made it even better though was that these were the only things I witnessed from my own team. The other teams were equally intense and focused.

On other teams, I saw Zach, Jennie, Beth and Stacy all crushing the deadlifts; I witnessed Tommy Mo and Super Dave flying through the wall balls, and got to watch Jessica and Garth cranking it out on the rower. All around, everyone did a phenomenal job. It was great to see such intesity and hard work from everyone.

After all was said and done though, it wasn't until I was writing down the WOD on a stolen piece of paper (my book is at home), that I noticed that my team had won with the time of 18: 12. I do believe that my response was: "Wow... We won." All nonchalant and such. It felt good though, and I must admit, we look pretty good holding that belt too.

Jeff, Stephanie, Me, & Darryl