CrossFit Open Throwback Tuesday

With the CrossFit Open coming back, CFR decided to revisit a couple of workouts from last year's open for the Tuesday WOD.  And why not?


13.2:
10 minute AMRAP of
-5 shoulder to overhead (115lb)
-10 deadlifts (115lb)
-15 box jumps or steps on a 24" box

Here's how I did on this last year.

A year later, I wasn't quite as proficient.  I got 7 rounds, plus one push press. 

I used push presses for the overhead lifts, and was able to bang them out pretty quick.  The deadlifts started to suck about halfway through, but writing this the next day I have zero back discomfort so I guess the bit of foam rolling I did helped.  I stepped on the box the whole way through.  It allowed me to keep a steady pace and not burn myself out. It's maybe not quite as fast as jumping, but I didn't have to rest during the steps at all.   


We rested for 10 minutes.  Then..



13.5
Four-minute AMRAP of
-15 thrusters (100lbs)
-15 C2B pull-ups

Here's how I did on this last year.

Unlike the Open version of the workout, where you get another four minutes for every three rounds you complete, we were supposed to stop after four minutes.  Not that it mattered to me anyway. 

Again, I did significantly worse than last year, though that can probably be excused by being older, injured and freaking tired from the first WOD.  Plus, the competition atmosphere, with hordes of people cheering me on, was missing. 

I'll settle for a score of 61 (two full rounds, plus one thruster)

CrossFit Open 2013: That's how I do

While the Open was ongoing, I wasn't keeping track of where I was in the standings. I did, however, start poking around the leaderboard after I finished up.

I thought it might be interesting to record my results here, so I can look back in a year and compare my results to next year's Open. I'd expect that I'd finish lower in the standings, given that more people will likely take part in the Open, and any performance gains I make will probably be incremental at best (and that's barring any potential setbacks I could experience due to age, injury and/or binge eating.)

So here's how I finished:

18,117th place worldwide
I don't know how many guys actually completed all the workouts in the individual men's category, and finding out would take more time than I'm willing to invest in this. I do know that my result put me just behind Darren Jenkins of Australia. I beat him in four out of the five WODs, but he totally destroyed me in 13.3. I'm coming for you next year, Jenkins! You best watch yo' kangaroo-kissing, boomerang-tossing, Crocodile Dundee-loving ass!


485th in Canada West
This is out of 1,288 guys who submitted scores for every event. Not quite the top third, but at least it's on the right side of the bell curve. It's probably an appropriate result for someone who is fairly good at some aspects of CrossFit, but far from elite.


9th in CrossFit Regina. 
Looking at the list of CFR dudes who submitted scores for every event, there isn't a single guy who ranked ahead of me that I would have expected to beat overall.   In fact, there were at least four guys below me who would have likely pushed me out of the top 10, but didn't do all the events due to injuries or other factors.  So that result flatters me.  (I think you're pretty, too, Result).


Here's how I ranked in Canada West for each WOD.  Clearly, 13.5 was my best event, and significantly boosted my finish in the overall standings.
 
13.1 - 682nd

13.2 - 612th

13.3 - 769th  Once again, Dave Castro can kiss my ass.  

13.4 - 492nd

13.5 - 301st  Fuck yeah. 

13.5: Thank God I'm not elite

"How dare you judge me, Steve? You have no idea what I've been through."

"13.5 may be awful, but it's over quickly.  Which is also the line of reasoning I use when attempting to woo Tracey."
-Me to AngDesj, on Facebook. 


I think I've mentioned before that I don't like AMRAPs for the simple reason that if you are better at CrossFit, your reward in an AMRAP is more work.  Talk about a disincentive. 

Well, 13.5 was even worse... but fortunately the only people who suffered the consequences are the people who are super fucking awesome at CrossFit.  

This would come as no surprise to anyone who's spent five minutes watching me do a WOD or reading this blog, but if there was a Venn diagram with a circle representing "People Who Are Super Fucking Awesome At CrossFit," your humble yet sexy blogger would not be inside that circle.  I'd be over in the circle representing "People For Whom CrossFit Is The Thin Line Separating Them From Obesity."

13.5
AMRAP in four minutes:
15 thrusters (100 lbs)
15 chest-to-bar pull-ups.

Here's the evil part:  If you get done three rounds within the four-minute time limit... you get another four minutes.

It doesn't stop there... for every three rounds you manage to complete, another four minutes are tacked on the clock.  So, theoretically, this workout could go on for a long time for those who are really elite.

Since the WOD was announced, I couldn't stop thinking about it and how I would have to get that bonus time or I'd be hugely disappointed in myself.  But for some reason I did the math wrong and thought that getting to that point meant completing 60 total reps, not the 90 it actually is.  I thought 60 reps would be hard, but doable for me. 

I got to the gym on Saturday morning, and Lexi told me no one at CFR had made it out of the first four minutes.  "It's 90 reps," she pointed out. 

Hey, they don't call it MathFit. 

Hearing that was like Christmas morning.  Which I guess means Lexi = Santa Claus. 

My goal was still to get into the 60s.  But now I had the luxury of knowing I didn't have to worry about having to do this for longer than four minutes.

I started the WOD unsure if I would do the first 15 thrusters unbroken.  In earlier heats, I saw a lot of people start fast and fade early. 

Once I got them going, I figured I should just finish rather than eat up precious seconds by resting early and having to pick up the bar again. 

Cary was doing this next to me and he finished his thrusters before me. 

As I moved to the C2B PLUs I was paying attention to his counter more than Steve, who was counting for me.  It probably helped me keep my pace fast, but really, I should probably just pay attention to what I'm doing. 

I got through the C2B fairly quickly and was back at my barbell with more than 2:30 left.  I was pretty sure at that time that I was going to break 60, since I was halfway there. 

I also knew that this set of 15 was not going to be unbroken. 

I picked it up and did 8 reps... I would have liked 10, but I had no choice but to drop it.  I thought I'd do the last 7 in one set, but after 4, I had to put it down. 

When I finally did get to the C2B, I did a set of 5 or so, then turned around so I could see what the clock read.  That helped me get through the last 10, though I did have to break it up into three or four sets, including a final set of 1. 

I was back at my barbell with 45-50 seconds left.  I don't remember what I did for sets, but I just knew I wanted to get to 70 or 72.  I would have been thrilled with 72. 

The gym was yelling at me, so that helped me pick the bar up when I really just wanted to leave that fucking thing on the ground. 

I got to 71 with four seconds left.  I was down in the squat part of the thruster for #72 when time ran out. 

Final score of the final Open WOD: 71 

After I went, I stuck around the gym to watch a couple of the later heats. 

And photobombing.  Hot damn, I love photobombing

There were some impressive performances, particularly Lance, who was the only person at CFR to get to that second four minutes. 

His reward for being elite was another four minutes and a final score (I think) of 124.  It was awesome to see. 

It's amazing to me to think that the top score in the world is more than double that.  Josh Bridges scored a 254. 

Sucks to be that guy... this week at least.

13.4 - Must be the shoes

Seven-minute AMRAP of
3 clean and jerk (135lbs)
3 toes to bar
6 C&J
6 T2B
9 C&J
9 T2B
(etc...)

I hadn't been to CrossFit since Tuesday, and spent a quick overnight trip to Saskatoon drinking, staying up late, and gorging myself on Fuddruckers and dim sum.  

But, while in Saskatoon, I did manage to vist Brainsport and buy a new pair of minimalist Innov-8 shoes.  

This seemed like the perfect WOD to start them out with.  The flatness is good for Oly lifting and their light weight is ideal for T2B.  I'm not sure how much of a difference it really makes, but it can't hurt.  So far, I really like them, but I might change my mind when having to run 400m in an alley. 

I didn't warm up very much when I got to CFR, but I did a few C&Js just to make sure I remembered what 135lbs felt like. 

My goal was to break 60, which would mean completing the round of 12s. 

After the 3,2,1 GO I wasn't going super fast, but I did keep up a pretty good pace, without stopping too much for air.  In spite of my plan to drop the bar after each C&J to preserve energy, I held onto the bar for the first set of 3. 

While other people can string together T2B, I haven't mastered that yet.  I can do them without dropping off the bar, but there is a lot of excess flailing and swinging involved, so I typically touch my feet to the ground between each rep to reset my position.  It's slower, but the advantage is it hurts my hands less and is not as taxing on my forearms.  In a WOD like this, which is really taxing on your grip and forearms, it's an advantage. 

I apparently dismounted the bar with some flair a couple of times during the transition from T2B to C&Js.  It wasn't intentional, but if it entertained the crowd awaiting the Lance vs. Matt main event, that's cool. 

So I kept a steady pace and had lots of time left as I entered the round of 12s.  I knew at that point I was going to break 60.  I finished the 12 T2B with around a minute left and managed to squeeze in another 10 C&J before time ran out.

Final score: 70. 

CrossFit Open 13.2

10 minute AMRAP of:

5 shoulder to overhead (115lbs)
10 deadlift (115lbs)
15 box jumps or steps  (I did steps to maintain a constant pace)

I got 238 reps.  That amounts to 7 rounds, plus 5 push press, 10 DL and  13 steps 

I was hoping for 7 and change, so this was good.  Plus, I had at least a half dozen no-reps called by Aaron (including two in the last round) so I know I had it in me to break 8, which makes me happy.  Not quite as happy as if I had officially gotten 8 rounds, but mostly happy. 

To be clear, I'm not bitching about the no-rep calls. They were largely from me not completely opening my hips on top of the box and I would expect they were all justified. I'm not sure if I seemed like I was angry about it during the WOD... I was trying to maintain an intensity level and I probably had my "pissed off CrossFit face" going.  Plus, I think there was a time when Aaron told me to stand straight and I yelled "Stand straight!" on the top of the box.  I was yelling mostly at myself, but it might have come off as backtalk.

I'm such a frickin' spaz sometimes. 

The bottom line is that I knowingly went to the station where Aaron had judged the previous heat, and I know Aaron's a strict judge. I might have gotten away with some of those reps with someone else, but in the end I'm glad (well, mostly glad) that he ruled them a no-rep.  If I had had my wits about me after the WOD was over, I would have thanked him for making sure I met the standards.

So, if you're reading this:  Thanks, Aaron!  Your awesome judging embiggens us all. 

CrossFit Open 13.1

17 minute AMRAP of:


40 Burpees (touching a target 6" above your reach)
30 Snatch, 75 / 45 lbs
30 Burpees
30 Snatch, 135 / 75 lbs
20 Burpees
30 Snatch, 165 / 100 lbs
10 burpees
Max rep Snatch, 210 / 120 lbs

The stuff in italics was the stuff I knew going in I didn't have to worry about.  I've snatched 165 exactly once, and it wasn't at the back end of a cardio nightmare workout.   As it turns out, I didn't get to the 20 burpees either.    My score was 125, meaning I got done 25 snatches at 135.    For the tiebreaker, we're supposed to note what time we finished our last full set of snatches.  For me, that would have only been the 75lbs, and I got done that at 4:57 on the clock.  It might have been a bit quicker, but I had to put the bar down after grazing my forehead with it after my 15th snatch.  It didn't hurt at all, but was distracting.    However, when I went to enter the score online (about three minutes before the deadline), I entered it as 5:47.  Because I'm a dumbass.*   *In my defence, I thought I had already entered it (with the correct information), but something didn't go through, so I had to be alerted by Robin and Aaron to do it again, which I did from my wife's iPhone in a London Drugs.  Which means that I didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing the first time around.  Which, I guess, makes me a double dumbass.    It's not a great score, but not an awful one, either.  Realistically, it's almost exactly what I thought I would end up with, but I was really hoping I could get done the 30 snatch and get some burpees in.      'Twas not meant to be. 

Open Workout 12.2 - SNATCHTASTIC!

Spotted on Twitter
"Orthopedic surgeons coast to coast all have the weirdest boner right now & don't know why."
- @WildGorillaMan


Overheard at the Gym
"You've seen my snatch."


Open Workout 12.2
Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:

30 Snatch (M 75 / F 45 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 135 / F 75 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 165 / F 100 lbs)
Max Rep Snatch (M 210 / F 120 lbs)

This workout begins from the standing position. The athlete will complete all reps at the first weight before advancing to the next weight. Score is total reps completed in 10min. Athletes use one bar, must change plates as the clock is ticking.

Since I'm a non-committal wuss and didn't sign up for the Open, I didn't do 12.1, but CrossFit Regina made 12.2 today's WOD, so I got a chance to do it this morning.

I'm not particularly strong when it comes to power snatch and 135lb is on the heavy side. I've done "Isabel" (30x135lb power snatches for time), but it took me 8:16 (and that's before doing 30 snatches at 75. So, I figured I'd probably have a tough time getting past the second round. Plus, I've never snatched more than 160, so even if I did reach the third round, I likely wouldn't get one rep.

There were only three people at the morning WOD this morning. Kent and the Janimal did the first heat, with Coach Harlan and me counting reps. Then I went solo.

The first 30 with 75lbs took me less than two minutes, but then I was winded while trying to take off the 15lb plates and put on 45s. That was hard. Actually, catching my breath during this whole WOD was harder than you'd think, considering I was only doing maybe 4-6 snatches per minute during the second round.

The 135lb snatches were tough from the get-go. I tried to concentrate on keeping my chest up and dropping under the bar as best I could, but I still had to press out the weight on most reps.

I was also trying to keep my form decent as a way of self-preservation. As GorillaMan's quote indicates, this WOD would be a good way to fuck up your back if you're not careful. In that respect, it's a benefit that I: a) am not in the competition and b) did this at 6am. I didn't go crazy and sacrifice form in trying to achieve a particular score or beat someone.

On the bright side, I'm pretty sure my pace was a bit better than the last time I did "Isabel". I also had far fewer failed attempts (only two this morning, if I'm remembering right).

Total reps: 57 (30x75lb, 27x135lb)