European Regional WOD (Partnered) / 1km Run

With a partner (mine was Harlan), taking turns, do 20 reps each of:

Pull-ups (managed to do 20 straight)
Box Jumps – 24″
Situps (I did toes-to-bar because that's how the 9AMers did it.
6×10m overhead carry together – 135/95lb (The height difference between Harlan and I was good for a few laughs on this one)
Situps (no toes to bar this time)
Box Jumps
Pull-ups (No 20 straight this time; probably 10-5-5)

Took us 13:33


Then the group did a 1km run. Took me 4:17.

Bench Press x 5, GHDs, Plank Hold, Rope Climb

Bench press 5-5-5-5-5

115-125-135-145(2)-145(3)

I am weak. WEAK!!

Max GHDs in a minute: 31

Plank hold: 2:32

Hands-only rope climb from seated position: 9 seconds.

Tyler almost bails on "Fran-ish" (a.k.a. "C2B Fran") but eventually discovers his testicles

Kind of a weird morning.

When I signed up online for the 6am class, I saw that there was only one other person registered for the class. I figured that at least a couple more people would show up, but when I got there, it was just Franz (who was coaching) and MichelleD.

Then I looked on the board and saw that the WOD was C2B Fran.

21-15-9 of:
95lb thrusters
Chest-to-bar pull-ups.

Fuck.

While this isn't what I consider to be a benchmark WOD, it's close enough that I would have liked to know I was doing it a little more in advance than 15 minutes. With benchmark WODs (basically, the ones with girls names) I usually prefer to do them in the evening so that I can come in, see what people have done, and feed off some of the energy in the gym. This morning, I was going to be doing this one alone because MichelleD was going to be doing yesterday's WOD.

Also contributing to my foul mood was the fact that when I looked on the whiteboard, my results for the first part of yesterday's WOD (skips and pushups/mountain climbers) were in the bottom third of everyone that did it yesterday. It pisses me off because that's the kind of stuff I'm supposed to be good at.

So, during a half-hearted warm-up, I started looking for reasons why I shouldn't do Fran-ish. I thought about maybe trying to improve my score on the first part of yesterday's WOD. I even seriously contemplated just going home and going back to bed.

Basically, I figured I was going to completely tank on this and I really didn't want to have the whiteboard displaying a substandard time under my name for the next week. (When I'm thinking rationally, I know most people couldn't give two shits about my results, but those moments of rational thinking are rare).

While the little devil on my shoulder was telling me, "Go on, bail on Fran-ish... you can go home to your nice warm bed," the little angel on the other side took a break from kettlebell swings to say, "This is what CrossFit is all about: getting you physically prepared for the unexpected. In real life, you don't always get to choose what challenges you will face. Man the fuck up, douchey."

The devil was the reason I got fat and stayed that way for years, so I listened to the angel.

Speaking of angels, Franz provided some good coaching throughout.

The last time I did regular Fran was one of my better days ever at CrossFit. That day, I had the benefit of a cheering crowd, a week's notice of the workout being Fran, and, because I did it in the evening, I had a whole day's worth of results to compare to.

Today, I probably managed to summon up about 85-90 per cent of the intensity and focus I had during Fran last time. There were three or four pull-ups I didn't get all the contact I wanted between my chest and the bar, and the breaks I took were probably too long and too frequent, but I got through it.

Time was 7:00 which is a little under two minutes more than my regular Fran time. I'm not sure if the C2B pull-ups should really have that kind of an impact on my results, but I gave just about everything I had this morning.

One other thing: I was no longer in a pissy mood.

I actually don't know if that 7:00 time is "good" for a person at my level, or how well it will hold up against the people I usually compare my results to. At that point, I didn't really care. I had done it. I didn't listen to the devil on my shoulder who wants me to stay in bed when that alarm goes off at 5:30 in the morning, and who tries to talk me out of doing a workout because the result might bruise my fragile ego.

Fuck you, little devil. I refuse to be your bitch.

As I attempted to recover from Fran-ish, I looked at the clock and noticed that it was only 6:40am. So I started looking forward to getting home a bit earlier than normal, and maybe even rousing Tracey for a morning quickie. Then I found out that I wasn't done.

I hadn't noticed the bonus work was to do 75 GHD sit-ups in as few sets as possible.

Fuck.

I was shooting for three sets, but figured I'd probably end up doing it in four.

Turns out it took me five sets: 20-15-9-16-15.


Here's a video of a guy doing C2B Fran a lot quicker than me.

"Another Chipper"

For time:

1500m row
50 power cleans (65lbs)
25 ring dips
50 wall ball
25 GHD sit-ups
The rowing and wall balls were the toughest part of this one. I was sort of dreading the dips, but they went okay. I would have liked to string together more cleans in a row, but I was also trying to keep my form good.

Time was 17:02. The last time I did this was back in January, and it took me 20:05 with assisted ring dips.

As I mentioned, I couldn't string together too many wall balls in a row. Harlan was training today and at one point he said, "C'mon, you said yourself [on your blog] you're taking too many breaks."

Well, that'a a good point, actually. Still, there's nothing like someone throwing your own words back in your face at 6:30 in the morning.

If any other trainers or CrossFitters are looking to motivate me mid-workout by reiterating something I've said on either blog, here are some approved suggestions (by putting them here, they have technically been on the blog):

"Tyler, you are both witty and handsome."

"I had heard you were Saskatchewan's sexiest blogger, but I never believed it until now."

"I never realized someone could wear Lululemon gear and still be so uber-manly."

"All those people who finished this quicker than you were probably cheating."

"You are so awesome."

"Hands Off Helen"

I've been having these weird pains, first from my right arm and then from my left, mostly in the biceps and triceps. So I've rested since Tuesday, and did a workout that didn't involve arms today.

"Hands Off Helen"

For time, three rounds of:
400m run
21 GHD sit-ups
12 24" box jumps

My time was 11:46.

I used to do GHDs as part of my warm-up, until I did a stupid, self-designed workout that involved 150 of them and fucked up my back for a couple of months. I need to re-introduce them into my routine, because they were way harder than they should have been here. My box jumps sucked, too.

AMRAP in 20 Minutes and Tyler's Wall Ball Math Idiocy

The GHD sit-up

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
10 Wall ball shots to 10' line
10 GHD Sit-ups
10 Back extensions

I did this as rx'd on one of the new GHD things. 11 rounds, plus 10 WB, plus 10 GHD sit-ups, plus 6 back extensions. Only four short of a 12th round.

The GHD situps were the hardest part. I was a little nervous because a while back I did a self-designed workout of 50-40-30-20-10 GHDs and box jumps and it completely messed up my back for more than a month. But things seem to be holding up okay.

Back extentions are fun, because once I start sweating, I end up flinging sweat on the upswing about 7-10 feet away from me, in a sort of Christmas tree pattern on the black mat flooring we have at CFR.

I love workouts that help me complete my Wall Ball Challenge obligations. Today is day 77, and I like to work a day ahead.

For some reason, I did the math wrong and added up days 76 and 77, and figured that I needed 143 to fulfill the quota for my f**king wall balls. I also thought that I had done 110 (11 rounds) during the workout, forgetting that I went into the 12th round. So, with my incorrect thinking, I did 33 post-workout WB.

As I was walking into my house, I realized I did 120 during the workout, and I was happy that I had an extra 10 to throw in the the Wall Ball Vacation Bank. Hey, at this point, I'll take every one I can get.

But, I didn't realize until I started writing this that, in actuality, I needed to do 155 for the day (77 + 78 = 155). So, I had really needed to do 35 at CFR. I still owe two more.

Damn!