Nautical Nancy

I've done variations of this but tonight was the first time I've done Nautical Nancy in the strict, "Five rounds, for time" way. 

Five rounds for time:

500m row
15 overhead squats (95lb)

16:59 rx'd

Nicole wrote down 17:00, but I made her change it, because I made sure to lock out before that second was up, and also because I'm a wanker. 

I'm happy with that time.  Hell, I was only 20 seconds slower than Shae, and anytime I'm in the same neighbourhood as him on a WOD, I'm not gonna complain. 

I took it relatively easy on the rows (all were between 1:50 and 2:05, plus transition time)

As a result, I was able to do all but one of the OHS sets unbroken, or at least without lowering the bar.  I did pause a bit or adjust my balance.  I also did the squats fairly quickly.  That's really the key to doing well on this.  Putting the bar down, picking it back up, re-setting your feet... those things will all cost me far more time than if I row the 500m in 1:40 vs. 1:55.  Plus, the more time you hang out with the bar above your head, the more fatigued you get, and the more you wear out your shoulders. 

VolkeFit Harbour Village Throwdown!

Smile and the whole world smiles with you. Squat, and you squat alone.

Steve hosted another CrossFit get-together in his garage on Saturday.  (Oh shit, I hope by me calling it that, I'm not getting him in trouble with CrossFit HQ.  Gotta protect the brand, y'know.)

There were 11 people taking part, I think.  We split up into teams, and I ended up on a stacked team consisting of Matt, Leya, Shae, and Uncles.  It was kind of like being a journeyman left-winger for the Moose Jaw Warriors who somehow ends up playing on the mid-80s Edmonton Oilers dynasty team.

I didn't record results, so I'll just talk about what we did. 

WOD #1

Teams of three, conga line.  Two rounds of: 

10 burpees

15 squats

200m-ish run 

(Joel, Leya and me)

This was fine.  I like doing all of this stuff.  This was the first time I ran outside in my new, minimalist Innov-8s, so I may have gone a little slower as I was more conscious of where I was stepping. 

Or maybe I was just running that slow because I haven't actually run anywhere in five months. 

WOD #2 

Teams of three, one person working at a time 

-Three minutes of OHS for max reps (95lbs)

-Two minutes of hand-release push-ups 

(Matt, Shae and me)

I think I mostly held my own on the OHS, doing a couple sets of 15.  Let's not talk about how I did on the push-ups, mmkay?


WOD #3
7-minute AMRAP:
Teams of three, one person at each station:
-Sit-ups
-20 power cleans (135 and 95lbs)
-handstand hold

(Matt, Leya and Uncles)

Score was the max sit-ups.  You switch whenever one teammate has completed the 20 cleans. And -- here's the nasty part, which I'm proud to say was my idea -- you can only work when the one teammate is in the handstand hold 

I sat this one out... which made it way more entertaining. 



If your face doesn't look like this when you CrossFit, you're doing it wrong



WOD #4

5-minute AMRAP (I think... I could have the time wrong)

Teams of three - Each person at a station, rotate when everyone's done.



Keep in mind, the camera adds a good 50-60 lbs



-20 overhead lunges - 45lbs 

-20 front squats - 135lbs

-20 kettlebell snatches - 55lbs

The front squats were a special kind of awful, especially when you (meaning me) are the last person to finish at your  station in a garage full of hyper-fit people and your team is waiting for you to hurry the fuck up, fatass so they can get back to exercising. 

WOD #5

Everyone does this, going through one at a time. 

One minute at each station:

-Wall ball

-Box jumps (20")

-Pull-ups

-Battle ropes

Battle ropes are one of those things that look not so bad, but then you do them and you are just praying for the sweet release of death. 

***

Driving with Arnold:

I saw this on Fuck Yeah CrossFit and I liked it so I stole it and put it here. 

 

A unique but effective coaching style

Shae told me about this video. 



I'm really glad this guy wasn't around when we took that field trip to Shae's boxing club.  Given my ineptitude, Coach Kelly would have subjected me to a tirade that I'd probably be in therapy for. 

Worked out for 16 min, Ate 3 donuts & chips, drank beer

Four rounds for time of:
10 One-arm dumbbell snatches – 55/35lb (We don’t have 70/55lb)
200m Sprint

6:23


B. AMRAP in 10 min:

5 burpees
10 55lb Kettlebell swings
12 rounds plus one burpee.

Both of these felt more nasty than they looked on paper. Yet, my results were better than I expected for both of them. That is likely a result of going head-to-head with D3.

It was a UFC PPV night, so obviously I stuffed myself with chips and beer later. Oh, and Shae brought a big box of donuts and they were sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME so of course I ate three of them.

.

SCFC - "Spring Fling"

57 competitors, three events, one freaking crazy day.

Read about it on the CrossFit Regina website here.

See the final results here.

See pictures from the event here.

My voice was hoarse from screaming at other competitors. There was a great energy in the gym all day, and there were some incredible athletes gathered in one place. But just as inspiring were the regular people who pushed their bodies and spirits to the absolute limit, cheered on by friends and people they had never even met. I am not exaggerating when I say that there were a few times that I almost teared up just watching.

WOD 1 "Bottoms Up"
Concentric back squat (one rep max) plus ring dips.

This was like a max backsquat, except the bar was racked low and you start from that position. Your score on this one was the weight that you lifted plus five points for every ring dip.

You get four attempts at a lift. I did 245 and then 265. I failed on 285 and 275. After the fail on 285, I had a brief but entirely ridiculous spaz-out episode, which subsequently embarrassed me way more than actually missing the lift. That may have messed with my concentration when I went for 275. I didn't even lock the bar down properly on my back before standing up, so it rolled back and was ruled no lift.

I got 15 ring dips, which I think was a PR. I thought that was pretty good, but nearly every other guy in Div 1 beat it.

Total score was 340, which put me at 10th out of 14.

Even though adding the ring dips hurt me as far as the standings went (I would have finished a couple of spots higher if only squat numbers were counted), I thought adding them to this event made it a good balance.

WOD 2 "Pull Through"

45 pull-ups, then
21-15-9 of:
95lb snatch
Row for calories.

I did 26 pull-ups off the start, then finished it off with a few more sets in the 4-6 range. I had a couple of blisters, one on each ring finger. But I taped them up and I don't think they slowed me down on this one.

My strategy was to go as fast as I could though the snatches and not kill myself on the rower. Having said that, the 21 snatches were pretty awful.

There was a guy next to me who could pass for a marine and I figured he'd pull away from the pack, but going into the 15 snatches, I was right on his tail. I think I passed him around the ninth rep. Having someone to chase, and then someone to stay ahead of, really helped me push through this one. And it was nasty.

I did this in 10:28, which was good for 4th out of all the Div 1 men, and moved me to 7th overall. I was definitely surprised that I finished that high (because I went in one of the earlier heats, I was briefly in first place) and I think there were a few other people who were, too.


WOD 3 "Rain or Shine"
Three rounds:

400m run (in the rain)
20 115 lb push press or jerk
20 20" box jump


Because I was in 7th, I got to go in the final heat of the day. That was a blessing and a curse. It was good, because we got to see what worked for the other athletes.

It was bad because I got to see how this wod destroyed people. See, until then, I didn't think it was gonna be that bad.

It was THAT bad.

We had to run in the rain, which was probably better than doing it in oppressive heat. But running at the start of a round instead of the end always presents a bit of a pacing challenge.

On the first 400m run, I wanted to keep a good pace, but leave something in the tank for the push press. My thinking was that it was going to be the push press that really determined who would do well on this one. I had seen the push press just absolutely wipe some people out in earlier heats and I had also seen some freakishly strong people, like Hardcore Ange, crank them out like she was pressing a PVC pipe.

The key would be to put the bar down as little as possible. As I came in from the run I was thinking that I would have to break up the push press into sets of 7, but on the first set, I was able to do 12 straight. I then did eight straight to finish off the set. My technique must have been a bit iffy, because I heard Aaron telling my judge Shae to make sure I locked out at the top and straightened my legs. From what I had seen earlier, Shae didn't cut people a whole lot of slack, so I couldn't have been too bad.

My box jumps were painfully slow. In the previous heat, I saw Brad Flood crank out 20 straight box jumps in his third round to finish before the time limit ran out. Flood was exhausted, but jumped on and off quickly as the entire gym counted in unison. Flood was awesome and that was one of my favourite parts of the day.

I did not provide any box jump-related heroics. I jumped up and stepped down for the vast majority of mine. I just wanted to keep going and not burn myself out.

I don't remember too many specifics about the next two rounds. I think I did pretty good on the push press and when I did set the bar down, I didn'tleave it on the ground for long. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I had Shae urging me on and dozens of other people yelling at me. The atmosphere alone probably shaved a good two minutes off the time I would get if this were just the workout of the day. The box jumps were slow and steady, but I did deviate from my stepping down to throw in about four up-and-downs. I'm no Brad Flood, but it was the best I could do.

I finished in 13:20, good for 7th in the event.

After the results were posted, I I was in a three-way tie for 7th overall, which is better than I expected.

I had a great time, and it showed me that I still have a lot of room for improvement, both in my CrossFitness and to how I respond to adversity.

UPDATE:

Here's a cool video focusing on one of the athletes who competed that day. It looks really professional.

Sask CrossFit Challenge: Taryn Romanowich from Colin Tulloch on Vimeo.

The Bear - Aw... F**K!!

The Bear calls for five rounds of seven repetitions of this sequence:
Power clean
Front squat
Push press
Back Squat
Push Press

It's not done for time. You go for max weight. The weight cannot rest on the ground, just touch and go.

I started with 95, and increased to 105, then 115.

Of course, looking across the gym at Blair and Shae tossing around 165 with ease made me feel like Kung Fu Panda on his first day of training with the Furious Five. Shae was shirtless and shoeless because, as he said, "I feel stronger when I'm naked." I guess he's eventually going to replace his gym shorts with a loin cloth.

Round four with 125 was going well and I had visions of 135 dancing in my head. Then I felt a strong pinch in my lower back. I ignored it and went down into my front squat in the sixth sequence repetition, and felt it again, worse, and knew that I had messed up what was apparently a still-healing back.

DNFF. You can probably guess what the other "F" stands for.

Do double unders without the "under"

Is that Shae at :08 in this infomercial for a ropless jumprope? I'd like to think so.

Tyler falls for "Fran"

"Fran"

For time, 21-15-9 of:

95lb thrusters
Pull-ups

Sounds simple, right? And, as far as the amount of work being called for, it isn't that much, at least not on the CrossFit scale. I mean, there are motherfuckers in the world that can finish this in around two minutes.

But in our gym, and for untold thousands of CrossFitters elsewhere, there isn't a single other workout that evokes such strong emotions from so many people. (See my previous post.)

There aren't any other workouts that would pack a gym with spectators and people who are an hour removed from their scheduled workout time on a Thursday evening (Hell, 30 Rock is on tonight, people!). For cryin' out loud, Shae had a homemade "I love Fran" T-shirt.

I'll tell you one thing: I don't love Fran. Not one fucking bit. It had been more than half a year since I had last done this workout and in the days leading up to it, I tried to convince myself that it wasn't gonna be so bad. It's a total of 45 reps of each exercise... what's the big deal?

Well, it's a big deal because we make it a big deal. For a lot of CrossFitters, your Fran time says a lot about where you are in your CrossFit journey, and when you walk into a gym on Fran Day, you know there's something in the air that's a little more intense.

I felt it when I showed up at CFR tonight. A group of the firebreather CrossFit chicks (Robin, Kelly, AngDesj, Lexi, Julie, Mandy, Leya and Leah) were four minutes into Fran, and they looked like they had been put through hell. The place was noisy with people screaming encouragement, telling them to pick that weight back up, get their hands back on that pull-up bar, just a few left, c'mon, you can do this.

I love that shit, because it gets me psyched and a little scared about what I'm about to put myself through.

I had booked myself in at the 6pm class because I decided that I needed to have time to warm up properly and that I wanted to see how others had done on the workout during the day, which are a couple of luxuries that I don't get when I sign up for an early morning class and show up five minutes late.

I tried my best to warm up and I felt alright when it was time for the 6pm class to step up. We were divided up into guys and gals. The guys were going first and we were each assigned a counter. Poppy was mine.

3-2-1 GO!!

21 thrusters

I did all of these without putting the bar down. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to do that, but I did want to get through the first big set of thrusters as soon as possible and get on the pull-up bar. Kurt later said that I was going really fast, but I remember that I did have to pause a couple of times to breathe.

21 pull-ups

I jumped up to the 8-foot bar, because I'm usually reluctant to drop off it before my sets are done. I figured, for the first set of pull-ups, I could do them all unbroken. I did, but it was ugly. First of all, instead of a clean hook grip, some of the skin of my palm was trapped between the bar and my fingers, so my grip wasn't great and I was worried about tearing. At the start, I couldn't get a good rhythm on my kipping pull-ups happening, but I was able to correct it. However, I got so distracted doing that, I lost count of my reps. "What rep am I at?!" I asked Poppy, praying that she was still counting for me. "Ten," she replied. Good... she was still counting. Fuck... I thought I had done a few more than that. I did the last 11, though I had to will myself up for that last one. It's always the last one.

15 thrusters

I glanced over at the clock before picking up the weight. 1:44. Not bad. I thought two minutes would be a good time for Round 1. People are cheering me on because it looks like I'm going to end up with a pretty good time. I can sort of hear them and it really helps, but at the same time, I'm pretty focused and can't really hear much of anything. I pick up the barbell... What the fuck... the weight was a whole lot heavier this time. Did someone add 30 lbs while I was doing pull-ups? Fuckers. I went from doing 21 straight, to three sets of five, dropping the bar after each set.


15 pull-ups

No fucking around on the 8-foot bar this time. I headed straight to the 7-footer. The advantage here is that I don't have to jump for it, and I can touch my feet to the ground briefly after each pull-up, giving my hands and arms a quick but much-needed respite. I realize this makes me less of a man, and it's something I'm working on.

9 thrusters

I can fucking taste it now. Almost done. I think it's at this point that someone, probably Chris T or maybe Franz (both of whom were giving steady encouragement and coaching through the whole time and I've gotta thank them for that the next time I see them) tells me I'm four minutes in. I do the thrusters in two sets, maybe three, I'm not quite sure. I think it takes me around 30 seconds.

9 pull-ups

Sub-five minutes is within my chalky grasp as I get over to the pull-up bar. I can't get any rhythm on these fuckers but it doesn't matter. I can do sets of one. I'm not too proud. It's me and a race against the clock, which - stupidly - I have my back to. I'm getting updates on my time and people are shouting encouragement, practically willing me to get my chin over that bar. I've got to do nine pullups. One pull-up, two... I'm chugging through them... three, four... it's gonna be close, but I've got a real shot at beating five minutes, something I used to think was superhuman... five, six, seven... and it's taking everything I have... eight... I barely got over on that one, but I've only got one more...ni... and I lose my grip mid-kip and fall to the fucking ground.

Seriously. Can you believe this shit?

I think I landed mostly flat on my back and a little on my right elbow. I'm sure it looked ugly, and it didn't feel great, either.

Chris rushes over to check on me. I push him away. "I'm fine," I tell him. At that point, I wasn't entirely convinced that I actually was, but I had one pull-up left and the clock was still ticking. I get my chin over the bar in what was probably the ugliest pull-up ever and collapse on the ground.

Time was 5:06.

After an extended period in the post-WOD roadkill position, I determine that I am not injured, though I am completely exhausted and am probably gonna have a nice bruise on my upper right ass cheek and my right elbow is a little raw from scraping. So, don't worry, Mom. The fall was probably a result of fatigued forearms and hands and a mental lapse by me not ensuring I had a firm grip on the bar. I may have been using a more aggressive kip than normal to over-compensate for my arms, which were just spent.

I'm very happy with the time. Going in, I thought I could maybe get sub-6:00, and I did quite a bit better than that. I took 2:22 of my previous Fran time and came within a sniff of getting sub-5:00, which would have put me in some very elite company in the gym. As it is, I exceeded my own expectations, though I definitely see some room for improvement.

I still don't love Fran. But I do love CrossFit.

Here's a video of some CrossFit Chicks doing Fran last February. I figure all of them would have improved on their times this go around.