Run/Thrusters

5 rounds for time:
400m Run
10 Thrusters – 135/95lb

I harboured illusions of doing these sets of thrusters in two sets of five. It ended up being 4-3-3 for most of them. And to call them thrusters is a bit generous. For the most part, they were a front squat followed by a push press, rather than one fluid motion.

It took me 19:35. I managed to avoid getting lapped by Blair... until near the end, at least. The worst thing about Blair being such an uber-athlete is that he is such a nice and humble guy. If I turned in his results, I would be an insufferable prick. ("Uh... would be an insufferable prick, Tyler?") Real funny.

I convinced Franz to do this one after a nine-day layoff from CrossFit. He was going to do "Helen" instead. There are at least four benchmark WODs that I've missed recently that I would like to make up, but I told myself that I'm doing the Workout OF THE DAY unless I have a really good reason. So I pestered Franz until he agreed just to keep me from annoying him.

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.

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.

"Grindy"

10 clean and jerks (135lbs, and the cleans are full squat cleans)
5 rounds of Cindy (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats)
10 clean and jerks
5 rounds of Cindy
10 clean and jerks

The last time I did Grindy, it was back in June of 2008, about a month after I joined CrossFit. Back then, I did it with 95lbs and it took me 34:29, and I'm pretty sure I wanted to die afterward.

As it turns out, that was the first day I was able to do unassissted pull-ups (I always thought it took me a few months to get those) and that was also the day I tore my hands to shit... which led to me wearing gloves and mummy-taping my fingers for a long time, which is the reason for the title of this blog.

Today, my time was 24:33.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little disappointed in myself on this one. I really lacked some intensity this morning. I spent more time trying to figure out which shoes to wear than I did warming up and getting comfortable with the C&Js, and it showed in my shitty form. I'm not saying I should be getting a sub-15 minute time on this, but I could have shaved two or three minutes off of this.

Basically, from almost the beginning, I was in the "Let's just plod through this mode" rather than saying "I'm gonna attack this fucking workout like a pack of crazed dogs." I'm not going to blame the music this time, even though Taylor Swift was playing at one point, because Franz quickly addressed that situation.

Other ways I sucked:

-Resting too much in between reps on the C&Js. BrianB flew through his and actually looked back at me as he was going through his first round of five Cindys and said, "You only have to do 10." Yeah, I know. I just suck, alright?

-My squat cleans came around toward the end, when I remembered to hold my breath and keep my core tight. But there was a point earlier in the workout where I basically did a power clean, front squat, ugly push press/half-jerk hybrid.

-I apparently have forgotten how to do a split jerk. My push jerks felt and probably looked completely amateur.

-I took breaks during the squats in Cindy. I took a break during fucking squats.

Anyway, enough of me whining like a little bitch. Everyone's entitled to a less than stellar workout once in a while... the key is to figure out what made it shitty and fix that for next time.

I'm gonna take a rest day tomorrow and come back with a big fucking smile on my face on Friday.

Here's a video of some guys doing a Grindy, but with 3 x 5 rounds of Cindy, and only 2 x 10 C&J. They also only do a power clean, which makes me think that maybe we didn't have to do squat cleans. Oh well, a little more hard work never killed anyone. Check out the nice butterfly kips they're using, and notice that they're basically doing push presses.

Deadlifts and "Chipper From Helen"

Back at CrossFit after a week off. The week off wasn't really intended, but I slept in a couple of times and missed 6am WODs. Taking a rest week wasn't a bad thing, as it turns out, but I was glad to get back there tonight.

Did max deadlift singles. For me, it went like this:

285 lbs (PR)
300 lbs (PR)
305 lbs (PR)

I need to get stronger. I wish I could figure out a way to join strength club, but it's only open to unlimited members and evenings are pretty tough anyway.

The worst part about the deadlifts wasn't my inability to lift any more weight off the ground. It was the fact that we had to listen to that crap Miley Cyrus song, "Party in the USA" which is the last thing you want to hear when trying to pick heavy things off the ground. I rant further here.

Then it was time for "Chipper From Helen":

1200m run
63 55lb bell swings
36 pull-ups

The run went really good. I wasn't really sure how to pace myself, but I never got tired and finished it under 5:20.

Bell swings, I did 35-15-13.

Pull-ups, I would have liked to sting together a few more at the start but I only did 12-9-5-5-5.

Time was 10:22.

Better than I expected. Still have some work to go to match machines like Chris T, Nick, and Franz, who were all sub-10.

If you wanna be a big dog, you gotta run with the big dogs

That was a line I used to explain why I decided to sign up for Division 1 at the Saskatchewan CrossFit Challenge.

In CrossFit, the biggest competition is within yourself. How much did I improve from the last time I did this? Did I go faster? Did I lift more?

It makes sense that those are the victories you focus on and chase, because you will see progression, and that progression will motivate you to keep coming and to keep improving. Especially when you first start out, and the WODs seem impossible and the people who can do them all as rx'd seem like impossibly athletic cyborgs.

This article from Again Faster reminds us that it's not such a bad thing to look at those around you who are stronger and/or faster than you. And, rather than accept the fact that they are better at CrossFit (or at least certain aspects of it), and they always will be... why not try to catch up?

Rather than look at the fastest guy or gal in your class and say, "She's amazing, I could never do what she's doing," maybe look at what they are doing and realize that it is possible for a human to perform at that level.

There will be times that you surprise yourself. It happened with me when I did "Helen" and you know the real reason why? I was trying to come close to Robin's score.

Look, I know there are limits to what a human body can do, and as a 33-year-old, three-or-four-day-a-week CrossFitter who likes to drink beer and eat shitty food on occasion, I might not ever get 23+ rounds of "Cindy" like James. I might not ever get a 346 on Fight Gone Bad like Franz. I might not ever run a 5K in 21 minutes like Nick.

But you bet your ass I'm gonna try.

"Elizabeth"

For time:

21-15-9
135lb cleans
Ring dips

Sometimes, you gotta get humbled by the CrossFit gods. This WOD combines two of my weaknesses into one neat little package. But I guess you can't get better if you don't try, right?

It took me 22:11.

I definitely wasted too much time between reps, especially on the cleans. I'd do one, ditch it, and have to re-psych myself up for the next one. I'm still a little freaked out by the 135lbs. Going in, I knew it was going to take me a long time, but I could have increased my intensity level. I'd like to try this again in a month or so.

This is one of those times I wish I hadn't looked on YouTube for an example video, because I see a bunch of dudes with 5- and 7-minute times.

Afterward, we had to do 6 x 15 Double Unders. The 15s had to be unbroken, or you start that set again. I managed to do them all unbroken. For people who did that, they then have to do a bonus set of max DUs. After a couple of "warm-ups" of 2 and 3, I managed 16.

Overheard at the Gym...
Tyler, the last one to finish his workout, is the last one packing up to leave.

Franz: "Alright, get out of the gym. I want to get home. I've got a beautiful woman sleeping in my bed."

Tyler: "Don't you live with your aunt?"

Deadlifts/"Helen"

Deadlifts 1-1-1

255-275-285 (f)

Fuck.

I like to think that I could do a bit more than that, but my right hip wasn't in the mood. I'm amazed that there are gals at Crossfit Regina who can deadlift 400lbs. Hell, Brad Flood did more than that tonight, and he probably weighs 15 lbs less than me. So jealous.

Helen:

Three rounds for time of
400m run
21 55lb bell swings
12 Pull-ups

9:42 as rx'd. When I went in tonight, I was hoping to get less than 12 minutes, but sub-10 seemed like a pipe dream. I took almost four minutes off my time from when we did it in April. I'm very happy with that. Thanks to Harlan and Franz for yelling at me.

Before I get all proud of myself, here's a video of Calgary-based world-class CrossFitter "OPT" getting a sub-7 minute Helen.



Fuck.

"Summer in the City"

"Summer in the City" Chipper:

For time:
Buy in of 500m row
20 Wall Ball
30 Burpees
40 Pull-ups
50 Bell Swings -55lb
60 Abmat Situps
70 Box Jumps - 20"
Buy out of 500m row

Time, as rx'd: 21:27. Spent most of the workout trying desperately to stay ahead of Chris T, which would normally be out of the question, but he did a workout called "Three Bars of Death" yesterday so he was pretty worn out from that.

Prediction: Franz will get sub 18 minutes on this one.

Oh, and I did another 75 wall balls, which totals 95 for the day. Since I did today's quota last night, I'm gonna say these are for Monday. Now I just have to do tomorrow's and Sunday's, and then I can coast on the 400 I have banked until Saturday.

Harlan plans on doing 1,000 WB today. 10 per minute for 100 minutes. He was going to start this morning, but slept in, so he's going in this afternoon. I sure hope someone takes pictures and, more importantly, is there to call 911.

Fight Gone Bad

291 as rx'd.

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. The score, I mean. The workout was total hell. I think the reason they only do them two or three times a year is to give people time to forget how much this sucks when you're doing it. There were plenty of times when I felt mentally broken, especially during the second round. Fellow Crosfitter and party games enthusiast Brad Fo was a huge help with the encouragement, as were the counters at each station.

Going in, I didn't set a goal for myself, other than beating my score from last September of 255 (which was also a fair bit higher than expected). I did this because I didn't want to get caught up in worrying about how I was doing numbers-wise during the workout. Well, I couldn't completely mitigate that, but I wanted to do my best.

If someone had asked me for my best guess as to how I would do this time out, I would have probably guessed in the 270s. I would have been a bit disappointed if I only went up by 10, but a jump of 20 would have satisfied me.

My 291 was actually the highest rx'd score of the day, briefly, before BathMatt from CF Saskatoon was all like "Fuck, let met show that glove-wearing Queen City sissy how it's done," and obliterated it with a 346. Franz, who had been like a caged animal all morning, followed with a 345 on his first FGB ever.

Crazy. Robin posted pictures of the event here.