Crossfit Day 4

I wasn't going to look last night and see what torture was to be in store for this morning. Really, I wasn't. But my husband asked, so I did.

3 Rounds for Time:
- 400m Plate walk
- 35 Burpee Pull-ups

I didn't even bother to worry about it this time. I knew that if there was something I couldn't do, then I'd get a modification that would work me as hard as I could work. But this wasn't actually what we ended up doing anyway, because last night it snowed, three or four inches of nice fluffy stuff.

Apparently, the plate walk was an outdoor thing, so with the snow it got switched to 1000m Row. And I got another surprise when the 8am class had finished warming up. This was to be a partner work out.

I was really glad that someone else asked me to partner up before I had much time to look around and feel awkward about not knowing anyone well enough to approach them. He got our equipment set up while I talked to the trainer about what I was supposed to do in lieu of a burpee pull-up, since I can't do pull-ups yet. I really want to, but I'm not there yet. Yet!

The modification was to do burpees, and then band-assisted pull-ups, counting each as a whole rep, so that five burpees and five pull-ups were ten reps off the total of 35 that my partner and I had to do.

So, together, my partner and I had to row 1000 meters, and do 35 burpee pull-ups (or modifications thereof), three times. Not too bad, right? But the person who wasn't currently rowing or burpee pull-upping wasn't just allowed to stand around and rest - that would be too easy. Instead, they got a plate of weight to hold high above their head until they couldn't stand it anymore and took a break by either rowing or burpee pull-upping.

I started with the 25lb plate over my head. Not too bad. I've been doing lunges around the track with a 10 pounder over my head, so the concept wasn't entirely foreign to my body. But the time gets to you, the weight, the balance of keeping it up there when your arms begin to shake.

When we switched, the rowing didn't start out too badly either, but the aerobic effort and the strain on my already punished arms made it harder than I expected. I also managed to row my butt right out of the seat on my first go. I landed on the seat's track and had to stop rowing for a moment to get the seat back under me. I'm still not sure exactly how that happened, but I was able to make sure it didn't happen again.

I went first on the burpee pull-ups, doing five burpees and then using a box to get my foot into the band hung on my bar to do five assisted pull-ups. My partner then did ten full burpee pull-ups, while I held the plate, and then I did my ten more, and he finished with five before we got back to switching off rowing.

We held to the pattern for the other two rounds and finished at about 23 and a half minutes. I forgot the exact time. It was maybe a little easier than yesterday's AMRAP - but that doesn't mean it was easy!

After the cool down, I walked back to my apartment and grabbed my gym bag. Then I walked to the rec center to meet Ambrose. He had driven there around 8am to do his weights and run, and I met him at the bouldering cave where we both spent some time climbing before retreating to the real reason I walked a mile and a half in the snow - the hot tub. It never felt so good.

Four WODs in five days. Not a bad start. Now, for a nap...