Crossfit Day 7

There is no class offered tomorrow at my gym, it being Christmas and all.

So today we got an early Christmas present for our WOD:

“Twelve Days of Christmas” for time:
Complete 1, then 1&2, then 1&2&3, and so on till you get to 12:
Clean (135/95)*
HSPU
Front Squats (135/95)*
Sumo Deadlift High Pull (135/95)*
Chest to Bar Pull Ups
Box Jumps (30/24)
Burpees
Push Ups
Wall Balls (20/14)
KB Swings
Deadlifts (135/95)*
Thrusters (135/95)*
* Same bar and weight will be used for these movements.
(35 min time cap)

I did manage not to look at the WOD until this morning, so I wasn't worrying about how the heck I was supposed to do all of this while trying to fall asleep. I only had about an hour to worry about how I was going to do it, in the morning before walking over.

I didn't bother to look anything up online, because I knew by now that there would be demonstrations - of both the full movement and the modification that I would invariably have to do for some of the exercises. It's a little frustrating to me that I have to do modifications and lower weights right now, but I don't want to injure myself. I'm trying to push my limits, but not break them.

I was hoping that the progress would be like the song, doing one, then two, one, then three, two, one. But it wasn't. We always started at one and worked our way up to the next level. One, one-two, one-two-three, etc... until we hit one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-ten-eleven-twelve.

So we ended up doing 12 cleans, 22 hand stand push-ups (my modification was doing them from a V position), 30 front squats, 36 sumo deadlift high pulls (wide stance, close grip, pulling the bar up with high elbows), 40 chest to bar pull-ups (I used a band), 42 box jumps, 42 burpees, 40 push ups, 36 wall balls, 30 kettle bell swings, 22 deadlifts and 12 thrusters (evil - clean the bar, then squat down and stand up while pushing the bar all the way overhead).

I finished in 32:25, using a bar with 45 pounds for the bar work, an 8 pound ball for the wall balls and a 17 pound kettle bell for the swings.

Then I collapsed on the floor and listened to my heart galloping in my chest. There was a trash can in the center of the room just in case anyone needed to puke. And this was the closest I'd come to needing it so far.

But, there were some good things about this workout. I did a lot better on the wall balls than I had last time, using my hips to thrust the ball up to the 9 foot target and going back down into a squat as the ball came down. I did have problems with getting it on the target still, sometimes it came down over my head so I couldn't catch it correctly, but it was better.

The chest to bar pull ups were not as hard as I thought they would be, at least, not with the band for assistance. I brought out two bands, but I only ended up using one, albeit the thicker one. I was also a lot calmer about the box jumps, although on the last round I actually missed one jump. My left foot slid off the box and I had to kind of fall off and reset myself before trying again. But that was good, because the mistake didn't mess me up. I just kept going.

Every time I sit down now, my thighs scream. My lower back is sore. My arms are sore. Everything is sore. But I finished. I got in under the time cap, so I think that means that the amount of weight I was using, however low, was the right amount. I have learned from backpacking that it takes time to build yourself up to heavier packs and longer distances. I've just got to let myself take the same approach here.

The real gift is tomorrow is a complete and total rest day.

But I'll be back at it Thursday.