Crossfit Day 16

I picked the wrong day to wear a tank top to work out.

Probably because it was so nice to sleep as late as 7am, and even use the snooze button once. And then, when I checked the WOD, I decided that I could wear my tank top for once. I'd been sticking to short sleeves or longer out of a combination of modesty and embarrassment, but after seeing other people wearing tank tops, I thought I should do it. And my orange tank top is very cute.

Unfortunately for me, today's workout involved a 200m run. And the only place to run is outside. While Boise isn't experiencing the arctic cold covering much of the country quite yet, it was about 17 degrees this morning when I worked out.

Oh, and this time, the workout has a guy's name. Or a last name. I guess it's more a last name.

“Walsh”
4 Rounds for time:
- 22 Burpee Pull-ups
- 22 Back squats (185/135)
- Run 200m w/ 45# plate overhead

When I looked at it before class, I thought it sounded difficult but not impossible. Once I was at class, I found out it was going to be partnered and I felt much more comfortable.

After warming up, we got our barbells set up with our back squat weights. I went with 85 pounds, because I knew that 95 would be really hard for me from the last time we did them, and that 105 wouldn't happen. My head is actually still a bit sore from dropping that bar the wrong way.

Then, I partnered up with another woman, and we set up plates of weights to be a step for our pull ups. The trainer did not want us doing band-assisted pull ups, so I had the new experience of doing jumping pull ups. I've actually wanted to do those for quite some time, but the gym that I go to does not have any bars low enough to accommodate that for me - I have to jump just to reach the bar. There's no way I can jump my chin above it. But with the stack of weights, I was able do the jump assisted pull ups, and I liked it.

My partner and I talked a bit about whether to use the prescribed 45 pound plate for the run. I could barely lift the 45 over my head, so I decided that we should use a 25 pound plate instead. Just like with the back squats, I wanted to make sure that I did it right before adding on the heavier weight.

For the first round, my partner and I split the sets 11 and 11. She went first, and I counted and clapped and waited my turn. Then I started my burpees and they felt like hell. It's like every time I start these work outs, I feel slow and stiff, despite warming up. But we got through the burpee pull ups and the back squats and headed outside into the cold.

It was a lot colder than I expected. I mean, I'd already walked over from my apartment to the Crossfit gym, so I knew it was cold, but now I was sweaty and wearing shorts, a tank top, short socks and thin running shoes. I wanted to go as fast as possible. Unfortunately, my partner was not a fast runner, especially with the 25 pound plate up over her head. She stuck it out though, and when we got to the turnaround point, I took the plate and took off to the relative warmth of the gym and the next set of exercises.

As I saw my partner having trouble with the burpees, I decided we should split our sets 6, 6, 5 and 5. So we switched off in shorter segments, and that seemed to help her. I know it helped me. As we went on, my burpees got smoother, my jumping pull ups more explosive. I found myself yelling as I jumped up from the burpee and up onto the bar.

It was a good thing that we'd stuck with the 25 pound plate, because my partner was not able to hold it above her head for the 2nd, 3rd or 4th rounds. She tried, and she did keep pushing it back up, but her arms kept coming down until it was my turn to take the plate and turn on the afterburners to get back inside.

I was exhausted by the time we finished. I don't think I could have finished it without splitting the reps with a partner. We finished in 25:34, and we weren't last, which was nice. I collapsed for a little bit, and then stretched and walked home.

But I was cold. I got home, didn't take off my jacket or fleece lined pants and ate a sausage and a hard boiled egg before going to the gym with my husband. He was going to do weights, and I hadn't run for over a week because of my box jump bruise. Before I could start running though, I went into the sauna to try and bring my core temperature up. I hadn't felt it at the time, but I had let myself get way too cold.

After about ten minutes in the sauna, I went upstairs to discover that my hip had gotten stiff without running, despite the Crossfit exercises. The second mile was painful as the iliotibial band issue acted up, but I stuck it out and tried to loosen my hip by running. Then I went down to the bouldering cave and had a little practice before going to my reward: the hot tub.

Today, I earned it.