CrossFit Open - 18.5

For the last Open workout of 2018, the director of the games, Dave Castro, gave the community a choice of three repeat workouts. 11.6 - 7 minutes of thrusters and chest to bar pull ups in increasing reps, 13.5 - more thrusters and chest to bars with a different rep scheme and expanding time domains if you finished 90 reps within 4 minutes, and 14.2 - overhead squats and chest to bar pull ups in 3 minute expandable sets for completing ever increasing numbers within the time domain.

I voted for 14.2, because I had done it before when it was 15.2. And I had done it scaled, and the scale at the time was pull ups, which I can do now much better than I could then. I remember being so panicked that it was real pull ups and not banded or anything. And I somehow managed to get through 91 reps, which means I finished in the 3rd 3 minute segment having completed two sets of 6 overhead squats and 6 pull ups, two sets of 8 overhead squats and 8 pull ups and was 5 reps short of two sets of 10 overhead squats and 10 pull ups. That's definitely something I could have beaten and compared myself to.

But the community voted for 11.6, so I got a new challenge instead.

I had gotten one or two chest to bar pull ups over the summer. I was playing around and managed to hit, but every time since then that I've tried, I've failed to get my chest to the bar. So I was resigned to scaling this workout to regular chin over the bar pull ups.

Almost every other open workout, I've had a new movement that I didn't think I could do. And I had dreams about how I couldn't do the movement the night before the workout. And then I went into the workout and was able to do it.

Not this time. This time I figured I'd be scaling. And I dreamed that I didn't have to. I dreamed that I could do an ugly, second kip to get my chest to the bar if needs be. I dreamt that I didn't have to do it pretty, as long as I could get it done.

And I went into the gym in the morning and found that I'd misread the scaled standard. It was jumping pull ups. I didn't want to end my open with jumping pull ups.

So I used the time that we had between warm up and starting to attack that bar and see if I could make my dream come true. The coach helped me with aiming my kip straight up and keeping my grip nice and wide to shorten the distance. And I smashed my boobs right into that bar - which totally counts as a chest to bar pull up.

So I decided to do it Rx. I would complete my open Rx. I wouldn't get a lot of reps, but I could get more than the first 3 thrusters.

And, with the rep scheme being 3 and 3 of thrusters and chest to bars, then 6 and 6, then 9 and 9, etc... until the 7 minutes ran out, I got through the set of 9 thrusters and 5 chest to bars in the set of 9. That's about 12 more chest to bar pull ups than I've ever done before, and I did it with a pretty bad sore throat/cold thing going on in my chest.

I had a goal this year of doing 2 or 3 of the open workouts Rx. I crushed that goal by doing all 5 workouts Rx. I had no idea before this open that I could handle the 35 pound dumbbells for cleans or jerks or squats. Before this open, I didn't really work on kipping handstand push ups or chest to bar pull ups, because those things were not things that I could do.

But I can do all of those things. Not very well yet, but I can do them. So when they come up in workouts over the next year, I'm going to work on them. And next year, I'm going to do the open again and see how far I can go when I believe in my own strength.

CrossFit Open - 18.4

I really like this workout, and not just because it put me in the unusual position of being one of the better female athletes at my gym.

18.4 was deadlifts, handstand pushups and handstand walks. It started with a benchmark workout called Diane, which is 21-15-9 of deadlifts and handstand pushups, followed by 21-15-9 of even heavier deadlifts with each round followed by a 50 foot handstand walk. The weight for women for the Diane portion was 155 pounds, and the heavier weight was 205 pounds. The heaviest I've ever deadlifted is a 2 rep set of 165 pounds, so I wasn't anticipating the deadlifts would be easy, or, in the heavier weight's case, possible. 

However, with a 9 minute time cap, I didn't really have to worry about the heavier deadlifts or the handstand walk. If I was going to go Rx, then I would not likely make it past Diane. 

I did consider scaling. The scaled version had lighter deadlifts (95 lbs for the first section, 135 for the second), hand release pushups instead of handstand pushups (basically a regular pushup but you have to put your chest on the ground and lift your hands for a rep to count). And instead of handstand walks, you had a bear crawl. 

But I can deadlift 155 pounds, albeit slowly. And, just this week, we practiced handstand pushups and I got a set of 5 kipping handstand pushups. I might be slow, but I had the ability to complete reps. I wanted to see how far I could go with the Rx standard, so I did that on Friday and Sunday. 

One of the coaches said that if an athlete can push press about 15 pounds more than their body weight, then they can do a handstand pushup. I do not have that lift, but somehow, I have the ability to do a handstand pushup. Not consistently or well but to standard. So I felt that I owed it to myself to try and do the best that I could within the time cap. 

On Friday, I did the first set of 21 deadlifts as singles. Pick up the bar, drop it. I finished the 21 in 2:46, which is pretty slow. And then I got to the wall and got 9 handstand pushups before time ran out for a total of 30 reps. I felt pretty good about it, but I definitely wanted to get more. 

On Sunday, I managed sets of three for the deadlifts and finished in 1:31. Then I got 12 handstand pushups. I tried so hard for that 13th, but my arms and shoulders gave out. 

12 is exciting for me. By all rights, I shouldn't be able to do 1, but I did 12. I've gained weight since last year, but I'm performing better. And, to be perfectly honest, I was stoked to realize that my 12 beat several other women who couldn't get 1 or more than 2. Women who kick my ass regularly in ALL workouts. I wasn't the best at the handstand pushups by any stretch of the imagination, but I felt like I had found a strength. 

I want to be able to finish Diane someday now. In under an hour, preferably, which is how long I'm estimating it would take me now. Okay, okay, I'd probably take 45 minutes. So, finishing it in under 30 would probably be a good goal for me. Though once I really get the hang of the handstand pushups, it will probably go faster than I think. 

One more week of the Open. I'm a bit sad that it's ending. Especially because I won't be able to go to the Sunday throwdown this time. I'll workout Friday morning and be done. Unless I decide I maybe could do better if I go back Friday evening...

CrossFit Open - 18.3

18.3 was a beast of a workout. In 14 minutes, complete 100 double unders, 20 overhead squats (115 lbs for men, 80 for women), 100 double unders, 12 ring muscle ups, 100 double unders, 20 single arm dumbbell snatches (50/35), 100 double unders and 12 bar muscle ups - twice!

The athletes who performed it at the open announcement didn't finish.

I figured I should probably just go ahead and scale. Scaled meant replacing the double unders with single jump ropes, reducing the weight on the overhead squats to 45/35, all the muscle ups with pull ups and 35/20 for the dumbbell snatches. On Friday morning, I went scaled and I completed 922 of 928 reps in the time cap.

I also tore my right hand open under the ring finger. I bled on the bar, and there was no way I was going to try that workout again within the next three days.

So I decided to try it Rx'd on Sunday. I knew that I would not get past the first 220 reps, because I do not have a ring muscle up. But I did want to try getting on the rings, just to see how they felt. I have enough grip strength that I can hold onto them, and even, on a good day, do a strict pull up to them.

What I didn't expect was just how difficult 80 pound overhead squats would be after doing 100 double unders. Now, I did complete those first hundred double unders in 1 minute and 29 seconds, which I'm really proud of. But it drained me. And maybe I wasn't feeling all that well. Because I could hardly get the bar over my head. One of the coaches came over and advised me to bring my grip closer together. I'd thought that I needed to have a wide snatch grip, but apparently I didn't. My one regret is that I didn't just go straight overhead and lock out, because I do have the shoulder mobility for it. But I got through the 20 overhead squats, with much tribulation and then stumbled my way through the double unders for a tie breaker time of 9 minutes 6 seconds. The second set of doubles didn't go quite as well as the first, but when I got close, my judge told me I had 21 reps to go and I just knocked them out. No way I could have done a set of 21 double unders exhausted like that last year.

And then I spent some time swinging on the rings. I managed a few ring pull ups with kip swings, but never got high enough for the turnover. And also I don't really have ring dips so that would have stopped me right there. But it was fun to try. It makes me want to try more often. This workout, more than any of the others so far, made me want to get stronger.

After my heat on Sunday, I stayed to watch and cheer others on. One of the women actually introduced herself to me and thanked me for the encouraging smiles.

I only worked out for 9 minutes and 6 seconds - plus some efforts at the rings, but that hardly counts. And yet, I was exhausted for the rest of the day. Doing the workout scaled on Friday did not drain me anything like getting through a mere 220 reps did on Sunday.

I'm not at a level where I can do Rx'd workouts regularly. But pushing myself to do Rx during the Open is showing me how I can learn and grow by trying what either seems or is impossible (for now).

CrossFit Open - 18.2 and 18.2a

After using a 35 pound dumbbell in 18.1, I wasn't quite as nervous upon hearing about the dumbbell squats in 18.2. Sure, it would be two dumbbells instead of one, but I knew I could get the weights up to my shoulders and squat it. No, I wasn't worried much at all about the dumbbell squats.

It was the burpees over the bar that gave me the jitters this time.

18.2 was an ascending ladder of dumbbell squats and burpees over the bar - 1/1, 2/2, 3/3 etc... to 10/10. If the athlete completed this before the 12 minute time cap, then they would have earned the right to do 18.2a, the establishment of a one rep max clean.

I am slow at burpees. I don't like them very much, because I'm not very good at them. And there was a new standard this year for Rx burpees - no longer would it count as Rx if an athlete stepped back into the burpee or stepped forward out of the burpee. The feet must stay together going back, going forward, and, of course, going over the bar. Anything else would be scaled.

So it was with nerves and trepidation that I approached the 5 am class on Friday. Could I possibly finish all those reps (55 for each movement) and get in a clean?

Everyone paired up and I went second of my pair. I watched my partner take it nice and easy and get through everything in plenty of time to do cleans. Of course, she was scaling the weights and is much better at burpees than I am. So I figured, just take it nice and steady and don't rush and you'll be fine.

I got to 109 of 110 repetitions at the time cap and I was wasted.

But the prevailing attitude was that I was too close not to try again on Sunday. Even I agreed with that, though I dreaded the thought of doing all those damn burpees over again.

On Sunday, I was extra nervous. I took every little step I could to improve my time. On Friday, I'd been pulling my pants up a lot, so on Sunday I wore really tight pants. I tend to push my glasses up my nose when they slide down while doing burpees - that takes time! So I entrusted the glasses to a friend while I did the workout. That move also prevented me from seeing the clock, which meant I'd have to trust my judge. I picked a really good judge and enlisted as many people as possible to yell at me while I worked out.

And I finished in 10:37, leaving just enough time to establish a clean that was not as heavy as I have lifted, but was way heavier than the 0 I'd gotten on Friday (105#).

I figure that there's going to be a workout coming that I will have to scale, but I've got two down Rx and I'm really, really happy about that.