Jane and I had a nice little chat on our warm up jog around
the track and we were ready to go. There
were five workouts for the day that were put out the previous day though the
order was up in the air.
First up was the steeplechase. Yes, we were told to bring a spare pair of shoes so we knew we’d get wet, especially as we watched them filling the water pit.
WOD #1
Partner Steeplechase
7min Time Cap
Partner ‘A’ Completes 1 full lap of the athletics
Steeplechase track, tags Partner ‘B’ who will then complete 1 lap. You must go
over all of the hurdles.
Time is called when both partners are back where they
started.
Score = Time (if cut off, each hurdle not passed will = 1sec
added to time)
3:37 (21st
place in the WOD)
This was fun though also a bit chaotic with a bunch of girls
really slowing down to get over the hurdles (which weren’t all that high). Since we all started spaced out along one
side of the track there were bottlenecks quite quickly and very small spaces to
get over the hurdles, especially the water hurdle were girls were actually hesitating
because they were about to get wet. Anyone
who looked even slightly at that last hurdle before the run knew that there was
no way to avoid the water. It was quite
simple – you were going to get wet. Why stop
and think about it? Just go for it. Which is what I did. I found a very small hole and jumped over the
hurdle and landed in the water – probably a bit deeper than I’d wanted to but
given the situation I just went – stopping wasn’t in my thoughts at all. Afterward, Chriselle told me that she
basically followed me through the little spaces that I would find on the
hurdles knowing I was going to keep going.
It worked. It was also nice to be
close to both Chriselle and Kirst as we could all pace off of each other
knowing we were close to the same speeds.
Jane went second and did a solid job given how unsure she as of the
hurdles. She made it back and it was all
we could do.
It was funny watching the boys warm up for their heat – all taking
long strides up to and over the hurdles.
I had to chuckle and then let Tim and Jack both know that it probably wasn’t
going to be that way. They wouldn’t get
a straight shot at the obstacle and would have to adjust on the fly. I saw Tim on the back stretch stopping right
before the hurdle and taking a two foot jump straight over – someone’s been
practicing his box jumps – it was awesome!
WOD #2
Throw, Jump & Carry
For Time: 15min Time Cap
50/30/10
Bag Throw – must catch it to count
Over’s & Unders – over & under = 1rep
Buddy Carry Up & Back – both partners must complete 1
each
Score = Time if cut off, 1 rep will = 1sec added to time
12:29 (sixth
place in the WOD)
They had everything set up for the Feeder WOD including the
rowers on the track, had given us the briefing and then a cloud rolled in and
it rained briefly – obviously they ran the rowers undercover and changed it up
so that we did this WOD instead.
Crossfit – be adaptable.
This was the WOD where it was good to have a partner that
was about the same size as you. In any
pairs competition you can almost guarantee that there will be some point where
you have to carry your partner. When
Jane first picked me up as we practiced the carries she made my day saying that
I was light and it was no biggie which is always what you want to hear before a
WOD so you don’t have to worry about killing your partner and can instead relax
and recover.
Jane was a bit worried about the bean bag throws and we took
it steady on the first 50 and I think were about the 3 last team off of the track. We steadily made up ground though in the
over/unders and partner carries. On the
over unders we did about 20 each before switching off and just made sure to
communicated where the transitions were going to come (this communication
worked well for us all day actually). It
also worked well to have a plan as to who would hit the ground first on the
over and unders (the person closest to the grass) and who was going to be
carried first (the person on the ground last for the over and unders). Jane did more of the over/undering while I
did more of the up and down (up so she can get under, down so she can get over)
– this took its toll on my shoulders and they were hurting after this one which
wasn’t a great sign for the rest of the day.
The partner carries were pretty good. We just piggy-backed each other and we were
both able to go the distance all three rounds without putting the person down –
in fact we managed to keep a trot going as well (as fast as you can really move
with someone on your back). We managed
to finish well under the time cap which considering our slow tosses was really
good. Another solid WOD.
WOD #3
Feeder WOD
3 x 2min AMRAP with 10sec between each
Perform as many reps as possible for 2mins swapping with
your partner when needed.
1st 2mins = KB Swings – Russian (above shoulders) @ 20kg
2nd 2mins = Backwards skipping. Rope must rotate backwards
3rd 2mins = Row for calories
Score = combined total of reps & calories
321 (16th
place in the WOD)
This was an interesting one – trying to figure out the best
way to break down the work. Initially
when the rain came and they put the rowers away they were going to replace the
row with burpees for the last two minutes and knowing how well Jane rocks the
burpees it would have been good for us but instead it was rowing. Jane definitely pulled me along on this
one. Coach Match has told us not to
swing until we were totally exhausted and I didn’t know how many this would
be. I think I did 25 KB swings (which at
20kg is pretty solid for me) – then Jane did about 50. She kept going and suddenly there were only about
20 seconds left to go in the 2 minutes which meant that she couldn’t stop – I was
doing the backwards skipping and had to get ready and she didn’t stop at
all. We (she) had a solid go of the
swings. I started off the backwards
skipping quite solidly easily getting up to 100+ reps and then I started to get
a bit more winded (and got a cramp) and started tripping a bit more than I
should have been. Jane adjusted the plan
and jumped in a bit to give me a few extra breaths and to still get us some
more reps until I could get back in. It
worked well and we got 210 skips. It was
then on to the rowing and plan was for Jane to do this after my skipping. She got into it right away and had a solid
pace. Where others switched half way through
Jane went for the full two minutes. I
think it was a good call on our part as we matched the other girls and may not
have if we’d lost the time to switching over.
Hard to say.
WOD #4
10 minute AMRAP
50 Thrusters @ 20kg (empty bar)
50 Overhead Walking Lunges 15kg plate
Partner must be holding either the bar or plate off the
ground. If it touches the ground, both athletes must run to the cones and back
before continuing on.
Score = Total number of reps completed.
263 (2nd
place in the WOD)
We did really well on this WOD – Jane once again picked up
my slack but as she went on to say – it was playing to each others
strengths. We were in lane one for this
one which had us pretty much on our own at one end of the track. Jane started off on the thrusters and did
about 30 before we switched off and I did the other 20. She then started on the lunges and I think in
round one we did 25 each (or thereabouts).
The ‘fun’ part of this WOD was having to hold both pieces of equipment
for the duration including switching off with your partner. We had a pretty easy way to switch – person holding
plate extended their arms, took the bar laid over them and then handed off the
plate – but it was holding the equipment while your partner worked that also
added to the hurt on the body, shoulders mostly (or so we thought). My shoulders died pretty quickly on this one –
it was a huge struggle – like I said above, they were hurting after the
over/under WOD, thankfully I had a rockstar partner who managed like I said to
pick up my slack. I think she did 30 to
my 20 for the other rounds – I willed her to keep going when she was doing work
and she just never really stopped. We
maintained a steady pace, nothing speedy just non-stop and communicated our
switches well. We had no idea how we
were doing compared to others being so far away but just kept at it. Turns out we did amazing – our best finishe
of the day with second place in the WOD.
It felt good.
WOD #5
Floater WOD
5min AMRAP
Partner Wheelbarrow
10 pushups in the middle
You can only change over at each end.
Score = total number of laps completed.
11 (11th
in the WOD)
I wasn’t looking forward to this one at all after how my
shoulders were feeling. Funny though
that as Jane and I got up to warm up we realized we’d been sitting for too long
and that our legs were jelly from the thruster/lunges and we hadn’t realized
it. We played around a bit with how to
hold each others legs during the wheelbarrow and how to reposition for the
pushups – best option was to just squat with the partners legs on yours. It was hard and surprisingly 5 minutes was
longer than we’d though. Initially we
were thinking we’d get maybe 3 rounds complete (there and back) but we did 5.5
(each time across the field was 2 points – one was awarded after completion of
the push-ups half way).
We had to do our push-ups down to a 25kg plate (chest had to
touch) which was much better as I don’t think at this point that I could have
gotten back up from the ground. As it
was I struggled. The trick for me was to
get my hands wide on the push-ups so my range of motion was minimized and they
could go quickly. The walking on my
hands part was okay after practicing so many handstand walks. We worked well together on this one and it
was a great way to end the day. Although
we placed 11th we were actually tied for the 4th highest score of
the WOD – there were lots of teams between 11-14 points.
.JPG) |
| My amazing partner Jane |
It was a really good day. I went hard on all the WODs but didn’t feel as knocked out as I did after day one of Primal Pairs. I had an amazing partner in Jane and overall we both had fun and finished solidly in 7th for the day (we worked our way up the leaderboard all day).
WLC Day 8
Today was a write-off as I knew it was going to be. I ate well all day during the comp but knew
that when it was all done I’d want some non-WLC food and I was more than okay
with it. And since I was going to be
losing all my points anyway I went all out.
There were chips at the stadium as soon as we finished followed by
burger and onion rings and then ice cream and beer. Like I said, no holding back. I think that’s possibly the problem as well
with the structure of the WLC – you lose so easily (one “cheat” meal will
likely cost you 3 points) that you might as well keep on going – it leads (in
my mind at least) to over indulging but that’s another rant for another time –
this is long enough as it is.
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