Let’s go back to Friday. I snuck off for an extra long lunch break to scoot over to Subi and get some work done on my back. Although I woke up with it feeling less achy than I had suspected it might be it was still really tight and I didn’t want the pain to linger. I got some extremely painfully good massage (um, hello hamstrings) and then some needles in the extra tender points on my back. Good thing (I guess) is that she said it was mostly just my lower back that I pulled. I felt okay, a little worked over (obviously) and confident about Saturday morning though I picked up some rock tape just to be safe.
Saturday morning I arrived at the (not so early) time of 10:15am at The Cell for the Pink Day WOD. The pink started coming through the door on everyone and everything. It was an awesome sight to see.
Funny – if not totally awkward story - I asked Jane to help tape my back as I’m (kinda) flexible but not that much… anyway, she suggested I get Coach Adrian to do it as he’d just come back from the taping course (or something like that) and so she introduced me to him and he started the tape job. No biggie right? Well it wasn’t until it was time to start taping – now if you’ve never taped a back then you’ll need to know that you apply the tape without stretching to the person who is bent over at the waist. He applied the tape on my back and then worked his way down and suddenly I hear ‘I’ll need to pull your shorts down’ um… okay? Was there really any other response? In all actuality it was quite funny and I honestly didn’t care so much – not saying I’m an exhibitionist in any way whatsoever but really, it wasn’t a big deal, I wasn’t flashing everyone just one person. Awkward laughs, and it was done. There may have been a point somewhere in my past where I really cared but I’m over it apparently.
So… everyone is getting into the pink fun and Jane and I are set to go just waiting around for warm-up and WOD briefing. I am so glad we were set to go first. The WOD had been posted the night before and looked hard but also fun and then they went and snuck in walking overhead lunges (the worst!). We hear the briefing, went for a bit of a run and a little bit of warm-up, gathered our equipment and were ready to go.
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| Pink and Ready to WOD |
WOD
4 x 50m sandbag run (25/17.5kg)
100 American KB Swings (24/16kg)
4 x 25m overhead walking lunges (20/15kg)
50 push-ups
50 burpee box jumpes (21” tire)
50 push-ups
4 x 25m overhead walking lunges (20/15kg)
100 American KB Swings (24/16kg)
4 x 50m sandbag run (25/17.5kg)
22:13 Rx
First, some bullet points
-it was AWESOME to be partnered with Jane (again) for this
workout
-22 minutes felt a lot more like 44
-there was A LOT of pink
-it was hot
-it was fun
-slow and steady works well
-burpees still suck
I loved being partnered with Jane on this. Although we go into the WOD having an outline
of a game plan we’re also able to easily and seamlessly adjust on the fly which
works really well for us. Also, neither
of us are super fast we’re just steady throughout which really works for
us. We don’t start out in the lead (nor
do we stress about it) but at the end we’re there just because we have a
constant speed when others start to drag.
We each did 100m to start – Jane first then myself. We decided that whoever was finishing a
movement would go second on the next movement which meant that Jane was set to
pick up the KB as I was finishing the carry.
She did 35 reps to start before we switched over and therefore I knew I
had to do 35 as well to match it. I’m
happy it was only a 16kg KB. She
finished off the last 30 reps and I started on the OH lunges which were horrid
(as usual). I try to keep my arms locked
out which is a killer on my shoulders.
Also, we were doing this outside and the asphalt was killer on my knees,
some of the reps I merely skimmed the ground as it hurt. Also, 25m is a long way. We switched out at each end allowing our arms
a little break (there was a 10 airsquat penalty if you dropped the plate below
your shoulders). We were mid pack by the
time we finished the lunges.
As Jane was nearing the end of the last 25m I got into the
box and dropped to the floor ready for some push-ups. I planned to go with a bit of a wider hand
position which was easier on my shoulders and it worked quite well. Somehow I can now do Rx push-ups fairly well
(though never in warm-up, that just seems way too hard). Anyway, I started and Jane wasn’t yet beside
me as I got to 10 reps (that was the plan, alternate every 10) so I kept
going. I think I did 15 reps to start
and then we alternated from there out. I
finished them off and Jane was set to get into the burpee box (tire)
jumps. As she got into it I heard her
say sets of 5 which was more than good for me.
After both the push-ups and lunges they were quite hard (thankfully
there were only 50). We just alternated
back and forth until near then end where Jane pulled out a set of 10 and as it
worked out she finished the set off. And
we were back in reverse order to the rest.
I should note that we made up a ton of time on the
push-up/burpee/push-up sequence. We actually
surged ahead at this point. I noticed
that towards the end of our burpee box jumps that most people around us were
doing step-ups while we were still jumping – I think a benefit of our steady
pace – kinda like the tortoise. Heh.
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| Push-ups - Photo from The Cells FB page |
We blasted through the second round of push-ups I started with 15 again and then we alternated sets of 10 until the last 15 where Jane got out 7 and I needed to do 8 to finish. Suddenly we were back on the lunges. This is where I faltered a bit. Jane did the first 25m and then we switched off. Once again I was focused on keeping my arms locked out and this was a killer on my shoulders especially after so many push-ups. Halfway through the 25m I couldn’t help but put the weight down and got right into the 10 airsquats. Bad idea! They hurt more than having the plate over my head, I wasn’t going to do that again. After Jane rocked out her second 25m I was back at it and determined to not drop the plate – I managed to do this by NOT locking out my arms – I know it doesn’t make sense but at that point my biceps were stronger than my shoulders so this got me half way back and then I locked it out and managed to avoid more squats.
We started the KB swings with 25 each though by the end of
my 25 I was hurting, a lot. I convinced
Jane in my – come on, do a few more and my I’ve got nothing left voices to do a
few more reps. As the rockstar that she
is she got 30 done which left only 20 for me (thankfully as it was all I had
left). 100m sandbag carry each and we
were done. We started out the lunges in
first or second I think and finished them clearly in second behind a
male/female pair. We finished solidly in
second overall in our heat though I have no idea how that compared to the next
heat. It was just a fundraiser WOD and
no scores were kept so all in all it’s pretty irrelevant but still feels good
to finish so strongly. Like I said
upfront – we work really well together and adjust really well on the fly
without much conversation required which is amazing. I’d partner with Jane anytime - thanks girl!
Thanks to Laila for the support - having someone yelling your name really helps especially in the middle of burpees, it's enoguh to keep you going and thanks to Kayla for letting me know that the lunges hurt her too, I guess it's a little better knowing I'm not alone.
I got home, showered, ate and headed to a friend’s place to
do my taxes (exciting I know). Managed
to stay awake through the entirety of ‘The Dictator’ (funny!) though falling
asleep on his couch was quite tempting.
I was in bed at a fairly reasonable hour and slept quite well all night
(finally) though when I rolled over on Sunday morning my butt hurt something
fierce – those lunges definitely got me.
Sunday was a rest day – I was supposed to go swimming but knew that my shoulders
weren’t going to make it. I did a bunch
of walking around and cooking for the week (ginger beef and broccoli, ‘spaghetti’
sauce, breakfast egg muffins). It’s
another short week as I’m at a conference on Friday – Sunday so lots to do but
should be good. I can’t believe though
that October is already in full swing and I know if I blink it’ll soon be
over. Crazy!
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