3/28 - 2013 Open WOD 13.4

CrossFit Games WOD 13.4

AMRAP 7

3 Clean and Jerks

3 Toes to Bar

6 Clean and Jerks

6 Toes to Bar

9-9-12-12…

54 reps – finished round of 9 plus 12 CJ’s plus 6 T2B

I knew this one was going to be tough – the weight is pretty heavy for me (having just Rx-ed Grace back in November) and I’m still not very efficient at toes to bar – I can’t string them together well and need an extra half swing in each rep which is draining and time consuming.

Happily (and surprisingly) I managed to string together 4 reps (twice) before the start of the WOD.  I found the trick that works for me – really active shoulders – I knew this fundamentally but somehow it actually clicked physically which was great.  Not so great that it faltered once I got winded in the WOD but know I at least know it is there.

I started strong with the round of 3 – touch and go-ing the CJ’s and managing the t2b unbroken.  It fell off from there.  I split up the round of 6 CJ’s and on the t2b got the first rep then two no reps as I missed my toes on the bar – wasted effort which came from me trying to string them together – wasn’t working when I was winded so from there out I was mostly doing singles (extra half swing) though tried to stay on the bar for at least 3 reps at a time as I could.

I did a mix of push jerks and split jerks.  I tried to stick with the push jerks as much as I could because they are faster but there were times when I was overarching my back on the push jerk so would go to a split jerk just to reduce the fatigue a little.  At one point I had to make a note in my head to decide which one I was doing before I went to do it otherwise it might have been ugly.  My cleans in the latter rounds were lacking in technique with my feet splitting wider as this is my ‘go-to’ when I’m tired and want to be sure the weight is coming up.  Need to break that bad habit.

Going into this my goal was the round of 9. Knowing that my ‘Grace’ time (30 CJ’s at 45kg) is just under 6 minutes I figured with a 7 minute AMRAP which included t2b I could get through about half (18) including the t2b but I didn’t expect much more.  I was super happy to get mostly through the round of 12.  I finished the CJ’s and half of the toes to bar so in the 7 minutes I did all of ‘Grace’ and 24 t2b.  I’m pretty sure my ‘Grace’ time is about to fall. 

We did this one on Thursday night and I beat Cam (54-51) – our wager was that the loser had to wear a tutu for Tuesday’s WOD.  He sneakily went off to redo this one on Sunday morning and I found out the final score – he scored 65 and beat me.  I was with Tim and Jack at the time I found out and realistically had the option to redo it again at Albert Street but really didn’t want to.  I wore the tutu last night during the WOD.  Everyone laughed at me and it was amusing.  Yes, there are photos.

1/1 - ASG WODfest - 'Angie', 'Annie' and 'Grace'

ASG WODfest, aka the day of the girls...   

The 'Girls' - Board was empty at the start of the day

Wicked start to 2013.  If today was the measure of how the next 365 days are going to go it’s going to be AMAZING. 

More photos and words below the cut.

11/3 - Birthday 'Grace' Off

Saturday was Grace off.  It was also my birthday.  I figured what better way to start my birthday then with 30 clean and jerks for time – though being a fundraiser there were no winners just everyone giving their all and wearing pink.  Lots and lots of pink.

There was no set heats just everyone jumping in when they were ready so when they asked for people to jump in for the first and second heats I was there.  I just wanted to get it done so I could drink coffee and cheer people on.  I loved that it was a relaxed atmosphere though at the same time a little bit ‘competition’ like for those who haven’t crossfitted outside the box (yay Nat!!).

This is Nat...

WOD ‘Grace’

30 Clean and Jerks (42.5/60kg)

6:15 Rx

Note that the Rx weight for the women was only 42.5kg whereas on Tuesday at Cooee Rx was 45kg (which is typical when men’s Rx is 60kg).  Though the weight was lighter my time was almost 25 seconds slower than Tuesday and it is not at all surprising.  The bar felt heavier than earlier in the week either because we had done heavy CJ’s the day before Grace (round one) or because I smashed my legs with walking lunges/ 100 burpees.  Either way the cleans weren’t pretty (wide legs rather than getting low) and the jerks were also quite tiring.  Once again I split jerked them from the beginning.  Also, there was a rule that you couldn’t drop the bar so the extra strength required to slowly lower took its toll on my.

It was pretty cool being in the first heat with Lhaini and Jen from SXF – they were both in front of me so I could see them pushing through which made me work harder and when they finished they were right there cheering me on.  Given that I want to be as strong and badass as these girls some day it was really cool to realize that we are all in this together.  Thanks girls for the inspiration and for the encouragement.

One other note that made me laugh a little mid-WOD was Coach Match who was cheering/coaching/encouraging me on – at one point he said ‘Come on chick’ which is a term that Coach Kirst is more known for calling me – it was actually odd to hear it come from Match but I found it just as inspiring.  Thanks to both of you for being great coaches that always go above and beyond our sessions in the box at Cooee.

It was a ton of fun to be finished and drinking coffee which cheering on the other Cooee crew – Nat and Nigel and Match who all put up solid efforts.  Great morning everyone.  Also, big thanks to SF Gym for hosting an amazing event.

Photos from the day taken from Tracey Incau Design & Photography who took a ton of awesome photos on the day.

'Grace'

Should have posted this on Tuesday...  Have I mentioned how much I love 'Grace'...

10/30 - Rx 'Grace'!

After two days of C&J’s and easily power cleaning 50kg I started thinking about Grace on the way to the box – more specifically ‘Grace Off’ which is happening this weekend at SF Gym as a breast cancer fundraiser.  I was thinking about whether I should do it and if so if I should register as intermediate or Rx thinking I could probably do Rx but knowing that it would take a  bit longer – I’ve been wanting to Rx ‘Grace’ for a long time and knowing I can now do it was really cool – I figured it’d be awesome to Rx ‘Grace’ on my 36^th birthday (Saturday conveniently).  As I was going through these thoughts I also vividly recalled watching Coach Match write both ‘Grace’ and ‘Isabel’ on the PR boards in the box on Monday night knowing that we’d (clearly) be filling them in soon – I thought we might do ‘Grace’ soon as we’d just done heavy C&J’s but didn’t think he program it the very next night – still, it was on my mind.

As I walked into the box I saw Tim doing some shoulder mobility and he looked at me with that twinkle in his eye and asked me to guess what we were doing – I got a bit excited then – knew I would like it – and as he was starting to say ‘what you did last night’ I was bursting forth with ‘grace?’ (and there may have been a little happy dance that followed).  I knew right then and there that I would be Rx-ing ‘Grace’ – I texted Cam to tell him exactly that – there was no doubt.  I was ready.  More than ready.

We did a warm-up.  There were burpees and shuttle sprints (and I didn’t mind the burpees again, what?).  I raced Tim a bit just for fun even though we were just warming up. Shonelle and I partnered up for some partner resisted sprints with the bands and we did other stuff – really I was just going through the motions super excited to meet ‘Grace’, full on this time.
 
WOD: Benchmark 'Grace'
 30 Clean & Jerk (45/60kg)
5:51 Rx(!)

Coach Match informed me that there was a 10 minute cut-off.  Ok, that’s three reps a minute just to finish – easy.  I checked out the times of the other girls who Rx-ed earlier in the day – there were only three – Kayla, Tash and Chriselle – and knowing Kayla (pretty much) warms up at 45kg and that Tash is the unstoppable energizer bunny in every WOD (superfast) I just hoped I could keep up with Chriselle.  Goal was under 7 minutes – that meant about 4 a minute.  Then I upped that a bit – figured I could do  probably do 5 every minute and if I did I could get under 6 minutes.  Game on though I knew it’d be tough.

Tim had told me to try and push jerk the reps if I could rather than split jerking which would take more time.  Noted.  Coach Match also suggested minimizing rest time between reps as this was the biggest hurdle in getting a good time.  Noted.  I heard Jack and Tim discussing a game plan and I made the comment that game plans were dangerous (you never know how things are going to go) but I clearly had one – 5 reps a minute until I was done.  Go.

The first rep I push jerked and it was tough.  I also tried to lower the bar back to the ground, also tough.  From then on I split jerked each rep.  I also did single reps dropping the bar every time.  The bar would take one bounce, I’d pat it down and pick it right back up again focusing on tightening my shoulder blades and getting a solid clean (ignoring the protest from my already bruised clavicle) and then part two – quick jerk with focus on locking out my arms over head.  I stopped for chalk after 15 reps but quickly got back on the bar.  I was racing the clock.  I managed to get up by two reps in the first minute (7 reps done) and lost a few somewhere after that – four minutes in I had 10 to go.  I could do this.  I was on track.   

Because I was dropping the bar every rep the collars became quite loose though in my mind I had no time to fix that – I needed to pick the bar right back up, the game was most definitely on.  I pushed through the last 5 starting them with one minute remaining. I worked really hard for every single one but hearing the others cheering me on really helped and as I dropped the bar one final time I burst out into the hugest grin.  I had won.  5:51.  Done.  Tim came over for a high-five and he got a hug.  I was beaming.  I truly was.  I still am.  It is a huge achievement for me – something that I’ve wanted for so long – I final made it.  I beat ‘Grace’.  All of ‘Grace’.  There is no looking back now.  Next up is ‘Isabel’.  I have a lot more work to get there but I’m eager.  Aiming high.

As a follow up – I was too excited for the follow up text with Cam to let him know I did it… he got a call as soon as I got home – the excitement that had built  all through my drive burst out at him.  The awesome part – he was just as excited for me and let me repeat my accomplishment a gazillion times.  Oh, and he reminded me of it again this morning – made me smile all over again.  Thanks!

Post-WOD
Once recovered, run 1 mile or  row 1km for time
4:00

After all the excitement and joy of finishing ‘Grace’ I didn’t have much left in me but knew I had to get this done.  I went for the row as I already have a mile run time on the PR board (even though it was from a day I was sick and I know I can better it).  It hurt.  That’s about all I can add here.  I wanted to quit many times though kept pushing through and tried to find a nice efficient rate/ combo of strokes per minute and 500m split time.  By the end my glutes were cramped and I crawled off the erg but I got it done.  Four minutes exactly.  Done.

Mobility (and gossip with Angie – and Jaimie)

Glutes

Pecs

Source

12/8 - "Grace"

Today we got it on with "Grace"... it was my first time with her and while fun I know if my shoulder hadn't been hurting I could have done better.

WOD:  Benchmark “Grace”
30 clean press/jerk for time (45/60kg)
3:49 (28kg)

The weight was light for me - but still my shoulder was hurting - and I figured it was best not to push it, no need to be broken for an extended period of time.  I managed to clean and press all the reps without much struggle (set of 10 then 4 sets of 5) but I'm feeling it today.  Glad I have a massage appointment already scheduled.

WOD # 2:
2 min KB swings – score = KB x reps
51 reps x 16kg KB = 816

HUGE improvement over my last attempt at this WOD - I got 720 (45 x 16kg) which I'm really happy about.  I initially considered using the 20kg KB which I have been using more lately in WOD's but thought using the 16kg would give me a better comparison from previous attempts and I'm not sure I could consistently swing the 20kg for the entire 2 minutes.  Perhaps next time!  As it was, I put the 16kg KB down once after 30 reps (I remember before struggling to get 20 solid reps - loving the improvements I'm seeing)...  managed to pick it back up quite quickly too. 

KB swings and clean and presses - two of my FAVORITE crossfit movements.  Great day!

"Grace" - source

Afterwards I had to pull a Dukes of Hazard style move (climb in through the open window) to get into my car because some jerk parked both illegally (in front of an emergency exit) and a foot from my car making me unable to open my door enough to get it...