everyday STRONGER...: 4/25 - "Wood"

CrossFit Hero WOD “Wood”
5 rounds
400m run
10 burpee box jumps (20/24″)
10 SDHP (30/45kg)
10 ~~thrusters~~ front squats (30/45kg)
1 min rest
29:20 (23kg)

Was an extremely early morning at the box (after leaving the night before at 8:30pm). We all arrived just before 6am for our dawn WOD in remembrance of those who have fought for this country.

We did a few warm up runs (outlining the 400m course in the process) then had a moment of silence along with the playing of the last post. A bit more of a warmup, a demonstration of the WOD movements and suddenly we were broken into 4 groups (to start at 1 minute intervals) and the clock was beeping 3-2-1 go. The first group sprinted out the door to the sounds of 'Chariots of Fire' (Coach Match had a good time pulling together his playlist - which also included the star wars theme - and worked really well for the morning's workout).

I started in the last group and ran with Vicky who at 5 months pregnant is still fast - off we went. I never thought there could be anything worse than burpees in a WOD - I was wrong - burpee box jumps are WORSE. I almost face-planted in the last round with only a few reps to go when one foot stayed on the box and the other slipped off. Ugh. Managed to push through though thankfully with no injuries.

The SDHP's were okay though I was only using the 23kg bar (going light still). I managed all rounds unbroken as it was a quick movement. I took a bit of a break before doing the front squats (I substituted these for thrusters as my shoulder is quite unhappy and overhead movements suck right now). Even with the lighter weight I was still struggling on these. I think for most rounds I did two sets of 5 and could feel my quads burning on every reps (I blame Coach Pete for the tabata squats the night before - heh!).

The runs were okay even though not my strongest - it was nice to get onto them after the one minute break since your heart rate had come down from the rest by that point.

Post-WOD we all hung out and Coach Match cooked us up a scrumptious bbq breakfast. There is nothing better than the smell of bacon permeating the air post workout.

Big credit also to Coach Match for facilitating this WOD. There were approximately 40 people starting within 3 minutes of each other and there was very little (if any) waiting for equipment throughout. The room was controlled chaos throughout a beautiful dance of tired bodies gracefully maneuvering amongst the equipment. Coach Kirst also captured the day with beautiful photos of us all in our sleepy sweatiness along with the stunning sunrise that greeted us. It was also great to meet a bunch of fellow Cooee crossfitters that work out at different times of the day and who I'm only familiar with from seeing their names on the board.

It was a good albeit emotional morning. I teared up during the moment of silence while staring at the Australian flag because this day hits a little bit close to home in this moment so it gave me a lot to think about and more importantly a lot of gratitude to the soldiers who choose to fight so that people like me can live safely and almost obliviously to what is happening overseas. To all of those unbelievable badasses, THANK YOU!

Photos below all 'borrowed' from Cooee Crossfit - taken by the lovely Kirst.