Open WOD 13.3

“If you really love something, you never try to keep it the way it is forever. You have to let it be free to change.” ― Cassandra Clare

WOW 13.3:

Standards

12 Minute AMRAP of:

150 Wall Balls (20/14)

90 Double Unders

30 Muscle Ups

Completed: So, even after attending a Saturday afternoon jump rope clinic and spending counltess evenings after work practicing in the driveway, I still do not have double unders. Therefor the best score I could hope for in Open WOD 13.3 was a score of 150 total. As in 150 wall balls. That’s it. I do not have double unders and certainly do not have muscle ups.

Imagine my surprise when I scored: 152!! And PR’d on my Karen time (150 Wallballs for time) by 1:10, with a total time of: 8:17. Woot! That’s 150 wall balls and two double-unders. Not sure how it happened other than after completing the first double-under my judge jumped around me and cheered and screamed ‘YES, you did it! Now do it again!’ Pretty cool.

If you work hard in CrossFit the change you will see will be within you.

Try.

“The right choice is to try.” – Alex, ACF Coach

I’ve been feeling distracted lately. Distracted from the one thing I enjoy even more than Crossfit, writing. The urge to write just simply hasn’t been there. It’s a sad feeling when you lose the desire for something you love. You feel lost… without the anchor you’ve grown accustomed to for comfort, for peace. I’m not 100% certain why the drive to write faded but I do know it can be scary when the feeling goes. It’s a kind of general overall; Meh. And Meh is not a good place to be. It lacks passion, it lacks love, it lacks hope. It lacks all those beautiful things.

Thankfully the motivation to hit WODs has still been strong. Except for tonight. While I still made it through the door to the triple-wide I couldn’t help shaking the feeling that all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap. But if there’s anything I’ve learned there is one simple absolute; no matter how much I may not feel like making it to ACF, there has never been a day when I regret going. Never. Simple truth.

Crossfit is hard earned peace. Ironically, it provides a much needed break in the day. You work your ass off during that break and it’s worth every drop. There’s a palpable calmness that takes over when the WOD is through. A feeling of accomplishment and exhaustion from hard work.

Writing can have the same effect. Sometimes it’s so hard to write. You can’t just throw words on to the page. Well, you can. But there’s no satisfaction in that. There’s a poetry to be discovered in writing and therein lies the struggle. It takes work! Which is probably why I enjoy it so much too. You have to earn its reward. Just like in Crossfit. Come to think of it, there’s never been a time when I’ve forced myself to write that I wasn’t in the end so glad I finally did put words to the page.

Stepping through the doors at ACF or filling up the blank page, at least I tried. No matter how indifferent or disconnected you may feel the choice is always, always, to at least try.

Writing, like Crossfit, is therapy. Private soul cleansing therapy.

I’m happy to report that after a couple weeks of loafing around this joint the Meh’s are finally vacating. I’m glad to see them go.

I. Strength:

First Pull + Hang Snatch 7 x 2

* Heavy As Possible

** Rest 60 Seconds Per Set

Note: This movement should be performed with a pull to the knees – First Pull, a 3 second pause at the knees, then a Snatch from the hang position (at the knees).

Completed: Working weight at 65lbs. focusing solely on form.

II. Conditioning:

3 Rounds For Total Working Time of:

Row 400m

25 Wall Balls (20/14)

* Rest 3 Minutes Between Rounds

** Each Round Should Be An All Out Effort

Completed: at 14lbs. wall ball. Didn’t look at the clock, not sure my time. Just know the lungs and legs were burning.

wall ball pr

“I heard a preacher say recently that hope is a revolutionary patience; let me add that so is being a writer. Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
― Anne Lamott

I. Strength:

Establish a 1RM Deadlift

Completed: up to 245lbs.

II. Conditioning:

CrossFit Open 12.4:

AMRAP in 12 minutes:

150 Wall Balls (20/14)

90 Double-Unders

30 Muscle-Ups

Completed: 150 Wallballs at 14lbs. in 8:57! 10 second PR from my last attempt. 280 single-unders.

Imagine

“A change of feeling is a change of destiny.” – Neville Goddard

There’s a lot of talk about Goal Setting recently. A lot of talk. At this point I’m not sure which came first, the deep nagging need I’ve had in the past few months to write down my Goals being very, very specific, or the Crossfit Goal Setting Seminar this weekend with CF Legend, Greg Amundson.

Oprah once said, ‘When you’re on the right path, the universe rises up to meet you.’ I believe it. I didn’t know about the course until days before, and debated whether or not to go. But, so glad I did. Aside from Greg’s dynamic, passionate, powerful presence, this was a day of forced soul searching on a Saturday. It was much needed. If you’re like me and work 9 to 5 during the week, most Saturdays are usually filled with errands and get togethers and other non-goal oriented items. Good or bad, however you view it, these items can be just that, time takers, gap fillers, while perhaps fun and entertaining, nothing that will ultimately get you towards your Goal. That is, if you actually know your Goal. Can articulate it. Which I do not, not specifically. Not down to the wire of execution. And therein lies the problem; you must be able to speak to your Goal in absolute detail, to each exact step you will take to reach it, to the point where you can taste it, smell it, feel it, as if it is happening right now.

“If you would like to accomplish something, you must first expect it of yourself…. Everything that you can experience with your senses was once in someone’s imagination.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer.

“Live and feel as if your future dreams are a present fact.”

Now to only put into writing, those future dreams.

Tonight’s warm up bears mentioning, because it felt just as hard as the WOD. Thought my arms were about to give out. But, then working the arms, upper body strength, is a part of my goal. So, it’s good to work these things.

Warm-Up:

3 Rounds:

15 Wallballs

10 Burpees

5 Wall Climbs

Completed: Wall Balls at 14lbs. 2 Rounds before it was time to begin the WOD.

WOD:

I. 4 Rounds For Total Time:

10 Unbroken Fronts Squats at 70% 1RM

Run 400m

*Rest after each round as long as it took to complete the previous round

Completed: in 19:49. Avg. 3 minutes per round. Front Squat at 85lbs. Felt like a good weight, I was working almost to failure by reps 9 and 10. My laps actually grew faster in rounds 3 and finally 4.

II. 3 Attempts

Max Toes-to-Bar

Work.

“I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” ― Jerome K. Jerome

For today’s WOD, three separate, 8 minute AMRAPs.

WOD:

I. 8 Minute AMRAP:

10 Wallballs

5 Handstand Pushups

Rest 4 Minutes

Completed: 6 rounds plus 10.

II. 8 Minute AMRAP:

10 Russian Swings (70/53)

5 Ring Dips

Rest 4 Minutes

Completed: Per Caleb’s most excellent suggestion, Kettle Bell at 53lbs. Even then, felt I could go heavier. 10 rounds. Ring Dips scaled to Ring Pushups.

III. 8 Minute AMRAP:

10 Mountain Climbers

5 Pushups

Completed: 9 rounds.

Team

“A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.” ― Mickey Mantle

Saturdays are the days when you just want to stay home in the morning and finish your coffee. After a work week of waking up and having to be somewhere, it’s the simplest of joys to wake up and not feel like you have to be somewhere. Even went to be early last night. Alas.

Today’s warm-up deserves to be included as it was a bear for this sleepy Saturday morning riser.

Warm-Up:

20 Push Presses with Barbell

10 Burpees

20 Overhead Lunges with Barbell

10 Burpees

20 Overhead Squats with Barbell

10 Burpees

Completed.

WOD:

Part I.

Back Squat

5 – 3 – 1

Completed: @ 105lbs., then 125lbs., then 145lbs. With most awesome partner, Lynn. Who I’m pretty sure had a PR, but to date does not record her WODs. Given our awesome performance today, I think that’s about to change.

145lbs. is my current 1 Rep Max and it seemed more than doable. Next time am feeling will be able to go heavier and a new PR is on the horizon.

Part II. With a Partner, 15 Minute AMRAP:

15 Wallballs

10 Toes-to-Bar

5 Ring Dips

*1 partner moving at a time

Completed: 6 Rounds plus, 25. Great job today, Lynn. Thanks for working so hard.