12-07-17: That time I thought I was gonna die

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

Annie Sakamoto showing fantastic form on the long-stride version of the walking lunge. Note the knee lightly touching the ground, to truly light her quads on fire. (CrossFit)

How I felt about 2 rounds into this beast... (DeckTheHolidays.blogspot.com)

You'd better believe I was hallucinating through most of the crabwalks... (Designstuffdaily.com)

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WoD: 5 Rounds for Time

• 20 Walking Lunges [un-weighted, each time your knee touches the ground = 1 rep]
• 200 meter run
• 1 Bear Crawl Loop [marked off inside gym]

How hard could it be... 5 rounds, some running, some lunges, a few bear crawls... How hard could it be?

Um. Very hard. I'm not writing this until a little over a week later, and I still remember the feeling that I was going to die round about the 3rd bear crawl. The feeling of utter suffocation was unbearable. The lunges were bad, the runs were terrible... but the bear crawls... deadly.

Total time: An eternity - a few minutes.

12-04-20: A whole lotta stuff!

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Friday April 20, 2012

Toes to bar (L-R: Knees to elbows; toes to bar; and knee to elbow attempt) (crossfit)

Burpees. FML. (CrossFit Games)

Pullups.

 

Bear crawls. Kids make it look so easy.

Honey bear don't care...

 WOD: 9min AMRAP*

• 9 Toes 2 Bar (t2b) (subbed with sit-ups in 2nd round)
• 6 Burpees
• 3 Deadhang Pull-Ups (dhpu) (banded in 2nd round)
• *every 3 rounds, 1 loop bear crawl

This was a brutal piece of work! After crushing the body with several rounds of t2b, burpees, and dhpu, it was time to take a spin around the gym on all fours, totally crushing the lungs. While I was sure I could handle the pull-ups unbanded, the added stress of the t2bs really knocked the crap out of my hands, and my not-particularly well-cared-for callouses on my hands looked like they were bunching up and getting ready to tear. Rather than risk that, I opted to drop the t2b in favor of simple sit-ups, and used the lightest red band to take some pressure off the pull-ups.

Total score: 5 rounds + 5 sit-ups

12-01-30: Upperbody Destromination!

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Monday, January 20th, 2012

Burpees. Stand, squat, plank, squat, stand, jump. Doesn't sound awful, but it really, REALLY is. Really. (CrossFit Games)

Bear crawls. Kids make it look easy. Kids are jerks.

But then again, is this a dude you argue with? *I* wanna be strong like this guy!

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WoD: 6 Rounds for Time

• 10 Burpees
• Bear Crawl

How did I put it when I posted my results on the ECC page? Oh, right, "Unholy f'ing EFF!" Yeah, the burpees, though they did indeed creep up on me, weren't nearly the worst bit. Bear crawls around the gym are just one of the worst things ever invented. Nothing like having to put your body-weight on your upper-body just when the burpees have started to smoke your lungs. Just awful. Now repeat the experience half a dozen times.


Total time: 11:44

11-12-22: Rope climbs, pull-ups, bear crawls

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Thursday, December 22, 2011

Rope-climbs: Of course, these bad-asses aren't using knotted ropes, which makes it even MORE impressive. Next time there's a skill day, I need to work on the footwork needed to climb this style of rope. (Costa Mesa CrossFit)

I don't smile at the top of pull-ups. There's not enough time. (crossfit.com)

Bear crawls. Holy incredible suckage!! These are just awfultastic. (Flatirons CrossFit)

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Buy-in: 15 min
 - Rope Climb
WoD: 10 min AMRAP
 - 3 Pull-ups
 - Bear Crawl

Ah, rope climbs. For the first time, I was the "experienced" climber on the knotted rope, trying to help coach a few other athletes through the process of 'jumping' up the rope from knot to knot. For myself, I managed 6-7 total climbs, all the way up to the new bells up at the rafters. So that felt pretty good. After that, the suckage set in.

If you're me, you haven't done bear crawls in... ever? So, while I was able to do unassisted pull-ups (I can handle small rep schemes without requiring a band-assist) for the rounds I completed, I was getting utterly *destrominated* by the bear crawls. Like being on hands and knees, except on your feet, which loads the weight a WHOLE lot more onto the upper body. Big time fun when that upper body has just climbed a rope repeatedly and then did a few pull-ups.


Final tally: 7 rounds and 2 pull-ups.