12-07-28: ECC Throwdown Part 2

Elm City CrossFit Throwdown Part II WoDs

Shoulder to overhead, in this case using a shallow split jerk to drop a little under the bar.

Another shallow split jerk. Hard to tell from the picture, but his back leg doesn't seem "soft" enough, but the picture may not be from the actual catch, but when he was starting to transition to the full standing position in the third frame. If he can lift those weights... I assume he's got good form.

Ground to overhead with Sage Burgener. The final final frame would be with the weight held overhead, legs and hips fully extended. For the purposes of the throw-down, there was no requirement to ever get into a full squat position. For that matter, it didn't have to be a snatch, as pictured, but could have started with a clean to the shoulders, and then any form of shoulder-to-overhead. Anything goes...

Buck furpees.

Kettlebells with CrossFit Games former Champion Kris Clever and two time Champion Annie Thorisdottir. (CrossFit Games)

Box jumps. woot! (happilives.com)

How to do a wall ball. My only tweak would be in the final frame: It would be way more efficient to catch the ball with the forearms closer to vertical and the elbows bent a little more (more like the position in the first frame.) Cushion the catch by bending the knees, cycling straight into the next rep. The more you can maintain that form, the faster you can go. (CrossFit 714)

A scaled version of handstand push-ups. I opted for this scaling, knowing I wouldn't have 45 reps of band-assist in me, even with the stiffest bands. If these look easy, you've apparently never tried them. (Unless you do have unassisted handstand push-ups, in which case these probably are pretty easy. Shut up.) Note the nearly vertical torso. A common error is to have the hands out too far, turning it into an elevated regular push-up. Still a nice exercise, but not targeting the shoulder girdle or core in quite the same way. (Snoridge CrossFit)

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WoD I

• 21-15-9
  
  • Deadlift @ 185#
  • Handstand Push-Ups (scaled to knees on the box)
• 10-8-6
  
  • Shoulders-to-Overhead @ 95#
  • Burpees

WoD II

• Wallballs til broken
• 3 minutes after last finisher
  5 rounds for time
  
  • 7 box jumps 30"
  • 5 Ground-to-overhead @ 95#

If I had written this two weeks ago... I might remember details other than ARGH! Owwie! It hurts!! I do remember my decisions on the scalings. Knowing that we were starting out with a workout named Diane (21-15-9 of 225# deadlifts and handstand push-ups), followed by another couplet involving the same bar (with a weight change), I decided to scale both weights by 40#, which would allow me to just slide the 45# plates off both sides of the bar between couplets. I also scaled the handstand push-ups to box handstand push-ups, knees on the box. For 45 reps, there was no chance of being in the bands and EVER finishing this workout! Our score on the WoD would be affected by the number of scalings, in my case, three.

For the second WoD, I went completely RXed, with my only nod to not killing myself being the decision to only complete 10 wallballs, rather than trying to do a ton of them, then finding my legs too crushed to actually complete the couplet. So, whatever time I got had ten seconds taken off (the number of wallballs completed counted as seconds to be subtracted from your total time... so if you did 90 wallballs and did the workout in 2 minutes, your total time would be only 30 seconds. Pretty sweet, if you have the motor to crank through a ton of wallballs, then recover enough to perform the workout well!

Comparatively, I don't remember details like my times and whatnot. All in all, it was an awesome showing from the ECC community, and great fun.  Even better was the barbeque afterwards, and showing off the newest member of our family, little baby Abby. It was also a nice opportunity to try some great paleo fair. Turns out that a burger without a bun, but cradled in a romaine leaf is *really freaking good.* A burger without a bun sticking to the back of your teeth is kind of a revelation! (Yup, I remember the food better than the workout. Go figure...)

12-06-30: ECC Throwdown #1

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Saturday, June 30th, 2012

Sums it up nicely. You really don't need to keep reading if you don't want to. Its an epic tale of woe and whining. Mmmm... woe and whining.

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WoD#1: Stacked Double Helen

• Round 1
  • 1200m run 
  • 63 Kettlebell Swings @44# 
  • 36 Pull-ups w/ green band 
• Round 2
  • 800m run
  • 42 KBS
  • 24 PUs
• Round 3
  • 400m run
  • 21 KBS
  • 12 PUs

Writing up the last part of that list was really kind of a waste of time. Despite scaling both the kettlebell swings and the pull-ups, I ended up getting CRUSHED by this one. KEERUSHED. Maybe its because in pretty high heat and humidity I just suck at running, maybe its because 36 pull-ups is just a ridiculous amount for me, no matter how you scale or substitute it. I honestly believe that even going for 36 ring rows, with a major angle involved, still would have destroyed me.

As it was, I struggled through the first round (run, kettlebells, pull-ups) and ran out the door to start the second round, only to find myself completely bonked. Frankly, I had been bonked since reading the workout, but this was a little different. Whereas, before the workout, I was at least resigned to trying to get through it, starting up the 800m run, I just wanted to quit. I struggled to keep running for this interval, and when I failed, struggled to keep my walk at least brisk. I did ensure I made a show of finishing the last bit at a run, for the look of the thing when I came back in sight of the gym.

I remember very clearly the thought I had when I entered the gym and saw the clock on the wall. I don't remember if it was at 24 minutes or 25 minutes elapsed, but the only thought that went through my head was:

That's too much time left.

I just wanted the pain and suckage to end. As soon as possible. However, there was still time to keep chipping away at the mountain of crap left to tackle. I knocked out the kettlebells, I won't say easily, but I don't remember them being *too* bad. However, I spent the final minute or two just getting single reps of pull-ups, chin-ups, whatever. I did the first round with the green band (a quite stout band, stronger than the blues I usually use), and added in a light orange band for this round. Frankly, you could have given me the black band (with which I am unable to even hang under the bar, because the band is SO strong) and I wouldn't have had anything left. I was done. Time ran out, and I was left with a big DNF, 30m, with a full round unstarted, and 19 pull-ups left in the one I was in. But it was over. Finally.

WoD #2
Clean ladder - Squat or power
Every 30 seconds, attempt another bar
95#, 115#, 135#, 155#, 185#, 215#, etc.... (I think)

After waiting to recover a bit from the first WoD, I realized I was out of time, and had family obligations at home. I knew my 1RM clean, squat or power, was more than 155#, so I talked with Coach Wheels about it a bit, and we agreed to pencil me in for 135#. Between the heat and fatigue, there was a good chance I wouldn't be able to successfully lift 155# that day, but 135# should have been in the bag, and I just didn't have time to prove it. So, unofficially, and quite lamely, 135#. Needless to say, further ECC Throwdown events will have me participating for the fun, as I would imagine I'm a little bit out of the running! ;)