Hell-en

As most of you know, the 2010 CrossFit Games were last weekend. When I wasn't glued to my school work, I was glued to the Crossfit site to watch it live. So awesome! Anyway, the second individual WOD was Pyramid Double Helen. Doesn't that in itself just sound awful? It's basically six rounds of Helen broken into a 3-2-1 rep scheme, so: 1200m run, 63 KB swings, 36 pull-ups; 800m run, 42 KB swings, 24 pull-ups; and finally, 400m run, 21 KB swings, 12 pull-ups. The fastest men's time was 16:59 (cut-off was 22 min.), and I can't remember the fast women's time, but the cut-off was 24 min. I knew we would have to do at least one of the Games WODs but wasn't expecting this one!!!! Ack! And I was unable to do the morning class or the noon because I had to fast last night for blood work this morning, and Mel would like me to do the WOD with her on Thursday, so I will mentally prepare myself for it in the meantime. I'll work on my school work tonight and make good use of that extra hour. Roosters in the morning!

WED: New girl WOD from last year's Games: "Amanda" 9-7-5 of muscle-ups and snatch. Looks easy, right? WRONG! I subbed pull-ups/dips for the muscle-ups, so I did 18 p/d for the first round and 14 p/d for the second round. Had I made it to the third round, which I didn't, I would have done 10 p/d. Sam kept telling us that we would be able to finish the WOD in 12 minutes (cut-off) if we knew how to do the movements right. Well, apparently, my snatch sucks too much because I finished the first two rounds only. I used 73# (used 38# bar as that was all that was left besides 33# and 15#), and I just couldn't get my act together on the snatches. The pull-ups and dips weren't the issue. My technique on snatch prevented me from finishing in time! So, I still need to work on this lift, and once I feel like I've pretty much mastered it, I'll try Amanda again. I wonder, though, if I'd been able to do MU progressions (I have those down pat), would I have finished before cut-off? The class was too large for that kind of sub, but it bugs me to think of it. I know some previous classes did do progressions, and their times were fine. Anyway, it's water under the bridge. On to the next one.

THURS: HELL-en and I mean H-E-L-L. I would have been laughed out of the Games!!! Did it rx'd and finished in 36:09. I wasted tons of seconds resting too much and trying to catch my breath. I know my mental game just wasn't there today, nor was it yesterday. Could it be that my brain power has been sapped by my graduate course? The academic thinking portion of my brain has usurped the reserves in the athletic/physical part, methinks. Ugh. Either way, this Games WOD was no joke, and I have all that more respect and awe for the competitors. Here was my running internal monologue as I went through it:

1200m run: Good steady pace, a bit slow for my taste, but I want to keep Mel's pace so I don't get too tired...
64 KB swings: 15 per set isn't too bad...hmm, my arms and hips feel okay so far...just keep chalking between sets
36 pull-ups: Ack, 5 per set ain't gonna be possible for me. No grip! Gasp, gasp, rrrrgh!
800m run: pantpantpant...ugh this sun is hoooooooooot pantpantpant...keep moving, legs!! No walking!!!!
42 KB swings: Hoooboy are my arms and hips feeling tired...get that bell up! Stay calm, keep that pace...omg Mel is already on her pull-ups! 10, 11, 12...
24 pull-ups: Grrrr, two reps at a time? Stupid pull-ups, stupid pull-ups, can't get my breath, stupid pull-ups! Darn it, I ripped! Back to it!!!
400m run: Just...gotta...keep...breathing...gah that sun is hot!!!!
21 KB swings: 11 and 10, keep swinging, thank you Mel for counting the last 10 for me...
12 pull-ups: Two at a time, two at a time, keep me going Mel, okay last six, three at a time! DOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!!

In retrospect, I should have pushed myself harder on the runs, and the KB swings ended up being less of an issue than I had thought. Pull-ups still need work. Above all, I needed someone to count and push me--I am so bad about that if I'm going through it alone. Tons of things to improve! But I'm soooo glad I actually went in and did it. Next time I'll do better!!!!