The day started early, waking up at 4 am... ugh. I got food, clothes and things together. Of course we still left late (my fault), picked up Libbie (CrossFit CWE badass) and headed to CrossFit TNT (with barely any coffee in me). I had seen WOD #1 on Thursday before the competition, but here's what I knew I had in strore for me:
WOD 1: The Triple Clean
Start next to a bare bar. After 3,2,1 GO run/walk to a stack of plates and clips, return them to your bar, load, and perform:
21 Hang Squat Cleans (hang starting below the knees) 95 lbs
Strip weights, return them to their pile, grab new stack, return to bar, load, and perform:
15 Power Cleans 115lbs
Strip weights, return them to their pile, grab new stack, return to bar, load, and perform:
9 Clean and Jerks 135lbs
Strip weights, return them to their pile, run back to your bar and time!
Time - 7:19
This went a lot better than I would have imagined. I was dreading the HSC, especially starting below the knees. I thought that would have a good chance of making the low back tight for the rest of the WOD. A lot of guys said to just go all the way down to the floor, that it was easier. In warm-up I felt a lot more comfortable not doing that. I felt like my low back went soft if I went to the floor. It seemed to work well for me. Power Cleans were fine, almost unbroked (and should have been). Clean and Jerks were heavy. I really should have pushed it on this. I finished every one in singles and came in 12th place (unbeknownst to me).
WOD 2: Handstand Hold
Hold a handstand, against the wall for as long as possible. Butt cannot touch the wall and head cannot touch the floor.
Time - 3:34
I was suprised how well I did on this. Unfortunately I was the very last heat and only went with one other person. It helped to have another athlete on the wall... I kept turning my head and watching him. This took my mind off the pain in my elbows. Still, I had know idea where I placed on this, someone said top 5. This was true... I walked away in 2nd on the event and second in the standing (still unknown to me)
WOD 3: Ring and Things
8 min AMRAP
10 ring pushups (rings even with a 20" box)
16 lateral jumps (over a pvc) 24"
Rounds - 7 + 9
I think this marked the first WOD I really went 100% for. Mainly because the ring pushups were pissing me off. first 3 rounds were fine and all unbroken. I never had a problem with the lateral jumps (more recovery than anything), but the ring pushups got tough come round 4. Needed to break them up pretty good. I also transitioned to a very close grip, which rubbed my arms raw on the straps. However, with this narrow grip I was able to recruit a lot of help from my chest and my triceps, and even get a stretch reflex at the bottom (kinda like bench pressing). I struggled to come up with 14th in the event, dropping me to 3rd overall... and I still had no idea of this. I also had no idea that the 14th place I received would be my lowest placing WOD of the weekend.
WOD 4: Death by Deadlift Ladder
45 second to lift, 15 seconds to transition. Weight AND reps increased each round
1 @ 135lbs
2 @ 175lbs
3 @ 205lbs
4 @ 225lbs
5 @ 245lbs
6 @ 265lbs
7 @ 285lbs
8 @ 305lbs
9 @ 325lbs
10 @ 345lbs
11 @ 365lbs
12 @ 385lbs
13 @ 400lbs
14 @ 410lbs
Last lift - 5 out of 10 reps @ 345lbs
This one had me excited. If you don't know... I love to deadlift. Unfortunately (against my wife's advice) I left my powerlifting belt at home. Luckily, a super cool dude at CrossFit South City let me borrow his. I saw guys pettering out at the high 200's and low 300 range. My goal was to at least get to 365lbs. However, I don't know what happened to the 345 bar... the crap immediately got heavy! Maybe it was the fact I did do 45 reps in the previous 9 minutes... that could be a part of it. Still (not known to me) I got 8th on this, and bumped into 2nd place overall.
WOD 5: Rope N' Run
4 rope climbs
2 mile run (in 20-30 degree weather)
Time - 14:35
This was the start of day 2. They announced this the night before online, so I already had an idea coming in on what I wanted to do. Now I knew I was in 2nd, by only 10 points. I had a fire inside... I wanted that podium. With the 6th WOD unknown I knew I needed to do well to keep my place. Seeing the Rope climbs made me jumps for joy. I may not be the strongest guy out there, but I think I have some pretty decent technique. It held out well for me. I hit the top of the 4th rope climb at 1:04 and I was out the door about 20 seconds later. That means I ran my 2 miles in about 13 minues... 6:30 mile split was good for me. My plan on the run was to catch as many people possible (since it was a heat running every 5 minutes) and never get passed. Also, I had heard a lot of people spinting it out on the final turn... so I decided to sprint it out on the turn before that. It seemed to go well, as I got 2nd in the event and retained my 2nd place overall.
WOD 6: Chipper
Complete as many points/reps possible in 10 minutes (680 points possible). Each movement has a max rep count you can achieve for points.
15 Snatches @ 135lbs (8 points each)
15 Ring Dips (8 points each)
20 Pullups (5 points each)
20 Dumbbell Thrusters @ 35lb (5 points each)
30 Toes-to-Bar (3 points each)
30 Kettlebell Swings @ 55lbs (3 points each)
60 Box Jumps @ 24" (1 point each)
Points - 568
So, right off the bat I knew I would have trouble with that Snatch weight. Sadly, it's my current 1 RM. Matt (from CFe) and I went to warm up on the bar. We could both hit 125lb split snatches, so we came up with a game plan that worked awesome! We turned the WOD into 3 mini-WODs that looked like this:
1 Snatch attempt (which I got!)
5 ring dips
10 pullups
5 ring dips
10 pullups
5 ring dips
1 snatch attempt (which I got again!)
2 rounds:
15 Kettlebell Swings
AMRAP Toes-to-Bar (12 & 18)
10 Thrusters
AMRAP Box Jumps (52 out of 60 completed)
This went exactly according to plan. GSkell was coaching me on what to do next, which I followed to the T. This was a tough WOD, and I fought tooth and nail for a 6th place... keeping me in my 2nd place overall!!!
It turned out to be a great weekend. Day 1 was a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and unknown placement. Day 2 I actually saw the prize in sight, and I wanted it bad. Who knows, If I had Day 2's mindset on Day 1 I could have done better. However, I can't take away anything from the guy in first. He was strong all the way around, who only had one finish in the double digits. The athlete in 3rd was an outstrand guy, and can't wait to compete with him again. In fact both of these fellows have been doing CrossFit for 4 months! I have years of this under my belt now! They are going to be a force to be reckoned with. I have to thank my wife for being there for me (even when I wasn't a joy to be around), GSkell, Liner, Matt, Ginger, Tom and all the CFe crew!
Now I will take a week of recovery before really getting back to my lifts. I will fight harder now to become stronger and more powerful. Who knows what's next for me. Maybe 1st place? Maybe moving to the Rx division? We'll see in just another year. So get yourself motivated, put some effort into it... and do burpees!!!
TNT Weekend from CrossFit Ironman on Vimeo.
3,2,1 GO!
*3511*
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