Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Living in a burpee paradise

Man, I love that post WOD high.  I don't get it all the time, but man, when I do, it puts me in a better place.  #crossfithigh 

I think I've started to figure out Unlocked's coaches... at least as far as the WOD programming goes.  I guessed (correctly) that Jeff was programming this week.  Jeff seems to favor more of the traditional movements, box jumps, burpees, stuff like that.  Tylers workouts just suck.  They're heavy, and typically seem to involve lifting.  My first WOD at Unlocked was a Tyler workout... never forget it.  I haven't quite pegged Brian's yet.  Ali's... just depend on her mood.  She typically programs pretty solid stuff... but if she's angry at something when programming... they turn into soul crushing WODs.  :D

Tonights WOD was a Jeff WOD.  Simple.  Challenging.  Brutal if you let it get to you.  The first bit was 5 minutes of jump rope.  We broke into partners, I got Kara.  We both do singles.  She rocked it with over 250.  She had several long runs of 20+.  Can't wait to get there myself.  My singles were awful.  I did maaaybe 25 at first, with the rope I picked.  After that, it went downhill fast.  After about 3 or 4 failed sets, I got mad at my rope.  Earlier, I had asked Kara if I could use the rope she used, I had a feeling... turns out I was right.  I dropped the loaner rope and picked up hers.  INSTANT gratification... of sorts.  It felt better, moved better... it was better all around.  I don't like the thin speed line, I can't really "feel" the rope moving, so it's all muscle memory and guessing.  The 5 minutes seemed to take forever.  I had trouble linking 10 in a row towards the end. 

Here's the thing...  For most people, their calves cramp up and get sore.  Thats not my problem.  I mean it is, but it isn't.  I don't have to stop to stretch my calves or anything like that.  I have to stop because my calves are fatigued.  It's a lot of Dan to be getting off the ground that many times.  5 minutes is the longest I think I've been asked to jump.  I got a bit of a second wind near the end, might have actually got a full 10 before I couldn't get off the ground anymore.  Ended up 182, I think.  Kara counted, I wrote it down, but I can't remember if it was a 2 or 7 at the end.  Back to the calves thing.  Everyone else is stretching them back out, and having a good time of it.  I had to sit down.  You see, I've been blessed with these amazingly wide, flat feet.  THEY HURT!   I mean even sitting down, flexing, stretching... It was like I had a wide flat rock in my shoe, right where the arch is supposed to be.   Ug. 

After a minute or two of getting things simmered down, I grabbed a box.  I'm ready for what's next.  I've been looking forward to this.  A bit of redemption.  You see, this part is burpess and dips.  I'm thinking back to last weeks 30 plate burpees.  Having done those in under 5 minutes, I wanted to see if I could break this one up.  I picked what I thought was a modest 6:23 time.  12-10-8-6-4-2 of burpees, 5-4-3-2-1 of dips after each set of burpees.  They're supposed to be ring dips, I'm doing box dips... it's all the same as long as it works, right?  LOL

GO!  I knew right away this was going to be difficult... more difficult than I had thought.  Monday and Tuesday are weighing pretty heavy on my body now.  I don't even think I made it through the whole first 12 jumping up.  In a word, fatigue.  I got to the dips, and WOW.  Sneaky things.  First of the next set of burpees, and the triceps are singing to me... it's not a good song either.  LOL.  I pushed through it, didn't stop much on the box.  I was definitely slower.  Redemption may not come today... redemption is also the wrong word, maybe satisfaction at doing better?  Doesn't matter, keep pushing.  Ran into another case of going a little harder with Jeff around.  Push it push it push it.  I feel like I was in my 8's that some of the faster people were getting done.  DANG!  I kept moving, I think I've hit the point where I stop stopping.  Thats good.  Mental strength, and like Rocky said, keep moving forward, thats how winning is done. 

I'm no longer paying attention to anyone.  I see Kara out the side of my eye, I know we're in this together, but other than that, it's me, the mat, and the box.  I push, I'm moving, maybe even faster.  It's near the end.  I'm nearly the last one.  Jeff is paying more attention now, giving me timing update.  I'm getting up from my second to last set of burpees.  He's telling me I'm close, MOVE!  I tried to bounce up from the last two burpees.  It didn't quite happen.  I stepped up for the last time.  6:47.  Longer than I wanted to go, but it was under the 7 minute mark Jeff and I had agreed was the worst I could do. 

That hurt.  My pride, my body, maybe my soul a little too.  I didn't expect to be quite so tired, and those damn dips were sneaky as hell.  I'm disappointed that I didn't hit my goal of 6:23, but for being as beat up as I ended up feeling at the beginning, I did better than I thought I would after the first 12.  Summer is going to be a whole different game this year.  I may not take the double layer off when I get down to that first 50 lost.  Sweat equity is good. 

Cool down is 20 GHD situps.  I'm scared of knocking the thing over, so I get 35 butterfly's.  I hate situps.  Not like burpees, but close enough.  They hurt, they take a lot of energy, and... just waaa waa waaa.  Took me almost 3 minutes to do just 35... another thing to get faster at.  Sigh. 

I'm getting better... it's been something like 9 months since I started.  I know I'm better, I'm stronger, I'm faster.  Still a lot of work to go.  Going to be a fun journey, I hope you stay with me as I stay with this.  #crossfit  #gettingstronger  #unbreakable

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