All weekend, I grappled with scaled vs Rx. I know I could have done Rx, but it would probably take me over 2x as long... I'm thinking 36 minutes... probably selling myself a bit short, but that was in my head. After agonizing over it, I asked a few coaches. Andy P was the first one I asked, and the first one to respond. He suggested scaled, and I'm glad he did (and that I listened).
Morning got here early... I hate Mondays. I usually go to bed at a normal ish... ok late time, and then can't fall asleep till after midnight or 1am, and then I'm up at 0315. Fortunately, I got some great sleep on the plane this week though. If you've every flown, you know how the flight attendants come by and ask you to make sure your seat is upright before landing... they didn't even bother me. I was OUT! I sat up about 200 ft off the ground, and was like oh, I should put my seat up, and did it just in time for landing. First time thats happened, I'm glad they let me sleep.
Work was work, and the hours sped by. I've been thinking about this workout a bit. I've seen people posting about it being the first time they threw up, not being able to walk the next day, people uttering thanks to the CrossFit gods for no burpees... just lots and lots of chatter about this one.... all that to say I've got no idea what it's going to be like, other than the generic "awful". Thankfully, Justin (of Building a new Justin) has posted a time and effort and that gave me a starting place for planning my attack. Being of... well starting at similar sizes, I figured I can keep up, or maybe beat him. Using his time, I'm able to asthmatically work out how long I can spend on each part of the workout. For those of you that don't know what 15.5's rep scheme, it looks a little something like this. 27-27-21-21-15-15-9-9, starting with a calorie row movement, and then thrusters (65lbs for me). Justin put up 15:35. I stared using some basic math through the movements. I figured it would take 1 minute for the 15 and 9 rep calorie rows, and 2 minutes for the other two, so that was 6 minutes... The thrusters I counted on taking 4 minutes, then 3, 2, and finally 1 as the reps got lower. Adds up to 16 minutes... so as long as I'm faster than the times I just figured out, I'll be good.
Clock strikes 5, and I'm out. Got to the hotel, checked in, changed, and off to the box. My rental this week is a pickup truck, I finally feel like I fit in with everyone else in Sussex County, DE... another story for another day (basically it's like they've all got a "truck" of some kind). I get to Unlocked in plenty of time, get inside and start warming up. My plan was to workout during the same time as the class... didn't put enough thought into it, I needed someone to count, and there was only one coach... derp! So I elect to wait till the class is done, and do it while Jeff (who's coaching) is doing his workout. Win-win all around.
The workout for the class sucked. I'm not sure who's got it better, me doing 15.5 with no time cap, or them doing an 18 minute AMRAP of strict press, box jump overs and weighted overhead situps... I watched the carnage unfold. Sweat, swearing, and feats of sustained intensity. Everyone put in an incredible first 10-12 minutes, then the fatigue started hitting. To the classes credit, no one got real sloppy with any of the movements. Finally, 18 minutes is over, and the only sounds is people sucking eggs. Maybe I don't have it better? Either way, it's go time.... well, not quite. I didn't just jump right into it, I waited for Jeff to get ready, wanted someone else to suffer with me, even if we were doing different workouts.
This Tyson quote was going through my head all the way up until the first pull of the rower... I had my plan, I was going to smash this... then the suck started.
The one positive on the flight back on Friday was I got to catch up on my Mens Health. The issue I was reading had Bieber on the cover (for reference), and there was an article in there on breathing, the diaphragm, and how most of us are all kinds of 'doing it wrong'. I couldn't find it online to link it, but it was a very interesting read, one with information I want to incorporate into my life and workouts... just wish I had started by this workout, might have helped me.
My rowing is usually pretty strong, it was just ok tonight. Problem is, I wasn't giving it that full lean back 'calorie rowing' pull. Those tend to mess up my breathing more than regular rowing... I still did a few anyway, but I mainly tried to focus on just getting it done. 27 calories takes a while with the 'just get it done' approach, let me tell ya. I was somewhere around 80 or 90 seconds when I got done with the rowing, ahead of my curve, but not by much. Took a few seconds to get my brearings, and up the bar went, then down I went. 1. 2, 3... 10, 11, 12.... I think I stopped at 12. Not to shabby for my first set. Problem was, now I was breathing that shallow stuff, only filling the top half of my lungs. I forced myself to take a few big gulps of air, and then go again. You'd think 12 in the first go, I'd be doing alright, but man, it felt like it took forever to get to 27. I didn't even bother to look at the clock... till I got done with the second set of rowing, which I had to stop at least twice during to just take a full breath. It was somewhere around 5 minutes and change, not bad, keep moving.
The plan was out the window, and thoughts of how I was going to break it up were gone, it was just do as much as you can, as fast as you can. A few times I tried to not drop the weight, but leave it in a hang position.... Taran told me to have fun with that, and I see why after trying it a few times. Sitting under load, even in that position with only 65lbs, is difficult. I finally get done with that set, "halfway done". Man. Half way... thats it, I've still got two sets to go. Really, my memory of the last two isn't super sharp. Everything seemed slow...everything was slow. I've got several people not named Ali (who's counting for me) yelling and cheering... I'm the only one doing 15.5...it's my first time, they know it and are being encouraging. The only thing I really recall besides the encouragement, was my form, and it was atrocious. I mean at the bottom of the squat, I'm sure half the time my back was rounded, elbows pointing down... very poor, but I was getting the reps in, and for me, thats all I was concerned about.
The last 9 reps were both the easiest, and hardest. Knowing I was almost done, made me want to slack a little more. I know I took some extra breaths in there. Broke up the thrusters into 3-3-3, done. I didn't want/need to puke like others, but I did, on this rare occasion, go and lay down. Didn't last long, didn't feel right, so I staggered back up to my feet, trying to catch my breath. This was my first workout with the new wraps, and they performed like champs. I tried to warm up without them, and my wrists were howling in protest... so I'm pretty well just going to wear them all the time for a little bit, till things get better.
14:38. Not a terrible time, not a world class time either. It's my time, and I'll take it. I could have done better, I know I stopped too many times to breathe, and I'd love to say my breathing was my #1 issue, but I think my mentality is still #1. I pushed harder though this because I had someone I wanted to catch, not because I was pushing just for myself. I think I still would have beat him regardless. I didn't bother looking at the clock after the 11th minutes, was too focused on the task at hand. My problem is that there were a number of times where I hit the number of reps I was aiming for, and I put the bar down, I didn't push for that little bit of extra. I really need to find that in the coming weeks/months.
The aftermath of this has been something else. After I'd cleaned everything up (well Randy helped with a lot of it now that I think of it), and went to change into my everyday shoes, I started shaking. Not like debilitating shaking, but shaking non the less. It lasted for a while too. I'd like to imagine that it was my bodys response to "getting punched in the face" and having the audacity to keep going. Either way, it was something that while isn't a first time, it's unique enough that I notice and make note of it.
I drank a Kill Cliff, ate a Kill Cliff bar, and just tried to control my self... 15.5... you suck. Took a lot more out of me than I realized. The shakes continued off and on till I got to Wal-Mart for some groceries... then it was just pain and inflammation in my knee/calf on my right side... I swear I'm not falling apart, but it feels like it sometimes. I ate a lot of stuff after that workout, most good, some not so much... I'm hoping, maybe praying that I'll be able to walk tomorrow. Find out soon enough.
I wanted to post my final Open score, but it hasn't updated yet with where I fell. Anxious to see and compare. Until then.
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