Crossfit Open 11.5

Only one more Crossfit Open workout after this. I have mixed feelings about my performance so far. On the one hand, I haven't really done many Crossfit-type workouts in the past few months. I don't have access to an Olympic-sized bar, rings, or many of the other pieces of equipment that made up the majority of these workouts. On the other hand, I've tried to keep strength training a regular part of the programming for this 50K. This might be an overstatement, as I've really only done these weekly metcons, and maybe a strength workout from strengthvillain.com. I tried to cut back on these workouts, since they've left me feeling so sore and my running workouts have really suffered as a result. Still, some strength is better than no strength and it might be the reason for my better-than-expected 800m times recently.

Crossfit Open 11.5 workout:

AMRAP 20 minutes

5 Power Cleans (145)
10 T2B
15 Wall Ball (20, 10ft)

I finished 8 full rounds and managed to squeeze in a power clean before the clock ran out. I went in the first wave, and honestly think I might have done better if I was going against one of the other guys. Hard to say for sure. Power cleans became tough in the end, and all wall balls were unbroken. What really got me was the T2B. I had no idea how to get a steady rhythm going, and every time I tried to kip, it threw off my body position and I had to start over. Very frustrating. Many other people had the same problem.

Modified Fight Gone Bad, Basketball

Early afternoon

Modified Fight Gone Bad

	R1	R2	R3
Wall Ball	45	38	50
SDHP	37	32	30
Box Jumps	20	17	12
Push Press	15	14	14
Double Unders	20	15	16
Total	137	116	122

Workout comments: Modification of the Fight Gone Bad workout. Total was 375. The rower is replaced with the double-unders. Had to take several breaks throughout the workout, which hurt my total reps. I just couldn't keep these up.

Evening

About 2 hours of basketball with the work league. Just an open gym tonight. I haven't played in almost 3 months, which is to say the game was pretty sloppy. Took some protein in after the game and slept well. Not as sore the following day as I expected to be.

Cleans, Muscle-Up Practice, Short Metcon

Early afternoon

Strength

Power Cleans 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3

117, 137, 157, 167, 177*
*Failed 3rd rep

Bar Muscle Up Practice

5, 10, 10
Load: 215

2 X 10 Pistols

Metcon

50 Double Unders
25 Wall Balls 20#

5:40

Workout comments: Will showed me an interesting way of practicing bar muscle-up progressions. Using the Nautilus freedom training machine, you can hook up a bar, load up some weight, and you have yourself a great way of practicing muscle ups. The only down side is the the bar is very thin, which I think makes the muscle-ups incredible easier. I haven't seen a bar at any park or gym which is this thin.

I was disappointed with the power cleans, until I realized that one of my previous PRs several months ago was in the 180# range. Not too bad.

Partner WOD

Late afternoon
WU: Dynamic warmup-squats, stretches, shuffling, PVC shoulder flexibility

Workout: Crossfit Inspire WOD

Partner WOD
1000m Run (250m per)
100 KB Swings (53#)
100 Meter Wall Ball Shuffle Pass (20#)
100 Partner Med Ball Situps (20#)
100 Partner Med Ball Cleans (20#)
1000m Row (250m per)

One partner rests while the other partner works.

18:29

Workout comments: I decided I would give the crossfit affiliate thing a try. There are several options I have to choose from, and all seem to have pros and cons. Platoon Crossfit is near my house in Conshohocken, but they don't seem to have too much information on their website. I should defintely look into them more, but it seems like you have to provide them with too much personal information in order to get anything out of them. Crossfit KOP seemed like my best bet, it's close to home, roughly on my way to work in Malvern, and seems like they are very competivie in the Crossfit Games, which could speak well for the sort of clientel they attract. Their membership fee is pretty steap though, the most expensive of all the groups in area. Crossfit Inspire is closest in proximity to work, which means I could go for a morning workout, afternoon workout, and maybe slip away for a lunch workout here and there. The owner seemed very nice on the phone and mentioned they have a one week trial period, which definitely hooked me in. I decided to try them out first.

The WOD was pretty simple, as outlined above. I was partnered with a guy named Rob who seemed pretty even with my in terms of fitness, at least at face value. After the warmup and the introductions, we got started and right away I could feel it was going to be tougher than I expected. We broke most of the movements into sets of 10, not too difficult until you realize that you are only getting 15-30 seconds of rest. We seemed like we were working hard and flying, but there was another team that just kept edging us out on every station. Somehow we started together during the med ball cleans, and they managed to beat us by 40. A little suspect, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They actually only finished 100 meters ahead of us, and I was hauling ass trying to catch them. It just wasn't in the cards.

I hate partner workouts, but I think this workout was actually pretty decent. I was working pretty hard and my partner was emptying the tank as well. The owner (I think his name was Matt or Darin) was really nice, and offered me some good motiviation during the workout. The group itself was made up of a very diverse mix of ages and genders, from high school athletes to 40+ parents. I was looking for something a bit more condense, but in the end I was surprised by how close the competition was. First workout: 6 out of 10.

Bench Press, Running/Wall Ball Metcon

Morning

Bench Press 5 X 3
Loads: 175#, 195#, 215#, 225# (failed 3rd rep), 215#

AMRAP
Run 0.25 miles
40 Wall Balls (20#)

5 complete rounds + 0.14 miles run

• Workout comments: I added a 2% grade to the treadmill during this workout because it helps me focus my landing on my forefoot, which helps take the discomfort out of my stride. I felt good during the wall balls, but most likely because my pace was not as fast as I would have liked it during the runs.
• General comments: After watching a short blurb on crossfit.com about the benefits of stretching (along with the mountains of othe reports out there) I'm going to spend more time actively stretching in an effort to increase overall flexibility. I've seen a few articles published over the years, including one from the New York Times, that reports stretching adds no substantial benefit to fitness or health. But the question becomes: Does it hurt?
• Body: I felt pretty good today. No soreness.