Like Clock Work

Each year after the Crossfit Open I reach a burn out stage. Usually it sets in the last week of the Open, before I even have a chance to attempt the last wod. This year I thought I would be free & clear from that stage because I wasn’t showing any signs. I felt motivated to get back to a normal training schedule & work on my "CF Suck List." Well, I was wrong. My burn out came earlier this week when I decided to take an unscheduled day off (Monday) to just reset mentally. My one day off turned into two days & then three days. My gym bag has been packed & ready to go since Sunday night & has been waiting patiently in the trunk of my car. Each morning I would carry it into work telling myself that today is the day - I'm going in to train. My work day drags on & slowly comes to an end & then I drive home, not even attempting to change into my gym clothes. Every crossfitter knows that taking more than one day off consecutively can feel like you’ve missed an entire week of training; you learn to expect your next day in the box to be very uncomfortable.

To add to my lack of motivation, I've also reached a level of bottomless pit eating & I don’t mean healthy eating – shit food eating to be exact. Yes, the food that you swear not to touch while you’ve been busting your ass on a nutrition plan for the past 11 weeks. To help put things in perspective, I’ve compiled a list of the shit food that I've consumed since my downhill spiral:

Chick-Fil-A/Papa John’s pizza & garlic breadsticks/Oh’s cereal/

6 strawberry pop-tarts/hundreds of Smarties/Chick-Fil-A/1 bag of peanut M&Ms/2 Lindt chocolate bunnies/Chick-Fil-A/thousands of jelly beans/1 vanilla ice cream cone/

20 piece sushi roll/Chick-Fil-A/3 packages of Quest protein peanut butter cups (2 cups per package)

Do you think I can hit up Chick-Fil-A anymore times this week? I swear they know me by name now & don’t even get me started on the 6 pop-tarts because I would’ve eaten the entire box (8 total) had I not had to “share” 2 of them with J (insert whining). So to say that I’ve reached a breaking point is an understatement. Something’s gotta give - I need to get my shit back together. Even though I don’t have any competitions lined up for the near future, I need to find one thing to help motivate me back into my routine – like summer, swimsuits & vacations. That’s what I’m rolling with. No one wants to be forced to suck it in while walking on the beach in their tiny bikini. Motivation….check. I will be taking my shit food eating ass to the box tonight.

My reason for sharing all of the above is because last night I received a message from a friend of mine that was having a pretty bad day; not only did she vent to me but she also used me as an example of what she was wanting to strive for. I quickly let her know that everyone has a bad day, or days or a bad week – hell, I’ve had 4 consecutive bad days! No one is perfect, we don’t all have our shit together 24/7 (even though it may look like we do) & we all have our own issues that we’re dealing with.

So if something isn’t going the way you want it, change it. If you find yourself in a place that you don’t want to be, move. If you’ve fallen off your routine, pull yourself together & restart. This is me - restarting.

For S.

Open 16.5

For time:

21-18-15-9-6-3

Thrusters (75#/65#)

Bar facing burpees

*Repeat of 14.5

Wod 5 of the Crossfit Open is now complete. I think we all knew that thrusters were going to wrap up this year’s wods, but I really didn’t see a repeat coming. Did you?? Based on the wods that were released this season & having a gymnastics movement each time, I was expecting a wod with thrusters, ring muscle ups & maybe even box jumps. I wasn’t expecting them to repeat one of the most miserable wods in Open history. As you can tell, this wod was near the top of my most hated list. The interesting part of 14.5 was that I remember the complete & utter suck fest that it was, as well as the pain that came with it, but I couldn’t remember the strategy that I used. The mental insanity part for me was that I repeated this wod twice – not just once in 2014. I’m still not sure how I was able to convince myself to do a repeat that year; my first go around was a Friday night & my repeat was on a Sunday afternoon.

My strategy for 16.5 was to break up the thrusters into manageable sets & just keep a standard pace for burpees & to just keep moving.

Round 1: 21 reps – broken into 12 & 9

Round 2: 18 reps - broken into 11 & 7

Round 3: 15 reps - broke into 10 & 5

Round 4: 12 reps – broke into 6 & 6

My plan was to do the sets of 9, 6 & 3 unbroken; sadly that didn’t happen. My air was totally gone & I thought my shoulders were going to fall off, so naturally I didn’t want to pick the bar back up. I broke my set of 9 into 5 & 4 then went unbroken on 6 & 3. My heat for 16.5 consisted of 3 of my training partners: Andy (on my left), me, Vinny (on my right) & Scott. Before our heat started I overheard Vinny say he was going to use me as his rabbit to set the pace, this made me laugh. Once the clock started I was very much aware of Andy’s rep count because he had plans to go unbroken on the thrusters. He would pass me on the thrusters but I was able to catch up & pass him on the burpees each round. When I hit round 12 that’s when my mind started in…. “What would happen if I just stopped & took a zero for this wod?”My agonizing question was on repeat until I hit round 6. Then I realized that I was ahead of Andy, but that Vinny (to my right) was tied with me. At that moment it was as if he had read my mind & knew that we were neck & neck – he kicked it into second gear, not sure where my second gear was but it was non-existent, which resulted in him beating me by 6 seconds.

1^st & 2^nd attempts in 2014 & my 16.5 score of 12:25 (15 second PR).

Does anyone else keep their Open scores from past years?

Not only has this year’s Open been painfully fun, but it’s shown me a lot of weaknesses that I need to work on. As you may have read in a prior post, I created a “CF Suck List,” which I have designated practicing one shitty movement each night during/after training; that means if one movement happens to show up in a wod rather than me incorporating it in, I check it off my list for that day….so far so good. I’ve also incorporated more GHDs during the week which has helped a lot with some core weaknesses & reoccurring low back soreness.

Open ranking. After crossfit merged regions around the world 2 years ago, I wasn’t quite sure what my ranking goal for this year’s Open would be. In 2014 my goal was to be in the top 100, which I ended up placing 107^th in my region. After the first wod I realized that I wanted to place anywhere in the top 300 for the Mid-Atlantic region. Week after week I started in the mid-200s & then would drop to the low-200s, 298 to be exact, & then back up again. My end result is as follows:

Mid-Atlantic Region (individual): 263

Worldwide (individual): 3,413

Mid-Atlantic Region (box): 46

To add some perspective, the next step after the Open is Regionals. Depending on your region, they may take the top 20 individuals (20 men & 20 women) or you can qualify as a team (15 teams total for the Mid-Atlantic region). If you place in the top 5 at Regionals you are on your way to the Crossfit Games, which is what we all watch on ESPN.

I hope everyone enjoyed their 2016 Open season – it’s officially over! Now back to regularly scheduled training after a few unscheduled rest days. =)

Open 16.4

13 minute AMRAP

55 deadlifts (225/155#)

55 wall balls (20#/14# to 10’ & 9’ target)

55 calories on rower

55 handstand pushups

Wod 4 of the Crossfit Open is now complete. My score was 199 reps with a tiebreak time of 8:23, which means I made it through 34 handstand pushups in the allotted 13 minutes & the real ass kicker…..wait for it….I had 4 minutes & 30 seconds to make it through the 55 handstand pushups but didn’t. Damn those weaknesses! They really come back & bite you. Looks like I’ll be spending a lot more time working on things I suck at this upcoming training season so I won’t be struggling as much next Open season. I even started a “CF Suck List” last week & let me just tell you – it’s a lot longer than I initially thought it would be. Now I’m not saying that I haven’t gotten better from previous Opens because I have, but this year I definitely feel like my lack of gymnastic movements have held me back.

My strategy for this wod was a little up in the air right before I started. I thought about sets of 5 on the deadlifts & then hitting sets of 20-20-15 on the wall balls. I ended up switching as soon as the timer started: sets of 7 on the deadlifts and then 21-15-10-9 on the wall balls. The deadlifts felt good until the last set when I hit rep 4, I quickly thought, “Ok I’m getting sick of these now” – thankfully I was finished just as I started complaining about them (insert thumbs up). Next up were the wall balls, which were at a 9’ target instead of my standard 10’ target for training. I knew these would be easier for me because of the height break but my heart rate was already elevated from the deadlifts so I knew I only wanted to do a big set in the beginning; shortening the sets each time was a good mental strategy for me. At this moment I remembered a few people saying they were going to go unbroken on the wall balls & I instantly laughed to myself – “Yep, you go on with your bad self…that’s definitely not my strategy.” This wod really started to suck when I hit 40-45 calories on the rower. My air was gone, my low back had that burning/tightening feeling & I remember thinking, “Ugh I still have to do a shit ton of handstand pushups.” One of my box mates came up to me after the wod & said, “I saw you had your eyes closed during the row – that’s a great idea! I may have to try that.” For future reference, if I have my eyes closed mid-wod that’s a sign that I’m hurting & trying to think of anything else besides rowing. Sometimes it works but most of the time it doesn’t – it didn’t work that time.

Here come the handstand pushups. I started out with sets of 5 & ended up making it through 20 reps before I dropped to sets of 4….then sets of 3….then sets of 2. With 15 seconds left I attempted 3 but only hit 1 of them. I could hear my judge tell me, “Come on Dani! Get that last rep for 200 – you can do it!” My mind was motivated & saying, “Yeah, I can get 1 more rep!” My arms & legs didn’t want anything to do with it. If you recall in my last post I had hoped my mind would let me stay with a one & done of this wod; well, it did - no repeating on this one.

The aftermath of 16.4 was mostly shown in my face, specifically around my eyes. Handstand pushups always cause blood vessels to pop & leave me looking like I have some issues:

Other movements that cause this for me are handstand walks & GHDs - the wonderful result of not breathing. My old coach would yell at me, “Breathe Dani, breathe!” I swear I think I am.

Kaila Drayton Photography was back this week & captured more of our pain from 16.4. Here are some of my favorites: 

Open 16.3

7 minute AMRAP

10 snatches (75/55#)

3 bar muscle ups

Wod 3 of the Crossfit Open is now complete. Who else was not excited to see bar muscle ups?? Me!!! I had a feeling they were going to come up this year though so I wasn’t too surprised. As I’m sure you’ve read in one of my prior posts, I’m afraid of heights – like hands shaking, hard time breathing afraid of heights - so naturally, bar muscle ups are not a great gymnastics movement for me & if I’m being totally honest with myself, no gymnastics movement is great for me. Because of my fear of heights, I choose to not work on bar muscle ups. I’ve always just crossed my fingers that they don’t come up in any competitions that I compete in and if by chance they do, I usually have a teammate that can do them so I’m automatically off the hook. If bar muscle ups happen to show up in a training day, I’ve always done them jumping from a box. Over time I’ve shortened the height to make it a little more difficult; even using a box to help me I still have the hand shaking & breathing difficulties. I remember one wod during the summer last year where I cried through the entire workout because of the bar muscle ups (I know, totally ridiculous). Amazing just how much that mental fear sinks in & you can’t shake it.

A few months ago after a training session, I was talked into trying a bar muscle up without the box for assistance. It was the same story I hear all the time, “You don’t have bar muscle ups? How is that possible, you’re so strong” or “You have ring muscle ups but not bar muscle ups?” Over the years I’ve heard people say that bar muscle ups are easier than ring muscle ups – I’ve always disagreed.

Here’s a short video from my very first bar muscle up last year:

Ugly, right? I know. I practically ripped my nipple off in this attempt. I swear I did a hundred of attempts that day & I only got that one ugly one.

So Friday night when I got to the box to attempt 16.3 I was greeted by several of my box mates saying they got their first bar muscle ups & that it was now my turn. Well, shit. There went my strategy of doing 10 snatches & then spending the remaining 6 minutes trying to get 1 bar muscle up. I instantly thought, “Well they did it – why can’t I do it?” Then reality set it….oh that’s right, they aren’t afraid of heights! Lucky bastards.

After cheering one person on after another of getting their first bar muscle ups, it was my turn to go. I ended up using the bar that was set up with the gymnastics mat below – trying to trick the mind. I decided to use the technique that I watched on Youtube videos earlier that day, jumping to the bar & using that momentum in my swing rather than starting from a dead hang. I missed my first attempt due to pulling to my chest & not my stomach. My second was better & I was able to pull myself over the bar. I then retried so the first one wasn’t just pure dumb luck & I hit another one. =) Did I mention at this point that my hands were shaking like leaves? Well, they were.

My new strategy for the wod was to break up my snatches into sets of 5 in order to save myself (mentally) on the bar muscle ups. The snatches & weight weren’t at all a problem for me. My score for 16.3 was 63 reps (4 rounds + 11), which means I did 13 bar muscle ups! J caught a couple of them on video:

Once the 7 minutes was over, I was instantly relieved that wod was out of the way. I had done it & got more than 1 muscle up, which was my goal.

Sadly, I decided on Monday to repeat the wod & try to get a better score. I don’t know why I do this to myself – the Open is a sickness I tell you. Not only did I not PR 16.3, but I got 1 rep shy from my last score (62). Ugh. I knew in round 1 that the wod wasn’t going to go as I had planned. I chose to do sets of 10 on the snatches in order to give me more time at the pull up bar. My first 3 bar muscle ups were more of muscling rather than technique. I wasn’t pulling low enough & hitting just below my chest & then trying to muscle the rest of the way – insert chicken winging. My arms fried out quickly & I had a lot more misses.

It is what it is – like I said before, can’t change the outcome now. I wish I would’ve just been happy with my first score & avoided getting greedy. Maybe my mind will let me do a one & done on 16.4…..we shall see.

Open 16.2

Beginning on a 4-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of:

25 toes-to-bar

50 double-unders

15 squat cleans (135/85#)

If completed before 4 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 toes-to-bar

50 double-unders

13 squat cleans (185/115#)

If completed before 8 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 toes-to-bar

50 double-unders

11 squat cleans (225/145#)

If completed before 12 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 toes-to-bar

50 double-unders

9 squat cleans (275/175#)

If completed before 16 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 toes-to-bar

50 double-unders

7 squat cleans (315/205#)

*Stop at 20 minutes.

Wod 2 of the Crossfit Open is now complete. My score was 263 with a tiebreak time of 10:01, which means I almost completed round 3 - I was 1 rep shy. After collapsing to the floor and trying to catch my breath my judge and J came to high-five me; they apologized for yelling at me, which I quickly responded with, “You were?? I couldn’t hear anything.” I don’t know if anyone else has reached this point, but while I was working on my last round of squat cleans I could see everyone in my box standing in front of me, yelling, clapping & cheering but I couldn’t hear a damn word – everything was quiet. I didn’t hear the music playing or even the weight when it dropped to the floor in-between each rep. I’ve never remembered this happening to me before. I guess that’s just another one of those signs when you know that you’re in the pain cave.

Instantly after this wod I took a turn for the worse, I was nauseated, had a massive headache, cold chills & body aches. I spent the next hour either hunched over a trash can thinking I was going to throw up any second or curled up in a ball on a gymnastics mat in my sweats. Needless to say I felt awful. By Saturday morning my mind was thinking about repeating the wod again because I was so close to finishing the 11^th squat clean in round 3, which would have pushed me into round 4; I was standing up my last squat clean when my timer ran out which resulted in a no rep. But thinking back to mid-wod, I wasn’t concerned about finishing the last squat clean, I was thinking about having to go back to the toes-to-bar & I really didn’t want to do that; the toes-to-bar were by far the most miserable part of this wod - for me anyway.

I decided on Saturday night that I wasn’t going to repeat the wod when I spent the rest of the weekend feeling under the weather. Monday was more of the same. One & done for me on 16.2.

Our box is lucky enough to have a photographer as one of our box members & she captured our pain during 16.2 - here are a few of my favorite photos from Kaila Drayton Photography:

Open 16.1

20 minute AMRAP

25’ overhead walking lunges (95/65)

8 bar facing burpees

25’ overhead walking lunges (95/65)

8 chest to bar pull ups

Wod 1 for the 2016 Crossfit Open is complete. My first attempt last Friday night gave me a total of 218. After every wod I say aloud, “I’m not doing that shit again.” Then I wake up on Saturday morning & think I could probably get a few more reps if I do this or that differently. Let the insanity begin! It happens every Open season – just get a few more reps. I drive myself crazy. So, of course, on Monday night I repeat 16.1, along with several of my fellow teammates, & completely change up my strategy. Instead of stringing sets of chest to bar pull ups, I switch to singles thinking this will keep my heart rate down & save my hands in the long run; I tore on the pull ups during my first attempt. I’d like to say I was on a pretty good pace in the beginning, but who the hell knows; all I was thinking about was how much I couldn’t breathe. When the timer ran out & I collapsed on the floor, I KNEW that I had tied my score from the first time around (218). I even said to my judge, “I tied didn’t I?” He confirmed it. I was so pissed off at myself for getting the exact same score, no better, no worse, just the SAME. To say I was disappointed in my performance is an understatement. I could come up with excuses & I actually want to sit here & list them all, but I won’t - time to move on to the next one. I can’t change anything now that moment has officially passed.

If you couldn’t tell from above, I’m extremely competitive; not only with other people but with myself & my own performance. I need to remember that this whole process/experience is supposed to be fun. I know I can’t find one person who doesn’t have fun when they win. Or set a new PR. Or kick someone’s ass in a wod. I know I totally do! I suppose when things don’t go the way I want them I need to step back, shake it off & push forward. So here we go…what’s next? Open wod 16.2…whatever that might be.

Our box is lucky enough to have a photographer as one of our box members & she captured our pain during 16.1 - here are a few of my favorite photos from Kaila Drayton Photography: