Fence fail & (finally) my CrossFit Open recap

Hello!

Do you remember how excited I was about fence day on Tuesday?

Yeah.

Turns out they brought the wrong slats. We ordered cedar and we didn’t get it.

Thankfully, this is all that had been put up by the time we discovered it wasn’t the right wood!

Massive fail.

My poor dogs were so disappointed.

Me too when I had to get up around midnight both last night and the night before for dog potty breaks.

Seriously, what is up with that anyway? They’re not puppies!

Anyway, the correct wood has been delivered – Thing 2 called me to report the delivery! – and I’m really hopeful the guys will be out tomorrow to get it up on the frame. *fingers crossed*

So, I haven’t updated you on my workouts since last week, which included the final CrossFit Open workout 14.5 on Friday.

Holy. Mother. of. Hard.

The Rx weight for women was 65# for the thrusters. I, however, scaled down to 55# because I wanted to FINISH the workout before Saturday came around.

I finished in 23:52.

I’ll be honest.

I’ve done some seriously difficult workouts but this is the first one where I honestly felt like I wanted to quit. Of course I didn’t but I thought about it.

I lost count and forgot where I was while I was doing the 15 burpees. I knew I was a round behind one of my WODmates so I asked her what round she was on. Thank goodness she knew because I certainly didn’t want to start over!

The round of 12 was probably the hardest. I tried to do the thrusters in 3 groups of 4 but ended up grouping them into 4 groups of 3. I pretty much stuck with that grouping through the rest.

Never have I been so happy to shout “time” in my life.

I really enjoyed (mostly) the overall experience of my first CrossFit Open games.  I definitely learned a lot about myself and my abilities and what I need to work on: double unders, overhead squats, building weight on deadlifts, endurance, pull ups in general, and eventual muscle-ups.

Even though I was only able to submit an official score for 14.1, (although I did do 14.4 Rx) I’m proud of myself for tackling (and attempting to tackle Rx) these workouts. I showed up for every single one – and sometimes I was the ONLY one at my class – and I worked hard. I may have wanted to at times but I didn’t give up. There wasn’t a single thing that I told myself I couldn’t do … right now.

I know next year will be a whole new ballgame. The only place for me to go is up.  🙂

Talk to me: Did you participate in the Open this year? If not, are you considering it for next year? What was your favorite part and your least favorite part? What did you learn about yourself – physically and mentally?

– jennifer

Last week’s workouts and a new PR!

Hi there!

Happy Tuesday!

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Did you get bombarded with snow yesterday?

Thankfully, we didn’t. Oh no. We just got cold, sleet, rain, wind and blech – winter’s ugly side. I’m so over the cold.

Seriously, why isn’t it spring YET?!

And, even though the first day of Spring is officially on Thursday (HOORAY!), I’ve heard rumors that next week might be more like winter. Sheesh. Whatever happened to “in like a lion and out like a lamb?”

Anywho, I haven’t told you about last week’s CrossFit workouts! I’m not sure why but it may have had something to do with pie. 🙂

Monday’s WOD was a killer. Ascending rounds is no joke.

I had to modify the whole workout – 65# for the Hang Clean to Thrusters (although, honestly, it sure felt like 95# the more I did!), 20″ box for the burpee box jumps (um, not conking my head was more worrisome than how high I could jump – it’s a little hard to judge space when you’re in a hurry) and banded chest to bar pullups.

Honestly, I can’t remember how many rounds I got either. Stupid me didn’t take a picture of the board all week.

Wednesday was fun – and a little awkward. I felt like I was all over the place.

The transitioning was weird.

The front squats weren’t racked – we had to clean them up (which eliminated 95# as an option so I modified down to 65#) – and then we moved over to hand stand push ups (HSPU).

Um, yeah, so I don’t actually DO hand stand push ups. I modify them and do them off a box.

So, I went from squats to a box for push ups then to kettlebell swings and then to the pull up bars.

It was definitely good work but I felt like the transitioning time was too much. I lost some actual workout time. Oh well.

Again, don’t ask me how many reps I completed. That was last week. I can barely remember yesterday! 😉

Then, Friday was CrossFit Games Open Workout 14.3!

Now, as you know, my Open ended with 14.2 😦

but, I’m not a quitter so I’m still doing the workouts, just not submitting my scores.

Deadlifts.

Ooof.

Actually, I had a good time with this workout!

My PR before we left Florida was 125# so I set up my spot with weight modifications so I could work as much of the 8 minutes as possible.

I started the WOD with 95#, added 20 for 105#, added 20 for 125#, and threw another 10 on there for 135#.

AND I LIFTED IT ALL!!

I officially got through 3 rounds and 3 reps of the 135# deadlifts!

Afterwards, we were messing around a little and I threw some more weight on the bar.

And, I deadlifted 145#.

And then I did 155#.

And then I did 160#!

I tried 165# but I was spent. I barely moved it.

I can’t wait to try again when my legs/back are fresh! I know I’ve got more in me!

Talk to me: Did you set any PRs this past week? Did you try anything new?

– jennifer

The treadmill kicked me off!

Hello, hello!

Happy Friday!

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I’m seriously beyond happy that it’s Friday. Even with the snow day thrown in, this week has been a little long.

Long like my run is supposed to be tomorrow.

I have 18 miles on the books.

We’ll see how that goes.

Wednesday’s CrossFit workout was pretty fun.

I’m still feeling those Good Mornings!

We did them at 75#!!

As for the WOD, I completed 3 full rounds and was on to the burpees in the 4th round.  I push pressed 65#. As if I could do 95#. Ha! One day. 🙂

Then, yesterday after work, I hit the Y for my tempo run.

Thing 2 was supposed to join me since she didn’t have to work but she ditched me and went shopping with a friend.

Kids. Sheesh.

Anyway, I hopped on the treadmill with the best of intentions for my scheduled tempo run.

Got to mile 2 and I just wasn’t feeling it.

Really, I haven’t been feeling it lately. I need to get over that. I need to figure out what’s up.

Running is feeling a little like a chore these days and that is not cool.

Running is supposed to be my happy place.

Who took my happy place?!?!

So, anyway, I adjusted my workout and it ended up looking like this:

1 mile at 10:00/mile warm-up (incline 1)

1 mile at 9:05 (marathon pace) (incline 1)

1 mile at 8:30 (incline 1)

1/2 mile  at 15:00/mile (incline 8)

1/4 mile at 13:30/mile (incline 5)

1/4 mile at 12:00/mile (incline 5)

1/2 mile at 10:00/mile (incline 2) + cool down

That last half was supposed to actually be a mile and THEN I was going to do the cool down but the stupid treadmill kicked me off after 60 minutes.

Fine.

I got the tough stuff done before the dreadmill (yep, said that on purpose) decided to be a killjoy.

Today, those good morning and those hill climbs are like the gift that keeps on giving.

Oof.

Last night, CrossFit announced the 2nd workout of the 2014 CrossFit Games Open.

It’s going to be a killer.

65# is a pretty heavy weight for me, especially since it’s overhead squats.

Not even sure I’m going to make it to the pull-ups!

But, you know what, I’m going to try.

Cuz that’s what it’s all about. 🙂

Talk to me: Are you participating in the Open? What was your first thought when you heard about this workout?

Dude, mine was “DOH! Why can’t they pick something I can actually DO?!”

Oh, and if you’re participating in the Open and are looking for some tips on how to survive 14.2, check this out – CrossFit or Die. Good luck!

– jennifer