Hopper Challenge: WOD III - Part II

Saturday, October 17;

The Chipper WOD:

321... Go!

30 Double unders
I start off with the double unders. I get three done and then hit the rope. I get back on it.. bang out 25 or more. Smooth and easy. Once I get in a rythmn I just tell myself to relax and keep my hands close to my hips. I trip one more time. and bang out the last two.

7 Backsquats - 85lbs
On to back squats. I had practiced getting the bar on my back before the WOD. I knew I could do it, but I'd have to be gentle. I got the bar on my backed and banged out 7 quick back squats. Dropped the bar from my back and went to the next station.

30 GHD
I flew on these. I have a strong core, and I can just go forever. Squeeze the glutes and hammies and come up.. then back down. I may have rested once for a second or so.

7 Snatches - 85lbs (fail) , 35lbs
This would be the breaking point for me.. like it was for so many other women. A 75lb pound snatch would have been manageable, but 85lbs after the morning WOD was seriously tough. Compound that with my mindset and my fear of hurting myself. I had defeated myself before I had even started. I tried once.. pulled to my chest.. failed. I tried twice.. pulled to my chest.. failed. Told the guy to scale my weight. I hated myself for doing it, but in retrospect it was a smart call.

What's funny is that I thought I could scale to 65lbs. That way I wouldn't look like such a pansy out there with a naked bar. I asked my judge where the 15lb plates were. He looked at me like I was crazy! He said, "this is it." There I was.. pissed that I had to pick up and snatch a 35lb bar. For real? I said, "fine." Like I was going to show him. Who knows what crazy thoughts I was thinking. I banged through those mini-snatches with no problem.

30 wallball
Really, wallball? Really? I won't go through the painful details, but we'll just say that I probably did about 80 wallballs here. None of them counted because I couldn't get that ball to clear the black line. You read right. In order for it to count it has to clear the line, not just touch the line. CLEAR IT! Adrienne "5 foot all up in your face" Hoar, was wishing she was about 6 foot all up in your face. This was super humbling. I didn't stop. I just kept throwing the ball up there and jumping as high as I could get. Not happening. I think I got to about 24 official wall balls that actually cleared the line. I think my poor judge took pity on me and told me to go on.

7 Jerks - 35lb
The plan was to clean the bar once and just throw that bar up there. No problem. I caught up on time here.

30 toes to bar
Same story here as the GHE. The solid core helped, and the "5 foot all up in your face" finally helped! It's easy for us short people to fly through these things. The limiting factor is your grip. I banged out 10 in a row. I was sharing my bar with this huge dude and he had been fighting through the move for a while. I told myself I was going to beat him. We were back and forth 15, 16, 17 reps. I was getting about 2 or 3 at a time. Then my thumb started freaking out. It was seriously bizarre. I actually lost control of my thumb because I had burned through my forearms so seriously. My thumb wouldn't move away from my pointer finger. Bizarre, but it wasn't going to stop me. I had three more to go, but I was afraid that I'd kick myself off the bar. I did the last few one at a time. Finally, I finished.. the big dude next to me finished one second before me.

We both collapsed next to each other. After about a minute, we helped each other up and walked out of the workout area.

My takeaway from the Hopper.. Everyone should try something like this. The point of the Hopper for most athletes is not to win. It's to push yourself to try something you don't know if you can do. The mystery of what the WOD will be adds to the anxiety. It's a test of both mental and physical strength. The key is improving your weaknesses while your in the gym and believing that you will at least try to do anything that comes your way.

In the end, the entire CFOT crew proved to be the winners. We didn't walk away with metals, but we all walked away with big smiles on our faces and people who are incredibly supportive of each other. What was so apparant was the strength of the CFOT community. From the coaches, to the athletes to the cheerleaders, we all just want the best for each other. That's exactly the kind of gym I want to be a part of. (and.. we're freaking strong!)

Can't wait for a bigger crew next time!!

Hopper Challenge: WOD III

Saturday, Oct. 17;

So, I waited a day before posting the third workout. I wanted to similate the feeling that I had waiting for my heat. It felt like for-ev-er. We all had lunch and after we ate they pulled the final WOD from the hopper. As I sat there safe and warm in my little snuggie.. I heard the three words I dreaded the most.. wall ball & snatch. Noooooooo... I can do a mean wall ball, but a mean wall ball with an 8 foot target! I knew it'd be a big struggle for me to hit the ball above that 10 foot target. I'd had trouble with it at CFOT, and it was going to be even worse here. My shoulders were beat from the morning WOD, and the other moves in the chipper would make it even more difficult. The other move.. the snatch. It couldn't have been worse. It's not that I can't snatch, because I can. I'd snatched about 75lb after surgery, but I have a long history with this move.

Here's the rest of..

WOD III:
For time.. 15 min. cut off
30 double unders
7 back squats 85lb w, 135lb m
30 GHD
7 snatches
30 wall ball 14lb w, 20lb m
7 jerks
30 toes to bar


It was two years ago (this weekend) that I went to a Olympic lifting seminar. I think I snatched so many times, that it contributed to tearing my shoulder up. It was right after that weekend that my shoulder started hurting. I don't know if this is actually what happened, but this is the story I've made up in my head. That means that every time I attempt heavy snatches it literally scares the pants off of me. It is such a huge mental block for me. I knew it would be a miracle if I could do these in this final WOD at the prescribed 85lbs. I just envision myself going to snatch the bar, and I catch it and my shoulder just pops right out of socket. Ugh, it makes me queazy just thinking about it.

I had decided to go with the scaled weight, which I assumed was 65lbs. I knew I didn't want to hurt myself and thought 85lbs was too heavy. I was fine with that until Jerry called me over. He knew I could do it. We went back and worked on my snatch. I pulled 45lb no problem, 65lb no problem, then put the 85lb on. I pulled, dove under the bar, caught it, stood up. Solid! That was the first time I had snatched 85lb in years. I did it one more time for practice. It was a little wobbly, but I hit it. Decided. I was doing the final WOD RX.


Then.. I had 2 hours to weight. Two hours to psych myself out. Two hours to think about the transition from snatch to wall ball. Over and over again in my head.. snatch.. wall ball.. snatch.. wall ball. I was defeating myself before I even began. My fear and some self doubt just took over. I knew if I could hit the WOD as RX I'd make it in the top 20, because so many women were scaling this thing. Then it was my turn..

4:20pm
I was going with some bruisers. This huge, tall guy was next to me and I knew he'd struggle on the situps and the toes to bar. I knew what I'd struggle with too. Ugh. The CFOT crew was screaming. I was pumped. I had told my judge to get me the RX weight. There I was.. jump rope in hand and 85lbs on my bar. Go..

Hopper Challenge: WOD II

Saturday, Oct. 17;

The Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge

Most people were pumped when they pulled Deadlifts for the strength WOD.. a two rep max. I wasn't. Deadlifts have been my nemesis for years. There was a two year span, where I was stuck at 190lbs. Just recently I lifted 215lbs. Good for me, but I knew that wouldn't be nearly enough to compete with some of the other women at the Hopper.

The rules for the Deadlift were that you could not remove your hands from the bar once you've begun your lift. You have to fully standup, and you can't drop the bar. I did a few warmup sets at 175lb. They felt light. Then I pulled a 205lb with no problem. So, I decided to pull 215lb as my first attempt. I did that with no problem.

After talking it over with Jerry, I decided to go for 225lb. I knew I had it. That would be a 10lb PR for me. I took a few minutes to rest and then went for my pull. I pulled a clean first rep, then lowered for the touch and go. I pulled for the second rep and staggered backward a little bit. I caught my balance and straightened to full extension. I was so pumped I got this, that I dropped the bar. I didn't even realize I did it. Until my judge said, "that didn't count." Crap! My second attempt didn't even count. A PR and it didn't even count!!! I decided I'd rather get a solid 225lb on the board than attempt a 235lb and miss.

I took a few more minutes.. a few deep breaths.. got some chalk.. clapped my hands and went for it. The 225lb pulled off the ground with absolutely no problem. The touch and go happened. I pulled again. The second rep came up easily. I stood up. My judge nodded that I had hit my rep, and I lowered that bar slowly. I stepped back, put my hands up in the air, and celebrated. I was so pumped! I had hit a PR deadlift (twice). Now, 225lb is nothing compared to some of the other weight that other ladies were pulling that day, but it was a huge personal success for me. I'll take it.

By the end of my first two WODs, I was ranked 30th out of about 60 women. I wasn't thrilled with this, but I was satisfied. I had finished both of my WODs, and I had given it all I had. Lunch time!

Hopper Challenge: The Setup & WOD I

Saturday, Oct. 17;

Mid-Atlantic Region Hopper Challenge

It rained all day long.. some times it was a heavy rain, but mostly just drizzle through the day. It was cold too, but CFOT was in super high spirits! We had been getting mentally and physically prepared for this thing for months now. We had been posting back and forth about what we'd bring, what we'd eat and how to manage our nerves. Really, for a Hopper challenge the best way to prepare is hitting every WOD hard and trying to fight through your weaknesses. Oh.. and you have to eat clean. Weeks of clean eating.. because it's always easier to move your body weight when you're lighter. Right?!

Anyway, we were ready. At least as ready as we were going to be.

The setup for the day was... Two WODs in the morning. One was a strength WOD and the other was a mono, couplet or triplet. During lunch the scores would be tabulated and that would determine your heat time for the final WOD.. a chipper.

WOD I: A Triplet

21, 15, 9

OHS, Bastards (a burpee with a lateral jump over the barbell), and Pushups

(65lb w, 95lb m)

Danya and Alyssa were in the first heat. A tough deal, because they were like the guinea pigs. Everyone could watch them and see what the judges were letting people get away with. Unfortunately, they didn't get that luxury.. thus the flawless form on all movements.

Blain and I were set to go at 9:40am. Like always.. numbers and time confuse me, so I was sticking to Blain like glue. I didn't want to miss my heat. Blain was at the front of my row, and I was all the way in the back. Directly in front of me was Steve O. from Crossfit DC.. an old friend, who is a beast! My goal was to try to keep up with him.

They said go, and I was off. I cleaned the bar, got it overhead and started squatting. OHS are an easy movement for me. Especially at 65lbs. I just needed to worry about my squat depth and shoulder fatigue. I did all 21 without putting the bar down. I dropped the bar and went for my Bastards, but my judge said I had only done 19. I had to pick the bar up and do two again. I could feel the shoulder fatigue setting in, but I was going to fight through this one. 21 bastards and 21 pushups. The bastards are fine, but they burn your legs. The judges were pretty lax on the form in the bastard pushup, so I was basically collapsing my legs and doing pushups from my thighs. The pushups were rough too.. the shoulder fatigue is unbelievable. I pieced 10 together off the bat, but then I had to break the pushups down into sets of 3 and 2. Definitely humbling!

On to 15.. I banged out 8 OHS, put the bar down and then did 7 more. Should have just done them all at one go, but I was concerned with the fatigue. I tried not to rest too long and fight through the burn. There was one point when I wavered a little with my core strength, but I refocused, repositioned the bar and went right back at it.

My perfect pushups came into play here.. both with the bastards and the pushups. The judge was pretty strict with me and didn't count any reps of pushups where my hips and chest didn't touch at the same time. No cheating these. I had to repeat a few reps, but I'd rather that than know I did a half-assed job.

On to 9.. I cleaned and jerked the bar up and my arms were so close together. I was so exhausted that I knew I didn't have the strength to snatch the bar, and I still won't jerk the bar from behind my head. The position feels so gross on my shoulder. I should really work on this! You can see how close my hands are in this picture. There's nothing "wrong" with this, meaning the judge wasn't going to hold it against me, but it makes the squat a little more difficult. I did all 9 at a time and went to bastards. I did the first bastard and my judge told me it didn't count because I started on the wrong side of the bar. Really? So, I did that one over again. The key to the bastards is just to keep moving, and don't stand up all the way. The judges weren't looking for full hip extension. They were looking to make sure you didn't step over the bar. You had to jump it. The final 9 pushups were greuling. I was doing one at a time. Thank God Steve was laying next to me and yelling for me to push through and finish.

I finished this WOD in a very painful 11:33 seconds... as RX!

Strict Press

Tuesday, October 13;

WOD:
Strict Press
1,1,1,1,1

75lb

lesson learned... I know I can do 75lbs, so the jump from 70lb should be to 77lb. Don't wear yourself out on things you know you can do.

WOD II:
"Annie"
I didn't time this thing... but it gave me a chance to work on double unders.
50, 40, 30, 20, 10
Double unders
Situps

Meeting Pukey

Monday, September 12;

Workouts like these make me super nervous! I get the butterflies in my stomach and I get all restless right before the clock starts. Then it's go time. I guess it'll qualify as a triplet and a run. As prescribed with muscleups it'd just be a nice little couplet. I couldn't do it the "easy" way, so I'm forced into pullups and dips.

Some noteworthy progress.. I did the first round of dips without the band. It was one at a time, but I was so pumped to be moving my full body weight on the rings.

WOD:
4 rounds:
9 muscleups (subbed 9 ring dips & 9 C2B pullups)
9 Squat clean - 85lb
400 meter run

I was ahead the whole workout. I attribute this to the fact that I was subbing out muscleups for dips and pullups. It's a much easier sub. The squat cleans rocked me. I was trying to push through two at a time, but by the end it was rough.

It was also rough when I realized how close I was to losing my first place finish (this is a relative statement, because I wasn't doing as RX). I was ahead as I went out for the last run. In my head I kept telling myself to push the run. It's not a rest. I was running hard. I was almost at the turn, when I heard a little voice behind me saying, "you better push." What the F%$#? It was Emily, the mother of 5 including twins. She's a fierce competitor. I had no other choice other than to push. It turned into an all out sprint. We were running down the hill. She said, "Don't let me pass you." At that point all you can ask yourself is who wants it more. She was breathing down my neck, literally. I pushed harder, while wondering.. holy crap.. she has the breath to talk. She's not even gassed.

A few more steps and a glance at the clock. Time! I finished before her, but only by a second. Then both of us promptly leaned over and threw up! Thanks for the push Em!

Total: 21:28 (I think...???)

What's Holding Me Back?

Friday, October 9;

We're nine days away from the Hopper Challenge. That means the training at CFOT is turning into high gear. Jerry's giving our small, but fierce Hopper challenge crew a big push. In turn we should be pushing as well. If that's the case, then what is holding me back. We had a nasty little workout this morning. Short enough that it is possible to push hard, but technically difficult enough to test your abilities. Instead of flying through the workout, I went slow and steady. Probably too slow. I could probably have shaved 5 minutes off of my time. I never used to workout like this, so it makes me wonder what has changed?? I've pinpointed three different aspects.

Fear:
I think the major culprit here is fear. I am afraid to push too hard, because I don't want to hurt myself again.

Change of mindset:
I used to want to win at all costs. I'd push so hard just because I didn't want anyone else to finish before me. That was a great mindset to have, but with that mindset I also tore my shoulder apart. Is that better? I wish I could get parts of that mindset back, but I can't convince myself it's worth the injury.

Strength:
I've just lost strength that I haven't gotten back. I'm stronger than ever in certain areas, but I still have some significant weaknesses to work around. My lack of strength slows me down as well.

Any suggestions on working around these issues, or capitalizing on these in order to improve performance?

WOD:
7 Rounds
3 Deadlifts: 185lb
6 Lou Burpees (two pushups per burpee)
9 C 2 B pullups (we learned I have to do these underhanded)

Total: 21:??