315# Deadlift X 22. Got 16 consecutive.
"Catch 22" (course pictured above).
Sunday Morning WOD
"Catch 22"
22 Deadlift 315/185
DB Farmers Walk 45's/25's Up Hill To #3
22 DB Thrusters 45's/25's
DB Farmers Walk 45's/25's Downhill To #4
22 Chest To Bar Pull Ups
Run To Top of Ridiculous Hill #5
22 Overhear Squats 95/65
Run Down Hill To Finish
I went as a Judge to the CrossFit Norcal Qualifier. My athlete, Apollonia Helm came in fifth and is going on to the 2009 CrossFit Games. This is incredibly exciting, and needless to say kind of big deal.
A Thousand tips of the hat to Gita Dombrowski who realized Polly had what it took to make it this year (I was going to have her try in 2010) and put together a stunningly effective 11 day competition peaking program using, shall we say, very creative methods (still top-secret).
After the competition we mortals were allowed to do the day 2 WOD, "Catch 22" above. I completed it RX but slow as hell, 28:31 right under the 30:00 DNF limit. This would have put me around 47th place or so, including the 10 or so folks who did this RX "for fun" after the competition. Of course we won't mention there is little chance I could have RX'd WOD "B" and no chance I could have made it to day 2.
This was interesting - while I am still on the heavy side, due to all the competition ramp-up I have been involved in I have done tons of heavy-bias metcon in the last six weeks or so. I am fairly sure I am at the greatest lean mass I have ever achieved, around 158 pounds at a bodyweight of 192 or so. My bodyfat has been holding steady or dropping a little since I went back to the Zone.
To put this in perspective, in December of 07, at my lightest, around 168, I tried to Deadlift 315 ONCE in a CrossFit total and it felt nailed to the floor, it might as well have weighed 1000 pounds or a million. On Sunday that shit flew off the ground and I got 16 consecutive - I think my grip failed or I would have gotten all of them. In addition I did 21 consecutive OHS with true full depth in the WOD and 24 as a warm-up. All told I did 38 315 DLs on Sunday. By the way this is predictive of a 466# deadlift, far past my stuck point of 400 or so. It really must be mental! I am positive I am about to blast past my PRs in the total, and I feel like I might even be close to a 250 bench again. Also I can still do HSPU (one at a time) which I never could above 185 before. I'm also working on rehabing my elbow with jump-through muscle-ups of the type done for the scaled WOD at the NRQ. I'm optimistic I can get them back even at this weight, if my elbow heals.
I don't know exactly why, probably zone, adequate calories and hitting just the right mix and amount of WODs, but I feel fantastic and powerful, really ready for anything WOD-wise. Another possibility is that the two weeks of caloric deprivation and massive volume (for me)was actually a beneficial stimulus once recuperation was allowed to take place - I'm at a fairly advanced level and almost certainly need to stack several weeks of tough stimulus together to disrupt homeostasis.
I also seem to have successfully adjusted my attitude and stopped the negative self-talk and self-defeating bullshit. Watching all the amazing athletes and feeling the positively electric atmosphere at the games (my limited hair really stood on end) really brought home to me how much I love this shit. As Patton said "God Help Me I love it so, more than life itself". We jokingly call it a cult but it is really getting to be less and less of joke for me over time: CrossFit is my religion.
4 comments:
A note on "... stopped the negative self-talk and self-defeating bullshit" and " ... really brought home to me how much I love this shit."I was a "good" pole vaulter in college. Far from dedicated or discipline, my athletic performances were erratic at best. But whenever it rained, or the wind was blowing really hard, or it was freezing cold, or things were generally fucked up for whatever reason, I never lost. I continuously out performed athletes, who on a good day, should have kicked my ass. (I was once in the middle of an indoor track meet, and definitely about to lose, when we had to evacuate the building due to a bomb threat. Hours later when we returned, I won.)
I have only ever come up with two reasons for this "ability". The first is, I really liked to pole vault. It was fun. Setting personal records, and winning, and performing really well is great and everything, but I just really wanted to do it. The second reason is, I got excited about competing under adverse conditions, because they were adverse conditions. I would think, "Wow. I get to pole vault in a massive rain storm. This is awesome." Meanwhile my competitors would be spewing out things like, "It is impossible to jump in this weather. This sucks." (One of the best jumps of my life happened about 3 minutes after I threw up because I was sick. I remember thinking, "How great will it be when I make this after just throwing up.")
Anyway. Long story short. Its always seemed to me that everything else is lining up to beat you down. Your competition, the weather, sickness, fatigue, injuries, equipment, delays, confusion, blah blah blah ... But all that stuff isn't nearly as detrimental to you, as you beating down yourself. In the end, I never really defeated athletes who were better then me, they defeated themselves. I do CrossFit workouts because they are fun. Sure I want to do better then I did yesterday, but its still fun either way.
Eric as Apollonia said mid-competition as she did an "extra" muscle-up for no compelling reason other than she wanted to, "It's more fun when it's for fun" - the crowd loved it - I may have garbled that, but it is how I heard it happened.
I did hill repeats today, which, I am, to say the least, not stellar at. I really had to keep interrupting any negative self-talk (I've done enough, I'm going to be slow, etc.) with positive self-talk (I'm going to fly up this hill, I love doing this, this is going to get me closer to my goals).
I have really resolved not to complain about my workouts to others or myself, just do them and accept them for what they are. After all, I'm really just doing this for my own satisfaction.
Anyway: I managed to go from a state of dread and wimpiness to feeling invincible, powerful and fast on the third repeat I cleared the hill in 52 seconds, first attempts were more like 1:05. While it is unmeasured I suspect that is the hardest I have run in some time.
I do love it so.
That is awesome! I was at the qualifiers too and was blown away by the performance of the athletes. Congrats on all the progress you made since 07. I spectated this year, and I will compete in the qualifiers next year with the goal of doing everything Rx. Nutrition is going to be key and we've started up our own nutrition blog to share ideas. We'd love for you to visit once in a while, share your input and say hi! www.nutritionize.net
AJ thanks, but it is a mixed bag. I'm stronger and tougher, but fatter and more injured, also a bit slower and unable to do muscle-ups.
This year balance is going to be key for me.
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