Wrap Up

It has been a huuuuuuge week of training and I have to admit that while I think every muscle is sore this afternoon I have loved every minute of it.  As I said yesterday, we did Fran.  As usual, I was incredibly nervous before going and was thinking long and hard about my scaling.  The beauty of having done the workout before was that I knew what to expect (well, kind of).  I had already decided to do full reps but was still unsure of my weight for the thrusters as my legs were pretty tired from the previous day's workout.

Once I got there I warmed up with 3 x 7 sets of thrusters and decided on 17.5 kg.  I knew it was going to be tough but I also knew that I had a 10 minute cut-off so I could break the workout down and take small rests.  The workout was really hard and I instantly regretted the weight decision.  I even started grunting ... loudly!  The previous night I had seemed to work out the kipping motion for my pull ups ... that seemed to go out the window and I couldn't get the motion.  I was beyond  shattered and didn't think I would pull through.  The second and third round I was breaking the thrusters and pull ups into 2 - 3 reps and then resting, anything to get through it.  I finished with a time of 8:50.  The last time I did it I finished in 4:20 with reps of 15,12,9, 15 kg and blue band.  This time was with the full reps of 21,15,9, 17.5 kg and green band.  A big thumbs up for progress :)

Today's workout was another toughie.  Where Fran is short and horrendous, Victoria was long and horrendous. 5 rounds for time of 10 thrusters, 14 box jumps, 12 sumo deadlift high pulls, 12 burpees and 27 kettlebell swings.  Our cut off time was 35 minutes.  I chose 15 kg for my thrusters and SDHPs, 8 kg for my kettlebell and to start to push myself into learning box jumps I grabbed a plate to jump onto and then the coach put another one on top of it.  I let out a 'woop' when I actually landed one with both feet.  As I fatigued though, I found it harder to make both feet work at once but I was so happy that I didn't go back to my comfort zone of step ups.  Again, I broke the exercises into small components and only did 2 - 4 movements in a row.  It was exhausting and I got the whole thing done in 28:50.  I noticed looking at the times on the website that there was a scaling option to modify the number of rounds.  I'm glad I wasn't given this option as I most probably would have considered it when in reality I could do the WOD in it's entirety.

The thing I love about Crossfit is that everyone gets cheered on.  There were a few people still going after I had finished so the idea is that you get behind them and barrack for them.  A couple of guys went over the cut off but were given the chance to complete the workout.  It's amazing how people can dig deep and find that strength to keep going and I think knowing that people are there encouraging you really helps.

It's been a fantastic week for me and I feel like I've really made some headway.  I know that I'm not the most exceptional athlete around but I have given it everything I have and, at the end of the day, that's what counts.  I have to admit that I was embarassed for having to use plates for my box jumps but, honestly, nobody cared, nobody laughed at me - it's just my scaling option.  I'm so proud of my progress over this year and am looking forward to getting even better next year.