The CrossFit Open 13.2 workout was:
10 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of:
5 shoulder to overhead @115
10 deadlifts @115
15 box jumps @24in
Oh boy!
Right off the bat I didn’t think this was going to be in my wheelhouse. I’d been training to move heavy weight all year, with some hard conditioning, but not a lot. Either way, CrossFit is all about being good at a broad range of activities. And whenever you find something that you’re not strong at, you have the opportunity to crush it, and make it a strength.
This workout was light enough that I knew there could be no stopping if I wanted to put up a good score.
The days leading up to the workout, there were several conversations in my gym (StoneWay CrossFit) about strategy for the workout. And something that kept coming up was whether it would be faster to jump up or step up on the box jumps.
To test the jump up drop down vs. the step up and drop down, I did two 30 second tests of each.
The step up and drop down produced 2 more reps than the jump up drop down.
So, there was the verdict. Step up and drop down.
Game time
The bar was loaded with 115 pounds, and was placed right next to the 24 inch box.
I warmed up with several reps of each movement, took a run up “the hill” to get my nervous system going, and was ready.
The judge beside me started the gym clock. 10, 9, 8… 3, 2, 1, go!
Almost immediately the weight felt heavier than it should have. It was a feeling deep in the muscles. A feeling that told me – this was going to be a painful whole body grind. And it was…
The goal was 10 plus rounds (in 10 mins), and in the first 5 min I was ahead of that pace. But that’s when the numbness started setting in. It’s that feeling when your brain overrides your body, which is telling you to stop and rest.
You keep moving, and have faith that things are going to workout, but you’re really not sure.
4 minutes left
The darkness starts to come into your vision.
You just keep moving.
I was stepping onto the box, telling my legs to move faster, but they wouldn’t (or couldn’t).
I was yelling at myself inside for not being conditioned enough for a workout like this.
I wasn’t going to give up. I still had a chance for 10 rounds. Just needed to keep moving.
My breathing was maxed out.
3 minutes left
This is when I told myself I was going to start getting into my sprint. But there was nothing there. It seemed like a good plan until I was 7 rounding into the workout. Haha
My legs were trashed from the box jumps/step ups. Surprisingly the shoulder to overhead, and the deadlifts were fine, and still moving fast. It was just the damn box jumps.
2 mins left
I knew I needed to pick it up a bit. I went faster through the shoulder to overhead and deadlifts. The box jumps just wouldn’t cooperate. There was no acceleration to the top of the box. It was slow and painful, every rep.
1 min left
It was going to be close. People watching were yelling at me to move faster.
There’s a point at which you know you can go into redline and hit the ground when the clock ticks to zero. For each workout it’s a different amount of time. If you misjudge it, you’re screwed. I went for redline at around 30 seconds left. To the onlooker, it probably looked like nothing changed. But to the athlete, it feels like you’re going into no mans land. It actually feels good, but you know there’s a crash coming.
I raced for the finish line. And when the clock hit zero, I had just missed my goal of 10 rounds by 6 reps.
At the time I was happy with that score. I knew I could have done better, if I were better conditioned, but I gave everything I had during that 10 minutes. Everything!
Two days later I thought about redoing the workout. Afterward I always analyze every rep. And I always find something that I think I could be more efficient at.
I warmed up my body, and worked the barbell weights up to 115 pounds. Then I practiced some box jumps. I felt like there was a chance that I could have beat my previous score (and accomplish the 10 plus rounds that I wanted), but it was probably going to tax my body in such a way that I would need to take a few days off before I could even think about training hard again. I opted to be happy with my score, and not redo the workout.
What did I learn
Again I learned that I was under conditioned for that workout. I vowed to kept up my 3 days a week of cardio in addition to my regular 5 days a week of CrossFit Invictus programming.
Two CrossFit Open workouts down and 3 to go. Every workout you learn something new about yourself. What will I learn next…
To read my Experience of CrossFit Open workout 13.1 click here.
