badass!

This is Maria. She has a twin sister named Mary (who isn't in the photo, but looks just like her. ha ha!). Maria (and her twin) are badass. Seriously. They put me to shame. But I love them nonetheless. 'Cuz that's just how you're supposed to treat a badass. In the event I decide to grow up, I'd like to be a badass just like Maria (and her twin). Rumor has it that aside from being a badass, Maria likes Pixar films. That's why I love her even more.

Warm-up
Run 800 meters
TWO rounds of:
Samson Stretch
10 shoulder rolls
10 overhead squats
10 GHD push-ups
10 GHD back extensions
10 jumping pull-ups

CrossFit One World WOD
Complete 21/18/15/12/9/6/3 reps of:
Deadlift 110#
Burpees (I modified and did sprawls)

Joanne's Final Time - 24:34

Notes (to myself) about this workout: It's official. I hate Chong. I don't mind that he does the programming. I mind that I didn't see his name on the board as proof that he actually did this WOD. After I post this, I will consult the burpee gods. They're coming after you, Chong!

It took me a while to finish. When I saw the board, a bunch of people totally killed the WOD. Under nine minutes Will B.? Really?! You disgust me! ha ha! Anyway... I just knew that this WOD would be my achilles heel. Last week Jason K. freaked me out when he told me that my deadlift sucked. I swear I thought I had a good deadlift. That combined with burpees made me freak out with this WOD. I knew I could correct the deadlift by going a little lighter on the weight. I also knew that the burpees would kill me. Eric suggested I do sprawls instead (burpees sans the push-up; when you're tired, you end up doing sprawls anyway). Compared to everyone else, my time really sucked. But here's my take on this WOD and maybe CrossFit in general.

I've taken a personal pledge to not beat myself over the head regarding times, doing the WOD rx'd, and such. I'm focusing on my level of improvement - even if it means my improvement puts me in dead last at the box. If I did this WOD a year ago, it would have taken me a good forty minutes. Seriously. To finish under a half hour was a gift in my book.

Having made that point, I felt good about this WOD. Again, I was having some anxieties about the deadlift because there are 84 lifts and burpees in this WOD. Eric did mention that when I fatigue, my form slips, and this is probably what Jason K. was pointing out. To strategize, I dropped the weight and went 16# below the rx'd weight. I thought this was a fair compromise. I also went slow on the deadlift. Here's how I conquered my form issues:

(1) I went a little slow because I wanted to handle the deadlift with care.
(2) I broke them up in sets.
(3) When I felt myself fatigue, I made sure that before each rep, I rolled back on my heels first before lifting. This helped me initiate a good lumbar curve.

I'm proud that I was cautious. Granted, it still sucked and I died. But each deadlift was 100% legit and I'm sure that I won't have any back problems tomorrow morning. In fact, I'm not feeling anything tonight, so yea! Also, it took me over 18 minutes to do 100 burpees the last time we did that WOD, so 24+ minutes to do 84 119# deadlifts and sprawls was actually not bad. (I shall now pat myself on the back.)

Everyday I feel like each WOD kicks my ass and that I always come in last place at the box. I know you're supposed to learn to crawl before you walk. Each day I feel like I'm just crawling. It's frustrating feeling this way. I care about my progress. Right now, I'm just leaning on the hope that I am making progress. Slowly and surely. I'm getting there. Again, I'm not going to waste time beating myself over the head about tonight's time. I hit my form and that's what I wanted to do.

On a lighter note, I wanted to give BIG KUDOS to Healther and Jamie for getting their first muscle ups. Dang! That money is so up for grabs. Also, BIG KUDOS to Jerry L. for nailing his first muscle up! I know there's no money in it for the guys, but I was proud to watch him get up there. Wa-hoo!