Long weekend done and dusted along with Workout 13.4, week 4 of the Crossfit games.
13.4 was (or rather looked) simple enough
2 Exercise, Clean and Jerk and Toes to bar, working for 7 minutes AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) following this sequence
3 Clean and Jerk
3 Toes to bar
6 Clean and Jerk
6 Toes to Bar
9 Clean and Jerk
9 Toes to bar
etc etc adding 3 reps to each exercise every round
Male weight for Clean and Jerk was 62kg, Female - 43kg
Here is how it should be done (Click on week 4)
http://games.crossfit.com/workouts/the-open
Straight away, I thought, OH OH !!
I had never even tried Toes to bar before and my flexibility isn't that good, so was guessing I'd struggle with these and not having really done much training for a couple of weeks, thought 62kgs would feel very heavy ! But apart from that, it all looked good !!!
Thursday morning, I headed off to Reebok Crossfit Glasgow, to see what my attempts at toes to bar would be like, in my head I had already decided I would struggle to do any, which is very unlike me, I'm usually positive about trying and learning new skills, if after some coaching and practise, then I still can't 'get it' thats when I start to get fed up, not usually before ?!
I think it was a little to do with, my injury, my lack of knowledge and limited expectations of what to expect.
Anyway, down at the RCG box, I found the usual suspects, namely Nisha, Steph and Jonny.
Steph and Jonny, as always, were looking forward to testing themselves on this workout and were more than capable of getting high scores.
Nisha, on the other hand was in the same boat as me, Toes to Bar, can we do them !?
Nisha had already been practising, with not a lot of success, which was really frustrating for her, as Nisha is one of the top athletes in Reebok Crossfit Glasgow and producing a score of 3 reps, was not going to be something she would settle for.
I had a few attempts, uncoached and ignorant of any technique involved, this as you can imagine, did not produce very good results.
My brain was already thinking "Just do the 3 Clean and Jerks, your injured, use the excuse"
Nisha on the other hand, was talking with Jonny and Steph, getting to watch her attempts and try to break down, where she was failing and work on that. A few pointers and some remedial work and Nisha was already getting closer to completing Toes to Bar, there was still 3 days to practise and she could go on Sunday, surely she'd have it by then.
I on the other hand, took full advantage of being and judge and the fact, this can help me, easily avoid actually doing any form of workout, let alone 'THE' workout (13.4).
Thursday out of the way, I didn't need to go through the embarrassment of doing 3 reps in front of anyone.
"I'll come in and do it Friday, mid morning, when it's quiet, I thought to myself"
Totally forgetting Friday, was Good Friday and everyone was off work, so there was no quiet time in the box, but plenty time to judge !! Friday rolled past, still no attempt from me.
Saturday morning,was actually my last chance, as I was busy all Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.
"If I get there early, I'll go first, before it gets busy" sticking to the same strategy that didn't work on Friday ??
So Saturday morning, I trudged down to the box, there was only a couple of people there, perfect I thought, I'll do some foam rolling, mobility and stretching, that may help me get at least 3 toes to bar, in what will be about 6minutes 45seconds to do those 3.
By the time I had did this, the box had got a bit busier, Nisha was in too and we laughed that we could have a competition, first to 4 reps. Although there was a very serious prospect of not getting those 4 reps.
I put my name down for the first heat and set myself ready to go, 62Kgs, I can clean an jerk that 3 times, surely, 3,2,1 go no turning back now, 3 clean and jerks, easy (ish) done, now over to the bar, 1,2,3 toes to bar, back on the ground, "How did that happen?" I thought, 3 clean (definitely not perfect) but 3 toes to bar !
I found myself standing back over the olympic bar a bit sooner than I expected, 6 clean and jerks, this will be where the lack of training will kick in, 2 x 3 reps and that was done too, there's no way I'm getting 6 toes to bar, "But you know you can do them now" I thought, sure enough 1,2,3 no rep, rest 4,5,6, back to the Clean and Jerks !! How did I manage this, 9 reps now, a lot slower, buit I unbelievably (to me anyway) find myself back on toes to bar, 9 reps, then onto 12 reps of Clean and Jerk, tired now and time running out, to be honest I was still shocked I got this far, but keep going I said to myself, 9 reps later and the buzzer goes - a mix of emotions go through my head, tiredness, happiness, but more disappointment, not in my score, but in the fact I didn't believe in myself enough to truly go for it, believe I could do more than I thought.
But at least I had the score and it was more than 3.
Next round and this was Nisha's turn, hopefully my attempts would spur her on to, finally touch that bar with her toes.
3 Clean and Jerks, easy, over to the bar, "C'mon Nisha" 1,2,3 attempts, nowhere near, rest, refocus, hands back on the bar, another few attempts, nothing, "Oh no, I thought, she isn't going to do this" sometimes you can just tell, coaches, friends, lending a supportive ear, tips to help, but nothing, this was horrible to watch, those last 6 minutes 30 dragged past - final score 3 reps.
A few more words of encouragement and motivation, but Nisha was one unhappy girl.
As I said before I was unable to get down to the box on Sunday and missed the atmosphere that the games produce.
Then I get a message through facebook, it was Nisha, she had tried again, a last throw of the dice, I was hoping to see any number come through as long as it was higher than 3, then I read it - 47 reps, 47 eh !?! From a gutted, devasted girl I had seen on Saturday, a few more pointers, a bit more belief and that first good rep, thats all it took and she flew through the workout, I just wish I'd been there to see it.
So, I think, both Nisha and myself took a lot more from this workout than most, even when your mind is trying to taklk you out of something, telling you, you can't do something, to not even try.
This is when you need to find something more, something inside you, that makes you stand up after falling down, or made Nisha and me, stand under that bar and grab hold and go again.
I may not of got as high a score as I think I could've, but 13.4 definitely taught me a lot more than most workouts.
Craig
No comments:
Post a Comment