The other day we were practicing power snatches.
Which I’m not all that good at. I thought I understood the move because it was part of the Crossfit Open WODs. But I could hardly mange it during a recent WOD (“Hope”.) During the drill I noticed a young woman (Cori P.) off to my right doing hang power cleans. Cori is a great athlete; she also happens to be a smaller athlete. My attention was divided (not a good thing) and at one point I noticed she was doing 135#. HPC are one of things I’m working on (it’s part of the Level I test) and I haven’t mastered the movement. So I made a mental note to ask her about what she was doing.
Anyway I struggled through the snatches, switching back and forth between 75# hang-power snatches, power snatches, trying to get a rhythm going. I made some progress. But not much. Mostly I was getting the bar up to high shoulder level and pressing it up.
The next day I went in we did a 20 minute amrap of 200m runs and 250 rows with a partner. Pam and I did 8 3/4 rounds, which is good (on par with the other teams.) A great workout, and I was satisfied with the results.
After the WOD I noticed Cori P. coming in, so I talked to her and she confirmed that it was 135#. I asked her how much she weighed — 115 lbs. I admit I have mixed feelings about seeing a 115# women doing 135# hang power cleans while I’m struggling with 95#. I’m happy to see that level of skill and strength. It’s an inspiration. But I outweigh Cori by 30 lbs and I can’t get 135# past my waist.
A few minutes later I was talking to another very good athlete, a guy known as “Big” Rob (he is actually really big, like Mr. Incredible) and I mentioned being somewhat frustrated with not being able to perform better. As it so happens Big Rob was helping Brooke run the CFES On-Ramp class on my first day at crossfit. His reply to my comment about feeling bad about my current performance was that my real comparison should be where I started from. He pointed out that on my first day my performance was so bad he was surprised I stuck it out. He’s right about how bad it was, that’s for sure. It was hilariously bad; I could tell. I came in at 16 or so. Of course 1 month later I did the same WOD in 8 minutes. And the progress has continued.
I know Rob is right about the comparison. But still, the gap is way too large. At least that’s how it feels. Is that ego? Probably.
Today I did 7 rounds of 10m-20m-30m-40m suicide runs, 8 burpees and 12 box jumps (20 inch box.) Total time: 28:16.
Cheers.
