The other day I was on Facebook, and noticed a Crossfit Lisabeth blog about Chris Spealler. Spealler came from behind and secured a spot at the 2012 Crossfit Games. It’s a big deal because Spealler is a smaller athlete competing with much bigger guys. I told myself next time I felt like quitting during a WOD, I wouldn’t. By “quitting” I mean running the clock down, giving up and waiting it out. Fighting that kind of inertia is a real challange for me. It robs me of so much opportunity to excel.
That day we had a tough WOD. We had 3 round at 6 minute each of max reps: 10 burpees 5 deadlifts, 10 wall balls 10 toes-to-bar, 10 kb swings 5 box jumps. So 18 minutes max reps with 1 minute between rounds. I used a 145# bar for the dl, a 44# kb, a 12# wall ball, a 24 inch tire for the box jumps. The good news is that particular WOD is something I could do. I had high expectations.
The bad news: my right shoulder gave out at burpee #5. In other words just a few seconds into the WOD and I’m feeling in trouble. My form deteriorated and I was really slow. I got through 4 rounds. Each burpee hurt. The deadlifts were a relief.
One minute rest, then wallballs and t2b. had started with a 20# ball, couldn’t manage it because of the pain, switched to 12#. At some point I noticed my right Achilles tendon was on fire. My t2b was in poor form. By the time I got to the KBs and box jumps I was disappointed and tired.
For me a 44# kb is about the edge of my skill set. I have used 53# in practice but I’ve never gone beyond 44# in a WOD. Getting to that 10th swing was a big challange. By the 4th round I was ready to give up. I actually said it: “I’m done.” I was going to quit, with time on the clock. I felt like I had been in a microwave set on “high”, like I was going to exploded. I was actually scared. So I said I was done.
Blake was running the WOD; he said something like “what?” and just looked at me. And I remembered what I had promised myself: that I would not quit. I thought about Chris Spealler and I told myself I had to go back to it. I managed 10 more kb swings. Had I not paused I could have got the 5 box jumps too. Next time.
Cheers.
