CrossFit Open Workout 19.4 is in the books. It is:
3 Rounds of:
Rest 3 min
Then:
3 rounds of:
I only got 4 bar muscle ups. I used to be much better than that. That’s because since last summer all I’ve been doing is practicing ring muscle ups, not bar. And my bar muscle-up form sucks. So until I fix that, it’ll always be crappy.
I was satisfied. Could have been better. But glad it’s over.
This morning I woke up. I’m pretty sure I have a calf strain as my right calf is tight. And my shoulders are sore.
I gave up long ago trying to decipher what it’s from. It doesn’t matter; I’m going to do the same movements again no matter what.
After three years of doing CrossFit, you get used to the constant soreness CrossFit causes. You expect to wake up and feel some part of your body sore, tight, or overall off. You deal with it (after all, it’s your fault you’re sore). You complain and moan, which doesn’t really help. You hobble around sometimes. Picking up items on the floor becomes painful. All you want to do is sit and rest.
However, there are days (like today) where I get tired of the soreness from CrossFit. I just would like to wake up and not be sore. Just every once in a while. To be honest, I can’t remember my life when I wasn’t like this. I can’t remember how I felt every morning before I started CrossFit training. I have no idea what people feel like who don’t choose to beat themself up constantly feel like.
Soreness from CrossFit is a lifestyle that sometimes I don’t want. I would like to wake up one day and experience what it feels like. That would be something.
CrossFit Open Workout 19.3 is:
Time cap is 10 min. 35 lb dumbbell for women, 50 lb dumbbell for men
This would have been my workout if I would have had strict HSPU. I was hoping to get at least one, which I didn’t. It would have been my first. Am I disappointed? No. Why?
I was telling my daughter who does CrossFit that unless you’re a professional CrossFit athlete, you don’t have time to work on every skill. For me, I have chosen ring muscle ups and handstand walks, which I’ve been trying to get for the past year. I am not doing anything to allow me to get a strict HSPU, and I don’t really care about them — not until I get these other two skills down. Plus, as a woman, it will take a lot of work to get them, just like it is taking hours on the my ring muscle ups, and I just don’t care about them to invest that time. How many times do they show up in a CrossFit WOD? Once. Here. In CrossFit Open workout 19.3. So, yeah, I’m good.
Although it was a short workout, I’m sore — my shoulders especially. Always something with CrossFit.
I was on vacation this weekend and CrossFit Open workout 19.2 wasn’t really a workout when I didn’t make it past the first round, so I was itching for something long and hard. Enter Andy, a CrossFit Hero workout, named for U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew T. Weathers who died Sept. 30, 2014.
Weathers was wounded Sept. 28 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when he heroically ran to a rooftop through hundreds of incoming rounds to repel an attack of insurgents who were attempting to overrun his position. His actions saved the lives of five U.S. Green Berets and nine Afghan Commandos at his location. Weathers was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
His CrossFit Hero workout is:
80 pounds on the bar for women and wearing a weight vest (14 lb for women).
I did really well at this workout. I came in way under the 1 hour I thought it would take me, and it was fun. It was just what I needed on this negative degree morning in Colorado. It gave me motivation and encouragement because when I woke up I didn’t want to do it. Long workouts are one of my strengths, and I sweated and this CrossFit Hero WOD was hard. and it was awesome.
I love CrossFit.
The more I do CrossFit, the more I realize the mental game is much more important than the physical game. Sure, you have to be in shape, but being in shape is an equalizer — the mental game is what will set you apart from others and allow you to win CrossFit competitions and just win your daily CrossFit WODs.
I woke up on Thursday with a plan to do CrossFit workouts that were simple but involved a barbell and burpees. No part of me wanted to do any of it. I was sore and just not feeling it. So, I didn’t. I just rowed and ran, a modified CrossFit Hero WOD Jerry, if you will. And I felt really good afterwards.
This was both a mental and a physical break. I could have done by planned CrossFit workout, but it would have sucked because my head wasn’t in the game. So why bother?
If you attend a CrossFit box, know when to take mental breaks from CrossFit. It’s okay to do a different workout than everyone else. It’s okay to let your mind rest, so you can attack the next workout. Doing your CrossFit workouts constantly half-heartedly is not going to benefit you in the long run. Breaks allow you to come back stronger and attack CrossFit workouts when you need to.
CrossFit Open Workout 19.2 was a repeat of CrossFit Open Workout 16.2. It is:
If you finish in under 8 minutes, you get 4 more minutes to do another round with heavier squat clean weight.
I didn’t finish this round, but I was happy with it. I almost did.
After 2 weeks of CrossFit Open workouts for 2019, I’m just not into it. Without Regionals to measure yourself against, you’re against everyone, and being in the thousands tells me nothing of my fitness level. The CrossFit Open used to be a way to measure your improvement over a year. Now, the only way you know if you’ve improved is in your head. Can you do a muscle up this year that you couldn’t last year? Can you string more double unders together? Can you lift heavier weight?
The CrossFit Open to me is not what it used to be. And that saddens me.
Today was a sandbag workout.
I decided to sub 30 v-ups for 30 sandbag sit-ups, mainly because I like sandbag sit ups.
Well, this was a mistake.
They were a lot harder than I thought and 30 of them about killed me. But it was good.
Lesson learned: subbing sandbags for other movements may not be such a good idea after all.
This is the first year since I’ve started CrossFit that I haven’t cared about the CrossFit Open, which is technically how you qualify for the CrossFit Games, but as average athletes, it’s just a test of how you’ve improved since last year. I believe there are several reasons for my apathy:
I’ll still do the workouts and log my score and check my standings with others in my age group and region. However, I definitely won’t be re-doing any of the CrossFit Open workouts this year. And I’ll have to try to look forward to it. Tips and advice are always welcome.
Today’s CrossFit competition was at CrossFit Sanitas in Boulder, CO. It was a partner competition called Tuff Love.
This was my first time doing this one. I tried last year to do this CrossFit competition but couldn’t find a partner. This year I was determined to do it. So, I asked everyone I knew to do it with me, and everyone turned me down. So, at the last minute, I convinced my daughter to do this CrossFit competition with me. Tom, one of the owners, graciously opened up a few extra spots, and let us in as I had been in contact with him for a partner as well.
My daughter was not looking forward to this CrossFit competition because we had to scale all the weights down. However, after the first WOD, which was a clean and jerk ladder of sorts, she was having the time of her life.
CrossFit Sanitas as always (this is my third competition there) was gracious and accommodating as a host, and the location has tons of food and areas to walk around. It was cold and snowy for a time, but fun. Definitely will do this one again next year. Thanks to all and the competitors who were amazing.
I’ve been taking private lessons for over six months now to get my ring muscle up.
And I’m close.
Yesterday, my coach gave me a boost, and I did 10 ring muscle ups with his help. I definitely felt more confident, especially in the catch.
And it was fun!
The reason I do CrossFit is because I don’t ever get bored with it. And ring muscle ups are definitely not boring.
It’s been a long time coming, but I can’t wait for that moment when it happens!
My Journey to the CrossFit Games 