300 - Day 52 - Fran

I warmed up for Fran as follows:

1000m Row
And then 2 sets of the following:
10 Squats
15 Sit-ups
15 push-ups
10 Dips
10 second Samson stretch

I then did some additional light stretching and started the clock.

I had 95 pounds loaded on the bar, racked at shoulder height, so I didn't need to clean it up to the front squats position. The pull-up bar is about 10 feet away from the rack, and requires about an 8 inch jump for me.

I finished the first 21 Thursters and 21 pull-ups in 1:52. I was cruising. But I was also very tired. I did all the 21 thrusters without resting, but needed 3 sets to get through the pull-ups (14 + 4 + 3).

Despite that I was breathing heavily and my arms already felt like jello, I only took about 15-20 seconds before moving back into the thrusters. I managed to get 9 thrusters in before needing to rest. I rested what seemed to be only 20 seconds or so and then moved in to finish out the last 6. I moved to the pull-up station (taking a sip off my pre-filled cup along the way) and only knocked out 5 pull-ups. After resting for a few seconds, I managed two more sets of 5. I checked the clock - 5:10 - the 30 repetitions of the second set had taken 3:18, including any rest I had taken.

Another drink of water and maybe 10-15 seconds of rest and I was back at the thruster bar, unloading to the front squat position. I managed to muscle out all 9 - toward the end I depended on my legs to get me through the motion, without their assistance there is no way the bar would have peaked over my head. Back to the chin-up bar. I tried my best to kip these out - but I'm still not terribly proficient at it and so only got 5 pull-ups in before dropping to the ground. I switched to the neutral grip pull-up and managed 3 more. At the bottom of the third, I stopped for a moment and tried to knock out one more - with no luck. I dropped and rested a few seconds and moved back to the over-hand position and knocked out the last pull-up.

I stopped the clock at 7:37 and immediately caught my hands on my knees, hunching over to catch my breath. The sweat was pouring. Fran looked innocent, but she tore me apart. This was a brutal 7 minutes and thirty-seven seconds. I wandered over to the bench that I had moved from the rack where I had been doing my thrusters and sat down for about 10 seconds before remembering that its best to stay standing and walk it off. I stood and put my hands behind my head, trying to catch my breath.

The thing that amazes me about crossfit workouts is just how much they can sneak up on you. Only 2 exercises, with less repetitions and no change in weight between the 3 sets of each. It sounds like a cake walk. And the workout takes less than 10 minutes - so even more cake. But no - Fran chewed me up and spit me out.

Unfortunately, I don't think I will get my make-up run in tonight as I have plans for the evening. Maybe I'll work it in tomorrow. crossfit.com just had a rest day yesterday, so tomorrow should be a good day to get my workout from the main site - and I can make up the run in the afternoon - I shouldn't have any reason not to tomorrow. Perhaps though I'll get up early and check the site - if it's something I can do at home, I'll do it at home before my shower and then do my run during my lunch break, instead of hoping I have time in the evening.