Wednesday, April 18, 2012

As hard as possible, every round

After a really busy week last week, I took it easy for a few days. On Saturday, my son and I went trout fishing for the day. After that, we watched the NHL playoffs for the rest of the weekend. Monday was really hot, and it was my daughter's birthday, so it was easy to take the day off from the gym.

Last night, I made it back to CrossFit. I knew the workout was going to be tough, because there was no strength work before the main workout. But, the board didn't even tell the entire story. Here is what I saw written on the board:

5 rounds, for time:
Run 200 meters
10 squat clean thrusters
15 burpees
20 walking lunges
Rest 3 minutes

As we went over the squat clean thruster movement before the workout, the coach told us that there was an additional requirement for the workout. Each round was to be done all out, as if it was the only round. He said that each round should get slower than the previous round, and if that didn't happen, we weren't going hard enough.

Typically, in a workout like this, I'd try to pick a pace that I could maintain, or at least almost maintain, for the entire workout. But, not yesterday.

We all started together - almost 20 of us - on a narrow path for our first 200. That part was easy. The squat clean thrusters were fairly easy for me because I picked a light weight (45#) to protect my shoulder. Then came the burpees. Burpees and I are not friends in general. I find them especially hard to do when mixed in with other high intensity work, and my shoulder injury makes them a bit more challenging right now. But, I fought through them, did the lunges as quickly as I could, and I finished the first round in 3:40. After the first round, the rest interval seemed like a long time.

My second round took 3:53. The rest still seemed substantial. Then, a 4:06. The rest period seemed shorter. Then, a 4:16. The rest period seemed to last about 30 seconds. And, I struggled home with a 4:31.

It was an interesting workout, especially given the go hard all the time approach.

I can't wait to see what tonight brings.

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