Everyone’s familiar with the expression “in for a penny, in for a pound,” yes? I got a little carrried away today and was in for 40 pounds…in each hand. In hindsight, I’m not sure what I was thinking.

Push Jerks – establish a 1RM for the day.
Did 2 reps each at 95, 115, 135, 155 and 165 pounds. Jumped to 185 next which matched my old 1RM. I forgot the ‘never match a PR’ logic. I was feeling great and had time to spare so I went after 195. Missed it once. That was a matter of focus, not weight. The whole time I was setting up under the bar I was second guessing the weight choice instead of prepping for the lift.

The thought process went something link this. When I successfully lifted 185 I started dreaming of cracking 200#. OK, I admit it. I drove in wondering if I could push jerk 200. Anyway, I had it in my head if I was going to go after 200 at all, then I wanted to exceed 200, not finish there. But somehow, even though most of the previous jumps were 20# increments, going from 185 past 200 seemed like too much. So after loading and unloading 205 on and off the bar more than once, I settled on 195#. Like I said, “too much thinking. Not enough lifting.”

This was all still rattling around in my head as I approached the bar the first time and it was just tentative. I started to break the bar down to prep for the METCON and decided, “No. You can lift this. One more shot. End with a hit.” It was very satisfying to pull it off.

METCON
20-18-16-etc. down to 2 Dumb Bell or KB Jerks
1-2-3-etc- up to 10 Toes to Bars

This is where I got carried away. I was overambitious with this one. Before we got started I experimented with 35# kettle bells and a quick set of 5 reps felt light, so I grabbed two 40’s. I failed to realize just how draining the first three rounds were going to be.

Jack commented to me individually that 40’s were heavy as he patroled the floor. I made a comment to the effect of it being Monday, being well rested and feeling good. I should have taken the hint. He went on further to point out to the entire group that because the first three rounds of toes to bars were so short, we were essentially doing just short of 60 straight jerks. What can I say? I’m not real good at picking up on obvious clues that stand out to others. 😉 Could be I get stubborn too.

This METCON took me 18:49 to get through and was the last person finished. I’m confident it wasn’t intended to be that long. Ah well. Lesson learned. Some days it’s just a miscalculation.

The first 4 rounds of Toes To Bars were strict. These continue to progress every time we do them, so that’s pleasing. Rounds 5-7 were strict Knees to Elbows. That’s also progress. Rounds 8-10 were “Knee Raises as close to the Elbows as possible.” Not impressive. Not proud of that, but it is what it is. Another maneuver I need to continue to work on.

We finished the WOD with 100 banded face pulls. I used a red band and did these in sets of 25, 20, 20, 20, 15. After all of the pushing this morning, the pulling action was surprisingly difficult.

While I’m disappointed for misjudging how to scale this WOD, I am pleased that I stuck with the weights start to finish. Too often I feel like I get just moderately uncomfortable during a WOD and start looking for places to compromise. Today it was damn the time. Stick to the plan and do the reps. I take satisfaction that I had the discipline to do that.

Random Notes: I’m looking forward to my first adventure in CrossFit tourism later this summer. Looking forward to representing CFD. Just hope I don’t run into a WOD full of my goats! I’ll be sure to write about the vacation WODs after they happen.