Try. Fail. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
It’s been a very interesting few weeks since 15.1 I had the idea of writing something weekly, it just didn’t happen but I’ve been mentally taking notes as the weeks went on.
We finished 15.1 on a high, everyone with a score on the board and lots of people already notching up PRs and new skills, then WHAM! 15.2 was a repeat of 14.2 - Overhead Squat & Chest to Bar for RX - slightly scaled OHS weight & Pull Ups for SC - 14.2 is still one of my most memorable CrossFit moments and initially I was excited for the repeat, initially. It went spectacularly bad for me. First attempt was awful, so bad in fact that I gave up before the first round time cap. Had another attempt which was marginally better, but fell over during the OHS and only just made it to the bar on the 3 min mark. Instant deflation. Excitement turned to frustration in 3 minutes. I wasn’t alone either, the atmosphere seemed entirely different from the week before, a bit flat, like reality had suddenly kicked in. Outside of CrossFit Newry and around the rest of the world online blogs, tweets and Facebook posts were full of criticism, people didn’t like the repeat, lots of people felt the SC was too hard, some people even felt RX was too hard! Really? This is CrossFit, the workouts are always going to be challenging, have no doubt the best in the world find them challenging too. Open workouts highlight what we need to work on, bitching about it doesn’t help, it doesn't build a steady core for OHS or grip strength for a pull up but practice will. Drill the moves, get comfortable with the bottom position in squat, warm up with a PVC pipe, hang on the bar, talk to your coaches about progression programs. And, don’t forget there are no limits on attempts for Open workouts. A third attempt at 15.2 left me in a (still very modest) much happier position.
Dave Castro led us on a merry dance with his cryptic instagram post, two pistols on a box with a speed rope thrown in, then another seemingly random pool ball post with the message “Ladies & gentlemen, start your engines” The excitement started to build again, speculations began, a 7 move chipper? Pistols? Box jumps? Double unders surely? A few of us spent an afternoon practising pistols and falling over a lot, they didn’t come up in the workout, but once again it highlighted a skill that needs work. I’ve been working on them for about a month, progress seemed slow at first but it’s starting to click and there are some nice benefits too, squatting all of a sudden seems easier and possibly deeper and overall balance is better too.
We are constantly seeking ways to get better, good balance, better pistol, strong core, better squat, increased hip and shoulder mobility, better overhead squat, strong snatch, more power. Everything is interconnected, a good foundation, a strong core (on and off the ground) and a steady mindset, don’t underestimate the latter, a good deal of the Open takes place inside your own mind, weather you think you can, or you think you can’t you’re probably right.
Anyway, 15.3 turned out to be 14 min AMRAP of 7 Muscle Ups, 50 Wall Balls and 100 Double Unders for RX with the SC doing 50 Wall Balls and 200 Single Unders
Both challenging. Very challenging. Again the masses on the web seemed disgruntled, this time the scaled was “too scaled” And a vast majority of RX athletes felt the Double Unders should have been first. I think this workout separated people, those who were interested in a score on the board and those that use the Open to develop new skills, I fall into the second group, praying for a single rep, just one. Muscle Up for me is like the Holy Grail of CrossFit and I was glad it came up as a first move. It still eludes me, but I had a good time trying, it’s closer than it was a month ago and it’ll happen soon.
Well done to everyone who got their first Muscle Up and well done to those that strung them together for the first time. It’s so satisfying seeing things come together for people. Well done too to all who did the SC workout, it was pure hell, burning legs, burning shoulders, burning lungs hell!
Another gymnastics move to open this WoD, Handstand Push Ups making their Open debut, with new standards to boot, accompanied by heavy cleans. The new HSPU standards force a closer body position to the wall, so all those people who adapted their positioning to achieve a shorter range might have struggled a bit here.
It’s a frustrating move, and when it goes it goes. Better to stand up and take a little recovery than completely burn out on no reps. The Cleans, many predicted heavier lifts in this Open and here they were, 84 kg for the guys and 56 kg for the girls. SC competitors had an 8 min AMRAP of 10 push press 43/29 & 10 cleans 52/34 challenging weights too for the rep ranges and once again, brilliant to see so many breaking PRs in this WoD.
I’ve had a love hate relationship with HSPU, they were the Holy Grail before Muscle Ups, couldn’t do them, could do them, got okay at them, loved them, then they came up in a competition, the occasion choked me and they were gone, couldn’t do them. It was good to see them here, and nice to know I can still do them, but there is so much to work on. The cleans were heavy, too heavy for me, or technically too challenging (just can’t get under!), but I finished happy none the less.
We’re constantly learning throughout this Open, how to pace, how to get recovery, how to stay emotionally stable and not let frustrations get the better of us and how to keep progressing. It’s been an interesting 4 weeks, lots of gymnastic skills accompanied with heavy lifts, the results sheets make for interesting reading, I’ve been keeping an eye on the NI boards and it fascinating stuff, to me it looks (for females anyway) those who are strong gymnastically have the edge, 15.3 is where a lot of people switched from RX to SC and I’m guessing we’ll all be practising Muscle Up progressions in the coming weeks and months.
The internet is a wonderful place for inspirational quotes, we’re flooded with them, I think at some point it stops being inspiring, but the Open made me think of these words by Samuel Beckett “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better”
One workout left, we’ve yet to see burpees and thrusters and we’ve yet to see a workout for time. Could it be something for everyone? No divisions? What’s your predictions, what would you like to see? What would you not like to see??
gamechangershow
pixelskylines
romaincrisis
turnnoffyourmind