Saturday May 16, 2009 WOD 2 (1:00pm)
5 rounds for time of:
7 double kettlebell thrusters (35lbs each)
11 burpees
Time 10:31
I was feeling pretty good after the first work-out. My roommate from undergrad, Dawn, and her husband were passing through Columbus from Baberton on their way to Indiana. We were able to go out to breakfast to catch up for a bit between work-outs. I felt like a freak ordering two over-easy eggs while the rest of the group chowed down on pancakes and sausage. When the waitress asked if I wanted toast I was tempted to accept to avoid looking like one of those "carb-free idiots" but hate wasting food and passed. What she didn't see was that I had eaten a pear, banana, cashews, almonds, mango, and string cheese beforehand. Oh well.
After breakfast we went back to the venue and I caught a 20 minute period of shut eye. I can't say that I slept, but I relaxed as much as possible while visualizing myself moving through the second workout. I was quite pumped as I definitely saw it as my time to move up in the standings. I don't mind thrusters and can knock out burpees for days if I need to (not that I like to:). Yes, I was a bit concerned with the fact that the thrusters were with two 35lb awkward as hell kettlebells and not a straight forward barbell or even dumbbells. I was shooting for about a 5-6 minute time.
Corey pulled out the table and worked on my mid and low back a bit after my nap. It felt great and certainly seemed to help out. The one part about the warm-up which was particularly significant to me was when I actually gave the KB thrusters a try. I was in the practice gym and did a set with the 25lbs KBs. Not too bad. Then, I picked up the 30lb KBs and struggled just to get them up into the front rack position. From there I also worked fairly hard to thruster with them. Corey was watching from as far as he could get at the door. He was all positive for me telling me I looked strong and what not. However, what he didn't realize is that I still had to go up a total of 10lbs. I didn't even pick up the 35lbs before I went out. I didn't feel it was necessary. The 35 thrusters I had to do out there would be MORE than enough.
My judge this time was a big guy named Dan. He was pleasant and very helpful even asking how I wanted the KBs positioned in between rounds. Plus, he recorded my splits for each of the 5 rounds. (I love knowing splits and seeing where time was lost/gained.)
3,2,1...Go and again we are working. I can't remember how many thrusters I did straight but it must have been at least 4 followed by a set of 3. It took me a few rounds to really get the clean down with the KBs and I ended up essentially curling the bells up each time I had to put them down. I finished the first set of thrusters and hit the burpees.
I tried to move through relatively fast to make up ground. I finished that first round in 56 seconds (right on pace, haha) and then it hit me. I didn't feel hungry at all going into the workout, but during those burpees I started to feel weak and dizzy. Corey was right in front of me through the fence and I made eye contact thinking "oh boy, not sure if I'm gonna be able to do this." The bells were heavy and awkward as hell but I just tried to stay as focused as possible not missing any reps. I would usually get sets of two out every time I picked those suckers up and every once in awhile I would squeeze out a 3rd before dropping them. Every time I put the bells down it seemed that devil was screaming from my shoulder that I couldn't do it and that I would never make it out to the final. Once I picked them up I more easily gained focus but it's like once you drop them the last thing you want to do is pick them back up and all the negativity sneaks in.
My pace on the burpees had slowed significantly. Dan kept yelling at me to "Just drop!" to the ground rather than lowering down and doing a push-up to ensure my chest and thighs touched. I appreciated his advice but I was feeling so out of it that one time I even knocked my chin on the ground and was concerned that dropping too quickly would cause me to rock my melon on the ground.
Rounds 2 & 3 were the worst and then it seems by the 4th I started to see the light and feel hope that maybe I would finish. It helped that I could see and hear the other ladies around me all struggling as well. Although once again I felt as though I must certainly be in dead last place and kept having that feeling of wanting to press some sort of "escape" key to allow the ground to open up and I immediately disappear from the scene without having to walk past everyone to throw in the towel. Yes, I had MULTIPLE thoughts of quitting.
If this had occurred during my college years I more than likely would not have finished. Thankfully, I finally have gained a bit more patience and maturity to focus in and get the job done. It feels good to be able to put a plug in that evil devil on my shoulder. It is a constant challenge and I hope eventually I can compete with a purely positive mindset, but for now it is a big step personally.
My time was 10:31. The slowest of those who finished, but this time 1 of 9 to complete the event and have a chance to move on to Sunday's finals. All that was ahead of me was the row.
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