16.2 Accomplished

This weekend’s Open lessons for 16.2 include:

• Four (4) minutes is a very brief period of time. It goes incredibly fast actually.
• I’m still not that great at toes-to-bar (T2B) and double unders (DU).
• The best part of CrossFit is the community.
• Don’t do five deadlifts at your one rep max weight on Wednesday before 16.2.

When I schemed and plotted for 16.2, I only worried about how heavy those 115# cleans on the second round would be. In my very wild imagination, I pictured myself nimbly flying through the toes-to-bar unbroken, then grabbing my rope and skipping through the double unders with astonishing ease.

I would be a vision to behold.  My true athleticism would shine.  Other athletes would marvel at my endurance, my technique, my brute strength.  My invitation to Regionals, penned by Dave Castro himself, was imminent.

After hurting my back on Wednesday, and worrying that I’d done a bit of damage, I made an appointment to see a chiropractor on Saturday morning. The appointment went well, and her opinion was that I’d strained some muscles in my back but nothing more serious thankfully.  She advised taking it easy, but as a fellow crossfitter, knew that 16.2 was looming in my mind.  Again, she recommended taking it easy so my back could heal, and doing a very thorough warm-up beforehand if I insisted on competing.

Meg and I went for a walk later in the day, and at first I had my mind set on doing the scaled version (lighter cleans = less pressure on my back). But Meg knows me well, and reasoned that if I did scaled, I’d do more rounds, and therefore more cleans.  By the end of our walk, I’d realized the best choice was to do 16.2 RX since the likelihood I’d do a lot of (heavy) cleans was slim.

Meg and I were in the first heat on Sunday. I was there extra early to warm up, and by the time I was in position to start, I had sweat dripping down my back.  Here’s how 16.2 went down:

• I struggled for approximately three minutes to get 25 double unders. Several no-reps. Frustration mounting.
• After flailing around for 45 seconds, I managed to get 50 double unders.
• In the remaining 15 seconds, I got three cleans – thanks to my judge/friend Colin’s encouragement right up until the end.

Score: 78

Sentiment: Humbled

The good news is that I have a 16.2 score to post. Also, my back didn’t hurt when I did the cleans.  And I’ve already accomplished my goal of doing two RX Open WODs this season – who would have thought?

(There really is no bad news. I was just glad to compete on Sunday.)

I spend the rest of the day spectating, cheering, and judging. Turns out, I really like judging!  Meg was unhappy with her score from our heat, so she went at the end of the day and nearly doubled her original score.  I was so proud!

The trick with 16.2 is “two times the charm” I think. Everyone who did the WOD twice got a better score the second time.  Except that crazy RX athlete in the States who did it once in almost 15 minutes flat.  She’s just nuts.

After all the excitement of the weekend, and walking nearly 35,000 steps between Saturday and Sunday, I was exhausted. The weekend fairly flew by yet again!  I’ve got another chiro appointment tonight (turns out I might be a chiro junkie) and hopefully she’ll say I’m on the mend.  I haven’t had a true workout since Wednesday!  Looking forward to getting back to the usual routine.

Enjoy the week!