17.2 Accomplished

Thanks to Eric and Christi (and Kira) for the blog photos this week! 📸

Well guys, there was no magical Open moment where I got my first muscle-up.  17.2 was a funny one for those of us choosing the RX route, but not achieving any muscle-ups.  It was an intense 4:32 workout, and then a handful of really solid chest-to-bar pull-ups for me (while my glutes were seizing up).

My biggest issue with this workout was the ice-cold dumbbells that had been left out in the -10 weather overnight. They were so awfully cold to hang on to!  My fingers were numb!

I liked powering through the lunges. I tried the unorthodox method of holding my dumbbells on my shoulders, with arms out to the side (like a bicep curl).  It worked decently!

Knowing that I’m not strong at toes-to-bar (T2B) on a typical day, I thought I’d do 8, 4, 4 to make up my 16 reps. But I got carried away by adrenaline and did 14 before my brain kicked in and was like “this isn’t the plan Kaitlyn!”  Then I dropped and did singles for reps 15 and 16.  Typical.

The cleans were no issue – a little awkward due to the bulkiness of the 35#s, but doable. More than anything, I felt like I had to take breaks because the dumbbells were freezing my hands.  On the eighth rep, I transitioned to the second round of lunges, which were fine.

My second round of T2B was a little less speedy due to my ice-cold hands. My kind judge Tabetha rubbed my hands so I could gain sensation and hang from the pull-up bar.  I strung a few together this time, and then a few singles, and then back to the cleans.

I wasted a few seconds breathing between the seventh and eighth reps since I forgot that was the time that counted for the second round, but I got moving again and did the third round of lunges.

And then, with strong Ron beside me as a role model, I attempted a handful of muscle-ups for the remaining 7-ish minutes. Unfortunately, I could not seem to get further than a chest-to-bar pull-up (which is really not the point of a muscle-up at all).

In the last remaining minutes, I thought about “chicken-winging” to get up on the bar, but my few attempts didn’t net any results, and I’m glad for that in hindsight. I don’t want to ingrain bad habits or injure myself getting up there!

I felt a little teary-eyed out of frustration during and after, but I know 17.2 is just one workout and it doesn’t define what kind of athlete I am. When the time is right (and I get over my long-term fear), I will find myself up on the bar doing a muscle-up.  No rush for a few extra Leaderboard points.

My husband, Dana, represented our family well on the other hand! He got through the first round of 16 muscle-ups and into the 4^th round before the 12 minute time cap was up.  It was amazing!  The rest of my intramurals team, Sunalta Strong, did great work, too!

The end result of 17.2 for me is extremely sore glutes and biceps!  A little hilarity ensues every time I go to sit down.  Lesson learned – cool down after intense short workouts!

What will Thursday’s 17.3 announcement bring us? More dumbbells?  How are you feeling after 17.2?