Double-Unders threw a curve ball into 14.1. for me and many other participants. Many stronger and better athletes than I, struggled to get some points on the board. But, with that said, this forced many of us to just grind out on a goat that we have long ignored.
I must admit, when I looked at the leaderboard for Northeast Masters Men 60+, I was shocked that most of these guys were proficient at DUs. I came in at 488 of 536 worldwide. I was 50 of 55 in the Northeast. I am pleased to see my hero, Jacinto Bonilla, is in first place in Northeast. Pretty good for a guy in his seventies, wouldn’t you say?
Tonight (Thursday, March 6, 2014) CrossFit HQ will be announcing the 14.2 workout. Last year I would grab my laptop and a drink, and “tune-in” to the Games channel on the Internet and stream the announcement and watch the elite Throwdown. Then I would engage in a flurry of text messages with my Box Mates regarding dread, excitement or strategies for our WOD the next morning. Then we couldn’t sleep.
Tonight is a little different. A few of us gathered to watch the event, so we can revel in the excitement together and save ourselves from Carpel Tunnel Syndrome from frantic late night texting.
We gathered with a homemade Paleo treat, a flour-less Chocolate Almond Cake. It was still warm when we arrived. I made it less Paleo with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Vanilla Ice Cream. We caught up on work, family, WODs, etc, then sat down to watch Dave Castro dash our hopes of making it to the Regionals, for a second week in a row.
CrossFit Open 14.2 begins with 10 Overhead Squats (OHS), 10 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups, times 2, in three minutes. If you complete that, it simply gets worse, with each round incrementing the count by two reps.
For those who haven’t mastered pull-ups, this WOD will likely be capped at 10 points (assuming you can do the OHS). Tomorrow morning I’ll perform 14.2 and report back as I finish this essay.
Saturday
OK kids, it’s Saturday afternoon. This morning I reported to the gym at 7:00 ready to knock my ten points out of the park. Wrong! I did plenty of Overhead Squats, but not many of them broke parallel. By the end of the WOD, I thought my name was No Rep! I was able to get 8 legitimate OHS within the first three minutes. Though I was finished for the Open, I continued for a few more rounds, just trying to grind out more Overhead Squats.
I startled a few people when I bailed on a couple lifts. I knew I was off balance and I didn’t need the barbell meeting my skull, so I pushed forward as it catapulted me backward, sprawling on my backside. I must admit, I am getting good at landing on my tail. The Coach was getting a little anxious about my lack of gracefulness and since I was already washed up from the competition, he insisted I switch the balance of the WOD to Front Squats. I knocked those out with much less effort and a lot more grace.
I’ve been doing CrossFit for a year and a half and I am doing much worse than last year, when I was a newbie. I know that I am not alone. Here we are, two weeks down and I am still scoring in single digits. Ugh!
Congrats to those of you who performed better than me. That’s about 99.44 percent of the CrossFit Community. Only the Masters Competitors will remember the significant of that number.
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