CrossFit Open 17.3

Thursday Open 17.3 Announcement

The most painful thing about CrossFit Open 17.3 was watching Dave Castro’s announcement at the blackboard. Talk about making something complicated!

One thing about the announcements that gets confusing or even frustrating is that during the streaming broadcast, as the WOD is revealed, the website is not yet refreshed to reflect all the division and scaling options. So it’s not worth getting upset or excited for Masters 60+ WODs when you still don’t know what they are.

So after Barbell Club, we gathered around the TV, and watched Dave try to psych out everyone, but we really just rolled our eyes again. His flair for attempt at drama is tiresome. When we finally sorted out the moves, it was simple. The WOD is variations of pull-ups and snatches. Bam!

As is the case with every Open WOD, there was a combination of jubilation and gnashing of teeth. I was jubilant. I love the Snatch. It is one of my favorite movements. This surprises many people since I’m 66 years old. Fact is, I have pretty healthy shoulders. My plan is to keep them that way.

Though Snatch is a favorite movement and my form continues to improve, my gains (weight) are slow coming. My scaled division weight was 45, 75, 95, 115, 135, and 155. My 1RM is 120, so I doubted 115 was in the cards for me.

Scaling for my division was jumping chin over bar pull-ups, and snatches. You know, real snatches. CrossFit likes to call them Squat Snatches. In my mind, there are Snatches and Power Snatches. But I’m a cranky old man, set in his ways.

Open 17.3 WOD

The full workout for Masters Men/Women 60+ is:

Prior to 8:00, complete:
3 rounds of:
6 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
6 squat snatches, 45/35
Then, 3 rounds of:
7 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
5 squat snatches, 75/55
*Prior to 12:00, complete 3 rounds of:
8 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
4 squat snatches, 95/65
*Prior to 16:00, complete 3 rounds of:
9 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
3 squat snatches, 115/75
*Prior to 20:00, complete 3 rounds of:
10 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
2 squat snatches, 135/95
Prior to 24:00, complete 3 rounds of:
11 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
1 squat snatch, 155/105

*If all reps are completed, time cap extends by 4 minutes.
Note: Squat snatches or power snatches with overhead squats permitted.

My Preparation

There was a big crowd at the noontime class, so the folks who were not signed up for the Open, worked out on one side of the box. Even so there were still enough registered athletes that we needed to do two Heats. I had to set up appropriate blocks to set my proper height from the pull-up bar. Last workout I used a soft box. I hated it. Every time you jump on a soft surface, half your energy presses back into the foam, reducing the force available to get you over the bar. So this time around, I stacked an assortment of bumper plates. That worked great. All my expended force went to lifting me up off the floor, over the bar.

I had planned to go in Heat 2, but things got confusing, so I ended up in Heat 3 (heat 3 of 2, I told you things got confusing) , which was only two guys. I started well, but I must admit, I hate lifting an empty bar. It’s position at the floor is always off and it affects the first pull. Also, you cannot drop an empty barbell from the top of the lift, so you have to ride the bar back down, never getting a break on your grip. If the weight had been 55, I would have used a 35 pound bar for the first lift. But I did the 45’s, then moved onto the 75’s.

By the time I got to the 75’s I was getting tired, and my arms and shoulders were a little wonky from already having completed 18 pull-ups and 18 Snatches. So the usual ease and comfort of the 75 pound Snatch was elusive. I had a couple fails, but I got through the first set, and time ran out during the second set. I got off the rig at 7:45, with 15 seconds to go. My judge yelled at me to give her two more reps before my clock ran out. I pressed out the second lift at 7:59. My score was 58.

Open 17.3 Post Mortem

What could I have done differently? Shoes! I thought of wearing my lifters. After all, that is what I wear at every barbell club workout for Snatch and Clean & Jerk. So why did I not wear them? Duh! Friday evening I stopped at CrossFit Reach to cheer on my friends, and of course they all wore lifters. Saturday morning I stopped at CrossFit 2a to pick up Julia for breakfast. I asked what she wore for shoes. “Of course I wore lifters!” she replied.

Second Guessing 17.3

Had I worn lifters, I may not have failed two lifts. Perhaps I would have made it back to the rig for the third set of pull-ups. Coulda! Woulda! Shoulda! So here I am on Saturday evening, wondering, for the first time this Open season, about whether I should go for a “Do-Over” before submitting my score. Mentally I am playing tapes in my mind, looking to reclaim 30-45 seconds from that 8 minute workout, that would get me through Round 3, and thus picking up another 4 minutes to work on getting extra points for a few successful 95 pound lifts. (I was quite happy with my score until I started writing all this down. Now my head is spinning.)

My Decision

Sunday morning – Overnight my head cold moved to my chest. There was an opportunity for a 17.3 do over at Reach at 9:30, but I’m wiped out. I made breakfast, cleaned the kitchen and went back to bed and slept until 2:00 PM. Then there was another opportunity at 5:30 AM on Monday, at One Nation. But I slept nine hours, waking at 8:00. This winter has been bad for me.

It seems my lungs have already decided that I will forego another shot at 17.3, so my score of 58 will stand. I think I’ll give this one another shot in the May/June timeframe in my garage/driveway gym. But for now, it is what it is.

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