I believe this is the third year that Toes-to-Bar (TTB) is in the CrossFit Open. So you could imagine that a veteran CrossFitter would put in the effort to master them prior to any announcement. Of course CrossFit Open 16.2 mocked me for my slackness in this matter.
Had I heeded that call, I would have possibly made it through TTB in Round 1, and I would have 25 Rx points on the leaderboard. I can rewrite the first paragraph substituting Double-Unders for TTB. Had I also taken time to master DUs, I would have had 75 Rx points on the board.
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda! I might have at least had the opportunity to fondle the barbell before the 4:00 minutes mark.
Instead, I was forced to do scaled. I’m not whining, simply stating a fact. If you wanna play with the big boys and girls, you gotta put in the work.
Last week, in 16.1, I wanted to challenge myself with the Overhead Lunges, so I did Rx. I was happy I was able to do it. BUT, then I hung from the rig for 15 minutes, struggling to do a single Chest-to-Bar. My 20 minute WOD was only 5 minutes.
Fast forward to 16.2. My strategy was reversed. I slotted myself into two heats. The first heat was all out Scaled. Masters Men 60+ was Sit-ups. Those I can do, and I do them well. It could be cuz I actually do them all the time (unlike TTB and DU).
So I cranked through Sit-ups, struggled with awful timing on Single-Unders, until Coach Dan told me to slow down the rope, then I knocked off 35 in a row. Onto the barbell. In my mind, a Squat Clean, is a Clean, cuz in USAW barbell club, that’s what we do. Those went well. I finished Round 1 at 3:50.
Jumped into Round 2, cranked out Sit-ups. Got on SU’s and cranked out about 40 in a row. My time had improved over Round 1. But… (you knew there would be a but, didn’t you?) …but by now I was gassed and twenty pounds is a significant weight jump on the barbell. I was able to get six lifts in before the clock expired at 8:00 minutes.
So I finished my 8 Minute WOD with 171 points Scaled, and I had a blast.
Next heat, Rx. Could I get 25 TTB in four minutes? Could I get any? Answer: No, I did not. I had many attempts within 1-2 inches, but no legitimate TTB. No points Rx. Zero. Nada. Zilch.
What did I get? I got an excellent 4 minute workshop on kipping. Had I done that once a week, since last year, I would have mastered this move. Then I could have rewritten the first paragraph of this essay. In fact I could rewrite this whole blog.
So what is my next Call to Action? Commit to practice kipping and TTB with the goal of redoing this workout Rx before Labor Day. Does that mean I have to master DU’s too?
I already committed to learn Pull-ups. Now TTB and DU’s! This is going to be a rough summer.
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