Workout 13.3

EIE Challenge Tip of the Day 27:  Remind yourself that you are over the hump and the challenge is over half way done!  This is a great time to practice and retest the movements to gauge progress and determine if anything needs more attention over the next two weeks! 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Friday Night Lights at MDR from 5p-8p!  It’s déjà vu all over again. Open Workout 13.3 is a repeat of 12.4!

Mobility:

Keg Drill
Overhead Band Distraction
Ankle Mobility
Groiners
Assisted Bottom of the Squat
Foam Roll Quads
Tricep Smash

Group Warmup:

Review movements, judging standards, score keeping, timing of heats, and workout setup! 

2013 Crossfit Games, Open Workout 13.3

12 minute AMRAP of:
150 Wall balls (20 lbs to 10′ target/14 lbs to 9′ target)
90 Double-unders
30 Muscle-ups

Notes: This workout begins from the standing position with the medicine ball on the floor and the Athlete standing tall. Using an additional ball, box or other object to check for proper depth is not allowed. If the ball is not caught between reps, it must come to a full stop on the ground. Bouncing the ball off the floor is not permitted.  The center of the ball must hit the target at or above the specified target height.  If the ball hits low or does not hit the wall, it is a no rep.  Click here to review the workout description and standards.

Cool Down:

Couch Stretch
Sampson Stretch
Straddle
German Hang

12.4, déjà vu.

For additional movement prep and strategies for workout 13.3, check out mobility wod ‘s video for some great tips!

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This past Sunday, PCF had nine athletes complete 26.2 miles for time at the Asics LA Marathon.  The good news is everyone finished in one piece, three people completed their first marathon, and one person set a PR!  What follows is the experience of a very active and inspirational member of our gym, Estelle!:

As many know, I am a pace leader and mentor for the 11:30 pace group of the L.A. Leggers, a non-profit running club that teaches the nuts and bolts of running a marathon.  We start training people who have never run a marathon (no less a mile) in the summer so they’re ready to run the L.A. Marathon in March.  The 2012-2013 season was my 3^rd as a pacer/mentor.

I joined PCF back in September 2012 since I realized I was lacking the cross-training needed to run a strong and successful race.  Prior to joining PCF, I finished many of my races relatively strong, but I tended to struggle on keeping my mental toughness in play.  I would try to run a sub-5 hour marathon, but no matter how much I trained and ran, I failed and couldn’t get faster than a 5:15. After a couple months of doing CrossFit four times a week, I went east to run two marathons within 6 days of each other.  My improvement in my PR time was amazing…28 minutes in Indianapolis in November 2012 (4:47:42) after running the Marine Corps Marathon at 5:22.  Most people hope for a minute or 2 improvement in their PR.  My progress was astronomical!

If I could PR by that much in 2 months, think of the possibilities after 6 months, 5 times a week of CrossFit!  I would be ecstatic with even a 4:47:00…just a little better than my Indy time. So I trained and planned for a 4:45 LA Marathon. 

On Saturday the day of LAM, I started running a pretty good race, keeping pace for a 4:45 finish.  Then something happened that has happened to me in the previous two LA Marathons I’ve run…I cramped…right at Mile 15…same spot, same cramps.  WTH?!  At Mile 15, there is a huge downhill from Sunset Blvd. to Santa Monica Blvd. down San Vicente.  It’s a good half mile of steep downhill.  If you have any type of knee or hip injury, it’s BRUTAL!  I saw people with knee braces, walking backwards down the hill.  But I took it nice and slow with quick turnover.  I hit the bottom of the hill and my leg muscles seized from my ankle up my shin to my quads, then down my other leg.  I was stopped frozen. 

If you’ve never had a leg cramp, they are excruciating and take a lot of energy out of you just to breathe and move…energy you need to actually finish a marathon.  I’ve told my group throughout the season that when the unexpected happens during a race, sometimes you have to readjust your goals and focus on something else.  Well, this was definitely one of those times. Once the cramps would ease, I would try to run a little, but if I felt a cramp coming along, I would start walking.  I knew the PR was no longer in my sights, so my goal was just to finish…even if I had to crawl over the finish line.  I saw a few of my close friends around mile 16 and broke down crying, because I was so angry and frustrated that I was being stalled again my leg cramps which I’ve had under control for the most part.  But once I finished my 5 minute pity party, I trudged along again…willing the cramps away.

When I hit Century City, my 11:30 pace group passed me.  I was easily 15-20 minutes ahead of them for the first half of the race, but the cramps set me back a lot.  As the group passed, I noticed a girl who trained with me all season.  She was running her first marathon.  I could tell by her drooping shoulders and her glassy eyes that she was hitting the wall…hard!  So I started to rally her and give her a pep talk on how she’d done the training and she was going to finish strong!  I could still feel the cramps, but I needed her to have a happy & memorable first marathon, so cramps be damned!  We started to break down the remaining miles into little pieces using landmarks.  “Okay…we’re going to run to that McDonald’s sign up ahead, then we’re going to walk.”  “We’ll walk to that next signal, then run.” And so on and so on.

Shortly after we started that cycle, we picked up another woman who had been training with my group.  She was also running her first marathon and struggling.  She’s 67 years old, a brand new grandma with a husband who is fighting a courageous battle against stage 4 pancreatic cancer.  She was walking with hunched shoulders, the walk of a dejected marathoner.  I rallied her, as well and she followed our suit, landmark after landmark.  (Cramps??  What cramps?!)

After another mile, we saw one of my co-mentors, who was running her second marathon.  Her first marathon wasn’t a great experience for her and she was trying to run a great race.  It wasn’t happening.   The Great Wall of China was small compared to the wall she hit at mile 18.  I started to feel like the Pied Piper!  Though they didn’t know it, they were helping me focus away from the leg cramps and put that energy into running and finishing strong. (Cramps, schramps!)

Landmark by landmark, we inched closer to the finish line.  Once we turned the corner onto Ocean Blvd. from San Vicente in Brentwood, the excitement was insurmountable.  Though she was struggling, the first girl I picked up screamed, “ALL RIGHT!!  LET’S FINISH THIS SUCKER!!”  We started running…the only landmark we would possibly stop for was the finish line!  We hit the finisher’s chute, which started about a ½ mile from the finish, and I grabbed the grandma’s hand.  I started to scream out encouragement to the people walking towards the finish to get them to run…finish strong!  I vaguely noticed a few people start to run just behind us as we were sprinting the last ½ mile to the finish.  The four of us finished, sprinting, arms raised, HUGE smiles on our faces. 

After we crossed the finish line, a woman came up to me and hugged & thanked me.  She picked up on my rally in the last ½ mile and finished strong.  She said she was struggling in the final part of the marathon, but my lunacy gave her the little push she needed.  As soon as she and the others walked away, both of my legs seized up on me.  I was able to focus away from the pain and cramping by concentrating on getting everybody over the finish line.  Once that focus was gone, my cramps decided to make another appearance.  But I was okay with it. Those two ladies and my co-mentor will always have that amazing marathon finish, and I was thrilled!

So what does my story have to do with CrossFit??  Everything.  I’m still not very strong or flexible or coordinated.  I’m always inspired by my fellow PCFers who dare to push the limits in every WOD they do.  I’ve been encouraged and pushed by the coaches, as well as my 0530 Venice Tribe.  Things I never thought I could do, I’ve done.  I’ve seen people do things THEY didn’t think they could do.  We all sweat and push through the pain and discomfort.  And we persevere and are rewarded with that perfect clean squat…that amazingly fast mile…the first set of unbroken double-unders (well, I’m trying at least…haha).  We rally each other, even if we don’t really know each other.  It’s like running a perfect marathon!

That’s why I love CrossFit.  That’s why I love PCF!