We came back home on Friday night and would have loved go do the Saturday WOD, but all the coaches were out of town volunteering at the Central East CrossFit Regionals for the weekend. The WOD would have to wait, but only for a couple days.
Tonight was my first "official" WOD. I had done a few 1/2 WODs, including Murph, in the last few weeks, but they were like exhibition matches. Yea the work is there, but they just seemed like just practice. I don't mean they weren't difficult or even brutal, because they were, but something made me feel like they just didn't count. Like a boxer or mma fighter, exhibition matches don't count on their record. Same thing for me.
We warmed up with some stretches and moved into some back squat work. I wasn't there last week when everyone worked on finding their maximum back squat weight, so that's what I did. There were a few of us that needed to do that and space was limited, so we partnered up a bit and shared a barbell. We each took turns, slowly adding more weight after each rep. When we found a weight that we could only do 1 squat with, we knew it was our maximum.
By the time we finished up, it was time to start the daily WOD. Today it was overhead squats and lateral burpees. It would be 10 rounds of 11 reps total. We'd do 10 squats and 1 burpee. 9 squats and 2 burpees. 8 squats and 3 burpees.......and finish with 1 squat and 10 burpees. I struggled with the overhead squats at first because my legs were already mushy from the back squats. 10 reps was tough as hell! Luckily, the next round I only had to do 9. The burpees were easy in the beginning. I only had to do 1 in the first round, 2 in the second, 3 in the third, etc. But burpees are the bane of most CrossFitters. As the rounds got easier with few squats, they got exponentially harder with the burpees. By the 6th round I wanted to quit so bad!
For a few seconds, while I was catching my breath and wiping the stinging sweat from my eyes, I actually considered it. I was done. I am sooo out of shape compared to the athletes in my gym. I must have been thinking out loud though, because out of no where a few of the guys working out near me started calling out my name. "You got this Rick!" "Almost there man!" Once again, that sense of community that made me fall in love with this sport slapped me back from the ether and into the task at hand. All that sense of doubt washed away and left no trace. I may finish last, but damn it, I'll finish strong.
And I did. And not even last... But to be fair, last place was a very fit and very pregnant regular.
If any of the folks from CrossFit Praus are reading this, I want to say thank you. Every single person I've had the chance to talk to, either in person or even online, has been so friendly and supportive and welcoming. I am here to stay for a long time. You guys are awesome!
On a side note: week one of our paleo challenge went very well. Even while in a hotel all week, we found ways to eat fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, and healthy fats, while avoiding grains, dairy, and sugar. I know I've lost several pounds as a result. More on this as the challenge continues.
30 pounds down in this pic!!!
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