Crossfit Open 15.4

Well, that wasn't good.

I went into the week ranked 73rd and I am somewhere around 120 right now (seems like I keep dropping, and at this point, a few spots are not going to matter).

I would never say that I handstand push-ups were a strength, but I never knew they are such a weakness.  I know that I go to muscle failure pretty quick, but I have managed that in the past by going to smaller, quicker sets.  For some reason, that did not seem to help this go around.  Maybe, it was the standard (which I did my best to adhere to, and it seems like I did not do enough research on how to "crack the code"), maybe it is that I just really have horrible muscle endurance in my shoulders, maybe my kip is crap or most likely, it was a combination of all of those factors.

Nevertheless, I gave it my best (three times!) and I found out my best was worth about 550th place in the Masters Men 45-49 category.

I still have a solid chance of getting into the MQ, but unless a miracle happens, like a top 5 finish on 15.5, my chance at the Games ended Monday night around 8 p.m. EST.  If it does happen, I will be extremely honored and proud to have a chance to continue for one more weekend.  However, this workout is going to sting for a while.

Here is breakdown of my activities over the weekend.

Friday, 03/20
15.4 Attempt 1
54 Reps
2:48 Tiebreak

Split the HSPU into 3's and singles on the cleans.  Made it through the round of 12 okay, but came to a screeching halt on the round of 15.

After finishing, I got some advice about my kip from my workout partner.  Apparently, I was bringing my legs down and exploding my legs up without ever getting my head off the ground.

So I decided on switching from a "frog leg kip" to a more traditional kip by bringing my knees down into my chest.  That lead to this...

Saturday, 03/21
15.4 Practice
EMOM 12
M1: 5 HSPU with new kipping technique
M2: 3 Power Cleans 205 lbs.

New technique really felt great and the cleans felt pretty good.  I was pretty excited at this point.

I finished with a little eight minute conditioning piece.

Felt great.

Sunday, 03/22
15.4 Attempt 2
53 Reps
2:08 Tiebreak

I was super pumped for this.  I had a great warm-up and felt really locked in. Even invited my family to come watch.

HSPU felt so great that I decided to speed up the pace a little.  Went unbroken on the round of 6 and really fast singles on the cleans.  First three reps in the round of 9 felt good, came off the wall for a small break, back up and uh oh.  That loving feeling had left the building.  I was right back to where I was on Friday.  Complete muscle fatigue in my shoulders.

By the time I got to the round of 15, I still had 3:20 left on the clock, but absolutely nothing left in my shoulders.  Then, I made a huge mistake by going for 3 right away.  I got them, but it was game over at that point.  With that much time left, I should have gone to singles immediately to at least have a chance to get back to the cleans.  I didn't and I paid for it.

Monday, 03/23
15.4 Attempt 3
51 Reps
2:58 Tiebreak

At this point, I just hoped to get one or two more reps to pick up a spot or two on the leaderboard so I decided to just slow everything down and try to stay away from muscle failure.  However, by now, I was just super fatigued and disappointed.

Finished up and entered my score.  Free falling commenced! Haha!

At least, I will something (among many others) to focus on for the next 11 months.