Hail To The Queen Throwdown: Part III

The second WOD of the Hail To The Queen Throwdown had two components.  First, we had two minutes to do as many thrusters as possible.  For every thruster less than 25, there was a three burpee penalty before you could start the second phase of the workout, which started immediately after the two minutes were up.  The second phase was 21-15-9 reps of pullups and sumo deadlift highpulls ("SDHPs") with a 15 minute time cap.

As prescribed, the weight for the lifts was 73 lbs, but we had the option to do a scaled version at 53 lbs.  If you scaled the thrusters and the SDHPs, then the pullups were assisted pullups with the green band.  Part of me was curious to try this workout with legit pullups, but no part of me thought I could handle 73 lbs.  53 lbs was tough enough. 

My thrusters were predictably slow.  I only managed 18.  Fortunately, I'm pretty quick with burpees so the penalty wasn't too bad.  Even better, the green band offers way too much assistance for me for pullups.  I basically just went for a bouncy ride, and managed the first set of 21 unbroken.  This was really the only time during the competition when being small worked to my advantage.

My SDHPs were a hot mess.  If we're being honest, a lot of my reps shouldn't have counted because I wasn't getting full range of motion at the top.  I was pulling with my arms instead of using the momentum from my hips.  I knew it, too, but I just couldn't get my body to cooperate.  In the end, my time wasn't too awful because of the pullups (9:24).  I finished 38th overall, and 13th out of the 17 scaled people.

By the end of the second WOD, I was starting to feel tired.  I knew I needed to eat, but didn't know what I'd be able to stomach.  I had some orange slices and half a Kind bar, and, before I knew it, it was time for the last event.

To be continued...

-Gym Belle-

Hail To The Queen Throwdown: Part II

Yesterday, CrossFit Queens hosted an all women's CrossFit competition.  The competition consisted of three workouts ("WODs").  WODs two and three were announced a week prior to the event; all they told us about WOD one was that we'd be lifting things up and putting them down.  I figured they'd ask us to lift awkwardly shaped heavy objects.  I was wrong.  They had us do something way harder: math.

We were given five minutes to rack up as many points as possible.  If you deadlifted, you were awarded twice the weight you lifted in points.  If you cleaned, the weight was multiplied by four, and if you did snatches, the weight was multiplied by six.  We were allowed to change weights and lifts once, but we had to pick the weights out before we started and we only had a few minutes to decide.

If you were a proficient snatcher, I don't think there was much of question.  The snatch was worth a lot of points.  There was no way I was going there, though.  It's a tricky lift and not one I'm comfortable with.  I debated only doing deadlifts, but luckily realized that five minutes of deadlifts would be exhausting and really tough on my back.  In the end, I decided to go light and aim for speed.  I remembered doing a lot of 115 lb deadlifts not too long ago, and how tiring that got, so I decided to do 103 lb deadlifts and 53 lb cleans.

In additional to all the competitors, there were tons of spectators so it was really loud.  I can't think of any other time in my life when so many people were cheering/yelling at me to keep going.  My judge who was counting my reps was also very encouraging, which helped a lot. 

I did 40 deads, but only 22 cleans.  In retrospect, I probably should've switched to cleans as soon as I slowed down on the deads.  Instead, I wasted time trying to eek out a few final deads.  I also lost a ton of time stripping the weights between lifts.  My arms were jelly and just wouldn't cooperate.  I felt good coming out of the event, though.  I came in 37th out of all 42 competitors and 12th out of the 17 in my level.  Considering my size, I'm pretty psyched about that.

I was in the second heat out of six, so once I was done, I downed some Progenex and watched.  It was pretty inspiring to see the really strong women, especially the ones were who were good at snatching. 

Before I knew it, it was time for WOD number two...  (to be continued)

-Gym Belle-

Hail To The Queen Throwndown Part I

Today I participated in the Hail To the Queen Throwndown at CrossFit Queens.  It was awesome.  I'm pumped, exhausted and very grateful.  I have a lot to say about the event, but my forearms can't take much typing right now, so I'm starting by thanking some incredible people:

1. EJ and Sandy, my kickass teammates who inspired me to sign up, kept me psyched the whole time and and made this a truly amazing day;
2. Brooke, Levi and Mark who schlepped all the way to Astoria to cheer us on;
3. ProTec Athletics for making the knee bands and the brilliant portable ice massager (like a Push Pop, but with ice!) that enabled me to compete on less than perfect knees;
4. The lovely ladies at Lululemon East 66th for helping me pick out some snazzy new shorts last night to accommodate my knee bands;
5. Everyone who endured my ongoing debate over the past week re competing on less than perfect knees;
6. The parents who brought their daughters to an event celebrating female strength;
7. The parents who brought their sons to an event celebrating female strength;
8. CrossFit Queens for putting on a phenomenal event;
9. The volunteers who made everything run so smoothly; and - last but not least,
10. The woman who asked me what grade I was in - 11 days before my 32nd birthday.

 You guys rock!

-Gym Belle-