Must Find Motivation!

I know it's been a while since I have updated. With my crazy schedule for the holidays along with battling this cold that won't seem to GO AWAY, I haven't been able to dedicate the time. I know some of you were wondering how the competition went.  Lets just say some of it was good.

First off, being surrounded by so many CraicHeads is incredible. I have never met such a dedicated and inspiring group. Even for ones that weren't competing who made the drive, you complete me. I love how at every competition, we are the largest and loudest group. I love it! We spread our infectious ways faster than a zombie outbreak. With a little less blood as well.

CraicHeads!

I found out what the WODS were a couple of days ahead of time. Nothing really scared me, but I knew I would have difficulty with some of the movements. This was a non-firebreather competition. Meaning the people competing are training for life. Firebreathers are the ones you see on ESPN.  They are also the ones who don’t seem to feel pain, or at least they don’t allow it to stop them, or even slow them down. After this competition the only thing I have in common with a firebreather is I don't allow the pain to stop me. We'll get to that later.

WOD 1- "The Mayflower"

21-15-9

Hang Power Cleans 95#

Lateral Burpees over the Bar

10 minute cap

6:03

25th place

An okay time. Lets put it this way, I knew I had no chance of winning this competition with this time. It had to be under 4 minutes to be able to compete. Plus, when I saw  Paul Teehan walk into the box the other day saying he was in the competition. I knew I was fighting for second place. In case you forgot, this is Paul...

Funny because the night before I was talking to the Caveman about strategy and how realistically you should be able to do this WOD in 3 minutes. Yea sure, maybe if you are an elite athlete. I might look like I might be good, but I suck harder than a pro am on her first casting couch.  I was right about the time though. Everyone who was in contention finished close to that prediction.  I knew I never had a chance when I saw burpees listed. I really knew I didn't have a chance when I went through the motions of the WOD the day before. Looking back on it maybe I shouldn't have done that. I think I mentally fucked myself by realizing I was gonna suck at this WOD before I had a chance to do it for the competition.  I called the Caveman immediately after and said, "We are fucked on the 1st WOD!"

Yes that's me sucking at Lateral Burpees!

Paul and how you are supposed to do a Lateral Burpee!

Now the 2nd WOD! Oh baby this is what I was waiting for. I get to lift heavy!

WOD 2- "Myles Standish"

 5min

5 rep max Front Squat in 25 secs (25 seconds start when bar leaves ground)

Immediately following the 5 minutes, Max jump rope passes in 90 seconds.

This is a separate scored workout.  Triple Unders= 3 points, Double Unders=2 points, Single Unders=1 point

215#  5 rep max Front Squat

146 points Jump Ropes

5th Place!!!!

I knew I was going to do well with this one. You had to power clean or squat clean the bar up before starting your reps on the front squat. I've been able to power clean 215# for a while now so I knew no matter what I was going to get at least 205#. I also knew that I would be near the top. It's not easy cleaning that much weight off the floor. I had to figure most people would have trouble with it. I game played here a little bit. I wanted to only have 3 chances before resting for the jump ropes. I knew my legs were toast from the burpees and I needed to conserve as much energy as possible.  So I went heavy right away.  I didn't want to fuck around with warm up weight and have no time left.  185# was my first attempt and then I did 205# right away.  I had plenty of time left so I was only going to attempt 215# once whether I made it or not.  Super psyched that I was able to do this. The video below is my attempt at 215#. At the end you see my left hand slip off and kind of slap me in the face. Ha! Ha! I held the bar up there for an eternity with one arm. It seemed like forever till the judge called that last rep. I was gonna be pissed if it didn't count.

I decided to do double unders for the second part of the WOD. I haven't done them in a while so my timing wasn't spot on like it has been in the past. I was doing okay for a but, but my legs were killing me. With 30 seconds left I switched to singles and my total score was 146. I was thinking afterward that if I just did singles to begin with I probably could have cranked out at least 200 points. I don't think in the end it would have mattered much. 5th place on the Front Squat is awesome!

215#

Paul crushing it at 245#  Bastard!

Now the dreaded 3rd WOD! Looks pretty straightforward on paper.

WOD 3- "Squanto's Revenge"

Run 300 meters

5 rounds

9 Deadlift @185#
12 Box Jumps @24 inches

15 Wall Balls @20# with a 10 foot target

Run 300 meters

20 minute time cap

DNF

(Did Not Finish)

I can run 300 meters without gassing myself so I didn't mind that.

Girls always run faster than me.

Deadlifts are right in my wheelhouse, especially at that weight.  

Oh Baby! My favorite movement.

Box Jumps, Uh Oh! I knew at some point these were going to kill me and slow me down immensely. 

This is in reference to any WOD with Box Jumps. Notice no picture of me here...

Wall Balls, only 15 at a time. I can do those. I knew they would be tough toward the end, but doable. 

Obviously before my back said FUCK YOU!

I was hoping to fall into the 13 to 15 minute category time wise. Oh Boy was I way off.  At some point during my second round of Box Jumps something happened to my lower back.  Not really sure, but I was in pain. Badly. True to Tony No Bread fashion I kept going. I could barely stand up on the box to complete my reps. Wall Balls became super painful as my range of motion became non-existent and the Deadlifts just hurt. At this point I was in my own world. My back was killing me and I couldn't hear anyone or anything except my judge. I vaguely heard Mike Power saying something about not being stupid, but as we discussed later no one was going tell me to stop and no one would have stopped if the positions were reversed.  In some fucked up way I still thought I could finish in time. I believe I ended up being 9 Wall Ball reps and the last 300 meter run from finishing.  I don't know what hurt more at that point. My back or my pride. TNB let out a little cry after that one. 

In the end I wasn't really happy. I mean I pretty much knew where I would finish with each WOD. I have enough experience in the past year to know what my strengths and weaknesses are.  No real surprises. Just the fact that I couldn't finish that last WOD. I was so mad and disappointed. I actually felt like I let the CraicHouse down.  I hurt my back and I feel like I was kicked in the balls. I am having a really hard time getting motivated again. It's now been almost a week since I have worked out. Partly because of my back, but also because I am mentally handicapped because of my finish.  I know there were some highlights in there for me. The 2nd WOD finishing 5th and the fact that I never quit. Still doesn't make me feel any better though.

On another note the CraicHouse kicked some serious ass! Of course Paul Teehan came in 1st Place in Men's Rx, but we also had Sara McEvoy win the Woman's Rx with Shazam coming in 3rd and in the battle of The Yardhouse, Ed came in 2nd over Daniels in 3rd in the Men's Scaled division.  Here is CrossFit Providence's Recap. The CraicHeads were all over the standings. I am very proud of everyone and would like to thank our coaches John, Glen, Sara and Jarrod for making us better physically and mentally everyday. If it wasn't for you guys we wouldn't be able to crush all of these other CrossFit Boxes!

Till next time....

Teehan showing off the goods. This picture depresses me! Ha Ha