I’m including the part one because I reckon I’ll have more of these experiences.It’s been a tough week for me Crossfit-wise, the moment I started thinking, “yeah, I can do this Crossfit malarky” was the moment it all started to get extremely tough. The Crossfit Gods simply replied to my arrogance with “Oh really?”

Friday I was given Lynne, which was

Five rounds for max reps of:
Body weight bench press
Pull-ups

It was like the anti-Riley workout, I’m not strong enough to BP my bodyweight and pull ups are my enemy.

Funny anecdote: I was in Limerick, so I went to the University’s gym. I slapped on 75Kg. One, Two, Thhhhreee, Fo- and I maxed out.I didn’t have a spotter so I just had to wait until someone came along.

Monday brought another 105 pull ups as part of it’s routine, and Tuesday brought Linda, aka three bars of hell. From Linda, my back was aching all day Wednesday. In fact, when I went to coach Clever Little Monkeys on Wednesday it spasmed and I had to lie down for twenty minutes. Even still, on Wednesday (my rest day) I was looking forward with giddy anticipation to Thursday.

Thursday – 120 pull ups, 120 dips. Or just 30 Muscle Ups. Of course, I can barely do one Muscle Up so it was pull ups and dips for me. Time 35:36.19. Ouch

So yesterday, I was just exhausted. I had felt great from Thursday’s WOD, if a little burnt out, but I’d had the energy to do a tough training session out in UCD. But Friday morning it was a struggle to get out of bed, and I prayed for Crossfit to give me a 5K run. No such luck, as I found out

omplete as many rounds as you can in twenty minutes of:
65 pound Hang squat clean, 12 reps
7 Pull-ups

More pull ups!!!! Would my back survive the Cleans? Was it back to full strength? Should I scale down the weight?

Instead of doing this one at lunchtime, I left it until the end of the day. So from 7 until 3 I thought about how I could possibly complete this WOD. I was tired, lethargic, my body battered from an intense week, my mind unable to focus for very long.

I spent longer getting ready for this WOD when I made it to the gym. I decided I could lift the 30 Kg so I would be doing a real WOD instead of a scaled one. (The whole real versus scaled one is just for me, I have a goal of being able to do Crossfit fully and with decent times in three months. I fully support scaling workouts if you can’t lift the prescribed weight, so long as you are stretching yourself and not selling yourself short)

Round one went well enough, and I was pleasantly surprised when the first seven pull ups came with ease and in one burst. But I knew I had a long way to go. On Round 2 I dropped at 4 pull ups. A temporary slip I reminded myself, but by round 3 I fell after 3 pull ups, and was forced to complete the round in 3, 2 and then another 2.

Then the mental anguish started kicking in, and the thoughts of weakness and self pity. The bar begin to tax my grip, and grate the scab on my thumb left by Linda on Tuesday. I completed the twelve in one set but there was someone at the pull up bar. A steely glare informed him I was doing a WOD and he needed to move on. He obliged, but I still felt the pressure. Surprisingly, I busted out 5 pull ups in a row, and instantly jumped back to complete the other two before returning without pause to the bar.

Around Round 5 the bar’s heaviness became apparent to me and I completed the twelve in a set of 8 and 4. My form was severely diminished and try as I might my hips wouldn’t respond properly. My catch and dip weren’t in sync. I prayed for sweet release but the only release from the cleans were pull ups, which had become a joke. I was stopping for water, taking more and more deep breaths, exhaling sharply and painfully with each one. There was simply nothing in the tank, nothing.

Back to the pull up station, and I completed the 7 in a series of 2’s and 1’s, adding in another reverse pull up just to compensate for the pull ups. I loved the clean but I simply couldn’t do it. The pain I felt was letting down someone you truly cared about. I knew the clean was meant to be done right with care and affection, yet I just jerked the bar around.

2.43 to go, I can get one more round in, but the bar is heavy and I my forearms ache, my fingers unwilling to close. 6, then 6, 20-30 second break in between. One minute to go and I attempt the pull ups. By now, they’re just series of ones, and try as I might, I can’t jump back up quick enough. The timer goes with one pull up left to do. One pull up short of 8 rounds.

I complete the pull up, then do five reverse pull ups by way of atonement. I lie down for a few minutes and berate myself, the Post WRI doesn’t look to good and the cycle home is slow and arduous. I fall into a heavy sleep.

So what positives can we take from this? For me anyway, it’s the mental tenacity of not listening to your inner wussy, the guy who always wants to quit. If you commit to something, see it out, even if it means you limp home, which I did.

Secondly, and this is a broader lesson I’ve taken from my Crossfit commitment, is that you’re tougher than you think and can push yourself harder. So do it, go for that extra rep, that extra kilo, that extra mile, or get that heart rate higher. So what if you fail to reach your goal, pushing yourself to the max is the important part. It’s what will reap the most rewards in the long term and provide the biggest emotional payoff in the long term.