Round 17 - 11/26/10 - Four Weeks COMPLETED!

It really hasn’t felt like four weeks. I honestly feel like I’ve been going to this gym forever (in a good way!). I’m really enjoying it and I’ve already improved in a month. I can’t wait to see how much I’ll have improved by the end of January!

So the workout today was kind of fun. It was the perfect balance - challenging workouts with ample rest (unlike Tabata, which we haven’t done in a while, surprisingly). I don’t usually like taking long rests (and have to force myself not to jump back into something), but today I needed them! All-in-all a thorough, fun workout.

So, WOD:

We did a new exercise (for me) today called the Hang Power Snatch. I’d seen people doing it before, but had never attempted it myself. Personally, I think I like it better than the power cleans. It seemed like a more fluid motion or something. Things like this are definitely more about technique than about strength. We were working to a 1 rep max on the hang power snatch, but the trainer said you’ll max out because your technique is suffering...it’s not like a press where you max out just because you simply can’t push a bar over your head anymore. These exercises are kind of frustrating until you get them right. Personally, I’m still working out the kinks ;).

I ended up doing the exercise a few times at 47lbs and called that my max. She said my technique improved significantly so we ended on a high note instead of trying to max out. Looking at everyone’s numbers, I think I did pretty well for my first try.

Next we did a circuit with long rest in between. There were only two exercises: wall balls and burpees (uggggh, gross, *flaily hands*). We had to do 15 wall balls and 10 burpees (which soooo deceptively sounds like barely anything). We had to do the circuit five times with three minutes of rest in between each circuit...but, here was the catch: if you stopped at any point in the middle of an exercise you had to start all over again. You could rest as much as you wanted between the wall balls and the burpees, but once you started an exercise you had to finish it. They called this an “unbroken” round.

My first round was brutal and I will tell you why. My stupid wall ball was too heavy. I lost my rhythm right away and I couldn’t get it back. The intern timing us didn’t know I shouldn’t be using a ball that heavy, but the trainer saw me and quickly ran in to switch out the balls from the 16lb to the 12lb. It worked muuuch better after that, but it killed my time.

They scored you based on your worst time for the five circuits so mine was 1:48 because of the first round. Had that round not happened my worst time would have been 1:32. Ohhh well, live and learn.

I still felt really good after this workout though (waaay better than yesterday). I went after work and I noticed that the Friday night crowd seems very lively. I kind of like going at that time just for that reason.

Another thing I’ve noticed is the idea of going to the gym straight from work hasn’t really seemed daunting. I like going and I look forward to it when I’m at work. I look forward to ending up sprawled out on a gym floor in a pool of my own sweat. It’s fun, it’s exhilerating and it’s empowering. What more could a girl want?

On Monday I’ll take my official measurements/stats/photos for the month of November. I’ll probably stay away from Crossfit until then anyway (I really want to get a good run in on Sunday).

Have a great weekend everyone!

- N