Open WOD 12.3

Feeling great! Spent the last 2 days at NIU coaching one of my wrestlers in the IESA State meet. Had a blast! It was a great experience for my wrestler and for myself. My back is pretty irritated from sitting in bleachers and driving in a car for the the majority of my last 48 hours, but I feel a lot better than I thought I was going to. Got plenty of rest despite the time change and was looking forward to getting this WOD out of the way.

Going into this WOD my goal was 8+. I would have loved to seen 9, but I was pretty sure T2B wasn't gonna allow that to happen. A little friendly competition has been going on between a good friend and me through the Open. 8 rounds would finally give me a win so that was really my only concern. I invited some buddies out to Prevail to enjoy the post WOD cookout and help push me through this one. It was great to have em around. I've learned through the years of being in a weight room that there are voices that you just learn to block out during a workout and there are voices that you could hear even if they whispered. It was great to have another voice I could hear this weekend on this WOD.

Open WOD 12.3
18:00 AMRAP
  15 Box Jumps (24")
  12 Push Press (115#)
   9 T2B
= 8 + 15 (303)
- Felt a lot better going through this then I thought I was. My first few rounds were right around 1:45-55ish. I remember looking up at the clock and it read 9:01 and thinking to myself I'm right on track and I still felt pretty good. I looked back sometime around 4:50ish and thought this is going to be the longest 5:00 of my life.
-I had several no reps on the box jumps during the first 2-3 rounds because of losing my balance standing it up. I sucked some wind here and there on these. I only had to step down on one somewhere in the early rounds. I felt a slight twinge in my back and then it went away. I got into a solid groove in the later rounds.
- Push press was pretty easy. I went all UB, which I am extremely happy with. There were several times the thought popped into my head of dropping the bar right around 9 reps in, but Toolz kept me on track and gave me the right cues when I needed them. That and the thought of cleaning the bar back up seemed way worse than repping it out at the time.
- T2B...you win! I broke them up into 5-4 the first 3 rounds, after that it was a variation of 1s, 2s, 3s, and an occasional 4. I did the best I could and just kept plodding through them. For the last 4 reps for at least 2 rounds it was all singles, which basically was like the STC ring exercises I do. If I fell off, I got back up as fast as I could.
- I finally met a goal on one of these stinkin' WODs so I'm pretty happy about this one. I always wish I could've done more, but that was all I had that day and I'm happy with it.


Inspiration Awards this week...
- Dean Roberts...I don't know how this guy is as small as he is carrying around the frickin' heart he's got! I got to watch Dean go in the first heat and man he makes it hard to quit on yourself! The 115 push press is a little over 80% of his total body weight...that's a heavy 12 rep lift for 18:00 minutes! By the third round his legs were literally trembling and we're only 7-8 minutes in at this point. It looked as if he could barely stand at some points because they were wobbling so bad. He kept moving though and I don't think quitting ever crossed his mind.

- Michelle Roberts & Kelly Witt...my two DP crew members (although I hear I might be getting kicked off the crew soon if I don't start showing up more...yikes!!). These two ladies were awesome! I've had the pleasure of watching them both work their tails off over the last year weekly to get where they've gotten today. I'm very stoked by the performances they put in and glad they both got to shine this week! Way to rep ladies!

- Kristina Harvey...now she went at the same time I did so I didn't get to watch whatever was going on over there, but the cheers I kept hearing for her...man it was cool!! It was that sound that makes your ears perk up because you know it only happens when something special is going on in the gym (and by special I don't mean an amazing score, but a physical and/or mental break through). Again...when you hear someone breaking through like that...it's hard to stop short of that line yourself...definitely helped me keep moving!

- Mama Bear...although she may not know it (because I don't let her know nearly enough) she has been amazing to watch through out this entire competition. I knew going in her T2B were not that great and that they would probably give her problems really early, which they did. I was proud of the way she kept her emotions in tact and continued to push through, instead of giving in and letting defeat take hold. She has come along way since September when she first started and her mental toughness continues to get stronger and stronger...which pays dividends in our lives together outside of Crossfit, which is what really matters.