18.5, End of my 1st Open, bottom 10%

Happy Monday,

So lets jump right into the Open stuff; last Friday was the last workout of the 2018 Crossfit Open for me, since I didn't have a chance to retest. It was described as the hardest 7 minutes of your life, and boy was that a correct statement. Here is the scaled version
Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes of:
3 thrusters
3 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
6 thrusters
6 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
9 thrusters
9 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
12 thrusters
12 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
15 thrusters
15 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups
18 thrusters
18 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups

This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 18, go on to 21. If you complete 21, go on to 24, etc.

Men use 65 lb.

As previous blog indicated I tend to get knee pain after workouts that have a of pressure on the knees. Thrusters are definitely on that list. A way around this for me is to warm them up (A Lot) before the workouts, since the pain doesn't normally set in until afterwards and I cool down. The was no different, but I was able push through it and pretty happy with my score of 94 reps. The last two workouts of the Open I felt were my strongest and felt the most accomplished afterwards. 

I know my workouts have been scaled and the scores are low. Heck, when I use the Crossfit Games app and look at my gym, I am the lowest score for my gym of the men that have added at least 1 score for any of the WoDs. In both the Worldwide (40-44) and South West (40-44), I am in the 9th and 8th percentile respectively. Does this disappoint me or get me down, no it doesn't. I take a couple factors into account.
1 - This was my first Open
2 - 15 months ago I was well over 400lbs
3 - I've only been doing Crossfit for 5 months
4 - I am doing something to set a bar for next year's Open

Yes it was hard and at times I really felt intimidated by everyone else that was doing it. Knowing that I was the lowest in the room can be hard. There were people not in the open that were doing the WoD as their Friday WoD that scored higher than me. The week was especially hard with some bad personal news that had me depressed all week, but this is a journey to fitness blog so I won't go into it here. It would've been so easy to give up and it was difficult to accept the congratulations from people I know had higher scores than me. At the same time, those same congrats, helped me and really inspired me to push myself. The judges and trainers that were there cheering me on and prompting me to never give up or pushing me to the next level were also a huge help and I say Thank You to them.

The other WoDs this week were not easy and Mr Negative was there on Wed again. I really need to be able to ignore him, but with the week I was having, it wasn't possible. Here are both WoDs.

Monday
Power Snatch + Overhead Squats 2+2+2+2+2
AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) 7mins
10 Wall Balls
10 Pull-ups

I could've snatched much heavier, however the added Overhead squat forced me to scale back to 65lbs. When I tried to go heavier, I got unsteady and it started some sharp pains in my right knee. Normally its my left that starts hurting, so I dropped the weight back down to a good working weight. Of course with Wall Balls, I still had to scale, but even my PR (Personal Record) improved and I was able to use a 20lb Wall Ball. See the image below for how this exercise is done.

The Pull-ups were of course jumping Pull-ups since I still have never in my life done a strict or kipping pull-up. Amazingly I was actually able to score 104 reps in the 7 mins. On the way home from the gym was when knee pains started settling in pretty strongly. Rested and I was back to normal for Wednesday.

Wednesday
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3
AMRAP 7mins
10 Toe to Bars
10 Kettlebell Swings

My previous PR for the push press was 95lbs back in January. My weight on the press fluctuated, because I was attempting a new PR, like most of the people that were around me for the workout. First one was 95lbs, which actually felt somewhat easy so on the next one I added 10lbs. Again I felt like I could do more so on next 3 rounds (Each round was 3 lifts) I was able to hit 120lbs NEW PR!!! After I was able to do that for 3 lifts at that weight, I couldn't increase it anymore and dropped back down to 110lbs. Of course it was over 100lbs below Mr Negative (I think I had mentioned he was there) who complained the WHOLE TIME about the group warm up not being effective for this lift. I swear if he wasn't happy if he wasn't complaining, however there were super positive guys also next to me that their excitement that they were able to get new PRs like myself that it was infectious. I was again lower by over 100lbs to most of them, but it didn't matter because they were excited that I was PR-ing also!

For the AMRAP part, I ended up right next Mr N, but it didn't matter he was quiet the whole time (First for everything) and I was able to keep at the exercise. My scaling was a hanging knee raises and a 25lb Kettlebell. I was able to lose myself in the WoD and almost didn't hear when the workout was over. I love it when that happens, usually I get the best workouts during that. Being able to focus and block out everything is so relaxing.

Yes I said Relaxing.

To me, the WoDs are a way to get rid of stress. Especially able to let everything go and lose yourself in your focus is the best. Using the irritants from the week, I expunged ($20 word of the day) with lifting heavy and pushing myself. The best part is the good feeling when the workout is over. The accomplishment and exhaustion go hand in hand to make that awesome feeling.

Now in addition to my normal diet, I also take some supplements.

Rhodiola Rosea - I take this to help reduce body stress and improve circulation
Turmeric Curcumin with Bioprene

• Relieve joint & back pain
• Reduce inflammation & skin dryness
• Boost brain function & memory
• Improve digestion
• Promote cardiovascular health & normal blood pressure
• Enhance immune & nervous systems
• Support healthy eyes, skin, hair
• Boost your energy & mood

And the standards
Multi-vitamin
Fiber
Omega-3
Calcium with D3

In weight news, I dropped again! I hit 222.4 this morning. My Highest was 496.6 so if my math is right I am down 274.2lbs. I've lost 2 small/medium sized people!!! This totally made my morning. 

Even with the Open being over, I plan on continuing this weekly blog. I hope people are enjoying and hope that some find motivation and inspiration. I am available and pretty responsive to questions and comments.

Jeremy Olson

jeremy@mintygreenproductions.com

www.mintygreenproductions.com

Podcaster, Producer, Blogger, and now Crossfitter!

LLAP

Follow me on Twitter and instagram 

Twitter @FewMasterJay

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/fmjay1077/