16.5

After 16.4 wrecked my back, I took the whole week to rest up for 16.5 and it paid off.  My back felt better and better every day and when they announced the last CrossFit Open WOD on Thursday night, I knew I was going to be able to complete it.

See the movement standards here.

When I got to the gym, a few people were just finishing the workout and it looked brutal.  The thing about any "reps for time" workout is that the clock won't save you.  The only thing that will stop the pain is just finishing the work.  I knew this was going to suck, but I knew that I could do it.  I just had to keep moving.

I broke the first round up into 3 rounds of 7, the thrusters felt fine.  I took the burpees slow and steady, knowing that I needed to pace myself in general.  I was already breathing heavy when I finished the first round.  I thought my coach was crazy when she told me to break the 18 into 3 rounds of 6.  It just seemed like a lot at the time and I was thinking 5-5-4-4 sounded a lot better.  But I pushed and I did it.  The burpees felt never ending, but I just kept hopping over that bar.  The 15 round was ok, 3 sets of 5 sounded manageable after the last round of 6s.  The thrusters felt strong.  The burpees continued to suck.

I honestly can't remember how I did the set of 12... I may have done 5-4-3.  Things were getting kind of hazy at this point.  I definitely hit a wall somewhere in the 12/9 range.  Everyone kept telling me that I was almost there and it was all downhill, but I really just felt like I was dying.  I couldn't catch my breath at all during the burpees and I had a little side stitch I was trying to work through.  It was really hard to stop myself from just laying on the floor mid burpee.  My coach stayed on me, kept me moving.  I focused on using as little effort as possible to clear the bar.

But soon I was at 6 and I knew it really was almost over.  Everyone in the gym gathered around me as I was finishing and it was so encouraging!  I did all 6 thrusters unbroken and got through my 6 burpees.  And then it was only 3!  My last thrusters were super strong and 3 burpees later, sweet relief!!!!!  I finished in 22:17!

This was a repeat of 14.5, but I didn't participate in the Open in 2014.  I was in the middle of studying for an 8 hour exam and planning a wedding and I already had way too much on my plate.  I really wish that I had a score from 2 years ago to see my progress, but I do know that the thrusters in this workout felt much easier than they did in 15.5 and my legs didn't feel like jello immediately afterwards.

I Rxed all 5 of the 2016 CrossFit Open workouts and even though some were more exciting for me than others, I am very proud of my performance overall.  I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and happened to discover that I can do chest to bar pull ups!  The Open also identified some of my weakness (dubs, I'm looking at you) and emphasized the fact that I need to get back into a consistent gym schedule.  I've really only been making it to the gym about twice a week on average and I know I need to commit to more workouts and perhaps some extra time on the rower to develop my "CrossFit lungs."

March 18th marked our 3 year CF anniversary and I'm so glad I got sucked into this awesome sport!

Did you do the Open?  What did you think of 16.5?