WED MARCH 16, 2016 | “CARSE”
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Clean, 95#
Double-Unders
Deadlift, 185#
Box Jumps, 24″
Begin each round with a 50 meter bear crawl.
To learn more about Carse click here
I attended the 9:30 session led by Coach Marni. I can’t recall ever having completed this hero WOD. I’m pretty sure that I would have remembered it if I had done so.
I’ve been trying to program activities that won’t interfere with the unknowable CrossFit Games Open workouts. So far I’ve been less than successful, as I certainly didn’t expect bar muscle ups as chest to bar pull-ups had already been programmed. What’s next, ring muscle ups? Uhm, that’d be awesome!
As the cutoff time was 40 minutes I set a goal to complete in fewer than 40 minutes. This was a challenging workout but, as far as hero WODs go, wasn’t as challenging as most.
I knew that I’d need to pace myself and conserve energy. The clock counted down and I began first bear crawl. And I took my sweet ol’ time. I knew that the bear crawls were going to be difficult and I knew that if I went too fast that I’d feel the need to rest whilst completing 50m. And I didn’t want to rest.
Cleans went well all rounds. I dropped each and every rep from the top to conserve energy. I would nonetheless quickly reset and complete an additional rep. I rested very infrequently and very briefly whilst completing rounds.
Double unders were by far the easiest part of the workout. Completing only 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, & 3 was an annoyance more than anything.
Wait, I take that back. Putting on and taking off plates was the most annoying thing. I did use a 5# plate to elevate the barbell. I didn’t do so when putting on the plates for the final round of 3 deadlifts — and it took me twice as long to put on the plates. Dammit.
I dropped every deadlift from the top as well, but I completed all rounds at a quick pace and didn’t rest once. I’d consider that unbroken.
I didn’t extend fully for two or three box jumps. Yup, I redid. As I rebound off of the box I’ve come to accept that fact that I’ll occasionally miss a rep.
Now, about those bear crawls. This was by far the most difficult part of the workout, as my hands became sore and my wrists began to ache. I completed all rounds without stopping, i.e., a quick turnaround at 10m mark and I was on my way. This saved me a tremendous amount of time in the long run.
During the 6th round (before round of 6 reps) I had to will myself continue. You’ll just have one more 50 meter bear crawl after this one. Imagine that this is that round. Don’t stop, don’t stop. You’re halfway there. Up and back one more time and you’re done.
During the 7th and final round I really had to will myself to continue. Should I count up or count down? You always count up, do the same now. One, one, one, one, still on the first 10 meter shuttle. Two, two, two, two. That seemed like a long time. Three, three, three, halfway there. Don’t stop, don’t stop. Four, four, four, four, don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop, don’tstopdon’tstopdon’tstop. You made it. Yay!
Laurie was working nearby. I’m honestly oblivious to just about everything when I’m working out that intensely. At one point she asked, “What round are you on?” I think it was the round of 12. I only recall her looking somewhat surprised and saying “Good job.”
The only thing that I wasn’t oblivious to was Luke joining me for quite a few of the bear crawls. Ha! He slowed me down a bit, and that’s okay.
Time = 38:17
That’s 350m of bear crawls without shitting in the woods once.
That’s also 85 full squat cleans, double unders, deadlifts, and box jumps.
Instead of singing “rock me like a hurricane” I sing “rock me like Shania Twain.” Try it.
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