Helen and I have some baggage. In July I did my 1st Helen, and totally bonked. I ran the first run in an all-out sprint of 1:29. Not good. My heart was ready to burst through my chest and I was barely able to crawl through it in 15:43. If I didn't think I was going to die, I would have been laughing along with Danny who watched me tank and declared "He blew his wad on that 1st run". Comparing that effort to today is interesting. After slowly pacing the first run today in 2:30 (hello granny!) I did the rest of the 8 parts of the WOD in 10:14 - vs last time where it took me 14:14 for the final 8 portions.
Today, in addition to the measured jogs, I held back on the first round to see what effect that would have. But I dialed it back too much, as I never got to the hurt locker. I am still learning about my abilities and how hard I can push to get right up my optimal performance without rendering myself useless. I have started out too hard and crashed many, many times including my last times through Helen, Grace, and this week's FGB. Unlike some CFOT firebreathers, I can not go 100% all-out and maintain it indefinitely. I wish I could, and I am getting better, but I am not there.
I got all 21 KB swings in rd 1 and partitioned once each in rounds 2 and 3. I hate these less than I used to. Pullups: I made it through the first 2 sets of 12, but had to break once in rd 3. Rd 2 may have been the best and fastest set of 12 pullups I have ever done. Frankly, I am putting it out there: that set of 12 pullups was faster than anyone else could do a set of 12. I was in the sweet spot of not pushing it in rd 1 and not yet being tired as I was in rd 3. Thanks also to Coach M for specifically calling me out right as I got on the bar in rd 2 - "lets see those frog kick pullups!" and I did not disappoint.
I am still winding down from a week where we did FGB (bonk) and then I set a big deadlift PR (huge breakthrough for me). Now that I have posted a more respectable Helen, I can cross that off my list of disappointments. I am going to take the weekend off and hit it more intensely next week. Other than the Deadlifts, I was on cruise control this week, but I did get 4 sessions in that than beats the alternative.
Shout out to:
Barett who crushed Helen in a very impressive 9:07. And Mike Hart who did Fran in 5:56. I know my "coaching" him through it was annoying, but I hope it helped. Those two guys were way into the hurt locker - respect!
No comments:
Post a Comment