Emotional Roller Coaster Part 2: “Angie”

For every action, there is an opposite, but equal, reaction. What goes up must come down. The only way to go from here is up.

So many cliché phrases that can ride the emotional roller coaster of Crossfit. Last week, my grueling attempt at “The Seven” left me hurt mentally and physically, but for my great love of the sport, I still just keep showing up and moving on. One bad workout isn’t enough to deter me from trying to get better, but it sure helps when there is a good workout that follows.

Monday was scheduled to be a combination WOD of “clusters” (think clean, front squat, push press) and burpees, but something got shifted in the schedule and we were surprised with “Angie.”

I will admit I am often the queen of scaling, but usually it is scaling weight, not reps. I am physically capable of doing all of the movements as prescribed, and this is a benchmark WOD, so my mentality was to go for broke. With our large class, we were sectioned off starting at different stations, so I would save the pull-ups for last. I figured worst-case scenario, I would accomplish 100 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and then do as many pull-ups as time allowed.

Push-ups were rough, but I started with sets of 10, later breaking them into sets of 5, lastly, doing one or two at a time just to get them done. Coach Morgan brought out boxes as we were doing our push-ups, saying we could scale to doing them on a box, if needed, but I wanted to do this the right way. Sure wish my #nogirlypushups challenge was running now.. I know I finished these in about 8 minutes, but didn’t keep track of my times for the next two movements.

Sit-ups were tolerable and monotonous. I had been dealing with some.. ahem.. “monkey butt” issues from doing “Annie” recently, but slowly but surely made my way to 100, followed by 100 squats. Still in good spirits, but already sweat soaked, it was onto the pull-ups. My hand was still recovering from “The Seven”, but between bandages and tape, I was going to get as many reps in as I could.

Just as with “The Seven” everyone else was starting to finish when I was nowhere near completing my reps. I remember having some of my WOD buddies standing next to me asking how many more I had to go. 73. 62.

“Two at a time. Just get them done!”

58. 57. 56. 56. 56. 56.

“Get on the bar!”

There were definitely some “no-reps” , but my hands were burning and my body physically did not want to pull myself up one more time.

Class ended. I had already been doing the WOD well over 25 minutes, but I still had about 40 reps to go. Blood was dripping from in between my fingers.

“Just stop at 50 and be done..”

At that point I was faced with a big decision. Do I give in to my body’s signals that were telling me I am done? Do I press on well beyond the end of class  just to say I did it RX? Do I risk tearing my hands up even more just for the satisfaction of those two letters at the end of my time?

With a quick wrap of tape from my WOD buddy and a small group of cheerleaders surrounding me, I made the most logical decision and kept going. One rep at a time. Sometimes 2. Mostly 1. Kip, up! Kip, up! Kip, up!

They continued to surround me as I counted down. 10.. 9.. 8.. 7.. 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1. DONE.

Time on the clock: 40:13. Time on the whiteboard: 40:13 RX.

It’s funny how the mentality and the emotions on this WOD were just so much different from the one I struggled with last week. The situations were the same: grueling, physically and mentally taxing workouts which pinpoint weaknesses and suck all of the life out of your body as you gasp for air and try to maintain proper form and avoid injury. Both are knowingly long, time-consuming workouts that bring you to the point of fatigue before you even make it to the last round.

But this time, I felt so accomplished. I was so proud of what I had just done, not even caring that it took me a ridiculous amount of time longer than anyone else. I didn’t care that my hand was BLEEDING or that sweat was pouring off of every piece of me. Heck, I didn’t even care that I took off my tank and rocked the rest of this workout in a sports bra (first time for everything!). I relished in the glory, and couldn’t wait to get back into the box the next day.

Your turn..
Have you ever finished last but still felt good about it?
Do you experience emotional rollercoasters in your sport?
What is your favorite Crossfit “Girl”?