Life Below 90 Degrees

The human body truly is amazing. Somehow a person with
limited dorsi flexion (think ankle mobility where the toes move towards your
shin), tight hips (will never be a Latin dancer) and 40lbs of remaining excess
luggage got to parallel at the Canuck Games. No smoke, no mirrors, no platforms
and sadly no pyro (my pyro guy was busy working for the Blue Jays). Where am I going
with this? Besides the extreme crispiness of some major components of my body,
it’s the things that happen while warming up for a Labor Day WOD
@CrossFitCanuck. While coming to the ‘bottom’ of an OHS, Jillian screams out to
@defconRX, reminding him that as I have now hit this mythical ‘parallel’, all
my reps need to be there. I’m still not sure what magical elements or
superpowers (c’mon super speed) can be found down here below 90 degrees, but
one thing is certain, the shallow Squat vacation is over…

Warm-up ‘A’
400m Run
4 minute Ladder of
Wallball (@14lbs)
Push-ups

I did manage to complete the round of 7’s for the Warm-up,
but I didn’t think I would finish 1. Yesterday I felt pretty good (considering
the WODs Saturday), but this morning my shoulder and traps were a blazing
wildfire. I rolled out when I got to the box, but I’m convinced that my ENTIRE
left trapezius muscle is just one massive knot. Our strength portion today was
finding a new 1RM for the Clean & Jerk. Sadly, this was not in the cards
for me.  My old 1RM was 175lbs and with
all the weekend work, plus the tenderness, I didn’t want to do any more damage.
On a happier note, I did manage to successfully Jerk 135lbs which means that
slowly, very slowly, my numbers (and strength) are improving. They’re just not
doing it quickly (and I am not the most patient person on the planet).

Labor Day Special (20 minute CAP to get on to the final Run)
400m Run
35 Wallball (@20lbs)

Then…

9 – 7 – 5 Reps of
Curtis P’s (1 Squat Clean, 1 Lunge Right and Left and 1 Push
Press @95lbs)
Box Jumps (20” Box)

Then…

35 Wallball (@20lbs)
400m Run

This is definitely Jillian kind of FUN and by the end (even
though I was completely gassed), I had to admit that I enjoyed it very much. The
Runs are coming in at a steady 2m10s which is really good (and makes me happy)
and the Wallballs (the first round) went by really quickly. The complex in the
middle was very difficult, but as long as you kept plugging away, you had a
fair chance to finish the WOD. I got through the last round of Wallballs
(almost passed out) and got out on the last run with 19 minutes on the clock,
finishing the whole thing in 21m20s. Woo!

BWOD
400m Run
3×20 GHD Back Extensions (@25lbs)
400m Run
Hip Stretches
Shoulder Stretches

Now you may ask yourself why there were 2 runs on the BWOD.
Well @SarahBassels decided that she was going to do the WOD (even though her
elbow was sore) and as she is my lap partner. I went for moral support. This is
why I love the Canuck Family. @sarahbassels started struggling with the Push
Press, but she didn’t stop. By the time she got to the Wallball she was having
trouble. With yours truly as Captain Loudmouth and @zlreyes, @matthew_5577 and
@girmantitov doing the Wallballs with her (they had already finished) @sarahbassels
finished and we went on the run with her. While she was probably cursing us in
her head, but she finished! Very proud of her!

With the last free day of the weekend it was off to catch
The World’s End (the last of the Cornetto Trilogy) and some downtime. As this
week kicks off its prep for Wasaga and the Whole Life Challenge. Welcome to the
end of summer folks…

Bees