WOD 4:
Three back to back to back 4:00 AMRAPs
Two people on the floor at a time, one person working at a time, one person can sub out during each of the AMRAPs, both partners can switch out at the end of each AMRAP
AMRAP 1
10 pull ups
10 hang power cleans 135/95
AMRAP 2
8 pull ups
8 hang squat cleans 155/105
AMRAP 3
6 c2b pull ups
6 squat clean thrusters 175/115
Thought a lot about strategy for this workout since there were so many different possible permutations. On paper, anything with pull ups and barbells is my jam but this workout scared me for some reason. I was always pretty sure I would do all 4:00 of the last AMRAP since I do well with c2b and clusters, which also meant I would probably be doing all 4:00 of the first AMRAP to give myself some rest in between. We decided on having one girl do all 4:00 of the second AMRAP and having the other guy and girl alternate 2:00 on, 2:00 off for each of the AMRAPs. This probably isn't very clear, so AMRAP 1 I partnered with girl 1 for the first 2:00, with one partner working at a time, then at 2:00 girl 1 switched with the other guy on our team for the remaining 2:00, and I worked with the guy, again, one partner working at a time. We decided reps would be the easiest to come by in the first AMRAP given the movements/weights and harder to come by with each successive AMRAP, so we went ape shit on the first AMRAP. After the workout our judge said we did several more rounds on the first AMRAP than the other teams he judged. This is getting too long, so in the end we won this workout, which was an awesome feeling because coming into the weekend I would have been thrilled if we had finished in the top 10-15 teams overall.
WOD 5:
500m row
500m ski erg
30 cal assault bike
All team members must complete movements in order, congo line style (when team member 1 finishes the row and starts the ski erg, team member 2 can start the row)
Our strategy, which I think is the optimal strategy, was faster rower goes first (our other male), rows really fast, like 1:30-1:35 pace to allow the next team member to start as soon as possible, that male can then coast through the rest of the movements because behind him are two girls who won't catch up to him even if he doesn't move very fast. The idea is the two slowest team members (the two girls) were going to be the limiting factor so I would go last and have some breaks after the first two movements, even if I didn't move very quickly, because I would finish rowing 500m faster than the girls would finish ski erging 500m/biking 30 cals. The rest time let me bike significantly faster than if I had gone through the entire workout with no rest. We finished this workout in 11th place, while not great, I think it's the best we could have done.
After the two WODs we were in 3rd place (we actually did WOD 5 first, and WOD 4 second on Sunday). The top 5 teams advanced to a final WOD, there was a tie for 5th so there were actually 6 teams in the final WOD.
Final WOD:
300 double unders as a team
One male and one female complete:
5 rounds
10 squat snatch 135/95
20 HSPU
Entire team does a trail run (~700-800m)
Other male and female complete:
5 rounds
10 squat snatch 135/95
20 HSPU
300 double unders as a team
20:00 time cap
One of our girls and I both felt good about this workout, the other team members were not. I split me and the other girl up so we could each try to carry the other partner as best we could. Turned out to be a terrible strategy because I didn't consider that we wouldn't finish the WOD. I decided I would do the 5 rounds the second time, after the run, because I could handle doing the workout after the run. The first pair took so long on their 5 rounds that I didn't even finish 2 complete rounds with my partner. I should have gone first, along with the stronger girl, to finish the first round as fast as possible, and then letting the remaining two accumulate as many reps as possible in whatever time was remaining. No teams actually finished, or even got to the last set of double unders, but they were all probably in their 4th or 5th rounds by the 20 minute mark. We finished in dead last on the workout. We were so far behind that when I came back in from the run (I was the first from our team back in), someone in the crowd said "oh shit" when I ran by because he didn't realize there was another team competing. lol.
Even though we screwed up the final workout, and they doubled the point values of the final workout, we finished the weekend in 4th place overall. Meaning we could have skipped the final workout all together and still finished in 4th. If we optimized our strategy on the final workout, maybe we would have finished on the podium, maybe not. Doesn't really matter because our team had no expectations coming into the weekend and we had a lot of fun, because there was no pressure on us to perform to a certain level. The event was run well, I thought the workouts were interesting, and they did a pretty good job of identifying most weaknesses amongst the teams. I expect this will be my last CrossFit competition for a long time, but this weekend reminded me of why I train (because it's fun), and why I will continue to train through grad school, even if it's not for competitive purposes.
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