RANDY

I was surprised with another HERO WOD on our white board last week. Honestly, we have being working snatches consistently since late January so I should have seen Randy coming for us. Randy is in honor of Randy Simmons, a 27 year LAPD veteran and SWAT team member who was killed in the line of duty (source). His WOD is 75 power snatches (from the ground each time) at 75# for men and 55# for ladies.

I love power snatches, it is truly one of my favorite lifts right after deadlifts and even trumps power cleans. There is something so empowering about picking a bar up from the ground and throwing it over your head. My max snatch isn’t that high, I think I’m around 70 pounds, but I care about my form over weight any day.

I talked with one of my fellow lifters (and BFF) and she confidently told me I could do this RX, which I really needed to hear. I knew I was capable of power snatching 55# but 75 times? So, my friend and I paired up and I went in with the mindset that it didn’t matter if I finished or not, I needed to see where I stood.

To give myself the best chance of completing this WOD, I turned and faced the wall so I didn’t have any distractions and could keep my eyes straight ahead. I pulled my first 10 lifts unbroken in roughly 45 seconds, which gave me the confidence to think I could actually finish this WOD.

CrossFit can be quite a cruel bitch to my asthmatic self. You see, this happened to me during the 12 Days of Christmas WOD (click here to read) and that turned out to be one of the worst WOD’s I’ve ever done, it was soul and ego crushing. I have learned how to pace myself so I don’t snowball and go from 10 unbroken lifts to singles before 98% of the class. I make sure to watch the clock as I rest, so time doesn’t get away from me, breathe deep through my nose and then jump on my bar. As my coach would say, “We aren’t here to rest, Carly”.

So I went again at a minute and pulled another 10 lifts unbroken, then rested, then pulled 5 lifts and kept this pace going strong up until rep 65. All I could think was, it’s just 10 more, just 10! You pulled 65 reps girl, pick that bar up and do singles until you pass out or finish! My friend was cheering me on and coaching me through and my coach would stop by about every minute and watch my form and yell “Good work Carly, keep it up”.

Between my buddy and my coach constantly reassuring me that my form was still on point and that I could finish this WOD, I did at 9:22 with only 1 no rep. I would have celebrated if I didn’t collapse to the floor in misery, as we call it, “assume the CrossFit position”. Unfortunately, we were working as a team and my friend had to do her Randy in the next minute so I had to pull my dying butt off the floor and grab her some chalk.

Randy was a victory for me in a lot of ways. Finishing my first HERO WOD ever and at RX, completing a movement at a rep scheme I didn’t know I could do and having my grip last that long without chalk in North Carolina humidity, in June. Most of all, I am proud of my form. It’s easy to break form when you’re exhausted, over heated and can’t breathe but a rep without good form is not a rep you can count.

Honestly, Hero WOD’s aren’t about PR’s, I mean yeah we fight for them in our CrossFit world but they are about honoring those we have lost that have so selflessly given themselves for us (blog on MURPH here). No, I will never know what it’s like to give my life in the line of duty but I sincerely hope that those that have, smile down on us while we honor them in our CrossFit community.