12.2 of the Open was a bit stressful from the outset because I left this weekend on a whirlwind trip to Tuscon to see one of my best friends get married and to visit family. We left on Thursday night to get to the airport and because the WOD is released Wednesday at 5:00 and must be submitted by 5:00 on Sunday, that meant my only time to be judged was Thursday during my lunch. And because I was asked to work early that morning, I couldn't even go into the 6 am class to practice first. Then I found out that the WOD was snatches. By all accounts, a snatch is the most technical of the Olympic weight lifting lifts and if you don't do it right or get unlucky, you can injure yourself pretty terribly doing them (while I was doing my snatches, Andrew was watching you tube clips of snatches gone wrong). A clean snatch (and yes, snatch jokes run pretty rampant) is taking your barbell from mid-shin (aka resting on the ground) and in one smooth motion lifting it above your head with your elbows locked, your shoulders active, and your hips open. And here was the best part: I had never done a single snatch. Ever.
So I tried to go into this WOD without shaking in my striped socks, but with the attitude that I would learn how to snatch today, by gum. Maybe if I was lucky, I would do one rep at Rx without hurting myself and feel pretty damn good about it. Lori knew I was coming in dangerously novice at this and that I wasn't the only one. We went through the warm up and then she led us through the Burgener's warm up which is designed to break down the motions of the snatch so your muscles can remember them when you are doing them for real. All during the warm ups and my practice of the motion with a 15# bar, I was feeling it in my shoulders. My rotator cuff was making uncomfortable popping noises. This all boded ill. And on my first try with the Rx weight of 45#, I did the motions wrong and couldn't get it above my head.
But then we started and Lori was both judging me and coaching me through the motions. And suddenly I was snatching! Each time I dropped the weight either Lori or another athlete would tell me where my form needed to be tweaked and each time I would muscle that weight into the air above my head. It. Was. Awesome!! I couldn't help but laugh as I kept going because, as it turns out, lifting heavy shit is FUN. Someone described the snatch as "seductive," and I cannot help but agree.
OPEN WOD 12.2: 10 minutes to do the following:
- 30 snatches at 45#
- 30 snatches at 75#
- 30 snatches at 100#
- Max rep snatches at 120#
Total: 30 reps at 45#
I will say that much to my surprise, I finished the 30 reps before the 10 minute mark, so I added weights to hit 75# and gave it a shot. Not so much. I could get it about to my fat roll and no further. In fact, when I first went to try, I hauled the thing up and said something along the lines of, "Oh dear sweet God in heaven!" as I dropped it back to the floor again. Ah well, I think going from zero to 45 is a pretty good PR for the day!
No comments:
Post a Comment