Physics Crossfit "Lab Partners" Competition. A victory, but not a win.

I'm not a winner, never have been.  Or perhaps I simply have a different definition of victory than most.

I'm sure psychoanalysts could pick apart the experiences of my youth that lead me to this attitude, but I've always valued performance over victory.

Despite finishing second at yesterday's Physics Crossfit "Lab Partners" competition in the men's scaled division, it was a definitive victory.

I may be a little self-conscious about my age, but I was the oldest competitor in my division by 10 years, and one team was literally half my age (Dave and Maks, 34 and 29 and Will and Joe are 19 and 20. Kamil, my partner is 28). So to be able to hold my own in that company was extremely validating.

We started with ladder, working up every minute, squat clean thrusters in 10# increments until maxing out then switching to clean and jerk, score is total of both lifts for both team members.

I hadn't tested my clean and jerk in a while, my best stood at 175# (from a year ago last July), when I got to that bar I was still doing thrusters and feeling good about them, so I tried the thruster and I managed it without too much struggle. My previous max thruster was 155# so I figured this was a good time to switch to clean and jerk.

Not sure if this was my last thruster at 175lbs or
my first clean and jerk at 185lbs

In the past, and on separate occasions, I had cleaned 195# and jerked 185# (from the rack), and had just hit a very heavy thruster, so I felt pretty confident moving to the clean and jerk. I nailed 185# easily,  195# too.  Got to the 205# bar.  The elusive 200# club, I somehow managed to clean it, wasn't the prettiest clean ever, but I stood it up. Just focused on getting under the bar and locking it out. Bam! 205# clean and jerk PR.  I tried to clean the 215# bar, but I had hit my limit (for now).  Our total score was 780#, good for second place, just behind Dave and Maks and 10# ahead of Will and Joe.  I was on cloud nine after this performance.

205lbs clean, ready to jerk.

The second event was a sprint. 10 minute AMRAP of 12 calorie row, 7 burpee box jumps and 7 hang power snatch. partners alternate rounds.  This was ridiculously hard. There was just not enough time to catch your breath during your partner's turn.  The row took so much out of you.  I did well on the burpees, and Kamil killed the snatches, we finished 1 reps shy of 6 rounds, 1 reps behind Dave and Maks. Will and Joe killed this workout, finishing first, putting us in 3rd (by one lousy rep!)

Rowing for calories is never fun.

With 3 minutes and 40 some seconds left,
the hang power snatches were getting really rough

The third event was a 15 minute AMRAP of a long chipper.  Share the work however you want.  100 wallballs 14# ball, 30 toes to rings, 75 double unders,  75 dumbbell snatches 50# alternating arms, while your partner holds a plank, and 30 power cleans at 135#.  If you finish, start over.  Kamil and I crushed this workout. Mostly thanks to Kamil's fabulous double unders. We were the only team in our division to make it back to the wallballs and manged to get 34. I did really well on the snatches, switching hands on the way down to touch and go the next rep worked really well.

Toes to rings, probably the
easiest part of my day.

Dumbbell snatches, somewhere out of frame,
Kamil is holding a plank.

So the standings after the 3 workouts was Dave and Maks in first with 5 points, Kamil and I in second with 6 points and Will and Joe in third with 7, the closest race out of all the divisions.

The final was brutal.  With the top three teams advancing and the double point value for this event it was a winner take all. It was another chipper, but for time, first one done wins.  Started with 25 shoulder to overhead with 125# bar, 30 front squats with the same bar, 3 rope climbs, 2x 75' walking lunges with 45# plate overhead, once for each partner, 3 rope climbs, 30 front squats and 25 shoulder to overhead.

Shoulder to overhead at 125lbs, while we were fresh.

Hurting like nobody's business, but wasn't
going to let Maks overtake me.

Suffering through the last of the front squats

I hit my limit during this workout.  Everything was going well until my turn at the lunges.  My left spinal erector started to spasm halfway through, but Maks was right behind me. We were in first! I couldn't stop. As Kamil climbed the rope I dug my thumb into my back and stretched it.  I was able to climb the rope, but I was worried about the front squats.  I fumbled with my belt, because I knew there would be no squats without it, and this allowed Dave and Maks to catch up. And the squats were brutal, I could only muster a couple. Kamil tried to take up the slack, while slowly my back seemed to get a bit better. But it was too little too late. We slogged through the shoulder to overhead to a second place finish and cheered on Will and Joe who were also at the end of their rope.

Podium finish!

I'm not nearly has wiped as Brockville, which I think was because that was outside in the sun. I was alseep by 8:30 last night to be sure, but this morning I feel pretty good considering all the work I put out yesterday.

This was possibly the biggest victory of my life.  So far.

Personal cheering squad.

Progress update:

Clean, Jerk and Clean and Jerk PR

Strength:
Bench: 230lbs November 19, 2014 (up from 225lbs)
Dead Lift: 365lbs September 17, 2014 (up from 355lbs)
Press: 145lbs September 9, 2014 (up from 140lbs)
Back Squat: 295lbs September 12, 2014 (up from 285lbs)
Front Squat: 255# September 3, 2014 (up from 250#)
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Power:
Power Clean: 195lbs Nov 25, 2014 (up from 185lbs)
Power snatch:  140lbs Dec, 5, 2014 (up from 125lbs)
Push Press: 185# (up from 175#) Sept 15, 2014
Clean: 205# (up from 191#) Dec 13, 2014
Jerk: 205# (up from 185#) Dec 13, 2014
Snatch: 135# (up from 130#) Nov 21, 2014
Clean and Jerk: 205# (up from 175#) Dec 13, 2014