April 7 (Day 214) – ouch.

So, the WOD for today was:

Part A: 8 minutes straight of “kipping practice.”

Part B: Front squats, 8 x (20 secs on 40 sec rest)

Part C: Helen = 3 x (400 run, 21 KBS @ 1 pood, 12 pullups)

I wound up being late because not only did I hit the “crazy SUV mommies” at the grade school at the bottom of the hill, but JUST as I turned into the complex the box is in, a DUMP TRUCK backed up to block the driveway. Oy! Okay also my stars must be in “messed up” mode because I had  all sorts of mini-disasters just getting out of the house (including quite the classic “slip on the rug bringing H a cup of coffee while he’s on an open conference call, then wiping up the mess with my socks before putting on my shoes to go to Crossfit” moment).

Part A: The funniest part about “kipping” is that we were SO NOT ALLOWED to do this when I was in the Marines. I wonder if someone else has ever written about this? So the whole thing always makes me have this drill sergeant way-way back in my head going “SHEPARD!!!!” (laugh). Anyway – so as we all know, I’m about as strong as a feather, and I’m also lifting over 180 pounds. I did the swing back and forth, but and when I got to the “knees up” in the front (and lifting up at the shoulders in the back) I could get a tiny bit of lift. In fact, I made Coach Bill watch me to be sure I wasn’t just making it up. I also “get” how people rip their hands. Lord! When I do pullups in the WOD, I do them straight (with a band, or jumping, depending on if it’s a strength WOD or a speed WOD), so I don’t get the “hand” thing – and never go it in the Marines. Now I get why it happens – it’s the kip. Ouch.

Part B: I did this down to the smallest box (21″), with the orange bar (10 kg). It was supposed to be with 30 kg – I could have done the red bar (15 kg) but there weren’t any left. All girls doing this WOD and I wasn’t quick enough! I should have grabbed a couple of plates, but there were so many people (plus the folks doing their own programming, practicing for Regionals) that it was sort of madness. I got 63 reps. Didn’t have a problem not sitting on the box, which was good, made me feel good. I don’t have a lot of “issues” with front squats because I can get my elbows almost straight forward, and I don’t have a problem smashing the bar into my neck (laugh). Just reminds me of the yoga poses that do that.

Part C: This was funny – I knew I couldn’t do the red kettlebell (1 pood) without injuring myself, but there were no orange (0.75 pood) kettlebells left! Then I saw that Susannah had stashed one behind her “in case.” She handed me the red one and I just gave her the stink eye. (She gave me the orange!) Coach Bill said to do jumping pullups versus banded, because Helen is a “speed” working on the pullup side, not a “strength” workout. So with the 0.75 pood and the jumping pullups, I did it in 12:21. Still last, even of all the scalers. Sometimes this is just depressing.

Going backwards, this weekend was glorious, and so we did a lot of gardening. We went to the Berkeley Women’s Club for dinner on Saturday before going to hear “Celli” (a 12 cello concerto I’d Kickstarter-funded) at the UCB Film/Art Institute. Friday evening was the party at the Silver Peso for the Open, which was fun, a LOT of folks showed up. I smuggled in 3 bottles of GOOD wine (theirs is SO AWFUL and gives you a TERRIBLE headache) and avoided getting bounced out while I surreptitiously poured for about 5 of us. I made them go buy a glass, then dump it in the bathroom so we had “glasses on the table.” H came and got me then we went down to get dinner – he had had a hard day, so he was in super grumpy mode when he showed up at the Peso. I realized I had to do the “drop everything and dash” but it was just as Coaches Bo and Amanda had come in – and glad I stayed because I wound up getting the “Spirit of the Games” award – for my 150 points (total) – laugh! A pair of “Bad Ass” socks with an arrow pointing up. As I’m known for having CRAZY socks at the box (my claim to fame) they were perfect. Walking down the street with Mr. Grumpy to get him a cocktail before dinner, I was throwing away each of the 3 bottles in a garbage can as we went along – he’s all “How much did you DRINK in there?!?!?!” I started laughing…”Um, this was NOT all ME….”

So that’s my check-in for today. Somewhere along the line (probably gardening then doing the kettlebell swings today, that’s when I started to feel it) I tweaked an area between my ribs in my back (right side) so I went STRAIGHT to Chappy’s office and made an appointment for tomorrow morning. Now after I pound this out, I’m going to call his office and also Kristina’s office, and book out some chirorpractic AND massages! I still have like 8 on my package with Kristina, but I have to buy another with Chappy.

And that’s all she wrote – for now!