Pace yourself! And Other Notes from 13.2

13.2 Part One is in the books.

Before I tell you about my score, let me tell you a story.

I have a good friend who at one time was a borderline world class runner.  He won his age group at the Vermont Marathon with a time of 2 hours 32 minutes 57 seconds, which, to me, is blazing fast.  I was curious what kind of pace that was.  Below are some of the average times for other distances he kept up during the entire MARATHON (26 miles!)

400m: 1:27

800m: 2:54

Mile: 5:50

I can run both the 400 and 800 in those times…once.  I’m not sure I could run them more than once at those times.  The mile I know I can not do, even if I go all out I could not run a single mile in that time; and he averaged that over 26 miles.  That blew me away when I first calculated it.

Now, what does this story have to do with workout 13.2?

Well, I started the workout way too quickly.  I blew through the first round in about 48 seconds.  Which, if it were a one round timed event would not be terrible…but it wasn’t.  Annie was able to do 12 rounds in 10 minutes which averages to about 50 seconds per round….AVERAGES.  It just shows what kind of shape these crossfitters are in.

After that first round I went to shit.  I just could not maintain a decent pace.  I rested too long before picking up the bar, mostly because I felt like I was going to vomit after the box jumps.  I ended up stepping down my box jumps and even broke up my deadlifts which I know was a mistake.  So after my first attempt at it, yes I’m doing it again, here are my tips:

•  When you start to lose a cadence on the box jumps, turn them into step-ups.  Step-ups are a much easier movement to keep a good pace and you are less likely to stop and break.
• Pick up the bar.  Really it’s that simple.  Picking up the bar is the mental part of this workout, only 5 reps can take about 7 seconds even when tired.
• Even if you are sticking with box jumps, make the first rep a step up.  This will stop you from resting before the box jumps and will allow you to adjust your breathing.
• Keep a steady pace on the dead lifts and don’t drop the bar in the middle of any sets.  Ever.

My score for 13.2 was 6 full rounds and 21 reps (5 push presses, 10 DLs, 6 box jumps) into the 7^th round.

I’m resetting my goal to 7 complete rounds when I repeat it on Sunday.