13.2
I hate this workout.
I don’t mean that like, it’s so good I hate it. I really hate it.
13.2 was the second workout of 2013. At that time, I was “competing” in CrossFit. I qualified for the Northern California Regionals twice in 2011 and 2012, taking 10th in 2011. I regularly won or did very well at local competitions. I was never the biggest, strongest, fastest, or most skilled athlete, but I blended these attributes well and and would “compete” well. By competing well, I knew that I could do well at certain workouts, and others would be damage control. Damage control for me getting the best possible score so I wouldn’t get buried on the leaderboard. I generally did well at higher skill workouts, and would have to dig deep for low skill breathers.
13.2 is the perfect low skill breather. Light barbell and an ass load of box jumps. 5 Shoulder to Overhead, 10 light dead lifts, and 15 box jumps. 30 total reps per round. It is the CrossFit equivalent of running as far as your can in 10 minutes. I knew when this was announced that this would be all damage control. The top 48 athletes qualified to compete at regionals, and I had just taken about 60th place in the first workout, a heavy snatch/burpee couplet. I was in a good, but not great spot. I felt like I would need 10 plus rounds, or 300 reps.
One nuance with this workout was that you could step up the box jumps. The first time I did the workout, I was cruising. I jumped every rep and moved the barbell fast. Until round 6 or 7. I basically stopped being able to jump. I basically limped to the finish with something like 265 reps. I knew immediately this would be a disaster if I wanted any chance of making it back to the big CrossFit dance.
Everyone in the CrossFit space was testing if the step up, which are slower than jumps, but could be more consistent. So I planned to re-do the workout, banking a bunch or rounds with jumping, but switching to steps ups earlier, like round 5. I tried that, and blew up anyway, and got around 280 reps, barbell over 9 rounds.
As we did this, my training partners, Nick Z and Jen there up well over 300, so I knew I was in trouble. I re-did the workout on a Saturday and got 296, 4 short of what I thought would be a worst case scenario. The only problem after doing the workout 3 times in 3 days was my legs were basically destroyed. I really, really wanted to re-do the workout, and went into the gym on Sunday and watched Jen get 11 rounds, around 330 reps.
I just couldn’t do it. I could barely walk, and I decided I would just need to kill the final 3 workouts. I submitted my score, and right at the closing time, I was hovering around 100th place, which was ok. I noticed that a lot of top guys times weren’t on the board, and I wondered if maybe I was freaking out over nothing. I hit refresh and I dropped 100 places to 200 place or so.
I was dejected, but I came blazing back in weeks 3 and 4 and did really well, even though I was outside of a Regionals qualifications spot. 13.5 was a soul crushing Fran ladder, and I turned in one of my best workouts ever and qualified for regionals for the third time (and would go on to qualify in 2014.)
13.2 caused me a bunch of stress, even though it was all self created. In the end, it put me in place that I was able to surprise myself by overcoming a huge deficit and earn a spot on the playing floor. So, I guess I love it.
Workout of the Day
13.2
AMRAP 10
5 Shoulder to Overhead
10 Deadlift
15 Box Jumps 24/20
115/75 – step ups are allowed