The Benchmark WOD for Wednesday is “Rahoi.” Rahoi is a hero WOD, approved and is special to me because the man it is named for worked for my agency. Greg Rahoi was a member of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, # 60mg what we call HRT. Recently, members of HRT apprehended Dzhokar Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. A senior agent once described HRT as “Olympic athlete’s with guns.” Having met a bunch of them, it’s a fair description. Men like Greg Rahoi spend years training, deploying to far corners of the country and the globe to uphold the law, to do what others can’t or won’t in the most dangerous environments imaginable. Greg Rahoi died in a training accident. The truth is that the men and women serving on HRT, and other units that demand great sacrifice – military, law enforcement, fire service and more – most often TRAIN so hard that it put’s lives at risk, just so they can be ready for the real mission. As CrossFitters, I think we can at least understand this.
Strategy
For me, Rahoi is a Box Jump WOD – BJ make up 50% of the reps. Alison posted a video, and unlike the video, we are looking to have control at the top of the box. This may cause some slow down, but I feel like it keeps your Achilles a break on each rep.
Box Jumps
Like all Box Jumps WODs, you will have to know your strengths. If you can jump quickly, like Nick or Chance can, this is fastest and best. Jumping up and stepping down is you next option. I like this because it gives your achilles tendon a break, yet it keeps you moving. The one big detractor is that step down often causes me to rock back on the heel, putting me out of ideal jumping position. I need to rotate back onto the balls of my feet so I can jump. This may cause a second on each rep, but over the course of a 12 minute WOD with (hopefully) 80-100 box jumps, a second on each rep will add up quick.
Thrusters
If you are looking at this WOD thinking, “Those are some heavy thrusters,” then you will need to scale. I see two strategies here. The first is: if you plan to battle the RX weight, break it as needed. This will cause you to slow down dramatically, but if you are looking to make friends with a 95/65 thruster, then shake hands with it and chip away. The second scaling option is to take the thruster weight down to a weight that you do for a set of 6 every set.
Bar Facing Burpee
Ummm. Just do them. Stay steady.
As we always say, if you rest on Box Jumps, you rest at the top of the box and be quick of the ground.
If “Rahoi” had another name, it might be “war on your legs.” If you are fit, you may not need to rest at any point due to strength requirements. Like a tough Open WOD, any rest that you take will be cause you want to. This is an engine test.
Logistics
This WOD takes up a great deal of space – bar facing burpees being the biggest real estate chewer. If the class is full, we will need to do 2 heats. This is cool, as it will give you a chance to score someone and be scored.
Workout of the Day
“Rahoi”
AMRAP 12
12 Box Jump 24/20
6 Thrusters 95/65
6 Bar Facing Burpees