European Regional WOD 3

Event 3:

20 chest to bar pullups

20 box jumps (24”)

20 toes to bar

10 x 10 meter overhead carry (80kg)

20 toes to bar

20 box jumps (24”)

20 chest to bar pullups

I think, to a man, this was the favorite event of the weekend. It combined skill, strength, and a super creative element that few people could have practiced beforehand. The weather conditions were a little wet, making the bars cold and slippery, adding more variables to contend with. For me, this workout jumped off the page as being in perfect keeping with the non-linear style of training I had been doing for the last 6 months, so although I wasn’t so confident with the toe to bar kipping, everything else felt like home.

Frederick Aegidus set the bar high early with a time of 10:18, giving the rest of us something to shoot for. My heat featured some friendly faces, including Martin Moller from Butchers Lab in Copenhagen and the now mustache-less Jason Mulligan. My plan of attack was to try to stay as loose as possible during the chest to bars and toes to bars in an effort to save my grip for the OH carry and home stretch bar work. The pullups went smoothly, didn’t feel the need to break at all. The box jumps were a little iffy with the ankle on the first few, but things settled in quickly and adrenaline did the rest. The toes to bar were not so slick. After the C2B kip, I couldn’t regain the right rhythm for kipping this exercise. I wound up doing them all in singles or doubles, opting to make sure every one counted rather than starting to swing wildly and getting no-go’d by my judge. This was difficult because everyone around me seemed to have no problem banging them out. At this point, I will admit to doubting myself, experiencing a moment of panic, and predicting a ignominious end in my head. However, even though it was taking forever, I was still getting the reps done without exerting much effort, and that would prove crucial in the end.

I transitioned to the OH carries last or next to last in my heat. The 80 kg felt light coming up, I locked it in, and ran the 10 meters without wavering. The WOD required all athletes to drop the weight after each of the 10 meter carries, so being able to clean and jerk heavier weight repeatedly without being taxed proved the optimal skill to own. I felt strong throughout and finished my 10^th carry first. Back on the bar for the second round of toes to bar I took my time and kept repping out singles and doubles, fighting off a little bit of fatigue in my grip but feeling calm and comfortable for the most part. Jason and Martin reached the bars just as I was transitioning over to the box jumps. These went just as before, in good rhythm, and I was back to the bar for the final 20 pullups with a sizeable lead. The clock was around 8 minutes at this point so I knew that if I could just string a few together then start doing singles I would have the best time. I got 5 the first set, then 4, then 2, putting me at 11 total. From there I just slammed my chest to the bar and dropped to the stack of plates beneath over and over until I hit 20. This was much easier and faster than attempting to do doubles and risking a miss.

In the end, I finished in 9:21. It was such a great feeling to have come through a slow start to finish so well that I almost forgot that Sven and Richard were still to come. I figured that if they could match my OH’s with better toe to bar technique a time of close to 8:30 was possible. But it was not to be. Both struggled with the toes to bar and had a little trouble getting going on the OH’s, coming in at 9:40 and 9:46 for the 2^nd and 3^rd best times respectively. That meant that Sven and I were now tied for first place at 7 points apiece, with Richard and Mikko 12 points behind at 19 points each. Things were shaping up for an exciting final day and everyone seemed ready to enjoy it.