This one is by Bryan:
Over the weekend, I coached Rich LeFurgy at the NorCal Masters, a regional CrossFit competition hosted by TJ’s Gym. The event was held in Richmond at the Craneway Pavilion. In 1931, the 525,000 square foot space was a Ford Motor Company assembly plant, the largest assembly plant on the West Coast. The building’s history and industrial design provided a perfectly suited backdrop for the sweaty 40-60+ year old competitors to grunt and cuss their way through the competition’s three major and minor WODs.
The three major WODs, 54% of the competition’s value, were cute named, hard nosed workouts.
The first was “Oly Smokes,” an eleven-minute workout where competitors would perform two five minute EMOMs with a one-minute rest in between. In the first EMOM, competitors did over-barbell burpees and one snatch. In the second EMOM, competitors did toes to bar and one clean. The workout’s scoring was divided into two pieces, 50% was the total number of burpees and toes to bar, and the other 50% total weight lifted. If an athlete missed any of their lifts, they would get a zero for that round.
The second workout was “Hellenita,” a play on the name brand, metcon-killer, “Helen.” The workout was essentially a ten-minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of 150m shuttle run, 10 kettle bell swings, and five pull-ups. The workout, like “Oly Smokes,” had two scoring segments, 50% of the workout’s value was in completing 3 rounds as fast as possible, and the second, finishing with the most rounds at the end of the ten minutes.
The last workout was the “Fat Gripz Master Chipper,” a for time workout composed of a 20 cal row, 50m bear crawl, 13 thrusters, 13 up and over box jumps, 13 deadlifts, 13 wall balls, 13 ring push ups, 13 wall ball, 13 deadlifts, 13 up and over box jumps, 13 thrusters, 50m bear crawl, and a 20 cal row. There were no schemes to this workout, just a slog to the finish.
The floaters, 46% of the competition value, were:
- “Yougin:” A three minute workout where athletes had to do a max weighted pull-up, 50% of the workout’s value, and one minute to get as many 10m farmers carries as possible. The farmers-carries were done with a kettle bell.
- ” Whippersnapper:” A workout where athletes had to get as many ball slams as possible in six minutes after rowing, 1000m for women and 1200m for men. (Ugly)
- “Junior:” A for time workout where athletes had to perform 35 air-squats, run about 40m, grab two plates, run them back to the starting line, load them onto a wheelbarrow, push the wheelbarrow about 20m, perform another 35 air-squats, push the wheelbarrow through the finish line, and then perform 100 double unders.
A quick aside to all of you who have said, “Bryan, why do we have to do 100 double unders? That’s so stupid. In fact, you’re so stupid. Only an idiot sadist with no empathy would program 100 double unders. Only a person, should the justice system not breakdown on us, destined to do a medium to long-term stint in San Quentin would program 100 double unders. Who can do a 100 double unders, honestly? Can you do 100 double unders? I bet you can’t because no one can do 100 double unders. Not a single person I know, at least those with decent lifestyles and health, happy families, can do 100 double unders. None of my friends, and I emphasize friends here, can do 100 double unders. Only sick-o, twenty-five year olds hopped up on that new stuff can do 100 double unders. You know what? You shove those double unders. And do that for time.” Wrong. I watched a 72 year old man squat and double under his ass off, after pushing a 300+ pound wheelbarrow half a football field. You’re going to be seeing a lot of 100 double unders for time. DU development phase here we come. Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, please allow me to continue:
The men and women that distinguished themselves from the pack, the top three men and women from the 60+ and 55-59 year old age categories, and the top five from the rest of the categories, competed in the finals. The finals were a seven-minute, ladder style workout where every minute the workload effectively doubled.
Rich unfortunately did not get to compete in the finals. Going into the final workout, Rich was in a four-way tie for third place (a symptom of either fierce competition or a sloppy scoring system, maybe both), and they chose to break the tie by selecting the man with the most first place finishes.
From the workouts, Rich and I found a few pieces of his game we need to focus on going into The Open, which starts on March 6th this year. Rich’s highlights from the weekend included a second place finish on the Hellanita WOD, and a PR on his weighted pull-up, a piece he has been working on diligently for the last couple months.
As the open gets closer, should you be interested in participating, and I suggest you all do, please come up and speak to me about how to maximize the couple weeks you have left before it starts.
