I was debating with myself

as to what my workout should be today. I was thinking about running the 3k posted yesterday, but the foot is still bugging me. Besides, I think I've been doing too much running and not enough of the metcon stuff. Then I remembered reading about someone doing their version of the Filthy Fifties recently....and I thought...yeah. That's the one. I'd last completed this one back in January of this year with a time of 48:50. The only other time I'd done it, I shut it down during the burpees.

I have to admit...a big part of me was trying to talk myself out of this one. You know what? That is EXACTLY why I NEEDED to do it. I'm not dreading my workouts any near enough. As strange as that sounds, I think anyone familiar with Crossfit workouts gets it. So...I walked to the gym, got changed, took a few deep breaths, and away I went.


For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

I dragged my 6'3", 209 pound body to a total time, (PR) of 43:17, which is 5:33 better than my last time in January. I substituted a 14 pound medicine ball for the wall ball, and did tuck jumps for the double unders. (I did the same back in January, so it's apples to apples). I was sure I was going to obliterate my previous time, but I literally ran into a wall during the burpees. Normally, I'd run through sets of twenty five before gasping for breath. I did some tens and a fifteen, but I was really struggling. My body wanted to quit, but my mind wouldn't allow it. I plowed through, and as I lay there recovering, I chuckled as I heard Enrique Iglesias singing "you can take my breath away" on the gym's sound system, thinking I'd stumbled into the new Crossfit jingle!

Filthy Fifty

I'm not really writing about my workouts on a daily basis anymore (at least not online). I'm making an exception today. I had a leg day scheduled at lunch time today, on top of the 5k I ran this morning. I decided to do a little Crossfit workout called the Filthy Fifties. It goes like this:

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

I substituted a 14 pound ball for the wall ball, which was the highest the gym had, and tuck jumps for the double unders. I finished in 48:50, completely wiped out. I lost a fair amount of time walking from place to place in the gym, but to be fair, that allowed me a bit of recovery time as well. The last time I tried this workout I made it through my first 10 burpees, and had to stop. I was dizzy and nearly passed out. I waited a couple of minutes, tried again, and had the same result. I ended the workout there at the 49 minute mark. So based upon what I did today, I'm pretty happy because I've made significant progress.

This is the kind of workout that makes me love Crossfit. It clearly shows how running, although valuable, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of total conditioning. The involvement of the entire body in the metabolic conditioning process makes more a much tougher, more effective workout by far. No, I won't give up running entirely. It's just a part of my aerobic conditioning, not the entire thing.