Pacing Ourselves at Vancity Battle!

To the morning crew, I probably sound like a broken record but to those of you who don’t hear me rant about the importance of knowing your body, your abilities and learning to pace yourself accordingly, here’s your chance:

I learned the hard way back in 2010 that going into a workout blindly (and too hard) doesn’t usually go well. It was the Canada Regional competition in Alberta and the first event was a 6 km run. I had never done a 6 km run as a race before, and all I knew was I wanted to get to the CrossFit Games, so I had to find a way to suddenly become a runner and keep up with the top group. So that’s what I attempted to do. Nobody could reason with me as I proclaimed my goal: “I”m just going to try to keep up with the leaders as long as I can.”

Epic fail.

I have learned through the years that the workouts where I’m most successful have been the ones where I finish and think, ‘I might have had a bit more in the tank.’ Usually when I feel totally destroyed it’s because I somehow mis-paced myself. And when you watch the best of the best, they make the workouts look effortless. It is because they don’t redline right off the bad and crash halfway through the workout.

I digress.

Today at CrossFit 604, a team from MadLab represented – myself (Eunice) Baby Nat, Mini, Darren, Sean and Casual Cam – against some of the best teams in the region. We held our own, but the event we did the best in (we were fourth) was a chest-to-bar pull-up workout. Essentially, we each had two chances to do as many pull-ups as possible, followed by hanging on the bar until our arms felt like bricks. Much of this workout would come down to how well the athletes were coached to essentially stop themselves from going overboard on their first set only to crumble in the second set. So many teams went out too hard, underestimating how much truly maxing out would mess you up for the second set. But in the case of our team, Tom has coached the Development Program athletes all year to know their bodies and stay within themselves. Not only does this help guard against injury, it generally allows you to maximize your performance.

In short, I couldn’t be more impressed with how well these athletes knew their capabilities.

To get to know your capabilities, here’s a test for you:

Do a max set-up pull-ups. Rest for one minute. Then do another set of max pull-ups. Add the two sets together and re-test yourself by pacing them out in a more calculated way.

For example, let’s say you get 15 on your first set and then 10 on the next and you finish the second set at 1:35. You completely 25 pull-ups in 1:35. Wait a day or two and now complete 25 pull-ups for time, but break them into calculated sets. Try doing 5 pull-ups every 20 seconds. Not only will you finish faster than 1:35 when you did two giant sets, your body will be less taxed.

This is how most workouts should be approached. I always say there’s no point in going unbroken on the first round if you’re not planning on going unbroken on the 4th and 5th round. Instead, think of each round as a lap of the track. If you ran a 6 lap run, you would probably try to run a similar pace for all 6 laps, right?

Moral of the story: Get to know YOUR body and you abilities!

Emily

Monday

Warm up:

Coach’s Choice. Include skipping with alternating footwork

Skill/Cool down: 

5/5 TGU, work up to a moderate/heavy in 10 min

Workout:

“Jerry”

1 Mile Run

2 Km Row

1 Mile Run.

In the event of a large class (over 11), split the group. Start half of the athletes on the WOD, and the other half (the slower half) on the Skill.

Group one will then use today’s Skill as a post-workout mobilization/Cool Down.

For those whose injuries prevent running, substitute 7min of (smallish) box step ups or skipping. 

Ps. Sheppy requires a doctor’s note from athletes who don’t show up for this workout.