2010 Canada Central Sectional Wrap-Up

After arriving home late Sunday night and just being too exhausted to write anything on Monday, here I go with a wrap-up of this past weekend's CrossFit Sectionals in Edmonton, AB. There were 55 males and 43 females competing for one of the top 15 spots to qualify to the Canadian Nationals!


WOD 1
3 RM Overhead Squat

The warmup area wasn't what I was expecting and we were also not allowed to drop the weights up in that area. Warm up was difficult... 20 girls sharing one rack and one bar trying to warm up our squats for the first event. Warmed up 125# and then had to stop... ran out of time and we couldn't put the rack any higher either.

Went down stairs to the 1st station and had to tell our judge our first lift. Couldn't warm up any at the station and we were surprised to be using the ladies 35# bar as well. The 35# bar is significantly narrower than the regular bar. That through me off big time in terms of balancing the bar over head. I never use that bar for anything. Nailed my first attempt easily with 140#. Then bumped up my second attempt to 155#. Just couldn't find the balance in my hands and failed at the bottom of the second rep. Stayed with the 155# for the 3rd and final attempt... squated it 3 times just lost balance at the top of the 3rd rep. I was disappointed with that. Only because I did 3 reps of overhead squats on Thursday with 165#. Not my best performance, but 140# was good enough for 4th place in that event. Chad managed to squat 185# and had to run forward to save the last rep and show control before dropping it. He fought hard for it and earned 16th place on that one.

WOD 2
AMRAP Thrusters (95#M, 65#W) in 7 min

This was a complete mental battle. Those who could turn off their brain and ignore the immense amount of pain going on in their legs came out on top of this one. I finished with 74 reps and a 21st place in that event, while Chad earned 70 reps and 34th. As you can tell... thrusters are not our thing.


WOD 3
5 Rounds for Time of:
5 Power Cleans (155#M, 105#W)
10 Burpees
200m Run

Man those power cleans got heavy quickly. I did the first round unbroken and was the first female back to the bar in my heat. But the weight of that barbell forced me to break up the power cleans and do them in singles. I waited far too long inbetween reps before picking it back up and wasted valuable time. Not my best performance considering the lead I had after the first two rounds, but that is something to work on for regionals. My mental toughness. Completed WOD 3 in 11:24 and 27th place.
At the end of day 1 I was sitting in 16th place with 52 points (the lower the points the better). I needed to have a great performance in the final workout to secure a spot in the top 15.
WOD 4
"The Canadian Crippler"
For Time:
30 Pullups (chin break vertical plane)
15 Deadlifts (225#M, 155#W)
400m Run
30 Pushups
15 Overheads (135#M, 85#W)
30 Squats
15 Front Squats (135#M, 85#W)
400m Run
15 Deadlifts
30 Pullups
Do or die time. I had to go out hard and maintain the lead I know I could get after the first set of pullups. I did the first set of pullups completely unbroken and made my way down the stair case to get to my deadlift bar... the entire crowd was shocked. I was the first person down to the deadlifts. The heats were all ran with 6 guys and 6 girls. I beat all the guys off of the pullup bars... the only one to do so in any heat. Ya I'm proud of that moment!
I pushed my way through the deadlifts and got on with the running. Pushups were rough but I stopped just before failure each time and finished the 30 in 2s and 3s. Used the split jerk technique for all of the overheads to keep as much gas left in my legs as I could. After all the thrusters yesterday, everyone's legs were really sore! Slow through the air squats so I could attack the front squats. I picked up that 85# bar for the front squats and it felt like I was holding 170# and going for a new PR. It was insanely difficult. I yelled and screamed my way through all 15 in 2s and 3s. There was no choice for me. I HAD to yell and scream through each rep otherwise my brain would have gotten the better of me. I needed that so I thought about yelling rather than how HEAVY those squats felt.
Back on to the final two laps of running. On my 2nd lap Laura MacDonald (OPT - Big Dawg) had began her runs. Chad and Laura's husband Gord ran beside us and coached us the entire way. "Keep up to Laura, you guys are a team, do this together" Chad kept saying. That kept me find the inner drive to keep the pace high and finish off strong. Got back to the deadlifts, and with probably the worst form of the weekend I finished off those deadlifts one by one. I told myself that it didn't matter how good it looked, just grab the bar and GET IT DONE!
Staggered my way back up the stairs to finish the last set of pullups. Rocked them out and felt to the floor. I was completely exhausted. I knew I achieved something. At that point it didn't matter to me what 'place' I finished. I gave it my all in the final workout. I pushed myself to the limit. More importantly I helped to push fellow Big Dawgs; Laura and Liz to their limits as well. We did it as a TEAM this weekend. The Big Dawgs were a solid front. We cheered loudly and cared about our friend's achievements as much as we cared about our own. We took pride in each other's PRs because we all know that following and posting to OPT's Big Dawg blog pushes everyone to bigger and better things.
Chad was there for me throughout my entire final workout. He ran additional laps after his final workout to push me to a faster time. He made me grab that bar sooner than I would have in the horrible front squats and deadlifts. He was the reason I was able to push as hard as I did for that final workout. Chad helped me in more ways than I can thank to boost up to the 12th place spot and move on to the Canadian Nationals at the end of May. THANKS!

Nervous Ramblings

Today is the day. The day our Sectional WODs are announced. I'm nervous. I wasn't nervous at all until yesterday. What triggered it was seeing the British Columbia Sectional WODs... CRAZINESS! The weekend is almost here and I feel very well prepared, yet still nervous about what comes up. Everyone has their weaknesses and while I have improved drastically on mine (140# to 170# front squat, 125# to 150# power clean, 2:01 to 1:57 500m row, 190# to 210# back squat all in 2 months!), there are still somethings that would scare me if they came up.

I'm trying to be positive and go into this weekend in a totally different mindset then I did last year. I am going into this year with the goal of qualifying and getting in that top 10 at the CrossFit Games. This is an incredibly difficult task, yet I believe in myself and my capabilities. I will definately need a little luck on my side with what pops up in the workouts, but doesn't anyone? My main goal this year is to support my fellow Big Dawgs and create a larger team atmosphere. People will know the Big Dawgs are in the house!

7 days until Canada Central Sectionals!!

One week left until I will be competing for one of the top 15 spots for the Regionals.

Couple videos of recent workouts:

Power Snatch into AMRAP Overhead Squats from Katrina Burton on Vimeo.



March 20, 2010 - AMRAP 10 min from Katrina Burton on Vimeo.

Death by CTB Pullups & Burpees

OPT Big Dawg WOD for Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Death by CTB Pullups (1 in min 1, 2 in min 2, 3 in min 3, etc)
Unbroken sets... you cannot hang on the bar or do a couple swings per pullup. Chest must touch the bar or you are done. Continuous movement.
17 rounds complete = 153
Had enough energy to keep going but a rip is starting to develop and it's better to let it heal than keep going this close to Sectionals.

2 min rest

Death by Burpees
15 rounds complete + 12 = 132

Double tomorrow. Friday off. Double Saturday and Sunday.

Thruster & Double Under WOD from Sunday

Here's the video from the 1st workout I did on Sunday.

Sunday, March 7th - Thrusters & Double Unders from Katrina Burton on Vimeo.

Double Day Weekend

SATURDAY WODs
Part 1:
5RM Clean & Jerk (max 3 sec reset at bottom)
95#, 115#, 125#, 130#
I called it quits after the bar slipped out of my hands as I was lowering the weight to the ground on the 5th rep of the set with 130#. Scraped up my shins pretty badly... good thing I was wearing high socks!!

Part 2:
For Time:
2000m Row
30 SDLHP (80#)
1000m Row
20 SDLHP
500m Row
10 SDLHP
22:23
Ouch! That was painful. My legs, butt and back were on fire during that one. The SDLHP were a refreshing "break" from all the rowing.

SUNDAY WODs
Part 1:
For Time:
50 Double unders
5 Thrusters (65#)
40 Double unders
10 Thrusters
30 Double Unders
15 Thrusters
20 Double Unders
20 Thrusters
10 Double Unders
25 Thrusters
7:50
Tried to keep it as unbroken as possible. The 15, 20, and 25 reps of thrusters were broken. Zero motivation on this one today. But I did take our rower chain oil and lubed up the bearings of my Buddy Lee skipping rope, which helped to get rid of the crazy sounds it's been making lately.

Part 2:
150 KB Swings (1.5 pood)
8:53
Just glad to be done for the day. Did this one later in the evening than I would normally train (7:45pm), but it was great. It's been nice and convenient to have that mini gym in our basement to train it. I can finish and come straight upstairs for a homemade shake or post-WOD meal.

Split Training

Yesterday we did two workouts... my arms are feeling it today.

WOD #1
AMRAP 20 min:
300m Row
Amrap (until failure) handstand pushups
Amrap ring dips
Amrap pushups
Don't remember the complete breakdown but it was 121 reps in 6 rounds plus an additional 62m of rowing.

4 hours rest

WOD #2
For Time:
30 Box Jumps (20")
10 Pullups
30 Box Jumps
20 Pullups
30 Box Jumps
30 Pullups
3:37

OPT Big Dawg Training WOD from Katrina Burton on Vimeo.

In the Land of PRs!

I got another PR today! I feel like Sidney Crosby does in the photo... I feel like I've just conquered the world! ANOTHER PR in the front squat, one of what I would have considered in my past to be my weakest lift. NOT NO MORE BABY!!!

Today's WOD:
A1.) Front Squat @ 30X0; 3,3,3,2,2,2,1,1,1 reps; 180 sec rest
3s@ 95, 115, 125#
2s@ 130, 135, 145#
1s@ 155, 165 (PR), 170(failed but SOO CLOSE!)

A2.) Seated Military Press @ 30X0; 3,3,3,2,2,2,1,1,1 reps; 180 sec rest
3s@ 55, 65, 70
2s@ 75, 80, 80
Was forced to do the 1s at 80# as well, as we have a gap in weights between 80 and 95#. Time to purchase a couple more 5# iron plates to make the progression a little bit easier.

B.) 30 sec on/30 sec off of Unanchored abmat situps with two hand straight arm touch over head
21, 22, 23, 22, 22, 22, 21, 23

What's even better is Sectionals are only 25 days away!!

Travelling

I spent this past weekend up in Edmonton, AB visiting my grandfather. He was diagnosed with cancer this past summer, while the cancer hasn't grown in size since they've found it we are trying to spend as much time with him as we can.

While up there, I busted out a couple of workouts at CF Edmonton owned by Chad Williams and Auty Brooks. Great guys, great box! If you are ever in their neck of the woods their box is a must visit!

WOD on Saturday:
AMRAP 15 min:
3 OHS (105#)
10 Box Jumps
15 rounds!

Right before we got started, Chad said to me 'what do you think 20 rounds?' I sort of chuckled and thought about it... I was thinking 10 rounds would be a good score. 3-2-1 Go... I missed three squat snatch attempts forward trying to get the bar overhead. Screw it! I changed my strategy and it paid off. Cleaned the bar up and got it to my back ASAP to widen my grip and go. No point of coming back from the box jumps and staring at the bar to calm down my breathing to land the squat snatch. The quick strategy change allowed me to get off the box jumps, grab the bar and go. I nearly threw up at the end and had the worst blood throat I've ever had.

WOD on Sunday:
7 sets for load:
7 unbroken & no pauses hang squat clean
7 handstand pushups
55#, 75#, 80#, 85#, 90#, 95#, 100#
All handstand pushups were strict and unbroken

Must go up in weight each time. If you fail in the hang squat clean, rest and try again. This one was not for time, but rather practing for the HSPU and to find a max load for 7 hang squat cleans. Don't think 100# was the max load I could have handled, but it was a good progression of weight. I think I could have gotten 10-15# more and that's it.