RopeClimbs

Oh hi Rope Climbs. Nice to meet you.

Sure- I have climbed a rope before in CrossFit, but this came from a lot of practice and a lot of confidence. As a kid, I could never climb the rope in gym class unless it had knots in it; I was always too scared to try the un-knotted rope, and thought I would fall off at the top. One day, maybe a year or so ago, I had Dan teach me how to climb a rope after watching some girls fail on them at a competition. I didn’t want to fail at them when I had to do them. I am sure I looked like a crazy person using most of my upper body to get up the rope and from then on, I knew I needed to get more proficient at rope climbs- using my legs, not just my arms.

Yesterday, after doing CrossFit for 20 months I did my first WOD with rope climbs. They have been programmed in the past, but I couldn’t get over my fear of coming down the rope when there is a “rounds for time” workout. I always thought I would freak out, trying to get the best time, and not know what to do when it came time to climb, or worse- fall from however many feet high. This fear is real guys. I am not making this up.

Anyways, back to yesterday. The workout was 10 rounds: 1 rope climb, 2 deadlifts at 205#, and a 100m run with a 20 minute time cap. I thought this was a generous cap. I was seeing times of 14 minutes, all the way up to 18 minutes. So in my head I thought I had this in the bag to finish before the time cap. Well, I was wrong. Yes.. I have practiced rope climbs one at a time on days that I am fresh. I have never felt or realized how hard it is to climb a rope when your grip is shot, you’re all sweaty, and after about 3 climbs, your inner thighs hurt like hell, but you know you still have a few more to go. I got through 8 rounds plus one rope climb and one dead lift (so nine rope climbs total in 20 minutes). For me, I did not like my final score, but still wrote it up on the white board, sat there for a minute and then smiled- because I pushed through a fear I have had my whole life. This is the part where I really just had to leave my ego at the door and realize that damn… I just did that workout Rx, it kicked my ass, but I was proud of myself for trying something new, and pushing through a fear.

I still need work on my descent. I still need work on using my legs, and which clamping style works best. I know that there will always be things to work on. But today- I feel like just getting up and down a rope nine times is an accomplishment and I will take that as a mental PR for sure.

TakeTheCrossFitOath

CrossFit is just what the doctor prescribed. It just took me awhile to get myself in a CrossFit gym, and not be scared to take the oath to myself to make this a new routine. At the CrossFit gym I signed up with (Crossfitdenver.com) they have a beginners, crash course called Elements. Elements consists of three, one hour classes showing you how to do some Olympic Lifts, that your average athlete may not know how to do properly. Once you have completed each class you ‘graduate’ and you can start doing the workout of the day (WODs).

Lets just say… I am a hurtin’ today. I did the Monday and Tuesday WOD and am taking today off. I hurt, I can barely reach over my head, and when I sit down it looks like my skeleton is made of china, like I don’t want to brake it… But I feel great. I feel accomplished. I feel like this is such a life altering commitment that I have made to myself and couldn’t be happier. For both Monday and Tuesday I did not follow RX, or even RX2 because I am learning the motions, and getting over the fear of messing up— But I know that one day, I will get to the level of other CrossFit athletes, as long as I keep practicing, and pushing myself.