I can't believe I received my first "not win" sniff sniff

<------Jon L. At Washington Sectionals. Ok I’ve dragged my feet long enough, I’m finally updating my blog about my heads up challenge vs. Jon L. I’m very sad and still in disbelief that I did not win. I know, right…………………………..I didn’t win?????? This “non win” is messing with my head because I haven’t talked in third person since this happened. I’ve used “me” and “I” a lot. Here is the background to the challenge: http://crossfit50states.blogspot.com/2010/03/sometimes-im-put-into-situations-where.html

The original WOD was supposed to be:

10 rounds for time5 chest to bar pull ups5-135 pound Clean and Jerk200 Meter run

Jon is training for the Crossfit Games but I still believe that with the right WOD anyone can beat just about anyone if you use the right strategerie with WOD selection. I planned to use the above WOD but was still looking for advice to put me in the best position to win.

Dan, the Crossfit Bellevue gym owner, chopped up my WOD saying the right thing would be to do that WOD but cut it in half, so the challenge WOD was:

5 rounds
5 chest to bar pull-ups (chose chest to bar because my quickness will be an advantage for me compared to Jon who’s 6’6)
5 135 pound clean and jerks (chose this because I enjoy doing clean and Jerks and the last time I did Grace in October 2009 I did it in 2:59)
100 meter run.(for those that want to duplicate this WOD and compare times make sure you add in 2 flights of stairs because for us to run we have to run down 2 flights of stairs and back up them each round……..FYI stairs during a WOD suck!!)

So that was the thought process with the WOD selection.

I’m happy we went with fewer rounds because 5 rounds was a beast and gave me “Fran Cough” so I couldn’t imagine what 10 rounds of that would have done to me.

The First round I went as fast as I could thinking if I can get a good enough lead then when I hit that wall and gas out, hopefully it’s the 4th or 5th round and my lead will hold up because I know Jon won’t run out of gas. So I went out the first round and threw all technique out the window, instead of clean and jerking the weight I was trying to go too fast and cleaned it then pressed the weight above my head instead of jerking it. It was fast but uses too much muscle, this would come back to kick me in the A$$ in the later rounds. I knocked the chest to bar pull ups fast then went to run my 100 meters. I have a significant lead at this point and hope I’m in his head so he knows I’m a gamer and here to win…………But Because I’m an idiot, I ran past the 100 meter mark by about 30-40 yards…..so the significant lead I had built up, I lost almost all of it in the first round because I ran too far.

Going into the second round I’m not far ahead but I kicked this round in the butt and I’m still in the lead. This third round is when all the stupidness of running too far and pressing the weight instead of jerking it slapped me right in the face. I hit a wall and hit it hard. I thought I was going to vomit on the spot and my chest was about to explode. This is where Jon caught up to me and moved ahead going into the run. This was a huge mind screw because if he’s passing me so early in the WOD I’m in trouble, big trouble. I’m tired and I know he won’t get tired in round 4 and 5 so I need to pick it up or it’s over……………it was over, I had nothing left in me to move faster and try to catch up. I was in survival mode to just complete the WOD.

Dan had the entire gym do the same WOD before Jon and I went, so they stayed around to watch Jon and I go at it. When Jon moved ahead of me I heard all the shouts and cheers for me to catch up and move but unfortunately I didn’t have it in me. That really sucked not being able to pick it up with everyone being so supportive.

When I was in the last round I did my best to just keep moving and get the best time I could because I knew Jon was too far ahead of me to catch up. I ran up the last flight of stairs to complete the WOD, I was excited it was over then collapsed and laid there completely exhausted.

I laid on the concrete panting trying to catch my breathe and Jon walks up to me, gives me a high five, then says to Dan walking away, “That was fun and I’m not even tired”

If I had any energy left in me, I would have slapped him in the junk.

The final times were:

Jon completed the WOD in 8:18
I completed it in 10:30

I did get the third overall time for the day. The only other person to beat me was Matt, who is also training for the Crossfit games, he completed it in 9:16. But still I picked and created this WOD so I should have won.

I’ll also add that I love how after the WOD Challenge was over, that’s when I get great advice on exercise selection to beat Jon. It’s completed and I lost then people come up and go “you shouldn’t have done clean and jerks, Jon is just too good at that exercise”, “oooh you should have done burpee box jumps, Jon doesn’t like them and you’re fast”, “You should have done double unders you can both do them but you’re much faster at them than Jon” and “you should have done sit-ups you’re much faster than him”. They have all known of this challenge WOD for the past month and decided to give me their very valuable information now when it’s over?????………….Thanks A$$ Hats :-)

This brings my record to 2 wins and 1 loss.

My next challenge is vs. Gabe. I’m pretty sure Ron will wipe the floor with him…………….hey I just talked in third person, that must mean my swagger is coming back. Watch out world Ron’s ready to kick A$$ and take names.

p.s. I am not thrilled with how I performed. I threw away all technique trying to go too fast, ran too far in the first round and burned myself out too early in the WOD. I plan on doing this WOD again in 1-2 months and my goal is to beat 8 minutes and 18 seconds. I don’t plan on going against anyone; I just want to do it for myself. It won’t repair my loss but it will give me something to shoot for, plus this was a very fun WOD.

p.s.s. I will be posting a video of the heads up challenge in the next week or two.