Equipment Fail

Yesterday was either strength or rest day on my workout schedule.  I packed workout clothes in case I had time to lift, but was also seriously considering an evening of chores and Gilmore Girls on DVD.

Then Jared told me that MICF had programmed "Annie" as the day's WOD.

You may recall that one of my year-end goals was a sub-10-minute Annie RX.

I've accomplished one goal so far, but still have four to go, and had been feeling a little discouraged that I'd be able to make them happen in 2012.

My double unders have been getting a lot better, and my core is a lot stronger, so I thought I might be able to tackle it. 

I showed up pumped and ready to crush my previous RX time of 14:51 with a 9:59 or better. 

The class started out great, with a #15 PR on my Thruster 1 Rep Max - I went from #85 to #100!  I felt like I could have gone even heavier, but wanted to really be strong for the WOD.  I grabbed my favorite jump rope and a mat for situps, and we got started.

Me and the red rope in September

A word to the wise: be careful of choosing one and only one favorite jump rope at your box.  Once you start learning double-unders, mix up the ropes you use and/or invest in one of your own.

Here's why:

• You start Annie with favorite jump rope, ready to blow your previous time out of the water
• Said favorite jump rope is not working for you as usual
• You wonder what is going on and think maybe you are just having an off day
• Handle of favorite jump rope detaches from rope mid-skip
• You pretend to be a video game character, dodging other frantic athletes to retrieve a new rope
• Time is slipping away quickly so you don't really check to see if new rope is a good length
• It isn't
• The handles of the new rope connect totally differently than your old rope's handles
• You plod through the WOD whipping yourself and tripping yourself, only 1-3 double-unders at a time
• You try to make up on the situps and thankfully stave off total gloom and doom, deciding to at least beat 14:51
• Your round of 20 and 10 situps are kick-butt
• You finish in 14:17, sweaty and kinda pissed

Poop.

 

(My arms and left hand are still totally marked up today.  I wore long sleeves to the office.)

I went home feeling still proud of my thruster accomplishment, and really proud of myself for being able to keep a fairly positive attitude throughout the WOD.  Technically, I still had a PR, and that's never a bad thing.  Plus, I feel like if I could only link a few reps at once AND had to stop early on to find a new rope...I can totally beat 10 minutes before January 1st.

I got a ride home from WOD buddy Joel and finished up the evening with an awesome protein-packed dinner: McMuffin on Steroids (or should I say Progenex?) - sourdough English muffin from Trader Joe's, fried egg, turkey bacon, and a leftover hamburger patty.

As Tina would say, Holy Yum!

I'm totally asking Santa for a new rope for Christmas.


You tell me: Ever had a piece of equipment crush your WOD?  Do you have your own rope?  Where did you get it?  I need recommendations!