Kirsten Captures

Tuesday, November 6th

After a pretty intense netball practice I was wiped out and my foot was aching. However, I wanted to go to Crossfit and get in some strength training. Well it turns out Crossfit was anything but strength training. This was both good and bad.

When I walked in I saw “Speed Work” on the board and my heart immediately dropped. How could I do speed work on a bum foot after running around all day? Then I saw a new guy in class wearing a Bowdoin shirt! I got so excited and asked if he went to Bowdoin and he said no, he went to Colby. OH….. Colby was our rival school. Mules are sterile… It was still cool to meet a fellow NESCAC guy.

Speed Work:

30 meter Sprint

Best of 3

After a quick jog to warm-up we started our sprints one at a time. Meanwhile coach Mark was at the end of the alley with a stopwatch in one hand and the other hand out for us to hit. My first sprint felt really good even though I almost hit the brick wall at the end! There was a also a big bright sign of a polar bear against the wall we were sprinting towards. I took it as a sign from the Bowdoin gods.

Mark said I was fast but then forgot to check his stopwatch for the time. Ugh. And I knew the next sprint would be my last because my foot was really hurting. So I let it loose. I was on fire. My time was 5.76 seconds. That’s pretty good for a dead start. Turns out I was the fastest girl! Whoohoo!

Then Mark surprised us with an endurance test for the Bar Hold. Basically you hang on to a pull-up bar to work on grip strength. First we started with a 30 second hold and then a 1 minute hold. Then we were challenged to hold on for as long as we could. Around 2 minutes people started dropping like flies. I still felt good.

At the end of 2 minutes only Colby guy and I remained. I was calm, focused, and mostly importantly, I wanted to win. I had to beat Colby. I had to represent Bowdoin.

Well I did. I waited just long enough for him to drop first. My time was 3:06. I beat Colby!!!

God that felt good. I felt like the athlete I used to be. I loved pushing myself and using all my physical and mental strength to beat the competition. I am not much of a team player but am huge with individual performance. Hey, I was a gymnast and diver. I am strong. I am able. And I love winning ;-).

Now I was really wiped from the sprints so I took it easy on this WOD.

WOD

10 KB Thruster (12kg)

10 DiveBomber

10 V-Sit

10 Tuck Jump

AMRAP 20 minutes

I did thrusters for the first time and found them pretty terrible in a good way. The tuck jumps were the worst because we had complete a full squat between the actual tuck jump in the air. I suck at squats. I managed to complete only 6 rounds in 20 minutes. I’m okay with that.

Although I loved winning, the combination of netball practice with sprints at Crossfit really put my foot over the edge. The next few days I experienced unbearable pain in my left foot that left me immobile for almost a week. I pushed my body too hard too soon and payed the price.

But at least I beat Colby. 

I win.