Well 13.1 is finally over and here are some of my thoughts as I look back on it.

I still KNOW that I could have done better, but I need to realize that it is an accomplishment just to be here. A year ago I was lifting the bar and nothing more for some WODs, now I’m here. Looking back, it is also an an accomplishment know that I’ve done more snatches at 135lb in 13.1 than I have ever done TOTAL at 135lb before this.

After any athletic competition one can always say “i could have tried harder..”. Of course you could have. Unless you die the moment you cross the finish line, you still had an ounce of energy left in you that you could have used. You have to be proud of what you have already accomplished. Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.

13.1:
AMRAP in 17 minutes of:
40 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 burpees
210 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

Attempt #1: 121 reps with first set of snatches finished in 6:17.
Before this workout I had only snatched 135lbs maybe 5 other times. To my surprise, I was able to snatch 135lbs 21 times in my first try! At the end of the workout, I did have a significant amount of energy left, and I just knew I could do better. I could visualize making it to 130 reps, and I knew if I could do that, I could surely pound out 20 extra burpees, time permitting. My goal was 150.

I spent the next two days visualizing 13.1, and even dreaming of getting 1 rep at 165lbs. I went to an olympic weightlifting gym to get some extra practice on my snatch and it was really valuable. I was snatching 140lbs and it was feeling light. The problem was that I was fresh, and my form was good, but in 13.1 I would be 70 burpees in plus 30 snatches before I attempted my first 135lb snatch.

Attempt #2: 124 reps with first set of snatches finished in 4:40.
I showed up saturday morning for my second attempt at 13.1. I had my game plan all set. I wanted to give myself as much time as possible at 135lbs, and also to improve my tie breaker time of 6:17 in the event that I did not finish all 30 135lb snatches. I knew I wanted to go unbroken on my burpees, and I wanted to string 15 and 15 75lb snatches. I made good time on the wod, was able to stick to my gameplan, and finished my first 30 snatches in 4:40! After 30 more burpees I had about 9 minutes to knock out 30 snatches. I thought to myself “no problem”, however I was tired, and I had not completely recovered from the past two workouts. My form suffered, my motivation suffered, and it proved more difficult than I would have expected. I was able to get through 24 snatches at 135lbs, and I’m happy with that.

B-