Fran

We are doing who? Doing what?

I had dodged the bullet until last Friday. I had my first encounter with the Infamous Fran. I was dredging it after all, it's the Super Bitch of all the "ladies".

FRAN:

Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
Thrusters
Pull-ups

To look at this WOD (Workout Of the Day) it looks pretty simple, straight forward and it is.....

Simply ignore your basic need for oxygen, have a high tolerance for pain & have a barf bag near by.

The Devil must enjoy watching me squirm. Why else would I have found out we were doing Fran early Thursday morning? Basically, I obsessed about this golden nugget for 32 hours prior to setting foot in the box.

Sweating the small stuff

I have a have a couple of obstacles. First, is my outstanding lack of upper body strength.  Even with my new "Pistols" (not guns, that would be a HUGE LIE) pull-ups are dreadful.  In the past they have literally made me cry. Basically, every WOD I do and DON'T CRY is a PR.

Second, I have a Love/Hate relationship with my pal Thrusters. Love them for the efficient way they work the different muscles in one movement.  When I do them I imagine I look like Annie Sakamoto.  I hate them for the fact they work every single muscle in my body, it kills me with the over head press.  In reality, when I do them I don't look any thing like Annie. More like her uncoordinated stunt double in a comedy.

Let your fingers do the thinking

What does a proactive CrossFitter do when at work? I googled, "Strategies to complete Fran, CrossFit". I must have read at least 20 different articles.

From the above statement, you can imagine I am incredibly busy. Which is why I limited my YouTube WOD demos to anything under 5 minutes....13 videos later, I felt that I had a pretty good understanding of all things Fran. 

And the answer is?

The consensus was to break up the reps: 7-7-7, 5-5-5 & 3-3-3.  That WAS the initial game plan. The focus was just to complete this workout nothing else.  

Counting sheep or Abs, either one doesn't work.... 

I couldn't sleep that night. Maybe it was my nerves or it was the looping video highlights of Rich Fronin, Graham Holmberg & Matt Chan doing Fran at the CF games playing in my head.

Mmmm....Just give a few seconds.

Um Wait, what was I talking about again? Fran. Yeah, Fran....    

Friday afternoon came quickly. During our class Bumper gave us a pep talk regarding the WOD along with some helpful tips.  He explained that Fran was intended as a sprint. We could go heavier but it could slow us down.  The fact of the matter was, there was a HUGE metabolic difference between 7 minutes versus 5 minutes in completion time. 

**Cue the choir, get the spotlight***

I had an epiphany as I was setting up my station....  remembering what I read earlier on Again Faster's blog.

"Do the thrusters unbroken. Every time you stop you expend too much energy & lose time having to clean the bar. Efficiency is key.  Rest can come during pull-ups. It takes less effort & you'll save time".

That was it. THIS was going to be my new game plan.

Time to put on the big girl panties

No more just happy to finish bull. I am past that already, I was going for it.  Do the sprint, even if it kills me. The hell with the previous wussy game plan.

I could manage was 35# Thrusters. (Don't judge. My pistols can only do so much).  For the pull-up portion I graduated from the blue band to the red one.  This was going to challenge me for sure....Don't cry, don't cry...

3,2,1 GO!

Round 1 (21 reps):

I had unusual focus. Counting up to 21 reps is difficult for someone who can't count past 10 normally.  I wasn't about to do extra thrusters out of stupidity. I was banging them out. By the time I was hitting the proverbial wall I realized I was on 17...No dropping the bar now. I had only 4 more.  Go unbroken, Go unbroken, became my mantra....Too bad, I didn't figure out until round 2 I was doing my thrusters wrong and gassing the hell out of myself.

Dropping the bar, I stumbled to the rig. Don't know how but I didn't snap myself in the face with the red band.  I had overlooked the fact that the Concept rower was to my left when I chose my spot.  I tried in vain not to let it get in my way. Of course it did.  In the war of Rower vs Kathy, the Rower was wining.  Bumper, hooked me up and moved it.  I appreciated the help & the short rest he had given me.  Now it was time to make up lost ground.  I did as many reps as I could handle.  I shook it out when necessary. I broke it down in a small rep sequences: 7-5-4-3-2...No tears, so far.

Round 2 (15 reps):

This time I started to do the thrusters correctly after my 4th rep.  I heard Bumper's voice but it sounded like Charlie Brown's Teacher,

"Whaah, whaah, elbows up...Whaah, whaah, open your hips, whaah, whaah, whaah...."

I made the adjustments. I didn't know it at the time but he was yelling directly at me.  Again, did my thrusters unbroken. By the 10th rep my body was screaming at me to stop. I ignored it's plea...There was no way in hell I was going to drop that bar! I would pause a bit longer at the top to take a break. Go unbroken, Go unbroken.  Only 5 more, then I would find some relief.  If you could call it that.

I was blind.  In a haze, sweat stinging my eyes, gasping for air. Stumbling once again to the rig. The mere act of pulling the red band over my right foot started my anxiety. How in the world am I going to do 15?! Don't lose it, no tears, you can do this. I fought for every single rep. What an epic battle!

After the 3rd one I started grunting like a fricken bear. Shoot, I was in the zone.  Not noticing my increasing volume.  Until, I grunted so loud that I scared myself!

"Holy crap what was that?! Um, that was me? Yikes."

How embarrassing.  I tried in vain to do the subsequent pull-ups quietly.  It didn't work, the bear had taken over.

Broke up the reps again: 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1. The last 3 were murder! My arms were jello. I was actually happy I had thrusters next. What the heck was wrong with me?!

Round 3 (9 reps):

HALLELUJAH ONLY 9 MORE! ALMOST THERE! That was screaming in my head as I walked over to my barbell. Knowing the end was within reach gave me the adrenaline rush I was desperate for. Again, go unbroken, go unbroken. My lungs were burning, my body was pleading for me to take a break. Fatigue started to creep in.  By the 7th rep I was wavering...then Lori yells,

"Come on Kathy only 2 more!"

Those encouraging words were my lifeline. She was right. It was excrucitating, pressing the bar overhead. The last rep for me is always the hardest.  As soon as I locked it out, instant relief. I dropped the bar to the floor. No niceties...it was war.  

In a haze, I dragged myself to the rig.  My legs felt so heavy. Like I was smuggling lead sinkers in my shoes. I can only equate the effort I put in just to get myself up on top of the box to climbing Mt. Everest.  

There I was standing on the box, hands on the bar...Only thing standing in my way were 9 pull ups.  In the past, this would have broken me.  Not today, I wasn't going to let this defeat me! No tears.

The bear came out with a vengeance.  It became grunt chorus starring Linda & myself that last round. The volume was loud enough to scare both small animals and children for miles around.  Close your eyes you would think two animals were mating.   

By now I was very nauseous. With every grunt I was playing Russian roulette with a barf bazooka. In my mind it was worth going for it in spite of my nausea. I had covered my bases.  I planned my fastest escape route to either the bathroom or the bushes during round 2. I know, I'm a genius....

I can't recall the sequence of my reps. However, I do remember my last pull-up distinctly. It was as if it was playing out in slow motion.  I was both savoring the moment and relieved it had finally come.

As soon as my feet hit the box & I yelled, TIME!  What a glorious word! I melted into a seated position on my box unable to move for a few minutes. Sensation finally return to my extremities and hobbled back to my barbell.

It's amazing how you stop feeling like you want to vomit when you are gasping for oxygen not sure where you are.

I did it in 5:59

This ranks among my Life's Top 10 highlights list. Definitely my finest CrossFit Moment thus far.  

CrossFit WODs have become a didactic endeavour. It never gets easier, and I never it want it too. Each time grow a little stronger in the struggle.

Got to admit, Fran lived up to her hype. Thanks bitch! I needed the butt whooping.


Blog ya later,

Kathy