Greetings from Houston! Yesterday I cancelled my early morning Pure Barre class to spend some quality time with my two favorite guys - Frank and the boyfriend. I knew I needed to get to the airport a little earlier than usual because of the impending
snowmageddon inch of snow and that attending a noon class anywhere in Atlanta was really pushing my luck. No worries, because a simple Google search told me that
Beltway CrossFit is located right down the road of Bush International Airport.
I always like to call ahead before I drop-in. I spoke with Coach Michael Gager, who told me that I could show up to either the 5:30 or 6:30 PM WOD. I landed early but had a bit of a delay at the rental car desk because the lady in front of me was trying to use a false address. I ended up arriving at the box at like 5:32 PM but Coach Aron Anderson was awesome and let me get changed and join a little late. Unfortunately I missed the tire flip warm-up.
Beltway CrossFit does chipper WODs on Fridays. I really like chippers because I find them mentally less challenging - I've got a goal to do, I just need to get to the next movement, and I don't have to keep track of rounds.
WOD
1 Mile Run
6 Gymnastic Combos (1 Rope Climb + 10 Strict Push-ups)
80 Alternating DB Snatches (60/40lb)
***Each exercise must be completed before moving to the next!
*3 short dead climbs will equal 1 tall climb
*Must alternate arms on the db snatches.
I used the one mile run as my warm up. I made sure to stand right behind the run leader because I wasn't really sure how they measure a mile even though Coach explained it about 6 times. It felt good to loosen up after my flight.
CrossFit Identity had rope climbs and handstand push-ups on Tuesday. I think I switched from the
J wrap to the S wrap sometime last year and now my left ankle has some sweet permanent rope bruises. It's not a burn as much as tender mark from pressing the damn rope into my leg. I could definitely feel Tuesday's rope climbs the minute I got up on the rope. We climbed to the 15 foot mark. The push-ups were regular push-ups. I thought maybe they were HSPU when I saw strict, but they were not.
I used 25# for the dumbbell snatches. I probably could have used 30#, but I hadn't done any dumbbell snatches in a minute and wasn't sure how low to scale. My time was 23:08.
This was the best group I have ever dropped in with and I had such a great time. The class was really supportive of each other and included me right away. Roger and I shared a rope for the climbs and he cheered me on for every rep. As people called time, they turned to the person next to them to cheer them on. Chris Rx'd the WOD and was fighting to get through 24 more reps at 60#. We gathered to help motivate him and I kept count. I fucking hate trying to keep count when I am fighting through the pain cave so I try to make myself useful and count for others when they're in that situation. I was really impressed by Chris' drive to knock out those reps.
I enjoyed myself so much that I hung out for 45 minutes after class. Chris was giving me some tips for chest to bar pull-ups. I'm excited to work on them with a wider grip and see if I can finally get one. A group of us discussed our respective diets and I shared my new found love of macro-counting and flexible dieting. I encouraged everyone to sign up for the Open. Beltway CrossFit was a great time and only $15 to drop in. You can also buy a $25 shirt instead.
