Crossfit Games Open 14.2: Chest Bumps and Bruised Egos

by ~jenniferlynn on March 11, 2014

in CrossFit

What I love most about blogging is not only to have a way to share my success stories with the internet world, but also hope that someone can relate to what I have to say and maybe take it to heart. I had some great feedback on my last post about my pre-14.2 thoughts, which ended up being shared more times than any other post of mine in my WordPress history, plus I ended up having some Twitter friends tell me my post showed up on their box’s Facebook pages as well. It’s like I’m famous! πŸ˜‰

So how did my positive self-talk to others fare when it came down to me actually doing this workout?

Prior to this year’s Open I have never done a chest-to-bar pull-up. I have been working my Crossfit booty off staying after class multiple times during the week and working on strict pull-ups and ring dips (assisted), but my newly focused skills were not put to the test until 14.2 was announced.

Friday is our programmed Open workout day and I was psyched and ready to get my first chest-to-bar. I attempted a few warm-up pull-ups since I knew today was going to be the day. It was not happening. I thought back to the post that I wrote about everyone feeling so negative about the Open thus far and knew all I could do was do my best and if I didn’t get it, I knew it would be something to continue to focus on, but I also knew that because of the amount of work I have put in to get to here, Β it would be inevitable disappointment if I could not get one.

My goal was a score of 11, though secretly I knew if I scored 11, really I’d want to get 13 because if I can do one, surely I can get 3).

3.. 2.. 1.. GO!

I breezed through the overhead squats. 65# is a fairly comfortable weight on these and I was feeling strong, finishing in less than 30s.

Then it was all or nothing.. big kip..

..and holy freaking, my chest hit that bar!! Must have been the “PR pants”.. πŸ˜‰

I did a little PR dance before my judge told me to get back on the bar and do more reps. One after another after another, I finished those ten reps (plus a few no-reps) and back to the OHS. I cranked those out with a fair amount of time to finish the pull-ups. I was only able to snag 3 more reps, butΒ dang!Β I was so pleased that my extra effort was challenged and worked in my favor!

As I finished and shared my excitement with my coach who had assigned me the “homework” of the frequent pull-ups and ring dips, he said that was awesome.. and to come back and get my 40 reps on Sunday.

Though I have had success in the past re-doing workouts, Sunday was not that day and I ended up doing much worse than I did on my first attempt, somehow completely forgetting how to do the chest-to-bar pull-ups I had mastered two days prior, thus doing nearly every one of my 7 reps as a strict chin-up. Man, it was miserable and uncomfortable to re-watch my recorded performance. On a high note, I at least felt good doing my OHS.

That same coach once told me that once you PR something, you should just stop for the day and just move forward without trying to increase the weight again or aim for more reps. Conflicting, yes. But love knowing that he has more confidence in me than I had in myself. I think that is the lesson I need to take from this workout. Sure you want to fight to be the best version of yourself and oftentimes re-doing a workout may yield more favorable results than the first attempt, but sometimes you do need to take things one day at a time and do what makes you most comfortable.

At any rate, I am more than thrilled with my 33 reps and extremely proud of my progress thus far!

Your turn..
Are you able to do a chest-to-bar pull-up?
Have you ever repeated a workout and did worse the second time?
Do you wear PR pants?

Wendi March 11, 2014 at 10:34 am

I am so glad I got to witness this accomplishment…including the happy dance! You did great!! πŸ™‚

Beki March 11, 2014 at 12:10 pm

I have to say, you make those 65# OHS look easy! Great job on getting your C2B!!! Yay for PR’s!
Beki recently posted..Crossfit Open 14.2 Ҁ“ A Goat is ExposedMy Profile

Sandy Shepard March 11, 2014 at 1:43 pm

PR socks πŸ˜‰

Why didn’t you wear your PR pants Sunday? πŸ˜‰

Query: In the video, and this is just me trying to understand the move, since you’re a judge now (you big judge, you) do you feel that you went low enough? I thought your butt had to be below your knees? Maybe I don’t understand what that means??
Sandy Shepard recently posted..Another GiveIt100 – this time, TabatasMy Profile

~jenniferlynn March 11, 2014 at 1:49 pm

Sunday was a bad day.. lol. Thought busting out the booty shorts would have been sufficient.. but nope πŸ˜‰

Looks like I’m barely hitting where you need to be, if at all…hip crease just below the knees. Which is odd, cause usually I squat WAY low so not sure why these were so shallow! Nice eye πŸ˜‰

Melissa March 11, 2014 at 2:38 pm

High Five!!!! You killed it!
Melissa recently posted..DOMS and YawnsMy Profile

~jenniferlynn March 11, 2014 at 2:43 pm

Thanks!! πŸ™‚

Danielle @ It's a Harleyyy Life
Twitter: itsaharleyylife
March 11, 2014 at 8:25 pm

so proud of you! PLUS your overhead squats look friggen awesome! great job!

Chris March 11, 2014 at 11:05 pm

Hey nice job with your 14.2! My score was 32 lower than yours, but I am pretty happy and ok with that. Your previous post helped with my outlook onto these workouts where there is something that I struggle with. Of course at this stage, I struggle with everything! =) It’s awesome to read success stories and I enjoyed reading yours. Thanks for your help making my success story!

Oh and I think I need some kind of PR gear. You need to have a PR sock giveaway or something. Even if they are pink. I’ll totally rock some pink.
Chris recently posted..14.2 – One Isn’t Always A Lonely NumberMy Profile

k March 12, 2014 at 7:46 am

I feel like I can always relate to your posts. πŸ™‚
Your PR pants were awesome and I’m so happy you got C2B pull ups!!! (Also love that you did a little PR dance, haha.)
And sometimes, we just have off days, but no matter what you still did get multiple C2B pull ups and you rocked, 14.2, so I think that’s a win!
k recently posted..14.2 (aka next year I’ll have pull ups)My Profile

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