2010 Me vs 2011 Me

Here is another comparison of a workout I did a year ago.

"unbroken" from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

It didn't break me the second time around!  

Unbroken 1.0 from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

The first time I did this workout it took me close to 15 minutes, this time it took me 5:25.  I crushed my previous time.  It is a workout from the 2010 Orange Coast Throwdown, the top time was 5:29.  

Now this is a little bit of a different improvement than the physical strength I demonstrated from the previous post.  This is a strategy improvement.  This workout requires that the pullups be unbroken so if you drop from the bar during your set, you must repeat that set unbroken, which happened to me a year ago, it was not fun.  A year ago when I "broke," I went all out with no strategy and failed on the last rep.  Coincidentally, if I achieved that last rep it would have been exactly 5:25, the same time I did today.  It took me almost 10 minutes to be able to redo the last rep unbroken.  

The second time around I didn't break and got 5:25.  Does this make me stronger?  Not necessarily.  I knew how to pace myself better so I slowed the row a bit and took 3 extra breaths before attempting the last set of pullups to ensure unbroken.  I achieved it.  This doesn't prove that I'm stronger but simply I knew how to pace myself better.  It shows the importance of knowing your limits and the ability to pace. 

 The sport of Crossfit is very difficult to determine how to pace, you have to go by feeling.  You never know how to pace during a workout or where to push.  It's not like running a mile where you have done it hundreds of times and know exactly your split time.  You wouldn't sprint the first lap of a mile to achieve the best time would you?  Not a knock on Khalipa (winner of 2008 Games) at all, but it is something he doesn't do well.  He is a tough guy and goes all out which sometimes proves to be detrimental.  Could I have gone faster?  Sure, but I was gaming it rather than going all in, and it was the best time from the Orange Coast competition so I will take it!  The post previous to this showed that I am stronger than last year, this one showed that I am smarter.  The 2011 Joey would really kick Joey's ass from 1 year ago!