2/9/10; Helen

"Helen"
3 Rounds for time-
Run 400m
21 1.5 pood KB Swings
12 pull ups

Total time- 8:26

I'll be honest with you. I saw this video on the CF website about some dude that did "Helen" in sub 7. I thought to myself, is that really remarkable? I mean his time was like 6:59:40 or something like that. I was running through the individual exercises in my head- I can do a sub 90s 400m with no problem. 1.5 pood swings 21 times is no big deal. 12 pull ups (kipping allowed) is easy. So, I set a goal of sub 8:00. I couldn't have been more wrong about underestimating this WOD.

The warm up- Today was pretty cold, about 40 degrees F in Austin. I warmed up with a 1/2 mile run, followed by 10 reps each of push ups, pull ups, squats and lunges. After that, it was game on.

The WOD- I burned right through the first 400 in about 80s. The first round was complete with no breaks- 21 KB swings and 12 pull ups straight through. The second round was pretty good, too. I was still on my time for the 400m. I ran it in about 90-95s. I again burned right through the 21 KB swings, and then I reached for the pull up bar and something happened. I couldn't feel my arms or hands. Literally. I'm not kidding. I had to shake out my hands and arms and busted up the pull ups for this session in 8/4 for the pull ups. I left for the final round cotton-mouthed and exhausted. I couldn't get my legs moving and I was spent. I returned for the last bit of swings and pull ups and just couldn't derive any more Hooah out of me. I was in Hooah bankruptcy. I split the last round of swings at 11/5/5 and the pull ups at 4/2/2/2/2.

After I finished, I fell to a heap on the cold concrete slab and felt the blood rushing back into my arms...it was a really wierd feeling. Awesome WOD. I really like this one. In fact, in my office, I have my PRs listed for all the girl WODs that I've done. It was nice to throw this one up on the wall.

3-2-1...GO!