I entered the box well aware that Saturday's workout had been, for me, sub par. I'm okay with working around my left arm, but I still thought that I needed to step it up again. Our SWOD was  deadlifts, gradually increasing to find our one rep max. I've trained deadlift before, but I've used 80, maybe 85 pound bars. I eagerly threw myself at the exercise. Part of what drew me to Crossfit was the fact that I would have the chance to train heavy, to train the big lifts, in a place where it was acceptable to start off light.

I knew from last week that I could lift at least 73#. Game enough, I tried a 25# plate on both sides. Easy. Added 10s on each. Not much of a challenge. Two more 10s. Still not much. I kicked the 10s off and put on two more 25s. Challenge, yes. But was that my top weight? I added 10s. Ppppffffff. I felt my left oblique ripple as it stabilized my spine. Whoa, I think that's it. I tested one more lift and made it, barely. I found my max, and set my first PR at a 153# deadlift!

After the SWOD came my first introduction to one of the girls. This time we were doing a "Heavy Fran". Weights were given for Heavy and Rx, but I ignored those, knowing I can't do them yet. I can do thrusters without added weight on the bar, though. I can't do pullups either, but I can do ring rows. I organized myself, got a bar, set up my rings, and got ready to work. Fran is thrusters and pullups for time with descending sets of 21, 15, and 9 repetitions each.

21 thrusters in a row is a lot harder than it sounds, even without extra weight on the bar. I did a set of 10 and took a quick break, then did 10 more. I took a quick break, banged out one more...and dropped the bar. WHOOPS.

My bar didn't have bumper plates on it, which means that it doesn't bounce, and it has no clearance from the floor. That 33# bar hitting the top of my toe made me shout out a thoroughly unladylike word. I hopped and cursed, the thought, "Don't mess up another workout!" blaring through my brain. Gingerly I put my foot down and leaned onto my toes. Sore, but no issues weight bearing. Hmm. I flexed my toe inside my shoe. No sharp pain with movement. Seemed to bend okay at both joints. Resolutely I looked up at my rings. Just keep going. I kept going. The ring rows were done on my heels, toes off the floor.

15 thrusters still needed one break halfway through. 15 ring rows. 9 thrusters. 9 ring rows. "TIME!" I called out.

10:50 for a modified Fran. With a slightly dented toe and a lot of determination. I'll take it.