Who knew the run & farmer’s carry would prove to be such an entertaining workout?  Two basic, non-technical movements with little coaching opportunity, I was not looking forward to it just as I wasn’t looking forward to standing outside in the cold and dark of the early morning.  But the Empower group classes turned this CrossFit workout into a very entertaining and enjoyable day full of laughs and drama making it totally worth my while.  It helped that we had a sunny clear day.

The boys of 5am kicked it off with a merry chase.  Yeti & Rowdy were only seconds apart as they completed in under 20 minutes.  But Jr. was miles ahead with a time that would have ruled the day had it not been for Point Break who literally ran away with it posting the fastest time of the day as the only person to finish under 15 minutes!  Did I say 15?  He also was the only person to finish under 14 minutes!  That’s right, he finished more than 2 minutes faster than Jr., the second fastest in the gym yesterday.

At 6am Motor laid claim – as she does – to the adjustable dumbbells with their narrow grip.  No one fought her for them.  Except for the dumbbells themselves which bit back with karmic fury bruising her forearms and thighs mercilessly.  It is safe to say that no one yesterday was more miserable doing this WOD than Motor.  The boys of 6am came out fast.  Smash completed in under 18 minutes which would have been great had Jr. and Point Break not already smashed that time.  BFG finished under 16 minutes, the only man besides Jr. and Point Break to do so claiming third place on the podium.  HHH became the first woman to finish under 20 minutes.

At 9:15am Doc Disc got in under 20 minutes and Sprite gave the most impressive performance of the day as she completed with the RX’d weight which represented 62.5% of her body weight!  It seems she is on a mission to challenge Yeti for Empower’s title of pound-for-pound strongest athlete!  A word of caution to Yeti from a guy who’s lost not one but two challenges to her – watch out!

Brick was able to complete under 20 minutes at noon by chasing Hard Rock who went sub 18 minutes to claim the women’s podium while complaining that the women’s RX’d weight was proportionately too easy compared to the men’s weight.  We’d let her do the men’s weight next time but the guys aren’t keen on the thought of Hard Rock beating us at our own weights a la Bruiser.

The 5pm came after this one with a vengeance.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say they actually enjoyed the workout.  Mr. Fantastic with a bum knee still completed under 20 minutes, a competitive time in any other group class.  But Master Dray, Badger and The Heat all completed under 17 minutes just shy of BFG and the podium.  And did I mention that The Heat was using the Road Warrior trademarked RX+ 55lb dumbbells?

But it wasn’t just the men of 5pm that gave a great race.  Gymkata and Spice both finished under 19 minutes chasing Jet who was only the second woman to complete under 18 minutes, just seconds behind Hard Rock’s gym record!

In that blisteringly fast and competitive 5pm heat with 6 amazing finishes it was almost possible to miss the second most impressive performance of the day as septuagenarian Iron Dam not only completed all 4 rounds RX’d but did it in under 23 minutes beating loads of women including CanWest Games competitors 20 years her junior like HeeHee and Motor!

Congratulations on those amazing performances, it was fun seeing so many people tackle this one RX’d!

Time Men Women
Under 40 mins   Sprite
Under 30 mins   Motor
Under 27 mins Super Mario  
Under 26 mins   Dauntless
Under 25 mins Crusher Pepper
Under 24 mins   Shine
Under 23 mins   Iron Dam, HeeHee
Under 22 mins   G-Money
Under 20 mins Mr. Fantastic, Rowdy, Yeti, Doc Disc, Brick HHH
Under 19 mins   Spice, Gymkata,
Under 18 mins Smash Jet, Hard Rock
Under 17 mins Master Dray, Badger, The Heat (RX+)  
Under 16 mins Jr., BFG  
Under 14 mins Point Break