17.1... When to do a Games WOD twice

By now most people will have given 17.1 a crack, and found it pretty tough. As far as an Opens 20min grinder couplet goes, it wasn't too bad. In the past Dave has always had burpees, thrusters, row combinations etc for this WOD, so the snatch is a bit nicer.

I did it as soon as it came out, so about 1pm Friday (and went 18:20). I was getting a cold so I wanted to get it done in case that got  bad. But I usually do the WODs at least twice. A lot of people don't, but here is why I do:

• The 2nd time is not the unknown! You've done it before and know how it will feel
• Two or three days between a WOD can make a huge difference. Sometimes you feel bad one day and smash out an amazing wod the next. You don't know if you won't go better unless you give it another go.
• You have time to research movement techniques. For me this is a biggie. I want to get as good and as efficient as I can with every move. So after I did it Friday I went on the internet and came back to the gym with several different techniques. After trying our every combination possible, I'm confident my burpee BJ overs will be more efficient and just as fast (hopefully faster) the 2nd time. 
• It's a great test of mental fitness. I.e.  Even though my back/hammies are still tight, I'm going to push it hard early on and give it a good crack. A great way to test your limits.
• I'm never happy with my performance!

So to do better the 2nd time here is what I do:

• Make sure to get your time splits on your first attempt: This gives you your pacing the 2nd time. So I know exactly where I want to be after each set of snatches and burpees to get my goal time.
• Recover well.: This blew my back/hammies out. So I've been doing a lot of triggering and light movements to release them. Went for a 5km run yesterday and did a skills WOD today that lasted about 4o mins today. Also been doing the movements to find my best technique for this rep scheme.
• Don't get caught up with the leaderboard. I look at the leaderboard quite a bit. But I dont get stressed over it. I like to see how others are going and watch videos to get ideas whenever I can. I don't lose sleep over my placing. This is just the first of many.
• Subtly change your pre-workout preparation. On Friday I have a huge morning - I had had four crossfit sessions from 5:30am to when the WOD came out at 11:00am. And one of those sessions is full of 1-4 year olds! Monday is not half as bad, so I can control my eating/drinking a lot more going into it. This is also a good way to test any routines changes (though never introduce anything new before an important WOD). So you may have your pre-workout 30mins later, or start your warmup 15 mins earlier.

Of course you have to weigh up whether you have been able to recover enough to give it a good go. In the past, there have only been two wods that I haven't gone better in when I repeated them. So the fact that the second time I know my pacing etc etc seems to outweigh the fact that I'm still a little fatigued.

​Don't forget, if you're the type of person who gets stressed about the leaderboard, get hold of some strategies to reduce that stress and start to develop them now! This can really wreck the fun of competition, and can be totally avoided. Check out my post on stress and if that doesnt work research the web - there's a ton of good stuff out there.

I hope 17.1 goes well for you. Focus on effort, not outcome. And if you give it another go, your goal is to beat yourself! That doesnt sound too hard, does it??