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| Starting round 2. |
This past Saturday, the Mister and I gathered together two teams of athletes from our gym for a friendly CrossFit throwdown in Iowa City. As it worked out, the Mister and I would be competing as individuals. I didn't plan to participate in the individual women's event, it just kind of worked out that way, and I was anxious to see just how I would fare. Looking at the workouts for the individual events, I was not even sure I would be able to complete either one. Here's what was on tap:
Workout #1:
3 Rounds of:
300 m row
8 ground-to-overhead (100#)
35 doubleunders
Time cap: 10 minutes
Workout #2:
50 pullups
50 burpees
Time cap: 8 minutes
Finals:
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and as many reps as possible of 100# deadlift
1 minute rest
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and AMRAP of 100# front squat
1 minute rest
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and AMRAP of 100# shoulder-to-overhead
[A lot of that gibberish above may mean nothing to may of you. Just know that all of it was heavy, lung-sucking hard work.]
The scores from Workouts 1 and 2 were combined to determine which females advanced to the finals. Well, that is if there had been enough women to warrant whittling the field down to 12. As it was, there were only 8 females, including myself, competing in the women's event. NONE of us completed the first workout. I made it through only 2 rounds in 12 minutes. The doubleunders (i.e., whipping the rope under your feet twice per jump) are what did me in, plus sucking wind on the 100# ground-to-overhead lift with the barbell. Going into the first workout, I wasn't even sure if I could lift 100# over my head 8 times in a row, so I viewed it all as a success.
For the second workout, half of the women's field completed the workout in the time allotted. I missed finishing by 10 burpees. Boo. SO CLOSE. At least with that workout I knew I could do everything, it was just a matter of how quickly. Guess I need to work on my cardio some more! (Don't we all...)
So, I made it to the women's finals by default. By the end of a very long day, filled with a lot of waiting (and cheering for my Mister and our teams in their events), only 5 women were still around to compete in the finals. I did not officially "place" in the top 3, but I participated, worked harder than I have in any daily workout, and landed in the top 5. Not bad for a first effort at competing.
I absolutely loved the experience. Our teams performed awesomely and many of our athletes posted personal records lifting more, and jumping higher and faster than ever before. The atmosphere at CrossFit events is unparalleled. Where else can you commiserate with your fellow competitors as well as cheer each other through that last rep? Last, I felt such a sense of accomplishment because I exceeded my own expectations of what I thought I could do.
I keep thinking back to where I was and what I was doing in 2011 and I see how quickly I have gone so far. This competition was a moment in which I could focus on what I achieved rather than grumble about how far I have to go. Even when I think I am treading water, and going no where, I need to remember that the effort of keeping my head above water is success in and of itself. And with that, I look toward another Whole30 experience. We start tomorrow and hopefully, I learned some tricks since last year's Whole30 to get me through this one!
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Way to go! I'm still working on doing 5 pullups :)