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Why I Won’t Be a Baby About the Open

02 Thursday Apr 2015

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Photo Credit 918 CrossFit

Photo Credit 918 CrossFit

As most of you know, The CrossFit Games Open finished last week (can I get an Amen?). This year brought about some changes, to say the least. We had the scaled division, which allowed for the WODs to be tougher, heavier, and a lot more mentally challenging. There in lies the rub… I suck at mentally challenging! I am an average athlete, as I have mentioned before. It’s my thing, the title of my blog, so on and so forth. I’m not the strongest. I’m not the fastest. I’m somewhere comfortably in the middle. Well, this year’s open was not kind to those of us comfortably in the middle. The scaled division was too light, too easy, and not challenging enough. I’ve done The Open before, and I wanted something that would force me out of my comfort zone. So, I signed up for RX and went on my merry way.

The first week brought a workout I could do. Toes to Bar, sure. They were not fast, but I was never “no repped”. 75 pound deadlift, you betcha! 75 pound snatch… eh. Do-able, but more of that mental stuff I’m not so good at. I finished the WOD with a decent amount of reps, did my clean and jerk and reveled in the fact that week 1 was done! The second week brought about chest to bar pull ups. I’m not great at those, but haven’t really worked on them either, so I can’t complain. I managed to bang out a few, beat my score from last year, and considered it a win. Week three brought muscle ups… WHAT?!?! How dare  you Dave Castro! You can’t START a WOD with muscle ups. What about the rest of us… those “non-elite” athletes? We regular folks? You suck and this whole thing sucks. So, I stood under the rings for 14 minutes, made a few feeble attempts at swinging from the rings, and called it a loss. Sure, I could have done the scaled workout, but if I wanted a regular workout, I would have just gone to a regular class that day (read: I’m stubborn). I recorded a zero and dropped off the scoreboard… SUPER! Week 4 I faced down a heavy (for me) clean. Physically, I could probably do a 125lbs clean, but mentally that’s a no. I knocked out three handstand push ups and made numerous attempts at the clean. One was very close, but apparently that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Whatever. Week 5 was all do-able. Not fun, but do-able. I completed the workout, not quickly, even though my score did not matter, as I fell out of ranking week 3. It’s over. I finished.

Somewhere around week 3, when the muscle ups came out, I was pissed!! I feel like I am not alone in this sentiment. We cried and lamented and complained. We wrote nasty messages on the HQ Facebook page and we cursed Dave. However, here’s the thing. The Open is not necessarily for the average athletes. Yes, yes, it is billed to be all inclusive, but the purpose is the find the world’s best athletes. Is that me? No way, Jose! You found me out! You uncovered my weaknesses. I’m not going to pick up my ball, and storm off the playground shouting, “We’re not best friends anymore!” I’m going to shrug my shoulders, work on the things I can work on, and try to get better for myself. Do I think I will ever make it to The Games? Not in a million years. Do I do CrossFit to go to The Games? Nope. I do it because I found an inner strength I didn’t know was there. I do it to have the life I want to have. So, you got me Dave Castro. You win. I’m not the fittest in the world. Nor am I the fittest in my gym. I may be the fittest in my house, but my 8 year old is giving me a run for my money. So, to The Open, until next year.

Why You Shouldn’t be Scared of the Open

13 Tuesday Jan 2015

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Oh, you think I’m late? You think I’m referring to the Holidays? False. It’s Open Season! It’s that glorious time of year when we CrossFitters gather around our smartphones, tablets, and laptops, wait with anticipation as the WOD is released, and then marvel at how fast the elite athletes complete it. We make our yearly donation to CrossFit headquarters, sign up, make an athlete profile, and then wonder what in the world we were thinking. Hundreds of thousands of athletes sign up each year, and the tiniest percentage possible actually make it to Regionals. From there, an even tinier amount make it to The Games. But we watch, and participate, and see how we stack up. It’s all in good fun, right? So, why are you so scared to sign up?

We worry about being judged. We worry what our fellow athletes will say. We worry about people watching us. In the gym on a typical day, no one is watching (they are drowning in their own sweat), no one is talking about us, and no one is judging us (we are keeping track of our own reps and our own score). But now it’s official! Right?! Here’s the thing, if you’re doing it correctly and being true to your reps on any given day, the open isn’t any different. Don’t worry about the judge. They are there to help you, motivate you, and give you a break from counting. If it helps, just call them scorers. Feels a little easier to the ego!

Yes, the workouts are harder. There are no modifications in the open! If I can’t do something, I’m stuck there. So what! Chest to bar pull ups are my nemesis. I don’t know what it is, but I struggle greatly with them. Last year, the second workout in had chest to bar pull ups. There were to be several rounds of overhead squats and chest to bar pull ups. I knocked out my squats, and approached the pull up bar. I had somewhere around ten minutes to complete chest to bar pull ups. I got 4. FOUR. I struggled and pulled and failed and screamed and celebrated. I was mad and elated at the same time. That was the most chest to bar pull ups I had ever done. I was so proud of every single one of those, and when time was called, I was still on that bar, fighting for every rep. I didn’t quit or call it a loss. I kept fighting. It taught me so much about myself, and a weakness I had. Each WOD has a story like that for me, and countless other athletes. Am I ever going to make it to The Games? No. But, I’m a better athlete because of them.

The Open enhances the community of CrossFit more than you can imagine. Right now you come in the gym every day at your “usual” time and hang out with the “usual” crew and have a good time. There is nothing wrong with that. I’m a nooner. I love my noon crew. Generally, when you have athletes competing in The Open, there is a different block of time set aside. You come in during that time, with a whole group of athletes, and compete together. It not only allows your to meet new people, but to learn from other athletes, and develop a new bond. Not only do you suffer through daily WODs, but now you’ve survived The Open together. It’s a union that is not quickly forgotten. You get to see how other athletes perform, find out what tricks and tips they have up their sleeves. You get to learn more about how we function as a community, and continue that bond of friendship.

So, this year, don’t be afraid. Forget about the judges and the WODs. Forget about the skills you aren’t good at, or how slow you may be. This is about achievement, strength, and community. This is about learning who you are as an athlete and learning from other athletes. This is about fellowship and fun, and pushing yourself to limits you didn’t know where possible. So make a donation to CrossFit headquarters and throw your hat in the ring. You won’t be disappointed.

Open For Business

07 Friday Mar 2014

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As many of you may know, last week was the beginning of the CrossFit Open. The Open is a 5 week worldwide competition. Anyone who does CrossFit, no matter where you do CrossFit, can compete in the open. The workouts are posted online, in quite a dramatic fashion, and then you have about 5 days to complete the workout, scored by a certified judge. I saw an infographic yesterday stating that over 209,000 people participated last week in the competition. All of these people are vying for 20 spots in the CrossFit Games, held this summer. It’s really pretty amazing.

So, I’ve been CrossFitting for a couple of years. I started as a 31 year old who thought she was in shape, and I am now a 34 year old who is in better shape, but is very aware of her weaknesses! My gym, the amazing 918 Crossfit, has about 50 people competing in the Open. I am one of them. I’m not last, but I’m certainly not first.

The day our gym had chosen to complete the open workout came, and it was snowing and icing. My family came first that day. I couldn’t make it to the gym. So, I went in on Monday and completed it that day. I grabbed a friend to score (not judge) me, grabbed my rope, and set up my barbell. One of the elements of this workout is certainly one of my weaknesses. Double Unders…. they hate me. Honestly, it’s mutual. So, for those who may not know, a double under is jumping rope. Basically, you are swinging the rope twice and jumping once. It involves a lot of cardio. Not one of my strongest aspects. So, 3, 2 1… Go. I’m in. Double unders all the way to 25. Sweet! I can’t breathe, but I got there. Four more, done. Now on to the barbell. This part is good. I can do this. 15 snatches done. I went slowly, trying to strategize. Fail. Round 2 came, 30 more double unders. I tripped over the rope 750 times, and finally got my 30 reps. Crap. Barbell, faster this time. Better. Round 3 and 30 more double unders. Slow, but we got there. Barbell, again. Wait, I only have 30 seconds left. Ok. Fast. Last rep completed as the time expired. Done. Sweet.

Those of you who do CrossFit understand that moment the workout ends. Exhaustion and pain flow through your body. So tired you don’t know what to do with your legs or your arms. So, as I laid on the ground, trying to breathe, the doubt began to come. Crap, I only got 135 reps. That’s not great. It’s not awful, but it’s not great. I begin to ask some of the other competitors around me what their scores were. 200’s and 300’s. Super. Defeat. More pain. But, wait. I did it. Not everyone did. I’m not great, no. I’m never, ever, ever going to make it to the games. This is know. For a fact. So, I’m going to bask in the glory of completing the workout.

That’s the beauty of the Open. As I stated earlier, I saw that over 209,000 people participated. Only .1 percent actually get in the games. The average reps for women who entered scores worldwide was 180. The girl who won the event got 472. We are comparing ourselves to superhuman athletes. These people who do nothing but train for the games, all the time. That’s not what I do, nor is it what I want to do. It’s great for them, not for me.

So, now what? We move on to 14.2. Chest to bar pull ups (pull ups where your chest touches the bar instead of simply getting your chin over the bar) and overhead squats. Overhead squats, sure! Chest to bar pull ups, nope. If anyone has some big boobs I could borrow, I would greatly appreciate it. I may as well be a man. True story. Unfortunately, I don’t have the arm strength they do. So, boo. But, I’ll do it. As many as I can. That’s the point of the Open. Only a handful of people will achieve the goal of the games. I am cheering so loudly for them. My goal is to do the best I can, and work on my weaknesses (there is a LONG list). I’m going to complete 14.2, be happy with the minimal reps I get, and cheer on my friends, one of who is ranked 9th in our region!

This is the beauty of the Open. It’s not to win, not even to win in your gym, it’s to push yourself past your comfort zone. Hell, let’s face it, that’s the point of CrossFit.