Tabata This

For the last little while, I’ve been writing about my preparation for my first ever CrossFit competition. I only entered the CrossFit world a little bit over a year ago, and decided earlier this year that I was ready to start competing to gain experience, with hopes of attempting Sectionals within the next year (goal of 2011). This competition took place at CrossFit Regina this past weekend, with 57 competitors entered from all over Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It was a Spring Challenge, with 3 different divisions for athletes to compete in depending on their skill levels. My training partner and good friend, Trevor and I both entered Division 1, the top skill division.

Although some people expressed to me that the nature of this “competition” isn’t that intense because it’s basically just for fun (something I completely disagree with in some ways), I heard the word “competition” and that’s all I needed. As a very competitive natured athlete, anything can get me going. Throwing me into a match against 6 other women, all laying it on the line for the same reasons, who’s stronger, faster, more powerful – that’s all I needed. I wanted to prove my better was better than their better.

I went into this with no previous competition experience, but with an open mind. If you read back, Trevor and I put a lot of thought into how we were going to train for this. What could we do to get the most strength gains? What could we do to become more powerful and faster? The 5-3-1 Wendler program combined with Burgener’s stuff really gave me some strength gains I probably would not have got any other way. I got some extreme gains in technicalities with my oly lifts, an area I struggled with since I started CF. We put together all the sectional WOD’s from all over the world and structured them into our days very strategically, and this proved to be super beneficial as well.  I wanted to know I was capable of doing what these other people were doing at a much higher level than I was. And I was – most of my times were right up there with those other women who were actually doing these WOD’s to get to the Games. In the two months prior to the competition, I thought we really had something going. I thought what we were doing was going to be epic.

I was right, totally right. But I was wrong, too. But, I’ll get to why eventually.

We arrived at CFR at about 8:15, and walking in there was an experience in itself. Never having been in this environment before, my first reaction was WOW. Everyone was scoping each other out. The eyes on us felt like hot laser beams as we walked in there. We registered and left to get some flats of water. It was just too intense in there.

The WOD’s went like this for my division:

WOD #1:

4 attempts at a max concentric back squat – means, the bar is racked at the bottom of the squat, and you start the squat with your hips below parallel. Set yourself up, and stand up. You got 4 attempts at a max effort. After your 4 attemps, you had one chance at max ring dips.

I truly believe that this WOD was what screwed me up and put me where I was in the rankings. It’s funny because the night before when we were practicing this, I lifted 135 and it felt like cake. I put 185 on and struggled with it. So the night before, I knew I was going to be somewhere in between 135 and 185. I had all intentions of making my first rep at 135.

That changed fast. The other woman I was going through the motions with, started our warm-up reps at 135. Then 145. Then 155. Then 165. I kept nailing them. All my warm-ups were PR’s for me. I was silently laughing inside, but all the while a little nervous wondering how far I could take this. I started my first attempt at 175. Got it. So I tried 185, fail. Tried 180. Fail. Tried it again. Fail. Ended with 175. The other women around me were lifting 185-195 I think. So although I was sort of with them in the lift, the ring dips were what hit me hard.

I suck at ring dips. Period. My rings were uneven, I didn’t even check that before I jumped up. So my bicep was touching on one arm, but the judge was standing on the other side and wasn’t counting my reps because my bicep on that side wasn’t touching. I did about 8 or 9 reps, with my one arm touching, but she only counted 2. Fair enough. They gave me a second attempt, and as thankful as I was for that, my arms were dead and I still only managed 2. So each rep was worth 5 points, and I only took out 10 points from there, while the other women were doing 11 or 15 reps and absolutely killing me point wise. I was ranked 5th after WOD #1.

WOD #2: For Time (15 min time limit):

45 Pull-Ups

Then, 21-15-9:

Snatch (65#)

Row for calories

Before going into this one, I was incredibly intimidated by the pull-ups. 45! That’s crazy. And you couldn’t butterfly them! I think if butterfly was allowed I might have been a little bit more laid back about it. I definitely underestimated the snatch. And I hate rowing, it’s my least favorite exercise in the world.

I hit 23 pull-ups on my first go, which was a HUGE PR for me, so I was psyched about that as it was happening. I got those out quickly – I think I was one of the first few done actually now that I look back on the video. I totally underestimated the snatch because as soon as I walked over to that bar, and grabbed it, there were a few things wrong. 1) The bar was a women’s 35# bar, something I have NEVER trained with before. It completely messed up my grip and just messed up my head. 2) MY ARMS.. OH MY GOSH. I could not feel them. 45 PLU KILLED ME. This WOD would have gone completely different had those 45 been a much lower number, that is FOR SURE. I struggled with the first 21 snatches. Absolutely struggled. The row was painful. I shut my eyes and tried to zone out. 15 more snatches, 15 more calories. 9 more snatches – halfway through I heard them yell, “One minute left!” I panicked and got that bar up the last few reps. Ran to the rower, looked up at the clock. 14:42… 18 seconds left. At this point, the only thought going through my head was, “I don’t want DNF next to my name, that’s embarrassing, no way, no DNF, no DNF, no DNF…” I just kept repeating it to myself. When I rowed the 9th calorie, the clock hit double 0′s. I got it right on the 15:00 mark, and no DNF next to my name, YEAH BABY. I left it all out there on this one. I literally rolled off the rower and just laid there. I could not move. The poor judge (and I wish I knew who she was because I’d really like to apologize to her) was so concerned about finding my water and I just did not want to talk or think or anything. I just wanted to be helped up but I could not speak. Eventually my friend helped me up and I walked out the back door on my own and just cried. I felt awful but awesome because I made the time limit and I gave it my all.

My high school basketball coach and mentor came to watch the competition and he met me at the front door after I calmed down. He couldn’t stop hugging me and was almost in tears. It felt pretty awesome to have someone who I’ve always looked up to, be so proud of me. I don’t think I ever gave him that much effort on the basketball court as I did in that WOD. He was really proud of me. It feels pretty good looking back on it now.

WOD #3:

3 Rounds, 20 min time limit:

400m run

20 push press (80#)

20 box jumps (20″)

I completely underestimated this one as well. First off, it was pouring rain. Running in the rain, and in VFF’s, sucks. Straight up. I was cold, dehydrated, and cranky. Cranky I was in fourth place. Cranky I was losing. Cranky that we started the WOD with a run. Cranky that 400m looked so freakin’ far away. I think I went into this one already defeated. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew which women I had to beat if I wanted a medal. I kept it in mind and I ran my little heart out.

The first time back I picked up that bar (which I now asked to have a 45# bar instead of those thin women’s ones!) and realized how heavy 80# really was when you’re 2 WOD’s down for the day. I got those 20 out of the way, jumped my 20, and took off running. The coolest part was, and I should have commended him after the workout, was that the judge ran with me the whole 400m, in the pouring rain. It was encouraging.

The second time in, the bar felt incredibly heavier. I got them out though. The jumps, I had Trevor right there yelling at me whenever I stopped. Third run, the judge ran with me again. I was behind the 3 women I needed to beat, but I kept going. Those last 20 PP were ugly. The last box jumps, I got them out. I finished in 16:29, good for fourth.

I managed fourth overall, out of 7 women in my division. The women who got top 3 I believe have all competed before, in some CF competition or something related, so they all had a little bit of competition experience. I think I did pretty good for never having competed in anything like this before. I also think that Trevor and I did a great job for not being part of an actual CF Box, or having any specific training prior to going into something like this. Trevor was tied for second after the last WOD, so a double-under tie breaker put him in third place out of 14 men in his division. Pretty darn good I’d say.

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I now know what I have to work on. So when I say that what we were doing in preparation was going to be epic, it was. But when I said it wasn’t, it really wasn’t. The first thing I noticed is the level of intensity I trained at prior to this, and the level of intensity I competed at. They are two COMPLETELY different things. I would have never known this had I not competed, so I’m glad that I made myself vulnerable. I now know that the next time I walk into the gym, I have to leave everything on that floor before I walk out. There’s no more half-assing it. It’s all or nothing. You have to practice how you play. I never went to basketball practice and half-assed it, so why would this be any different? I also realized how much pressure that time limit put on me. I think it’s something we will definitely incorporate into our WOD’s from now on. That time limit as compared to leaving it open ended, is something else. It really opened my eyes as it was all happening.

In the end, I’m glad that I went through with this. It was definitely an eye opener, and made me realize just what I’m capable of. I can’t wait for October when the Saskatoon CF challenge is. I’ll definitely be there.

If you’ve made it this far, check out the video that a friend made of me from this past weekend at the SCFC.

It’s a must watch. Really.

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I actually ended up in the hospital that night from dehydration. I guess throughout the day all I drank was a Gatorade and a few bottles of water. It’s funny how as an AT I carry all kinds of things like Pedialyte, Pepto, & Gravol around with me for my athletes, but as soon as I become the athlete, it all goes out the window. Before I left home, I went through my med kit and only took with me the things I thought I’d need. If anything, I thought I’d be on that floor bleeding, rather than vomiting. Who knew it’d be the ladder. Major rookie mistake. Major. But IV fluids, and several hours later, I learned my lesson the hard way. Gained some serious competition experience, that’s for sure – haha!

So in conclusion, the title of this post could not be more true. When killing it, kills you.