My very first CrossFit competition was last year's Bracket Buster at CrossFit Naptown and my team was what you'd call Beginners. The Freshman Team. Newbies. Green. Since then I've competed in 3 more competitions (2 individual and 1 team) and have become much stronger both mentally and physically. I've never really considered myself an athlete until I started marathon training. And then once I discovered CrossFit I realized I've never really been strong. I mean, as a runner my quads, hamstrings and lungs were strong. But that's about it. I was what you'd call a 'Skinny Runner Chick.' Now I have lats. Biceps. Abs. Glutes. And I can see them. And I love it. I'd now consider myself an Amateur CrossFitter. Intermediate. Junior Varsity Team. Put me in, coach, I'm ready.
Our coach had a training regimen for our teams and it was quite similar to marathon training; build cycle, strength cycle, de-load/taper cycle. I was pulling 2-a-day workouts 5 days a week and sometimes I'd tack on an additional weekend wod with my girlfriends.
All this training got me some great PR's but it also got me my very first injury; I pulled my calf muscle something fierce. After a lot of research, I deduced that I had a level 2 calf strain (pulled muscle) that required a lot of R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression and elevation). Never in my life had I adhered to recovery like I did this time. I took a solid week off from CF altogether and then only did minimal movements once I got back. Didn't want to re-injure before the competition. So I iced 3 times a day, slept in compression sleeves, wore a compression band during the day and sat back to let the healing ensue. I was pretty upset emotionally. It was a huge setback to my training. And it was hard to watch my teammates train while I sat on the sidelines. But I had to listen to my body.
I'm glad I did listen to my body and take it easy in the 3 weeks preceding the competition because all that rest and forced tapering paid off in the end.
My team consisted of 3 very strong former collegiate athletes: Kyle (D1 football player, Clint D2 cross country runner and Anne D1 ice hockey player). I've competed with Clint 3 other times and he truly is my one of my closest guy friends and an amazing workout buddy. Proud to call these three my teammates.
This year the brackets were run very differently that last; last year the first wod seeded your team then it was single elimination from there. This year we were seeded prior to the competition starting and placed in pods of 4 teams, with the top two teams in each bracket of 4 moving on to the second day. Making it to day 2 was our one and only goal.
Our first wod was a medley of burpees, box jumps, push presses and weighted overhead holds. Our team practiced this prior to (this was the only wod pre-released) and we knew we had a pretty good shot at doing well. Turns out we won this wod in our bracket (and placed 3rd overall...out of 32 teams!).
Second wod was a 600m run carrying wall balls or sand bags. Again, our team won this wod in our bracket....phew!
Third wod was a sled push in which we placed dead-last. Our gym not only doesn't own a sled but we've never done any pushing wod. Ever. We knew this movement might be hard on my calf (check out all that toe-pushing...OUCH!) so our goal was to take it nice and easy. Slow and steady. We knew we had some leeway in our rankings.
Fourth wod was a barbell complex and at this point I was so exhausted I could barely move my arms, let alone lift a barbell overhead. Our team placed 2nd overall in our bracket which was enough to advance us to day 2. We met our freaking goal!!!
Our first wod was a medley of burpees, box jumps, push presses and weighted overhead holds. Our team practiced this prior to (this was the only wod pre-released) and we knew we had a pretty good shot at doing well. Turns out we won this wod in our bracket (and placed 3rd overall...out of 32 teams!).
Second wod was a 600m run carrying wall balls or sand bags. Again, our team won this wod in our bracket....phew!
Third wod was a sled push in which we placed dead-last. Our gym not only doesn't own a sled but we've never done any pushing wod. Ever. We knew this movement might be hard on my calf (check out all that toe-pushing...OUCH!) so our goal was to take it nice and easy. Slow and steady. We knew we had some leeway in our rankings.
Fourth wod was a barbell complex and at this point I was so exhausted I could barely move my arms, let alone lift a barbell overhead. Our team placed 2nd overall in our bracket which was enough to advance us to day 2. We met our freaking goal!!!
The dreaded sled push
Perfect Strangers do CrossFit. I was lucky enough to have Meggie in my bracket and got to cheer for her while we both were competing!
#PSMEX13 minus Dana
Day 2's wod consisted of a series of cleans, KBs, WBs, box jumps and old school partner jump roping. Our team did very well and we were happy with our performance (this was the Sweet 16 and we beat 5 other teams in this round). However, the #1 seed beat us and therefore we were eliminated. Didn't matter. Our goal was already met just by making it to Sunday. We were over the moon proud of ourselves and knew we accomplished big things. The remainder of the day was spent hanging out with my friends, sipping on canned champs and cheering on athletes. Was definitely a fun competition and showed us how far we'd come in the last 12 months. I love the CF community and am lucky enough to call them friends!
