So, my involvement in competing at the Sectionals this past weekend was completely unplanned. I hadn’t been training for it seriously and was actually too scared to compete as an individual. Ben called me the weekend prior and said there were only about 20 women signed up to compete individually and asked me to PLEASE consider signing up. I talked to my husband (Scott) to see what he thought. I figured he would balk at the $100 registration fee. Instead, he talked me into doing it! He was so supportive and encouraging, in just the right way to convince me to do it.
I went in to this hoping to finish in the top 15, but also with the attitude that I would just do what I know how to do and learn what I could learn! I didn’t make the top 15 – I was 18th overall. But, I was the oldest woman (individual) by 5 years, and was one of the shortest. My age was not so much a handicap, but my height was on a couple of things. The scariest part was just not knowing. It was worse than my first running race. At least with that I knew that I could run, even if it was slow. With this, I knew I could do everything asked of me, but how well I wasn’t sure with some of it.
I was so nervous and excited that I only got 4 hours of very broken sleep Friday night! We got up before the butt-crack of dawn and got to Stone Mountain and it was FREEZING! The wind was like ice slicing through your jacket. There was a lot of waiting before Event 1 – the Row 1000 meters and run 1.2 miles up Stone Mountain. I believe that nearly everyone there had already been up this area of Stone Mountain before, except for me. I think maybe that was a benefit to me because I couldn’t really be afraid since I had no idea what was coming. I felt pretty good on the rowing and kept a pace of 2:05 or less. Jumping off the rower and immediately to running on the rock was weird – my legs were kind of wobbly. It was super hard getting in to any kind of a running groove because you were constantly jumping and leaping up on big rocks. So, I decided to jog when I had enough space between big rocks and to just power walk as fast as I possibly could through the rest. There were places where it was just plain hard to keep moving, but I realized that the girls who had taken off running were slowing down fast and I was catching up to them even walking fast. So I made it my goal to do what it took to pass them. I passed several and ended up 11th overall with this event with a time of 19:29.
When I got to the top, I could barely breathe. I was shocked that I could even keep going because I just wanted to die – thought I was dying. I don’t think I’ve ever ended a “run” breathing so hard in my life. I also noticed that my nose was bleeding. I don’t know if it was the elevation and stress, or what. But, it took until more than halfway down for it to stop! Thankfully I had stuffed a tissue in my mitten/glove cap before we started!
Then there was Event 2 – the “chipper WOD” called the Jackhammer (60 35# KB Swings, 50 24″ Box Jumps, 40 12#/10ft Wall Ball shots, 30 Pull ups, 20 GHD Sit ups, 10 65# Snatches, 100ft 25# Overhead Walking Lunges) . I felt confident in most parts of this WOD, but was concerned with the box jumps and snatches. I don’t do snatches often, and the box jumps were nearly half my height. The tall girls would have a serious advantage over me on the box jumps and wall ball shots. It turned out that the box jumps only slowed me down slightly. It was the stinking wall ball shots that killed my time!!! I missed about 10-15 of them and had to do them over because the ball didn’t “tap” above the 10ft line – it got 10ft high but didn’t always hit the wall. ARGH!! Pissed me off! The pull ups slowed me down because I’m not used to being on a bar that high – I usually have the ground right below my feet so I can tap down if I need to. The high bar made it awkward. I did great on the KB, GHD, and Lunges. Ben raved about how I swapped the dumbell to my left hand during the lunge. I didn’t want to stop to switch because I almost had those ladies in front of me! I finished this event in 18:02, for 14th place.
Day 2 – Event 3 – Ground to overhead. We had about 15 minutes to warm up and get ready. When we started I knew I could get 95# overhead, but I started with 75 just to build my confidence since I knew going in that this was my absolute weakest event. Before this day I had never even gotten 95# up! I did my 75 and 95 well, tried for 115 but failed so dropped down to 105 and hit that. I hit 110 and tried for 115 again and failed. On the third try I got 115 up, barely. We had about 1 minute or less left and so I didn’t even try for 120. I probably should have because at least I would have made that effort. I ended up tied for 19th place. I now know I REALLY need to work on that overhead strength!
Event 4 was 21-15-9 of 65# Thrusters and Burpees, and then straight into 155# Deadlifts. I do pretty well on this kind of WOD. But the deadlifts were 30# over my bodyweight, which made it extra hard for me. At one point during the Thrusters I couldn’t make the lift and the bar dropped and hit my leg which hurt and made me shaky for the rest of the Thrusters. I ended up finishing in 11:28 in 17th place. I gave this one everything I had left. I could barely breathe at the end, and during those last 4 reps I thought my legs and back were going to buckle! I just kept my eyes closed (because we had to face the crowd) and I focused on the voices of my husband, friends and coaches yelling at me. I tried to mostly focus on Kyle yelling “chest out”, “3-2-1-go!”, and so on. At one point I heard my step-son Brison yell “Go MOM!” and that got me right back on the bar. They all kept me going and pushing. I knew I was on the heels of the girls beside me. I finished 3rd in my heat, but would have finished 2nd if those deadlifts hadn’t slowed me down so much. More strength….I need to work on strength!
Overall, I ended up with a bloody nose, scraped and bruised leg, and 2 spots of different bruises on my knees from lunges and burpees. “War wounds”. It was totally worth it. I’ve been thinking about whether this CrossFit competition was easier or harder than a Marathon (I’ve run 8). I think that for me, personally, it was harder. In a Marathon I know that I am not going to win or even place high, so when it gets tough I can walk – it is easy to make less effort. I don’t push myself nearly as hard when I’m running. With CrossFit, I give it ALL I have and leave nothing left! So, intensity-wise, this competition was harder. I think that I put more intensity into those less-than-20-minute WODS than I do in a 4 hour Marathon. They are both mentally and physically challenging, but in very different ways. One is long and drawn out and its easy to cut back and give yourself a break (if you aren’t an elite runner), the other (CrossFit) is shorter, more intense, and you know you can’t stop.
I left the competition sad and down because I only got 18th. But, then I realized nobody was disappointed in me and I thought about how I hadn’t even planned on doing it, and how I’d never even competed outside our gym. And although I didn’t manage the top 15, I did something I never dreamed I could, or would, ever do. I pushed myself far beyond my comfort zone. I put myself out there and challenged myself like never before. Doing that is NEVER a failure. Everyone there gave all they had, and everyone there was amazing! What’s not to be proud of? After a night of rest, and waking up feeling my sore muscles and lungs, knowing I gave all I had….I feel amazing. I’m no longer sad about “only” placing 18th. I’m excited and energized because I DID IT! One competition down, many to go!
Running began my road to fitness, but Jerome showed me a new path a year and a half ago, and now CrossFit is leading the way!! I am excited about the future and all the fun things to come. I know what things I need to work on, and I have a year to get better. I’ve come a LONG way in 14 months already, and I hope that I’ll be taking a lot of other people along with me on this journey! CrossFit will make you feel stronger, more powerful, more capable, and give you confidence you’ve never had! It will seriously change your life!
Thank you Scott, Jerome, Ben, Kyle, John, Adrienne, Jill, and everyone else at the gym who constantly support and encourage me and each other to do more and be better! We have an amazing family at No Excuses CrossFit.
