Wednesday 100317

Over the weekend I competed in the CrossFit SoCal Sectionals which is only the first round of competition one must perform "constantly varied, high intensity, functional movement" at an incredible level in order to reach The CrossFit Games.  There were 180 men and 90 women competing, covering a geographical area from San Luis Obispo in the north, to Murrietta in the South, and all the way east to the border of NV and AZ. There was not a six pack you couldn't see, a guy you'd want to square off with (or girl for that matter), and LOTS of tattoos! There were two brutal workouts on Saturday, and one more on Sunday, which all together were designed to test CrossFit's philosophy of creating "increased capacity across broad time and modal domains."

There was running, Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, rowing, throwing, jumping, squatting, pressing, pullups, powerlifting, holds, climbing, thrusting, and of course, BURPEES! These exercises tested the Ten Physical Skills we are constantly trying to improve upon with our workouts.

After falling off the pullup bar at Desert CrossFit (my neighboring affiliate) only 10 days before the competition and injuring my back, I was unsure if I should compete as of last Thursday, but I decided to go and do my best anyway. I just couldn't wait another year to see how I ranked among other CrossFitters! So, I packed chalk, my olympic lifting shoes, some paleo eats and headed off to LA!

I did not go expecting to place in the top 20 (which advance to the (Regional Competition), I went to have fun, and have a learning experience. In that regard, the trip was a major success! I had a ton of fun doing the workouts ("it doesn't have to be fun to be fun"), meeting and talking with other like minded people, watching other athletes, and just being a part of the competition. I also learned a few things: 1) my range of motion is SOLID (I only had a few repetitions called out my judges as not deep enough or incomplete in some way), 2) I need to get stronger (heavy thrusters and deadlifts were ROUGH), 3) I need waaaay more practice on my double unders. There's even more, but you get the idea.

There were many athletes who were unable to comlete the workouts as prescribed, and I'm proud to say I was able to do everything that was put in front of me reasonably well.  I finished at 72nd out of 180, which is the top 40%. I'm very happy with that result, as I found CrossFit only 14 months ago, have no athletic background, and am basically self taught with no coach.  Will I do better next year? Probably, but I am so sore I can barely walk, stand up, or sit down at the moment, so I'll have to put off my training for a few more days!

This is me "running" up the stadium stairs between exercises in the "Stadium Chipper" WOD. Click here for more photos.

W.O.D.

Run 5k