Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Recap: WOD Warrior

Most of you knew that I was kind of nervous absolutely terrified to do my first crossfit competition on Saturday. I really appreciated everyone’s kind words and encouragement. When I rolled out of bed on Sunday I almost didn’t even go. I told Mr. Healthy Diva that I was just going to stay home and crawled back into bed. He kept asking me if I was sure I didn’t want to go. I had to be checked in by 8:45. Finally at 8:00 am I decided to go. I probably would have stayed in bed if it wasn’t for all of you. So, thank you for holding me accountable and encouraging me to step outside of my comfort zone.

Through the entire 15 minute drive I felt like I was going to throw up. I think that Mr. Healthy Diva found this humorous. I kept telling him, “…..but I am going to get my butt kicked!” All he did was laugh at my stupid comments. He finally looked at me and said “have you ever won a marathon?” My response was obviously “no”. He then went on to say, “exactly, you have never won a marathon, you have gotten your butt kicked, BUT you have trained harder for a marathon than you have for this crossfit competition”. Wow, thanks for the awesome words of wisdom/encouragement Mr. Healthy Diva.

We arrive and the parking lot was FULL and it is a big parking lot. All I said was “holy crap!” The entire time I am getting checked in my heart is in my throat and my stomach is wrenching. We walk into the gym and I am in awe. There are so many people! It was overwhelming! I had no idea what to do, where to go, or even when I was starting.

I went back to the check in desk to inquire which heat I was in and the lady said she didn’t know that the PIC was still figuring it out. This was at 8:45, 30 minutes before the competition was set to start. I heard numerous people & judges say what a cluster this competition was before it even started. That is not something you want to hear when you don’t even know what to do!

Shortly after 8:45 the PIC called for an athlete’s meeting to go over how the rounds would run and how they would be judging the lifts. Looking at all of the other athletes up close made me really, really nervous!

Part of the set up for the AMRAP- row machines and kettle bells

The third area for the AMRAP- pull up torture fun

I got lucky and was in the 2nd round of the women’s novice 20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible). It made me more comfortable being able to see some of the other competitors go before me.
The AMRAP length was 20 minutes with each round incrementally going up by 6. Seriously what sick person does that? Do you give a better idea of the torture fun I went through, here is what I completed in 20 minutes:

Round 1
300 meter row
6 KB swings
6 jump pulls ups
Round 2
300 meter row
12 KB swings
12 jump pull ups
Round 3
300 meter row
18 KB swings
18 jump pull ups
Round 4
300 meter row
24 KB swings
24 jump pull ups
Round 5
300 meter row
+ 15 KB swings
0

The round seemed like the longest 20 minutes of my life. I was dying. My hands hurt from both the KB swings and pull ups. My knees were throbbing from the jumping up and down on the pull ups. I could feel my body breaking down, but I knew I needed to keep pushing forward. I was ready to be done when I still had 10 minutes left! I think that the longest AMRAP I have ever completed at Farmgirlfit was 15 minutes, which is still a long time to be moving at top speed. One thing I have learned about crossfit, if it looks easy it will be really hard. I probably had a total of 10 pull ups and 8 KB swings that the judge wouldn't count because my form wasn't correct. They said they would be strict about this in the athlete's meeting and they were!

Rowing- I am second in. Jury is still out on the lady in red Mr. Healthy Diva questioned her gender...

Yes, I realize the KB is over my head. :-)
Correct KB swing form is arms locked w/the KB stacked directly over your head.

How to do a proper KB swing from beginning to end


Following that round I felt like my legs were going to collapse. I gingerly sat down next to Mr. Healthy Diva and proceeded to chug my entire water bottle of Nuun and inhale my rice crackers w/hummus. I was scared to go over and see which event I had next and at what time it would be taking place.

Of course I stayed hydrated with my favorite beverage- NUUN! 1 fruit punch tab + 1 Nuun All Day Grape Raspberry tab = Hydration Bliss

Nuun does crossfit!

My next event was only 30 minutes away and was the suicide sprint + airdyne bike + wall balls. The sprint consisted of line runs where we had to grab a flag and bring it back down and drop it at the start and repeat until we had collected all four flags. Think basketball line drills. After the first suicide sprint was complete we had to ride the airdyne bike to 50 calories. I was first going into the airdyne, but made a “novice” mistake.  I had never used an airdyne bike before so it took 25 calories to figure out the faster I moved my arms the quicker the calories racked up. UGH. I was second off the airdyne bike and had to complete another set of suicide sprints. I had noticed before how slow competitors were moving on the second set of sprints. There was a good reason! You legs felt like mush! I felt like I was moving in slow motion. At the end of the last sprint we finished the 6 minute set with wall balls. This is where I did awful and was really annoyed with myself. They were really, really, really picky about your form. On the wall balls you had to squat below parallel for the wall ball to count. We had to use 15 lb wall balls and hit the 10ft target on the wall. Out of my 10 + attempts, only 4 counted. L I think if my legs would have been fresh I might have been able to squat better, but you live and learn. Definitely something to improve upon in the future.

I had an hour until the deadlift + burpee round. This is when Mr. Healthy Diva realized that the Seahawks game was on at 11:00 am our time and not 1:00 pm like he was thinking. Dum Dum! At this point we could have stayed the hour and I could finish, but he would miss his game or he could drive me all the way home for me to drive back just to finish my last set if I made it in time. I knew that he really wanted to watch the game so I made the decision that we could leave. Yes, I am ticked off at myself now for not finishing the last round, but it is okay because I got out of the competition what I wanted. There was no way I would ever placed, even in the novice division. Over half of the female competitors were way above the novice level and were killing it. Not fair to us beginners if you want my honest opinion.

My main objective for signing up and going was accomplished. I had fun, I learned a lot about myself AND I can cross my crossfit competition off of my 2013 goal list. For not even wanting to get out bed and go to the event, I think that I was pretty successful. I learned that I like the competition aspect of it, but I love running much more. I am not ruling out future competitions, but I am not planning on another either. I can see where Matt was coming from when he told me only one competition between now and Windermere. If I decide to maybe do another event in the fall I know where my weaknesses are. There is always room for improvement.

My shirt- I actually kind of like it!

Questions for you:
Ever compete in a crossfit competition?
Do you like KB swings?
Have you been a participant in a competition where other competitors clearly were competing below their level?

--Tasha

36 comments:

  1. Congrats on having the nerve to compete!! Yikes!! Sounds painfully fun.
    And this: "if it looks easy it will be really hard" I am learning more and more each day as I continue to Crossfit!

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    1. I am glad that you are enjoying crossfit and that you decided to continue once your groupon expired. It has been such a good thing for me and I knew that you would love it since you are into lifting.

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  2. Um wow...this is awesome!! You should be insanely proud of yourself for doing something out of your normal running comfort zone. And you look super badass in those photos by the way :). I just learned how to do KB swings at a bootcamp class and I love how they really give you an overall strength workout!

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    1. Thanks Lauren- I am really glad I went even though I felt like I was going to throw up because I was that nervous. KB swings are a great full body workout. They can be super challenging once your arms get tired. I am always afraid that I am going to swing up too fast and fall over backwards.

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  3. You look so freaking strong, girl! I am mighty impressed and proud of you! :)

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  4. You did AMAZING!!! SOOOO proud of you! Congrats!!!!!

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  5. So proud of you for stepping out of your comfort zone:) You did great! I hate it when people compete below their level. What's the point? They are only cheating themselves.

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    1. Thanks Rachelle! I wasn't going to even say this because I was THAT mad that people were cheating and competing below their skill set, but there were even some women from FGF that should not have been in the novice division. They can easily do full pull ups on their own without a band. I struggle with pull ups, but I am working on them. I have only been going since the end of Oct. when some of these women have been going for a lot longer. Oh well. Live and learn and try harder next time!

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  6. You kicked butt girl! Rock on! You're a brave one, I'm just starting CF ;) I love KBs too! At races I see people gunning it who haven't trained - scary sometimes. You go girl!

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    1. Thanks Kat! When did you start CF??? It didn't take me long to fall in love with it. I was anti CF for years and I don't even know why.

      It drives me nuts when people gun at the beginning of a race. It seems like I always pass them.

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  7. The good thing about doing this is that you know what to do the next time, and it won't be so scary. I think you did awesome! I have never used a KB, but I think it would be something I would like.

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    1. Thank you! I am so glad that I followed through. I know that the next one (if there is a next one) will seem like a piece of cake since I know what to expect.
      KB are great! You get a good full body workout with them.

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  8. YOU DID IT!! I'm so impressed that you really pushed out of your comfort zone and went for it- Even if you ultimitately decided it just isn't your thing. Truly inspiring!

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    1. Thanks Maureen! I am so glad that I went and followed through. I knew that once I got started me nerves would go away and they did. I think my hubby was secretly impressed with how well I did. :-)

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  9. You are neato! Seriously, I am impressed you tackled this goal so early in the year. I would have put it off forever! It really does sound exhausting. I did crossfit for a bit but would never in a million years attempt a competition. Way to get out there! I know that feeling of not wanting to get out of bed and I'm proud of you! And again, completely impressed!

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    1. I figured if I did put it off then I would come up with a million excuses to not cross my goal off. This competition fit well in my training schedule so I couldn't really come up with any excuses to not go. There were so many different skill sets there. Some women probably shouldn't have been competing because I don't think that they were ready, but at least they tried and that is what matters.

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  10. hooray! I'm glad you had fun! See? nervous for nothing. I would imagine it's damn near impossible to focus on both form and speed at the same time. At least for me anyway....
    On a side note, it's kind of a bummer that people were competing below their level. Winning isn't everything, folks!

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    1. I know- I was totally nervous for no reason. I tend to get myself worked up over the dumbest things. I am not very coordinated so I am glad that I didn't topple over with the KB!
      It was a bummer that people were competing below their skill set. They are only cheating themselves....

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  11. Hey Girl, great job! I have to agree that having women in the novice class who CLEARLY are not would really irritate me as well. So frustrating! I am glad you had fun and I am glad you gave it all you had. Good for you. AND the shirt is pretty stinkin cool!

    I think it would be fun to do a crossfit competition but I would doubt I would ever "train" at a crossfit gym so who knows...and no I do not like KB swings!

    Love ya

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    1. Thanks Marnee! I haven't worn the shirt yet, but I tried it on and it looks cute. I like how it is a women's cut shirt too. It looks way different than a race t-shirt!

      I wished that the event organizer had clear guidelines for each division to avoid people cheating. I heard that a lot of complaints were submitted so I am sure that they won't let it happen again.

      If you have the equipment to use you could probably do most of the CF WODs without ever going to a CF box. I could do them at home if I wanted, but I like the competition from being in a group and I get too distracted at home. Too many shiny things too look at :-)

      XXXX

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  12. YOU ARE SO AMAZING!! And awesome job. So awesome that you were able to check this off your bucket list and to rock at it! I absolutely love KB swings, they make me feel so fit. I need to get back at doing them because I have been slackerrring it up lately.

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    1. Thanks Lora!!!!!! Aren't KB swings a great workout! I love how it works so many different muscle groups.

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  13. soooo proud of you for getting up and doing this! it sounds insanely intense!! they should've had some sort of guidelines for what a "novice" is-like, only been in crossfit for x amount of months. goal complete though! so good job!

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth! I think the competition would have been better if they had guidelines for what division to be in as well. They needed an intermediate division on top of novice and advanced. That would have kept some of the cheaters out of the novice division.

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  14. You are awesome! New experiences terrify me--especially when I know I might not be good at it...you are a great example of pushing your limits and I'm pumped for you!

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    1. Thanks Kate! New experiences terrify me too! I don't like to admit it, but it is true.

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  15. You are so amazing Tasha! I loved this post and how you did the recap! When you said, "holy crap" I chuckled.. I would have probably just drive out of the parking lot.
    So glad you made it through the parts that you did and got what you wanted out of it. :)

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    1. Thanks Brandi! I think if my hubby wasn't driving I MIGHT have driven back out of the parking lot. I could not believe how many cars were there. It doubled the amount of butterflies that I already had.

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  16. Just found your blog and love the recap! I attended a Spartan Race event in NY the other day and was wondering more about crossfit so this really helped me to get to know what its all about. Sounds so tough!! You did great!

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    1. Thanks Megan! Did you compete in the Spartan Race or just watch? My husband wants to do the Spartan Race in Montana this May. I have done Warrior Dash and already know that it isn't my thing, but I would go and watch him. You should check out a crossfit box and try out some workouts if you have the chance. I think you would like the workouts.

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  17. This is awesome and you're awesome! Congrats on completing this crazy event!

    I didn't even know they had those competition! That sounds so challenging but fun!

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    1. Thanks Liana! CF competitions are huge these days. They even have a world championship competititon. I would love to see that someday. The CF athletes are amazing to watch.

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  18. I would have been terrified of doing this! Wow! Impressed!

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    1. Thanks Meggie! Trust me I was so terrified I almost threw up. Once I got going the nerves went away- Kind of like in a race.

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