16.1 Crossfit Open

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I apologize for the lack of entries lately. With the wedding rapidly approaching and things happening, it’s been a little more difficult to update as frequently, or even spend as much time in the kitchen. After the wedding I’m sure that I will have more time to update more and give you all new recipes!

Eat to Perform is suiting me well so far, and I will update on that more in a later entry. Also, If you hadn’t noticed, there is a link on the side-bar of the website that links to my Daily Workouts and food logs, if anyone is interested. I update a little more on Eat to Perform on that page.  I don’t post as many food logs because it is hard enough to keep up with a training log, but I will try to do one a week.

So, for the first time I actually signed up for the Open. I wasn’t initially planning on it…I always thought why am I going to pay $20 just to know that I am in the bottom 70 percent in the Region, and if I am not trying to make it to Regional’s? But, I gave in and decided to sign up for a few reasons…

One, I wanted to challenge myself, and see what I could really do. And I ended up surprising myself.  Two – I was the only female at my box that was doing the workout Rx (as prescribed), so I thought what the heck, why not? Three, I always wanted to do a crossfit competition for fun, what better competition to participate in than the open? And four…I gotta admit, it’s kind of cool to see my name listed as an athlete on the Games website!

For those that don’t know, the Crossfit Open is the first installment of the Crossfit Games, where people compete in a series of grueling crossfit exercises to hold the title of Fittest Man or Fittest Female. The Open is the first step. It is a set of five workouts, which are released at 5:00pm PT on Thursday each week, and athletes have four days to submit their score–either validated by a certified judge or by video. Anyone can register for the Open. Once the Open is complete, the top athletes from each Region will compete at Regionals, then the top athletes from Regionals compete at the Crossfit Games.

The first workout was released this past Thursday, and this is what it was:

For those that don’t speak crossfit, here is a video explaining the movements and standards:

I didn’t have good expectations for this workout. For one, my overhead strength is lacking, so I did not think I would be able to hold 65# up over my head for very long. I have also never done overhead walking lunges, these were new to me, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to do them for more than five feet without dropping.
I have also never done chest-to-bar pull-ups before, and didn’t even know if I could even do them. I really wanted to do the workout RX, so I tested some before the workout and started to get the hang of the movement. I couldn’t string them together, but I could do them.

I finished the workout having exceeded my expectations. I thought I would get 2 rounds, 3 at the most. I ended up completing 4 rounds and extra, for a total score of 110 reps. I found out I could perform overhead lunges, and that I can do chest-to-bar pull-ups!

While my score is not the best, and towards the bottom of the leader-board, I am proud of it and of the fact that I did better than I thought I would. I have been working hard and eating better, and it is paying off.

Since I registered in the Rx category, I don’t see myself lasting past 16.3 since there will most likely be muscle-ups somewhere in the Open, and I definitely can’t do those yet.  Maybe by next year! I’m hoping muscle-ups won’t appear in the workout until the last couple of weeks, but we’ll see what Dave Castro has in store for us.

Also, I have to say that HandBandPro definitely helped save my hands during this workout! A friend turned me onto them, and I love them.  My hands tear and rip so easily, no matter how long I have done crossfit and built up callouses.  I’ve tried all different types of gloves and they either made it worse or were uncomfortable.  Gymnastic wraps make me slip off the bar.  These are easy to use and comfortable, I love them! You can use her coupon code LIVELIFTRUN for 10% off if you’d like to try them out!