*We are hosting a Level 1 CrossFit certification this weekend so there will not be any classes at the gym. However, in anticiaption of beautiful weather, we will be running outdoor workouts on Saturday and Sunday morning. Meet at Mokley park on Saturday and Sunday, hours to follow, and bring a friend, non-CrossFit Southie members are welcome to come. If you have yet to come to an outdoor WOD, you don’t want to miss out. Fitness extends beyond the walls of the box! If you are unable to make it for your designated classes for the week, due to the schedule changes, feel free to make them up next week.*
What an experience! It was amazing to be out there amongst the World’s fittest. All of the people I admire and had only seen in videos were right there in the flesh. They were next to us warming up, we mingled amongst them at the after party and continually bumped into them everywhere we seemed to go in LA . Through observation and interaction they seemed exactly like us, only more fit versions. In other sports, you would never be able to go to the world championship as a spectator and then hang out with the creator of the sport and the competitors, including the world champs, at an after party event. This really demonstrated the broader sense of the CrossFit community and it will be interesting to see if this remains in years to come.
On to the competitions side of the Games…
The individual competition was grueling and it continues to amaze me what elite CrossFitters are capable of and how well rounded these athletes actually are. It is extremely motivating to see what they go through over the course of the Games and it is incredible to think about how much work they must put in to make it to the world stage. Each year these athletes become stronger, faster and more capable to tackle anything and everything thrown their way. It is a true testament to CrossFit that they are able to do so, but it’s also scary to think about what the Games events are going to be composed of 5 years from now.
The team competition was much more fierce than any of us expected. This year, unlike years past, every member of the team was required to compete in each work out. In years past, a team would thrive with a group of specialists, as they could put their strong guys/girls in heavy WODs, their gymnasty freaks in the bodyweight WODs and their metabolic machines in during the running/rowing/lightweight burners. In lieu of years past, this year rewarded the teams with the 6 most well rounded CrossFitters (what do you know, it is a CrossFit competition after-all). I think it was a big step for our sport and I like the changes to the team competition however the changes quickly exposed our weaknesses and removed the specialist advantage we once had.
As Coach Glassman stated, you are bound by the limits of your experience and we were just that. The games always seem to throw loops at you and those loops really took us for a ride. The axle introduced in the partner team WOD gave us a lot of trouble when compared to when we practiced with a standard barbell. Lots of no reps were awarded for not completely standing up on the plate for burpees in a standard that some of our athletes had not previously been accustomed to. Also, unlike some of the other teams, we had never tested out an unstable Yoke and the first time we touched the 375 beast was during the Games WOD and we didn’t have the proper technique or confidence to move it. Lastly, 20ft rope climbs were an issue for all teams, although our ladies did a great job with them. Take home message, do weird shit.. do things you are uncomfortable doing, don’t always do the standard. Doing things that you are accustomed to (comfortable with), can leave you caught in a rut and short of your true potential. Vary workouts up as much as possible with different bars, heavier weights, higher jumps/climbs, etc… and make sure you make it for the wods you would normally shy away from.
All in all, we finished close to the middle of the pack and had a blast doing everything we could to be crowned the 28th fittest team in the world. I am exceptionally proud of each member of the team for giving their all and it is truly amazing that we were even able to make it to the world stage with most team members only having a year or two of CrossFitting experience. We had a great time together out there and I couldn’t imagine sharing the experience with anyone else. Being there has made each of us hungry and we will all learn and grow from our experience and hopefully make it back, faster and stronger, to the games next year!
Lastly, but definitely not leastly, a huge thanks to all of you that helped pay our way to Cali. Your extreme generosity was much appreciated and helped take away the cost burden of the trip. We’re glad to hear that most of you were back home following along and that you are just as excited and motivated by the Games as we are.
A special thanks also goes out to CFSouthie diehards that came out to support us at the Games. It was great to have you guys there and even better to kick back with all of you after the competition was over. Time to start training for 2013 (after the bar-crawl of course)!
Skill
Bar Muscle-up
Pull-up
Split Snatch
WOD
Track triplet: CF Games WOD
Three rounds for time of:
8 Split snatch, alternating legs (115 / 75lbs)
7 Bar muscle-ups
Run 400 meters
Level 2 (95,55), 14 c2b pull-ups
Level 1 (65,35), 10 pull-ups