Yesterday, I competed in a CrossFit masters’ competition at CrossFit Frontier in Cheyenne, WY.
I’ve never done a masters only CrossFit competition, and this one was fun. It was divided into 5 year groups, beginning with age 35 and then from 50 plus. I went with a couple others from my CrossFit Box and had support from my gym, which always makes for a sweet time.
The strength event I did better than I had hoped for. The second event that was predominantly body weight I did well. The last event almost killed me with single-arm dumbbell weights and a bike at the end, but I got through it.
CrossFit Frontier was a great host. Nice owners. Fun people. Nice facilities. I will definitely do this one again next year!
I wrote recently on the advantages of designing your own programming and working out alone. Earlier this week I was thinking how CrossFit is all about me.
HOW CROSSFIT IS ALL ABOUT ME
I work out when I want to.
I don’t feel the pressure to push myself when I don’t feel mentally or physically up for it.
I do workouts I want to do and ones that fit my physical state that day.
I can change workouts at the last minute when I feel a tweak or wake up exhausted.
I can practice moves and go really slow or do heavier weights and go really slow, which builds my strength without feeling pressure to finish or beat anyone.
Going slow I notice things about my moves I need to fix such as hand position, etc.
I do CrossFit for me. I do it for how it makes me feel, how it makes me look, and the accomplishments I achieve over time. CrossFit is all about me. And I love it!
Usually by the end of the week I’m wiped out from CrossFit. On Fridays, I like an active recovery workout that tends to go long.
Enter CrossFit Hero Workout Jenny.
Named for U.S. Army Capt. Jennifer M. Moreno who died Oct. 6, 2013, in Zhari District, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked her unit with an improvised explosive device.
Jenny consists of: 20 min AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of:
20 Overhead Squats 45 lbs
20 Back Squats 45 lbs
400 m run
What I love about this CrossFit Hero WOD (workout of the day) is that it’s light weight and cardio-dominant. You’re at peak heart rate most of the time. This one was fun and definitely one I’ll do again!
Yesterday, I competed in a CrossFit competition called Battle at the Rock at CrossFit Castle Rock in Castle Rock, Colorado.
This CrossFit competition was all a test of mental fortitude because I had just done Project Uplift the day before. I was sore. I was tired. I was beat.
Let me just stress that I had not planned to do two CrossFit competitions two days in a row. Yesterday, I was a last minute fill in. Battle at the Rock I had planned for a month or so.
Workout number one was just plain fun. It was a 6 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of one clean and jerk and 4 lateral bar over burpees. I chose a lighter weight for 2 reasons:
I wanted to keep moving and minimize my pauses. The heavier I go, the more taxing it becomes, the longer the jerk takes, and the less reps I’ll get. There were 2 scores for this workout: reps and weight moved.
After yesterday, my arms were already killing me. I didn’t want to strain anything. 85 lbs was a safe bet. Heavy enough for points but not too heavy I’d have to strain.
I got one rep short of 15 rounds. It was fun.
CrossFit Dumbbell Push Ups
I did the floater next which was 21 calories on the bike followed by dumbbell squats with 35 lbs in each hand. After the bike, I was wiped. This could have been faster.
After this workout, I felt terrible. I went to my truck and sat and rested.
Workout #2 was okay. It was a 24 calorie buy in followed by 30-20-10 of dumbbell snatches at 35 lbs and box jump overs ended by a 24 calories buyout. Normally, this is my cup of tea (except the row). It was all I had just to keep moving.
I had a 2 hour break in-between before the last workout. I took a nap. I ate. I felt much better.
The last workout was normally my cup of tea as well, but I was so tired it was all I could do to keep moving. It was 15 hang power cleans at 65 lbs, 30 step forward lunges with that bar, 15 toes to bar, 30 wall balls (10 foot target but only 10 lbs) and then 15 pull ups. 2 Rounds with a 12 min time cap.
I stricted all the toes to bar and the pull ups even though it’s slower because my hands were killing me, and I didn’t want to tweak anything from my overworked body. Also, I didn’t want to mess with my grips since I don’t use grips on barbell movements and on wall balls.
Well, I got to the 2nd round of wall balls and wanted to die. I honestly just wanted to skip the wall balls and go to the pull ups.
I made it through this CrossFit competition and finished in 2nd for the masters’ women. It was fun, but I am so glad it’s over. I honestly couldn’t have done any more work.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM TWO DAYS OF CROSSFIT COMPETITIONS
This is 90% mental. It’s showing up. It’s doing the work. It’s grinding through it when all you want to do is sit.
The rest is overcoming the physical exhaustion your body feels. It’s eating enough, drinking enough, planning it all, so you can perform.
I’m unsure if I’ll do two CrossFit competitions in a row again. It’s physically exhausting. Draining. I feel completely wiped out. I have nothing left.
CrossFit Competition Colorado
I’ve gained a whole new appreciation for the CrossFit Games athletes who workout for continuous days as well as other CrossFit competitors who do multiple days. It’s a whole different level I didn’t appreciate until now.
