push press crossfit competition denver hot crossfit chick crossfitmomm.com

What CrossFit Cost Me This Year…

Every year, it has become a tradition of mine to list out how much I spent on CrossFit. This is more out of curiosity than anything else because to me health, wellness, and fitness have no price.

THE REAL COST OF CROSSFIT

  • GHD machine from Rogue Fitness: $695.00
  • CrossFit Competitions: approximately $1000 (this includes those for my daughter as well)
  • CrossFit clothes: $500 (clothes for my kids as well)
  • CrossFit Membership: $370 (for me and my daughter)
  • Orange Theory Membership: $725 (took half the year off due to injury)
  • Two 15 pound plates: $75
  • Massage: $530
  • Muscle Activation: $500 for package deal
  • Chiropractor: $200
  • Urgent Care for injuries: $200
  • Nutrition package: $450
  • Private CrossFit Lessons: $400

Sum total in 2019 is: $5645. This actually is not bad compared to last year when I outfitted almost my entire home gym. I just bought a GHD machine this year, which completes it for the most part.

CrossFit is my passion and makes me happy in this world. Truthfully, I don’t care how much it costs me. It’s totally worth every cent for what it gives me in terms of self-confidence, health, and a feeling of accomplishment in this world.

Double Unders at CrossFit Competition Colorado hot crossfit mom

CrossFit Competition: Whiteboard Classic

Yesterday, I did the CrossFit competition called the Whiteboard Classic in Arvada, CO. I did this one last year as well. This year, I entered the scaled division because my daughter was my partner.

Let’s just say I did 85% of the work in a CrossFit competition designed for two people. My quads today are burning. It’s hard to walk and sit. I feel old.

CROSSFIT ARVADA

It was hot, but the venue was good.  In-between heats, I sat in my truck the entire time and worked on my computer. We left after the last WOD where I was beginning to feel the work I had done:

  • 60 back squats at 75 pounds
  • 19 cleans at 75 pounds
  • 51 thrusters, 42 at 65, 9 at 75 pounds
  • 60 pull ups
  • 80 wall balls
  • A bunch of calories on the bike and the Assault runner
  • Burpee box jump overs

I love my daughter, but she has to stick to the teens division.

It was fun but exhausting, and I was physically drained. I went to bed at 7 pm.

CrossFit Competition Arcanum Games hot crossfit chick running

CrossFit: I’m in It to Do It, Not to Win It

So as I was doing CrossFit Hero Workout Luke, I realized I would set no record. I’m still not recovered from running injuries so my runs all suck. I just can’t go above a jog most days. But, I needed a long workout, and I needed to run.

At this point I realized everything in CrossFit for me is mental. Sure, there are things I can’t do physically, but after 3 1/2 years of CrossFit, it’s hard just to do it any more. That’s why for me, victory is in the doing, not in the setting a good time or beating others. I save that for CrossFit competitions, but even those sometimes I’m not in it to win it.

I’m in it to do it. That’s all I can do right now. And I’m happy with that.

When a CrossFit Hero Workout Hits the Spot

I was on vacation this weekend and CrossFit Open workout 19.2 wasn’t really a workout when I didn’t make it past the first round, so I was itching for something long and hard. Enter Andy, a CrossFit Hero workout, named for U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew T. Weathers who died Sept. 30, 2014.

Weathers was wounded Sept. 28 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when he heroically ran to a rooftop through hundreds of incoming rounds to repel an attack of insurgents who were attempting to overrun his position. His actions saved the lives of five U.S. Green Berets and nine Afghan Commandos at his location. Weathers was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

 

His CrossFit Hero workout is:

  • 25 thrusters
  • 50 box jumps
  • 75 deadlifts
  • 1.5 mile run
  • 75 deadlifts
  • 50 box jumps
  • 25 thrusters

80 pounds on the bar for women and wearing a weight vest (14 lb for women).

I did really well at this workout. I came in way under the 1 hour I thought it would take me, and it was fun. It was just what I needed on this negative degree morning in Colorado. It gave me motivation and encouragement because when I woke up I didn’t want to do it. Long workouts are one of my strengths, and I sweated and this CrossFit Hero WOD was hard. and it was awesome.

I love CrossFit.

Crossfit Open Workout 19.2

Workout 19.2 features squat cleans ... a lot of them. Photo: CrossFit GamesCrossFit Open Workout 19.2 was a repeat of CrossFit Open Workout 16.2. It is:

  • 25 toes to bar
  • 50 double unders
  • 15 squat cleans (85 lbs)
  • 25 toes to bar
  • 50 double unders
  • 13 squat cleans (115)

If you finish in under 8 minutes, you get 4 more minutes to do another round with heavier squat clean weight.

I didn’t finish this round, but I was happy with it. I almost did.

After 2 weeks of CrossFit Open workouts for 2019, I’m just not into it. Without Regionals to measure yourself against, you’re against everyone, and being in the thousands tells me nothing of my fitness level. The CrossFit Open used to be a way to measure your improvement over a year. Now, the only way you know if you’ve improved is in your head. Can you do a muscle up this year that you couldn’t last year? Can you string more double unders together? Can you lift heavier weight?

The CrossFit Open to me is not what it used to be. And that saddens me.

Uneven Load Training: Underestimating Sandbag Sit-ups

CrossFit Babe doing wall balls in CrossFit Open 19.1
Perfect Wall Ball position in CrossFit

Today was a sandbag workout.

I decided to sub 30 v-ups for 30 sandbag sit-ups, mainly because I like sandbag sit ups.

Well, this was a mistake.

They were a lot harder than I thought and 30 of them about killed me. But it was good.

Lesson learned: subbing sandbags for other movements may not be such a good idea after all.

Trying to Care about the CrossFit Open

crossfit babe at crossfit competition in Windsor, CO
Looks at CrossFit Competitions

This is the first year since I’ve started CrossFit that I haven’t cared about the CrossFit Open, which is technically how you qualify for the CrossFit Games, but as average athletes, it’s just a test of how you’ve improved since last year. I believe there are several reasons for my apathy:

  1. I have no CrossFit home. Sure, I do private lessons at a CrossFit box once a week, but I don’t feel part of the community. Same with another gym I just joined. And I’m unsure where I will be doing the CrossFit Open each week.
  2. I don’t have my ring muscle ups, and I’m unsure if I will have them or not by the time they show up in the CrossFit Open.
  3. I believe I’m slower than last year. This is not helping my mental fortitude.
  4. It doesn’t seem like it’s as big of a deal this year, or because I know I’ll never qualify for anything with all of the changes to qualifying for the CrossFit Games that I just don’t care.

I’ll still do the workouts and log my score and check my standings with others in my age group and region. However, I definitely won’t be re-doing any of the CrossFit Open workouts this year. And I’ll have to try to look forward to it. Tips and advice are always welcome.

CrossFit Competitions: Tuff Love

Today’s CrossFit competition was at CrossFit Sanitas in Boulder, CO. It was a partner competition called Tuff Love.

hot crossfit chicks at Tuff Love CrossFit Competition at CrossFit Sanitas in Boulder, CO
Tuff Love CrossFit Competition at CrossFit Sanitas in Boulder, CO

This was my first time doing this one. I tried last year to do this CrossFit competition but couldn’t find a partner. This year I was determined to do it. So, I asked everyone I knew to do it with me, and everyone turned me down. So, at the last minute, I convinced my daughter to do this CrossFit competition with me. Tom, one of the owners, graciously opened up a few extra spots, and let us in as I had been in contact with him for a partner as well.

My daughter was not looking forward to this CrossFit competition because we had to scale all the weights down. However, after the first WOD, which was a clean and jerk ladder of sorts, she was having the time of her life.

CrossFit Sanitas as always (this is my third competition there) was gracious and accommodating as a host, and the location has tons of food and areas to walk around. It was cold and snowy for a time, but fun. Definitely will do this one again next year. Thanks to all and the competitors who were amazing.

The Pitfalls of Local CrossFit Competitions

I’ve done at least two dozen local CrossFit competitions, and usually in each one, there are some of the same pitfalls:

  • Unfair judging. With local competitions, you get judges who are graciously volunteering their time, but most of them have no experience judging CrossFit competitions and thus make mistakes. This ends up affecting the podium, and I have lost several times because of this.
  • Inconsistent judging. Again, due to lack of experience, athletes are not held to the same standards. Even though everyone knows the standards for a burpee, some competitors will cheat if they can get away with it — and a lot of the time, they do. No one likes to be the bad guy and “no rep” others. Hence, some athletes cheat themselves to the detriment of others who play by the rules, who have integrity, and who want to win fairly. I see this a lot, which is honestly, sad.
  • Improper equipment. Having to deadlift with a guy’s bar 20 kilos as opposed to 15 kilos) when you’re not used to it is a disadvantage to women whose bars are thinner and weigh less. When you’re outside in the blazing sun at 90 degrees and you’re trying to grip a guy bar and your hands are sweaty, it’s tough.
  • Unbalance programming. Due to time constraints, most of the CrossFit workouts are short. This plays to those who are sprinters and not to marathoners. Furthermore, the CrossFit programming is at the whim of the host box and is sometimes inconsistent as well. For example, one CrossFit competition I attended had no gymnastics work at all (pull ups, double unders, muscles ups, handstand push ups, etc). This is a separator for athletes and puts those who have these moves at an advantage. Same goes for one I attended that was all heavy bar work. That puts those who are strong at a disadvantage to those who are agile. Ideally, there should be balance in the CrossFit workouts at CrossFit Competitions.

    hotcrossfitchicks at local crossfit competitions in denver, co
    Local CrossFit Competitions
  • Poor management/getting off schedule. There have been some local CrossFit competitions where the CrossFit competition has run way off schedule and ended up finishing an hour or more behind — which sucks when you got at least an hour drive home ahead of you.

TIPS FOR BETTER CROSSFIT COMPETITIONS

  • Balanced programming. Workouts don’t need to be complicated, but they should challenge the athletes and test them across the ten CrossFit fitness domains.
  • Invest the time in finding good CrossFit judges. Ideally, you’ll want your judges to have taken the CrossFit Judges course. If not, to have at least some experience in judging CrossFit competitions. This eliminates disgruntled athletes who may be disinclined to attend your next CrossFit competition because they feel cheated at yours.
  • Adhere to your schedule. Hiccups happen out of your control the day of the CrossFit competition. However, you can plan ahead to minimize these as much as possible and stay on schedule. Make sure heats are not too close together to wear athletes out. Test your workouts with members of your gym of all fitness levels to figure out how much time you’ll need to complete them.  Consider recovery time, set up time, time for awards, and time for lunch as well.
  • Have the proper equipment. This doesn’t mean you go out and buy all brand new sandbags for your CrossFit competition. It does mean you borrow what you need from another local box or you program to what you have on hand. Trying to jerry-rig something from nothing will only give you poor impressions and a high likelihood no one will return the following year.

From an athlete’s perspective, I’ll return the following year to one with good programming, one that’s run efficiently, and one with at least judges who do CrossFit. I’ll stay clear of the ones where lackadaisical attitude toward the CrossFit competition by the box ruled.