Furious Five

About a month ago I participated in a Crossfit Competition, and it was a bit more intense than the last one I did.  It was amazing.  So fun.  It would be so easy to let myself get addicted to the competition side of things and let myself spend way too much time crossfitting.  I have been happy lately in my decision to let myself do the occasional competition but to limit my time in the box to an hour a day.  Any more than that and I feel like I'm neglecting my kids and putting too much of my effort and focus into something that just--in the grand scheme of things--isn't what's important.  I think having fun and doing something I love is just fine-but there have to be limits.  Before I went to this competition I was dead set on having a baby STAT.  I have been having baby cravings bad.  An hour into the event, though, I was sure I would wait another year so that I could compete in any and all competitions that came my way.  I really was ready to put off babies for the sake of keeping up with crossfit!  LOL.  Ridiculous!  About 1/2 way through the day though, I saw a baby.  A cute, chubby little boy.  Let's just say I changed my mind fast.  My family is so much more important to me than anything else.  Now--when they're all in school and I have more time on my hands?  Ya.  I might be more involved.  Until then, though, my place is with my babes.  And I'm more than ok with that.  ANYWAYS. 

I signed up for the team side of the event and my partner is out of this world amazing at Crossfit.  His name is Gene, and we work together lots in the box.  (the box is another name for "gym") There were four WOD's we had to complete.  We started with a two mile run carrying a 45lb bar.  We did super well on the run and had an advantage over lots of the teams because we are about the same height.  One hour after the run, we did a "Fireman" WOD.  Sledgehammer, rope climb, buddy carry, box jumps, etc.  We did great until it came to the rope climb.  It was awful and SO embarrassing!!  I can climb the rope.  Fast.  It's one of my favorite things because I kind of rock at it.  haha.  Anyways, right before we started the WOD, I changed into old shoes so as not to ruin my nice ones, and wrapped them with tape.  Brand new, shiny, slippery tape.  So it comes my turn to climb the rope and my feet just will not grip.  I am sliding all over the place.  My arms were shot from the sledgehammer hits so I couldn't just upper-body muscle my way up.  The trick to these workouts, is that you can't move on from one part of the workout to the next unless BOTH team members can complete at least one rep of each exercise.  So.  Since I couldn't climb the rope, we couldn't advance to finish the WOD.  It was so bad!  I was pretty furious.  Poor Gene didn't know what was going on because I climb rope all the time.  Oh.  And I was being watched by a TON of people.  Let's just move on. 

The next one we had to do was a Police/SWAT WOD.  We rowed, buddy-dragged (which was a little awkward!), climbed wall, shuttle ran, lunged, carried water, etc.  It was awesome.  We did super well and gained quite a bit of headway as far as our place in rank was concerned. 

Our final WOD was the standard Crossfit one.  This consisted of buddy-burpees, pull ups, one-arm KB OH squats, thrusters, and clean & jerks.  Of all the workouts we had to do, I was most worried about this one.  Because we were a co-ed team, I had to use the men's bar and lift the same weights as my partner.  So I had to do 115 lb thrusters and clean & jerks.  I ended up doing fine on them -- but watching the video of myself afterwards was bad!  My form toward the end was pretty ugly.  We did really well on this one also and gained more ground in the ranks. 

Overall, we ended up placing 7th out of 49 teams.  I was happy with this, but also a little annoyed because of that dang rope.  If we had been able to complete the workout our score would have been high like the others and we for sure would have been top 4.  Apparently I'm way more competitive than I think I am, because I was pretty mad.  I even had to prove to myself that I could climb the rope--so I put my other shoes back on and did it just fine.  So now I know for next time -- don't change shoes! 

It really was such a fun day and I LOVE the rush of adrenaline I get each time I compete.  I wish they all didn't cost so much--they have one at least once a month but $50 each time gets a little out of hand.  One day when Clint has more time, I want him to come with me and get involved.  I think he would love it.