Holy goodness, Open WOD 13.1 was brutal. I still can’t believe I survived it.
Last night, I was invited to an “Advanced Open Preparation Class” at our box to prepare for the first workout of the CrossFit Open. The class focused on strategy and proper warm-up related to the movements, so we could get a feel for the WOD before we officially do it this weekend. The class was also an opportunity to do a modified version (scaled in volume or duration) of the workout.
Mal and I are going away this weekend, so the prep class ended up being the “real deal” for us. A few other people were in the same boat and going away this weekend, so Mal and I had some friendly competition to motivate us last night. Woohoo! (Side note: I can’t imagine my life without CrossFit. I love this sh*t.)
The first workout of the 2013 CrossFit Open was no joke. Burpees. Snatches. 17 minutes. Yikes.
I honestly had the worst butterflies in my stomach before this workout. Colitis stuff + nervous stomach”¦ forget about it. After stressing out all day about the WOD, I was happy to just do it already!
3”¦2”¦1”¦ GO!
Before we started the WOD, we discussed all sorts of strategies for the Burpees. Lots of people talked about pacing themselves and using this time as active recovery to prepare for the Snatches.
I knew I could do the 45-pound Snatches without a problem, so I flew through the Burpees. I didn’t go balls-to-the-wall, but I did them unbroken at a pretty fast pace.
I planned to do the Snatches in two sets of 15, but I ended up breaking them into sets of 5.
I guess the Burpees took more out of me than I thought they would! Tip: Don’t go too hard on the Burpees.
Mal was directly in front of me doing the WOD at the same time. It’s always so motivating to watch him. He’s quite the athlete.
After 30 Snatches at 45 pounds, it was back to the Burpees””only 30 this time, but I really started to feel them.
I wasn’t nearly as speedy with my second set as my first. Active recovery indeed.
A little while later, I made it to the 75-pound Snatches. I walked up to the bar, set up, and then did this weird pull/immediately-drop-the-bar move. With wide eyes, I looked at my friend Ashley, who was judging me, and just said “nope.” We stared at each other for a second, and I sort of panicked. I thought I might be done right then, but I knew I could Snatch 75 pounds, so I stopped and took about 20 seconds to catch my breath. While I rested, Ashley cheered me on. Thank God for her yesterday. She definitely got me through this workout!
Eventually, I managed to do a few Snatches at 75 pounds. I don’t know if it was my adrenaline kicking in or just sheer will to get through the Snatches, but I literally muscled through each one of them, one at a time.
I have to admit, my form was a little horrendous at times, but I managed to get through all 30 of the 75-pound Snatches and the 20 Burpees that followed. I had about a minute left on the clock, so I put the 100 pounds on my bar to try the next set of Snatches, but I just couldn’t get it up and ran out of time. My 1RM for Snatch is only 85 pounds (back in June), so 100 pounds was really ambitious, especially after that workout.
Husband-wife face-off:
[Please ignore my terrible form.]
Even though my Snatch definitely needs work (Kerrie and I set a new goal to work on our technique), I really surprised myself last night. It might not always come through on CNC (and I don’t want to depress you with my daily sob-stories), but I’ve been really down in the dumps about my health lately. I often get stuck on all the things my body can’t do and where it’s deficient, so it felt really great to be able to get through such a tough WOD. Hopefully, this feeling continues for the rest of the Open!
Question of the Day
When was the last time YOU surprised yourself?
P.S. Mal and I were invited to the most amazing all-inclusive resort in Vermont this weekend. I still can’t believe we were invited. This place is seriously incredible! (I’ve been obsessing over the website all week long.) I’ll have a full recap of our experience on Monday, but, in the meantime, feel free to follow along on Instagram. There’s also a live feed on the main page of CNC, so be sure to check back for updates!