I competed in Survival Fitness's Beginner's Brawl on May 31. Honestly, I have nothing but good things to say about it. I did pretty damn well, and I met some pretty awesome people. I have seen and competed in quite a few competitions my first year, but never one as welcoming and inviting as this one. Although I wasn't worried about it, there were a lot of newbies to the competition world. There were people of all shapes and sizes. All fairly new to the sport, but some more experienced than others.
The first WOD was a 1 rep max deadlift... My max is 378lbs, and my game plan was to hit 315lbs. I knew going into this, that I'd probably be stronger than most, so I could conserve some energy and go for a smaller number.
When my heat was up, I was ready to roll... Keep in mind I had been out of CrossFit for almost a month with a back injury, so while I was nervous, I was excited to see what I could do.
I started with a warm up and added weight quickly, but when I hit 295 on my second lift, I was so excited! It was easy. So I decided to go for 315lbs, EASY. I was even more excited, so I went for 345lbs, pretty dang easy!
How I felt when I hit a 345lbs deadlift
But here's the catch... WOD 2 was as follows:
21-15-9
Deadlift (70%)
Burpees
Sit-Ups
How I felt when I remembered I had to deadlift 70% of that 45 times. (240lbs)
How everyone else felt...
Honestly, it was hell. I'll admit it, I have a pretty big ego, and it was squashed a bit. I could have won the deadlift max WOD with a 295lbs deadlift, but I went 50lbs heavier! If I had used my brain and not my muscles, I could of breezed through WOD 2 with a light 210lbs. But hey, we live and we learn. I came in 15th out of 16 on that WOD.
The third WOD was wallballs and jump rope. I finished middle of the pack, which was pretty exciting considering I could hardly jump rope when I joined CrossFit.
Even though lifting is my element, the 4th WOD was the highlight of my day.
It was the following:
100 Air Squats
75 Kettlebell Swings
50 Dumbell Snatches
25 Slamballs
This WOD I expected to finish in the middle on... But not only did I finish FIRST, but I finished about 50 seconds ahead of everyone else.
I ended up coming in 6th place. It was bittersweet, I did way better than I thought I would, but I constantly wondered if I would have done better lifting less in WOD 2. I later found out that I was an entire 50 reps behind the person in front of me... So it really wouldn't have made a difference!
As I have gotten better and better, it really is encouraging. If I can do something like this at 300+lbs, so can you! I truly believe that CrossFit is something anyone can do. Yes, it's hard. Yes, you'll want to give up. But the community surrounding you is like none other.
And to those who already do CrossFit but are afraid to compete, don't be! Competing in CrossFit has given me an entire new outlook and motivation. Survival's Beginner's Brawl/Clash of the Casuals is the perfect kind of place to get started. But I really hope you don't wait that long! My friends over at Lex Artis are putting on the MCCF Summer Open on August 16th. Sign up! Train hard! And remember, all it takes is all you've got!
- E
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