Beginner's Brawl in Review

Well, I promised this post a few weeks ago, but better late than never, eh?

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

Update: CrossFit & Change of Summer Plans

I know it’s been awhile since my last blog post, but I appreciate all the encouragement and that you guys actually noticed I’d quit writing awhile! Seriously, yall are some of the best readers!

After my back injury, I spent some time reevaluating where CrossFit was going for me, and why I wasn’t loving it anymore. It’s extremely eye opening when something you have put 110% into falls to the back burner. I realized that it wasn’t that I did not love the sport, but the atmosphere I was working in. I had gotten caught up in things that were going on, and not focusing on CrossFit itself.

While I will always love my Chemical City family, I have recently picked up a membership at Survival Fitness (closer to my school) to put in some extra hours and take my personal fitness to the next level. I chose Survival Fitness for a few reasons; I’ve heard nothing but good things about Matt’s (head trainer) programming, they have a barbell club, and they always kick our ass in competition. Hell, they must be doing something right.

The Survival Fitness community has been nothing but warm and welcoming. We’ve had a lot of fun and done  some really tough workouts. I’ve also learned a few new moves like floor press and kettleball drags.

Just to be clear (because I know you guys and your questions), I still have a membership at Chemical City as well. I’m just doing my own thing and seeing where it goes (:

More in big news…

Many of you know that I accepted an internship back in March to work at a camp in San Diego this summer. For the past month it had been weighing on my mind, and yesterday I officially turned it down. I did this for a number of reason, but for the most part, just decided it wasn’t the right time in my life.

I have nothing but love and positive memories from my time at Wellspring, most of you know that I was very successful there. It would have been an amazing experience helping kids reach that same success, but I still have a lot of work to do on myself.

Where does that leave me for the summer?

I’ll be here in Michigan working on my personal weight loss. I will be taking a class at Delta, probably an easy fine arts requirement. I am looking around for jobs, but if I can’t find a new one, I’ll be back at HoneyBaked in July. I’ve applied to 12 colleges around the country, and hopefully someone will let me in ;) Also, I’m going to the CrossFit level one certification this weekend, so say a little prayer for that!

While staying home is bittersweet, I’m so excited for what this summer has to offer!

I know this post was super informative and offered hardly any motivation, but I had some questions to address! I hope all of you are still on track to your own personal goals, and I’ll be writing more this summer! Remember, all it takes is all you’ve got!

-E