Friday 7/13/12:
Friday morning we didn't have to report until 9:30 so again, got
to sleep in a bit! So nice! Mornings on competition day
consist of some visualization, positive self-talk, breakfast and a
shower to wake up. My nerves were sky high knowing that today
was the real beginning of what I'd been training 10 months for (not
to take away from Wednesday's events…but now spectators, music and
high energy filled the stands). Pulling into the long drive
of the Home Depot Center, my stomach was in my throat as my heart
rate increased with anxious anticipation of what the morning would
hold.
Marcus and I headed straight for the athlete's area.
WOW!!! Don't get me wrong, last year's athlete's area in "The
Dungeon" was great with catered food, massage therapists and
chiropractors at our fingertips….but nothing could have prepared me
for the treatment we were going to receive this weekend. In
an air-conditionedenclosed tent with comfy couches, recliners,
dining area, big screen TV's, massage therapists,
chiropractors…life as a Reebok CrossFit Games competitor just
jumped up a HUGE notch! After dropping my bags to claim a
spot on one of the recliners, we headed out to take a seat in the
bleachers of the soccer stadium where we were given specifics on
the first workout. The GHD Ball Toss directly followed by 3
rounds of 400m run, 8 Split Snatch, 7 Bar Muscle Ups. This
workout had been released before The Games, and I was REALLY
looking forward to it. The weight was light, I love to run
and the bar muscle ups were easy for me (or so I thought).
During the briefing I was slapped in the face…the bar muscle ups
couldn't be with a gliding kip. That's the only way I knew
how! So I learned how to do a kipping bar muscle up just
minutes before the event. I told myself to go into the
workout taking each element as it's own and not stress about the
muscle up.
The ball toss went fine…I came to the split snatch
2nd in my heat and held that spot onto the bar. I
connected 4 muscle ups and then lost my rhythm…I ended up last
coming off the bar first round but didn't let it get to me and
played catch up on the run. I caught up with some of the
girls and hit the bar in a decent spot…but the 2nd round
set a big gap between me and the rest of the heat as I struggled
through my kipping bar muscle ups. I don't need to go into a
lot more detail with the event, but it ended with me only finishing
2 muscle ups on my last round. I gritted my teeth the whole
workout and wasn't about to give up, but definitely had moments of
embarrassment, fear, frustration that I tried to work though in the
moment. It was as though I was reliving the 2011 NorCal
Regionals "Amanda" workout where I struggled though the ring muscle
ups.
After the workout I was disappointed and angry at myself for not
being as prepared as I should have been. The thing with
CrossFit is there are so many elements and techniques and movements
that you have to be ready for…and I was missing this one. No
excuses, no pointing blame - it just is what it is.
Same as with the O-course, I had my moment of pity for a bit
after the event and then had to get past it…there was still a lot
of work to get done this weekend. I had to accept that I was
missing a skill and that is something I have to work on for
2013. After it was all said and done though and I had time to
reflect one what went down, I was proud of myself for NEVER doing a
kipping bar muscle up and completing 16 of in a workout.
Between the two scheduled events we thought we had for the day,
we had to make up for the standing long jump that was postponed on
Wednesday's Camp Pendleton day. Without much notice, athletes
were lined up in the tunnel where there were several long jump pads
set out. We each were allotted three attempts to reach
the furthest possible jump we could perform. The trick was,
we had to stick it…no falling, stepping, hopping, etc. It had
to be a clean land. I honestly don't even know what my
distances were for that event, but I do know that it was a bit
sketchy since we were coming out of the rain into these slick pads
to jump on. Maybe it's because I am getting older, but I was
honestly afraid of slipping. My first two attempts were
middle of the pack and on my third attempt I was a good 10 inches
further, but took a step back so scratched.
Onto the next workout…3 rounds of 8 Medball Clean (over the
shoulder) and 7 Handstand Pushups on parallettes to a
deficit. This is where my weekend started to get a bit
shady. I have been battling a bit of a neck injury since
January and as a result have not been able to do very many
HSPU. In fact I hadn't done HSPU since regionals for
"Diane"…and before that hadn't done them for several weeks.
When this workout was announced I wasn't worried about it being a
strength issue due to the deficit, I was worried about the
compression on my neck. But, I went into warm-ups with a
smile on my face and confidence in my mind. As I kicked up
into the first practice HSPU it went well, but when I took the pad
away and tried a rep on the plates (as we were to do in the
workout), I felt a twinge down my spine and new that this wasn't
going to be good. Minutes after that my traps went into
spasms. I didn't practice anymore and just decided that
whatever happens on the floor is meant to be for that day and I was
going to do all I could to make it work. As they called out
my name and jogged onto the arena floor, I felt my right trap
seizing and all the muscles through my neck and right shoulder were
locking up. I was talking to myself, saying, "It's no big
deal, you're going to be fine..this is why I am here. I just
have to get through 21 HSPU's!" Then…3, 2, 1…Go…I busted out
my medball cleans and carried the ball to the next spot. I
kicked up into my HSPU, lowered myself down to the plates and went
to kip out and there was nothing. The muscles in my right arm
weren't firing. I kicked down, took a deep breath, looked at
my judge and went for attempt two. Same thing, but this time
twinging down my spine. I knew this wasn't good and although
I attempted a few more reps hoping for a miracle, I knew that those
21 reps weren't going to happen…in fact, not even one of them
was. I accepted it, had another moment to collect myself and
cheered the rest of my heat on as they busted through this rough
workout. I was so proud to see these girls gut it out, but at
the same time so devastated that I wasn't able to perform.
Again, I felt embarrassed, angry, frustrated and it was taking
every ounce of energy I had to not break down into tears on the
floor.
When time was called, we jogged off together and headed back to
the athletes area where Marcus and CJ (my coach) took me in their
arms and let me have a good cry. Marcus was telling me that I
needed to stop there and that it's not worth risking my neck.
He was probably right, but I told them I would see how it felt in
the morning to determine what would happened for day 3 of the 2012
Reebok CrossFit Games. I didn't come this far, do this much
work to just give up. I wanted no regrets! So, without
them knowing, I made the decision right then and there that I was
going to follow this through.