This past weekend I had the pleasure of competing with Britney at the Spring Fling competition in San Rafael (Marin County, about 45 minutes away) under the team name Gainz in Alderaan Places (Star Wars Pun). There are a couple of things that I want to touch on, but before I get into it I want to say a little something about the competition. I can safely say that this was one of the best competitions I have ever done! It was run on time to the minute, the judges were friendly and fair, the workouts were fun and diverse, and the location was great. All in all it was a great competition and I will definitely be encouraging Sweat Shoppers next year to partake in it! Also I want to give a huge shoutout to Marcus for making the trek over to come cheer us on, be our one man pit crew, and take some awesome pictures. Thank you Marcus!

Marcus was the real MVP of this competition!

The first thing that impressed me about this competition was how well organized it was. The overall breakdown of the time schedule was released before hand and they stuck to it to the minute! The briefing started on time, all the heats were run on time, and the event itself was over by 4:30 pm (including the finals). This may not seem like a huge deal but competitions have been known to run extremely behind schedule, have incredibly long wait times between workouts, and can sometimes last all day. The Spring Fling comp only had us waiting about an hour (give or take fifteen minutes) in between workouts, which was still enough time to recover a bit before the next workout but not get super stiff and tight! Britney and I finished the comp (narrowly missing the finals 😂) at about 3, but decided we wanted to stay for the finals. This was another pleasant aspect because sitting around all day at a CrossFit competition can be a little boring at times. In addition to being a little boring, if you’re siting around too much it can make you get very tight! I can remember doing a comp a few years ago and the last workout was finished at about 7 pm…..needless to say it was a very long day. After the comp Britney and I were able to still drive home, shower, and meet some friends for a nice dinner!

Another great part about the competition was the judging. All the judges were very nice and held the standards for all competitors. Some of them even thought our team name was hilarious! None of the judges we had developed a power complex or came across as over the top. There will always be some questionable reps or decisions but for the most part the judges were very on the ball calling good and bad reps. I have never been in a position where poor judging has cost me a placing in a competition but I have seen very poor judging in competitions before. We do not need Games level standards at local competitions, but everyone does need to be held to the same standards. When one person is not held to the same standards it can be very frustrating for the rest of the competitors.

Now on to the workout portion of the compeititon. We did four different workouts and they are listed below:

WOD #1

12 min Clock – 3, 2, 1…..GO!
Partner A – 6 Minutes to establish a 3 rep max shoulder-to-overhead from the ground
* No Transition Time
Partner B – 6 Minutes to establish a 3 rep max shoulder-to-overhead from the ground

WOD #2

12 min Clock – 3, 2, 1…..GO!
From 0:00 – 6:00
Partner A) 2 Rope climb buy in
Partner B) 5 Chest-to-bar, 10 toes-to-bar
* Switch – No Rest
From 6:00 – 12:00
Partner B) 2 Rope Climb Buy-in
Partner A) 5 Chest-to-bar, 10 toe-to-bar

WOD #3

3 Rounds For Time (14 Minute Cap)

Partner A Work (Partner B Rest):
10 DB Squat Cleans
Sandbag run
8 Sandbag burpee over straw bale
Sandbag run

* Switch

Partner B Work (Partner A Rest):
10 DB Squat Cleans
Sandbag run
8 Sandbag burpee over straw bale
Sandbag run
* End of round, switch and begin next round (each partner will work 3 times, 6 total)

WOD #4

14 min Clock
60 Cal Row
40 Synchronized Box Jump
20 Pistols
40 Synchronized Burpee
60 Cal Assault Bike

Remaining time in 14 minutes:
Max Reps: Hang Power Snatch

 

Overall these workouts were pretty fun! They all offered unique challenges and were pretty encompassing of overall fitness. One that I had definitely underestimated was WOD #2. My game plan was to do the pull ups unbroken, and then break the toes to bar up into two sets of 5. After about 3 rounds of that I quickly went to sets of 4, then 3, then 2’s and eventually singles 😵. I was surprised at how fast my midline and hip flexors were fatiguing. It didn’t help that Britney is a rope climb ninja so I had very little rest. It was a good reminder that understanding the structure of the workout is extremely important to determine your pace! I realistically should have done sets of 3 and 2 from the start to prevent the early onset of fatigue. Britney and I agreed that the most fun workout was the sandbag workout. The use of dumbbells always challenges the stability a little more and climbing over some hay makes you feel like a kid again! It was something neither of us had done before and it provided its own unique challenges. The most impressive workout for us was #4, the chipper. I will say that our heat had some particularly 🥩🐮(beefy) guys and girls, so they were able to smash through the row and bike calories like no tomorrow. Britney and I were the second to last team on the barbell in our heat but were still able to squeeze out 24 hang snatches! This was 3 better than our score we got when we practiced, despite having less time on the barbell. The most impressive part about that workout was that the hang snatch weight for Britney was just 10 pounds off her personal best snatch FROM THE GROUND, and she was able to get 7 reps at that weight! I was extremely proud of her and of us for rising up to the occasion and leaving it all out there.

As I said before this was one of the most enjoyable comps I have ever done and I plan on doing it again next year, with a couple other Sweat Shop teams. It brought some familiar and some not so familiar challenges to the table and has reminded me of how fun the competitive side of CrossFit can be! I would never force anyone into doing a CrossFit competition but I would highly suggest you try out a couple. You do not have to be a hardcore CrossFitter to have fun at them, you just have to get out there and give it your best! Doing comps from time to time can also give you some extra motivation to keep training hard. If you are ever on the fence about competing talk to any coaches and we can help you get ready for, and find some competitions to sign up for!

 

Britney made me take this literally right after we finished the chipper. As you can see I was fairly tired.

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