Crossfit Regionals
Ah, Crossfit. How I love you.
First, seeing so many fit and committed people competing is awesome. The level of competition in the individual categories was intense. Watching sculpted, tattoed, swaggering guys look nearly broken in a workout was humbling. Watching smaller athletes fight to work the prescribed weights over their heads, into their squats, or onto their shoulders was inspiring. And everywhere, the bodies on display spoke of endless sweaty hours in the gym working on form, endurance, speed and strength. It was like an Athleta catalog come to life - so much buffness.
Second, competing with a team is awesome. There aren't a lot of opportunities for serious team sports as you get older - no offense to kickball, softball and the like. But the intensity of a Crossfit workout gets your nervous energy flowing. Can I do 20 ring dips? Can I squat 200lbs? Will I be able to keep up on the run? Representing your gym and having 5 other teammates relying on you compels you to give more than you thought you had, to go wire to wire giving 120% until you collapse. It's exciting and exhilerating and a little nauseating.
There were 3 team workouts over the weekend. Saturday #1 was running down a football field, doing 30 thrusters (deep squats with dumbells that you extend straight up and over your head when you stand), running back and doing 15 ring dips (10 for the girls). Each team member went one at a time. Unfortunately, we ran out of time (20 minute cutoff) before it was my turn so I had to harness that pent-up energy for another 5 hours until our #2 workout. It wasn't the best way to start off and there was a little defeatism in the air, but it passed quickly and we moved on.
#2 was the best of the weekend and we were in the last heat. Starting on a track, each team member (4 of us) stood at a 100m mark - 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m. First runner ran 100m and passed to 2nd runner who ran 100m and passed to 3rd runner, etc. 4th runner went around the track again picking each of us up along the way and then we did one final loop together. It was super fast-paced and while I pretty much got passed by everyone in my 100m sprint (even though I felt like I had fast Fred-Flinstone-like feet movement), I hung on for the endurance lap and our team pulled into the next event in 3rd. Next event was 2 people doing 500 double-under jump ropes (rope goes under your legs twice) and 2 people doing 250 one-armed snatches (touch dumbell to ground in front of you then pull straight up and extend arm straight overhead). Jason and I hit snatches and I found my mojo. 20 at at time we rotated back and forth while Matt and Joan took turns killing it on the jump ropes. When they finished they each took a turn doing snatches to help finish out before we raced over to the pullup bars (in 2nd place) to do 125 pull ups. And I did maybe 4 of those. Yeah, pullups not my strong suit.
Sunday's workout was a little anti-climactic after Saturday's excitement. We had to push a 185lb tractor-type tire and move a giant log down 100 yards at the same time. Then as a team we had to do 40 squats with the log on our shoulders; then 20 overhead presses. Logistics were tricky and because we had a 5'4 person and a 6'2 person we had even more to contend with. It was a tough 7 minutes, I'll tell you. We didn't do exceptionally well, but again, we did the best we could and it was fun to compete again. I still wish it had been a longer, more amped up WOD. But I was lucky enough to get to compete again.
The rest of the weekend was spent playing frisbee on the field, watching other teams compete, cheering on Breanne competing in the women's individual competition, noting especially brilliant CF-inspired t-shirts (I love Nasty Girls, If Crossfit Was Easy It Would Be Your Mom), hanging with Marin Crossfit, hearing about the Masters CF competition (50 and over), talking with new friends from Santa Cruz West CF and just eating, relaxing and getting to know my teammates some more.
Joan, Sean, Matt and I had an epic road trip making 16 or so hours on the road seem like nothing (almost). Shabooya! Roll call. Couple of trips to In n' Out, a stop at Casa de Fruita, some frisbee at the gas station and lots of laughter, stories, snark and music kept it entertaining and lively. Felt really fortunate to be with such great people and to learn a little more about each of them. Road trip reunion, guys?
And then I sprained my ankle coming off a box jump. What the hell?!
Last weekend I jammed down to UC Irvine with my Mad Dawg Fitness / Peninsula Crossfit team to compete in the Affiliate Cup regional qualifier. Loyal readers may recall my post from July 09 about the Crossfit Games in Aromas, CA and how inspired and invigorated I felt leaving the experience. Irvine brought that same energy back; the energy I've been missing these past few months.
First, seeing so many fit and committed people competing is awesome. The level of competition in the individual categories was intense. Watching sculpted, tattoed, swaggering guys look nearly broken in a workout was humbling. Watching smaller athletes fight to work the prescribed weights over their heads, into their squats, or onto their shoulders was inspiring. And everywhere, the bodies on display spoke of endless sweaty hours in the gym working on form, endurance, speed and strength. It was like an Athleta catalog come to life - so much buffness. Second, competing with a team is awesome. There aren't a lot of opportunities for serious team sports as you get older - no offense to kickball, softball and the like. But the intensity of a Crossfit workout gets your nervous energy flowing. Can I do 20 ring dips? Can I squat 200lbs? Will I be able to keep up on the run? Representing your gym and having 5 other teammates relying on you compels you to give more than you thought you had, to go wire to wire giving 120% until you collapse. It's exciting and exhilerating and a little nauseating. There were 3 team workouts over the weekend. Saturday #1 was running down a football field, doing 30 thrusters (deep squats with dumbells that you extend straight up and over your head when you stand), running back and doing 15 ring dips (10 for the girls). Each team member went one at a time. Unfortunately, we ran out of time (20 minute cutoff) before it was my turn so I had to harness that pent-up energy for another 5 hours until our #2 workout. It wasn't the best way to start off and there was a little defeatism in the air, but it passed quickly and we moved on.
#2 was the best of the weekend and we were in the last heat. Starting on a track, each team member (4 of us) stood at a 100m mark - 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m. First runner ran 100m and passed to 2nd runner who ran 100m and passed to 3rd runner, etc. 4th runner went around the track again picking each of us up along the way and then we did one final loop together. It was super fast-paced and while I pretty much got passed by everyone in my 100m sprint (even though I felt like I had fast Fred-Flinstone-like feet movement), I hung on for the endurance lap and our team pulled into the next event in 3rd. Next event was 2 people doing 500 double-under jump ropes (rope goes under your legs twice) and 2 people doing 250 one-armed snatches (touch dumbell to ground in front of you then pull straight up and extend arm straight overhead). Jason and I hit snatches and I found my mojo. 20 at at time we rotated back and forth while Matt and Joan took turns killing it on the jump ropes. When they finished they each took a turn doing snatches to help finish out before we raced over to the pullup bars (in 2nd place) to do 125 pull ups. And I did maybe 4 of those. Yeah, pullups not my strong suit.But we finished a close 2nd to the 1st place team in the heat and all agreed that we'd kicked total ass. Everyone had given their best and we'd been competitive. Yariv texted me around that time saying he was seeing us on the live stream hugging. Aww. It felt great from start to finish and we walked out of there completely amped.
Sunday's workout was a little anti-climactic after Saturday's excitement. We had to push a 185lb tractor-type tire and move a giant log down 100 yards at the same time. Then as a team we had to do 40 squats with the log on our shoulders; then 20 overhead presses. Logistics were tricky and because we had a 5'4 person and a 6'2 person we had even more to contend with. It was a tough 7 minutes, I'll tell you. We didn't do exceptionally well, but again, we did the best we could and it was fun to compete again. I still wish it had been a longer, more amped up WOD. But I was lucky enough to get to compete again.The rest of the weekend was spent playing frisbee on the field, watching other teams compete, cheering on Breanne competing in the women's individual competition, noting especially brilliant CF-inspired t-shirts (I love Nasty Girls, If Crossfit Was Easy It Would Be Your Mom), hanging with Marin Crossfit, hearing about the Masters CF competition (50 and over), talking with new friends from Santa Cruz West CF and just eating, relaxing and getting to know my teammates some more. 
Joan, Sean, Matt and I had an epic road trip making 16 or so hours on the road seem like nothing (almost). Shabooya! Roll call. Couple of trips to In n' Out, a stop at Casa de Fruita, some frisbee at the gas station and lots of laughter, stories, snark and music kept it entertaining and lively. Felt really fortunate to be with such great people and to learn a little more about each of them. Road trip reunion, guys?I crawled into bed late Sunday night tired with soreness setting in. I was excited to head back to Crossfit the next day to work on my weak spots, rededicate and recommit myself, dial into that primal blueprint thing, and to see my peeps again. I was re-energized!
And then I sprained my ankle coming off a box jump. What the hell?! Footnote: San Francisco Crossfit finished first in the team competition with Oakland a close 2nd. Bay area bragging rights Boo ya. Thank you for everything, Saul!
Footnote 2: Road trip delirium set in somewhere east of I-5 heading home when the Glee Cast version of "U Can't Touch This" came on. Oh yeah! Thanks for the vid, Joan. Classic.
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