To Strategize or Not: How to Win?

Happy Labor Day everyone! Here’s a quick read about mine and Trevor’s labor-intensive competition last weekend! I hope you all are enjoying your Holiday! 

Last weekend, one of my Strong Figure ambassadors-CrossFit buddy-“he’s like my little brother”-friend, Trevor, competed with me in our FIRST EVER CrossFit competition. Here’s the recap of our experience with SuperFit Richmond: 2013.

Rewind: Friday Night 8/23.

I didn’t do anything crazy special this week as far as carb-loading or what not. Honestly I don’t really buy into that. I “tried” to hydrate as much as possible but didn’t quite come close to my gallon-per-day goals. My training partner/coach/bff Reagan came with Erik and me to Stafford to stay with Erik’s parents Friday night because they live closer to Richmond than we do. We all ate Chipotle salads on the way, I had my chocolate chia pudding as normal, and I took my two scoops of Progenex Cocoon before bed–which I hit a little too late. I just had to make sure I painted my nails. 😉

Saturday: 8/24. The Day.

Reagan and I arrived at CrossFit RVA before 7am. We grabbed a SWEET spot for all our competitior friends from our box–CrossFit Harrisonburg. We nervously waited.

Trevor showed up about 30 minutes after us. He looked calm as could be. I was a nervous wreck already. We registered, got our t-shirts and goody bags, our numbers, and headed back out to the tents. By 8am our whole gang was there…8 competitors and SEVERAL friends, athletes, parents, etc. Erik and his mom showed up right at 10–before the first comp began. I downed a sweet potato baby food squeezey pouch and a Force pre-workout energy mix. It was officially time.

WOD 1: “Max Clean 2.0”

Our task was to max out on the clean. The “catch” was the burpee buy in. Trevor, Reagan, Erik, and even a few others stratgized on this with me for three days. Burpee for 3 minutes? How about 4 minutes burpees, 4 minutes to max? Do we really need that much time to max? 5 minutes of burpees–or 100 burpees–no matter what. That finally became our goal.

We watched a couple heats. Most people were doing around 3-5 minutes of burpees. A lot of people were getting big cleans. But what was better? More burpees or a bigger clean? A burpee added 2 pounds to the clean total. 100 burpees equaled 200 pounds. Even as we were watching the competition, we changed our strategy again.

“Let’s do six minutes of burpees. I’ll hit the 95 pounds that’s already set up on the bar and then you can max out.”

Good strategy? Sorta. We ended up getting 130 burpees–which at that point was AMAZING. We tied for first place with the burpee count. But we had too much time left over. I hit the 95 pounds and gave the bar to Trevor who hit up to 165 and just fatigued too much to hit his true max. We stripped the bar and I hit 115 and then tried to hit 125 but with only a few seconds left at this point, the stress plus fatigue was too overwhelming and my form was off. I didn’t hit it and time was up. We were pretty happy with how we did but we should have listened to Erik and our other friend Laken when they both said, “Do 7 minutes of burpees and hit a clean you know you can both do.” That’s what everyone seemed to do after us. 7 minutes of burpees and the winning teams were pulling 150+. That’s an extra 40 pounds over what we did just in burpees…which we could have/should have done.

Lesson 1 Learned? Be prepared to throw your strategy out the window and learn from those around you instead. We ended up in 10th place after WOD 1. If we had done 20 more burpees? Tied for second. :/

Post Wod: ohmygosh my nerves! Finally I felt a little calmer and more relaxed. Thank GOD that first one was over! I downed a Progenex Recovery shake, ate a pumpkin cookie, half a granola bar, and some fruit. I even laid down and rested for a while before getting prepared for the next event. In the meantime, Reagan rolled out my calves and Cassey (our CrossFit friend and pro masseuse) massaged my shoulders.

WOD 2: “T2B/Row/Axle Thruster”

I was NOT looking forward to this workout. Toes to bar? I SUCK at those. Rowing? I’m SO SHORT! And thrusters with an axle bar? Ok, Chris Spealler did call me a thrusting machine, but an axle bar? I’ve never held one in my life! I have tiny hands! Would I even be able to pick it up?

Nerves aside, after rolling out, fueling up–coconut water, banana, a couple caffeine pills–we donned our gear, wrapped our hands, and set forth on our next mission.

First two minutes: toes to bar. Our strategy? Let Trevor do as many as possible before I make my attempt. Neither one of us are that great at this move–I mean, we are competing at the scaled level–but Trevor is much better than I am. I think Trevor stayed on the bar for like 45 seconds or more. I actually impressed myself–I think I did about 15 before falling off and letting Trevor back up.

Second two minutes: the row. Our strategy? Go all out until the last 30 seconds. I would ease up during the last half minute so that I could prepare for the thrusters. Trevor would not ease up. So what happened? Exactly that. I actually took it as easy as I could on my legs so that they were as fresh as possible for thrusters. I just pulled really REALLY hard for the first one and a half minutes and then just slowed down for the last 30 seconds. I pulled in around 35ish calories but Trevor? Holy hell–he is a MACHINE! He single handedly rowed something like 55 calories! We actually “won” the row for the day. He rowed more than anyone. Combined with my measly 30+, we scored BIG time points here.

Third two minutes: the thursters–65 pounds for me and 95 for Trevor–WITH the axel bar. Strategy? Me first. I’m shorter, quicker, and well, a “thrusting machine!” Erik thought I could go the whole two minutes but I knew that would be hell. I gave it my best though. There was a chick in front me and I silently told myself that I would not be the first chick to put the weight down. Once she dropped I then told myself I wouldn’t stop ’til I hit 20 reps. It took a little under a minute but I hit 20 and handed the bar to Trevor. We loaded up 95 and he finished.

Lesson 2 Learned? Sometimes, sticking to a strategy, no matter what, pays off. We ended up in 9th overall after WOD 2.

Post WOD–more cookies, recovery shakes (I really like Progenex’s Tropical Vanilla Recovery and coconut water–so refreshing!) pumpkin almonds, and lots of bananas. About an hour after, my quads started cramping. I don’t think I hydrated enough in the week prior and I began DOWNING as much coconut water as I could find. I ate several bananas and used my stick to roll out my quads. I wasn’t worried about the actual moves of the next WOD but I was extremely nervous about cramping up and about our strategy. Or should I say, “what strategy?!”

WOD 3: “OHS Ladder”

We strategized the most for this workout because time was a limiting factor. Each minute, our overhead squats increased by three reps. Obviously, the more reps the more time is used, leaving us with very little time to switch out weights. We changed our strategy every hour leading up to this event. Then Reagan and I watched the first two heats and what we saw inspired us to change our strategy again. God bless those who had to go first every time…such a disadvantage! But it was Reagan, who in the end, came up with a STELLAR plan. And it seemed so complex to me that she just wrote it all out, sat on the sideline, and then yelled out at Trevor and me after each minute to tell us EXACTLY what to do. And since we had NO idea what was going to work, we listened. I completed round 1 and 2. Trevor, round 3 and 4. I completed round 5 and 6 and 7. I felt like I was on a ROLL! After 50+ OHS, I passed the bar to Trevor and I think he got half way through before time was up. We felt INVINCIBLE! I just remember at the end of that last minute, Trevor gave me what might have been the biggest hug of my life. My short, stocky, squatting legs got us through that one.

Lesson 3 Learned: Trust those who know you well. I knew Reagan and Erik knew me well enough to ensure a GREAT strategy and both of them are smart enough to adjust it as needed. I trusted them and it paid off. Big time. We moved into a tied fourth place.

Yep, we made it to the finals!

The top 5 teams in each category (Male/Male Rx and Scaled, Male/Female Rx and Scaled, and Female/Female Rx and Scaled) all make it to the finals. Our last workout for the day?

20 minute cap to finish an 800 meter run with a 50 pound sandbag (both partners had to run), 150 wall balls (do you know my history with wall balls?), 100 pull-ups (screw me, will we even get to the pullups??), and then 50 deadlifts. (Can we just skip to the deadlifts?) Ugh.

Strategy? Garth, our box owner, was very supportive. He tried to figure out exactly how long it would take to get each activity done. He knew we could do it…I just wasn’t so sure. 100 pull-ups? AFTER 150 wall balls?!! Erik didn’t think we’d make it through the wall balls–considering my history with them. I knew if Trevor pulled through we’d make it to pull-ups but I didn’t see us making it further. The end result? We did it.

Trevor ran the entire 800 with the sandbag. I could hardly keep up–without one! I had side stitches in both sides…I really wasn’t as hydrated as I should have been and Erik said that all the sugar I ate in between WODs probably played against me as well–especially since I’m not used to eating that way. Thank goodness Trevor was able to do this…it got us to the wall much quicker than if we would have had to switch over.

Wall balls. I also knew that since Trevor just ran the entire 800 with 50 added pounds, I’d HAVE to start the wall balls. I did 15 before letting him take over. We alternated in sets of 10-15 for the entire 150 reps. We actually moved much quicker than expected. Later, Erik told me that my wall balls impressed him more than anything the whole day. “Stick to what you’re doing,” he said. “Your training is paying off–big time!”

The pull-ups KILLED us though. Absolutely killed us. I was the first on the rig and did about 15 but after that, I couldn’t pull more than about five at a time. By the end, I couldn’t do more than 1-2. My hands were ripped and I could NOT stay on the bar; I just kept falling off. Trevor was having the same issue. Neither one of us could do more than 3 at a time by the very end. We were the last group off the bars. I actually kept trying to look for the clock to see if our time was running out. I wanted more than ANYTHING to hear the word “TIME!” but I actually heard the announcer call out “5 more minutes!” Fu*k. We were going to have to finish. I looked at our judge and asked how many we had left. 10. I tried for five and I think I got three.

We finally, FINALLY finished. We HAULED ASS to the deadlift. I wanted more than anything at this point to rep out all 50 without stopping…more than ANYTHING. But I couldn’t. I stopped at 20. And started doing sets of 5 until I got to 35. I was DEAD. I couldn’t go on even as bad as I wanted. Trevor threw on some weight and finished for us. I didn’t know whether to collapse, sing Halelujiah, or cry when it was over. But we did it, and within the time cap. I think for the first time in my life I didn’t even look at the clock. I didn’t care. I knew we were last but we FINISHED. We gave it absolutely EVERYTHING we had and we finished. I’ve never been happier with myself in my life.

Lesson 4 Learned? A) Properly hydrate–all week. B) Buy gloves. C) Learn better pullup form/technique. D) Sticking with a consistent training plan does make you better. Take that, wall balls!

The only thing I wanted to accomplish on Saturday was my best. Just like every workout, every chance to prove my ability, every day in the gym,  I only wanted to do my very best and walk away without regrets. And I walked out of that box last weekend feeling like a champ.

Final Lesson Learned?No matter what, do your best and give every moment your 100%. Because at the end of the day, no one compares to you, and you can’t compare to anyone else. All you can do is walk away knowing that YOU committed yourself to being your very best. And that’s all that matters.

And P.S. I did buy some gloves. I am pull-up ready!

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