CrossFit Open: Week 1

Hey guys! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? For those of you in the CrossFit community, it was probably an exciting one… I know it was for me! I participated in the CrossFit Open and even though I was terrified, it turned out amazing! It far exceeded my expectations and in fact, I far exceeded my own expectations, which was really cool!
For those of you who don’t do CrossFit, the Open is the beginning of the competitive season that ultimately leads to the Reebok CrossFit Games. Anyone from around the world can participate in the Open by completing the Open workouts, and qualify for a seat at Regionals. The workouts are a surprise, and are announced just one day before the competition. The Open lasts 5 weeks from February 27th to March 27th.

I was so thankful my friends Wendy and Naomi participated in the Open with me. In fact, Naomi (in the middle) convinced me to sign-up! I’m so glad I did! Thanks girl!

Last week I shared that I was a bit apprehensive about the Open because I didn’t know whether I would be able to do the workouts. (I still can’t do handstand push-ups, unassisted pull-ups and a slew of other CrossFit movements.) Well, on Thursday when they announced that the workout included double unders, those fears were realized! I can’t do double unders! Or so I thought! 🙂

Double unders are when the jumprope passes under your feet twice per jump, not just once.

The workout was a 10 minute AMRAP of 30 double unders and 15 snatches. I figured I’d spend the entire 10 minutes trying to get a single double under! In my mind, all I could imagine was my judge yelling out “no rep, no rep, no rep” the entire time!

I didn’t give up though! I went to the gym at lunch on Friday and practiced. I couldn’t get them but I woke up early Saturday and tried again. I could do one double under here or there, but for the life of me, I could not string them together. Then, after watching some YouTube videos, I got the idea to try a jump-jump-double-under rhythm and … well, it worked! It was exhausting to jump those two extra times, but it worked! Hallelujah, it worked!

When we got to our box later that day for the event, I was still really nervous! There were a lot of people there, and it seemed like everyone was ready but me! Was I late? Gah! I knew I was signed up to go first so I hurried and did a 500 meter row to warmup. It wasn’t long before they called everyone to attention to explain the rules and assign stations. I was at station #3, front and center!

I kept wondering why in the world I signed up to go first!!

Aaron didn’t sign up for the Open but he came to support me, and take pictures! He stood back as I waited anxiously for the start. I was feeling all sorts of emotions: nervousness, excitement, fear! And a little giddiness!

When the workout started, I almost immediately fumbled my double unders! I figured that might happen and I knew I just had to keep going… I lost count pretty quickly, but when my judge (Naomi) said I was at 30, I took her word for it and jumped on the bar! I couldn’t believe I finished them so quickly – this was going to be a long 10 minutes!

I jumped on the bar and welcomed the reprieve from jumping! I felt like I had a good handle on the bar and even though I had the option to clean and jerk it, I liked the feel of the snatches and stuck with those!

When I got back on my double unders, I was exhausted! I couldn’t believe how winded I was! They’re so much harder than singles, and the snatches were hardly the break I needed. What time as it? Is this over yet?

I was pretty tired on the second round of snatches and told myself if I don’t make it back to the bar for a third round, that would be a-ok with me! Ha! But, somehow… I have no idea how… I got in another round of double unders and jumped back on the bar for 11 more snatches.

When the timer went off, I was BEAT. I’ve seriously never been so exhausted! Then Naomi told me I got 131 reps! What? OMG! Yay!

Even though I felt shaky and exhausted, I went right into judging the second heat.

Naomi was up next and I knew she was nervous, but she rocked it out with 73 reps!!!!! Just like me, she could hardly string double unders together the day before! I’m so proud of us!

After Naomi went, we ran over to cheer on our other friend, Wendy. I actually started screaming at her in the end to “keep going,” “get five,” “get back on the bar!” All sorts of stuff! I have no idea what that was about (I was pumped I guess?) but afterward she thanked me and said she needed the push!

Get it, Wendy!

Aaron and I had to leave to get to Maryland for a baby shower, but we left elated. We really enjoyed being part of the Open and the community of CrossFitters from our box. I’m so excited to take on another four weeks of this! I know it will bring new challenges, but hopefully with that, will come more hard work, pay-off, and fun in the process!

Did you participate in 14.1?

Can you do double unders?