Start of something new...

So, no posting has been going on for a week now because last week was so crazy busy and then I went to the Midwestern Sectionals to volunteer. Yeah, that's right, the good ole Midwest kicked off the 2010 Crossfit Games season in St. Charles, MO.

Tyler was competing, and we also buddied up with Crossfit Progression's owner, Matt Arnold, and a high school student from Crossfit Milwaukee, Alex Schuld ("guilty" in German!). We made the long drive down to Missouri on Thursday afternoon and settled in for a crazy weekend of competition. I volunteered in the morning shift for both Saturday and Sunday, and fortunately, there wasn't much for me to do - just checking spectator wristbands - which meant I got to watch some phenomenal athletes compete all day!

Just being in the environment revved me up and inspired to really start upping my game at Crossfit. Too often I find myself taking breaks, moving slowly, and not really giving a WOD 200%. Well, not anymore! I'm excited to take my training to the next level - maybe next year I'll be a competitor instead of a volunteer! You can read more about my personal experience at the sectionals by checking out my happiness blog, too!

To kick things off, Tyler "kindly" prescribed WOD #1 from the sectional qualifiers: The Air Force WOD.

For time:
20 Thrusters
20 SDLHP
20 Push Jerk
20 OHS
20 Front squat
*Every minute, on the minute, complete 4 burpees

Okay, so watching Tyler, Matt, and Alex strategize about this WOD all Friday and then watching them on Saturday, I was super pumped to try my hand at this workout. Women's RXd was 65#, which I knew would be a challenge especially with the overhead squats, so I bumped it down to 45#. It felt pretty good during the warm-up rounds, so I went with it.

My strategy was to do as many reps as I possibly could until 15 seconds remained until the next minute started, at which time I'd start the burpees. You have to do the burpees really fast so that you can get to whatever movement you're on, that's the key! I got through 18 thrusters on the first minute, which I was pretty pleased with. Another strategy I had was to split the push jerks into 9 - 9 - 2 reps, so that in that 3rd minute of push jerks, I could push the bar overhead and just jump right into the OHS.

WRONG! 45# was way too much for me to keep overhead for the squats, especially when my shoulders were so shot from everything else. My legs also burned. I switched down to 33# just for the OHS and then went back to the 45# for the front squats. All in all, finished in 10:48. In all honesty, I felt a little sluggish, especially during the front squats, but maybe I was just tired. Next time, I'm going to remember to do a few tuck jumps and maybe clapping push-ups to get my motor neurons firing and get my body ready to move really quickly.

I also did 4 kipping pull-ups in a row today, no sweat! I actually did 16 kipping pull-ups total tonight, even after that brutal WOD: 2 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 2. I was trying to go for 5 on that last set, but I was too tired. Bummer. Maybe Thursday!