EDITOR’S NOTE:
Journals will be posted at 3pm Pacific:
Mondays – Ingrid Kantola of CrossFit Central
Tuesdays – Peter Egyed of CrossFit Fury
Wednesdays – Michael Winchester of CrossFit Central
Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 3/26/12
(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)
CrossFit Open Workout 12.5
The Open has come to a close! I am very glad to be done with this step and moving on to the Regionals in a month. During the time leading up to the Regionals, I will be pretty busy. I will take a trip home to Sacramento to see family, host two CrossFit Central competition events, turn in three essays for school, support friends competing in the Texas Relays, give my final internship presentation to the faculty, and train my ass off among other normal graduate student/event director duties. I am excited to be able to focus on the long term preparation for Regionals and graduation.
Looking back on my last WOD of the Open competition, I would say I handled it like a rookie. While it was a WOD that I had done before, I did not set myself up for it very well. I allowed myself to get a little psyched out! I forgot to take my mouth guard from its holding spot in my sports bra strap and put it in my mouth. I also failed to remember the one key to my strategy: slow and steady. I got amped up by the “3, 2, 1, go!” and went through my first sets of thrusters and pull-ups far too quickly. I stayed unbroken through the sets of nine, and then broke too early on the set of 12 thrusters. I was nowhere near the mental place I had been on the burpees and 18-minute chipper and totally gassed the WOD. I seriously considered re-doing the workout for the first time this season, thinking I could get at least five more reps, if not ten.
I finished with 110 reps, six more than last year. I also finished eleventh overall in the South Central Region, three spots better than last year. I learned a lot from this “repeat” workout. Don’t forget to take the little steps in your routine. Remain calm. Trust in your visualization. And don’t take any workout for granted, even if you have done it before. I also learned I can still do decently if things go wrong. I did not bonk completely. And I broke my superstition about wearing my compression tights for every competition. All in all, it does not matter what I wear or how my body feels – what matters is my mental and physical strength to get work done. I am walking away from the Open unsatisfied – I am hungry for Regionals competition. I have work to do.
