Yesterday was CrossFit Houston Girls Only Challenge and my first ever CrossFit Competition! I was so excited and so nervous at the same time! In this challenge all competitors take part in the first two workouts (WODs) and the girls with the fastest times (the top 50%) moved on to WOD 3. After WOD 3, the top 10 girls moved on to WOD 4. My goal was to make it to WOD 3 and to not have any regrets about how I did, but I ended up making it all the way to WOD 4! Here is a group picture of all the competitors. I'm in the top left corner with the group of purple shirts (I'm on the right in the group of purple shirts). There were 2 divisions, standard and scaled. I was in the scaled division because I can't lift the heavy weights like the girls in the standard division. I had no idea how I would do compared to the other girls and I had no clue what to expect.
I was in the last heat for the first WOD. There was an 11 minute cut off time and after watching everyone go before me, I was pretty sure I'd make the cutoff time. In this WOD there were 10 of us going at a time. My biggest worry in this WOD was picking up the sandbag off the ground.
WOD #1 (11 minute cutoff):
350 meter Row
100 meter 70 pound Sandbag Carry
100 meter run
50 meter Uneven Farmers Walk with a 35 pound kettlebell and a 30 pound dumbell
100 meter Run
100 meter 70 pound Sandbag Carry
350 meter Row
Time was around 8:08
I was hoping to keep my row at around a 1:57 pace (1:57/500 meters) but with the adrenaline flowing I was going at about a 1:45 pace. I knew I wouldn't last at that pace, so I forced myself to slow down. I kept an eye on everyone around me to see what they were averaging, so I didn't get too far behind.
In the heats before me it seemed like everyone was finishing the row around the same time and that's what happened in my heat. We all headed to grab the sandbags and once I got a good grip I headed out. We could only bear hug the sand bags, so if you gripped it too high, it would start to slide out of your arms. You had to grip the bag low so if it slipped at all you still had room to hold it. I was behind one other girl at the start of the sand bag carry, but I caught up to her and passed her. Then I stayed ahead of everyone the rest of the way.
After taking the sandbag the first 100 meters, we had to run back 100 meters the other way and grab a 35 lb. kettlebell and a 30 lb. dumbell for the farmer's carry. I jogged most of the way down with them, but walked a little ways before the turn around to rest a bit, then I jogged back to the start.
I put the kettlebell and dumbell down then ran the 100 meters back out to grab my sandbag. I picked it up and carried it back to the rowers.
I had to stop once to fix my grip, but I didn't stop too long.
The hardest part of that WOD was the row at the end. I was tired from pushing myself and that row felt like it lasted forever!
My time ended up being around 8 minutes and 8 seconds. It was awesome!
WOD 2 was a suicide run. You started at the first cone, ran to and around the second cone then back to the first. Then you ran to and around the third cone, then back to the first cone and so on. I think there were 4 cones to run to. My biggest fear with this WOD was running too fast/hurting my knee and slipping in the grass going around the cones. There were 6 of us in our heat. I started off at a good pace, not too fast and not too slow. We were all together after going around the second cone, but then the girl next to me and I started to pull ahead of everyone. I stayed with the girl next to me until the last sprint to the end. We turned that last cone and I took off and she didn't, so I finished first in my heat again!
I'm not sure of my time for the shuttle run.
After WOD 2 we had an hour long lunch break. They totaled the times of the first 2 WODS and posted the names of the people that would be going on to WOD 3. The top 50% would move on to WOD 3. I was pretty sure my name would be on the board since I finished first in both my heats and it was. Out of the 5 girls from CrossFit Katy in the scaled division, I was the only one going on to WOD 3.
At 11:45 WOD 3 was announced and this is what it was...
WOD #3:
21-15-9
Slam Ball with 15 pound ball
Box Jumps Over 17 inch box
Russian Kettlebell Swings - 35 pounds
So basically with this WOD we do 21 slam ball, 21 box jump over, 21 kb swings, then 15 of each, then 9 of each.
I was really unsure how the box jump overs were going to go. We've never done box jump overs, so I was kind of worried. I recently started jumping on a 20 inch box during our workouts, so I was hoping the 17 inch box would look small and I would have no problem getting over it. I knew I could do the 35 pound kettlebell swings because I swing a 35 pound kettlebell during our workouts on a regular basis now. The slam ball was a little heavier than I was used to, I normally use a 12 lb. ball and this one was 15, but I knew I could do it. Before each heat started we got to practice each movement to make sure we could do it. I got a few box jump overs in and felt pretty confident about the whole workout.
The workout started and I was moving pretty fast on the slam ball. I slowed down a bit thinking I needed to save something for the box jump overs. I got to those jumps and boy were they tough! I got to the fourth one and I was breathing hard! I knew I just had to keep going and that I could recover a bit at the kettlebell swings.
I finished the 21 slam ball first and stayed ahead of everyone else the whole time. I wonder if I would've gone a bit faster had there been someone close to beating me. I tried to go as hard as I could, but I think I took a breather or two because I knew I was ahead. My time ended up being around 5 minutes 50 seconds, I think.
After WOD 3 they took a few minutes to set up WOD 4 and to post the names that were going on to WOD 4 (the top 10 girls in from WOD 3). I knew I would go on since I won my heat, but I was really unsure about the next WOD because I saw them setting up deadlifts and I'm not a great deadlifter! They announced the WOD and the scaled weight for the deadlift was 135. I've never done 135 in a workout before so I was really worried (I've done 125 once, but mostly 115). I was also really worried about the tire drag and pull. The weight for the standard division was 95 lbs. The scaled weight was only 10 pounds less at 85. I watched the girls in the standard division struggle with 95 and right then I knew I was done. If the standard girls were struggling to pull 95 pounds and their squat maxes are like WAY over 100 I knew I was going to have a super hard time pulling 85 when my squat max is a measly 100.
WOD #4:
4 Rounds of
5 DeadLifts- 135 pounds
30 meter Tire Drag-out 85 pounds
7 Single Dumbell Push Press Right arm, then Left arm 30 pound dumbell
30 meter Tire Pull-back 85 pounds
When the WOD started I knew I was going to struggle. The deadlifts were heavy and the tire was REALLY heavy.
The first trip down wasn't so bad and the trip back wasn't either. The second round came and the deadlifts were even heavier and the tire was harder to pull.
The push press, 30 lbs., 7 on one arm, then 7 on the other started to really get tough by the 3rd round. I could only get 3 before I had to put the weight down and then get the last 4. The last round I could only manage 2 at a time on my left arm because it's a lot weaker than my right.
On the 2nd trip back with the tire I thought about how bad I wanted to quit. I've never wanted to quit anything more than I wanted to quit dragging that tire right then. I knew there was no way I was going to win because I was struggling and hurting so bad. I really wanted to cry at that point, but I kept going. I heard all the people from CrossFit Katy yelling for me so I kept on going. At that point all I was trying to do was finish.
I have never felt that much burning in my quads ever. Each time I stopped pulling that tire it was because my legs were on fire and they weren't working. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Ironman was tough, but there wasn't a point in the Ironman where my body was just not working.
The most frustrating part about the whole thing was that there were girls in the scaled division that I don't think should've been in scaled. To me the SCALED division is for people who can't lift the heavy weights. I watched the scaled heats before mine and there were a few girls that were deadlifting 135 like it was nothing. It looked like they could've done it with one arm. Before the workout started the guy that set it up said it was supposed to be a heavy deadlift. This wasn't heavy for these chicks and they ended up winning first, second, and third. The final standings were determined by your total times for WODs 3 and 4 and they killed me on those deadlifts and tire pull.
They should be posting the times for all participants through all WODs soon, and I'm curious to see how I did in the first 3 WODs compared to everyone else. Overall it was an awesome experience. I love pushing myself as hard as I can to see what I can do even when it hurts as bad as it did in WOD 4. I can't wait for August for
CrossFit Katy's Bring the Heat Summer Challenge!
