Mayham in the Mountains

Saturday Sept 1

Slept great last night in the cabin. Woke up before alarm around 5am ish, stayed in bed until about 6:15am. Got up and made coffee, took a quick shower to tame the bed head, packed up stuff for the day and headed out the door to drive to Crossfit Murphy.

After getting checked in with my number, 203, we all stood around chatting and meeting new people. They wasted no time in welcoming us and giving us a briefing of the day and events. They ran the Rx and scaled division first 2 wods concurrently which made the day go by a lot faster.  The Rx division was the first to walk over to the football stadium (the local HS) and complete the Stadium wod:

As many rounds and reps as possible in 9 minutes of:
30 Clean and Jerks (135/95) (power or squat)
100 Double Unders
7 Stadium Runs

There were 3 men's heats first and then the 1 heat of women. It is difficult for me to recall the number of stadium steps but it was a good distance. It was set up with the barbells on a open flat concrete area which was on top of the stadium steps. We started on the top with the 30 C&Js, then did the DU's then if still going moved on to the stadium runs in which you ran down the steps and then back up which counted as 1 stadium run. After seeing the guys go through this workout it was a bit intimidating as some did not make it to the stadium runs and only a few made it back to the barbell to start a second round. My goal was to complete 1 full round. There was no feasible space to warm up and as we stepped up to the barbells the judges already had them loaded at 95 (mens bars). As soon as the clock started and I clean & jerked the first rep it felt heavy (maybe due to no warm up?), I got slightly deflated as I realized that I wouldn't be able to guide any of them down for Tng. So I dropped the bar after each c&j, but I stayed consistent and keep moving, never stepped back away from the bar mentally or physically. Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to what the clock was at for the 30 c&j's for a Grace comparision. Moved right on to the Du's and I think I completed in 5 sets, my arms were pretty fatigued at that point and simply holding the rope steady was a challenge, as I was finishing up my Du's, Emily Griffith was the first to move on to the stadium runs, I was shortly behind her and the first run felt so slow as I was trying to coordinate my legs negoitiating the concrete steps and trying to slow down my breathing and heartrate. After the first few runs I got some more energy and was able to run up the steps taking two at a time up and down. I passed Emily on the way down the steps, she was able to get back to the barbell for some c & j reps as time was called and I completed my 7th stadium run as time was called. Super excited to have made my goal of getting 1 round in and finishing second overall for the wod behind Emily. Went into this first wod on a empty stomach (only some coffee) and then had a shake with whey protein and refuel immediately after.

Then all the Rx athletes headed back to the Crossfit Murphy gym to do the next wod as the Scaled athletes switched with us and headed to the stadium.
Wod 2:
30 – 20 – 10 Reps For Time of
Wall Balls (20/14) @ 10 ft target
Burpees 
Pullups 

I went into this wod all the time thinking that it would be my strongest one and I hadn't worried about it. I feel strong with pull ups and burpees and I knew the wall balls would be hard but figured I would be able to string them together.  First off, the target was really bizarre to me because it was to hit a small metal piece above a pull up bar. My second or third rep into the wod, my wall ball bounced off the pull up bar just below the target and came crashing down on my face, ouch, it took me a few secs to shake it off. The burpees and the pull ups were fine in comparision to the wall balls. Burpees were steady, pull ups were 3 sets of 10s, then 4 sets of 5, then 5, 4, 1. Still kipping. In the set of 20 I got no repped on several wall balls as I tried to string them together. So for my last round I decided I didn't want to have any misses so my wall balls were singles so I could jump my entire body up to get the ball on the target!!! In the end this wod for me proved to be tougher than I presumed and the wall balls almost destroyed me. There was a 15 min time cap on this event and I finished in 13:37, taking second. Emily did awesome and finished in 10:58! More protein and refuel and watermelon over the "lunch break".

The final 2 wods were going to be run with Rx and Scaled athletes together which was a nice change from the morning so we could all be together and see each other compete. The third wod was called the Track Triplet and consisted of:

3 rounds for time of:
12 Deadlifts (275/185)
21 Box Jump Overs (24/20)
400 M Run

This one got added only a few days prior to the event and initially I was very unsure of it and intimidated but the deadlift weight and reps and the box jump overs. Add to it by the afternoon the sun was beating hard down on the track and there was no shade around.  Needless to say I didn't think this would be my best event.  My strategy was to make up time on the runs in order to keep up with the bigger ladies who were able to rep the deadlifts. There was to be a 20 min time cap on this event. They did actually have some bars and plates out for warming up with which made a huge difference. Several of us women warmed up together which felt really good, that way the 185 deadllift didn't feel too bad when I started. 1,2,3, GO. My first round of deads was 6/6, I was the third one off the bar and the box jump overs were actually pretty easy once I got a rhythm by jumping up and then quicking stepping off the other side. I was also the third one off the box but was able to pass both women on the 400m run. Round 2, I was feeling good and did 3 sets of 4 on the deads, quick box jump overs and back to the run, at this point Emily and I were neck and neck for 1st and 2nd. Round 3, I believe was 6/6 deads, as I started the run Emily was ahead of me and I was able to pass her to finish first! My time was about 11mins and something. I couldn't believe that I was able to do so well in this event. The deadlifts went a lot better then expected, I finally feel like 185 for reps doesn't put me in a hole anymore! My back felt great after, legs were a bit like jello from the jumping and running but just fatigue. The soles of my feet were actually really hot from the sun beating down on the black track surface which I could feel though my shoes. After this event we all retreated to shade back at the gym and got some ice to cool ourselves down with. More protein and refuel and some watermelon. Happy by this point to have done so well in the first 3 events and starting to dread the next.

Final event of the day:

Complete the following for max reps:
2 minutes to complete each of the following:
Row 300 M
Max Reps Shoulder To Overhead (135/85)
Rest 2 minutes
Row 300 M
Max Reps Power Cleans (155/95)
Rest 2 minutes
Row 300 M
Max Reps Front Squats (175/105)

I hadn't been tired until before this event. I could feel some yawning coming on and walked around the outside of the gym a bit to refocus, as the men's heats were getting started. Somewhat intimidated by the rowing in this event. I thought that the power cleans set would be my best for reps but I don't think it was, I dropped the bar once on the cleans and lost some time. I was able to hold on to the bar for the push press and get 12 reps and for the front squat and nearly get 10 reps. Getting off the rower each time winded was a challenge, Emily and I got off the rower about the same time each round. I took second in the event behind Emily, who killed it on the push press with 20 reps!

I don't totally understand the scoring but essentially whomever has the least amount of point at the end of the day wins. Emily took 1st and had 5 points and I took 2nd with 7 points, 3rd place Rebecca Smith had 15 points. Overall it was super fun competing, meeting people in the larger cf community, watching some great athletes and I learned so much - mainly not to prejudge a workout with your own biases. I was excited to have been able to compete with Emily who qualified for and competed in the southeast region as an individual this year!

 Wod 2

 Making up time on the run in Wod 3

 Wod 4