19. Enter a Contest

Contest - an event in which people compete for supremacy in a sport, activity, or particular quality

As most of you know, I am a highly competitive person.  Ironically, my competitive nature has created a disdain from entering athletic competitions as early as high school.  I loved doing athletic activities, but not performing in them. I didn't like the monster that crept inside of me during competition which led me to compare myself to others - mentally belittling one of the two in the process.  So I opted out.  In swimming, my coach practically had to beg me to register for meets.  In rec sports, I sidelined myself to avoid the pressures of comparing my performance to others.  And let's be honest, I don't have baller skills...so the team captains were probably satisfied enough with this.

Running, on the other hand, has always created a beautiful forum for my competitive ego.  Unless you are intending to finish in the top 5 of your age group, you are just one more face among the crowd on the racecourse.  The real competition is confined to you and the clock.  My performance is independent of every other racer out there (unless you get boxed in...or someone falls and takes you out too...hate it when that happens!). 

Likewise, Crossfit has been an excellent blessing to my life.  Both gyms I have worked with have created an atmosphere of loving encouragement amongst members.  If I am having an off day, but my rig neighbor is on-point, we celebrate her victory, not my loss.  Likewise, when I have been huffing and puffing at the end of the WOD and the clock times out with 25 wallballs left, my roommate (who finished with time to spare) has picked up a wallball and finished the last 25 with me by my side (thanks Linz).  Amidst this loving encouragement, the competition (and my monster within) has remained contained.

With this spirit of fellowship, and encouragement from my coaches, I entered the Crossfit Open.  The Open is a worldwide competition amongst Crossfit athletes.  For 5 weeks, a weekly workout is performed by each athlete, judged by their affiliate, and scored against every other athlete in their division around the world.  It is the ultimate benchmark to see how you are progressing, but also to discover your areas of weakness.

In the words of my coaches, "You should think of this as a celebration, not a competition.  The Open is a serious competition for about 1% of the participants.  For the rest it’s a celebration of their affiliate, the entire CrossFit community, the hardwork they’ve put in and all the blood, sweat, laughter and tears that have been spilt over the past year.  This is a chance for you to celebrate your fitness."

And so the celebration began.  To prepare, I committed to logging in consistency with my work outs at the gym.  I cut out alcohol. I changed to a strict Paleo diet...which lasted 4 days...but overall improvements were made . I forced myself to go to bed earlier. I prepared in all the ways I knew how.

Here is what the CrossFit Open taught me:

1. I am stronger than I thought.  Truly, I hit a few PRs in the work outs in the midst of fatigue, when you would least expect to PR.  Looking down the road, this means no more sand-bagging. It's time to dig deep!

2. My weaknesses are many.  Having someone judge every rep to ensure it was performed to regulation standards was eye-opening.  I've been cutting corners which I hadn't intended to.  Things which should have been easy were made harder when precision was demanded.  Each weakness presented an opportunity for work and improvement.

3. I can dream bigger.  Having only recently mastered minored a pull-up, I had long written off muscle-ups as impossible.  I had never even attempted one. When 15.3 debuted with 7 muscle ups to start, I had to at least try for one.  Did I get it? Heck no...but it was the first time I had ever swung from the rings.  Now the mental seed has been planted.  I can taste it. One day, muscle-ups...one day.

4.  Sometimes it's not you, it's the rope.  I have been trying to get Double Unders (DUs) since I started CrossFit over two years ago.  First, I had to master regular jump roping, which was a feat in itself.  For the past year, I have worked pretty consistently on DUs with my own jump rope to little avail. Finally, someone recommended I shorten the my jump rope by 2 inches.  And like magic, I am finally get DUs. They still aren't pretty, and I can only get one at a time, but progress is being made.  Some days it's not you that is the problem...it really is the rope.

5. Community makes all of the difference.  My affiliate split us into teams to make the Open more fun.  It was a great chance to meet new people who were on my team but typically work out at different times than me.  At first, I was worried that the inter-box competition would make the Open too competitive and spoil the fun.  Thankfully, our team divisions did not diminish the Crossfit spirit of loving encouragement.  The Open just increased our community's fervor for cheering for each other and celebrating our successes.  When the work-outs tried to beat me down, my boxmates were there to cheer me on and push me harder.  

I can't wait for the 2016 Open!