Hey Everyone
So the 2013 games are over for me.
What have I learned ?
What did I make of the whole 5 weeks, the WOD's etc ?
Where am I going to go from here ?
Firstly, the main thing I have taken away from this 5 week experience is the amazing sense of community, team spirit and togetherness that has been allowed to thrive in Reebok Crossfit Glasow, which must go down to the two guys at the top, the ones who had the dream, desire and belief to try and create this amazing 'box' both to train in and just be in week in week out, is truly inspiring, so thank you Iain and Gavin.
For having the balls to chase your dream.
I already love these guys
As for the games themselves, I thought the WOD's were extremely tough, but within the vast majority of crossfitters ability to have a go at, even if it was just that first rep, with 120,000 athletes registered, it must be hard to set weights reps, etc to suit everyone and there is always going to be 'complaints' about how tough or heavy the WOD's are set at.
As I say most people could get some reps in each WOD, which in some cases meant doing new PB's, so that can't be a bad thing.
These WOD's were in general, short, but high volume, if you were conditioned, if not then low rep, so I don't see the issue, others have with doing high reps in certain exercises, this is a competition after all, its not day to day training.
The one thing, I personally, and after speaking to others, had one problem with the games (apart from how hard the WOD'S were ha ha)
A problem that was 'self inflicted' as it were.
Procrastination from training.
Yes, I became lazy with my training, it started to look like this
Monday - rest from Sundays attempt
Tuesday - Train, but don't overdo any body part, so I can do new WOD, when it comes out on Thursday
Wednesday - rest, new WOD comes out tomorrow
Thursday - see new WOD, decide to practise for it
Friday - a bit more practise, or do my first attempt, or help judge !!
Saturday - rest from Friday's attempt or rest for Sunday, plus they need some judges
Sunday - will I try it again, do I have time, with all this judging ?
Shocking, absolutely shocking, so from that point of view, I am extremely glad the games are over and i have already set out a training plan to get myself going again.
During the games, I had no real targets as I had no real experience of Crossfit and the games, so I used it as a learning curve, see what I was OK at and what required work.
Double unders, toes to bar, flexibility and Olympic lifting speed and strength are top of my priorities, not in that order, but all will be improved on, over the next few months.
I also took an interest in other guys scores and have set myself a standard I expect to be at, if I do the 2014 games, so from that view it was good to watch people better than me and see how they prepared and competed.
As I said before, I now have the makings of a training program in place, written by me, with the emphasis on some of the more skilled exercise, but also to get stronger and leaner, which will lead to faster and stronger, which is the base of all athletic ability
So the journey began a few months ago, but i feel the journey is actually, truly beginning now
Craig
Hey Everyone
So 13.5 has come and gone and boy did it take everyone by surprise.
Maybe not the exercises, Thrusters and Chest to bar, but the format certainly did, 15 Thrusters followed by 15 chest to bar, complete three rounds of this (90 reps) in four minutes and you get four minutes added on, to try and get another 90 reps and so on and so on ! This is one for the extremely athletic and mentally strong.
It being the last WOD of 2013, I was expecting a little more excitement than usual, down at Reebok Crossfit Glasgow, but there seemed to be more a sense of fear 9for want of a better word) about this workout and there did seem to be an awful lot of 'warming up and preparation work' going on, way longer than usual.
Which to be honest was very understandable, a lot of people, myself included can't do the kipping or butterfly technique used so efficiently, by the higher skilled Crossfitters, luckily for me I can (well had hope) I could get my chest to bar with standard pull ups, how many I wasn't sure.
This wasn't an option for others, so they were expecting to be standing under or hanging from the bar for about 3 1/2 minutes hoping for some miracle to get their body up and touching the bar.
I 'warmed up' on Thursday, but decided just to go for it on Friday, no more messing about waiting.
My target was anything over 30 and managed to achieve 45 (I say 45 3/4 but Andy my judge, said 3/4 doesn't count) which I was happy enough with.
As the weekend continued, I witnessed, The Reebok Crossfit Glasgow members, again, raising their own personal standards, lifting heavier weights than before or managing more reps, a lot compleing their first ever chest to bar.
Again there was a amazing atmosphere in the gym, so much support for anyone putting themselves through this brutally tough WOD.
The one thing that hadn't been completed yet, was 90 reps in the 4 minutes, Steph and Ally had got close, in the 80's and Gary hadn't been yet, as he was ill and still unsure whether eh would actually go at all.
Sunday came and it was the last chance for anyone hoping to complete it for a first time or outdo their previous attempt.#
Ally and Steph, decided to go at the same time, hoping to work as pacemakers for each other, hoping at least one of them would hit the magic 90.
Both, had their plans how to attack this, which given the limited time, is basically, don't stop. They both got through the first round (30 reps) fairly easily, 30 - 60 started to show just how ahrd they were working, but both through and in good time. 15 Thrusters which started 'light' for them both, now looked like the weight had doubled, but still they both got through, just chest to bar to go, they were both wiped by now, chipping away at the 15 reps, 1 or 2 at a time.
4 minutes gone Steph - 83 reps, Ally - 87 reps !! AAAAAGH !
Next up was Gary (Red) who had been coughing and wheezing all weekend, but decided to give it a go.
Again through the first round, easily, then both the WOD and the illness kicked in, but on he went - 4 minutes gone reps - 88, 88, just 2 short, although by the look of Gary, I think another 4 minutes was the very last thing he needed.
As you can see here, Gary gave his all
And that was it, the 2013 games were over, well for most of us, as all the scores got verified throughout Europe and the World, it was becoming clear, we may have someone going to the European Games, where all the top athletes from this years games get invited to compete for a chance to go to the World Games,.
Reebok Crossfit Glasgow is going to be represented there by none other than Steph Dekker, who came an amazing 19th in Europe.
So its off to Denmark in May for Steph and I know a few of the coaches and members are already booking flights and hotels to go support her. I hope to get a sponsor to send me to watch too (anybody ?) :-)
So congratulations to everyone who pushed their limits, took themselves out of their comfort zones and competeted, there are so many people that I watched and grew inspiration from, just within Reeebok Crossfit Glasgow, too many to mention them all, but I would like to thank each and every person that was involved over the last 5 weeks, its been truly immense.
Congratulations to Steph for qualifying for the regionals and obviously being top female at RCG and to Ally McKinnon for taking the male spot.
That was an 'interesting' 5 weeks for many reasons and my first glimpse into the Crossfit Games as a judge, spectator and 'competitor' (I use that term very loosely) and will post a new blog tomorrow on my thoughts about the Games journey and where I'm going from here.
Till tomorrow
Craig
Hey Everyone
Long weekend done and dusted along with Workout 13.4, week 4 of the Crossfit games.
13.4 was (or rather looked) simple enough
2 Exercise, Clean and Jerk and Toes to bar, working for 7 minutes AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) following this sequence
3 Clean and Jerk
3 Toes to bar
6 Clean and Jerk
6 Toes to Bar
9 Clean and Jerk
9 Toes to bar
etc etc adding 3 reps to each exercise every round
Male weight for Clean and Jerk was 62kg, Female - 43kg
Here is how it should be done (Click on week 4)
http://games.crossfit.com/workouts/the-open
Straight away, I thought, OH OH !!
I had never even tried Toes to bar before and my flexibility isn't that good, so was guessing I'd struggle with these and not having really done much training for a couple of weeks, thought 62kgs would feel very heavy ! But apart from that, it all looked good !!!
Thursday morning, I headed off to Reebok Crossfit Glasgow, to see what my attempts at toes to bar would be like, in my head I had already decided I would struggle to do any, which is very unlike me, I'm usually positive about trying and learning new skills, if after some coaching and practise, then I still can't 'get it' thats when I start to get fed up, not usually before ?!
I think it was a little to do with, my injury, my lack of knowledge and limited expectations of what to expect.
Anyway, down at the RCG box, I found the usual suspects, namely Nisha, Steph and Jonny.
Steph and Jonny, as always, were looking forward to testing themselves on this workout and were more than capable of getting high scores.
Nisha, on the other hand was in the same boat as me, Toes to Bar, can we do them !?
Nisha had already been practising, with not a lot of success, which was really frustrating for her, as Nisha is one of the top athletes in Reebok Crossfit Glasgow and producing a score of 3 reps, was not going to be something she would settle for.
I had a few attempts, uncoached and ignorant of any technique involved, this as you can imagine, did not produce very good results.
My brain was already thinking "Just do the 3 Clean and Jerks, your injured, use the excuse"
Nisha on the other hand, was talking with Jonny and Steph, getting to watch her attempts and try to break down, where she was failing and work on that. A few pointers and some remedial work and Nisha was already getting closer to completing Toes to Bar, there was still 3 days to practise and she could go on Sunday, surely she'd have it by then.
I on the other hand, took full advantage of being and judge and the fact, this can help me, easily avoid actually doing any form of workout, let alone 'THE' workout (13.4).
Thursday out of the way, I didn't need to go through the embarrassment of doing 3 reps in front of anyone.
"I'll come in and do it Friday, mid morning, when it's quiet, I thought to myself"
Totally forgetting Friday, was Good Friday and everyone was off work, so there was no quiet time in the box, but plenty time to judge !! Friday rolled past, still no attempt from me.
Saturday morning,was actually my last chance, as I was busy all Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.
"If I get there early, I'll go first, before it gets busy" sticking to the same strategy that didn't work on Friday ??
So Saturday morning, I trudged down to the box, there was only a couple of people there, perfect I thought, I'll do some foam rolling, mobility and stretching, that may help me get at least 3 toes to bar, in what will be about 6minutes 45seconds to do those 3.
By the time I had did this, the box had got a bit busier, Nisha was in too and we laughed that we could have a competition, first to 4 reps. Although there was a very serious prospect of not getting those 4 reps.
I put my name down for the first heat and set myself ready to go, 62Kgs, I can clean an jerk that 3 times, surely, 3,2,1 go no turning back now, 3 clean and jerks, easy (ish) done, now over to the bar, 1,2,3 toes to bar, back on the ground, "How did that happen?" I thought, 3 clean (definitely not perfect) but 3 toes to bar !
I found myself standing back over the olympic bar a bit sooner than I expected, 6 clean and jerks, this will be where the lack of training will kick in, 2 x 3 reps and that was done too, there's no way I'm getting 6 toes to bar, "But you know you can do them now" I thought, sure enough 1,2,3 no rep, rest 4,5,6, back to the Clean and Jerks !! How did I manage this, 9 reps now, a lot slower, buit I unbelievably (to me anyway) find myself back on toes to bar, 9 reps, then onto 12 reps of Clean and Jerk, tired now and time running out, to be honest I was still shocked I got this far, but keep going I said to myself, 9 reps later and the buzzer goes - a mix of emotions go through my head, tiredness, happiness, but more disappointment, not in my score, but in the fact I didn't believe in myself enough to truly go for it, believe I could do more than I thought.
But at least I had the score and it was more than 3.
Next round and this was Nisha's turn, hopefully my attempts would spur her on to, finally touch that bar with her toes.
3 Clean and Jerks, easy, over to the bar, "C'mon Nisha" 1,2,3 attempts, nowhere near, rest, refocus, hands back on the bar, another few attempts, nothing, "Oh no, I thought, she isn't going to do this" sometimes you can just tell, coaches, friends, lending a supportive ear, tips to help, but nothing, this was horrible to watch, those last 6 minutes 30 dragged past - final score 3 reps.
A few more words of encouragement and motivation, but Nisha was one unhappy girl.
As I said before I was unable to get down to the box on Sunday and missed the atmosphere that the games produce.
Then I get a message through facebook, it was Nisha, she had tried again, a last throw of the dice, I was hoping to see any number come through as long as it was higher than 3, then I read it - 47 reps, 47 eh !?! From a gutted, devasted girl I had seen on Saturday, a few more pointers, a bit more belief and that first good rep, thats all it took and she flew through the workout, I just wish I'd been there to see it.
So, I think, both Nisha and myself took a lot more from this workout than most, even when your mind is trying to taklk you out of something, telling you, you can't do something, to not even try.
This is when you need to find something more, something inside you, that makes you stand up after falling down, or made Nisha and me, stand under that bar and grab hold and go again.
I may not of got as high a score as I think I could've, but 13.4 definitely taught me a lot more than most workouts.
Craig
