10/22/11

Today was the 2011 Hostile Takeover. It is a team event (1 male, 1 female). I really lucked out with my partner, she is a great athlete that went to regionals last year. I was excited going into the event. There were 29 teams total, with a lot of familiar faces from the 2011 regionals. More than a couple people were mentioning my partner and I winning this competition. I didn't really think about this when I first registered, I just wanted to go and compete and have fun and get some more experience in a competition environment. I wasn't as nearly as nervous as I've been before/during other competitions, maybe because it was a team event and all the pressure was not on me. Or maybe because I'm getting more confident as an athlete, or a mix of both. Overall today went great. The final results were:

Event 1 - 13th Place

Event 2 - 2nd Place

Event 3 - 6th Place

Overall: 4th Place (1 place away from the podium)

Event 1:

1000m Row (first partner stops after 500m)

800m Buddy Carry

150 KB Swings (#53 male, #35 female)

800m KB Carry (#53 and #35 - one partner carries both at once while the other partner runs 200m around the course before exchanging the KB - minimum of 4 exchanges)

The row went fast, I went about 1:25 the first 350 then slowed to around 1:29. I don't remember my split, but it was fast. My partner rowed really fast as well, she did exactly what we talked about it and I was extremely pleased with her effort. On the buddy carry I went 400m non-stop with my partner, then she did 50m while I did 150m twice - this went well, she is a smaller girl and I was impressed by her ability to carry me. I went as fast as I could, but I need to practice my speed on these, I think this is where we could have gained more time. The swings went super fast, we took turns in 20/20 -ish reps. My partner did a few more than me. The KB carry was a little strange, the way they were judging it. I don't know if we did extra work or what, I was in so much pain I don't know. I think we ran an extra 200m. Overall a good effort, I really don't know how we could have been much faster.

Event 2

On a 16 minute running clock, each partner doing 30 seconds work while the other rests.

4 Minutes each exercise (2 minutes for each partner):

Squats (these were money, I got a ton of reps, 30+ every time)

Push-ups (these were taxing, I missed more than a few reps)

Box Jumps (games standard, missed a few reps because my feet were not all the way on the box)

Burpees (these were money, I went hard)

Our total score was 648 reps, taking 2nd place. I felt surprisingly good on this event. My partner went really hard as well, she was awesome. I think the reason our reps were so high was because she was just so much better at these movements than the other women, whereas I am average with all the other top guys at this. Whatever happened we did well. This workout was great.

Event 3

On a 7 minute clock:

3 Minutes to establish max Ground to Overhead (each partner has own bar)

2 Minutes Max Double-unders (one partner at at time)

2 Minutes Max Muscle-ups (one partner at a time)

I put up 235 lb, a clean and jerk PR. The clean was a power clean, but the jerk was a legit split. I was really happy with this. I missed 220 lbs at the warm-up station. I figured I was too fried to go any heavier than that. When the workout started I hit 215, then 225. I loaded 235 and waited a little longer and then hit it easy. With the spectators, the adrenaline and the environment I could have gotten 245 easy. My partner got 135, which was what we planned and I'm proud she went out there and did that, she was far more nervous about this event than any other. The double-unders went well. She did 50, then I did 50 and then I did two more sets of 30 and 20, respectively. I actually missed two double-unders, I can't believe this happened. If there is anything in the competition I'm pissed about it, it was this. Anyway, she did more than me in the idea that I could get a little of recovery before the muscle-ups. I went right to the rings and got 5 right away, but missed the first rep due to not locking out at the top. My partner really came through here and got a lot of good muscle-ups. We ended up getting 11 reps. We took 6th in the event. If I had a stronger clean and jerk we could have done a lot better. This is something I've been improving on a lot over the last year, but I want a 275 lb soon and eventually 315+.

Overall 4th place, very happy about this. Everyone that beat us was regionally qualified from last year (we beat teams consisting of regionally qualified athletes as well). This is the real victory for me. To go head to head (and team with) athletes that compete at the regional level seemed like an impossibility in the past. Today was such a rewarding and gratifying experience. I love crossfit, competing and pushing myself to new limits. I'm really happy with where my training is at. I'm getting stronger and my conditioning is staying up. I'm excited and optimistic about my future as an athlete.