The CrossFit Powerstroke Partner Throwdown.
My Crossfit competition debut and I was working with Machele to form ‘Team
WODMomma’ competing in the ‘Scaled Division’.
I've been in the pre-competition nervous multiple-toilet visit situation hundreds of times before. Triathlons, athletics competitions, cross-country races, swimming competitions; so I should be used to it, right? Wrong. This was completely different:
a. I need to lift weight in front of people (and that is not a pretty sight)
b. I really don’t want to let my partner down
c. It doesn’t involve swimming, (road) biking or running. My strengths. Bugger.
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| Team WODMomma and Vonda, our ‘Team Manager’ for the day! |
There’s hum of excitement in the
air as people are busy registering, chatting through their tactics. and catching up with workout buddies. The rowers
are purring and weights are being heaved around in the warm-up area complete
with the associated grunting as people begin to get their limbs moving.
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| Introducing Taylor to her first CrossFit competition at 5 months old. |
More athletes arrive with their
supports teams. Mums, dads, boyfriends, girlfriend, kids, dogs crowding into
the carpark and Box until all that is left is the area for the athletes to
compete. Its unseasonably warm for a February in Nevada, so Team Gazebos are
being thrown up for people to catch shade under. It's then time for the
competition brief. The excitement builds as Sean, the owner of CrossFit
Powerstroke goes through each workout. Nervous laughter at jokes that normally
are met with an eye roll: everyone just wants to hear that 3-2-1 and get on.
The workouts were released a few
weeks prior to the competition. That way, teams could discuss tactics and
decide on how to play to their advantage. Machele and I complemented each other
pretty well. Machele ‘Momma Howard’ can lift some serious weight. That was
pretty lucky as I, however, cannot. Although, give me the cardio, ‘long engine’
workouts and I’m all over it like a CrossFitter at a Paleo all-you-can-eat buffet.
The first and second workout would
run into another, with the second event starting following a brief 4 minute
rest after finishing the first.
Workout 1:
AMRAP 8 (As Many Rounds
As Possible in 8 minutes). Only one athlete working at one time.
12 x Front Rack Lunges (65lb)
12 x Sit-Ups
Workout 2:
Total Weight Moved over
4 minutes
Clean & Jerks
With 52 Teams competing, Machele
and I are making our debut in Heat 2. We find our judge, Mike, who also happens
to be the local Sheriff. We quickly exchange some nervous banter (and
establish, that no, it wasn’t me he saw speeding the previous week - phew). I’m first
to lift. We have already decided on our game-plan. 6 reps each of the the lunges then 6
each of the sit-ups.
The first lunge is akin to that
of a drunk Bambi dancing the Tango, on ice (you get the picture). Gathering my thoughts, I steady myself. Let’s go. All
I really concentrate on is the girl in front of me who is wearing glittery leg
warmers. This actually helps me focus and the brings out my competitive side; I know I
need to match her pace. And she is quick. We finish the workout with a higher rep count than in practice. High Five, Go WOD Mommas! A quick change of
weight on the bar and we are ready for the Clean and Jerks. The ‘Clean and
Jerk’ consists of raising the bar from the floor to the shoulder and then through to an
extended position above the head, showing full extension of the hips and lock out of the elbows at the top. We had
decided on 55lb during practice and had managed to move a total off 4125lb the
week before. We knew we had this.
The buzzer goes again and its time to move some weight. Despite
having a game-plan, Machele and I constantly talk to each other and
change reps to suit our tiredness. If one of us need even the shortest break
from our reps we had set, the other takes over. We top off at 4500lb moved by
the end of 4 minutes. To say we are chuffed is an understatement!
With so many teams, we now have to
hang around for the third workout. We are currently standing in 6th place out
of 12 at this point, with our strongest event to go. Nice.
Workout 3 consists of 3
Rounds (for time) of: 15 deadlifts (95lb/105lb/115lb), 20 hand-release push ups and 30 wall
balls with a 14lb ball. As I mentioned earlier, Machele is a weight demon. With a lifetime of
rodeo, goat tying and throwing heavy ranch equipment about, this girl can
lift!! She is awesome! As she can deadlift 275lb and me only 135lb, it stood to reason that she
takes them all. I take all of the push ups and we share the wallballs with some sort
of mid-throw changeover shuffle routine to maximize our efficiency (we are
actually pretty proud of that). We settle to watch our Box mates, who also happen to be my clients from my 8am CrossFit class, Janel and
Joan compete in the first heat and now it's our turn to step up. Nerves and
music usually result in me dancing – never a good thing in front of a crowd,
but on this occasion there are a few of us that are distracting ourselves from
the thought of the pain to come with a small dance-off during the minute leading up to the final “3-2-1”!
So, in practice we started at 6
minutes 47 seconds, we then dropped it to 6:14 and, in competition, we get it down 5:17 – BOOM!
Cue lots of high fiving and fist bumps (I’m used to this Americanism now). We had
come in 2nd for this event and boosted ourselves to 3rd
overall. This meant we are in the final.
The final workout is kept under
wraps until all heats were completed. Which, by looking at the sadistic elements
that had been evilly inter-twined to create the most lung busting, muscle
tearing event, is a pretty good call on Sean’s part.
Workout Final
100 Calories Assault Bike
200 Single Unders
30 Squat Cleans (95lb)
60 Box Jumps
30 Snatches (75lb)
60 Lateral Bar Burpees.
Quickly deciding on our tactics,
we know we need to play to each other strengths. Both my PRs for the lifts are below the weight set, so Machele was to use her superhuman strength to
lift. I was going to get the cardio. Which meant yes, all 100Kcal on the bike. Now, although, cardio is my forte, and I have raced 112 miles on the bike during Ironman
triathlon; the assault bike still remains a machine of
pure torture.
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| That was a painful 7 minutes and 30 seconds! |
“3-2-1 Beeeeep”
and we are off again. Every other Team in the final is changing rider every
10Kcal on the bike. However, we need Machele as fresh as possible for the lifts. Cue 7
minutes and 30 seconds of just pure pain. The only way I can describe it. I manage to sustain
a pace that takes me off of the bike around 20-30 seconds after last team. I'm pretty happy with that considering they were fresh every 10Kcal. Michele gets a start on the single-unders whilst I gather my wobbly limbs into some
semblance of an upright position. I then take over. The noise is deafening. Fellow
Box athletes, friends and my husband are cheering and egging us both through the work. My little boy is shouting ‘go faster mummy’ and this just me drives on. Jump rope thrown to one
side, it is time for Machele to do her stuff. Completely focused on the task
at hand she powers through the lifts and, before I can blink, it is time
for me to jump on and off the wooden box. 60 bloody times. Our wooden box is placed
right in front of the spectators and again I absorb myself in the thundering noise
using it to channel my effort to land every single jump at a consistent pace.
How Machele completes the following 30 snatches at 75lb I have no idea. At that point, despite the noise rolling around us, it is just her and I. As a bit of a spare
part in this element of the workout, I busy myself setting that bar back in
the middle for her to pick up after every lift. After Machele’s ‘Captain
America-esque’ performance on the snatches, it is time for me to complete the burpees.
I just have to make sure I complete a two footed jump over the bar in between
each one. Getting into a rhythm with your heart making its escape from your
chest, your lungs in your mouth as you throw yourself into the floor is pretty
damn tricky though.
Then, it's all over. In an instant we are
overflowed with excitement, disappointment, relief all rolled into one. High
fives and fist bumping all round. Sweaty hugs and back clapping. We came third
in that event. Beaten by 2 burpees. ‘I should have gone bloody faster’ I say,
knowing full well I couldn’t have. We gave it our all. We had maintained our position
and came third overall; and, looking at the two teams ahead of us, we were
right to be proud of our performance. Those girls were good (and younger as we
were reminded frequently). We played to our strengths and put out our best on
that day.
A brilliant event spent with fabulous people; our fellow Box mates each gave stunning
Thank you CrossFit Powerstroke for organising such a fantastic entry
level competition!
