CrossFit Houston's Girl's Only Summer Challenge!

So this past Saturday was the first Girl's Only CrossFit Competition I've ever done (hosted by CrossFit Houston). In fact, I don't think there's been another girl's-only challenge in Houston. Anyway, what a great Saturday! I am constantly amazed at the strength and beauty that is epitomized by our Houston-area CrossFit Women! You are all amazing and I am so lucky to be able to compete with each and every one of you. For many of the participating athletes, Saturday was their first experience with a CrossFit competition. I know from our gym alone, we had 6 new competitors and they all did amazing!


The first WOD was a little "outside the box". We had to row 350 meters, then pick up a 100lb sandbag and run with it (or waddle) 100ft then drop it off, run 100ft back and pick up a 55lb KB and a 50lb Dumbbell. We had to Farmer's walk with those 100 ft., drop them off, run 100ft back to our sandbags, pick them up and run (waddle) back to the rower where we finished it off with another 350 meter row! Whew!! Let me just say, that sandbag was not fun! Not only was it heavy, it was also extremely awkward! I definitely lost some serious time because I couldn't keep a hold of it on my 2nd 100ft walk! I managed to get by under the 11 minute cut-off though. Unfortunately for many many amazing athletes, the sandbag proved to be a much bigger hurdle and, unfortunately, many people could not finish before the cut-off time. :-(

The second WOD was a basic, 200 meter shuttle run that took less than minute to complete. Not my favorite WOD because the time's were so close (and I definitely slipped and fell in the mud twice which killed my time)

After the conclusion of the first two WOD's, the field of competitors was narrowed to exclude the bottom 50% or anybody that didn't finish the 1st WOD. For the standard division, that meant there was only 7 of us left!

To throw another hitch into the mix, the last two WOD's would be the only two that counted towards our final placements! That meant that as long as I kicked butt in the next two, it didn't matter how far behind I was in my shuttle run! Sweet!

As anyone who's been reading this blog knows, I've been spending a lot of my summer concentrating on my mental game for the bulk of my training (as opposed to tons of intense physical training days) and I was determined to test my mental mettle so to speak in this Challenge. Turns out the third WOD looks like it's going to play to my strengths...21-15-9 slamballs with a 20lb ball, 20" box jump-overs, and Russian KB Swings with a 55lb KB. (Just in case you were wondering, yes these are usually MEN's RX Weights!!!) Looking at the heavy equipment, I couldn't help but think that, although, this was probably going to suck, If anybody can swing a Men's KB, I can! So when the clock started, I just booked it! I ended up finishing first in my heat and it really wasn't as bad as I had originally thought it was going to be..(I thought maybe this whole mental game thing is really going to work!)

As I waited for the rest of the heats to finish, all I could think about was that there were tire sleds (big tires that are attached to straps with wooden bases in the middle so you can stack weights in them and drag them) stacked nearby that we hadn't used yet so I knew they were coming up and, MAN my back was hurting from that big Kettlebell already!

WOD 4 gets posted and it's a killer!! 4 Rounds of 5 Deadlifts at 185, 30 meter tire sled pull forward (95lbs), 7 Dumbbell push press each arm @40lbs, 30 meter sled pull backwards! HOLY CRAP! Sorry for the potty mouth, but this was seriously the hardest workout I've ever done in all my months/years of CrossFit! I mean, I literally wanted to quit in the middle, all I could think about was that it was soooo hot and the tire was sooo heavy and I felt like I was moving at a snail's pace! I am sure that if I had not been devoting so much time to strengthening my mental game, I may not have finished this WOD....ok I take it back, I would have finished (I have never quit a WOD) but it would have taken me FOREVER! I am extremely proud of myself because on the last backwards tire pull, in the middle of feeling like I was dying, I actually picked UP my pace. I mean I grabbed those straps and I really pulled it in the finish. I would not have done that a month ago. :-)



I ended up getting third this weekend. The 2nd place winner beat me by 2 seconds and the 1st place winner beat me by less than 30 seconds. It was hard not to be disappointed by missing out on first place by such a small margin, but I have have have to celebrate the small victories. I am making great strides with my mental game and I know it's going to pay off come Games Season next year! Just for the record, I plan on working my butt off to try and get to the 2011 CrossFit Games, and I know it's mini-breakthroughs like this that will take me there.....one WOD at a time!


I had such an amazing time this Saturday and I hope that more and more women will realize their inner strength and potential through CrossFit Competitions just like this one! Great job ladies!