THERE’S ONLY ONE FIRST COMPETITION

I finally buckled down and completed my first individual CrossFit competition. Earlier this month, I tested my current progress at the CrossFit Dallas Central- All Cities Open (ACO). The result? A new personal PR, a couple of new movements previously never tried, and one bruised ego. I’ve been active my entire life. Gymnastics since 3, various sports through middle school and high school, and have often been labeled as a “studette” in the Army.
I must admit, I am not a natural at anything. I’m actually pretty clumsy, and have to work at EVERYTHING I do. I don’t know how long it took me to learn how to do a back handspring, but once I got it, I was solid. It was the same for playing volleyball. Going from the bench on JV my Freshman year to Captain of the Varsity team my Senior year took a lot of work. I remember staying late after practice, working on my spikes for hours. Snowboarding took me a couple of years to grasp. I’m still not entirely comfortable jumping off cliffs, but I can hang on the dark blues and a couple of black diamonds in Colorado now (after many many falls, caught edges, and a bruised coccyx). Even in the Army, the first time I tried to climb a rope was a futile effort, but quite amusing for the instructors I’m sure.


My path with CrossFit has been the exact same type of learning curve. After almost two years of training (almost a year of serious training), I have made huge gains. I remember going through CF-L1 and one of my goals was to do Fran RX’d. Now, my goal is to get Fran RX’d under 4 minutes with chest-to-bar pull-ups. I still have several goals, both for skill and strength. I know I will get them. I know I have the strength, motivation, and Go.
I tell the people I coach at Warrior CrossFit-Camp Mabry that the best thing they can do is be consistent. If you can’t make it to the WOD, do SOMETHING. Even 100 airsquats is better than skipping a day. For me, it’s more than just being consistent. I have that. What I need to focus on is consistently adding more weight, working on my weaknesses, and constantly pushing beyond my comfort zone. That’s the biggest take away from the ACO. I have been extraordinarily fortunate to have amazing coaching thus far.


Today, for example, thank goodness my original coach Deric, showed up to the noon WOD. I almost bailed the weight of my power cleans from 105# to 95#. But, just knowing he was there watching, made me suck it up. It hit me afterwards when I was filling in my WOD journal and for the first time, got to put the weight at 105#. I realized I always bailed to 95#. Baby steps are progress, too!