Liminal Space of Crossfit

This past weekend was Crossfit Covington’s 2^nd annual Barbell Blitz Competition.  It’s set up as a Superbowl style battle, where the top 2 teams go head to head in the final show down…winner takes all. 

Advanced Competition.

Regionals Prep.

Teams & Individuals who went to the Games.

These are not things that I associate myself with when it comes to Crossfit, but yet I competed.

Chris Spealler wrote about different kinds of Crossfitters.  I am definitely Type 1.  Training Crossfit.  Don’t get me wrong; I have goals, I compete with myself, I compete with others in class, with my current PR, with my last benchmark time-but I am not a good competitor in the formally organized competition.  I do Crossfit because I want to be better at life, it makes me feel good mentally & physically & because it gives me an excuse to buy really cute workout clothes :) …not for competitions.

I never really understood why competing gave me anxiety.  I’m decently strong, can do most skills (even though I have terrible endurance) & am physically capable of handling what most competitions throw at me.  Minus that 5k ruck with a 30# backpack where Courtney quite possibly saved my life by being such a strong runner.  Let’s not ever do that again.  But in general I can handle whatever you throw at me.  So, what’s the problem?

I finally understood when I went to a service at Crossroads this past Sunday.  It was the day after the competition, so the soreness was still very fresh-both figuratively & literally.  If you were there too, you learned about the concept of “Liminal Space”. The word “liminal” comes from the Latin word limens, meaning, “threshold." 

Liminal space is kind of like purgatory between 2 communities, rituals, life stages or abilities (in my case).  An example would be the time after you graduate from college, but before you accept your first (career) job offer.  You’re no longer a college student, you no longer to go class, you have a diploma, yet you haven’t fully inundated into the professional workforce & all that comes along with it.  That is liminal space.

And exactly how does this apply to Crossfit & competing? 

By nature, I’m a highly competitive person.  I want to be the best at my job, win Pictionary during our neighborhood game night (even though the ladies have been getting crushed by the guys…and I’m sure it’s because they cheat), solve a riddle before my husband does (which I rarely ever do) and stack a set of blocks faster than my 2 year old can knock them down (stop judging me for competing with a toddler).  After reviewing all of these things…I guess it’s nice that I’m decent at my job, because I don’t “win” at any of the others! 

Anyway…AND I want to "win" while doing Crossfit. 

The tension is that I’m trapped somewhere between intermediate & advanced competitors.  My strength would dictate that it wouldn’t be fair to compete in an intermediate competition, but my strength + endurance would dictate that I’m not good enough to place in an advanced competition, go to regionals or mentally feel like “I won”.  You can see how this would (probably not) create anxiety for any normal person. Well, it definitely creates anxiety for me.

I continue to compete anyway.  The motivation to compete comes from a sense of accomplishment, pushing myself beyond physical & mental limitations (usually, self imposed), a sense of community & team bonding, camaraderie and simple enjoyment & excitement of being part of something bigger.  Bigger than me.  Bigger than the gym.  Bigger than Crossfit.  It feels like being part of a family.  Now, while I have my own family whom I love dearly, it also feels good to be part of a family, unrelated by blood-except of that on our hands and shins.

So, here I find myself, trapped in Crossfit Liminal Space. 

I will continue to be a Type 1 Crossfitter and Train Crossfit to be a better person in & out of the gym.  I will continue to set goals, achieve goals & set new goals.  I will continue to track my progress.  I will continue to surprise myself & be disappointed in some performances, but I think I’m done competing.

…maybe.

A quick review of the results:

WOD #1:  2 Position Snatch Ladder, from the ground & then from hang.  You must successfully complete both lifts before proceeding to the next weight:   80#, 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145

Going in I knew I could hit 115# once.  Almost every single time I made an attempt at the ladder I could hit 115.  Once.  I never hit the 2^nd rep from the hang.  Not even once.

I ended up getting 1 rep at 125#!  My max is 125# and before the competition, I’d only hit it once.  I finished this WOD with a big happy face :)

WOD #2  Team Chipper with :30 time cap-Front Rack Lunges 95#, Box Jumps, Pull Ups  Women start & then guys repeat same rep scheme

Female 1:  30-20-10

Female 2: 20-20-20

Female 3: 10-20-30

Then complete as a team:

100 Deadlifts 95#

50 Thrusters 95#

25 Should to Overhead 95#

This workout was by far the hardest in my opinion & also the one I was most proud of my team for completing!  We finished with :16 to spare in the time cap, and when it was practiced there was an indication that we wouldn’t finish.  Go team MMFA!!

I did 30 lunges & 10 pull ups.  I intentionally broke the lunges into 10 which worked well, because I was able to drop the bar & pick it right back up.  The rest was no problem…until the thrusters.

The thrusters were by far the hardest part of the whole workout.  They sucked & made me want to cry a little.  Starting them I’d think to myself, “I’m going to get at least 7 or 8.”  I’d get to the 3^rd & think, “Just get to 5!”

WOD #3:  Divide into 3 guy/girl teams. 

6 Minute AMRAP #1

10 Squat Cleans (205/125#)

75 Double Unders

*REST 1 MINUTE & THEN SWITCH

6 Minute AMRAP #2

100 Wall Ball Buy-In to a 10′ target for both men and women

AMRAP Handstand Push-Ups

They then switch stations.  After the first 12 minutes, the 3^rd team will begin:

WOD #3 – Time Cap – 12 Minutes (WILD CARD Guy/Girl Team #3 ONLY)

For Time:

90 Partner Burpees

70 Pistol Squats (Alternating)

50 One Arm Kettle Bells Snatches (53/35#) – Alternating

30 Muscle Ups

I did the last portion.  Travis was my partner and he did awesome!  I could not get into the rhythm of the partner burpees until about 10 in, and around 60 I wanted to die a little bit!  The pistols were easy-we flew through those pretty quickly & the KB snatches were consistent, but not quite a quick as I would have liked, but I was pretty gassed at that point.  I did the majority of them to save Travis for MUs, since clearly I’d be no help there.  I tried twice.  No bueno.

He cranked them out!  The last movement of the day & he was still stringing a bunch together…amazing!

At the end of the day, I couldn't have been more proud to be part of this team.  We battled a blizzard to get there, we battled ourselves to keep going when our minds told our bodies to stop & in my eyes we won.  I’m proud of us.   But I’m still done competing.

…maybe.

3 times this day I said, "I'm never competing again."  Another 4 times I said, "This is so much fun."  Thanks for making it fun more than it sucked, Team MMFA!!

Why The Open is for Everyone

“The Open is a chance to show the world what our athletes (not just our top 6, but all of our members) can do!  This group works HARD and puts in so much extra work outside of class.  I could not be more proud & am ready for the world to meet them!” –Emily Wagner

The Open.  It sounds so daunting.  “Open” is typically used as an adjective, not a noun.  Except in Crossfit.  The Open is a time where Dave Castro (director of the CF Games) says, “Hey world!  This is your chance.  Come test yourself against 140,000 other people just like you.”  The Open is the beginning of the 2014 Crossfit Games Season, which is the road to crowning the fittest male, female, masters & team in the world.  A brief explanation of the Crossfit Open is as follows:

For 5 weeks starting on Feb 27 (through Mar 27) a workout will be announced on Thursdays. All participants of The Open will have until the following Monday, 8pm Eastern Time, to complete & enter their score online. 

You may attempt the workout as many times as you’d like during that time period.  If you think you’ve got a shot at regionals, all of your wods must be video taped.

From this pool, the top 60 individuals & top 30 teams from each region progress to the next stage on the road to The Games…Regionals.  For The Cov & Triumph, it’s the Central East Region.  It is one of, if not THE most competitive region (especially for the men).  Rich Froning, Scott Panchik & Dan Bailey were the top 3 men in the region & finished 1, 4 & 8 respectively at The Games in 2013. 

This is an opportunity to see where you stack up to 140,000 others, the fittest in the world & also the person next to you in class.

When in your life are you ever going to be able to test your fitnes vs. the world?  That’s pretty incredible.  Crossfitters like tangible, measurable, real results.  There is no better way to track those results than to sign up for The Open. 

Lately, I’ve heard quite a few people saying how impressed they were with their progress when they went back and looked at their Open profiles from last year.  Sometimes you have to look at where you were to see how far you’ve come.  This is a great opportunity to help you do that.

The Open is a reminder of progress.

“The open is a goal. A test of how far you've come, and a lesson in how far you have to go. A measuring stick. Something to work towards. Something to push yourself for. A reason to try and get better, and to work harder.  And something you experience with all your Crossfit friends. It brings everyone together.”  -Ian Laverty

“I’m extremely competitive & I am always looking at where I rank compared to everyone else, and that is extremely motivating.  But, for the open I just focus on myself & seeing how far I’ve come.  It really is gratifying!  Oh, and the fun we have at our box after all the heats are completed is pretty cool too J” –Monica Smith

For the majority of us, the road to The Games starts & ends with The Open.  Of the 140,000 people that participated <5,000 moved on to Regionals.  That’s the top 3%.  By the way, CF Cov has sent a team to regionals in 2011, 2012 & 2013.  WOW!  I’m going to make a bold statement & say, we’re sending 2 teams this year.  Yah, I said it. 

The Open is the survival of the fittest.

“Everyday I come in the gym & do whatever wod is posted.  I try my best and I work hard, but during the open I put it all out there and leaving nothing in me when I’m done.  The photo here is after I finished 13.4.  During no other wods do I end up on the floor like this gasping for air and having someone (Nate) come to console me and ask if I’m OK.  The open reminds me about how well this 37 year old body can still move, that I can compete and beat people that are 10-15 years younger than me.  I see how far I’ve come since I started.  Yet, it also keeps me humble and reminds what I still have to work on, and my challenges will never cease.  I always have to push myself.  This mindset starts in the gym but carries over in my daily life.  The sense of community & comaraderie of Crossfit stands out at the gym stands out during the open more than any other time.  It’s the community that brought me there in the first place.  Yeah, we cheer each other on during the daily wods, but during the open, people (including myself) go home with no voice from screaming so loud the entire night.  I might not ever beat Rich Froning or Jarrett Baston J but the open definitely makes me feel like my own little champion”.  –Steve Buelterman

“An unseen benefit of the Open is the chance to see our more elite members really hit the wall.  If you haven’t done the Open before, it is almost nice to watch someone who is leagues ahead of us(average Joes) fitness-wise still hit their own wall.  It’s what Crossfit is all about – pushing yourself to your limits as an individual and as a community. Seeing the athletes with dazed looks like we experience is encouraging, and watching them push through it gives us inspiration to do the same.  When do you ever see Jarrett get tired in the middle of the same wod you’re doing?  In the Open, that’s where!  “Jarrett gets tired??  I get tired too!” –Chris Nieman

For the rest of us, we do it for fun.  We do it to track progress.  We do it to try to be better than last year.  We do it to compete against the person next to us.  We do it to drink beers & eat copious amounts of bacon & “paleo” baked goods with 75 grams of sugar per square inch during the potlucks following the Friday Night Throwdowns. 

The Open is for everyone, regardless of skill level.

“This is my 3rd time registering for the open.  It’s incredible to see, every year, how you have grown.  From my first year of not being able to even lift the perscribed weight, to thinking, ‘this is doable’.  It’s about checking your ego & pushing and competing with yourself.  Plus, there’s a bacon party.”  -Sarah Tomasetti

“Many of us don’t give 100% every single wod.  Some of us Average Joes have had a bad day at work, or got hammered last night, or forgot their lunch that day and are running on 6 coffees.  The Open, however, is a special event.  Even the average guys and gals competing tend to remember they have a hard wod coming up where everyone will be watching. That bit of extra pressure motivates most of us to push ourselves on every Open wod.  In short, it’s another aspect of the Open that makes it a truer benchmark of where an average Joe might stand fitness-wise against his everyday compatriots.  An added bonus is that you can also measure yourself against the various celebrities that compete in the Open…  for instance, last year I managed to lose to Schmidt from the tv show The New Girl.” –Chris Nieman

Throwdowns?  Yes, Throwdowns.  In previous years they were held on Friday nights.  You sign up for a heat, you give it your all, you cheer on your gym-mates, you eat, drink and be merry.  The design is enough to incite a bit of competition in everyone.  It gives you the adrenaline boost you need to do just 1 more rep before putting the bar down, but it’s relaxed enough that you have a good time.  You meet people from other classes that you may not otherwise get to know.  You are pushed.  You have fun.  You do it again next week.

The Open offers a sense of community for Cov & Triumph.

“I do the open just for fun, the challenge & to set a marker for the next year to see how far I have come.  But my FAVORITE part is the community & how it brings everyone from the gym & around the globe together to workout, hangout, cheer each other on & just have fun!” –Audrey Owczarzak

“The Open is a chance to see how far you have come & how supportive our community is of one another” –Michelle James

“Even if you don’t care or relate to any of these things it’s worth doing the Open for the after party.  For newer members to CFC, there is no greater benefit to your long term happiness and success than making some friends at the box - and there is no better place to do it than at the post Open partying five Fridays in a row!” –Chris Nieman

Now that you know what it is and what your classmates have to say about it…go sign up by clicking here!

Thank you Crossfit and Thanks, Crossfit

Thank you, Crossfit & Thanks, Crossfit have 2 different meanings to me. 

There are probably multiple times per week when I think to myself, "Thank you, Crossfit". This is said with the utmost sincerity & appreciation for helping me to be a better me. It's said when I accomplish a goal, PR or feel like I'm in some kind of magical fitness zone.

Then there are times where I think, "Thanks, Crossfit". This is usually muttered under my breath, with an added eye roll and with a loud huff & puff. You can imagine some choice 4-letter words that come along with those eye rolls at times. 

I've written about how Crossfit has helped me not care about the number on the scale HERE. This is probably one the loudest, "Thank you, Crossfit"s I could say!

But then I've written about how the very same sport had made me cry HERE. Don't worry, no tears have been shed since that dark October day even though I still stare at those rings like the new $158 Ruffled Lulu Scuba Hoodie or Wagyu beef, or whatever the most ridiculous, mouth watering, crave-able thing is right now. And yes, that's right Lulu actually has a $158 sweatshirt...that people sweat on. 

Some of the things that make me say, "Thank-you, Crossfit" are:

1. Being able to do any activity imaginable with my family/friends, especially keeping up with my 2 year old. 

2. The mental strength that has come with the constant state of discomfort during WODs. 

3. The muscles, good lord the muscles! I admit sometimes I check out my back muscles in the mirror, try to catch a glimpse of my biceps while carrying something heavy or notice muscles in my legs I didn't know existed. I've always been thick, but I enjoy this thickness much more than before :)

4. Being able to wear pretty much whatever I want (age appropriate) in my 30s & after having a baby, including a bikini. Maybe it's vain, but whatev. I thank CF for it. 

5. My overall health is insanely better. Body fat, lean muscle mass, cholesterol, triglycerides. You name it, it's better. This is a big deal to me. After being given a second chance, I swore I'd do what I could to make the most of it & this is a reminder that I'm doing just that. 

6.  Friends. I've met some of the greatest, most encouraging people that have helped me push some limits I didn't think possible, picked me up on a bad day & just know how to work hard & have fun!

7. A general sense of accomplishment.  I've done things I never thought possible.  Before CF I had never even done one unassisted pull-up in my life.  Ever.  Not even as a kid.

On the other side of the tracks, these are the things that make me say, "Thanks, Crossfit":

1. Not being able to wear most dresses that have a side zipper. Girls will feel my pain. Our lats are wide & our waists are small(er) & that combo doesn't work for side dress zippers. 

2. The booty gap in jeans & the fact that our thighs & calves are likely bursting out of our skinny jeans, all while the gap around our waist gets bigger & bigger...that is if we can actually still wear skinny jeans. 

3. Not wanting to shake anyone's hand (especially at work) for fear that they'll feel the "man hands" that have developed over hundreds, maybe thousands of pull-ups, toes to bar, snatches & cleans. 

4. There is no feeling of defeat like that of a WOD that mentally gets in your head. 

5. The worst CF pain known to man, which forces you to call for your husband, wife, roommate or dog to help wash your hair after you've ripped hands.

6. Finding chalk everywhere.  In the car.  In your hair.  On all of your clothes.  On your face.  Under your nails.  Everywhere.

7. Setting goals & not meeting them. *cough* muscle-up. 

Crossfit has given me some of the highest highs & lowest lows, but I wouldn't change a thing. And now, I say "Thank you, Crossfit" for both!

These are only a few thoughts that I've had couped up, there are many more. What I really want to know is what makes you say, "Thank you, Crossfit" or "Thanks, Crossfit"?