Think "Light" thoughts....

 “Everybody wants to be a “powerbuilder”, but don’t nobody want to lift no heavy-ass weights.” – Ronnie Coleman

That quote was going through my head, but replace "bodybuilder" with "crossfitter", while I was trying, and failing, to clean the 185 lbs so I could start more front squats.  I also tried to use the force a bit, which also did not work.  

This did not work for me.

Here is more on my first RX competition

Event 1:  

155 is heavy for me.  It is heavy for most people, but it is really really heavy for me.  I did accomplish my goal of going through each movement unbroken for the first round...then it just got ugly.  Deadlifts were easy, but the hang-cleans started to kill me.  I could only do about 2-3 at a time then my grip would be gone.  Obviously I used the hook grip but it just wasn't enough.  Then the shoulder to overhead...yeah right.  That was terrible.  I eventually had to go into a split jerk to get through them.  I ended up with 2+23 total which meant I got into the shoulder to overhead of my third round.    

Ended the first round in 22nd place (out of 25)

Event 2:  

The most feared event for me, the 185lb front squat.  oy!   It took me two attempts at successfully cleaning the bar.  I was more affected by the first event than I thought because I could do 185 a few times in a row without failing a few days prior.  Once up, I did 5 front squats before putting the bar down.  The problem was, I could not get it up again. Sounds like a typical male problem.

Then came the Sit-ups which I did "ok" on.  I got 71 in 2 minutes but I should have gotten to 80.  Then came the burpees which were surprisingly tough to get up on the 45lb weight.  I struggled and only got like 15 in the minute.  Again..should have done better.

I came in 24th on this event.  

Event 3:

I almost killed myself on the turkish get-up.  I was fine with my right hand, but struggled with my left (I'm making it too easy to make fun of this).  When I came down i dropped the 75 lb steel ball onto my shoulder/chest.  Ouch!  Luckily I caught it with my right arm before it could do serious damage.  I did decent on the row (15 cals each round) , and ok on the box jumps but could never get into a good rhythm. The tire flip was a bitch cause we just don't do them often. 

I came in 25th in this event.  Sigh.

Overall I came in 21st out of 25.  I have no idea how that is even possible considering I never did better than 22nd in any event.  The way they computed score confused me.  

Thoughts:

First thought I had after each event was pure disappointment.  I did not stack up to my peers like I had hoped.  I was distraught.  Really actually pretty down on myself.  

As time went on, what Brando, Brad, Jake, Karen.... told me is true.  This was my first competition at RX weights, and they were not light.  I never backed down from the weight, never thought "maybe I should not do Rx"  I did not quit.  And that is what I'm taking away from this event.  That I have made some incredible improvements over this time last year.  I could not do a 2 pood kettle bell swing last year at this time, let alone a 2 pood turkish get up, but I did it in the competition.  I know I'm not elite, but it was good to "compete" against them for once.  

"Fans" and "Coaches"

610 cheering section!

I could feel the love while I was working out.  Especially when I was struggling.  Having the support that the group from the box formally known as 610 was amazing.  Everyone looked out for one and other and really pushed each other to succeed.

Also great was having Coach Brad (he's not the coach officially yet, but will be eventually) help me through some tough times with the tire and with the DT workout.  He helped me pace through them and gave me some form tips to make the movements more efficient.  Other guys with much more experience helped me through too including Jake and Brando.  It was good to have the tips yelled to me when I needed it the most.

Final Thought.   

I HAVE TO WORK HARDER!