Going into the 2013 Open I was not expecting much compared to last year due to my recent shoulder injury which took me away from serious gymnastics training, OLY lifting and upper body training for 3-4 months during the winter. In the first workout I placed pretty miserably, in part due to very limited time to prepare and only 1 go at it on a late Sunday evening after a full week of travelling with work. From that point on I improved my standing in each WOD, slowly crawling up the scoreboard week after week, finishing 247 in Europe and 22 in Denmark. Except for the poor result in 13.1 I have been quite consistent and have placed between 200-300 in every WOD.
This year, compared to last, I was much more strategic in my WODs - planning them before the first go and recording how my strategy worked out to make the best adjustments for the second attempt. There was great help to get from several of the more well-known people in the CrossFit community such as Ben Bergeron of CompetitorsWOD, K-Star og MobilityWOD, Rudy Nielsen of The Outlaw Way and last but not least Butcher's Garage's own Fame Boy Christoffer Riis. I would highly recommend thorough preparation before each WOD as this improved my results every time I was able to prioritize it.
The thing that suprised me the most was how mentally tough 5 weeks of competition is. The CrossFit Open is not just something you can do outside of your normal training program - it replaces everything completely. Due in part to the fact that you max out completely on a tough couplet or triplet twice in a week, which leaves you sore and run down every time, and due in part to the fact that you are under constant competition stress, checking scores for yourself and others all the time and thinking about strategies, techniques etc. constantly. After the fourth WOD I started feeling mentally fatigued and actually did not train at all the entire following week until I had to do 13.5. I was out of town on work, but in retrospect I see that I was actually starting to burn out from the stress of wanting to do good and reach certain goals, without reducing other stressors in my life.
Having said all this the 2013 CrossFit Open has been great fun for me, and it has brought me many great experiences with my team mates when we have gotten together to hang out and do yet another grueling workout. And it's always good fun to get to prepare yourself to peers and elite crossfitters. I think I will keep doing this for many years to come, and I think I will do even better in planning and prioritizing the Open next year.
Main take aways:
- Do the WODs 2 times every week - once on Thursday and once on Sunday! The 2 weeks that I was actually able to do this I improved my score significantly.
- Do not expect to follow your normal training routine during the Open if you want a good result. Focus solely on the WODs by resting a full day before Thursday and Sunday, and not doing any other max effort power lifting or WODs during the 5 weeks. Max effort OLY is OK I think, as it does not wear you out in the same way as a real grinder-WOD will.
- Have a strategy for each WOD - and follow it. Listen to the clever people on the interwebs to make a strategy and STICK TO IT during the WOD. This will enable you to get a good first run and the best second run possible for you.
- Beware of competition stress! Withstand the urge to constantly check up on the scoreboard and try not to think about the WOD of the week constantly. Maybe allow yourself to check the scoreboard once every day or even less.
- Try to reduce work activity during the month of the Open. If you can you should try to eliminate travelling and big work deliverables, simply because of the added stress which can end up adding up and making you miserable.
- Have fun and hang out with your friends in your box. At the end of the day I believe that to be the most important and greatest element of CrossFit.
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar