CrossFit Open 2013: Week 1

I've been training at CrossFit Pleasanton for a 2 months and 2 weeks now, and I'm proud to say that I have now successfully completed my first Open workout (also known as 13.1)! After being convinced by many of my fellow CrossFitters to sign up for the CrossFit Open 2013, I sifted through a lot of different articles online and watched YouTube videos from last year's CrossFit Games competition. The articles are intimidating, and the the videos that I watched were even more intense. However, the tipping point that influenced my decision to sign up for the Open was that I figured that I had nothing to lose if I just gave it my best shot, since I've never competed in anything CrossFit-related before.

The first workout of the CrossFit Open 2013 - as many reps as possible of burpees and snatches in 17 minutes. 

I had forgotten what it was like to be competing... and the nervousness that leads up to game day. Once I read the workout, my heart immediately started racing because I knew that snatching 75lbs would be a challenge for me. We did last year's 12.2 "snatch ladder" workout at CFP few weeks ago, and I didn't get a single rep at 75lbs. But that workout had a time cap of 10 minutes, and I felt really crunched for time. The 13.1 workout had a much more generous time cap of 17 minutes, since they essentially combined the 7 minutes of burpees from workout 12.1 (the first Open workout of 2012) with the 10 minute "snatch ladder" of 12.2 (the second Open workout of 2012). Looking back, I think ending my first round with a few squat snatches really helped set up my body for the heavier weight - thanks to this video of 13.1 snatch tips with Coach Diane Fu from CrossFit San Francisco.

Getting that high pull. Photo by Everett Rosette. 

Success! Photo by Everett Rosette. 

I'm really proud to say that I completed 13.1 with 105 reps, meaning that I got 5 snatches at 75lbs for a PR (personal record)! Doing this workout in a heat of some of the top women from CFP was great, it pushed me to stay on track with the burpees and I loved that everyone was yelling for each other to get through the snatches. I think my "game face" in the photos says it all :D