The Open, A Five Part Series (Part 5)

(Mar 21, 9:01pm) – The announcement for 19.5 has just been made and to be honest it is by far the worst birthday present ever. Instead of doing something fun like DT or any Deadlift WOD, he came up with the BS that we would be doing this weekend. In the shape of Open WOD 16.5 we had Thrusters. Lots and lots of Thrusters. Happily, there would be a time cap of 20 minutes, but sadly the rep structure was 33-27-21-15-9. First thought is that there was going to be a whole lot of torn hands on Saturday. Second thought was that because of my shoulder mine shouldn’t be among them because of the scaled Jumping Pull-ups (instead of Chest to Bar Pull-ups). 

(Mar 23, 10:05am) – First Heat. I could try and go RX, but the cost would be high. Running Chest to Bar and the heavier Thrusters and I would be hard pressed to get out of the round of 33. If this is going to be my last Open workout, I want to push as far as I could and not worry about the leaderboard.  Thanks to @carrlash for judging and encouraging me during this fight. My plan was to break the Thrusters into 3 sets (thinking that it would be easy @65lbs). Well that plan went out the window 11 reps in. Getting air was tough and getting depth on the squat was tough and getting that chin over the bar was really tough. Still, with the encouragement I managed to get through the round of 21 and get 2 Thrusters in the round of 15. 164 Reps Total.

(Mar 24, 8:32pm) – I sit here flashing back to the events of yesterday. It was the main reason why I wanted to do the Open this year. I’ve been missing the push that the @CrossFitCanuck Family and a little bit of competition provide. Five weeks of the unexpected. Working harder then you expected or trying to do something you’ve never done before. Some remarkable athletes hit their first Pull-up, Chest to Bar and Muscle-Up (among a whole bunch of other firsts). It’s inspiring and tough to put into words. Still, for me I know the sun is setting…  In the sense that my body isn’t bouncing back like it used to (almost like old age and hard wearing are taking their toll).

I took my shoes off after the WOD the same way Olympic Weightlifters do when they’ve had their last lift.  Upon reflection, I am sure now that yesterday was the last ‘official’ Open WOD I will be competing in. I will still help judge and will do the WODs for fun, but the days of submitting scores are done. My body is sore today, partly because of the Thrusters and partly because I was up well passed my bedtime.   The ride was fun, but for me it will be all about Fitness for the sake of Fitness.

Beez