So if you are in the CrossFit community, you’ve have probably at least heard about the CrossFit open or you may even be competing in it! I have competed in the CrossFit open 5 years (I think) in a row, 2 of those years were spent competing and making it to the Southwest Regional. After competing 2 years in a row, I decided I didn’t want to do it anymore. I was getting closer to injuring myself, I was 30+ pounds heavier than I am now, and I spent almost every waking moment in the gym. So I stopped competing but still signed up for the CrossFit open just because that’s what our gym does every year!
Last week, I did the first workout of the Open and it crushed me. Not only did I do much worse than I had hoped, but I also felt like crap the next day, getting a sore lower back which never happens, and really feeling disappointed in myself. So not only did it crush me physically, but it crushed me mentally. I was really bummed out afterwards.
But why? Why should I be bummed out? I went to the gym, I got a really hard workout in, and life moved on. Nothing changed other than my disappointment with myself. I finished what I had set out to do that day which was workout and better my life longterm. Something that I have to remember and remind myself of frequently is I’m much happier now that I don’t compete. I’m much happier now that I’m not constantly taking a risk at injuring myself and I’m much happier being smaller than I was before. I enjoy having my life back, not having hormonal acne, and not feeling like I’m literally going to die every single workout. Sure, I get bummed when I’m not as strong as I was before or when I’m the slowest of all the coaches, but I’m happier and that’s what matter in the end.
I think this type of situation occurs regularly throughout our lives. We get good at something, life changes and we are no longer where we were before. Whether that’s financially, physically, emotionally. Life changes and it’s sometimes challenging to accept those changes. I will never be where I use to be when it comes to CrossFit, but I’m much happier in all other areas surrounding my life. I have the balance and I sometimes have to remind myself that I enjoy that balance more than what I had in the past. Don’t forgot that in life, we may have to give up something to gain something else. Not always, but sometimes. And that’s not always a bad thing.
WAIT! Before you go – this week I’ll be recording my podcast with random reader/listener questions! Anything you’d like me to talk about or question you’d like me to answer! It can be about food, or workouts, or blogging, or beauty, or really whatever you want! Just leave a question in the comment section below and I’ll answer it in the podcast this week!! Happy Monday!
Sunday – Rest Day
Monday – CrossFit Broadway Class
Every Minute On The Minute x 20 min:
min 1: 14 Double KB Front Rack Lunges, as heavy as possible to go unbroken.
min 2: 9 Strict C2B Pull Ups
min 3: 18/14 Cal Row
min 4: 40 sec Nose & Toes to Wall Hold
I used 2×35# KBs, did 7 strict pull-ups every time, did 14 cal row every time and held the hold every time
Then 6 min AMRAP Of:
80 Double Unders
20 Burpees
I got 3+40 rx
Tuesday – Orange Theory Class
Wednesday – CrossFit Broadway Class
Sumo Deadlift: 4 x 7. All sets at 75% of regular 1 rep max Deadlift. (17 mins) – I used 165#
After each set perform Max Effort set of Strict Handstand Push-Up – I got a total of 64 hspu using 1 ab mat
Then 10 min As Many Rounds As Possible Of:
15 OH Squats (115/75)
15 Box Overs (24/20)
15 KB Swings (70/55)
I got 4+39 using 65# and 45#
Thursday – Rest Day
Friday – CrossFit Broadway Class – CrossFit Open Workout 17.1
For time:
10 dumbbell snatches – 15 burpee box jump-overs
20 dumbbell snatches – 15 burpee box jump-overs
30 dumbbell snatches – 15 burpee box jump-overs
40 dumbbell snatches – 15 burpee box jump-overs
50 dumbbell snatches – 15 burpee box jump-overs
Men use 50-lb. dumbbell, ladies 35# and 24″/20″ box
Saturday – Orange Theory Class
____________
Free Travel Workout:
5 rounds for time:
400m run
15 DB thrusters
20 push ups
25 tuck jumps
On Sale Activewear:
Nike Free RN Shoes (30% off)
Nike Dry Training Tank (20% off)
lululemon Wunder Under Pants (30% off)
Athleta 7/8 Tights (45% off)
lululemon Cardio Tank (30% off)
_____________
What I Ate in a Day:
Started off my day with a cup of coffee with 1 tbsp of collagen, some heavy cream and a little liquid stevia extract. Since I was working out in the morning, I had a strawberry Maple Hill Greek Yogurt with Wholeme Lemon Berry Chia Granola Pack.
After the workout, I made a breakfast of Mulay’s breakfast sausage, arugula and spinach, mushrooms, and pearl onions.
Later on the day, I went to Whole Foods to pick up some groceries so I grabbed lunch at the hot bar: taco meat, curried vegetables, and plantains. And then I added cilantro when I got home.
In the middle of the day, I snacked on a Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter packet.
While I made dinner, I snacked on plantain chips.
Dinner was marinated Tuscan chicken (no recipe yet), marinated tomato salad, and crispy roasted fingerling potatoes!
Hi Juli,
Thanks for being honest about 17.1. I love my box and I do the Open because it’s what we do and I believe in the community. That being said, it’s hard to deal with the level of competition that comes out of people. I try to remember that as long as I’m happy, everyone else is going to be the same for me (at least the ones who matter, right). Still, I find myself wondering if others think I don’t work hard enough because I don’t put up the scores they expect from me and it’s a bummer. I feel like I’m losing a bit of drive, I never had an athletic background and I have never progressed as fast as others, I wish it didn’t have to effect how I feel about my own progress but well, it does sometimes. How did you reach a point where you were standing in your truth and stopped giving a fuck what everyone else thought? What are your tips for the days when you are just mentally drained?
I really liked the perspective of this post. I’ve been doing CrossFit for about 6 months now. Before I started, I always felt like I was in pretty good shape but was used to doing more running and lifting lighter weights in comparison to CrossFit. Not to mention I had never done any Olympic lifts before. I know my body well enough to know that right now I need to work on form and technique using lighter weights and I’m just not ready to do Rx most of the time. But I’m also competitive and sometimes feel down on myself for not using the weight that everyone else is using. This is a good reminder to do what’s right for me!
I completely agree with you. I was disappointed in myself as well and it reminded me of the restrict/binge cycle of diets. And when you let go of the dieting, your body just regulates and finds a happy medium. I think the same can be said about competing and exercise. Too much pressure can lead to disappointment and can make people want to quit. Luckily, you see through that and you don’t let a disappointment turn into something bigger. You were also able to look at the big picture and see that it was about getting in a good workout no matter the score. 🙂
So I know you are obviously not an OTF coach, so you may not know but I go to OTF about 3-4 times a week and stopped wearing my HR monitor bc I was so confused by the splat points/zones all that and just wanted to work out my hardest without looking at the screen (which I like much better). Our coaches say that you should get more than 12 splat points a class but less than 25, so you will be in the ‘fat burning zone’. I see most of your workouts you have more than 40 splat points and have like no body fat, so are you of the mindset that you should just go as hard as you can as long as you can always to get in the best shape? Or do you see any benefit from moderate activity/varying your intensity? Did that question make any sense?!
well i usually go as hard as i can when it comes to the running and rowing portions, but i don’t go very heavy in the weights so that’s usually my moderate pace. i think my workouts definitely vary each day because i’m always doing different workouts. so some are all out and others are moderate pace. for me, staying in shape is constantly doing different things. no matter what my break downs in OTF look like, i want to be drenched in sweat and know that i gave it my all. i hope that makes sense!
OMG Juli! I love all your posts but this one really spoke to me! I have been an active exerciser most of my life always competing with myself to run faster, lift more, bike farther, etc. Competing with myself is part of what keeps me motivated. But at the end of 2015 I tore my acl and had to have replacement surgery. It’s been a long road back and recently I had a setback that made me feel EXACTLY like you just described. I’ve really struggled with blaming myself for the muscles on my injured leg not coming back as quickly as I thought they would or if they ever will. It’s been a battle and sometimes I get very discouraged because I am working very hard. You’re so right that life changes and sometimes it’s challenging to accept those changes. It’s nice to know that even someone like you has a fitness struggle now and then and has to make a mental adjutstment. Thanks for sharing.
This open workout this week crushed my soul. I had a virus and a fever monday-wednesday, so I wasn’t able to work out at all from saturday to friday. Then i gave the workout a shot on Friday because I was finally feeling a little better and my fever was gone. It was a mistake… both mentally and physically I couldn’t hang. I kept stopping during the burpees and laying on the floor and shaking my head. It was awful. I finished in 17:49 and I cried because I knew it wouldn’t be good enough for me to be a part of our regionals team if we make it. And it wouldn’t be good enough for me to be top ten in my state, which I was able to do for the past two years. Those were my two goals and I blew them.
I’m going to do it again tonight because I will regret it if it don’t at least try to improve. Wish me luck because I can’t even bend over to pick up my water bottle at this point because my back is so tight 🙁
I really hate the open. Even when I have workouts that are “good” because its so stressful. I dream of being a regional team athlete, but I don’t think it will ever happen.
I came back here to say that I appreciate your honesty about this open workout. It makes me feel better to know that you struggled with this workout too. You’re a fitness role model, and if you had a hard time with it then this one workout is probably not something I need to use to assess my fitness level. It’s not easy, but I need to move past this and have a good “rest of the open”. I don’t think people are going to dislike me or think poorly of me because of how I rank in the open. I’m not going to be losing all of my friends or paying sub-par workout penalties because I didn’t meet my goals. And why even are these my goals? Do I really need to go to regionals to consider myself to be a good athlete?
I might still try to redo the workout later, but I’m not going to let it define me. I still have friends who want to compete with me at local comps for fun. And I still love crossfit and surprise myself frequently when I complete new physical feats I didn’t think were possible. I still have life long friendships with people I met at the box that won’t be deterred by athletic performance.
I’m sorry I’m having a therapy session with myself on you comments section…. lol
Hi Juli, can you discuss the shoes you wear in CF? It seems like you wear non crossfit specific shoes, is there any particular reason? Have you found that it’s no different? It seems like people are obsessed with metcon’s or nano’s or inov-8’s for CF workouts, and wouldn’t think of wearing anything else. Also, do you wear lifters if you’re doing front/back squats or snatches? I’d love to hear your take on workout shoes. Thanks for all the great content!
Definitely want to hear about how the FasciaBlaster is working for you in your podcast. Thanks!
i actually talked about it in this weeks podcast: https://paleomg.com/my-favorite-things-episode-23-paleomg-uncensored-podcast/
Juli, have you had experience in dealing with anyone who had rhabdo? Talking about intensity of workouts and over doing it… I do crossfit 6 days a week and while I know I do not actually have rhabdo I recently had routine labwork done and my kidney function tests are slightly elevated. I drink a ton of water so I know it was not because of dehydration. Thinking this may be a sign I need to back off a bit…just wondering if you had an opinion on it being a coach.