Hashtag, I'm in the Open

I'm in the Open.  I went back and forth about whether to do it this year, or let it go by.  I was leaning to "let it go by". Then I got recruited.  I'll explain.

My gym is awesome.  Crossfit is awesome.  The Open is awesome.  But there are a lot of people from our gym, and across the world it seems (I've gleaned from social media comments), who don't want to give Crossfit corporate $20 to be measured against athletes around the world.  I totally get that.  I'm no where near the kind of fitness that will get me even to Regionals.  And I stack up pretty low (lower every year, because the Open gets bigger every year, not because my fitness is declining).  $20 to do the same WOD.  It seems like a bit of a waste to some people.

Our coaches saw that and answered.  We do a Friday Night Lights event every Friday of The Open.  Anyone who has signed up is drafted to a team, or after the draft stragglers are recruited.  Teams get points for having the top scorers from the gym and for spirit.  It's a lot of fun.  This year they aren't requiring participants to sign up for the official Open.  Instead, you can donate your $20 directly to the gym and they will use the funds for something new and fun for the gym.  I'd say that about half of the participants went that route. 

I was going to skip the whole thing.  I didn't sign up for the draft.  I've been weight training and not doing Crossfit for a few months and before that coming out of a period of the blues where I didn't get enough Crossfit in anyway.  I wasn't feeling up to it.  But, one of the teams asked me to join and though I explained my situation, she said they wanted me anyway.  I didn't say no.  I signed up for the Open (if I'm doing it, I might as well make it 4 years in a row). 

And so far, I'm SUPER happy with myself.  I scaled the 18.1 because I can't do toes to bar yet.  I found out that I don't hang from the bar enough anymore.  It was super difficult to do knee raises, as my grip kept giving way because I'm so heavy and out of practice.  But I liked where I ended up scoring.  I Rx'd 18.2.  I can do all the movements, even if I do them slowly.  Honestly, I don't think I was very much slower doing the burpees RX than I would have been had I scaled them.  Other than a few seconds slower from jumping over the bar rather than stepping over, I think my burpee time would have been similar.  The squat time could have been faster with lighter weight.  I had trouble keeping one of the dumbbells on my shoulder for some reason.  I should have planned a better way to hold them up there.  In any case, I'm really happy with that score as well. 

I'm not scoring top points for my team, but I'm giving it my all and getting the participation points necessary.  And I'm a pretty great cheerleader for our athletes.  My team is the "Swole Hammies".  So go Pig or Go Home.  ;)