The Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge, part 1

At 7pm on Friday I took some Tylenol Simply Sleep, allowing me to fall asleep at around 9:30. That, in turn, allowed me to wake up comfortably at 4:50 (a full 10 min before my alarm was set to go off). Showered, did my hair, dressed, made my typical Oatmeal dish, and put all the food I made last night into a cooler. Drove over to CFOT and actually got there at 5:45 am! I viewed this as my greatest challenge, everything else was downhill.

Drove with Stuart and Blain, and after a starbucks stop we showed up at Crossfit BWI at 7:05, and they have a nice new box. They moved in the night before, so it took them a while to set everything up. I was starting to get nervous, but I was with friends and there wasn't anything else to do now except to wait. They announced the wod, and after a little confusion they finally decided on the first workout. Lo and behold, what I like to call the "MAC Attack":

3 rounds, 21-15-9 of
Overhead Squat 95#
Lateral Jump burpees (BWI called them Bastards)
Pushups



At first I was excited because there wasn't an exercise I couldn't do, no double-unders or muscle ups or handstand push ups.

I didn't bother to think about the fact that pushups and burpees are my weak points, but that was illustrated quite clearly to me as I went through the workout.

...Those 15 minutes were a real wake up call. I don't know if I can accurately describe the pain that went on during that workout. Near the end I was breathing so hard I was slobbering on myself and the ground. My shoulders simply did not have anything left in them. Once when I attempted a OHS I dropped the bar on my neck (thankfully I didn't hurt myself). I ended up having to step down to the plank for the burpees. I look at the video and I am amazed that I was unable to do this workout. My chest is so weak, this is something that I've always known, but the hopper really brought this to my attention.

Near the end, I could hear everyone cheering me on. As I heard my name being called, I tried to draw strength from this, and I think it helped some. But I could not find a way to push any more than I did. As I heard time expire, I just felt sad, like I had let myself, and everyone else, down. I know that I gave it my all, and I am proud of that. I am simply not satisfied with where I am, I want to be strong enough so that I can be proud of not only my effort but also the result. I want to be strong enough to be satisfied with my performance, and right now I'm not. There is a simple and beautiful truth to these contests. Either you are strong enough to do these workouts within 15 minutes or you are not. Currently, the truth of the matter is I am not, and while that may not be what I want, I do take comfort that it is the truth. Also, this situation can change. I believe I have the ability to get strong enough to do these workouts, and I really don't feel anything will stop me until I do get to that level of the playing field.


After time expired, I tried to turn to the crowd to show my appreciation, and after that I just needed to get off the competition floor and collapse and recuperate. This was only the first workout, and I needed to get my act together and prepare for the next two.