My CrossFit Open 13.1 experience

I did 13.1 tonight and for those that don’t know, 13.1 is the first workout for the CrossFit Open. For the next five weeks CrossFit HQ will announce a workout and everyone who is participating in the Open will perform that workout. The workouts are judged to ensure standards are met (and everyone does the same movement) and you can see where you rank among about 120,000 individuals in 2013.

The workout for 13.1 is:

17 minute AMRAP of:
40 Burpees
30 Snatch, 75 / 45 lbs
30 Burpees
30 Snatch, 135 / 75 lbs
20 Burpees
30 Snatch, 165 / 100 lbs
10 burpees
Max rep Snatch, 210 / 120 lbs

This is a snatch, for those that don’t know. One, very fast, movement of taking the weight from the ground to overhead. No stopping, one movement.

That means you have 17 minutes to get as far as you can in that ladder of work. The top guys/gals in the world will score around 200 reps (or just slightly under) which means they completed everything and got to the max rep snatch of 210/120 lbs.

My goal was to get past the round of 30 snatches at 135# and nail some burpees. In a perfect world I would even get a shot at trying to snatch 165# which would be a new personal best.

That didn’t happen.

I made it to the 135# round and completed 25 snatches at 135 before the clock hit 17 minutes. It hurt. My lungs were on fire. I felt like I was breathing pure tin or lead – you know that metallic taste you get in your lungs when you really push your heart rate. The very definition of a “fire breather” workout.

I figured I could finish about 10 burpees every 30 seconds, thus completing the round of 40 in two minutes. That didn’t happen. The 6 inch jump at the top was not figured into my calculations and it took me slightly less than three minutes to complete – I think. I was already in a zone and the only thing I could focus on was the floor. At one point I tried to focus on someone on the other side of the room and my eyes wouldn’t cooperate. AND THAT WAS ONLY THREE MINUTES INTO THE WOD!

I broke up the 75# snatches into sets of 10, or so I wanted. I did 10 and then seven, seven more and six. I was really sucking wind.

Again, I thought 10 burpees every 30 seconds was doable, but at this point I just tried to not stop for a long period of time. I wanted to pace myself and just keep moving, even if that meant a breath or three between every burpee.

I think I moved onto the 135# snatches with around seven minutes to go.

1. The only time I have completed Isabelle as prescribed (30 snatches at 135# for time) was mid January and it took me 6:34. This was after a workout, but it wasn’t in the middle of a workout. I basically had to match my PR in Isabelle after 10 minutes of burpees and snatches. Not an easy task.
2. The “rest” I was supposed to get as I swapped the weights on the bar wasn’t much of a rest. Bending over and moving 45# plates while you are heaving and sucking wind isn’t as easy as it sounds. I couldn’t get in good solid breaths to catch my breath.

Sort of to my surprise I was able to get 135# overhead relatively easy, considering the confused, unable to focus, fire sucking state I was in. Thankfully the judge is a coach at my box and he was giving me pointers along with another member. That sort of real time feedback on form was awesome.

I didn’t make it through the round of 135# and was disappointed at first, but considering I wasn’t able to get 135# over my head in a snatch movement as recently as two months ago, I think it is awesome that I have made that much progress in about two months. After all of that work I was able to nearly complete Isabelle in less than seven minutes.

Sunday my goal is to complete Isabelle before the clock expires and get a few burpees. If not, I know I will get a great workout on Sunday.