Superfit Games.

Didn't sleep well last night. I'm guessing it was just my nerves just getting the best of me. After a couple of hours reading a book, to take my mind off the upcoming workouts, i finally got a good 6 hours of sleep. Woke up a little later than i wanted,  to about 5 to 6 inches of snow in Charlottesville. Didn't have time to get enough fuel in me and we needed to check in in about half an hour. Our drive to the event was pretty shaky. Spun out a couple of times but finally made it to the box safely and in time. After checking in, the CrossfitDC crew, and Josh Courage had our camp site set up and we started going over our strategy on the upcoming events.

Event 1: 1500m row
I'm really not a big fan of rowing but i have been getting a little better at it. I have a strategy for rowing 5000m, 2000m, 1000m, and 500m. I do not have a strategy for rowing 1500m. My plan was to have a 1:40m split for the first 1000m and go all out for the last 500. Boy did this backfire quickly. My legs were on fire and they couldnt get going. My goal was to get under 5 minutes, but i got a rough 5:06 which was the 14th fastest time.
Rest: It took me longer than i expected to recover. Could hold anything down, and whatever i ate, came out. After puking twice, i needed to get fluids in me. I really thought i was not going to make it through the rest of the day. But i finally did recover.
Event 2: Max reps deadlifts at 289#.
Watched the first couple of heats to figure out a strategy. Most of the athletes just went all out and they all hit a wall at around 35 reps. Talked to Dan, a fellow CrossfitDC partner, and he told me do 10 at a time, until you fail. That's the plan i used and i got to 30 clean reps, with a lot more left in the tank. Form there i did sets of 8, 6, 5, and singles until i finally got 56 reps in 3 minutes. The most reps done was 60 and i was 4 reps away. I was proud of my 3rd place finish for this event.
Rest: I had almost about 2 hours until my 3rd event. So i ate a great lunch and took a 40 minute power nap that was really needed.
Event 3: 50 Burpees, 25 Thruster (111#), 25 Hand Stand Pushups. 
I was tied in 5th place with Josh going into this event.We both watched the first heat and i was getting really nervous. The guys made the burpees look easy, they all had a great strategy on the thrusters, and i didn't know what to expect on the handstands. The amazing thing was that it took them close to 3 minuest in attempts to get one handstand. At that point, the judges changes the handstands to 10 and the time limit of the workout from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. Which suggested that this wod was poorly programmed.Watching the guys struggle with the handstands left me really nervous about my performance. Josh Courage and I were in the same heat. I was a little dissappointed that i couldn't cheer on one of my workout buddies. My burpees were flawless, the thrusters were a bit of a struggle. Plan was to use my legs as much as possible and save my shoulders, for the hand stand. But that didnt work as planned. My legs were fried and my shoulders took over. After i finished my 25, i had 10 handstand pushups to do. This is when it all went down hill for me. Attempt, after attempt, i failed at each and every handstand. I just couldn't even get one. After trying like 10 times, felt more like 30, i called it. Didn't finish the workout. I know i can do handstand pushups fresh, but the beauty of all Crossfit competitions is to expect the unexpected. So learning to do handstand pushups, while fatigued, is another thing i need to learn. I really think if Josh and i were able to finishe this event, we would be both be in the top 6 or 7. We went from 5th overall to nowhere near the leaders.

Props: To my CrossfitDC crew: Reggie, for finally getting a Crossfit competition under his belt; Dan, for an amazing performance, and finishing 2nd overall; Chris, for an amazing performance and making it to the final 5. Sara for always giving her all and offering advice on how to tackle a wod.
To Jason, his brother Collin, and friend Louis for great performances.
And a special thanks to Steph and Jenn for taking care of the photography duties!