I thought I would give you all a little insight on what the Open's final event of the year and the future comings as a result, and also 10 things I learned along the way. Enjoy!
1. I hate wall balls. This is no new revelation to any of you that know me. I mean, it's not like I just discovered the Earth was round...like a medicine ball...and approximately the same weight after it's been heaved in the air 150 times to a 10' target. I hate you, wall balls.
2. I need to do more wall balls. Seems to contradict what I said in 1, but I need to NOT hate them any more. As Chris Spealler said, "Find your weaknesses, make friends with them, then beat them to death!". Until I get so good at wall balls that I don't hate them anymore, I will not have progressed.
3. We all need more technical work. This includes snatches, understanding when to split jerk and when to push jerk, tirelessly working on long, loose arms in the clean, and just being more efficient with squats. Period. Moving forward, Tuesdays and Thursdays will be technique and strength days.
4. You can't do enough pullups. If your hands are tearing, tape 'em and make sure you are taking care of them. First tears are badges of pushing your hands past what they had previously done, anything after that is just neglect of proper maintenance or protection of them.
5. Many of you PR'd during the Open, and congrats to all of you! By why so many of you? Because you HAD to. There is no scaled version of the workouts. No coach to let you beg your way down 10 pounds. The training wheels came off and it was time to put forth the technique and strength you had worked so hard to achieve. Now it's time to continue with this trend and keep pushing yourself to do a little more than you think you can. You will never know until you try.
6. We will be redoing all these WODs in the coming months to show progress and how we are better than we were before. And next year, when the incredibly creative Dave Castro decides to make 14.1 the same as 13.2, you and I will tear it's head off.
7. No-reps are no reps. Not just in the Open, ALWAYS. You think that med ball went 10'? That means it probably didn't and you shouldn't count it. Again, it doesn't count in the Open, or at any other Box you drop in to, so don't count it here. If you can't do it, ask a coach for a progression sub until you can do it.
8. Counting and CrossFitting is 10x harder than walking and chewing gum. It's like walking and chewing gum while reciting the Gettysburg Address...blindfolded...in a forest, without running in to a tree. Lose count? Error on the side of zero. You don't get better by going 1, 2, 3...shit, 7? Or asking "wait, we're doing 15 burpees? I thought it was 10!" on round 5 of 5. It's written pretty big on the board. I would love to count and no-rep for all of you, but alas I have prior arrangements with my workweek.
9. Sore from a workout? Stop skipping out of the door as soon as you call time and start hitting the rollers, or even better, "the wrench". Why in the black PVC referred to as "the wrench"? Good Will Hunting. Great scene. PVC, foam roller, Lacrosse ball. They all hurt. Might as well pick the one that will get you the best results for the pain.
10. I'm proud of every one of you. You put aside fear of competition, the fear of not doing well, hesitation of taking on heavier weight or more complex movements than you are capable, and said screw it. I'm going to try anyway.
I don't care if you took a 0, or a 3, or 7, or didn't complete a single chest to bar, or toes to bar, or couldn't pull under the weight for a rep. You tried, and I am proud of you. You grabbed the bar knowing you had not done it before, but stuck it out the entire time and gave it every ounce of effort you had. And none of you quit. I'm better just from having seen that level of desire and want from each one of you over the course of 5 weeks.
Here's to the next 47 weeks, the start of another chance to do something you hadn't before.
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