Hard to believe after owning a box for over 5 years and CrossFitting for over 6, I finally competed in my first official competition.  You may ask, "What took you so long?"  Well, typically, I'm on the other side of it, running the event, be it Regionals, Fall Face Off, Tri-State Throwdown, I've alway been organizing, and never competing.  Well, it was time for that to change. 

Caleb and I heard about this competition about a month ago and we immediately thought it would be a blast to team together and we signed up.  Immediately we found ourselves training harder and with a new found vigor, we had a goal.  This is definitely why I would recommend everyone compete, it forces you to step up your game, train smarter, dial in your nutrition, and work on your weaknesses. The days you question going to the gym will not happen as you now know you are getting yourself ready to compete. 

The workouts were announced ahead of time so Caleb and I practiced them a bit.  The first event was a "Fran" type workout, we didn't do this one, who wants to do more "Fran?"   We knew we both had a good "Fran" time and were hoping to do well.  Turns out we would do very well as we won this event.  Side note, this was some of the worst pain I had even been in CrossFitting…competition makes you work harder

The second event, a Squat Clean ladder forced us to really work on our Squat Cleans and it saw both of us hitting PRs in the weeks leading up to the competition.  On the day of, we both were able to match our current PRs and were very happy with our overall score.

Finally the last chipper…Caleb and I hit this twice before the competition and we took a minute off our second time at 14:33.  It was announced there would be a 14 minute time cap, so we knew we would have to step it up, especially being the third event of the day, and we did.  We communicated well and stuck to our strategy and it paid off as we were one of about 8 teams to finish under the time cap with a time of 13:41.  There is some arguing as to who carried who on this chipper, but I think it's fair to say it was a team effort.

I could not have asked for a better partner.  Caleb and I had a great time throughout the day, and especially at the hotel the night before!  

Something to think about, hitting a workout while being judged changes things.  Although neither of us lost many reps we definitely both were "no repped" at times.  It forces you not only to make sure you are hitting the proper range of motion but also stay cool under fire.  My first no rep was on the 21 Pull-ups in "Fran" and a few things went through my head, but I just kept moving and made sure to get my chin over the bar and make each rep count.  

Ultimately it was really awesome to be on the other side of the competition.  I learned a few things that are important from a competitors perspective.  Have a good sound system, have a great MC, have plenty of toilets, have capable judges, and of course run the event smoothly.  These are all things we pride ourselves on at ACF competitions, but are very noticeable when not being done.

I would not hesitate and I look forward to another competition.  Where else can you hang out with your friends from ACF/CCP, meet new friends from other boxes, and get your ass kicked all while having a blast?  I highly encourage all of you to seek out competition and a great start will be the 2013 CrossFit Open.  

Sometimes it's about leaving your comfort zone and we all know, that is where the magic happens!