121413--Battle of Aiken

A little recap on my third competition, the Battle of Aiken, hosted by crossfit Aiken...Team Twerk n' Jerk (Brandi and I) took first place by winning every even except for the max clean and jerk! Unlike famously hot, I did not train specifically for any of these events, but practice them once or twice with Brandi before the competition. I did get pretty nervous two days leading up to the competition, but i managed to stay pretty mellow and calm..


Event #1
1 Rep Max: Clean and Jerk
Each team will have 8 minutes to establish a 1 rep max Clean and Jerk for each competitor. The heaviest successful lift for each member will be added together for the team's score.
Totaled 305#, and got second in this even by a 5 pound difference. I came into this even with a goal of meeting my max clean of 150, and then obviously jerking it. I failed to stand it up two or three times, but with like a minute left, I was able to get it. While warming up, and during the actual event, I push jerked everything. Not sure why, it was just what my body wanted to do, so I went with it.  Lesson from this even: work on getting out of the hole. I predict some 1 1/4 squats in my future..


Event #2
10 – 200 meter sprints, alternating partners 1 team member will sprint 100 meters down, 100 meters back, then hand off the baton to their teammate, who will do the same. Teams will run 10 lengths total, with their total time as their score.  
We joked about this even from the very beginning as the one we would lose. We practiced it once and it was terrible. Brandi used to run track however I was a swimmer which is anti-running. BUT we took first in this event too. It was pretty brutual, not going to lie, but we did it. It was definitely easier to push myself running next to other people. I started out pretty strong, but Brandi definitely picked it up. I was able to maintain and then in the last sprint, Brandi passed one girl to take the win! yay! We finished a full minute fasted than we did when we practiced. I think it was 6:59? After this even, my hamstrings just stopped working, I layed on the ground for a little bit before I would move again. I felt muscles scream and be that I did not even know were involved with running.

Event #3
As many reps as possible in 8 minutes
RX: One competitor rows for calories, one competitor completes handstand push-ups. The handstand push-ups will be done with the competitors hands on 25# bumper plates and an ab-mat below his or her head. Kipping is allowed. Teammates can switch tasks any time during the workout.
After a lot of thought, we decided to switch after 1 set max reps HSPU. Towards the end, as the max reps got less, we did two sets, but I think this strategy worked really well. It kept us from burning out on both the rower and the hspu. Finished first in this one with over 100 HSPU and 1 hundred something cals on the rower. I think we both got no repped a couple times on the HSPU, not sure why. I also failed one or two towards the end, but overall felt very strong. 

Event #4
For time (15 minute time cap):
When the workout begins, Teammate A will have one minute to perform a buy-in of 20 double unders and 10 eye-level kettlebell swings. He or she will then do as many thrusters as possible with the remainder of the minute. When the minute is up, the head judge will call "3-2-1 switch", and teammate B will do 20 double unders and 10 eye-level kettlebell swings. Once those movements are completed, he or she will continue to perform thrusters until the minute is up. After the judge announces switch, teammate A will perform the buy-in, then continue to chip away at the thrusters. The cycle will continue until the team reaches 50 thrusters total. Each team will have one barbell and one kettlebell to share. If your team finishes the 50 thrusters in UNDER 8 minutes, you have until the 8 minute mark to do as many snatches as possible. Once 8 minutes have elapsed, the workout is over and your score is your snatch total. If you finish the 50 thrusters in OVER 8 minutes, your score is your time. If you do not finish in the 15 minute time cap, your score is your thruster total.
Women's RX- 44 lb kettlebell, 95 lb thrusters
Brutal, but did not feel as bad as it did when we practiced it. I did all the double unders unbroken, and Brandi did too until her rope broke and had to use mine. I am significantly shorter than her, so it was a little bit of a problem, but we managed to get through it AND bang out two snatches for the win. The thrusters were pretty heavy and got tiring, but I saw some people actually squatting and jerking the weight in prior heats so I asked if that counted, and it did, so that saved me towards the end, so I could drop under it a bit. We were the only women's rx team that got any snatches, so another win for twerk n' jerk!

Twerk n Jerk for the win! Looking forward to many more competitions alongside my awesome partner!


Went a little crazy with the food and drink for the 24 hours following the competition, will work out this week, take it a little easier while in Jamaica (and enjoy the vacation!), and then be back at it, busting my ass in the new year. Cannot wait to see what the new year brings!