Crossfit New England Summer Throwdown, Part 2

What a great time. I completed each round within the allotted time: Round 1 was around 9min 50secs (official times not posted yet.) Round 2 was close to 7 mins. In Round 1, the run was replaced with 21 burpees. No one likes burpees I learned. Damn both sides of my ass were kicked. I saw MANY people who were physically superior get crushed a little or a lot, too. All relative I'm seeing. Amazing support from people came my way during and after rounds. My judge gave me some great pointers, too. In round 2, I did scaled the pull-ups (jumping pull-ups) and even then I had to really PUSH to get them all done.

Everything was on schedule. Ben was adamant about that, and he stuck to it all day. The beer rolled into the box on schedule, too but at the very end of the day of course! There were only 3 male pups, and even though I finished behind the 2 other Pups I officially qualified for third and was very surprised to receive a trophy.
Ben and Heather throw a great throwdown. Many (maybe all) of their trainers were competing or judging. My "counter" for Round 1 was Gene, a Crossfit NE member. He wasn’t competing, only around to help if needed. I was the only pup who stayed around for the awards. I registered for this event A LONG time ago, so I wasn't there for a trophy.

People were surprised to hear that I didn't come from a Crossfit Box. I said that Forever Fit has an affiliate license and is committed to it. People were also surprised that there wasn't a contingent from Crossfit Newton (although I couldn’t tell if they had people entered or not.) It would have been interesting to see where competitors trained in addition to their names.

I learned a lot. I have to say the judging on box jumps appears to be all over the place. I did them like I did them last week (when Bri ran me through Round 2), but I was amongst the few who stood up on the box. Not complaining - only that I have more ways to shave time and to be more agile. I'm still glad I did them the way I did them though. I saw more than a few people rest a loaded bar behind their necks either to change grips or to take a break (and not put the bar down on the floor.) (I didn’t put the bar down in Round 1 until I got to burpees. More good advice from Bri!) That was supposed to be a No No. No bar behind the neck. At least I thought so. I asked my judge about it, and he told me that you can't raise the bar from behind your neck to complete a counted lift. That made sense, but I also thought a bar behind your neck was a safety issue (small box, lots of people.) More old school knowledge on my part I think. I also saw people doing underhand and alternate hand pull-ups, which surprised me. I could have done them quicker with an under grip. Another lesson learned.

They seemed to have a lot of light beer. What's with that!? Someone's 3-year old (or so) daughter did a pull-up from her mother's arms after the awards and she got a lot of applause and hoots. Then she did another one! It's a very tight group of people who are REALLY committed to fitness and to seeing how hard they can work under a different conditions.

All and all, a wicked great time. You know, that trophy guy LOOKS a little like me!

Cheers,

Greg