Another Oldie But Goodie - What's the Deal with the Open?

I found this! Another blog post from before I deleted everything ... written about the CrossFit Open in 2013. I had all these great Beyonce gifs that I did not save... so I added those back in. Some of the gifs are newer than 2013:)

There's been some chatter at the box lately about this Crossfit Open thing.  So you may be wondering ... what's the deal with the open!?

Those of us who have participated are SUPER, almost excessively, ridiculously excited about it. I feel like some newer members and those who have not yet participated maybe are "afraid" to knock it out loud for fear of getting an earful of Crossfit Crazy thrown at the them... But I have heard some honest conversation about why so and so doesn't want to register, and it's $20 and yadda, yadda, yadda...

So I am going to tell you why the Open is important to me. Maybe you will relate and see its value and decide for yourself to get in the game.

Things to keep in mind:

1) You WILL be doing the Open WODs anyway. Thursday night is "the NIGHT" but so is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As I recall, as part of CFMY, whether you "sign up for the Open" or not, you WILL do the WOD. So might as well sign up:)

2) Participating in the Open is NOT about competing in the "Games." 

What I mean is that "I am not trying to go the games" is NOT a valid reason to not sign up for the Open. Last year, over 20,000 people participated in the Open and 490 people competed at the Crossfit games as individuals, teams, and masters. That means 2.5% of Crossfit Open Athletes GO to the games and maybe 5%-10% actually have a chance of making it that far! The Open is for the WHOLE crossfit community and that includes you.

In my opinion, the Open is five beautiful weeks of opportunity... It's the opportunity to get outside of your comfort zone and get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It's an oppotunity to learn, to grow as an athlete and as a person. And isn't that why you Crossfit?! To become a better athelete and/or person!? It's offers the opportunity to partipate in something "big" and opportunity to seize the moment you are in.

(I am going to maybe get a little cheesy here and "deep" but bear with me.)

The are very distinct "moments" in my life that I vividly remember being a "girl on fire" (I kind of hate that A Keys song but ... whatever! It fits.)

In high school, during my Senior year, we played John Jay East Fishkill, ranked 5th in the nation for girl's soccer, in a night game at their field. Our Lady of Lourdes was a small Division II high school in New York State Section I while John Jay is the Division I - AA public school I would have gone to had I not been a good old Catholic school girl. All my neighbors, my friends, the people, the entire community was there and John Jay was expected to roll over us. Except we had been practicing and planning and working our asses off toward this game that didn't even count in our division for anything! ALL day I had butterflies in my stomach and self doubt in my head... right up until game time. The whistle blew; game on. I was our captain, our center forward, and for that night, our only forward... and I was a frickin' pain in the ass for John Jay East Fishkill:) I knew every weakness of their sweeper and their goalie and MY goal, my mission was to exploit it! This moment under the lights, in front of all my family and friends, was about as huge as a high school moment can be... and we executed. We rose to the moment, felt the butterflies and with nothing to lose, went for it. Personally, I was on fire, unstoppable, and in full control that night. I scored in the 1st half leaving it 1-0 at the half... nevermind the countless crossbars and just misses I had. I wish this David vs Goliath story ended in a victory but ultimately, they came back to beat us 3-1, with one goal on a questionable PK. They were 5th in the nation, after all... but we scared 'em real good and I was so proud of our girls:)

In college, I experienced another vivid moment as a soloist for the church choir. Back then, I had TERRIBLE stage fright, anxiety, panic attacks about singing in public. I mean, knee shaking, breath taking, fighting back tears, clammy palms, forehead sweating stage fright. BUT I knew that it only lasted from about 5 minutes before my solo was supposed to start until a few bars into the song... and I LOVE the way I feel when I sing. I feel absolutely on fire when I am singing. Like Sasha Fierce on fire:) So every Sunday at church, I would practice deep breathing in advance of my solos to try to keep myself calm and get on up there and sing, airily, breathy to start. Once I was able to fend off "the fright," I could sing beautifully. On Sept 11, 2001, tradgedy struck New York City, our nation and our world. By that evening, the Villanova community came together in prayer and sadness for a vigil in the Pavillion. There was no public transportation and people were still concerned about traveling safely. None of the senior soloists came to the service, since most seniors lived off campus. This left myself, a junior, and another student soloist to lead the hour plus long prayer service. I was being asked to sing in front of 5,500 of my closest classmates and peers, on what is easily classified as a horrible, terrible, and emotional day. I had a moment, a fleeting moment of terror, self-doubt, buckling knees, and sweaty palms. I told myself, "You have five minutes to be scared. You have been scared all day. Five more minutes. Then you let it go." (Very Kate and Jack of me I know). 

This moment was WAY bigger than my anxiety issue. When the service began, there was no stage fright, no panic. I was calm, clear, and again, on fire. I am not someone who brags and "shows off" ever really, but I think that night was literally the BEST I have ever sang. For me, it was completely cathartic after such an emotional day. I felt honored to be a part of engaging the community in that catharsis, in sadness and prayer and to be a part of some healing and some hope on that day.

Okay so what does the Crossfit Open have to do with all this?! There are moments in life where you discover something about who you are and what you can accomplish. Where you let go of all theBS in your head and put it all out there on the field or the stage. The Open is another "field," another "stage". It's a place to just effing go for it!

Last year, I had been Crossfitting for maybe 5-6 months at the time the Open began. I had just begun to "discover" how physically STRONG I actually am... The 1st WOD was 7 minutes of burpees. The butterflies hit me. The 1st time through, I think I did 62. I knew I could go faster though because when I was done, I still had a little "left in the tank." We came back Saturday and I did 88 burpees! 

On the 2nd WOD, I knew my one rep max snatch was NOT 65# but prior to the Open, I hadn't even TRIED anything heavier than that. So the 1st time through, I blew through the 45# snatches and the75# snatches, leaving myself something like 7 minutes to figure out how to snatch 100#. The 2nd time through WOD 2, I had major butterflies; my stomach was flip flopping all day, so I knew something good could happen. At 3-2-1 go, I attacked. I was clear, in-control, embracing the moment, on fire... I got through 70reps, meaning ten 100# snatches! Other WODs maybe might have exposed my glaring weaknesses at the pull up bar but honestly, learning your weaknesses is just as an important part of the open as learning your strengths. Participating in the Open was such an important part of my re-discovery of my inner athlete and that girl on fire. I would hate for anyone to miss out on that because they think the Open isn't "for them."

So as excited as I was about my own success and performance in the open last year,  nothing compares to witnessing your friends, your CFMY family have their moments. When people really push themselves, amazing things happen. And you push yourself so much more when you have your CFMY family 100% behind you, cheering, urging you to breath, to not give up, to go faster, checking your standards, counting your reps so that you can make every rep count. The Open is a place where, as a group, we put our best foot forward. Everybody shines and contributes in a different way so that the overall best group effort is put forth to greater Crossfit community. It is 5 weeks filled with butterflies and "moments" and blood, sweat, and tears where you learn about who you are and what you can accomplish.

In summary, it's time to put it all out there. It's time to be in the moment. Sign on up kids. Get in the game. Who knows!? You might just find yourself on fire...