The 2018 CrossFit Open concluded for me on Saturday. Dave Castro decided to let us vote on our suffering for the CrossFit Open 18.5 workout, so we had three horrible workouts to choose from. Do you want your chest to bar pull-ups with thrusters or overhead squats? Brace yourselves.

The CrossFit Open 18.5 Workout

By a slim margin, the workout that ended up being 18.5 was a repeat of 12.5 and 11.6. It was:

Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes of:
3 thrusters
3 chest-to-bar pull-ups
6 thrusters
6 chest-to-bar pull-ups
9 thrusters
9 chest-to-bar pull-ups
12 thrusters
12 chest-to-bar pull-ups
15 thrusters
15 chest-to-bar pull-ups
18 thrusters
18 chest-to-bar pull-ups

This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 18, go on to 21. If you complete 21, go on to 24, etc.

Women use 65 lb.

For scaled women, the thrusters were 45 lbs., and the movement was jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups. Did I mention I hate jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups? What a horrible way to end the 2018 CrossFit Open! To say the announcement was anticlimactic is a huge understatement. I stewed, and then I learned that if I could just touch anything below the clavicle to the bar, that would be a chest-to-bar pull-up. I went in Saturday morning determined to get those reps. A 65-lb. thruster is painful, but it’s manageable.

So the awesome part? Not only did I get (super-ugly, flailing like crazy) chest-to-bar pull-ups, but I managed to get 17 reps, total, using the RX weight. Yes, the thrusters were hard. But I could do them! I got to post three RX scores in the 2018 CrossFit Open. And after 18.5, I got to eat tacos with my friends.

Also, one of the cutest, most awesome things about our box is how much of a family box it is. That was very evident Saturday: our CrossFit Kids class kicked off the festivities in the first heat, doing a modified and scaled version of the CrossFit Open 18.5 workout. I can’t describe how cool it is to see these kids push themselves and to see the smiles on their faces when they’re done.

Trust the Process

The biggest lesson I learned this year in the 2018 CrossFit Open is to trust the process. I’ve been CrossFitting for almost three years. In that time, I’ve seen amazing progress. I got to post three legit RX scores, even though I struggled mightily to do this. But anything is possible if I work hard enough for it – I saw that during 18.1 and 18.5. I’ve reached the point where I may not be considered a “super-scaled” athlete anymore. (Or at least, I’d like to think that.)

It hasn’t been just coming to class and doing work, either. I went all-in last year with nutrition. I changed the way I’m eating, and I firmly believe that, plus some super-secret accessory work, has helped a lot. I’m not going to fool myself into thinking I can keep up with the “RX Girls” – but this year, I realized that I’m capable of a lot more than I thought. I just need to believe in myself and work hard, inside and outside of class.

Seriously, this Open has been so satisfying. I’ve gotten to see all my hard work pay off when I can do these workouts as prescribed. I’ve gotten to hang out with people I don’t normally see. I got to see my son feel proud of himself when he completed the Open WOD with the kids’ class.

So what’s next? I’m back to where I was five weeks ago when Coach Holly asked me what I wanted to do with my Bod Pod results. I know what I want to do: keep moving forward with progress. Get better at my gymnastics skills. Continue to get stronger. It’s going to be a lot more work, but I’m excited to see where I’ll go and what I’ll do.

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