My CrossFit Games Open Team: Fueled & Excited!

This is my third time competing in the CrossFit Games Open. For those unfamiliar, the Open is the 5-week competition open to everyone in the world to have a fair shot at ultimately making it to the Games. Obviously, I don’t have a shot at all — like most people — but the competition itself is an awesome experience in testing your skills, strength and sense of athletic adventure.

You need to be properly fueled, rested and ready to go to feel good going into the Open workouts, which is why I haven’t missed a day of Premier Protein before and after my workouts (I use 1/2 scoop before and 1/2 scoop after) and usually end up downing a protein bar at some point as well! I’ll tell you what, I’ve been feeling really good and in fact, I did far better then I expected!

The thing is, even those of us who have no chance are officially judged, and all workouts recorded into the CFG database. Each week, CF headquarters releases a new “surprise” workout for the Open and Games-level athletes complete the workout. Then, athletes around the world have 4 days to complete the workout and record their scores.

It’s kind of incredible to realize you are on the same scoreboard as CF athletes like Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and Sam Briggs (who each won the Games the two years I was fortunate enough to attend them with Reebok!) Obviously, no where near them but that’s the magic of the Open — anyone can participate.

We are 4 weeks in, with the 5th & final workout for 2017 being released tonight. Nerves! Some people are predicting triple unders for RX!

Anyway, this year I did something new — I joined a team! Our gym allows you to team up and combine scores — so you can see where you stand individually as well as with your team. My gym buddies Ashleigh and Kim were the perfect teammates, as we are regular class attendees and wanted to do this just for fun. None of us are advanced by any means, but that’s why CF offers a scaled division!

We had to pick a team name and after much debate, went with Squat Queens. Laugh if you must but you should see some of the other team names from our gym! Oh yeah — and Ashleigh made us head bands! 🙂

We’ve been cheering eachother on virtually every week, anxiously awaiting the announcement of each workout and checking out where we appear on the score board. It really doesn’t mean anything but it’s just fun being a part of something and trying to achieve the best score you can.

The three of us all excel at different things and really we’re just Moms trying to stay in shape and have fun while doing it. Having easy go-to fuel like the pre-mixed shakes from Premier makes it so much easier to get where I need to be. I mean, I always have something in the car because it’s so vital get the right nutrition when you need it.

Also, getting these adorable kettlebell necklaces (thank you, Kim!) didn’t hurt the confidence factor. We’re going into Open workout 17.5 tomorrow. I don’t know what it will be (please just not “Karen”!) but I’m already a little sad the Open is almost over. We’ve been having a blast and I’m hoping I will be able to get to regionals (as a spectator obviously!) down the road!

Thanks to my wonderful teammates for cheering me on and bringing so much light and positivity in the past month. I’m so thankful everyday that my back (you remember the year of the herniated disc?) has given me almost zero problems in the past year and I’ve been able to continue doing CrossFit. It sounds so silly to say a sport gives me so much joy but I thoroughly enjoy it, the community and how it makes me feel.

I don’t take a healthy body for granted and know that one day, my back could decide I’m not allowed to do this anymore so I’m soaking it in and appreciating every moment I have now.