The clock has finished counting down, and all 14.1 scores have been submitted. CrossFit Open newbie, Alison Wood share’s her experience of 14.1.

The first CrossFit Open workout of 2014 is done and dusted. We have all been reading about athlete’s scores of 300 and 400 plus, chatting about how Rich Fronning couldn’t even beat his 11.1 score; and with the likes of Kara Webb’s scoring 431, Chad Mackay 400 and Samantha Briggs’ 472; I can’t help but laugh at my own attempt.

You see, the CrossFit Open for 2014 is my first attempt at an Open. I’ve been training on and off for a couple of years, but decided 2014 was the year I would challenge myself. “The Open” is like a far away, mystical land; who knows what CrossFit HQ is going to throw at us this year? Everyone at my box was encouraged to register. So I did.

When I first saw what the workout was, my reaction was of surprise, “Oh 25kg that’s not too bad!”. But then I saw my previous 1RM back in January for a Power Snatch was 35kg I got a little concerned. Oh and double-unders, I’ve only recently started to really stick them!

I train at CrossFit Darwin, one of five CrossFit boxes in the Darwin area. We had Saturday right through to Monday lunch time to attempt 14.1; with a lot of members (including myself) attempting the WOD a couple of times. I first attempted 14.1 on Saturday morning. I got there early to roll out, mobilize, stretch and practice my double-unders just to be sure.

It was after about 20 minutes, waiting for others to have a turn before it was mine. I chalked up my hands, grabbed my speed rope and skipped for my life! After reading TWL’s tips and tricks article I thought my snatches would be my ‘rest’, but it turned out the other way. I didn’t have  a ‘plan’ for my snatches either, and in hindsight found myself resting too much. The first couple of rounds are literally a blur for me, I can’t even remember doing those snatches. It wasn’t until the third round I remember telling myself 5 snatches at a time and “breathe”. I smashed out the double-unders for the fourth round and picked up the bar for a snatch and got 1/2 way through when the click ticked over to 10:00 minutes.

I scored 165 in the end, doing all power snatches and was pretty happy with my result! Just the thought of busting out double those reps to score 300+ makes me want to vomit! You see, Samantha Drescher trains at my box, and after seeing her score 363 (sitting at 29th place in Australia), I was awestruck by the speed and finesse of her double-unders and snatches. These ‘athletes’ make 25kg look like 1kg!

Monday lunchtime I re-attempted after feeling like I ‘rested’ too much on Saturday. I just wanted to try my hardest to see if I could beat my previous score of 165, to try and get in a couple of snatches in that fourth round. However, Monday lunch time was hot and humid, my traps and arms were fatigued still from Saturday and my double-unders were suffering. I clean and jerked most of the lifts and only scored 151.

A few lesson’s I learnt from CrossFit Open 14.1:

• Don’t be discouraged by your score. If you tried your hardest that’s all the matters. If you’re still learning double-unders, consider it a great time to practice; or if you feel like 25kg is out of your league for power snatches, clean and jerk your heart out!
• Have a plan, and a backup plan. Kelly, the box owner told us this one.
• Watch your breathing. It’s easy to get lost in the moment and forget to breathe, or find yourself breathing super fast. Count slowly to three and inhale and exhale.
• We’re all ‘athletes’. We get up, chalk our hands and give these open WODs a red hot go. After all that’s what it’s about.

*My current standing is 35/60 at Crossfit Darwin, 3573/5962 Individual Women in Australia and 40,888/71,320 Individual Women Worldwide.

 How did you find 14.1? Was it what you expected? Was it your first time entering The CrossFit Open too?

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Alison Wood, 27 is a novice CrossFitter who goes to Crossfit Darwin, marketing professional and crafter currently residing in Darwin, NT.  Follow her own blog North of Here for lifestyle and fitness posts or join her on Facebook.