CrossFit KoP Mid-Atlantic Regional Recap 2012

The 2012 Mid-Atlantic Regionals are now behind us and as we begin to train for the 2013 season, it is nice to look back on how we performed.  This year we sent our team (Danny, P, Vinny, LP, Cate and KT) and one individual competitor (Aimee) to Regionals…no small feat considering the level of athletes now doing CrossFit.    The events were grueling and truly favored the bigger and more powerful athletes but no one from our box was going down without a fight.  Our team was in the first heat of the day and took off like a bat out of hell, setting the early pace for the rest to follow.  KoP plowed through the deads and HSPU and team work was evident in their extremely quick transitions that led to an overall finish of 11^th place.  Aimee followed suit by setting a 40 second PR on Diane placing her in the top 20 women of the day.

Danny destroyed WOD 2 and was one of the first competitors finished with the WOD and he then cheered Vinny, Cate and KT to the end.  The weights were heavy and punished bad form and KoP finished 5 reps short of completing.  This showing was still a PR though, which is all you could ask for, highlighted by Vinny overcoming his fears and KT setting 10 PR’s on her hang power clean.  After the team, Aimee once again took the floor and managed to get through 26 hang power cleans using more than body weight…an incredible showing for the smallest competitor in the field.

WOD 3 was where the big kids had their time to shine.  Needing to snatch 70# for ladies and 100# for men with one arm was unprecedented in pervious CrossFit competitions.  For those trying to imagine how heavy this is, go DEADLIFT one the next time you are in the gym.  Danny and Cate set the early pace and came close to finishing.  This was a WOD where form got better as you got tired but at the same time you were running out of time.  Cate nearly pulled it out in the end but ended up a few reps shy…not bad though considering she was worried about making it past the first round!  WOD 3 was the workout that Aimee dreaded since it was announced.   Snatching body weight is considered legit, having to do a huge portion of that with one arm is near insanity…but this is CrossFit.  Aimee spent over an hour warming up with various weights but the 70# would just not go above her head with her left arm.  Torn muscles, cysts, out of place ribs and 3 hours sleep was not a good recipe for success but Aimee took the challenge head on and showed that anything is possible as she managed to get one rep with her left hand.  I do not think anyone around us knew who won, but they all knew Aimee did something incredible as the building erupted with cheer and the cameramen flocked to the scene.  Her effort was not enough to get her to WOD 4 but it was surely enough to make everyone in attendance proud of her.  We all saw a side of Aimee we are not used to seeing and we are all better athletes for it.  In the end, Aim finished in 30^th place and the gym could not be more proud.

WOD 4 had not been completed by anyone in the world to date and everyone was anxious to see if someone in the Mid-Atlantic would be the first.  This chipper of all chippers tested strength, both mental and physical and the ladies were asked to go through hell before switching over to the men.  The ladies stayed with the pack because of our ability on the pullup bar.  Many ladies struggled here but we continually moved and made up some time on all of the competitors.  When the men finally got to hit the stage, you saw fire in their eyes and they pushed as hard as they could before the final buzzer rang.  This was a workout where we performed better in the gym but you can never tell how your judge is going to perform.  We had numerous reps taken away because the judge wanted our athletes to hump the air in front of them.  An odd movement to say the least but we did what we could do and qualified to move on.

Going in, we knew WOD 5 would be our weakest event but the effort was something out of a storybook.  Plentus managed to tie a PR putting up more than body weight and Danny and Vinny both threw up 185.  On the ladies side, Cate was the only one to move to the next bar but in reality, both LP and KT had the bar WAY high enough and it was only a matter of dropping under the bar.  I expect two PR’s within the week.

With WOD 5 ending, CrossFit KoP finished in 24^th place, a great showing for a bunch of workouts that did not necessarily play to our strengths.  We will use this to mold our training for the future so that we may come back better and hungrier in 2013.

We wanted to thank everyone for coming to show your support for our gym.  Our great community was in full force with nearly 30 people in attendance.  A BIG thank you goes out to Jim C, Jess C, Jen S, Steph, Megs, Melanie, Alison, J-Na, Beth, Mike, Emily, Sam, Nicole, John C, Kim C, GiGi, PopPop, Chloe, Todd, Andrea, Chase, Donkey, Brad, Barb, Ryan, Ditty, Timmy, Becky, Momma P, Sister P, Nina, Aurora, Sarah(Farfa) and Jovina.  If we are missing anyone, we sincerely apologize.  We appreciate everything you all do for our community. 

- Jason and Aimee