Vitality Raid (Saturday)

Preparation: Sleep was not at it's best the two nights before the competition which looking back, could have been avoided. Planning espresso rubbed flank steak the night before was not the best idea ever. However, food wise I felt really good and ate really well. Lots of veggies and fruit for carbs the day before and I ate whenever I was hungry. Felt good waking up the day of other than being a little tired.

First Workout Prep: Did not eat before first workout. Thought i was going to start around 8am but due to the heat assignments I didn't start until closer to 9. Probably would have benefitted from eating a little food when I got up at 6am, but didn't want to risk having food in my stomach in the heat.

800m Run
+
3rnds
5 Chest-to-bar PUllups
10 Overhead Squats (65lbs)
15 Hand release Push ups
+
800m run with a 20lb slam ball

Time was 16:11. Stayed within sight of the leader (Michelle Crawford) for the first run and got right to it when I went inside. C2B's and OHS unbroken. My judge miscounted my reps in one round of OHS but it didn't phase me, just did the extra one rep and moved on. Push Ups were harder than expected. 3 sets of 5 the first round, 5+2's for the second, and all 2's for the last round. The run with the slam ball was grueling. It was hot, and I dropped the ball several times. I switched shoulders quite often because it hurt to hold it up there. My judge ran with me and encouraged me to keep moving and walk rather than drop the ball, which was a good push. Ended up 14th in this event.

PWO: Ate a larabar but had forgotten my steak at the house. Ate some paleo korean bbq beef and kimchi later on from the ModPaleo food stand.

Workout 2: Clean Ladder
Only did a couple of light reps in the warmup area before starting. The first half of the weights were basically a warmup. Ladder started at #75. I focused on staying on my heels and having a big jump. Power cleaned through #155, then did a nice easy (not too low) squat clean at #165 and took my time on the last weight, squat cleaning #175. It also felt easy, and I don't think I even wiggled my hips on the way up. My coworker got video that I'm hoping to add later to this post. Unfortunately 4 other girls also finished the clean ladder so my 1st place finish did not push me as high in the rankings. Ate some more beef and a peach after I was done.
#165 Clean:

#175 Clean:

Workout 3:
Tried to relax as much as possible after this one. Was feeling pretty tired. Had Hannah go get me a coffee.

4mins of Burpee Box Jumps to 24 inches
1 min Rest
3 mins of Push Press #65
1 min Rest
2 mins of Toes to Bar
1 min Rest
1 min of Slam Ball with 20lb ball

Was really proud of my pacing on the burpee box jumps. I did 10 per minute each minute, picking it up just enough at the end to get 41 reps. Requirement was to pause at the top of the movement and I was stepping down after the rep. Afterwards Hannah pointed out that some of the other girls were burpeeing to the side on the corner of the box whereas I was burpeeing facing the flat side of box, and looking back I probably could have gotten a couple more reps if I had remembered to do that.

I did about 43 reps during the push press. I did the first 18 or so without putting the bar down (set of 12 then set of 6), but soreness in the shoulders made me decide to put it down on the ground every 5 reps after that. Since it was so light, I just dropped it, took a breath, and picked it right back up without much added effort. Went down to 4's near the end.

TTB - did ALL kipping reps. Sets of 5 until the last few. Was feeling grip as an issue, but had brought a chalk bag with me and was using it (there was only 1 chalk bucket in the whole place). 27 reps total.

Slam balls - never stopped, did perfect reps, got 35. Grip was really starting to kill at the end but powered through it.

I think I ended up around 7th in the last event for a total placement of 8th overall out of 20 RX female competitors.

In general, I'm pretty happy with my performance. I stayed mentally with it the whole time, I did some workouts with light/bodyweight that were more along my weaknesses than my strengths, and despite not having adequate rest or perfect food I didn't let that become an excuse not to push hard or do my best.