The Southern Crusade

Held at CrossFit Wild South, Sunday 15th February 2015

Photo by http://alex-und-oki-auf-weltreise.weebly.com/5-invercargill-bis-te-anau.html

The golden Plate was up for grabs again when CrossFit Wild South hosted the Southern Crusade competition at their box in Invercargill. I started CrossFit in Invercargill in the way back when(2012-13) and it was good to be back and catch up with everybody.
I was there with a few of my Remarkables CrossFit buddies - Adam, Clint, Mel and I were in the Rx section and Carly and Danny G were in scaled, with coach Bruce and his wife Taryn in support. 
They released the movement standards a couple of weeks before the competition but the WoDs were a mystery until the day. First one, starting just after 8am, was a 3km run around the estuary. Running is not so much my thing and I came in 8th out of the 12, but Clint and Danny G both won their sections. Maybe I was enjoying the scenery a bit much - I saw a Kotuku, or white heron, on the estuary as well as other birds. I used to go on bike rides with my kids around there and it's beautiful. 

My mate Ange from Massage Therapy Works was set up the mezzanine with her massage table. After spending some time with her magic hands, a good feed and some rest I was keen for the third WoD. And it's  beauty: 

50 Double unders
40 Burpees (time taken here as WoD 3 results)
30 Toes to bar
20 Power snatches 35kg
10 Handstand push ups to abmat
5 Rope climbs 

We had around two hours until the next WoD: 21-15-9 45kg cleans and pull-ups. My training buddy Mel was right behind me on the lifting strip. It was intense but not long enough to be completely exhausting - that'll come later. You can see in the pic to the left that a the start of the 15s I'm first back to the bar but Heather from CrossFit Cromwell (red singlet) is only one rep behind. At the end she bet me by one second.

In the meantime the scaled divisions did their final WoD: 100 air squats, 50 bar hops, 40 burpees, 30 overhead plate sit-ups, 40 kettlebell swings, 50 calorie row, 100ft plate overhead walking lunge. Ow! Would definitely rather do the Rx, that scaled one will screw with your head! Danny G and Carly slogged through it bravely. 

I love competing. I suppose it's because I grew up with three brothers in a sporty family. Standing out there, waiting for the countdown for the final WoD, I'm in my happy place.

The Southern Crusade HQ

The first part went well, only one break with the double unders even though I had chosen to wear my lifting shoes. I got though the burpees with an even pace. With the toes to bar I took one at a time, steadily if not swiftly, and got onto one of my favourite movents, snatches. I stormed though, although was thinking at the time I need to learn how to do them touch and go.  As it is I drop the bar, then take more time than necessary steadying and re-gripping the bar for each rep. I could have done the handstand push ups better as I had almost as many no-reps for coming off the wall as good reps. More practice needed there. 

Rope climbs during

Rope climbs after

There's this 5kg bumper plate, the "Golden Plate" that is the prize fought for when CrossFit boxes from our part of the country meet up to compete. The winner is judged on each box's top three athletes' scores. As it turned out, there was a tie between CrossFit Gore and CrossFit Queenstown. Anissa from Gore and Olga from Queenstown were put forward by their teammates for a mystery tiebreaker. Glad I wasn't either of them when the tiebreaker was announced: two minutes airdyne for calories! Oh, the pain faces. Olga won out and Queenstown took home the golden plate. Wonder how long they can keep it? I'll be doing my best to make it short! Watch out next time, CrossFit Queenstown...

Spectators favourite was last of all: the rope climbs. They're a tricky thing in competition, even once you have the hang of how to do it. You need to be able to make the judgment call about how much to rest in between climbs. You need to take enough time so you can get all the way up the rope without overtaxing to failure and having to come down, but without wasting any time while your competitors are getting  on with it. I *think* I made good judgements about the rests in between. It seemed like such a long time, shaking out my arms, controlling my breathing and steeling up for the  jump to start climbing. Increasingly feeble jumps too, as my tank emptied and I pushed myself more than I ever have before to get to the top. While women around me scuttled up and down and the crowd screamed encouragement, the most important thing in the world was getting up that rope.  I did it, I got up there to touch the ceiling beam five times.  The last two were so slow, inching up mainly with my arms, as my core was blown and I couldn't lift my feet up high to get good distance with each pull on the rope. I finished third, six seconds behind Rebecca from CrossFit Dunedin and around forty seconds slower than Janine from Wild South who was in the first heat. 
I collapsed on the ground, then stumbled to the corner to lie down with Rebecca and gasp and groan.

Ever had that feeling where your arms are just so painful that you want to cut them off and throw them far away? That's how it feels. But I was also also elated, partly because it's over, but mostly because I've done something really hard and done it well alongside the best of them.

In a fitting end to a CrossFit competition, the Invercargill Medieval Club did a demonstration of actual sword fighting with actual swords in actual armour that they had actually made themselves. Cool as. 

Our Adam did us proud with his second place in the Rx guys. He's a relative newbie to CrossFit, but with a solid karate background, an intense, deliberate training program and the smartest head under pressure I know, he's one to watch. Tim from Dunedin won the mens' Rx and Daniel from Wild South came in third. 

Rebecca of Dunedin, Heather and Olga took first, second and third in my grade. They are all amazing athletes, who train hard and train smart. It is good to see womens' CrossFit in Otago and Southland with a high and continuously improving standard. In the scaled womens', Louise and Rachel from CrossFit Queenstown got first and third, with CrossFit Alexandra's Sonya in second. 

I would be lying if I said forth place didn't sting though. I had a sulk to myself for a couple of hours afterwards. But then I remembered that my mediocre result in the run, which dragged my overall score down, is a reflection of my decision to train in powerlifting. I knew when I started concentrating on the deadlift, squat and benchpress that my running wouldn't improve and possibly slow down. To be a good powerlifter and a good runner would take being a full-time athlete, and I'm not! In another competition, the WoDs may fall more in my favour. 

I'm proud of my mates at Remarkables. They got in there guts and all. It's heartening to compete alongside friends. Congratulations Wild South for hosting such a smooth-running, exciting event. Next the Open!

Click here to see a time-lapse of the event made by Wild South's Mr Tech, Doug. 

Were you there? What was you favourite thing to do or to watch? What was the hardest? Comment below!