21.2 was a repeat of 17.1 – which I totally called! I actually posted my guess on Facebook, so my fellow CrossFitters got to have a little awe at my ability to get into Dave Castro’s head. Well, I guess I’ll only be in his head if I can nail 21.3, but I don’t have high hopes for that.
17.1 just made sense to my brain, because after doing a new movement (wall walks) and a movement we usually do with toes to bar (double unders), it made sense that we’d do burpees and something with dumbbells. 17.1 has increasing sets of dumbbell snatches alternating with steady sets of burpee box jump overs. For whatever reason, it made perfect sense to have that follow 21.1.
I did 17.1 back in 2017 twice, and once in 2019 when it came up during our regular workouts. Scaled all three times, because box jumps are not my friend and a 35 pound dumbbell would be a very heavy snatch for me. The scaled workout allows for box step overs and women use a 20 pound dumbbell. That’s very doable for me. However, the 20 minute time cap is tight for me because my burpees are very slow.
They were faster in 2019, when I finally managed to finish under the time cap.
In 2021, I was slower.
Rather to be expected after 2020. In 2018 and 2019, I was going to CrossFit 20+ times a month. I did NOT do anywhere near that in 2020. I mean, I did more running in 2020, but overall, my fitness declined. Plus, I’m on a new simplified diet, which often leaves me feeling hungry or odd.
Oh, and, well, I did the workout on a Friday night. The day after running 4 miles, and I had gotten up at 4:30 in the morning on Friday to run 4 miles. My legs may have been a wee bit tired.
But I didn’t want to go on Sunday again. I was not comfortable when I showed up and the place was pretty much a maskless madhouse. I didn’t get as many reps as I had even in 2017, and I don’t even know for sure what my tie break time was because my judge recorded every tie break time except the last one – which was the one I actually needed.
The workout is painful, even when you don’t finish all the reps. My low back especially gets affected by all those dumbbell snatches.
I’m not as fit as I was two years ago, even though I weigh less. The Open gives me the chance to do these comparisons, to look honestly at myself and my level of fitness, and to make future choices based on what I want my future scores to look like. I’m going to be working on those burpees, which is something that I can do from home. And maybe I’ll look into getting a dumbbell of my own for home, but then I’d have to pick a weight. 20 pounds would probably be what I’d pick for general use, but if I want to work up to Rx weights, that’s generally 35 pounds for women.
But right now, at this moment in time, I’m not focused so much on fitness and performance. I’m currently working really hard on getting my gut in line. My current diet is what I called ‘simplified’ and it isn’t the most exciting. I’m eating a small number of foods, prepared in simple ways like steaming. So far, that’s working to reduce pain and bloating, but my energy levels aren’t super high. It’s still a work in progress.
The open is short this year, with only 3 weeks of workouts. That means next week is the last. I’m looking forward to the next challenge, which I anticipate will involve a barbell and a pull up bar. Maybe some hang cleans with chest to bar pull ups. Oh, or toes to bar!