Competing in the Crossfit Asia Regionals in Seoul

I am not sure how I should start writing this blog post, because everything has happened in the past week was beyond overwhelming, with many highlights and special moments.

As some of you know, last week I went to Seoul South Korea to compete in the Reebok Crossfit Games Asia Regional 2012 with my team, Crossfit LifeSpark. Since there is SO much to say, I will break down this post into headlines/days (so you can always come back to read the rest =P). Also there is a link in the end to a photo album.

 

Preparation - Airport & Flight:

My teammates & I
Thanks for Adventure HQ for providing us
with UAE Flag buffs!

The last time and first time I ever traveled was 13 years ago. The simple action of packing, driving to the airport was an overwhelming experience. At 8:30pm, my mom dropped me and my sister to the airport and walked in with us to wish me and my team good luck. I almost cried, leaving what I've always known was scary. As we dealt with the procedures, it slowly started to hit me. I am really traveling for a competition.  

We still had about an hour before the flight aboard at 10:55pm, and it was a good time to catch one last meal before traveling.
As we reached the gates to the flight, there was a bit of a situation. One of our team members has been delayed at the airport due to visa issues. Therefore, one of our team members was left behind as we had to leave. Due to that, there were a few complications competition-wise due to the situation, which will be discussed below. 

As for the flight, it was a bit scary for me, the idea of being in the sky with no place to be "grounded" for 8 or so hours was just nerve wrecking, especially there was some turbulence. I couldn't catch on some sleep as I hoped I would, nor did I watch movies either. I would still NOT choose to travel unless necessary! 

DAY 1 - Landing, Hotel, Exploring Seoul: 

We landed in the Incheon International Airport at noon time. The day before we landed, I called the UAE Embassy in Korea just to inform them about what we're doing in Korea and ask them a few questions about Seoul. They were very friendly and immediately suggested they send us drivers. We had a driver waiting for us with my name tag (ow, I felt special!). They immediately welcomed us, and took our bags in a swift manner (I swear, they were like agents, swift and smooth and fast!). Three cars were waiting for us, we unloaded the bags in one car, the ladies left in one car, and the boys left in another car. 

Our driver was telling us about Seoul, the city, and out of no where he started playing Emirati music, and we couldn't help by smile/laugh. It was CUTE! 

Getting a mini workout at the Hangang park

After an hour drive, we reached our destination. We were staying at the Ritz Carlton hotel which was located in the business side of the city. As we went into the rooms to unload, one of our team members, Brian Sigafoos said he's going to explore the city. So myself, my sister, Tess, Yaseen went to explore Seoul on foot. We walked in the city, across the streets, down and uphill. People in Korea barely stared at us (even though we were very stare-able!), and the streets are usually busy with a lot of people walking on foot. There are plenty of hills and bridges, food stalls on the street that sell really greasy seafood stuff. One of the most interesting thing I found about Korea, is that in every corner, small park, there are exercise equipments (like the bench press, chest press, pull ups bars, and anything you could think of!).  In the end of the day, we went to a big park/river called the Hangang, a really huge and beautiful park. We spent about an hour there, playing around like in the picture above, before we walked back to the hotel as we reached around 7:30pm.

*PS: I will posting a video of us exploring Seoul soon....watch this space.

So, it was food time. Hm. 

Some people are aware that I am very picky with food, and I am intolerant to many others. Such combination didn't work to my advantage in Korea. Beyond that fact there is no halal meat/chicken in Seoul for the most part - eating food was a struggle for me the whole week.

So having not eaten all day (and walking for four hours), as you can imagine...got me starving. However, the team couldn't find food that is suitable for me and for everybody else at the same time. Brian was nice enough walk me through the city and find me some prawns. I had two plates of that, each cooked differently. All I knew at that point, I needed to eat!

 

DAY 2 - Unfortunate News & Registration: 

On the 2nd day of my stay in Korea, I got a couple of unfortunate news.

Before I went to Korea, I have spoken to the management of Ritz Carlton to explain to them the situation of requiring halal meat. Luckily, they were very helpful and friendly and said they will provide the food as I request in advance. 

When I woke up the next morning to go to the breakfast buffet, I found out that they didn't really understand what "halal food" meant, and thought it is a type of food, rather than "meat butchered in an Islamic way." All I can say, the hotel has been great in trying to accommodate us, but the language barrier (very common in Korea), resulted in miscommunication.

Luckily enough, I grabbed some cans of tuna, avocado and coconut milk from home and they kept me somewhat sane leading up to the competition day, as post-competition diet didn't really matter (I ended up living on bread the rest of the week!)

Also, as I mentioned earlier, one of our team members was delayed at the airport. We then later found out the only time the member can join us was the night of the first day of the competition is over. So, we had to double-check with the director of the Asia Region if that could possibly effect us to compete. 

We are originally six members, one of our team members was delayed, and the other member reached on Thursday afternoon as planned. We went for the early registration on Thursday afternoon to the venue, which was in the Peace Institute at the kyunghee University.

Due to the technicality our team member faced and couldn't make it on time for registration on the first day of the competition, Friday morning, the Asia director said we could compete, however, unfortunately we weren't "officially" competing.  In other words, we wouldn't given a score/rank. However, we got media coverage during the competition nonetheless.

There is nothing we could do about the situation, but the fact we were allowed to compete on its own had to be good enough. The whole situation from being qualified, to finding sponsors, to travel arrangements, and making it there had been a roller coaster, but thank God, despite all the lows, there was light in the end of the tunnel on each situation. That's all that mattered to me.

DAY 3 - Competition Day:

This was it. This day has been the day that I've been training the past 5 months for. The day I put my body through hell for. The day that, well, I cried many times, not knowing whether I will make it or not. 

But here it was. The 4th of May. Regionals day.

I woke up at 5am (12am UAE time) to get ready. As an organized freak, I prepared my clothes, gym bag, food, all the night before. I didn't want to worry about anything. It was then 6am and the whole team met in front of our rooms to walk to the Gangnam bus station, which was about 15 minutes walk from the hotel.  

It took us about an hour to reach the institute where the competition was taking place. So we went to the warm up area, and many crossfitters from all over the world where present. Some you'd recognize their faces as  they have been featured in the Crossfit Games website. I got to meet Feng Yi Chew, who came out first in the Crossfit Games Open in Asia (1st stage of the competition).

Some people approached me to take pictures, and the person behind the twitter handle @CFGAsiaRegion to tweet the news of me making it to regionals and being the first Emirati to do so.  

As we were warming up, they announced the plan for the day. The first heat of the day included us, among two other teams. The competition kicked off at 10am sharp (they were very specific on time!).

My whole being was nervous, excited, just want to jump out of happiness and I kept telling myself (somewhat in denial still), "This is real! Is this real?!" It was VERY real.

The team and I spent about 2 weeks trying to learn the movements of the first event. The workout went like this: 

20 partner deadlift (455lbs)

20 handstand pushups

20 partner deadlift (315lbs)

20 handstand pushups

^ minimum requirement to move to the next workout.

20 handstand pushups

20 partner deadlift (455lbs)

20 handstand pushups

20 partner deadlift. (315lbs)

Here's a video of the competition that I put together:

Here's the summary video by the Crossfit Games website where they took a shot of me failing HSPU (haha!):

Handstand pushups seemed to pose a challenge to many athletes that day as the wall was set up too high, and our hips didn't have something to lean on. 

As for our team, I couldn't be any prouder of everyone's efforts. Before training for regionals, two of our members (myself too) never done a handstand push up before. Tess and I both had a new personal record which we achieved DURING the competition itself. It couldn't get any better than this. Although we didn't meet the minimum requirement to advance, we did an awesome job for ourselves, and we worked very hard. 

As for myself, five months ago I had a goal. My goal was simple. Make it to Regionals and be able to start a workout. Even if if I just get the chance to lift a bar once, I would've been happy. If anything, I have exceeded my expectations. I lifted the bar 20 TIMES & did a total of 5 HANDSTAND PUSH UPS, when I couldn't get one in a whole day! 

The whole experience has been just amazing, rewarding, and humbling. Seeing all of these athletes neck and neck, their strength despite their sizes, their beautiful technique, and hard work, was just beyond inspiring.

For that, I plan to continue my training in Crossfit and hopefully make it to regionals next year as an individual. I may never earn the title "Fittest woman in Asia", and that's fine. For me, by just taking part on its own is something that makes me happy and satisfied. And maybe, just maybe, my calling is to encourage other women in a similar situation like myself to come out. I don't know what it is, but each day I am loving sport more and more - and know, in my heart, it's where I belong. 

& big thanks to my sister Sara, who came with me this week to show support and take pictures of the team and competition. She was great emotional support during the whole week.  I couldn't have kept it together without her.

DAY 4 & 5 - Spectating & Interview

During the last two days of the competition, we were spectating the event and cheering for our coach, Candice Howe, who was competing as an individual for the second year. The competition is definitely a lot of harder than it was last year, the workouts, the athletes are all top notch.

In the morning of the final day of the competition, I was approached by Mike Mogard, an athlete who was competing, who wanted to do a short interview with me and do a photo shoot to upload it on his website once it's up and running (will post when it's up!). The gist of the interview was to encourage women in Brunei to start a healthy lifestyle and exercise.

In the end of the day, I was also approached by a number of people, some from the US military, and other athletes who said they were happy to see me come all the way to Seoul to compete and take part. They really respect what I do, and hope to see me competing next year. I just couldn't help but have a big cheeky smile on my face. I was overwhelmed with the positive comments and support.

In the end of the day, all the winners were announced, and Candice ranked 2nd.

Lotte World

My sister and I in our last night in Seoul, decided to go Lotte World, an amusement park with games (indoors and outdoors) and a big ice rink and may other activities. I personally am not a FAN of playing scary games (none were really, but I am a scaredy cat, while my sister is very adventurous). We spent a good couple of hours walking around, playing some rides, and we had plenty of fun. We were both dead tired in the end of the night.

As we went back to the hotel, I started packing, as again, I didn't want to worry too much in the morning as we had a flight to catch!

DAY 6 - Heading back to the UAE! 

Waking up in the morning, I realized wow...a whole week of madness and fun has passed, and it has passed really fast. As we got ready to leave at 10:30am, we left the hotel by a taxi bus going back to the airport. By 1:55 pm our plane starting to aboard. The flight was really long, and very uncomfortable with a lot of turbulence. I couldn't really sleep, so I watched all kind of movies, shows, and listened to music to let the 8-9 hour flight pass by, but each minute felt like forever. 

I had some spicy noodles in the airplane as that's the only thing I could've eaten. A lot of the food they served was not halal/had alcohol in it. The smell of beer/alcohol really makes me feel sick, dizzy, and gives me a headache.  So that was very uncomfortable for me. 

As I stared at the time, it was finally close to landing on UAE ground. I couldn't be any happier to be back home. I literally shouted in the plane "Yeeey! I am back home!" This is how excited I was to finally be back to where everything is known to me.

FINAL WORDS

There is really a lot to say, a lot that I probably have forgotten to mention, but this week has been in one word, overwhelming. Everything from experiencing travel for the first time in 13 years, and staying in another country other than my home, and to take part in an international competition has just been an emotional time for me.

It feels like everything just happened too fast, flew in front of my eyes, and is already a distant memory, but it's a memory that I will never forget. It's just the beginning for something bigger, a bigger test, more failures and successes in the future. And you know what? I cannot wait for the challenge. Just BRING. IT. ON!

Before I conclude this very very very long post, I have to thank Sultan Al Darmaki and his business partner for being our main sponsor who helped facilitate for my team and I go to Seoul South Korea for the competition, without them we couldn't have gone, at all. Also thanks to Adventure HQ for giving us UAE flag buffs that came in very handy as we wore them throughout the city. Finally, thanks for Reebok Middle East who provided us with track suits, shirts, and the awesome new Reebok Crossfit shoes. 

 

To see more pictures of my time in Seoul, visit my Facebook page HERE.
Yours truly,

 

Updates: sponsorship, going to regionals, and gymnastics certification

This month has been crazy.


Finding out that I can compete in the Reebok Crossfit Asia Regionals in Korea came as a big surprise to me. I had all kind of emotions swimming in my head - from happy, to nervous, to excited, to being worried. 

Seeking Sponsors: 

The moment I found out I qualified, the first thing I did was look for sponsors for my team and I. Being I made history of competing in this international event, I thought finding sponsors won't be so hard.

Dead wrong.

My experience with finding sponsors was really disheartening. I got plenty of no's, plenty of rejections, plenty of lack of belief in what I do. Just last week, I pretty much threw my hands in the air in defeat. Time has run out for my team and I to make any arrangements (as many of us are full-time employees).

I had given up.

Only soon after, a lovely gentleman who wished to remain anonymous heard of what I am doing and teamed up with his partner, Sultan Saeed Al Darmaki to support me and my team to go to regionals. They understood the value of empowering an Emirati woman who is active in sports and highlight the UAE on an international stage. They are not only supporting my individual dreams, but they're helping me raise the UAE flag internationally.

These two gentlemen have given me hope and they took a huge load off my shoulder because they believed in me. I cannot thank them enough for their support and making my dream come true. We will make you proud!

HERE is an article Sultan wrote about us, please read it!

Going to Regionals:

So the preparation for traveling to Korea has begun. Flights are booked, accommodation is being sorted out - and I will be hoping on airplane (for the first time in 13 years) next week on the 1st of May.  Our departure will be at 10:55pm.

I think I am more nervous about being in a plane for 8.5 hours than competing (haha!), but it should be an interesting experience. Well, Crossfit does prepare you for the unknown! 

My team and I are currently preparing for the competition and what will be thrown at us. The workouts were announced on Thursday last week. You can see the hell we'll go through HERE.

The competition dates are from 4-6 of May, and I believe it will be aired on ESPN. More details to come soon.


So who's my team?

- Tessa Richardson
- Lorraine Muzadzi
- Brian Sigafoos
- Yaseen Kafafi
- Ben Ford (our coach!)

Last week, we got a two-page spread coverage in sport 360. Click here to read a snippet from the article.

Gymnastics Course and Certification: 

This weekened, 20-21 of April, the first EVER Crossfit trainer course took place in the Middle East, which took place at Reebok Crossfit LifeSpark in Dubai.

 

The course was the crossfit gymnastics trainer course, which delved into beginner, intermediate and advanced gymnastics movements. The course was delivered by Dusty Hyland, who has extensive knowledge in gymnastics, in form of a lecture on a specific topic followed by a practical session.

We learned everything from how to warm up, to floor work, to ring work, to bar work, handstands, how to spot, and how to scale movement progressions. 

I learned a lot more about gymnastics and how gymnastics actually has tremendous benefits to other sports, medline stability, and strength. 

I had quite a few highlights during the course - I got my FIRST FULL ROM HANDSTAND PUSH UP during the second day, and I got the chance to do a MUSCLE-UP!

By the end of the course, we were awarded certificates for successfully attending the course. 

So I am officially a certified gymnastics trainer!
Never thought my first certification would be in gymnastics!
Life is weird, eh!

Group who attended the course
with Dusty (left with a green shirt)

It has been truly a crazy month.

My Experience: CoreFit Games

I love competing. It's not like training - not close at all. There is a sense of adrenaline rush. Shaking off your fears and being your best. The crowd shouting your name in encouragement...and most of all, for me, it's breaking down some misconceptions. 

The competition, Corefit Games, was organised by Core Direction during the Good Health Gulf between 6-7 of April. I would say it was one of the best and well-organised local competition that I have been part of so far.

During the competition, a woman approached me and said: "A lot of people probably don't think you're strong because of your size, don't they?"

I replied saying "yes", with a smile.

There is nothing wrong with misconceptions, and to be honest - it's fun dispelling some of these misconception along my journey as an athlete. 

So what went down during the competition? Here's a short video! 

The first workout was a little devil - tough, required capacity, and some serious muscle endurance. The hardest part of the workout was simple - push ups. But I had to keep pushing through!

As for the second workout - I had two choices: 1) Do the workout as given, or 2) a scaled version (i.e. lesser weight load). The 40kgs is fairly heavy for someone my size and getting 10 reps and finish 3 rounds would've been tough.

However, I went there to compete, to show what I am made of, to push my body beyond what I think are my limits. I knew I have a 40kgs power clean. I've done it many times - just not the same repetition range. For me, in this workout, I knew I wouldn't score high enough, but I had to GO BIG or go home. I chose to go BIG.

I literally had to get 1 repetition at a time. I had a few misses, but to have done 10 power cleans with 40kgs was baffling to me - not only that, I finished one round and on top of that, I got 4 MORE power cleans (my 1RM is 45kgs). When the time cap was up - I was amazed by how well I did. Sometimes, in sport, you end up not surprising others, but yourself - and nothing feels better than that sense of achievement.

In the end of the day... I may not be the best out there, strongest, or fittest - but I have the heart and passion to be the best I can be for me, and I am strong for me. Not because of where I am from, what I wear, or my skin color - it's simple, because in the end, it's just Me vs. the Barbell.

For the full photo album, click HERE. 

Yours Truly,

Week 5: Final Week of the CrossFit Games Open 12.5

This was it. This was the final workout about to be announced for the CrossFit Games Open 2012. When I saw the workout at 5am in the morning, I had a sigh of relief (while many worldwide were unhappy). Why? It's exactly like last year's 11.6 workout.

Although I didn't participate last year in the Open, because I did not know anything about CrossFit back then. When I decided to compete in Crossfit five months ago, my coach and I revisited last year's open workouts to see where I would've stacked up and what I need to work on. 

The Workout 12.5:

It's a reverse FRAN! AMRAP 7
Weight: Men = 45kgs, Women = 30kgs

 Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes following the rep scheme of:
30kgs thrusters, 3 reps
chest to bar pull-up, 3 reps

30kgs thurster, 6 reps
6 reps of chest to bar pull-up
30kgs thrusters, 9 reps
9 reps of chest to bar pull-up

 ...etc until the 7 minute is up!

My Experience and Workout score:

Just three months ago I did the exact same workout. I recall how hard it has been, but because I had done the workout before, for once I had a realistic expectation what I can achieve. Back then, 30kgs way beyond heavy, I did not know what a chest-to-bar pull up was!

So when I did the workout in the end of November 2011, my total reps was: 23 (meaning I finished my 6 and was 3 reps into my 9).

So how did I score in just a 3 months period? DOUBLE THE REPS! 


My score: 45 repetitions (meaning I entered my 12 rep range by 9 reps, which came as a shock actually!)


So I decided to do the workout again, because I had a feeling I can get at least 5 extra repetitions. However, I got the exact repetitions in both attempts. It really only confirmed how well I am actually doing, despite not having recovered 100% when I re-tried it!



My Regional and International score: 


Score WOD #5: 51st!!!!!!!!! I rocked it, and was within the top 60 women in this workout!
International score of #5: among the 8000 women competing WORLDWIDE! 

Overall regional score: 77th! During the first 4 weeks, I was scoring an average of 80-90 points which left me with 92 points, but after the final workout, I did so well, I ranked 77th in the whole of ASIA out of 170 women who registered to compete!

Final Words: 

The past 5 weeks have been an incredible journey. I have learned a lot about myself, my capability both physically and mentally. There were very low moments for me in this competition. especially because I didn't meet my initial goal of making it top 60. However, I learned many good lessons taking part in my first ever competition, and an international one.  The most important thing is...your attitude toward everything makes all the difference. Literally! Also, never forget to have fun! Ever!

To a point, I have accepted the fact I won't go to korea to compete in regionals this year....I made peace with how things turned out, but all the sudden, I realized that in my final workout I have contributed to a team score, which I have been taking part of! It meant one thing...I CAN GO TO REGIONALS, in a TEAM!

So, I am currently doing everything in my physical ability to help me and my team, CrossFit LifeSpark Dubai to make it to Korea Regionals (May 4-6). We currently rank 3rd in the Asia region! So I am seeking sponsors and all the local support I can get! Find out more HERE.  

Please spread the word!

Yours Truly, 

Looking for Sponsors: CrossFit Regionals

Now that the CrossFit Games Open are over,  I have found out that I have actually have a shot to make it to the second stage! note: detailed blogpost on week 5 to follow in a few days.

Here is a quick preview of the competition in a previous blog post HERE:

What are the CrossFit Games Open & Regionals? 

The Open is a five week long worldwide competition which includes anything from Olympic weightifting, to gymnastics, to kettlebell training and a variety of skills. Each week, one workout is announced which we have to complete. Regionals? Through the open, the top 60 women, top 60 men, and 30 teams with the highest score in their REGION, will move to stage two, and for us the regionals will take place in KOREA. 

Who Am I? 

I am a 22-year-old Emirati, who is the first Emirati and GCC national female to take part in this worldwide competition, the Crossfit Games Open.

How am I eligible to compete in the second stage?

I was competing as an individual during the 5-week long competition and scored 77th in ASIA. However, I was also contributing to a team score. In the final week, my score was good enough to land me a spot in the top 3 women in our team, CrossFit LifeSpark Dubai.

 

What's next? The competition details:

Date: 4-6 May

Location: South Korea

What Am I looking for? 

Someone to help me and my team to get to regionals through sponsorship of travel costs.

How much do we need? 

Flights: 30,000AED

Accommodation: 20,000AED

Get in touch:

E-mail: info@999fitness.ae 

Our time is running out....any support you can give would make a difference!

Week 4: Crossfit Games Open 12.4

Leading up to the fourth week of the competition, I had a bit of a hiccup. My lower back was quite sore - beyond the typical 2 day soreness - and my worry was if something heavy will come up and make my lower back condition worse. 

Surprisingly, nothing heavy have come up in the fourth workout, but it worked my lower back beyond my liking nonetheless.

The Workout 12.4

AMRAP 12:

150 Wall Balls (M=9kgs, W=6kg)
90 Double Unders
30 Muscle Ups

This was the workout that separated the men from the boys. As far as I am concerned, ladies are always ladies. Call me sexist! 

My Experience and Workout Score:

When I first found out what the workout is, my expectation, as in usual, was beyond high! I expected to finish 240 reps (150 wall balls + 90 double-unders). I knew I could do both movements physically. I worked very hard to get double unders in the past 8 months, and I was SO excited they finally come up. 

But the surprise came with how HARD it was doing 150 wall balls with 6kgs when my lower back was not 100%. Wall Balls require you to use your whole body, you squat below parallel, and throw the ball, and catch it back down into a squat. Everyone else were talking about how fried their legs were....not me, it was my back. [Note to self: Don't work up to a 5RM max deadlift during a competition! Hey I got a new personal best of 85kgx5...anyway, not the point!]

In fact, only the top athletes were able to finish 240+ reps, and no woman was able to finish more than one round.

Knowing how the condition of my back was, I knew my performance wasn't the best. So I attempted the WOD twice:

Score 1: 100 reps

Score 2:  112 reps

Truth be told, my back was still not 100% in the second attempt, but I managed to get 12 more reps. I literally after getting 70 reps as I reckon, did each rep as a single as it reduced the pressure on my lower back. But the second score made a difference in my final score, so it was SO worth it. 

Regional Score: 

Score WOD #4: 88th

Total score: 92nd (got a better placing than the last 2 weeks!)

You can check my full athlete profile and scores HERE.

Final Words:

I would say the only thing that was disappointing for me in this WOD is that I didn't get the chance to show off my double-unders and get a good score in it, especially because I worked for 8 months to get them! That's almost a year! Although my score may be average in this workout, I know I pushed hard enough given the condition of my lower back, which is slowly getting better now with deep tissue work, icing, and resting. 

By now, I can safely say this year I will not be able to make it to top 60 and go to regionals, which is the 2nd stage of the competition. However, I have to admit that I did myself proud in the past 4-5 months with my hard work and dedication...and the blood, sweat, and tears that I threw on the floor (yes, all 3 apply), and some bruises! Don't mean to scare ya!

So tomorrow we'll find out the last and final workout for the Open competition, I am quite saddened by the fact it's ending and I will miss the anticipation of it. However, there will be a lot more local competitions that will take place locally, so I will be taking part indeed. 

Lets see what's the final workout going to bring!

Week 3: CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.3

Three weeks down into the competition, and it ain't getting easier. It's getting heavier and more technical as expected.

As I awaited the workout on Thursday morning... I had a sense of relief when I found out what it is because I know I physically could do it and high expectation about what I want to achieve...So what was the WOD?

The Workout 12.3 

A 18 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of:

15 box jumps (M=24inches, F=20inches)

12 push press (M=52kgs, F=34kgs)
9 toes to bar 

My Experience and Workout score:

I knew this is the kind of workout that I needed to give it my all and my best at one go. In my mind, I had one shot and one shot ONLY. Why? It's a long workout to begin with, and doing heavy push presses within a 4-day period again would be nuts (I am still not fully recovered 100% from the workout! haha)

Also, only recently I established that my maximum push press is 40kgs, and 34kgs is not very far off. So as I got ready to do the WOD and hearing 3, 2, 1...GO! I took on the box jumps, and as I moved into the push presses... I pushed the weight with all my might the first round...but I knew as I started the push presses that they will slow me down, but I was surprised by how much. 

I think in this workout, the tough part was not mental, but it was purely physical - and not in the sense I was gassed out or kept stopping, but I was limited strength-wise in terms of I started failing in some of the reps and the fact I did a few press-outs fatigued my muscles further. 

So, what was my score? 3 rounds + 15 box jumps = 123 total repetitions. 

Regional and International Score:

  

Regional Score (WOD 3): 83rd out of 170 women

Total regional score (WOD 1+2+3): still standing 93rd in the region. 

International score (WOD 3): Among the top 13,000 out of at least 20 thousand women.

Total International score (WOD 1+2+3): Also among the top 13,000.

Final Words: 

I don't doubt for a second that on Thursday, I gave the workout my all.

But the tough part about taking part of a competition, I learned, is that no matter how good you are, compared to yourself, there is always someone who is better than you, and your best may be not "enough" on a scoreboard. However, in the end of the day what matters is how far YOU have come. How far YOU have achieved. How far YOU pushed to get to where you are today. 

Really, putting 34kgs 36 times over my head is PRETTY damn impressive and I am very content with how I did for ME. 

Four months ago, my coach and I were worried whether I will be able to do the workouts RxD (as perscribed) meaning without scaling things down to make it eaiser. And so far, I've done each workout RxD and it got me to be part of the top 95 people competing in ASIA.

Yes, the likelihood of me making it top 60 in the region this year may not be possibility due to nature of the workouts, number of people taking part, my strength levels...and I only had four months training! But imagine where I will be after one year of crossfit training under my belt? Yup. A small beast.

& here is a short video I want to leave you all with to show my progress. Four months ago I couldn't put 10kgs overhead, now I can and squat 40kgs!