The Competition Series : 2020. First Competition Blog
Hello. I have decided to do a ‘Competition Series’ as I want 2020 to be all about competitive sport for me.
This blog will be about my most recent competition ‘Graft And Gravy’ at Crossfit Northern Soul. I have split it into paragraphs in case you are only interested in one part of the blog (as it is quite a lengthy one).
I am well aware that this competition isn’t an Olympic standard competition or a pro CrossFit comp, but I feel that throughout this blog, you may learn some things that you can implement with your own training.
Entering
It was 19th Nov. I was thinking about writing myself a training programme, which made me reflect on what it is I want to get out of training.
A friend of mine once said ‘Hannah you always train as if you are in the Olympics’ and this got me thinking. This isn’t me saying that I will be in the Olympics (hahahaha), but it got me thinking about competing.
I have always loved competitive sport. I used to love it at school! In fact, I actually got a concern slip and had my parents called in from school, because I accidentally threw my rounders bat in anger after being caught out. (It was one of those, where as soon as you hit it, you felt the good contact and knew you would be cockily taking a slow jog around the rounders posts, as you knew you had it in the bag). Hence, my anger at being caught out.
Anyway, back to 19th Nov. It was a daunting thought. The competition was an individual event. Also, being an external competitor, I was unsure of how good everyone else was going to be.
Furthermore, you have no idea what you will be doing. The workout was released on the day. I had thoughts such as What if I lose? What if everyone is better than me? What if I can’t do some of the exercises?
BEFORE I KNEW IT, I HAD CLICKED AND PAID TO ENTER. AS SOON AS I HAD PAID, IT WAS TIME TO GET TRAINING
Training
I decided that with my training, if I put 100% into my sessions and do all I can then I will be happy. Focussing on the ‘what if everyone is better than me’ wasn’t going to help me with training. Why worry about the things I couldn’t control?
Instead, I aimed to improve on my weak lifts. Between the 19th Nov and competition day (12th Jan), I improved my Clean from 45kg to 55kg. I also worked up to pbing on squats, bench press, push press and split jerk during this duration.
Training was going well, and I had a new focus to work towards. I was doing a mix of heavy lifts and CrossFit- style workouts that I wrote myself.
HOWEVER, I BECAME OBSESSED! I LEARNT A VERY IMPORTANT LESSON REGARDING THE IMPORTANCE OF REST DAYS
By training at such a high intensity and not allowing my body to recover, I came down with a stomach bug beginning of December.
AND IT WAS HORRIBLE. Imagine being sick 16 times in a day. I had to get a taxi from my house to the medical centre and the amount of times I had to get the driver to stop! (I must add- I did give him a 5 star uber rating though. Shout out to that poor driver).
This put a spanner in the works for my training. It took over two weeks to fully recover from it and I felt so weak and lethargic. My digestion was off so I felt bloated all the time. Not nice.
After I had recovered from the bug, I decided to continue to train as mentioned above, BUT WITH MORE REST DAYS.
The night before
Even when I was just playing for my local football team as a child, I would get nervous the night before a football match. ‘What if I don’t score’ ‘What if I play bad’.
I reminisced about this, whilst I was playing Lego Harry Potter on my Switch with my boyfriend the night before (what better way to relax before a competition eh?).
The self doubt started to creep in again. The thought even entered my mind not to bother, but then I quickly shook that off. The fear of the unknown is a peculiar feeling. It gets in your head. You tell yourself it is a bad thing. However, as soon as the self doubt kicked in, I kicked it out again. Playing mind games with my own mind. Work that one out.
Competition Day
I walked in, registered and awaited instructions for the first WOD (workout).
The first workout started with you lay flat on the floor before sprinting to the rower. As I was lay there waiting for the countdown to begin, I was taken back to when I was a kid playing football waiting for the referee to blow the whistle. All I thought at this point was just give it your all and have no regrets.
First wod: AMRAP 8 mins. 200m row, 1 length lunges, 10 alt single arm thrusters, 1 length lunges (10kg dumbbell).
After the first workout, I was on a massive high. I love that feeling. The worse feeling I can have is finishing a workout and thinking that I could have pushed myself more, but that’s why I gave it my all.
I then awaited the second wod. This one was 2 parts. 1. A max clean 2. AMRAP 4 mins of 10 deadlifts, 5 bar over burpees and 2 single arm devils press. This one was my favourite! I am one of few people who actually really enjoy burpees.
During my training, I utilised the psychology notion of imagery. Trying to imagine I was in the competition and lifting the weight so that I could replicate it on the day. I equalled my training PB for cleans, but these are something I NEED TO IMPROVE.
The third WOD was strongman style and this was the most daunting, but it was enjoyable. It was 90 secs of work each station, with 30 sec rest in between station. Firstly, were wall balls (I need to improve these). Then it was box over burpee, farmer carries (for laps). Then, overhead alt dumbbell lunge (I have issues with my left shoulder stability so I need to get on top of my rehab for this). Next up was 90 secs of atlas stones (I have never done these before so had no clue how I would do, but loved them!). Then 90 secs assault bike.
The final Wod was for time (time cap 9 mins), 20 ground to overhead, 18 knee raises, 16 goblet squat, 14 push press, 12 box overs, 10 hand release press ups (then back). I managed it in 4 mins 41 secs. I felt so accomplished when this was done as that was all of the WODS completed.
Aftermath
If I am honest, my initial reaction was to be disappointed at getting 3rd place (out of 16). Once I was there, I wanted to win. However, after taking time to reflect I am proud of how I did. It was the first competition I had done and it highlighted some of my weaknesses.
Unbeknown to me, Rachel (my twin) asked me a load of questions on the morning of the competition and one of my answers was this:
‘I need to just go with no expectations. I am actually quite proud that I have entered the competition in the first place. It is daunting’.
Sometimes, we can be our harshest critic and focus on the negatives e.g. I am so annoyed I didn’t win. However, I am happy with the month and a half of training that I did towards the competition.
What now
I loved competing so much that I have entered for my next competition. This time, I will be competing with my twin sister in a paired competition at the end of March. I am looking forward to continuing to have a focus to work towards in my training and also to do it with my twin. I will also be programming myself and my sister to try and give us a chance at doing the best we can.
I also want to compete as an individual again and so I am on the lookout for more competitions. Keep your eyes peeled for the next blog!
Final remarks
As a new gym-goer you may think that there is no way that I can be nervous during exercise, because ‘I am used to it’. WRONG!
This is an example of a time that I have felt nervous doing exercise. Just because you may not be doing a competition, doesn’t mean that these feelings of nerves are irrelevant. Perhaps, it is your first time trying the gym. My advice: if it feels scary or daunting, do it anyway because there is a lot of satisfaction that can arise from leaving your comfort zone.
Win that competition with yourself. You don’t need a competition to become competitive. Be competitive with yourself. Progress each week and review your progression.
Let me know if you enjoyed this blog. Send me an email @hannahburgonpt@gmail.com. Follow me on: Instagram @hannahburgon_pt. Facebook Hannah Burgon Personal Training