Ok, I know I have LOTS to catch up on—mainly my spring break trip to Seattle!—but I had a big Biochem exam for my off-campus class today so it will have to wait a little bit! Sidenote: cramming for a major test on the first day of classes for the quarter is awful.

Before I get into all those shenanigans, I wanted to talk about the Open one more time (this year) while it’s still fresh in my mind (and in my legs….).

So. 16.5. I was SO sure it was going to be some combo of box jumps and thrusters. But alas. I was in Seattle during the time both my gyms were doing the workout, and looked into doing it there, but the days/times didn’t work out so I had the pleasure of doing it on my own this morning.

16.5 was a repeat of 14.5 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 thrusters (65# for women) and bar facing (over the bar) burpees.

I remember 14.5. I remember it well. I remember it as the worst workout I’ve ever done. So I wasn’t terribly looking forward to 16.5 See recap of 14.5 here. Note, in that post I said that it was something I was never doing again. Oh, how things change.

Also funny, apparently I did this workout 2 years ago to the day, as timehop reminded me.

I had a feeling my burpees had gotten better, and wasn’t really sure what to make of the thrusters. My goal was to a) survive and b) beat my time from last year. Given you are all reading this post, yay! I accomplished goal a!

But I also did accomplish goal b. Like, wow. I beat my time by about 4:30, which is insane! I finished in 19:16. And the biggest thing? It was awful and hard and painful, but it no longer felt like the worst workout I’ve ever done.

So everyone, Crossfit actually works! Yay!

Seriously though. In 14.5, I remember it being a big decision to Rx because 65# was super heavy for a thruster, something I never did anywhere near that heavy in a workout. And the burpees knocked. me. out.

Honestly, the biggest difference was in how the burpees felt. Instead of death, they actually felt like a little bit of a recovery. Who knew?

The soreness is starting to set it. It’s funny, I didn’t feel sore or tired in the legs most of the day until after class when my right quad felt a little painful. Then biking back up the hill, I realized that the pain in my quads was rendering uphill movement impossible. My legs may be damaged. Will update on that.

Actually, another big improvement was from 15.5. This time last year, my stomach was flaring pretty badly. I had to do the workout scaled because I was sick, and I honestly didn’t think I was even going to be able to do it at all until 5 minutes before my heat started because I felt like I was so nauseous. While I’m definitely not 100% or normal, remembering how far I’ve come with this illness is important.

Here’s an overall recap of the open. See 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, and 16.4.

This was the first year I actually signed up and did all the workouts. I missed 1 or 2 in previous years. I got into it the past couple of years, but got REALLY into it this year. It was a blast. I counted down the hours until the live announcement Thursday nights, and looked forward to each and every workout (ok, maybe not 16.5). Additionally, in each and every workout, I showed myself I could do something I wasn’t capable of. That’s really what the Open is about.

And again, I was reminded by how fantastic the Crossfit community really is. I loved the camaraderie of going in and complaining/strategizing. I loved the giant burgers afterwards. I loved visiting my home Crossfit and being reintroduced to the community there. I know I’ve said it time and time again, but I’ve found my place, my people. And I know that wherever the next few years take me, that Crossfit will be there.