ACO 2011 & Goals for 2012

So I have told myself several times in my head (and on this blog) that my pursuit of Crossfit is recreational, not competitive. But I am sitting here recovering from my All Cities Open 2011 hangover, just immodest enough to think that ACO might have been something that I could have tried this year.

I have never felt this way in the past and this change-of-heart has nothing to do with any sudden acceleration of athleticism or strength – to be honest, I have not seen at lot of progress. I personally have not changed… but I think that ACO has….

Clearly, ACO has grown to become a huge event, and CFDC has definitely honed their event-plannning skillz over the past 3 years; it’s a very well-organized, exciting all-day party, even for the casual observer (that I was).

Maybe it's just how I remember things, but in previous years, it seemed like most of the WODs that had been programmed for ACO were designed for a very specific type of athlete: the super-strong type.

This year however, the WODs seemed to be much more rounded out – they included a lot of everything, but you didn’t have to be a monster lifter to get your name on the board -- you just had to be terribly, freakishly fit (and if you happened to be a freakishly-fit-monster-lifter, then last Saturday was YOUR day at ACO).

Now, I am not saying that I could throw down with any of the competitors that I saw out there on Saturday; they were all amazing athletes that bring skills, strength, endurance and most importantly the “mental game” to Crossfit that I find truly amazing. But, when you look at the WODs, besides the HUGE volume of work that had to be done in a single day – there really wasn't a single event on Saturday's menu that would have been off-the-charts impossible to finish as a stand-alone WOD:

Event 1: Anaerobic Power

1 min max cals airdyne

2 min max meters burpee broad jump

No rest between movements

Event 2: Lactate Buffering

In 2 min: 1/2 gasser (track sideline to track sideline)

In remaining time, AMRAP deadlift (60kg men/45kg women)

1 min rest

In 2 min: 1/2 gasser, in remaining time, AMRAP front squat (60kg/45kg)

1 min rest

In 2 min: 1/2 gasser, in remaining time, AMRAP shoulder to overhead (60kg/45kg)

Event 3: Strength

In 2 min:

Take 5 stones from ground to over yoke as fast as possible (42 inch yoke)

Women: 42#, 73#, 93#, 116#, 142#

Men: 116#, 142#, 173#, 207#, 246#

Event 4: Aerobic Power

As fast as possible:

100 box jumps

80 KB swings (53#/35#)

60 pushups

40 pull ups

20 ground to overheads (60kg/45kg)

Event 5: Power

25m sled push AFAP, 3 attempts, rest as needed

...OK....Event 3 (Atlas Stones) would have been a public-humiliation ritual for me. But I could have at least gotten the first or second stones off of the ground.

...The 60Kg lifts in Event 2 would have been heavy for me.

...And Event 4 is just nasty.

But the point that I am making here is that the WODs did not require any high-tech movements – no double unders, no snatches, no muscle ups, and no one-rep max Oly lifts. Technically, the skill level of the work was very manageable for anyone, especially for anyone who has been doing Crossfit for a while.

If last Saturday’s event is a blueprint for future ACO’s....I'll say it: I would like to think that I might be tempted to allow myself to dream about maybe considering to participate some day.

For this monumental shift to occur, however, there would be several goals that would have to be met first…and since this blogpost is written just 2 days after ACO, in the final month of 2011, what better time could there be for setting a few Crossfit goals for 2012:

1) Get Double-unders: it’s about time. I can do single double-unders, I just can’t string them together yet.

2) Get Oly Lifts: I want to take the lifting seminar in January – I don’t expect to ever become a great Oly lifter – but I would like to improve my technique so that I can at least perform each of the standard lifts safely and somewhat efficiently

3) Get Mental Game: I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be on the field, standing there amongst the other competing athletes, in front of that big crowd, cameras, music – and I’ve never competed, ever, in a real athletic event. So I would have to find some way to overcome the temptation to turn off the lights and lock myself in the house on game day

4) Get Box Jumps: I got no rhythm

5) Get Endurance: uhuh

Endurance is actually the area that I feel like I have actually seen some progress. Last Friday there was a WOD that I would have DNF’d not so long ago:

5 sets, 4 minute running clock each set:

400m run @ 90%

20 burpees

walk rest in the time remaining

It’s common knowledge that I am not a runner, and I will loudly bitch to all that is holy every time a running WOD appears. AND burpees? The phrase “rest in the time remaining” was like a knife in my heart. With a 4 minute cutoff, “Time remaining”, my ass.

But I got through each round – I did not rest between burpees either, they were all unbroken. And even though I only had about 30 seconds of rest left before the next round started, I was able to keep up with the pack and kept a consistent pace for each round.

Granted, five rounds in 20 minutes is NOTHING compared with ACO's 5 WODs in the same day. And much of this blogpost is likely just the result of some motivational heroin that got transfused into my soul on Saturday while watching my friends compete.

But at the very least, the 5 goals listed above are "in stone" now, I’m committed, it’s a done deal.

Bring on 2012.