CrossFit isn’t known for easy workouts. Athletes are pushed to their physical limits every day, and the challenge is even greater on the path to the annual CrossFit Games.
“17.1 was one of the hardest workouts I’ve ever had to do mentally,” says sales rep Jake Buchholz. “Two days prior to the open announcement I was smack dab in the middle of a terrible cold/flu combo. Nothing but Theraflu, couch naps, snotty Kleenex, and the occasional chicken noodle soup. This was the first piece of exercise I had the pleasure to come back to…yay. I tried to just pretend like I wasn’t sick and visualized myself doing the workout as much as I could.”
Despite his illness, Jake completed Workout 17.1 with an impressive score of 16:17rx.
Dawn Hager, Pike13 Senior Onboarding Specialist and owner of Norco CrossFit in Colorado, hasn’t let her pregnancy slow her down. Using workout modifications from BirthFit, Dawn has powered through both workouts, and even completed 17.1 twice.
With the Open nearly half over, spirits are high among the Pike13 competitors. “The workouts are really hard, as expected,” says Jesse Goodnoe, Pike13 engineer and a first time competitor in the Open, “but it’s also been more fun than I expected.”
Now the athletes are looking ahead to the challenge that 17.3 will bring this weekend.
The CrossFit Open is the first qualifying round of the 2017 CrossFit Games and will run through March 27. Athletes compete in five workouts over five weeks, hoping to qualify for Regionals.
Recaps:
Announcement
Weeks 1 & 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5