Fitness

6 Years of the CrossFit Open

March 29, 2016 by Erica Giovinazzo Leave a comment

This was my 6th year participating in some capacity in the CrossFit Open, an event that’s held annually across the world in CrossFit boxes. Each year is a little different, and teaches me a different lesson.

  • 2011, I had been CrossFitting for about 3 months and had no idea what I was doing, but I loved every moment of it.
  • 2012, I was super competitive and did 7 minutes of burpees 2 days in a row to try to get a better score. I did. But… did I really need to do that?
  • 2013, I sadly tightened my wrist wraps to aggressively on 13.1 and had swelling in my forearm for the next couple weeks. Lesson learned.
  • 2014 was my first year as a BRICK coach in the Open! And while a bum shoulder kept me out, I still did 14.1 with one arm, and beat my 2011 score. And I was determined to just be the best coach I could for my BRICK athletes.
  • 2015, I was back to being super competitive and definitely cried a few times when I wasn’t happy with my performance. Haha. Oh the emotions.
  • 2016, I’m the new-ish GM of BRICK Los Angeles. So, this was the first time I could actually do the Open, but chose to just enjoy it with the members, and make sure they had the best experience of their lives.

Why am I saying all this? Because in fitness, we have to allow ourselves the ebb and flow of where our lives take us.

Just because you are a beginner doesn’t mean you will always be a beginner – Take the plunge. Live in the uncomfortable. Challenge yourself, push yourself, and you will see that you are made up of much more than you expected.

Just because you are an above-average athlete doesn’t mean you will always be one. Enjoy it. See how hard the competition can push you, but remember that just because someone else is better than you, doesn’t mean you worked any less. Push your own limits and forget what someone else’s are.

And just because you have been focusing on something else, doesn’t mean you can’t come back and crush. Just had a baby? Get back to fitness. Just got a promotion and have been working non-stop? Cool! Get back to fitness. Whether to you that means just making it to the gym every day, or going after it competitively… allow yourself the ebb and flow of your life, but never forget your fitness, and even more important, never forget to enjoy it.