Every year, CrossFit HQ organizes the CrossFit Open, where individual affiliates can participate in a worldwide competition for entrance into the CrossFit Games. Any CrossFit athlete can register and log their scores to see how they stack up — and potentially win a spot in the regional competitions.
And I have no chance, not one in hell, of making it to regionals. I’m stronger and faster than last year, sure, but I’m 37 for good gravy’s sake, and I’m still a lightweight when it comes to all the lifts.
So why bother? Why would I spend $20 to log some pitifully mediocre scores? Why would I care about coming in, like, 5,000th place out of 10,000? Why — when there’s certain to be some muscle-ups in one of the later workouts — would I want to break my own heart like that?
Because I love it. I love the anticipation of the secret WODs; the excitement of their announcement. I love the added camaraderie that my CF community experiences as we suffer — coaches and athletes alike — through having our movements judged and counted (and no-repped). The open puts our attention back to the standards in a very useful way; there’s no flubbing that wall ball shot for ANYONE.
The open is a time to re-charge our passion for working as hard as we can, for going all out, for leaving it all on the floor.
I also love it. My goal is always to finish in the top half. It depends a lot on the WODs. But as long as there is no burpee only WOD I should be okay…