Do Or Die. Period. Plain and Simple. We (Jeremy Thiel,
Michael Winchester, Travis Holly, Conner Moore, Carey Kepler, Jessica Estrada,
Ingrid Kantola, Jessica Stephens and myself, knew it…our athletes knew it.
#DoOrDie. This was OUR moto when training for the 2012 Reebok Crossfit Games.
This was the attitude, the behavior, our style we took on day in, day out; on
and off the blacktop. It was blood, sweat, and tears weekly, daily, hourly. You
have to have that attitude to compete at this level, without you are left
behind. We needed each other to survive and PR in some of the toughest training
my body has been through, Rudy with Outlaw Crossfit, and we did. I needed the
confidence, encouragement and passion my teammates had in me as well as the
sport of crossfit and I got it. The main part of our training was physical,
then I swear it became mental training. Both parts needed for the Games. Rudy
did us good. During our training and our performance, I hit PRs in darn near
everything I did, small to big…nailed them. Small victories lead to BIG
victories.
We arrived in Cali on Tuesday
July 10th. We all stayed together as a team. The casa had a perfect
set up for us to eat and hang out as a team. We spent hours upon hours in the
kitchen cooking, chatting, dancing…yes dancing (thank you Kris Kepler for your
AWESOME DJing skills, not everyone gets a DJ at breakfast)…Bonding. Wednesday was check in at the Marriott
followed by media interviews then a meeting at Crossfit SouthBay with Coach
Rudy to review some of the WODs/Movements that we were going to need, then
Affiliate Dinner/Social to reveal the unannounced 2nd WOD…the 1000#
BobSled. Thursday was HQ athlete
review, movement review with Coach Rudy, socializing with our sponsors, then
team dinner. Friday was Day 1 of the
Reebok Crossfit Games. 415m Run & BobSled in the AM….Front Squats and Fat
Bars in the PM. We excelled in the 415m Run... Carey, me, Jess, Travis, Jeremy
and Michael…no so much in the heavy heavy heavy bob sled. We pushed the sled
down, attached ropes and pulled the sled back. Communication was essential. I
could write “what ifs” all day regarding this event but the WOD is over and
there is nothing we could do about it. After the 5 hr Break (which was nice to
be able to see family/fans/athletes and recover in our 20,000ft athlete village
area that included food and body work). We were introduced to the fat bar. This
was interesting and threw an obstacle our way. The trick in this WOD was to
have as little transitions as possible. Travis was my partner in this and we
did a fantastic job at communicating during the WOD. We had too. Even though
this was our roughest WOD, It was after this WOD that it hit us. WE WERE AT THE
GAMES!!! It was our training, our support, our dedication that got us here. WE
WERE AT THE GAMES…WE HAD MADE IT, TOGETHER! #DoOrDie. Saturday was Day 2 of the Reebock Crossfit Games. We began the day
off being introduce to the Yolk…NOT the one we had practice on…a different one
which created a WHOLE new dynamic. Kicker…we didn’t get to practice on the yolk
till we lined up under it. I remember Jeremy behind me saying “slow and steady”
and Michael in front of me directing me informing me I needed to make it “in
the red”. After carrying the yolk 100yds we began WOD 6, Ground to Overhead
with Rope Climbs. Even with Carey being injured and the weight being way more
than body weight for Jess us girls got through all 30 Ground to overhead and
all 20 rope climbs. The guy then NAILED all their ground to overheads and made
it down the field. I think only 1 maybe 2 of the 50 teams finished that WOD.
After a few hour break we were back at athletes briefing for WODs 7 and 8…Bar
MU and The 30s. The weight was light in the 30s so no worries there…Bar
MUs…different story. With Carey injured I had to step up. Here is where the
mental training came in. When I got off that bar, my team was there and they
let me know how proud they were of me. This was #DoOrDie. We did a fantastic
job at that. We rushed over to begin our 30s. Jeremy, Michael, Travis, Me,
Carey, Jess. Even injured Carey pushed through her 30 unbroken overhead squats.
That is passion.
Unfortunately we didn’t make it to day 3. That was harder to
stomach than I ever imagined. We did go to the Home Depot Center on Sunday and
watch Day 3 with our team, our loved ones, our athletes and many other
fans/athletes who crave the sport of crossfit. It was these people who got us
where we were. It was the belief they had in us, it was the day in day out
support they offered us. It was what they tolerated during our “2nd
Job” aka “training” that helped get us to The Games. It was here that I found
out that a couple from crossfit central booked their Cali/Games Trip before
regionals because they KNEW we were going to be there. It was these actions
that got us there.
My vocabulary before the 2011 Games was, “I want to go to
the Games”. And I did that, I went to the games…as a spectator. It was during
one of the events at the track during the 2011 games, where I said, “I want to
be an ATHLETE in the 2012 games”, and on Day 1 we lined up for the first WOD of
the games on the EXACT spot I said those words. One of my goals I set with my
Director Megan, was, “To compete in the 2012 Games”. When I returned to the
“blacktop” and I was writing my WOD on the white board in my garage, at the top
it says “2012 GAMES BOUND”. It’s all over my vision book. My WOD log (given to
me by my unofficial mentor), page 1 is Jan.2nd, 2012 when I started
Oly Lifting with Zutfit and the last page is 7.17.12, the day I came home from
the games. When you put “it” out there, make sure you add every detail because
when it happens you want every detail to be a part of it.
What Now? Make my weaknesses my strengths…2013 Games
Bound…#DoOrDie Forever…
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