Well, it was another incredible weekend surrounded by some amazing athletes, screaming fans and an epic competition. I have had the opportunity to be witness Regionals since 2009 where a winning Jackie time was 6:19 by Jeremy Meredith and a 235lb clean and jerk was considered a solid lift. Fast forward to 2014 and the top athletes now have a Jackie time just over 5 minutes and are hang snatching 235 as opening weights! Not only has the individual competition gotten way more intence, but the team competition is not what it once was. Back in 2010, you could strategize to have an athlete that specialized in gymnastics, one in lifting, and one well rounded. With that, you could break up the work so that your best suited athlete could crush each WOD. You could have your gymnastics specialist do the pull-ups in a WOD while your stronger athletes could tackle the heavy weights. It was okay to have a whole because you had other athletes on your team that could fill them. Fast forward to 2014...this is no longer the case. The teams are now required to have six athletes that can do everything - there is no where to hide. All men and women are expected to be strong fit and highly skilled.
I went to Vancouver this year as a spectator and coach for Jason. It was a different experience but one I enjoyed very much. I was able to rally take it all in. From the venue to the events to the athletes. I was able to observe how everyone deals with the stress of competition and how they mentally prepare to attack the WODs. It was facinating to watch and to see how much mental preparadness and confidence comes into play. To get here, all the athletes are fit and strong, the true test comes in putting it all together. Can you perform when you have a sold out venue, media cameras in your face, with different equipment and a lot of nerves?
On the team side, we had a solid first WOD finishing in 8th. Then the athletes moved on to the snatch event. All the athletes had hit very competetive numbers in practice and it should have been a great WOD for the team, but unfortunatley, 1 snatch was missed and 1 was called a 'no rep'. Standards were tough and each athlete only had 2 chances to lift along with the whole team having a time cap. That can be a very stressful situation. We took a 28th on that one, which hurt. With only 2 minutes to pull themselves together they attacked the handwalking WOD with fight. They ended up with huge PR's - I think each one of them went further than they ever had before. That takes a lot of determination coming off the heels of the last work out. They ended up finishing mid-pack with that one. They rallied together and didn't give up and they fought hard for the rest of the weekend. They fought their way back up to a 15th place finish! This was a first trip for 3 athletes on the team and I think they all did amazingy well. The competition out there is tough and it's very different doing a WOD in the comfort of your home gym versus on the floor at the Olympic Oval with at least one judge on you at all times. Great job this weekend team!
On the individual side, Jason did us all proud and fought hard all weekend long. Even though he is a seasoned competitor, this is his first crossfit competiton at the Regional level in 2 years. Even coach has to tackle his nervous energy. Going into the snatch event - he made a decision to open at 225 instead of 220 because it would be easier to load plates. There he was, on the floor beside Lucas Parker and a screaming crowd...a little rattled, he missed his first lift. In true Jay Cain fashion, he quickly regrouped and hit 235 from the hang. He just got better as the weekend progressed. He had some tough judges, but never lost his composure. He was in 4th place at the end of day one and finished the weekend in 9th. Great job Coach!!! You made us all proud!
Regionals provides us as affiliate owners and coaches to reflect on the year, our training and our program. What did we do well? What can we do better? We can share ideas with other owners and coaches so that we can keep working to be the best that we can be. We improved our open standing from 6th place to 2nd place and our team finished in 15th up from 21st last year. We are moving in the right direction. Jason and I have some ideas and plans moving forward for Regional bound athletes both on the individual side of things and on the team side of things. Stay tuned...
One last thank you to all those who made the trip out to support us, A.J for making sure the athletes stayed in top form and for the coaches that kept the gym running while we were gone. THANK-YOU!!
-Rebecca