A few weeks ago I completed my first CrossFit Open. My friend John described the CrossFit Open really well in his recap post:

The CrossFit Open is an annual event where each week for 5 weeks the global CrossFit community does a series of workouts (1 per week) and we all track our scores against online against each other.

I really didn’t know what to expect going into the Open, but I quickly learned it was a very fun and extremely challenging event. Each week the workout was announced at 8pm ET on Thursday and you had until 8pm ET on Monday to complete your workout and submit your score. The anticipation of the workout announcement each week was actually an unexpected highlight of my week. Not knowing what was coming made it even more exciting, albeit a bit nerve-racking, and I found myself waiting and watching the live announcement posts.

I also didn’t expect how nervous I would be going into each workout. It truly did feel like a competition, especially since everyone had a judge assigned to them to track their score. I found myself pushing hard towards a better score and while my scores weren’t amazing, I truly felt like I did a good job for the level I’m at.

At the end of it all there was a huge sense of accomplishment and ultimately I was very proud of myself for completing the event. My goal for next year is to compete in the CrossFit Open at full RX.

Below are the 5 CrossFit Open 2016 workouts and my scores for each.

Workout 16.1 – Scaled

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 20 minutes of:

• 25-ft. front rack walking lunge – 45 lb
• 8 burpees
• 25-ft. front rack walking lunge – 45 lb
• 8 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups

My Score: 161

Workout 16.2 – Scaled

Beginning on a 4-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of:

• 25 hanging knee raises
• 50 single-unders
• 15 squat cleans, 95 / 55 lb.

If completed before 4 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

• 25 hanging knee raises
• 50 single-unders
• 13 squat cleans, 115 / 75 lb.

This workout keeps going for 5 rounds stopping at 20 minutes, but I didn’t make it past the second round.

My Score: 171

Workout 16.3 – Scaled

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 7 minutes of:

• 10 power snatches – 45 lb
• 5 jumping chest-to-bar pull-ups

My Score: 75

Workout 16.4 – Scaled

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 13 minutes of:

• 55 deadlifts – 135-lb
• 55 wall-ball shots – 20 lb 9-ft target
• 55-calorie row
• 55 hand release push-ups

My Score: 130

Workout 16.5 – Scaled

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:

• Thrusters
• Burpees

My Score: 28:55