Regionals Wrap Up:
Regionals have come and gone, and being in the first week to go, it felt like the blink of an eye. This year was one of the more challenging years I have gone through. Coming off a dream season last year, making the 2014 CrossFit Games, I struggled to keep the intensity up during the year. I recruited some training partners and had a good couple months following the Games, but my world was turned upside down with the birth of my daughter in late September. With losing sleep, creeping injuries and extra responsibilities I felt like I limped into the open this year. The open was long, and frustrating, and I needed a second round of invites to even get in to the regional, but with life normalizing, the baby sleeping more, and the new clear goal of top 5 in the region, I had a second wind. In years past I have generally excelled at regional workouts, more than the open, and hoped that would be the case this year. Things ended up going better than expected for the first 2 days and I turned in times faster than in practice. Highlights were finishing the handstand walk, which I did not do in practice, and hitting a 256 lb snatch which ended up being a 4th place and my highest finish of the weekend. I ended day 2 in 8th place, which I was happy with, it was still possible to make the top 5. Unfortunately, I woke up day 3 with some throbbing shoulder pain. It was discouraging to not feel whole on the last day, but with the help of Joe, Spencer and Arrosti, I was able to get into performance shape. Day 3 did not go like I thought it would. I did not perform as expected on either of the final workouts. I don't know if it was my shoulder or just the volume of the weekend building up, but it was not how I wanted to finish the weekend. Looking back, even if I had performed my best on my last day, I still would not have made top 5. The people ahead of me this year, did not falter like last year. It ended up not being my year this year, which I am ok with. It was as fun a year of training as I have had in a while, and I am proud that I was able to fight through some injuries and make it back to the regional stage. I can't thank Spencer and Joe enough for their support this year, but also for the past couple years. It has been a great ride!