As predicted, Day 2 is the separator. Across the world many top competitors found themselves nose-to-nose with damage control. Strict HSPU and Legless Rope Climbs can only be completed so fast. Those movements simply do not allow an athlete to push their time and pace as much as they would like for fear of failure. Across the world, we saw what happened when athletes came out of the gate too fast or started to push the workout beyond their capacity. It ended with failure. Literal muscle failure that could not be recovered.
With that fact in mind, Jo, Emily, and Sasser approached event 4 and 5 with a gameplan in mind and no option of deviating from it. We knew and saw that deviation from the plan ended in disaster. Jo put up a spectacular performance in event 5 who at first looked to be a bit too-cautious. She stood at the opposite end of the floor with the pylon waiting on my signal to return and scale the rope. She perfectly ignored her urge to go faster, she ignored the pace of the competitors around her, and slowly but surely caught the field in her heat. My buddy, Chase Ingraham, gave her a little flack for the pacing and strategy right up until the time she passed all the competitors failing and staring at the rope on her 10th run to complete event 5 a whole minute faster than in practice. Chase’s words were pointed, “she sure shut me up quick.”
Sasser caught the bad end of 5 no reps in event 4 and that immediately put him behind. Never in my wildest dreams did I envision that 5 no-reps could be a massive disadvantage in a 12 minute workout. It proved to be a tough hill to climb for Sasser. He came back with a perfect performance in event 5, pushing the pace right up to the edge of his capacity and completing the workout just as we thought he might. He has his work cut out for him on day 3 but with these workouts and the ebb and flow of this field anything is possible. The Central East men’s leaderboard shifts more and more with each workout.
Emily continued her dominance in Northwest. She too got 5 quick no-reps at the beginning of event 4 but managed to compose herself and finish 2nd. She then proceeded to pace herself just right for the rope climb workout, finishing 45 seconds slower than in practice but still taking the first place spot with plenty of time to spare. Day 1 and 2 were her days to highlight her strengths. Day 3 is going to be a mental test for her. One, that at this point, I am going to be glad to see her overtake. Watch for Emily to finish strong and make a bit of a statement today in Washington.
Day 2 in the books and Day 3 on the horizon. Go get it. To God be the glory.
