Posh gyms don't sweat

Bloody hell!  I can't believe how long it's been since my last post.  Bad Bridget!  But it's been a whirlwind of activity. In the week running up to the European Masters I couldn't do any last minute panic training at the box because I was in Macclesfield on a case.  So I pack my PE kit and my skipping rope and downloaded a tabata timer onto my phone.  The gym had no free weights and loads of weird machines for working on one muscle at a time BUT there were kettlebells although bugger all space to use them (maybe they were just there for show?!)   So I did some skipping to warm up, which caused some consternation and then did a kettlebell Tabata which caused more consternation - I don't think they'd ever seen anyone sweat before!  Then I tried a power lunge/pressup WOD and finished my whole workout in 30 minutes.  Day 2 I found a barbell and worked on my clean technique - a girl sat down onto a weird thigh squeezing machine and carefully draped her long blonde hair over the back of the seat, then sat there for about 5 minutes checking herself out in the mirror before doing 10 squeezes and then a bit more mirror gazing....and no one batted an eyelid, while they looked at me as if I was a freak!
Soooo the work managed to take my mind off my nerves about the Raising the Bar competition and I suddenly found myself cooking a paleo breakfast pie  and packing all kinds of paleo treats for the next day...THE NEXT DAY aaaaggh! The only solution was chocolate (probably not the best preparation for a day of intense physical activity).   However the crazy early start and the 30 minute walk to the box was great preparation, at least it woke me up and took my mind off the impending ordeal.   The lovely Cathie Smith was competing alongside me and drove us to Dragon Crossfit in Cardiff along with her daughter and son and his friend who were acting as cheerleaders for the day.  The box was buzzing when we arrived and we met up with the dashing Hugh Thomas who was the third Master from Crossfit Avon

We got marked up with our numbers and wandered nervously around checking out the opposition.  I have to say I was ready to call for a stewards' inquiry into the age of some of the girls as I was hard pushed to believe some of them were over 40.  I jealously watched the tiny pert bottoms and the six pack abs and wondered what the hell I was doing there, but then the boys started taking their tops off and all was well with the world :-D.

The first WOD was a clean ladder, girls first and the weights looked epic, the over 55s started and it was truly inspiring to see ladies in their 60s and 70s with the most amazing figures shifting weights that I couldn't manage (well actually that bit was a bit humiliating!).  I managed 35kg which is fairly rubbish and was the joint lowest lifted in our age category although I  managed to do more bar hops in the tie breaker so I didn't finish last.  Some of the weights lifted were enormous and Cathie got a great personal best lift at 60kg.  I just had to make a vow to work on my oly lifting technique.

WOD 2 (50kg deadlifts followed by burpee barbell hops)was horrific and left me gasping so badly that I thought I'd bruised my lungs - I couldn't stop wheezing for an hour.  My thanks to Amelia who shouted at me so loudly to make me get over the bar exactly at the cut off point so I could earn another 2 minutes.

Then WOD 3 left me having to have a serious word with myself as my bottom lip started to wobble at the prospect of shoulders to overhead with a weight that I just couldn't lift, followed by box step ups with a 10kg plate.  I hate being a hobbit - that box was soooooo high.

 Luckily the lovely coach Caz gave me a pep talk and I pulled myself together and scaled the weight so I could complete the workout.  Unsurprisingly I didn't make the semi-finals but I didn't finish last (read into that what you will!)  and I got to watch some truly inspiring women (and men) workout for the rest of the day.  I avoided semi-permanent disability by warming down on a bike and went home for a very warm shower and a very long sleep with the intention of doing loads more training and coming back next year.