* In July 2013, Ruth Anderson Horrell will be competing in her third straight CrossFit Games.
Over the next few weeks The Rx Review will be following the journey of the New Zealand CrossFitter as she prepares for yet another tilt at being crowned the ‘Fittest on Earth’. Make sure you follow our site closely over the next month to see all of Ruth’s articles and videos on her 2013 CrossFit Games campaign.
As I approach my last week of training in NZ before heading out to LA, I take a look at my ‘Give a Little’ Account…. Which is not little. I have been donated $3290… from fellow CrossFitters, old friends, new friends, Americans, NZers and CrossFit affiliates big and small.
Feeling humbled!
Wow, I have never felt quite as supported and appreciated by my community as I have heading to this years Games. I have a real feeling of competing for my country this year, not just to prove to myself, but to show us Kiwis off.
Last night when I climbed into bed, I waded through the many videos I have saved on my phone of multiple training sessions, and realized just how much has gone into this year. Since the Games last year I have lifted, pulled, ran, pushed, swam, jumped, pressed, squatted, flipped, and rowed more than any other stage in my life. It takes a huge amount of time, work, energy, persistence, and determination, sometimes in the face of failure to continue to train at that level all year.
Even before I head in to some intense training in the United States in coming weeks, I look on just how challenging this year has been.
I suffered a thoracic injury in the end of January, which led to some upper body strength issues. Namely, my right shoulder suffered what seemed like an overwhelming weakness.
Only a month before the Australia Regional, my overhead squat had dropped to 60kg and my shoulder was still collapsing forward with that. My muscle-ups had begun to fail mid-pull, leading me to either face plant in to the ring straps. In one case, I failed on a bar muscle-up and landed on the pull-up bar on the bottom of my rib cage, causing severe bruising to my upper abs and rib.
At the time, it seemed like I had come so far and then gone so far backwards. I was worried the year had been wasted. My ultimate dream of winning the Australia Regional and getting back to the Games was left hanging.
I was so fortunate to have the support of my coaches Jules and Dusty, my training partners Mike and Lindsey and my therapists, Sportsmed Southland Physiotherapy and Zane Harris Sportz Plus Massage. I was reminded of the adversity I had already overcome, and that it was possible to do that again.
Despite these issues reducing my performance on a couple of WODs I was pleased to perform better than I expected in many of the Regional Events. I recovered better than I ever had, and my body felt great, even going to the final event (now being more accustomed to the volume of a Regional competition).
I don’t expect to feel quite that good at the end of this years world’s, but I anticipate that the work I have put in will mean I will wake up on the last day of the Games with some fuel in the tank.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to me in any way. Know that I will appreciate every cent and that it will pay for my stay and flights to the Games.
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