Probably the most stressful weekend of my entire life.

CrossFit has been apart of my life since 2010 but it wasn’t until I watched Rich Fronning fall from a rope that I realized I wanted to compete on that stage. Every year I try and every year I get closer and closer but I’ve never been as close as I was this weekend.

I am part of an awesome community at BayWay CrossFit but had the opportunity to compete on a team under CrossFit Eado, and it was the best decision I could have made. I would drive five times a week for the last six months back and forth from Baytown to downtown Houston to train with my team. Sacrificing time with my family and my business to try and capture this dream I have been dreaming for so long.

We were a team full of very talented individuals and finished first place at the end of the open. We had one girl go individual and even with losing her scores we still were top five in our region.

When the workouts were released for this weekend we had no idea what to expect. Confidence was high but we were unsure how the weekend would go because fifty percent of the workouts had a new object to regionals called the worm. (Basically a 450 pound canvas log filled with sand, that turned out to be our demise.)

All I have wanted for the last eight years has been to compete at the CrossFit Games. This might be the closest I will ever get and the heartbreak that comes with the is more than I expected.

Hindsight being 20/20 I wish there was more classic CrossFit workouts for the team. The worm was truly our achilles heel. Looking at it now we could view it in two ways. Our no reps on each worm workout cost us the podium or the worm forced six of the best individuals to work as one and we couldn’t.

I do feel that judging on the worm was inconsistent and that this year there were two types of judges on the floor. The first were the scared judges. They were so nervous to be approached by the head judges that they were unable to perform their duties well. The second type were the power trip judges. These were the ones who finally had a moment of power in their lives and they abused it. There is probably a third type of judge and that is an overall good judge, but those were so rare through the weekend that I wouldn’t put them as a category.

This was the first time at any competition that I have ever been apart of that I did not learn the name of any judge as we took the floor. I feel that CrossFit is trying to make the playing field so fair that it is actually becoming unfair. Obviously this is coming from a bitter place missing the Games by so little but I feel there is room for improvement and CrossFit should recognize that. Team competition is so much different than individual. You have to rely on five other people to help you be successful. If you are not completely a unit you will fail. That is where we missed the Games not the judges.

Obviously there are tons of positives from this weekend they are just overshadowed by what was a sixth place finish. We had an event win on the last day when we aboslutley needed it to give us a shot. I had a strong finish with a Brittany on event 3 to move us into the top ten. Watching Kevin hold onto that eighty pound dumbbell at the end of event 1 was an inspiring way to start off the weekend. Camzin staying strong and making a 55 pound dumbbell look light on day three. Sara kicking ass and conquering the handstad pushups on event 1 and Josh although being only twenty years old showing poise and confidence throughout his first regional.

The unfortunate part is that our team is full of individuals who aspire to be more than semi-professional competitive exercisers and there is no way that we could field this team again next year. Which makes the pill of missing the Games even harder to swallow. I have really bonded with everyone and have made some really good friends that I will truly miss.  

What’s next for me I am still unsure. I want nothing more than to be out on that floor competing with everyone but I have come to a point in my life where I need to make a decision. Continue to be poor and pursue a dream that will ultimately earn me no money or try and make my business into something great and better my career and my family. I watched the competition all weekend seeing our coach and other coaches in action and I realized that is something I want to do. I saw the way our coach, Connor, was after each workout and how supportive he was. I saw coaches like Matt Chan get fired up while coaching their individual athletes and it made me so happy. I know that is something I would love to do and I know that I am capable of doing it.

I have been doing this for a long time. I have had some really good coaches along the way that I have learned a lot from and I haven’t done too bad for myself in competition. I love to write programming and have some pretty good ideas for what would help push someone to that next level. I know what works, I know what it takes and I feel that I can pass along a lot of value to someone who is looking for it.

This year is going to be hard to get past. Not only being so close to qualifying for the Games and letting it slip through our fingers but the heartbreak of not being around, training and spending time with eight people that I’ve grown to love.

I want to thank everyone who came and supported the team and myself. My awesome wife for all her support and love throughout the weekend. My parents for always supporting me in everyhting I do. My sister for her endless support. My 90 year old grandpa was able to watch me compete for the first time! Now he knows why I miss so many family events. My aunt and uncle John & Diane, my cousin Kristi and the kiddos and my entire family back home watching on youtube and sending me texts. My inlaws, Brad and Mary, driving down from Dallas to watch, and Heath and Lisa and the little ones. A huge portion of BayWay CrossFit coming to San Antonio to support their coach! And obviously everyone who came from CF Eado to support the team. I am astonished by the support that I recieve everytime I compete. CrossFit has opened the doors for me in so many ways and has allowed me to connect with people I’d never be able to whithout it.

2018 will start today but with a different focus. I hope to return to the regional floor in some way next year as an individual, team athlete or a coach.

-Richard