The Second X45 - And possibly the last

Date Started: 04 Sep 2023, Monday 10:54PM

Date Ended: 07 December 2023, Thursday (on a plane)

Questions:

• Who am I? - Cassandra, a retired member of Team Complaining Mira

• What did I accomplish yesterday? My team placed 4th in a Fitness Competition

• What am I grateful for? The opportunity to watch Kylie trash the competition, and to compete with teammates of my choice

• What did would I do better if I could do it over? Taken the rope climbs on the final event

• What can I be mindful of today? The things I say.

The downside of delaying my reflections is that I forget some of the details 😆 But I’ll do my best to recount it.

It was a whirlwind of a weekend.

The hours went by quickly and I did not even feel like the competition happened.

We had a breezy weekend, not having lost any workout save for the finals, and yet it is one of those times that I know that we should have done better, because we can. And that is why I am unable to sleep. I feel like I have a huge load in my heart that had to be shaken off this weekend, but God has His own way of teaching me to do that in humility, and I suppose this is His way of doing so.

To be honest, the year has not been a fantastic one. Issues personally and with the business have undoubtedly affected my training and psyche, and I was so close to pulling out of a competition that I had been looking forward to since the last one ended in 2019. But let’s leave that thought to another time.

I was supposed to be in a team for Pandora’s Box 2020 with Alvin and Ian, whilst Kylie was supposed to compete with Clifford and Lokies. After a pandemic, we each had a teammate that needed to be replaced for the 2023 Pandora’s Box.

We got into the competition qualifying as the top team in the Open Division. I was worried that we wouldn’t do well— without any training and without a positive relationship. X45 was a competition synonymous with being not only a physical challenge for me, but an emotional one as well.

While I am grateful that I managed to compete again with a team I had chosen, I had to do so in an environment that was hostile. Where the “supporters” had spoken ill of me behind my back and I knew it. I was perhaps a little bit more sensitive than I should have been, and when a teammate made a comment about not seeing me again after the weekend, I found myself sitting in tears, and having to reach out to clarify that if they didn’t want to compete with me anymore that I would need them to speak out.

That issue was resolved and we managed to continue competing, winning the 4 rounds that would take us to the finals on the second day. I knew we were good, but as the finals drew near and the workouts became more individualistic, it looked as though a podium finish was well within reach.

On the other hand, Kylie’s team lost a round in the upper bracket and was fighting tooth and nail in the bottom bracket. They would make it to the finals knackered.

The finals were is a similar format to the previous X45 Challenge.

Part (A) would be:

M1F - completing an AMRAP, whilst M2 establishes a 1 rep max for an Olympic lift

-rest X mins-

3 RFT for 4 movements

In Part A, Alvin and I did a couplet of partner deadlifts and toes to bar, whilst Nico did the 1 rep max Clean and Jerk. Nico would be the freshest going into part 2, so he was set to go first, followed by Alvin then me.

Part 2 consisted of a C2 Bike, 3 leg less rope climbs, and Handstand Walks. Of the 3 movements, my legless rope climbs were SLOW, and my HS walks were inconsistent, so it made sense for Alvin to go first. RIGHT?

Well Nico went off at a blazing pace, getting off the rower first, completing the legless rope climbs in two pulls, and literally running on his hands in the walk.

Then Alvin. He had a huge lead on the bike, but as he got to the rope climbs— something seemed off. Sure he told me BEFORE the event that he’d never done it before, but having had over 12 years of experience and being the top athlete at the gym I didn’t expect him to fail his rope climbs repeatedly.

The other teams were done with their second athlete. And onto the girls in the team who would be stuck on that station too. But I watched as Alvin took his bandages off his hands (he’d ripped them the day before), try, and fail, then shake his head to give up.

We came in dead fourth. It was unreal, because logically a second place finish was entire possible.

After the event I stayed in the competition floor a little longer than I needed to. It was time to say good bye, but it didn’t end on a high like I hoped it would. I said goodbye to Mira, who ran to us after the competition, a child I had watched grow up. I feared but she wouldn’t understand why.

Well, we stood at the side of the podium that day and had some consolation prize. I forced a smile— but I just wanted to go. We’d leave forgettable. Having dropped from 1st place (Alvin’s team) and 3rd place (my previous team) to 4th.

What could I have done better for the finals?

I could have made the call to negotiate the legless rope climbs away. I could’ve taken the risk to be the second athlete. I could have told Alvin that I needed him to hold on to the rope… In hindsight I could have done all these things, but it is really too late. I have all the excuses in the world for why I didn’t drop what I did, but rather than blaming the circumstances, I will just learn and move on.

It’s months after the competition and there are a few things that still leave a palpable (dis)taste in my mouth:

• People whom I thought were my teammates and close friends ended up being swayed by public opinion

• Post-competition bad-mouthing

• And a bunch of politics by people uninvolved in the competition

I just want to train and compete happy. But things almost always never go according to plan.

Would I do X45 again? For now the answer is no. But life's full of surprises, so the answer is let's see 😉