“The Open brings out the best in people. When surrounded by people doing things they never thought they possibly could, it's just amazing. That is what the Open is truly about.”
Last year, Cristen Walker made it through the 150 wall balls and 90 double-unders, only to stare at the rings for five minutes.
She imagined herself leaning into the transition and pushing up into support, but had never gotten a muscle-up before and the fatigue post-Karen didn’t help her out.
“I wasn’t even close to being able to pull one (muscle-up),” she says.
When the clock hit 12 minutes, she finished 240 reps.
Last night, she learned she’d have a chance at redemption. From CrossFit Roots in Boulder, Colo., Dave Castro announced that 13.3 would be a repeat of 12.4.
“This (Open Workout) is the most mentally challenging thing I’ve done in CrossFit,” she says. “It is taking my two biggest strengths and ending with my biggest weakness.”
Moments after the live stream of the announcement ended, Walker and several athletes from CrossFit Future pulled out the Dynamax balls, speed ropes and chalk.
She spent 30 minutes warming up, and gave the muscle-up the old college try. No dice.
“Everyone was coming over to me telling me their muscle-up secrets, and honestly, I can’t say I was really close,” she says. “I could not seem to get my kip and my strength to actually work together for one movement.”
Well aware she may finish with the same score as last year, she hustled through Karen and the double-unders. This year, at least, she could gain an edge with the tiebreaker.
She stepped under the rings at six minutes and 43 seconds.
“I tried a few times and I could feel it,” she says. “I could feel that if I just pop up there a little bit more I could get one.”
With less than a minute on the clock, she kipped, pulled through the transition and pushed out of the dip. She finally got her first muscle-up.
“I could not stop smiling up there,” she says. “It was amazing. But I remember Shawn, my trainer, saying, ‘Stop smiling, you gotta get another one.’ So I got down and actually did another one with seconds left.”
This isn’t the first time she’s managed a new feat during the Open. Just two weeks ago, she snatched 100 lb. for the first time during 13.1, and then went on to get 14 reps at that weight.
“The Open brings out the best in people,” she says. “When surrounded by people doing things they never thought they possibly could, it's just amazing. That is what the Open is truly about.”
