Fern Carver Gets Serious

March 21, 2013

Maria Turner

“If my first try isn't good enough, then I need to work harder in the next WOD. You only get one chance in a competition, so I think I should do the Open in the same way.”

Just over a year ago, Birmingham, England-based athlete, Fern Carver, tackled 12.1’s seven minutes of burpees surrounded by treadmills, aerobic step-risers and assisted pull-up machines. Competing as an unaffiliated athlete, Carver did the majority of the Open workouts at a globo gym. She placed 393rd in Europe.

“I was very happy with my performance, after not focusing on training that much and being very new to the sport and to competing,” Carver says.

Carver favors heavy Olympic and power lifts, and her favorite Open Workout from 2012 was the snatch ladder.

“I managed to get three reps at 46 kg, putting me in 135th place,” she recalls. “For a few hours or so, I was actually third in Europe, which made me very happy, even if it was only for a short amount of time.”

After the 2012 Open, Carver began to realize how much she was enjoying her new sport.

“I loved the challenges it presented as well as the ‘anything can happen’ mindset,” she explains.

In April 2012, Carver decided to get more serious about CrossFit. She increased her training and joined her local box, Second City CrossFit (SCCF) in Birmingham. Carver also coaches the morning classes at SCCF, in addition to her job as a personal trainer and studio instructor.

There are many things Carver likes about training at SCCF, particularly the support she gets from her fellow athletes.

“When I’m doing a workout before or after class, people will shout and cheer me on, which helps me to keep going,” she says.

As an SCCF coach, Carver loves watching people progress from being completely new to CrossFit, to getting their first pull-up or linking double-unders together.

“It’s great to see a big smile on their face after seeing them grimace for weeks,” she explains.

Carver has found she is at her best when she is training with others, and to prepare for the 2013 Open, she worked with training partners at SCCF, including Fergus Lally and Mike Holmes. For most of the year, Carver, Lally and Holmes followed Outlaw programming.

“I really liked the Outlaw programming and my strength went through the roof,” Carver says. “I saw my work capacity and my lifts going up with much better technique.”

Following a recent back injury that kept her from heavy lifts, she has integrated CrossFit gymnastics into her training. Carver is confident that working with Lally and Holmes made her work harder than she might have done on her own.

“Mike and Fergus are the perfect blend of someone who says, ‘Don’t you dare stop moving,’ and someone who knows when you need to take it easy,” she says. “They are always reminding me that I am stronger than I think.”

Carver has also been competing in local competitions. At the “Divided We Fall” competition in November 2012, she placed seventh as part of the SCCF team.

Carver did 13.1 and 13.2 at SCCF, surrounded by her fellow athletes cheering her on.

“I thought 13.1 would be a good WOD for me,” Carver explains. “I like snatches and, although burpees aren’t my favorite, I can get them out at a relatively good pace. But during the WOD, I kept thinking, ‘When is this going to end?’”

Carver favors quick workouts, so she knew going into 13.1 that she would need to work hard to keep a steady pace. In 17 minutes, Carver completed 159 reps, putting her in 165th place on the Europe Leaderboard; Carver completed 247 reps on 13.2.

For the rest of the Open, Carver is hoping to place in the top 100s, and has told herself she will only do each Open workout once.

“If my first try isn't good enough, then I need to work harder in the next WOD,” Carver says. “You only get one chance in a competition, so I think I should do the Open in the same way.”

This might be the last year Carver competes for SCCF, as she will be making the move to Norway and CrossFit Trondheim soon.

Carver jokes, “I’m hoping to have some Viking strength rub off on me!”

But she knows she will be taking away some invaluable lessons from her first box.

“I learned that the only way I am going to succeed is to work on weaknesses and train hard, but to also make sure I get my recovery time and rest when my body needs it. Most importantly, from training at SCCF, I know now how much I am capable of.”