Game-Time Decision: Megan Smith

February 22, 2013

Siobhan Kent

“It’s a hard decision. I feel I’ve still got a lot to give the regular competition, and part of me doesn’t want to make the move to Masters just yet."


 

Megan Smith has a decision to make as she heads into the Open and aims for another top-10 finish at the Australia Regional.

At 41, the Games competitor is eligible to compete in the new 40-44 Masters division in 2013.

“It’s a hard decision,” she says. “I feel I’ve still got a lot to give the regular competition, and part of me doesn’t want to make the move to Masters just yet.

“Obviously, if I choose Masters and do well, I can get straight into the Games. But I don’t necessarily want to miss Regionals — I just love that competition, the vibe, the challenge of the heavier workouts and the chance to take it to the limit with the best in Australia.”

Smith doesn't need to make the decision just yet. During the Open, she will be in the running for the Australia Regional and the 40-44 Masters Competition. If she qualifies for both, she can compete in the Australia Regional and still accept her invitation to the Master Competition at the Games.  

Smith first qualified for the CrossFit Games in 2010. Since, she has been a consistent competitor at the Australia Regional, finishing fifth in 2011 and eighth in 2012.

In the lead up to this season, Smith has been paying more attention to building strength in her legs and perfecting Olympic lifting movements.

She is training with help from three-time Games competitor, Chris Hogan, from Melbourne’s CrossFit 121, and trains mostly out of her home gym.

“I’ve put my trust in Chris to take care of programming for me,” she says. “It frees me up so that I can concentrate on performing.”

Even with three Regional appearances, Smith is humble about her abilities.

“I’m average at everything, and not brilliant at anything,” she says. “So, I try to work on continuing to be an all-rounder, but give special attention to things like leg 1-rep-max strength and volume muscle-ups — linking lots of those in a row has been hard for me in the past.”

With work commitments and five children, Smith has compromised her training schedule over the past 12 months.

“Given I work 12-hour shifts, I don’t train on the days that I work. Instead, I try to cram sessions in when I can,” she says. “On average, that’s usually only four sessions a week, for an hour or one-and-a-half hours at a time. They usually combine both strength work and a met-con, sometimes even a 40-minute chipper to really challenge myself. At the moment, I haven’t worked the last five days, so I’ve been training every day.”

While booking a ticket to the Games remains one of her dreams, the future of her kids remains her priority.

“Of course I want to do well, but my family will always come first. If I’m about to train, but it’s school holidays and the kids want to go to the pool instead, they’ll come first every time,” she says.

“The kids need dancing lessons more than I need the latest and greatest supplements. That money is better spent elsewhere. I just focus on clean eating and my body does the rest.”

With the Open about to get underway, Smith is feeling relaxed and ready for another season of the sport she loves.

“The Open is always interesting, but you know there’s not going to be any new movements in there out of left-field because it would be too hard to police movement standards,” she says. “I know that I will be able to do the WODs, and do them well.”

She adds: “It’s at Regionals where it all gets crazy. You never know what they’re going to program. Each year the WODs get heavier and heavier. For me, I’m great at multiple reps and a moderate to heavy weight, but I’m not super strong, by any means … I can’t wait to see what they pull out for both competitions!"