Getting Back to the Podium: Smith and Voigt

July 23, 2012

Andréa Maria Cecil

Both Smith and Voigt say they will continue to compete for as long as they can as they enjoy competition.


Becca Voigt was shocked to hear about the swim, bike, run event at Camp Pendleton.

Ben Smith working on the Track Triplet on Saturday of the CrossFit Games. 
 


Becca Voigt finished third in 2011, her best finish so far at the Games.

 

Ben Smith, on the podium at his third CrossFit Games in 2011.

Ben Smith is doing something he never has before: a local CrossFit competition.

Since starting the sport more than four years ago, the 22-year-old has only competed in the CrossFit Games Open, the Regionals and the Games.

“It'll be something different for me,” Smith says five days after the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games ended. “I wanted to try to get to a few more local competitions and work on nutrition and recovery, and kind of play with that.”

In the very next weekend following the Games, he was at Mid Atlantic Garage Games in Virginia Beach — about 10 minutes away from his home. Smith placed first in the men's RX’d division at the three-day competition.

He says he doesn’t plan on making major changes to his training over the coming year.

“I train when I want to train,” Smith says. “I would do it even if the Games weren’t there.”

After finishing third last year, Smith finished 11th at this year’s Games.

“I was pretty disappointed with how I did,” he says. “I did my best and that's all I can really ask. The programming wasn’t exactly what I wanted to see.”

Smith — well-known in the community for CrossFitting in the cul-de-sac outside his parents’ home — was unable to finish Friday’s final workout at the Games. Called Med Ball-HSPU, it called for three rounds of eight medicine-ball cleans at 150 lb., 100-foot medicine-ball carry, seven parallette handstand push-ups and another 100-foot medicine ball carry.

Not finishing a workout is uncommon for Smith, who has a 2:25 Fran and a 1:51 Grace.

“I neglected shorter workouts,” he says of his training leading up to this year’s Games.

Training to qualify for the 2013 Games, which Smith says he’s already started, will include sprints and movements that mimic programming from this year’s Games.

Aside from adding more explosive movements, he says he still plans to keep his workouts mostly outside his parents’ house and remain unaffiliated.

“A lot of my training will stay the same and you learn from the Games every year,” Smith explains. “If I'm up to it and I feel good and not hurting, I will do multiple workouts in one day. Right now, I'm just going to continue what I've been doing.”

Like Smith, Becca Voigt also placed third at last year’s Games. This year, she placed 10th.

“I’m proud to be where I ended up,” Voigt starts. “Am I happy with where I ended up? No. I'm a little disappointed. There were holes in my training.”

She adds: “I really can't complain. People were like, ‘You were 10th in the world!’”

Among the changes the 31-year-old will make to her training over the coming year will be regular running in the sand.

“We've seen routine sand running,” Voigt says, referencing last year’s and this year’s Games. “For some reason I'm really slow.”

Gymnastics also will be increased on the road to 2013, she says.

“And I really need to increase the capacity and not rest as much,” Voigt explains. “I get a good start and then I rest.”

After the Games, the former collegiate basketball player took two days off, and then began working out on Wednesday.

“It's very relaxed,” Voigt says. “It hasn't been very serious.”

She says her “full-blown” training to qualify for next year’s Games begins next week.

Both Smith and Voigt say they will continue to compete for as long as they can as they enjoy competition.

“I don't think we expected to see some of the unknowns this year,” Voigt says. “We have to get better, a little bit faster each year and be able to excel to keep up, especially as we get a little bit older.”