“I really like testing myself and pushing my limits. I push harder in a competition than I do when I train.”
Gretchen Kittelberger has finished on the podium at the Mid Atlantic Regional for the last four years. Known for her gymnastics skills and strength, she appears at ease and at home in the competition arena.
Still, the 28-year-old former gymnast doubted her ability to make it to the CrossFit Games in 2014.
Athletic Background
Throughout childhood, Kittelberger competed in gymnastics nationally before earning a scholarship to the University of Maryland. There she continued her gymnastics career until her graduation in 2008. She retired from the sport and began her first semester of law school at the University of Virginia.
Kittelberger “felt lost” without an athletic endeavor and tried CrossFit in 2009. After her first local competition, she set her sights on the CrossFit Games.
CrossFit Résumé
In her first regional competition in the Central East, Kittelberger finished fifth and missed the opportunity to go the 2010 Games. This motivated her to work on her weaknesses and train harder for the 2011 season.
Her efforts were rewarded with a second-place finish at the 2011 Mid Atlantic Regional and an invitation to the Games. Although she admitted feeling a lot of pressure at that year’s regional, Kittelberger performed well at her first Games appearance and left Carson, California, as the 12th fittest woman in the world.
Kittelberger felt even more pressure at the 2012 Mid Atlantic Regional.
“I had to prove that the last year wasn’t a fluke,” she recalled.
Approaching the 2012 season, Kittelberger worked with a sports psychologist on her confidence and maintaining a more relaxed attitude in competition. She again qualified for the Games with a third-place finish at regionals. Kittelberger finished the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games in 26th place.
“I describe (2012) as my sophomore slump,” she explained. “I felt a lot of pressure and like I had to prove something. I had trouble with the triathlon and with some of the other movements. I just didn’t know my body well enough to know how I’d respond to those movements.”
Kittelberger had proven she was not a one-hit wonder, and she continued to train and prepare for the 2013 season. New names and faces appeared in the sport, but Kittelberger prevailed and earned her spot at the Games in 2013 with another second-place finish at regionals. Despite her 34th ranking at that year’s Games, Kittelberger was positive about her performance.
“Each year the level of competition goes up and the workouts are harder. All of the running (in the workouts) crushed me,” she said. “My first year at the Games, I was so new and just happy to be there. I feel like my second year was my sophomore slump, but last year I finally felt like I belonged there, that I belonged to be competing with the best athletes in the world.”
Jeremy Gordon has been Kittelberger’s coach since the 2011 Open and said he has witnessed a major change in her self-confidence.
“Gretchen was star struck with her first Games,” Gordon said. “She felt she didn’t belong at that level of competition. After finishing 12th overall, there was a dramatic change in how she perceived herself as a CrossFit athlete. At the 2013 Games, she PR’d both her mile and 2,000-m row times at the start of much longer workouts. That was a big confidence booster for her.”
Preparing for 2014
This year’s regional competition looked to be a tough one in the Mid Atlantic. Games athletes Anna Tunnicliffe and Emily Friedman moved into the region, 2013 regional fourth-place finisher Alea Helmick was hungry for a place on the podium, previous top-10 competitors had trained all year for their shot to the Games and then there were the newcomers.
Initially, Kittelberger counted herself out of the competition.
“Our region was a lot harder than in the past,” she said. “I had to go in with mindset that I was going to do the best that I could. Confidence comes from within and it’s not achieved because of a rank on a leaderboard. It’s inside you.”
Gordon said he felt the additional competition in the region played to Kittelberger’s advantage.
“The arrival of new, very competitive Mid Atlantic athletes actually lowered the stress for Gretchen. I think she had less expectation of finishing at the top. She had almost written it off after the Open. So with the reduced stress, I think she enjoyed the competition more and her performance excelled.”
Once the regional events were released and Kittelberger was able to practice the movements, she said she felt more comfortable as she approached the competition weekend. Watching the earlier regionals was helpful, as well.
“It helped to see someone else do the workout, watch how people paced things, and see if they had any cool tricks,“ she laughed.
Kittelberger also had a shift in perspective after watching the Europe Regional.
“Honestly, watching Sam Briggs not make it … it almost took the pressure off of me,” she said. “I realized all I can do is my best.”
Her best was not only good enough to qualify her for the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games, but also finishing in first place for the first time.
Always composed on the competition floor, Kittelberger expressed her happiness as she stepped on the mat at the end of the final event. Arms stretched open and toward the heavens, Kittelberger’s stance and smile let the crowd know who the champion was that weekend. CrossFit photographer Chris Nolan captured the moment and said of the picture, “Gretchen finally let go.”
“I knew what I needed to do in that workout. When I crossed the mat, I knew I had sealed my spot to Games,” Kittelberger explained.
Gordon was not surprised by Kittelberger’s success.
“Gretchen epitomized CrossFit’s definition of fitness using the hopper model,” he said. “She performed statistically the best across the range of physical tests that weekend. She didn’t win any single event, but she was consistently at the top.”
2014 Games
According to Gordon, Kittelberger’s training program for the past three Games has focused on her aerobic base. This year is no different as her current workouts are longer and involve more running, but Gordon also sought additional help from coach Chris Hinshaw.
“Gretchen was an anaerobic athlete her entire life. Teaching her to feel for thresholds, then expanding those thresholds is still a work in progress,” Gordon said. “It will continue to be a focus for her training while maintaining balance in other domains and skills.”
Kittelberger and Gordon recruited the help of former Olympic weightlifter Cara Heads Slaughter to refine Kittelberger’s Olympic techniques and therapist Rob Wilson to work on positional improvements and mobility.
“Gretchen’s compliance to the programming, awareness of limitations, motivation to succeed, and willingness to prioritize the sport of CrossFit in her life makes her the ideal athlete to coach,” Gordon said.
Kittelberger is looking forward to this year’s Games for many reasons. She said she loves the experience and seeing all of the friends she has made there over the last four years. Like a true competitor, Kittelberger enjoys the process of training and seeing the results of her hard work.
“I really like testing myself and pushing my limits. I push harder in a competition than I do when I train,” she said. “I like seeing my progress and how I improve and stack up each year.”
Kittelberger isn’t focused too much on the Leaderboard at the Games; she has other goals for herself.
“I’d like to finish every workout and do the best I can,” she said. “I’d like to put it all out there and have no regrets.”
