Razmus finished 13.2 with 374 reps, 13 more than Thorisdottir.
Andye Razmus sped through the 75-lb. shoulder-to-overhead, deadlifts, and 20-inch box jumps. Midway through 13.2, her judge shouted.
“You can pass her!” Lisa Joppie said to Razmus. And by “her,” she was referring to two-time defending CrossFit Games champion Annie Thorisdottir.
Razmus finished with 374 reps, 13 more than Thorisdottir.
At the time of publication, Razmus is in second place worldwide. She follows eight reps shy of the worldwide leader, Kristin Holte of CrossFit Oslo, in 13.2.
“That’s a cool feeling to know I could beat (Thorisdottir),” Razmus says. “I mean she’s No. 1 in the world.”
The 26-year-old athlete from 8th Day CrossFit in Grand Rapids, Mich., admits the workout was made for her. Soon after Dave Castro announced the workout, she jumped on the rower to warm up.
“I was pretty excited because that’s pretty much my wheelhouse,” she says. “Box jumps have always been just really effortless for me. And I’ve been training on a 30-inch box, so jumping on a 20-inch box was like, ‘OK, this is a step.”’
She didn’t strategize, and she tried to keep the pressure low. She just focused on moving quickly while meeting the movement standard.
“I stay calm and I treat it as a normal workout,” she says.
Although she claims that she wasn’t taking it very seriously, she found a new gear and emptied the tank — something that’s not her normal M.O.
It was the first time that the 8th Day CrossFit owner and coach, Joe Cebulski, had ever seen her fall to the ground at the end of the workout, completely spent.
“I wasn’t … cardio tired, it was just muscles,” she says. “My lower back was starting to hurt a little bit from the deadlifts.”
Last year, she competed at the Central East Regional with 8th Day. As an experienced competitor, she’s well aware of what she can crush, and what crushes her.
“I knew I really had a chance at doing some damage on that workout,” she says. “I’m good with lots of reps at lower weight. I was always told I have an engine that doesn’t stop. So, I don’t get fatigued with a lot of reps. (But) my biggest weakness is my weakness. I’m weak.”
That weakness was put on display in the first Open workout. She finished three snatches at 100 lb. for a score of 153 reps on 13.1. She recognizes she’s not in the same league as Thorisdottir in many workouts, and she’s cool with that. She got her for one.
The Open, for Razmus, is preparation for the team competition at the Central East Regional, and a way to gauge how far she has come in the last year of training.
Right now, she’s content. But come Sunday, she may give 13.2 another go.
“Even though my hamstrings are tight, my lower back is on fire, and I’m sore with every step I take, I’ll give it another go,” she says. “Walking is overrated.”
