"Oh my god," he said, "that's 84 of each."
Photos courtesy of Jamie Brause.
What is it like to experience the CrossFit Games Open for the first time, after less than a year of doing CrossFit? This ongoing series follows 45-year-old Brenton Demko of San Diego, Calif.—who was inactive for almost four years before starting CrossFit this summer—as he completes each workout of the 2014 Open.
Read about 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, and 14.4.
14.5
When Brenton Demko watched Rich Froning take on 14.5 in the live Open announcement on Thursday, March 27, his first thought was, “Holy shit.”
Demko added up the reps of thrusters and burpees. “Oh my god,” he said, “that’s 84 of each.”
Next, Demko started doing some Open math. “If Rich Froning did the workout in 8:26 …” how long would it take him to do the same amount of work? How could he compare himself against a three-time CrossFit Games champion?
Demko considers himself fairly good at thrusters, but he knew he would slow down on the burpees. After some quick calculations, he decided multiplying Froning’s time by three would be a reasonable goal.
“I was hoping I could do it in 25 minutes,” he said.
It had been a good week at the gym for Demko. He was still in Boston, cheering on his son—the goalie for Boston College’s ice hockey team—as they attempted to qualify for the Frozen Four, the semifinals of the NCAA championship. Demko spent the week working out at Rugged CrossFit, and one of the workouts that week included chest-to-bar pull-ups, a movement Demko had never done before 14.2. He managed to do six chest-to-bar pull-ups in the workout, something he never would have attempted prior to the Open.
Once again, Demko decided to do the Open workout on Saturday morning. His plan was to do as many thrusters as he could unbroken.
“I wasn’t stressed about the thrusters,” he said. “I knew the burpees would suck the energy out of me.”
“I wanted to get back on the bar (for the thrusters) quickly,” he said. “The coaches at (CrossFit 858) tell us to take three deep breaths and then get back on the bar.”
As for the burpees, he just wanted to keep moving.
“No stopping to breathe … and all those other important bodily functions,” he said with a laugh.
Demko started off strong, doing the first 21 thrusters unbroken. He got through the 21 burpees, and then in the set of 18 did 14 thrusters without dropping the bar. The thrusters were going well, but Demko was struggling with the burpees.
True to his word, he never stopped, but Demko knew he was not moving as efficiently as he could.
“I know it’s best to drop to the floor (for the burpees),” Demko said, “but I would drop, catch myself in a push-up position, and lower myself down. My shoulders were screaming.”
But he kept moving. Then, during the last burpee on the set of six, “I jumped funky and got a no-rep,” Demko said.
Re-doing a burpee, so close to the end, was tough to take.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he remembered thinking.
Then all that remained was three thrusters and three burpees, and he was done, finishing in 23:09, beating his goal of 25 minutes.
It wasn’t easy, though.
“That (workout) was a total soul-stealer,” he said.
And with that, Demko was done with his first Open. Looking back at the last five weeks, Demko said he enjoyed the experience.
“I was really bummed I started with a calf injury, coupled with the fact that the first workout had double-unders, a calf-intensive movement. That was a bummer way to start,” he said. “But I think I did a good job of staying positive.”
He learned to do what he could do in each workout, and be happy with that effort.
“All in all, for doing CrossFit for only eight months, and given my knee rehab, I’m pretty fired up,” he said.
Looking ahead to the coming year, Demko said he wants to get his sweet tooth under control.
“If I have the willpower to keep working out, and I was able to quit drinking, I gotta be able to (control) my sweet tooth,” he said.
“My goal was not to come in last,” Demko said of his pre-Open ambition. All he wanted was to not be the last name on the worldwide Leaderboard.
He did better than that. Not only that, but Demko got to watch his son’s hockey team beat Massachusetts-Lowell, qualifying them for the national semifinals.
Demko flew back to San Diego on Monday, March 31, and he’ll be back at his home gym, CrossFit 858, this week.
The Open may be over, but the fitness continues.
