My second CrossFit Open went better than I could have hoped for. After the 2018 Open (my first Open), I got my results back via the CrossFit Games app, and tweeted that I hoped I could get from the 66th percentile to the 80th+ percentile in 2019. And I got to 90th percentile (14,542/146,364) in 2019! So as far as long-term progress vs. goal, I couldn’t be happier!

I do tend to perform well in the setting of our “Friday Nights Lights” atmosphere, where Friday night classes are canceled and our gym runs heats of the Open workouts and everyone hangs out and cheers. I get extremely nervous, definitely more than I should, but I think it helps me more than it hurts me, and “Friday Night Lights” is one of my favorite parts of CrossFit, hands-down. Getting to hang out with friends and work out with the crew, going out for celebratory drinks afterwards, meeting people from the morning classes who I often don’t get the chance to workout with or talk to otherwise, we even had an in-house DJ this year — it’s just the most amazing experience and a great five weeks, even though I’m often an anxious wreck every Friday! My first CrossFit Open happened only a few months after I joined the gym, so it was definitely a bit overwhelming, but now that I’m a more active and established member of the gym, it was a totally different experience.

In the end, I took second place overall in the gym, out of 44, which is higher than my actual total fitness level would merit, but since the Open so often emphasizes weights and skills, and since I am strong and gymnast-y, I do better than I normally do when just measuring conditioning.

Looking back at my post about my first CrossFit Open in 2018, I had these goals, and I achieved all of them before the 2019 Open!

• Get handstand walks
• Get bar muscle-ups
• Get ring muscle-ups
• Improve all other technical skills (HSPU, C2B, T2B, dubs, etc.)
• BUILD A BIGGER ENGINE

Looking forward to the second CrossFit Open of 2019, my main goal between now and then, is the same as it was after the 2018 Open, and the same it has been since I started CrossFit — continue to build my engine without sacrificing strength, with a secondary goal of getting my ring muscle ups more consistent so I can safely do them as part of a workout and to work on chaining them together.