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Brent Fikowski’s Experience of The 2017 CrossFit Games – Day 1

EVENT 1 – RUN SWIM RUN

First event was 1.5 mile run, 500m lake swim, 1.5 mile run.

Felt confident going into this one. The strategy was to hold whatever pace on the run that the fastest men set, then make my move in the water. The run pace was definitely faster than I would have liked though! Apparently we ran at a 5:40/mile pace! Was about the 9th guy to get wet, but after the dive and first few strokes I was quickly in about 5th. As I entered the water I realized I had no idea where the buoy was. After the event talking to the other athletes they were just as confused. We also thought there would be three buoys not two. Fraser passed the first buoy just ahead of me and looked back, I yelled “let’s go man we got it!”

I pulled ahead and decided now that I’d caught my breath from the run I needed to really separate myself from the pack.

So I starting pulling longer and harder. Fraser tried to ride in my wake for a bit but I was able to keep a pace he couldn’t match. After that I didn’t look back and swam as hard as I could. Exited the water, slipped on the first mat and tore a chunk off my big toe. Had a quick transition to slip my bare feet into my Reebok Harmony Road running shoes (love them go to Reebok.ca now haha). After running about 400m I looked back and only saw one male in the distance. This was a relief. Around the third corner into the tunnel I almost ran into the camera truck. I yelled at him to pick up the pace and he did. The rest of the race I looked back fairy frequently to ensure no one caught me. At one stage I thought I saw Sam Briggs and was worried I’d get caught like last year’s trail run. Luckily it wasn’t Sam, so I held on for first even though Tia put up a good fight at the finish mat. My time was about 28:00.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXVfMHjgNp4/?taken-by=fikowski

EVENT 2 – CYCLOCROSS

Short turn around time and we were waiting for the bike event, three laps of a “cyclocross” course. The event would be about 21 minutes long. Waited about 90min in a van near the event then we had our warmup. This event burned the legs pretty good. I was never near the front of the pack but held about 8th or so position in my heat I think. Heading into the final lap Vellner and another athlete had a massive spill which fueled me to speed up and capitalize on their misfortune.

I think I also passed someone else at the beginning of the third lap on the switchbacks. Approaching the sand pit I knew I could push a little harder to try and catch the two athletes in front of me on the home stretch. I think it was Kwant and Hoerner, I started to push hard but slipped on a turn and my chain came off. I recovered pretty quick but Vellner and another rider overtook me. I had to push hard to take back my position that I’d lost after the slip. Happy with my finish and even bumped into some of the Zevia staff after the event on the sideline!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXWJx3fgHj-/?taken-by=fikowski

EVENT 3 – AMANDA.45

We had a pretty big break before the final event, I was able to sneak in a good nap which was a solid recharge. Had some good laughs in the athlete tent with Vellner and Bridges then started to warm up. Both movements felt good so I was excited to compete.

The event was 13/11/9/7/5 of ring muscleups and 135lb squat snatches. 45 reps of each total. The plan was to go 7 & 6 on the first set of muscleups, do all the snatches in quick singles except the last set of 5, and all the other muscleups I would break based on how I felt. I did just that and was happy with the result. On paper it’s not the best event for a 6’2 215lb athlete so I’ll take the points I earned and move on.

Scootered my way home, took a few selfies with fans and felt pumped for the next day of competition!

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