Thursday, February 7, 2013

SacTown Throwdown 2013

2013 Sac Town Throwdown.

Over 100 teams from Northern California competed in the 2013 Sac Town Throwdown at the Placer County Fairgrounds in Roseville, CA.  Teams consisted of 4 people: 2 men, 2 women in three divisions: open, novice, and masters.  The competition spanned the weekend, with the top twelve teams in each division advancing to day two.

Blair Morrision, did the programming again this year.  The WODs on Saturday covered a range of movements and skills with a twist added to it: log ground-to-overhead, cartwheels on a narrow plank, and double unders with a heavy rope, just to name a few.  I think the competition did a good job of testing your skills against the different domains of CrossFit.  It was very well-rounded, especially compared to some of the other ones out there.  The dart throwing might have been a little funky but it was fun and worth half as much.  The only thing I wasn't such a fan of was that day 1 was more individual-based than team.  The 'team' competition came on day 2, for those who proved themselves.

I did this competition last year and though the programming style and flow were the same, the vibe and the competition itself was very different.  Some of the changes this year vs. last year include: Day 1 workouts were not very team-based, all athletes participated in all workouts, higher fee, and a curve-based scoring system.  The curved-based scoring system rewarded the teams who crushed the workouts (ex. CF Santa Cruz on Gymnastic Ladder) and punished those who didn't do as well (i.e. your team can get a score of 0 on a workout).  This was rough but fair.

Also, competition kicked it up a notch... huge notch!  People just got so much stronger.  I remember last year the 115# atlas stone and muscle ups were difficult for most women in the open division... this year they were not road blocks.  CrossFit is blowing up so fast and more people seem to be living, breathing, and training full time for CrossFit.  Makes it tough to keep up and stay competitive.

Anyway, here is a list of the workouts:

Day 1 - WOD 1: Strongman Ladder: 20 stations. 35 seconds to make a successful lift.  10 seconds transition time.  Men's weight start at 135#; Women's weight start at 85#.  The lift order repeats as follows for five progressively heavier rounds:
  • Stone to Shoulder
  • Log Ground to Overhead
  • Tire Flip
  • Axel Deadlift and 30 second Hold (double overhand grip)
  • 3 minute max reps snatch BW/0.75BW.  Novice/Masters: 0.8BW/0.6BW
2. Hillary killing it as usual.


3. Me

Day 1 - WOD 2: Gymnastic Ladder: 10 stations.  35 seconds to complete max reps at each station.  10 seconds transition time.
  • Ring Muscle Ups (3pts each)
  • Alternating Candlestick Roll to Pistol (1pt each)
  • Toes to Bar (1pt each)
  • Handstand Pirouettes (1pt each)
  • Pull Ups (1pt each)
  • Cartwheels on 2x8 plank (4pts each)
  • Handstand Push Ups (1pt each)
  • Superman Plank with Chain (1pt/second)
  • Bar Pullovers (3pt each)
  • Max Handstand Hold (1pt/second)
4. Janet on MUs.


5. AC finishing up.


Day 1 - WOD 3: Conditioning Test: 4 stations.  4 minutes/station for max reps.  1 athlete/station.  Stations are:
  • Airdyne (for calories)
  • Obstacle Climb Over and Under
  • Heavy Rope Double Unders
  • Sandbag Shuttle Run
6.  Obstacle Climb Over & Under.

7. Heavy rope DU.. these were nasty.


Day 1 - Efficiency Floater: 2min max Power Cleans.  You pick weight.  Score = (reps x range of motion x bar weight) / bodyweight.




Day 1 - Accuracy Floater (worth 1/2 as much): Score = value of spears + time remaining on clock when 5th spear strikes.  In 1 minute:
  • 20 Burpees
  • Throw 5 spears at target

9. Targets.


And for Day 2....

Day 2 - Team Max Snatch: With one men's bar and one women's bar, all team members total their max snatches in 8 minutes.  Loose USAW standards: no press outs, bottoms of feet only may touch the ground, no dumping bar behind.

Rest 2 minutes.

Day 2 - Team Yolk Carry: 400m for time.  Open: 1000#.  Novice 850#.  Masters: 700#.

Rest 2 minutes.

Day 2 - Team Relay Murph: w/ 20# vests.  One person working at a time.  Each athlete must attempt 1 rep when its their turn.  All sets are unbroken, so if you stop moving, the next person goes.  For time:
  • Each member runs 400m
  • Rotate in the same order throughout the workout:
    • 100 Pull Ups
    • 200 Push Ups
    • 300 Air Squats
  • Each member runs 400m
10. Dave on snatches.


11. Yolk Carry.


12. Master's on Murph.

And more pictures:
13. Our team.


14. Our team.


15. Miss these ladies!



16. Open Division winners!


Scores can be found here.  Congratulations to all those who competed and to all the teams who won!  It was a good show and a good competition, for sure.

We didn't do as well as we wanted to this year.  Unfortunately, I think the underlying issue is that we don't have the same awesome support and training from our gym this year.  Anyway, needless to say, I left the competition in a better mood.  I had fun being on our team, catching up with some friends, trying new things and equipment, and PRing my max consecutive muscle ups.  We'll see if I do this again next year.  In the meantime, I'm curious to see what the Open brings..

Related Posts: Sac Town Throwdown 2012
Other Comps I Participated In: 2013 CrossFit Games Open | Occupy Strength NorCal | NorCal Regionals -Team | 2012 CrossFit Games Open2011 OktoberFit  
Other Oly Comps I Participated In: 2014 Cal Strength Meet2014 Senior National Championships2014 Hassle Free Open & Invitational2013 American Open Championships | 2013 Ensign Gray Invitational | 2013 Fall Classic | 2013 Senior National Championships | 2013 PWA Senior Open | 2012 Redwood Empire Championships