With most of the Rogue Invitational events released yesterday afternoon, the athletes can now begin preparing and strategizing for how to best attack the various workouts. But with only a couple days before the start of the competition, there isn’t time to practice the events or do a run through to get a sense of the time domain or what it will feel like.
After seeing that several athletes from CrossFit Invictus were testing Event 2, Ski Bar, to give some insight into the workout for Jorge Fernandez, we were curious whether other athletes had others back home testing the workouts to give them a sense of what to expect.
But after talking with 12 other athletes, it sounds like Fernandez might be in the minority. Most of the athletes we spoke with are relying on their past experience competing at the Games rather than trying to nail down a specific strategy ahead of the competition. And that makes sense with what is likely the strongest men’s field in the history of the Rogue Invitational. Between the men’s and women’s field, there is 138 combined years of individual CrossFit Games experience. Pat Vellner, who has been to the CrossFit Games as an individual the past seven years, told us he will just “strategize based on a wealth of experience”.
The athletes, however, aren’t just relying on experience without coming up with a specific strategy. Sam Kwant said he plans to strategize with his coach, Harry Palley, one event at a time rather than looking too far ahead at all the workouts. The same is true for Carolyne Prevost who said she will come up with a game plan before each workout but will adjust on the competition floor as needed.
And while many are planning on strategizing before each event, some are relying on their ability to strategize on the fly. Lazar Djukic and Arielle Loewen both said they feel confident in their ability to make their way through the workout without overly thinking about strategy beforehand. “All I can control is my effort & I really don’t think about strategy until 3-2-1 go hits & I attack it,” commented Loewen.
It’s clear that most of the athletes competing at the Rogue Invitational are confident in their ability to perform their best in a workout without spending a ton of time thinking about strategy. This seems to be especially true for those with more Games experience than the up and coming athletes.Â
As you watch this weekend, keep an eye out for the athletes who come out hot early and watch if they can sustain that pace of if they will be caught by those who might have paced better. It’s those who can hold a consistent pace throughout that did the best job strategizing the workout – whether it was beforehand or while on the fly.Â
