Taranis 3D

Friday November 4th marked the beginning of the third annual Taranis Winter Challenge, a competition which has grown in popularity and competitiveness since the first edition back in 2009. This was my third TWC, making me one of the few individuals who have competed in all three (I know Alicia Connors has also... maybe Ian and Maren Chapman as well?).

From humble beginnings (there were only 9 of us and three events in the Advanced Men's division in 2009) the Taranis crew of Dan, Reed, and Chris have sculpted a multi-day, innovative and comprehensive competition that this year catered to 59 individual men and 31 women, in addition to 20 (?) teams.

The multi-day format brought forth a number of different options - namely being able to test more components of fitness while allowing for more time between events. This format also mimics the Regionals setup and is an important part of any athletes' prep for those bigger comps. Practicing one's recovery and regeneration both immediately after events and overnight as well as learning how to deal with the stress of the environment are both highly beneficial.

By creating 6 events that expanded to 9 scoring opportunities, the TWC crew put out a pretty comprehensive test of both skill and fitness. A competitor who comes out on top after that number of opportunities is arguably better able to claim the "fittest" title than if there were only 3 events. By allowing for self-selecting of weights for the max snatch and front squat widowmaker, the TWC crew managed to reward the strongest while not punishing those athletes who were a bit lower on the strength scale.

I think my favorite events were the 5k run and the kb pulley/thruster wods. To me, running is a fundamental fitness skill and is about as primal as you can get. I relish the opportunity to get "outside the box" and this run was great - rolling hills and a tailwind/headwind made for a great challenge and measure of aerobic power.

The pulley-thruster was a brilliant combo and it was all about just doing work... as evidenced by some of the "working man" competitors (John Langard and Ian Chapman) doing very well. The pulley and rope have formed the foundation of many of humankind's greatest architectural achievements so the use of these implements really pleased my nerdy mind. Definitely myself and others were frustrated by decaying grip strength through the wod but it can be easily claimed that grip strength endurance is an important fitness component.

I also liked the revealing of the wods 1 by 1. Psychologically it was easier not knowing what was coming up and really, as crossfitters we should be prepared for anything!

I wouldn't have minded seeing another longer wod pop up somewhere and I do feel that the shoulders were beaten down a bit too much over the wods but I cannot fault the ingenuity and effort of the TWC team, amazing work all round.

I will close by saying that this is an event NOT to be missed... Even if you are in "offseason" shape, the TWC is a great learning experience, tune-up event, test of fitness, and chance to crush wods with some really great people.

I for one will definitely be back for my 4th TWC next year.

Thanks for the great weekend!

Cam