Channah Brandsema is a Sundried ambassador from the Netherlands who discovered the sport of CrossFit while recovering from an injury. She talks to us about the CrossFit Open 2018.

CrossFit Open 2018

The CrossFit Open is a 5-week online competition with thousands of athletes competing with each other throughout the world. In 5 weeks there will be 5 different workouts and every workout can be done on your own level. There is an rX workout, which is the "standard", but for those who the rX is too heavy, you can choose to go for a scaled workout. The workouts have to be filmed or done under supervision of a qualified judge. Each week on Thursday the workout will be announced and you can upload your score until Monday afternoon. 

The top 200 athletes in every division will go to the regionals for Europe this will be in Berlin on 19-23 May. Those who then make the top 20 will go to the CrossFit Games in August in Wisconsin, USA. So that sums up the CrossFit open. Now more about me.

Related: 5 Tips For Surviving CrossFit

My name is Channah Brandsema and I'm a Dutch triathlete. In March 2017, I ruptured one of my ankle ligaments, it had to be operated on to make it possible to compete again in the Dutch highest division of triathlon. During my ankle rehab I got in touch with CrossFit, which is a lovely combination of strength, gymnastics and endurance. One of the first CrossFit workouts I did with my physio was a real eye-opener. In triathlon, it is sometimes hard to train the transition from cycling to running as I find I'm out of breath in the first mile of running. While doing the CrossFit workout with my physio I found I had the same issue, so I realised this would be a great way to improve my triathlon transitions! The workouts are hard but it is really improving my triathlon training as well as my CrossFit training. So that is the way I became enthusiastic about CrossFit.

Related: Getting Started In CrossFit

In December 2017 I start following some CrossFit workouts in addition to my triathlon training, and decided I wanted to combine the two sports and see what happens. Well, two months later and I'm competing in the CrossFit Open!

Related: 5 Things You'll Only Understand If You've Tried CrossFit

Some final questions to ask myself before I enter the CrossFit Open: am I nervous? No, not at all, I have nothing to lose. Am I excited? Yes, for sure! No one knows what is coming in the workouts. So everyone is looking forward to the announcement. Am I ready to start? Yes, I am. I haven't done all CrossFit movements yet, so there will be surprises for me during the workouts. But I think I will handle it.