03/08/2026
Day 1 recap (part 2) 🐂
Straight onto the bus after Event 1.
30 minutes to the legendary ranch of Dave Castro — and I’m someone who loves being out in nature, so seeing cattle everywhere, dogs, all the stuff you only know from the stories… it was surreal. No time to take any of it in though. Already on the bus they told us: you start 10 minutes after arrival. So — quick sugar in, running shoes on, and boom, straight to the start line.
Everyone sprinted off and I already knew this 7.2km run was going to be really, really rough. And it was. Then straight back on the bus after a quick ice bath, than warm up for the CrossFit Total. Back squat, strict press and deadlift 1RM on tired legs — but it went great: three top-10 scores in brutal heat, after rain had actually been forecast on the ranch.
Then a short break. Ice bath, sushi, and about 30 minutes of sleep right before the 20-loop bike event — something I normally can’t do at all. And then, through pure teamwork and whatever watts were left in my legs, I pulled in my first ever CrossFit Games event win. 🥇
No time for an ice bath after — the briefing for the swim event was already running. So straight from the interview, across from one side of the Morgan Hill sports complex to the pool, to close out the day in the water. All the athletes stood together for the briefing, they demoed backstroke, we got nervous for a second — but we were allowed to swim normally. So one more proper triceps and shoulder warm-up with Michael Allen tube at the pool edge, and off we went.
After the event I turned to my crew and said: “So how was the vendor village?” I hadn’t noticed a single thing all day — I genuinely thought we’d been inside the SAP Arena the whole time. 😅 CrossFit Games Day 1, 7 events, barely any sleep — it makes you a different kind of brain-dead.
Next day: rest day. Let’s go. 🔥
📸 Héctor
