ESTEVAN - Tracy Grube pushed the limits of her strength and endurance at a recent CrossFit competition and earned a medal for her efforts.
Grube finished second in the masters women’s event for those in the 50-54 age group at the recent CanWest Games in Coquitlam, B.C. She had to withstand six gruelling events over three days of intense physical competition to come home with the silver medal.
Grube finished eighth in that age group when she last competed in 2019.
“I’ve changed my mindset and I work really hard. I train five or six days a week, two-and-a-half hours a day, and I just try to do the best that I can for as long as I can,” said Grube.
Each of the six events is given a nickname that reflects the type of event. Grube was particularly proud of how she did in the event known as In the Trenches.
“The one lady who got first, she was a damn good athlete, so I tried my best to keep up to her as much as I could, and in that one, she only beat me by four reps,” said Grube.
In the Trenches consisted of box jumpovers, burpees, hand stand push-ups, a sled push and lifting a sandbag over the shoulder. She had to do many of the exercises twice, although in a different order. And she had 15 minutes to complete the entire stage.
“They put them together in such a way that even though some of them are short, usually the shorter ones tend to be the ones that get you the quickest,” she said. “By the end of the day, each day, you’re pretty exhausted. You have to make sure you eat a lot of food and feed your body really well.”
By the third day of the competition, she could tell her fellow competitors were in the same boat, with fatigue setting in. Some of her fellow competitors suffered injuries.
“I was fortunate enough that my body held out pretty well for me,” said Grube. “Mentally, it can be the toughest by Day 3, because you know it’s the last day, and you’ve already done two days of really hard work, and you have those last two workouts left to go.”
The other themes were Sell your Soul Cycle, The Bends, Punch the Clock, Steel Toe Boots and HWPO Selection. She would have to ride a stationary bike, use a rowing machine, lift weights, perform pull-ups, complete lunges, climb a rope, run and complete squats. And just like In the Trenches, each of the other components had a time limit.
When she’s worn down, Grube finds it amazing what the body and mind can accomplish.
“It’s pretty amazing to see that many fit athletes in one venue. It’s unreal. It’s pretty inspiring,” she said.
Grube noted she has a new coach, Jason Cain out of Crossfit 306 in Saskatoon. He has guided her remotely while she does all of her training from home in her garage.
“He sends me all of the programming, and then I’ll send him videos and all of my results go on a Google spreadsheet, and he helps train me to achieve the results that I’m aiming for,” she said.
It’s been just over six months that she has been working with him, and Grube has noticed a lot of gains in her fitness and her competitive results. She believes Cain is a big part of why she did so much better than three years ago.
Cain is a former CrossFit Games athlete, and Grube said he understands what needs to be done to succeed.
“When I say I do 2 1/2 hours of work, it’s solid work. I do get to eat a lot of food, which is good, because you have to recover, and definitely you have to put the work in to get the reward,” she said.
Grube’s introduction to CrossFit can be traced back to 2014, when Brett Blackstock opened Blackrock Fitness in Estevan. The company held an open house that she attended, even though she had never done CrossFit before.
“It sounded interesting to me. I have always liked doing different things, so I thought I would give it a try. I had to start at the bottom just like everybody else, because I had never done anything like it before.”
She attained the different levels within the organization and eventually became a coach.
When the gym closed its doors in Estevan, she moved equipment into her garage.
“I was starting to think I might want to take it a little more seriously. And without there being a place to train, I didn’t know how I would do that,” she said.
With her husband’s blessing, the garage was transformed into the gym where she could train, and that’s when she started reaching out to coaches for remote training. She had a couple that were great to work with, but circumstances in their lives changed, and Grube turned to Cain.
“It’s not the same as having a coach there with you when you’re at a place where you can train, but it’s the only way I can do it with the situation where we live. It works out well.”
She has also trained at his facility in Saskatoon.
Grube wants to return to the CanWest Games and take top spot next year. Her ultimate goal is to qualify for the CrossFit Games, which are an annual international athletic competition.
“I just want people to know that it’s never too late to try to learn new things and find new passions in life,” she said.
