More than athlete, Virginia Finol is a real warrior. There is no strength sport that resists him. It is three times Spanish PowerLifting champion, practices the Herri Kirolak or rural sport and has participated in renowned crossfiteras competitions such as French Throwdown, Amsterdam Throwdown and has just been second in the Masters +35 category of the Masters +35 category CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown.

This Venezuelan based in Pamplona is, as you can see, a warrior who seeks first of all to have a good time doing what he likes.

Discover this powerful picsil athlete.

Congratulations for being second in the CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown in category +35. How do you feel after this victory?

I still don't think it's finished second at the Lowlands. Before going we knew the wods and we knew they were favorable because they did not include any exercise that gave me especially bad, so I was very happy because I knew I was going to enjoy every Wod. That was my goal, enjoy every WOD and try to improve position 7 of the qualifier.

What goals did you have? How have you prepared?

My goal for any championship is always trying to improve the position I did in the qualifier. In this case I was seventh and my goal was to end seventh or better. My preparation is carried by Alex FernÁndez (Head Coach of CrossFit Rune) and as it was a goal for months, he has been in charge of adjusting her to get as well as possible. In addition, as we have been knowing where it was or some wod in advance, some weakness has been possible to get better.

How was the competition?

At the end of the first day, I felt totally satisfied. I made a sixth place in the 1,600m of race and a second in Wod 2 (Sprint and Sandbag). With that I could go home, which already seemed incredible.

The second day, I won a WOD with Thruster and Muscle Ups. And I finished the day in second position. Talking to my husband that day in the afternoon, we both agreed that it didn't matter second or fifth, that the work was more than done (winning a Wod was something I did not expect). So the third day was to enjoy it.

As I said, I have been second because the championship has been favorable. If they get a wod with a pool, a longer race, or a wod with heavy OHs the result would have been very different. Despite the final result, I have come with work for the coming months. There is still much to improve.

You have not officially participated in the Open but you have done some WOD. How do you see the evolution of the exercises in this competition and your own evolution as a athlete?

It seems good to me that they are increasingly demanding, such as this year it has happened with the strict HSPU. It would be good that we saw more exercises like this, such as strict muscle ups. This evolution is normal, since the level every year is greater among athletes. It has nothing to do with the current level we had 5 or 6 years ago when I started.

My evolution has been slow but sure. Taking into account that I am already 38 years old and I started in CrossFit After 30 I am very satisfied with the little steps I am taking. I would have liked to evolve faster, but for that I should have started at age 20, or have more time to improve my weaknesses, but I am realistic and my goal is to improve but also enjoy.

What do you think of the new classification mode for the Games?

Master athletes does not affect us (I am not even close to that) since the system has not changed. But as for the change of elite athletes, I think it is being a bit straight and that there will be many differences. Maybe I miss that there are minimal (as in other sports) to be able to classify and that the best really arrive, which is what we want to see.

But, this is a season of "adaptation" so it is very soon to comment, I believe that 2020 is when we will really see "the new Games" and we can comment more criteria.

Who do you think can win? Do you think someone can give a surprise in the Games?

I think everything is already distributed. The few competitions that have been made where Mat Fraser and Tia-Clair Toomey have won them, razed, so I don't expect any surprise. And if there is, I would like Annie Thorisdottir to win the Games again.

What athletes must be followed closely?

Apart from the classics: Fraser, BKG, Vellner, Tia-Clair, The Dottos, ...

On the masculine side I like Willy Georges, I see it as a young bottle that still has evolution but is demonstrating a lot (in the 2018 Games he already won some WOD). We will see what it is capable of this year.

In the female team, Jamie Green has been very good for several years (she won the 2017 Open, was second in Dubai in 2018, ...) and it may be interesting to see her progression this year and if she becomes a threat to Icelands and the Australian.

You are athlete of crossfit in the master category and also Powerlifter. How is your day to day?

Now the powerlifting is parked, but one day in my life…. The month before the lowlands was something like this:

I get up at 6 in the morning, I drink coffee with some hydrate and protein and train at 7. It does not usually reach 1h training because at 8 I have to go to work (I am a room monitor and directed activities - Functional, Cross Training, ...) and breakfast a powerful shake (cereals, protein, peanut butter, almond milk) along the way.

About 10 I will be free, I go home and try to sleep 10 or 20 minutes, lunch (2 grilled eggs, with avocado and fruit) and I go to the second session around 12, here I already invest more than 1 hour and average. To eat (my favorite is a vegetable menestra that weighs almost 1kg when throwing it into the dish hahaha) and to work all afternoon (snack similar to lunch). If I am lucky I will sleep again another 10 minutes before or after eating. I get late from working (21:30), so direct to dinner (example: a tomato salad, beet, quinoa and a 4 eggs with vegetables), Netflix and sleep.

My diet carries it Iñaki Dominguez, which in addition to nutritionist is a competitor of CrossFit And he knows very well the wear I have, the supplementation that is good for me, etc. I have always taken it a little in my way but for about 9 months I have been stricter and the results are being seen in performance.

And in times of competition?

It does not vary much, there is some more hydrate because there is usually more wear (training is usually more demanding).

What is the difference between the training of crossfit and powerlifting?

When I really competed, I trained CrossFit And between 15 and 30 days before the PowerLifting championship did more strength sessions and less than CrossFit. One of the reasons to leave it was precisely that, which was no longer enough for me to do that, I would need to dedicate me much more to powerlifting if I wanted to continue evolving. So I had to choose, and I have it clear. He CrossFit It is the first.

What do you think of the level of Spanish athletes? And of the competitions in Spain?

In Spain the level is going up a lot. On the male side we have Alexander Anasagasti (Fittest 2018 and 2019) that this year will go to Games and people who are now beginning to look more like Fabian Beneito or Asier Sánchez who are at the Sanctional level. Among women there are also new faces that come very strong as Helena Carratalá (which has already been in several sanctioning) and Silvia García (which will be).

The competitions in Spain seem to me to still have a lot of work to do. One of the biggest problems I see is that they are not intended for the athlete or for the public. That is something that out here they take care of. An example to be understood: I have competed in December in Amsterdam and I have not been cold, and I have competed in December in Spain and caught a bronchitis of the cold that I did in the pavilion, and the heating area.

It is not easy to organize a competition, it is not cheap and also implies that many people (volunteers) dedicate their free time to do well. In that aspect, anyone who gets in this deserves my respects. But if elsewhere is done, why not here?

What do you think of Fittest in Spain performances? Do you think they have options to stay in a good position?

I think they already know where they are (at least Alexander, as he says in the interview) and that the goal is to enjoy the experience, give everything and get as far as possible.

For Sara Alicia it is not the first time, so you probably have things won (where to stay, where to eat or buy quality food, ...), while Alex will have to live all that for the first time, and in this type of event the experience It is noted.

Do you see you in the Games next year?

NO. Literally impossible. Games, only the 10 best master athletes in the world arrive. This year not even Elia Navarro has managed to enter that top10. I am very aware of my level and I am very far from that top10.

What are your goals for 2019?

After CrossFit Lowlands, I am taking a few more relaxed training weeks, but facing the next 6 months my idea is to try to classify the Amsterdam Throwdown (November 22-24) and I think we will do the Open in October. Although Open are not an objective, it is a competition that has never been good for me, so I will do them more as an opportunity to see my evolution and detect things to improve.

Out of the CrossFit I have an important objective for me that is to make an exhibition of stone lifting during the Sanfermines in Pamplona. I have a very deep respect for the Herri Kirolak, and I would like to do well (it is not so much about the number of uprisings to do if not to do them with the right technique, that are pretty).