Stef, Matt, and Gator sprint up the stairs because they love running so much. Who's hiding behind Stef? Can anyone identify?

WOD 1.0 Monday and Tuesdays Starting Next Week

Read below for details on the revamped WOD 1.0 class that hits the schedule Monday AND Tuesdays at 5pm starting this coming week.

We got a lot of great feedback about Ali’s start-up of the WOD 1.0 class.  Below are details on the next iteration of this class.

The WOD 1.0 class was designed for folks who are looking for a great transition from Foundations to group class, those who have been CrossFitting for 6 months or less, those coming back after a period away from CrossFit, or those who are looking for a class that does CrossFit in its purest sense.  The class strays from the regular group WOD programming to focus on workouts and skill sessions that refine and develop the 9 Foundational Movements and basic bodyweight movements in a still high intensity, but lower overall volume, set-up.  The class mimics the regular WOD class in terms of structure (warm-up, skill/practice, workout, warmdown) and commits daily practice to a designated monthly skill.

Come join Ali and Nicole on Monday to check it out!

Eric competed in the first Colorado Open in 2008. He and Nicole both competed in 2009. As the competition has grown over the years it's gotten more and more fun. Come join the fun!

Colorado Open and Class Schedule Additions

FIRST:
The Colorado Open registration opens today at NINE AM!  Make sure you are ready to register!  Spots fill up QUICKLY.  Nicole is registered…who’s coming with her?…

SECOND: 
Class schedule additions are being posted on MBO as we type!  Be sure to look for additional morning options, noon classes, two WOD 1.0 options, and later evening WODs (7pm).  We’ll post the entire class schedule with changes tomorrow!

Check out the new searchable database!

CF Whiteboard: Search And Athlete Profiles Are Here!

Check out the CF Whiteboard widget next to the title of this blog post! This is where you can enter your results for the Workout Of The Day and SEARCH your history!!! Athletes who track their results here will also get a profile on the Root’s new “Athletes Page.”  Just click on your name in the widget to go to your profile and search your history.

When searching on your profile page, try searching for a movement like “deadlift” or  “1-1-1-1-1” to find a one rep max. Haven’t been logging your workouts on the WHITEBOARD? It’s never too late to start!

Remember: You are selling yourself short if you don’t track your progress. Write down your workout times and weights, max reps, and skills developed so that you have a way to gauge your improvement, identify weaknesses, and celebrate accomplishments.

CF Whiteboard was created by two of our athletes, Collin and Faye. They are ALWAYS looking for feedback, good and bad, that will help them improve the product. Feel free to email them at athletesupport@cfwhiteboard.com with comments, ideas, or questions.

Press
3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3
on :45 seconds rest
then
Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3-3-3
2 min rest

Roots athletes at the 2012 Southwest Regional.

A Better Rep.

As many of you know, I spent a good bit of time over the past two and a half months preparing myself for regionals.  Double sessions, going in before and after work, meticulously preparing my every meal (yes Eric, we can eat some different meals now), avoiding crap food and situations that would lead to a poor nights sleep, and working my weaknesses to a pulp was pretty much the norm.  Approaching this weekend I felt more confident and prepared than I have ever felt for a regional competition (and this would be my fourth).

Then came the first workout – Diane.  I had set myself on a 4:39 performance – sub 5:00 for sure.  One set into the 15s and I was fatigued almost to failure and doing sets of 2 & 3 handstand push-ups.  I stayed focused but knew the outcome would be somewhat tragic – 8:16 was my time.  Just two weeks earlier I had done the workout almost 2:00 minutes faster.  

As I walked off the floor and disappointment started to build-up inside, my coach looked at me and said, “You have 4:00 minutes to be disappointed – and then we move on.”  Sure I was disappointed but I didn’t know how to be upset, I had given everything I had in that workout and couldn’t make sense of any of it.  And what did that mean for how the rest of the weekend would go for me?

That’s when the Regionals Demons of 2011 entered my head…

In 2011 I started regionals in a similar situation – with a performance that was so far off the mark that it devastated me.  It devastated me to the point that I completely shut down for the rest of the weekend.  I was embarrassed, I felt like I had let so many people down, and I let it affect every ounce of the competitor inside me.  I reached the workout now known as the 100s and saw it as my ticket out of there as in my head there was no way I could move on to day 3.  As I sat there doing the overhead squats, I kept thinking to myself how much I didn’t want to be there.  I shut down – I quit.

That experience, my resulting performances during that weekend, and my reaction to the situation has stuck with me for an ENTIRE YEAR.  It’s one of those deep dark experiences that takes my breath away every time I think about it because I am so disappointed in myself.  It’s not how my parents taught me to react to a less than optimal experience, it’s not the person Eric loves, and it’s certainly not the person I wanted to be or wanted my athletes to be.

A little research into that weekend showed me that had I given just a little more in the 100s workout I would have made it to day 3 and who knows where I could have placed.  But I was so consumed with my poor performance and what I thought every other athlete could do that I counted myself out mentally before the show even got going.

Flash forward to 1:00 minute after Diane and I realized that I was in the same exact situation as last year…

Could this really be happening again?  Yes Nicole, it actually did happen again.  Am I just really not cut out for this? Am I a has been athlete who understands the intricacies of CrossFit and its method but just really can’t hang anymore?  Do I love my sport but my sport has passed me by?  Should I just stick to coaching?

I had to decide – I could let this first performance beat me down and let the flood of negative thoughts consume my brain or I could move on and make the most of the remainder of the weekend.

And that’s when I made the conscious decision to react differently this time.  I was going to make the absolute most of every workout and crawl myself back to the top ten.

The next workout was nothing but motivating.  Sitting on my erg and looking across the floor to a crew of Roots athletes there to cheer me on made the difference.  I would go for it and leave it all out there.  The weaknesses I worked to a pulp died a quick death as I hang power cleaned 135 pounds with (sort of) ease.  The dumbbell snatch workout that took me 15:00 on Tuesday but which I practiced those damn DB high pulls religiously every other day for the past two weeks – that came together nicely in 7:24.  My perception that “I’m not good at barbell complex stuff” disappeared when I took 4th in WOD4.

For many, our perception of CrossFit is that it will make us fit, but it will do so much more.  Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFit, once said, “the greatest adaptation to CrossFit takes place between the ears.”  And it’s true.  My decision to learn from my past experience and create a different outcome this year was more than I can gain from any backsquat or muscle-up – but it is CrossFit and its community that creates the environment for this type of mental magic to take place.

A huge thank you to everyone who came out this weekend, sent emails, showed support, and gave me high fives and hugs.  

I love CrossFit, I love my athletes, and I love that everyday we have a chance to do a better rep than the day, or year, before.

Compare to 3/29/3012

Midway through the pull-up and dip grind of yesterday.

Regional Workouts Announced!

The CrossFit Regional workouts were announced last night.

You can check them out HERE as well as watch a video describing each.

So, what do you think?  Post to comments.

Diane, Matt, Mr. Exercise, Jonathan, Melani, and Wendy at one of the CFE workouts. Like to run? You'll do that at CFE. Like CrossFit? Oh, you'll do that too.

The CrossFit Roots Endurance Team Posts HUGE Gains.

Tracie sends us an update from the CrossFit Roots Endurance Team training group:

The CrossFit Roots Endurance Team kicked off the second half of the inaugural program this week. These are the guys and gals dragging themselves in for 5:30 AM Strength and Conditioning workouts (they are not 5:30 AMers by choice, trust me) and often following them up with a running workout later in the day. The Roots Endurance Team is geared toward athletes that want to focus on building their capacity for longer efforts in running, biking, swimming, rowing or other demanding endurance events. And build the endurance capacity they have…

On Monday, we retested a benchmark that the crew had completed early on. Well, kind of. The Team had run a 1-mile time trial as one of the initial CFE workouts. On Monday, they ran not 1, but 4, 1-mile time trials with 3 minutes rest in between. As you might expect, every single athlete that completed both workouts PRed. What you might not expect is that most of them improved their times by 45 seconds to a minute and a half faster than their previous mile time.  Even more astonishing is that they held on to those much faster times on mile 2 and mile 3 and even mile 4.  These guys have worked very, very hard and it is awesome to see the results start to roll in.

Here are a few examples.  Ask them about it and let them tell you.

• Jonathan Woodard consistently beat his previous time by almost a minute each mile.
• Cheryl Lowitzer (CAL) improved her mile time by close to 2 minutes…and held on to it for multiple mile repeats.
• Lori de Brun (Killer) PRd by over a minute and made it look easy!  Over and over again.
• The list goes on…ask Moishe, Diane, Wendy, or Rob.  Without exception, everyone’s last mile was faster than their time trial at the start of the session.

If you see these guys around, congratulate them. If you see them in your WOD, try to catch them!

If you missed out on this Endurance Team session, start thinking about the summer session. Details to follow soon. In the meantime, join us for the open class on Mondays at 4:30.

Denham is getting STRONG!

The 2012 CrossFit Southwest Regionals: May 4-6.

Get ready!  The 2012 CrossFit Southwest Regionals are coming to the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Castle Rock, Colorado on May 4-6.  Check out an overview of the regional competition level here.

Come watch athletes from around the region compete for male, female, and team spots to the 2012 CrossFit Games.  Nicole will be representing CrossFit Roots in the women’s individual competition.

Tickets are on sale now and are $10 for one day or $25 for all three days.  Tickets are available here.

Do you plan to check out the CrossFit Southwest Regional?  Post to comments.

Are you tracking your scores somewhere?

Week in Review and Photo Albums

Week in Review – check out the news from this week!

Level 1 Essay Contest - Explain what CrossFit means to you and why you want to attend the Level 1 Course at CrossFit Roots

Look Good Naked Challenge Registration - Get all the details for the spring nutrition challenge HERE

The Cool Cruel Summer Series - get ready to vote for the workouts you’d like to see!

Photo Albums

March at Roots - CrossFit Open WODs 12.3, 12.4, 12.5, Spring Fling, Barbara, and more!

In-House Olympic Weightlifting Meet - LOTS of photos from the in-house weightlifting meet.

Essay Contest.

CrossFit Roots is pleased to announce that it was asked to host the CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course on June 30 – July 1, 2012.  We are very excited to host this two-day seminar.

The CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course serves a number of purposes.  The CrossFit website describes it best:

The Level 1 Trainer Certificate Course introduces the mechanical, conceptual, and theoretical foundations of CrossFit. Additionally, there will be “break out’ sessions for demonstration and practical application of the 9 Foundational Movements. The lectures, demonstrations, presentations, and breakouts all serve to indoctrinate participants with CrossFit’s conceptual underpinnings, while the workouts serve to reinforce/drive home the application.  Events rotate approximately hourly for the duration making for two long days.

The Level 1 Certificate Course serves many different people – it is for the individual who would like to learn about CrossFit for the first time, the individual who has had a life changing experience through CrossFit and wants to gain a deeper understanding of the method, foundation, and movements, and for the individual who would like to take their first step toward coaching athletes.

Now, for the exciting news!

CrossFit Roots has FOUR spots to award to Roots athletes who would like to attend this course.  To enter to earn a spot at the Level 1, submit an essay to us by April 30th.

Level 1 Essay Question:
Explain what CrossFit means to you and why you want to attend the Level 1 Course.

Submission Guidelines: 

• This contest is open to current Roots members only
• All essays must be submitted in hardcopy form in a sealed envelope to CrossFit Roots by April 30th
• This is an anonymous essay contest.  Do not label your envelope.  You will receive instructions on how to label your envelope when you bring it to the shop to submit.
• Essays must be hand delivered.  Do not mail your submission, we never read mail delivered to the shop
• All essay submissions are due by close of business on April 30th
• No late submissions will be accepted

Essay submissions will be reviewed by a team of individuals including coaches and non-coaches.

Essay contest winners will be announced on the blog on May 7th, 2012.

Post questions to comments.

Weekly food preparation is part of healthy eating habits. The alternative is to buy pre-made food. Both options work. Here, 2.5 hours of food preparation on a Sunday made all breakfast, lunches, and 1/2 dinners for the week.

Announcing the Spring 2012 Look Good Naked Challenge

You asked for it and it’s here!  The Spring 2012 Look Good Naked Challenge starts Sunday, April 22nd with a week of prep work beginning April 16th.  

Hears a quick overview of the challenge:

• Strictly Paleo with a Paleo/Zone option 
• Before and after indicators including mobile hydrostatic body fat testing 
• 40-day challenge
• Food log monitoring and guidance
• Resources including weekly meal plans and shopping lists
• Required shop attendance
• Awesome prizes for challenge winners (male and female)

Read below for a thorough outline of the challenge dates, overview, and structure.  Post to comments any questions.  

Sign-up for the challenge opens Wednesday, April 11th and is limited to 30 people.  The registration link will be posted online.

challenge overview

• This spring’s challenge was designed to be a perfect starting point for individuals who have not yet explored the world of Paleo eating.  In addition, we designed the challenge for Paleo veterans who are moving in a great direction with their Paleo efforts but need to look at some fine tuning.
• The challenge will be 40 days in length
• The challenge focus areas are: before and after indicators (hard numbers!), accountability in food consumption and logging, and consistency in shop attendance.   Each area will be measured or tracked throughout the 40 days.
• The challenge will crown a male and female winner.  Read below for prize information!

challenge calendar

• Wednesday, April 11th – challenge sign-up made available on MBO
• Monday, April 16th – mobile hydrostatic body fat testing and Challenge Meeting at 7:00 AM or 6:00 PM (mandatory)
• Sunday, April 22nd – challenge begins
• Thursday, May 31 – mobile hydrostatic body fat retest, prizes awarded, and challenge end at the May Cool Cruel Summer Benchmark WOD evening event!

challenge structure in relation to overarching themes

1. Indicators (before and after) - pictures, body fat percentage and lean body mass, weight.  We have arranged for a mobile hydrostatic body fat truck to come to Roots before and after the challenge (see challenge calendar above for dates)
2. Accountability – daily food logging and coach monitoring, notes/feedback in log on 2-3 day basis, email communication for questions and guidance
3. Consistency – workout 5x/week.  Four of those workouts must be WODs (no specialty classes).  Fifth workout can be another WOD, a specialty class, or an outdoor activity.

Post questions to comments.