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!

Summer weekly class schedule. CrossFit Endurance team program, Olympic Weightlifting Club practices, and Competitor Group training hours not listed.

Summer Schedule

Check-out the new summer schedule above.  This schedule will roll into effect over the next two weeks.  Look on MBO for posted classes available for sign-up.

To note: 6 more morning class options, additional lunchtime WOD options, CF Oly in the AM, two 1.0 classes each week, two 7pm group WOD slots, and three Saturday classes.

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!

Level 1 Essay Contest Winners.

Congratulations to the Level 1 Essay Contest winners:

Andrew Wax
Suzanne Pinto
Mariah Quish
Michael Oetken
Paula Creevy

Workout clarification – you and your partner will run 400 meters.  With the time remaining in that interval (5:00) accumulate as many clean & jerks as a team (one barbell per team, same loading for both partners). During the second interval, accumulate as many toes-to-bar as possible. The next interval begins as soon as the previous interval has ended. Continue in this fashion for 30:00 minutes. Only one team member may accumulate AMRAP reps at a time.  You may not start your AMRAP work until BOTH team members have returned from the 400m run.

Essay Contest Winners Announced Here Tomorrow.

The coaching staff has been working hard to read through every essay.  We’re almost there!  We’ll post the five winners on tomorrow morning’s post.  Check back soon!

Newsletter Comes Out Today!

Make sure to check-out the newsletter where we’ll dish TONS of information on upcoming events (there are A LOT!), new classes and programs!  It’s hitting email inboxes midmorning!

Competitor Program Meeting is at 5PM!  If you are unable to make it but would like the details be sure to email Nicole with the Subject line: Competitor Program Details.

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.

Competitor Program Meeting.

Nicole and Shane have been working hard to design a program for the athlete who would like to take their CrossFit performance and training to a competitive level.  Come learn the details of this program this Friday night at 5:00pm.

The meeting will cover: 

- Program overview, concepts, goals, and phases
- Competition schedule
- Athlete expectations
- Summer phase weekly training schedule and times

You do not have to be present to participate in the program but it’s HIGHLY encouraged that you be there.  Any feedback at the meeting will be taken into consideration when designing the final schedule.

Friday at 5:00PM!

The 2013 CrossFit Open starts in 290 days.  The 2013 Southwest Regional is in 360 days.  Will you be ready?

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.

Nicole during workout 2 at the 2012 CrossFit Southwest Regionals. Nicole placed 7th in this workout.

9th.

Nicole takes 9th at the 2012 CrosFit Southwest Regional.  The weekend was nothing short of amazing, inspirational, and motivating.  Stay tuned this week for a wrap-up and other insights to the weekend and what’s to come.

For complete scores, see here.