9 Ridiculous Things That Happened at the 2018 CrossFit Games

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“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” — Jackie Robinson

Starbucks is helping you meet your protein goals.

The story.

You might have noticed that Starbucks recently inserted themselves into the protein scene when they introduced a new product: their plant-based protein blended cold brew.

Cold brew? We’re in.

Wait, there’s protein? Double in.

The stats.

The drinks come in 16 ounces and two flavors: almond and cacao. At less than 300 calories each they’re definitely one of the better choices of frozen drinks Starbucks offers. They pack 10-12 grams of protein each, and they’ve nixed all refined sugars. The sweetness comes from a banana/date fruit blend as well as coconut sugar. Oh yeah, and they’re 100% vegan.

But how do they taste?

You know what? Not bad. We tried the cacao version and it definitely satisfied the sweet tooth without any junk-food guilt. It won’t be replacing the regular black cold brew order anytime soon, but it’s a fun way to mix it up.

Wait, is Starbucks getting more CrossFitter-friendly?

You might say so. Starbucks has been carrying a lot more options geared toward their health conscious customers these days: Perfect Bars, their protein bistro box, sous-vide egg bites, and even their own line of kombucha. Now we can swing by on the way home from a WOD for a snack and pick-me-up without totally sabotaging our nutrition goals.

HIGHLIGHT REEL.

9 of the Most Ridiculous Things that Happened at the 2018 CrossFit Games.

Every year, the CrossFit Games brings together the best in the elite fitness world to compete for the title of Fittest on Earth.

After 560 athletes took the stage over five days, here are 9 of the most ridiculous things that happened you might not have heard about.

1. Steph Chung competed during the entire CrossFit Games with a broken ankle.
2. Landon Brazzell suffered a massive brain injury in 2012, almost shattering his CrossFit Games dreams.
3. Patrick Vellner bruised his lung, coughed up blood and still got second.
4. 14-year-old Olivia Sulek became the youngest athlete to win her division.
5. Sara Sigmundsdottir competed for two days with a broken rib, including a 10th place finish on the marathon row, 6th place on the clean and jerk speed ladder, 6th place on Fibionacci, and an 11th on Madison Triplus
6. 60-year-old Mark Landry got his first muscle-up at the CrossFit Games.
7. Masters athlete Will Powell returns to complete the swim event he almost drowned in last year.
8. Sheila Barden from Team Don’t Stop competed with a herniated disc.
9. 14-year-old Maddy Espinoza split jerked 220 pounds.

Things To…

WATCH: 200 Pounds Down with More to Go

At her heaviest, Athena Perez weighed 450 pounds. When she started CrossFit she couldn’t walk up the stairs. Today, she’s lost more than 200 pounds and recently completed the CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course.

SHE’S ALL IN.

HEAR: Miles By Molly 

Molly Cuevas is running across America. Currently covering 20+ miles a day in training for this goal, Molly is fundraising for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. The West Coast Advantage Podcast sat down with Molly as she prepares for her run, which is coming up April 2019.

RUN MOLLY, RUN.

EAT: Vegan Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls 

Meet the world’s best vegan cinnamon rolls: vegan banana bread cinnamon rolls. A cross between a cinnamon roll and banana bread, these fluffy, soft cinnamon rolls are homemade and make a delicious brunch or treat.

BETTER THAN CINNABON.

BUY: New Colors for the Nano

The Nano 8 Flexweave is now available in 10 new fall colors like hunter green, twisted berry, skull grey, and shark. There’s even still some Nano 4’s available. 

GET A PAIR.

Today’s edition of the Morning Chalk Up is powered by

Chalk Up Community

• WOD FOR A CAUSE — The 5th Annual WOD for a Cause is September 29, at CrossFit Murrieta, which will benefit Next Step Service Dogs.
• GOPHER FIT — The Gopher State Challenge, a two-week long online competition for the state of Minnesota to find the top CrossFit gym, starts October 1st. 
• FIT FOR FREEDOM –– St. Peters CrossFit in Missouri is hosting a fundraiser event October 6th with CrossFit WODs during the day and trivia during the night. The event will raise money for Crisis Aid International.
• NEW CROSSFIT IN TOWN — Penny and Nick Guccione have just opened Orchard Valley CrossFit in Newburgh, NY. They offer a ten percent discount for first responders and nurses.

CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES (a highlight reel around social media of CrossFit pros and average joes)

Congratulations to Team USA Olympic Weightlifter Kathleen Winters for tying the knot last weekend • Nate Harrington gets a 220 pound clean PR • Congratulations to Zach Rhodes on competing in his first CrossFit competition • Ibtehal Hussein kicks into a headstand for the first time • RXBAR releases Maple Almond Butter • Ben Bergeron, Adrian Conway, Seth Page, Michele Letendre, Julian and Miranda Alcarez, Wheel WOD and Team Soul will be collaborating on the programming for Wodapalooza 2019.

…and Alec Smith might have a future in the circus if he keeps this up.

WOD for a Whole Day — Over the weekend, Crossfit Dynamo in Cumming, GA completed their 2nd Annual 24in24 where more than 100 athletes completed one WOD per hour for 24 hours. The event began at 7:00pm on Friday and continued until 7:00pm on Saturday. Together they raised $82,097 for Rally Foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer research. 

Jenny Earl-Mike Nielsen on the Nonscale Victories of her Weight Loss Transformation — “24 weeks and 73 pounds down! I am now two pounds away from my goal weight. I finally talked myself into buying some jeans, I put on a size I wore in high school! The employee helping me started to worry when I cried after I put them on, but I reassured her they were happy tears. Weight loss has been such an emotional journey and I have to work at it everyday. I have talked with so many people throughout who have asked me ‘how are you doing it?’ The biggest key is I finally decided to change the choices I was
making…I chose bad foods for emotional and convenient reasons, I chose not to exercise cause it didn’t fit in my schedule, so truthfully I chose my weight. I finally decided if I wanted it bad enough I would choose differently. It wasn’t easy and as a mom of five I had plenty of reasons why I couldn’t. I am so grateful to all who have encouraged, coached, advised, supported, motivated, inspired, and helped me along the way!”

“Saved by the Barbell: Why Kids Need CrossFit,” by Jessica Danger, Morning Chalk Up

Since 1970, the percentage of children and adolescents affected by obesity has more than tripled. In 2016, one out of every five children was obese.

Unfortunately across the nation, recess is becoming a thing of the past and cafeteria food and sugar-stocked vending machines only contribute to the problem. With limited access to affordable healthy food and exercise options, children living in underserved communities are at even greater risk.

The CrossFit community has long possessed the answer. Kids need to move. To get outside and play. To stand up from their desks and couches and go outside, go to the gym, and learn how to nourish their bodies in a safe and healthy community.

CrossFit is well ahead of the curve on working to solve this nationwide problem. Today, there are more than 1,800 CrossFit Kids registered programs at affiliates and more than 1,000 CrossFit programs in schools.

“I think the things you learn from CrossFit, and the things you learn from being a part of a supportive community that wants to see you succeed and wants to see you healthy, is so important for kids,” Olivia Leonard, Executive Director of the CrossFit Foundation said. “Health benefits aside, there is a huge benefit for kids to participate.”

​8/31: Greece with VoyEdge RX

9/1: Tampa Bay Games (Tampa, FL)

9/1: Battle At The Base 3 (Oklahoma City, OK)

9/6 – 9/9: Kill Cliff Granite Games (St. Cloud, MN) 

9/7: Koski Training Camp (Lloret de Mar, Spain) 

​9/8: Midwest Fall Classic (Tulsa, OK)

​9/8: The Sugar Skull Showdown (Agawam, MA)

9/8: I Can CrossFit Competition (Georgetown, TX)

9/8: Global Aftermath 2018 (Online)

9/8: The Catalyst Games (Bastrop, TX) 

9/8: BoxLife Games @ CrossFit Bear Cat (Bunnell, FL)

9/8: BoxLife Games @ CrossFit Wynwood (Miami, FL)

9/8: Booties in Action (Wilsonville, OR)9/8: Hookd2Hops 2018 (Newtown, CT)

9/8: Rumble in the Jungle 2018 (LaVista, NE)

9/8: 2018 Battle of the Bluegrass (Louisville, KY) 

9/8: Decima Throwdown (Littleton, CO)

9/8: First Timers Fitness Festival 2 (Burlington, MA) 

9/8: Girls Gone RX (Bridgeville, PA) 

9/8: BoxLife Games at CrossFit James Island (Charleston, SC) 

9/8: Femme Royale (Denver, CO) 

9/8: Double Trouble Throw Down (Twinsburg, OH)

9/8: Power Output Challenge (San Antonio, TX)

9/9: Reps for Recovery (Annapolis, MD)

9/8 – 9/9: Beach Cities Battle 2018 (Gardena, CA)

9/8 – 9/9: The Vermonster Team Challenge (Berlin, VT)

9/15: Warrior Affiliate League Three Amigos (Pomona,CA)

9/15: No Mans Land 4 (Painesville, OH)

9/15: Average Joes (Troy, MI) 

9/15: Stateline Throwdown 2018 (McHenry, IL)

9/15: Project Uplift (Fort Collins, CO)

9/15: Barbells for Bullies (Lexington, SC)

9/15: Barbell Brawl IV (Kennett Square, PA)

9/16: 2018 Battle at the Rock (Castle Rock, CA)

​9/16: 5th Annual North East Masters Classic (Plainville, MA)

9/16: The Brazen Cup 2018 (Fairfield, NJ) 

9/22: Shatter the Stigma III (Boyertown, PA)

9/22: New Kids on the 321 Block 2018 (Topsham, ME)

9/22: Femme Royale at Eagle Wing CrossFit (Orange, CA)9/22: 2nd Annual CrossFit TUFF Charity Row-A-Thon (Nashua, NH) 

9/22: Girls Gone RX Denver (Denver, CO) 

9/22: Legends of the WOD (Grapevine, TX)

9/22 – 9/23:The D-Town Throwdown (Decatur, Illinois)

9/22 – 9/23: The Cascade Classic (Seattle, WA)

9/23: Games of the Ages Masters Team Competition (Hanson, MA)

9/23: Cadre Crucible Team Competition (Hudson, OH)

9/23: Detroit Red Wings WOD (Detroit, MI) 

9/23: IronWorkz Gauntlet (Medina, OH)

9/24: CrossFit New England 3rd Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament (Hudson, MA)

9/28 – 9/29: Pensacola Beach Brawl (Pensacola Beach, FL)9/28 – 9/29: The Primal Games (Savannah, GA)

9/29: Kilo Crush Fest (Hampton, VA) 

9/29: Barcode Team Competition (Leander, TX)

9/29: Long Island Masters Team Competition (Hauppauge, NY)

9/29: Fallout Powered by Battleground Events (Long Beach, CA)

9/29: Battle for Boise (Meridian, ID)

9/29: 5th Annual WOD for a Cause (Murrietta, CA) 

9/29: K-9 Pursuit (Bristol, CT)

9/29: Swolemates (Cincinnati, MI)