According to Text Messages, Trifecta Coordinated with IHOP for 2017 Games

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. It’s Games week and the CrossFit Games officially kicks off in just two days. Today’s edition is fueled by FITAID the Official Beverage Sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up.

The special box owner offer from FITAID is still live! This offer is available to existing FITAID resellers, AND box owners that want to start carrying FITAID for their athletes. Now through the end of Games week, you can email LIFEAID Sales Manager Jordan Costa for all of the juicy details! Sorry – not for consumers.

“The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.” — Howard Cosell

According to Text Messages, Trifecta Coordinated with IHOP During 2017 CrossFit Games

Remind me. 

Last week, we shared news that two former employees had brought a 141-page lawsuit against Trifecta alleging that Trifecta sourced food for the 2017 CrossFit Games from other restaurants and passed it off as their own. 

It’s worth noting that this lawsuit coincidentally was filed on July 18th, and first made it’s way into the press on July 26th, just a week before the CrossFit Games is set to begin. 

Trifecta currently is the official food sponsor of the CrossFit Games. They will have a booth at this year’s Games and according to Trifecta counsel, “Trifecta will be providing the raw uncooked food to Centerplate who will be cooking it at their onsite kitchen to be served to the CrossFit staff.”

Here’s what we know.

1. Trifecta did source food from other restaurants at the 2017 CrossFit Games.
2. Trifecta coordinated with IHOP on some level.
3. Trifecta issued guidance to employees to say that when asked “did you guys provide the food” to say the food served was provided by Trifecta.
4. Trifecta will be providing “raw uncooked food” to Centerplate, a catering company, for CrossFit Games staff and volunteers.

…this is a long one so click to continue reading. 

Rogue Fitness Is Getting Sued for Copyright Infringement

What happened?

On July 16th, Jump Rope Systems, LLC, a Colorado based company, filed a patent infringement suit against Rogue Fitness, the Official Equipment Supplier for the CrossFit Games.

By who?

The suit was filed by Molly Metz, a five-time World Jump Rope Champion, and Paul Borth, joint owners of Jump Rope Systems, LLC.

Metz and Borth designed a unique jump rope handle that allowed for faster rotation by using a bearing shaft and pivoting eye-style design, allowing the jumper to create rope swings much faster than the traditional rope. Metz and Borth applied to patent their inventions in 2008 and were granted U.S. Patent Nos. 7,789,809 and 8,136,208 in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The patents were later assigned to plaintiff Jump Rope Systems, LLC, a company they jointly own.

What does the lawsuit say?

The suit alleges that Rogue Fitness willfully and intentionally copied JRS’s patented pivoting-eye speed jump rope technology, which they claim was actually created by Molly Metz and Paul Borth.

“Years ago, Metz and Borth approached Rogue Fitness with their patented pivoting-eye speed jump rope technology. According to the complaint, Rogue Fitness later ‘went rogue’  and simply copied the design for its own use,” said attorney Chris Limpus. “The complaint alleges that since 2011 Rogue Fitness has sold no less than 14 different styles of jump ropes that all incorporate the patented pivoting-eye speed jump rope technology.”

What’s next?

No word yet from Rogue on the allegations, but we’ll keep ya posted as the story develops.

Things To…

WATCH: Alex Anderson Trains for CrossFit Games

Spend a day with Alex Anderson as he trains for his 4th consecutive CrossFit Games. Anderson says this is the hardest he’s ever trained for the Games, after losing first place to Mat Fraser at Central Regional. 

WATCH THIS.

HEAR: Mind Over Matter 

On this episode of the Pursuing Health Podcast, Julie Foucher sits down with Sports Psychiatrist Dr. MaryEllen Eller, who shares how to find motivation in day-to-day life and work towards being better every day and the importance of investing time and effort into becoming mentally tough.

TUNE IN. 

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

CrossFit Games in 2 Minutes

Workout at the CrossFit Games — Want to work out while you’re at the CrossFit Games? (Hint: Your answer rhymes with Jess.) The spectator workout area, named the Dodge Ram Fan Experience, is back and better than ever this year. There are 14 lanes for WODs and 14 lifting platforms. Sessions will start every day at 9 a.m. and run for 30 minutes. All spectators may work out up to five times during the Games (pending availability). But you need to sign-up to reserve your time slot. 

How to Watch the CrossFit Games — Remember how we had you mark your calendars for the Open? And then again for Regionals? Remember? Well, now is the time friends. Mark your calendar for when to watch because you’ve got options. Watch on the CrossFit Games Facebook Page, the CrossFit Games website, and on CBS Sports Network August 2-5. Also, make sure you’re following CrossFit Games FYI on Facebook. They’re the ones that will let you know when they’re doing it live. 

What Else Can I do at the CrossFit Games? — When you get tired of all those beasts being ten thousand times fitter than you, check out the Morning Chalk Up fan event guide and find the who, what, when for fun things to do like hanging out with Julie Foucher, Christmas Abbott, or grabbing a WOD with the FITAID crew. If we missed something, just drop us a note.

More Games Event Details — 

— The CrossFit Games event page shows Thursday as a rest day for Individuals, but you should know that by now since we told you three times already!

— As of last night, the only events not listed for Masters and Teens are Event 1 and all of Sunday. All other events have been posted as far as we know.

— Dave Castro released a hint for another individual event for Saturday, named Chaos. 

— Another Friday Team Event, called The Battleground, was released. You can watch the whole workout on the CrossFit Games Facebook. The Battleground consists of yoke and litter carry, four rope climbs (each), O-course run, four rope climbs (each), yoke and litter carry. So far, the only other event released for
Friday is the 1-rep-max snatch.

— P.S. Now we know that the 2018 CrossFit Games Demo Team also includes Jason Carroll and Carleen Mathews.

….and if you think The Battleground (Friday’s only announced CrossFit Games Individual Event so far) looks like a breeze, then watch this. Armen Hammer and Chase Long teamed up and took on Bethany Shadburne to see if they could beat her using the same weight, but as a team. 

Athlete Final Touches —

The athletes started checking in yesterday and two of the best photo ops in the Reebok tent are Bethany Shadburne and Sean Sweeney • Emily Bridgers
got caught taking a selfie at check-in • The beard stays! Ben Smith is still rocking his beard at athlete check-in • A gaggle of geese are following around Brent Fikowski. (Not a joke. We mean it.).

Emily Bridgers Preparing to Retire — With only a few more days left as she counts down her favorite CrossFit memories, here is number nine, “I actually have no photos from this competition moment. 2015 CrossFit Games Final workout, probably one of the most humbling moments of my life. There are no photos because I was hardly making any progress. In the warmup area, I was pretty terrified because this was the only time in my life I was unable to do a handstand because my arms were so wrecked. There were many times we considered dropping out on Saturday and Sunday. I still went out on the floor not
knowing what was going to happen and I miraculously got seven parallette HSPU and made it at least to the top of the pegboard. At the time, I was frustrated and angry, but in hindsight, I’m better for it!” 

Mekenzie Riley Talks Obsession, Success, and Balance — FloElite asked Mekenzie Riley how she balances everything in her life. “It’s not easy, and I admit. I’m not balanced at all, but it’s always in constant pursuit. I think, at this level of anything there is a certain amount of imbalance that is necessary. There’s a certain level of obsessed that you must be to achieve this level of success. So while I do have other obligations and
interests in my life, aside from my family, this is my top priority and it just naturally takes the majority of my focus and attention. I believe that’s what they call passion.”

Brooke Wells’ Dad Told Her it Was CrossFit or Nothing — Brooke Wells sat down with CNN where she shares how it was her father’s doing that she started CrossFit. “He’s like, ‘I know what you’re going to do with your gym membership, you’re just going to like socialize the whole time. So you can have a CrossFit membership or you can have nothing.” Clearly, she made the right choice. Go, Dad!

Oh, And One Last Thing —

2018 Athlete Guide: Individual Men and Women — Read it. Know it. Make flash cards if you need to. Who knows, maybe we’ll surprise you with a pop quiz the next time we see you. CrossFit put together athlete guides for you on all things individual men and individual women. Scream at them from home with accurate knowledge that they can, indeed, go faster. 

“WARNING: Iron Gods is a Complete Scam” by Jessica Danger, The Morning Chalk Up

On June 6th, we received an email from a reader asking us to investigate Iron Gods Gym, a website that was advertising used Assault Bikes for $199.95 and used Concept Two Rowers for $399.99.

Since we began investigating and asking question, Iron Gods has shut down their website and ceased all communication with our team. Here’s how things unfolded.

If it’s too good to be true…

Then it probably is.

But we still got really excited about the idea of having an Assault Bike at Morning Chalk Up HQ, so we went ahead and hopped online to check it out. The website seemed totally legit. It was easy to use, all of the products had high quality images and full descriptions. We picked out the bike we wanted, that supposedly 542 other people were looking at at the same time. All the reviews were positive, and shipping was free! What’s not to love?

We ordered one assault bike and paid for it on the boss’s credit card. We got an email confirmation immediately.

81 – 8/5: The CrossFit Games (Madison, WI) 

8/4: Lumberjack Lift Off (Buckley, WA) 

8/4: G-Town Throwdown (Georgetown, MA) 

8/4: US National Parks Tour with VoyEdge RX

8/4: War at the Shore (Neptune City, NJ)

8/5: Sure Shot Shootout (Greenville, OH)

8/11: Red Raider Backyard Brawl (Coatesville, PA)

8/11: 2018 Rimrock Ruckus (Billings, MT)

8/11: Survival Games 2018 (Wooster, OH)

8/11: The Warhorse Games (Kansas City, KS)

8/11: War of the Roses (Pasadena, CA) 

8/18: Bladium CrossFit Fossil Games (Denver, CO) 

​8/18: The Revolution: Articles of Confederation (San Antonio, TX)

8/18: Summer Slam Royal Rumble (Oakdale, CA)

8/18: CrossFit Krypton’s Compete for a Cure (Chesapeake, VA)

8/18: CrossFit Endure Granite Games Throwdown (Windsor, CO)

8/18: MKT CrossFit Granite Games Throwdown (Columbia, MO)

8/18: Rocky Mountain Throwdown (Fort Collins, CO) 

8/18: Crossfit Krypton’s Compete for a Cure (Chesapeake, VA)

​8/18: Mayhem on the Mountain (Pelham, AL)

8/18: Crossfit Charlevoix Granite Games Throwdown (Charlevoix, MI) 

8/18: Battle in the Boro (Washington, NJ)

8/18: Troy CrossFit Granite Games Throwdown (San Diego, CA)

8/18: Babes & Bros ( Grand Rapids, MI)  

8/18: ​CrossFit Shatter 2018 Summer Slam (Albany, NY) 

8/18: CFBD Summer Showdown 2018 (East Longmeadow, MA)

8/19: Battle on Broadway (Garnder, MA) 

8/25: Iron Belle and Femme Royale Women’s Competition (Austin, TX) 

8/25: CrossFit Sua Sponte Summer Slam (Raleigh, NC) 

8/25: AMRAP For Autism (Waxhaw, NC)

​8/25: CrossFit Decathlon (Indianapolis, IN) 

8/25: Best of the West Summer Event (Bend, OR) 

8/25 – 26: Battlegrounds Nevada (Reno, NV)