“If you want to learn how to swim, jump into the water. On dry land, no frame of mind is ever going to help you.”- Bruce Lee
PROFILE
Bethany Flores, The Comeback Kid
It has been a roller coaster for Bethany Shadburne over the past 2-3 years. First, she married, tying the knot with Randy Flores, a strength and conditioning coach for the LA Lakers. Now proudly a Flores, Bethany plans to rock the name on her competition jerseys moving forward.
Beyond her personal life, Bethany has lived some of the highest highs and the lowest lows in CrossFit since 2021, culminating this season with her 6th qualification for the CrossFit Games after a 5th place finish at the NA West Semifinal. With a changed perspective regarding training and competition, Flores is refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to take on Madison.
Remind me: Leading up to the 2021 CrossFit Games, there was a lot of watercooler chat about Flores, along with her training partner at the time, Kari Pearce, to be one of the United States women’s best chances to podium. And then COVID happened.
Flores explains: “I was so sick. We all got out there to Madison on Friday night and the next day trained light. But by the end of the training session, I knew something was wrong. The last thing we did was a 20-minute jog, super light. And I’ve never walked during any run. And I was walking.”
“At that point, I didn’t feel bad; I just thought it was nerves. I returned to the hotel, went to bed, and woke up in the middle of the night with body aches, chills, and a bad headache. You know, all the symptoms that you would get with COVID.”
“I thought it was a dream. I woke up, and I was like, this isn’t happening. I’m going to take some Advil, I’ll wake up, and I’ll be fine in the morning. That was not the case; I woke up the next day and felt even worse. And I could like barely stand.”
I just looked at Justin, and I was like, I can’t work out today, I can’t. I feel awful. So I just slept in the car while everybody trained. The next day was Monday when we got tested for COVID, and it came back positive.”
Although devastated to be unable to compete, the results made Flores feel something else. Relief.
“It was kind of like the silver lining. It was kind of a sense of relief. Because at that point, I didn’t know if I could compete because of how I felt. And for it to come back as COVID, I think people understood that more. She’s not scared to compete; she’s really sick,” she said.
So Bethany slept. For four days. Straight through the entire CrossFit Games. It wasn’t until she got home from Madison and watched the playback of the Games on YouTube that it began to sink in.
Are you looking for a new fitness challenge this summer? Take part in Concept2’s BikeErg World Sprints, a virtual competition that takes place July 5 until July 9, 2023. All you need to do is complete a single workout of exactly 1000 meters on the BikeErg and enter your result into the Concept2 Online Logbook to see how you stack up against people worldwide.
You can take part as an individual and upload your result via ErgData, or you can get your box to take part and submit as an event.
As an added incentive, Concept2 is giving away three BikeErgs to eligible US participants who submit their scores.
To find out how to enter, visit the BikeErg Sprints challenge page.
SPEED READS
Sola Sigurdardottir talks about her Semifinals performance and wishes congratulations to all qualifying athletes.
“In sports, your mind can make or break your perfomance. This weekend, i tried my best to get in a fighter mindset and shake off any self doubt i had but I just couldn’t, and in a region like Europe you can’t have a missing piece like that if you want to qualify…”
🚨 🚨 New Divisions!: Check out the changes and additions to the 2024 TYR Wodapalooza competition divisions.
Father’s Day Shopping Guide: And it’s not just white New Balance or Air Monarchs.
🏋️♀️ Spring Swag Sale: The Morning Chalk Up Spring Swag Sale is on now. Supplies are limited, so order now.
CROSSFIT GAMES
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Semifinals Stats Breakdown Part 1: Every Second Counts
In this first part of our Semifinals stats breakdown, we are going to be highlighting the Tests and athletes that were a part of some of the most exciting, dramatic, wonderful, and heart-breaking story lines of the entire Semifinal season.
If you have been doing Crossfit for a while now, you know that every second and every rep can make a big difference in a workout. This is especially true at the highest levels of competition.
Throughout our coverage of this year’s Tests we kept track of all the times a few seconds, a no-rep, or a simple mistake ended up dramatically changing the results.
Almost Five Years Sober, Madeline Smith Hopes to Tell Her Story Through Fitness Competition
There are many reasons people join CrossFit: some are looking to gain strength and get fit—others, like Madeline Smith, are in search of community.
Smith, heading into her fifth year of sobriety, landed at CrossFit Baile in Carthage, NC after reaching her one-year milestone in recovery. Now, she’s hoping to dispel society’s impression of what an alcoholic can look like and reach others who may be struggling by competing for the title of Ms. Health & Fitness.
Her story: Smith started drinking when she turned 21. Quickly, she realized the difference between her and her friends.
“[My friends] could have a few drinks and be content and move on with their day. I wasn’t someone who was like that. I was either someone who didn’t drink, or I would drink until I black out,” she said.
As she moved on from college, Smith settled down, got married, and started a family. After her first pregnancy—she said it was no problem for her to stay sober while she was pregnant and nursing—Smith went through severe postpartum depression. After her second pregnancy, it was even worse.
This triggered a switch. Before her pregnancies, Smith says she was a “fun, jovial, silly drunk”.
Afterwards, she says “I just was… a really horrible person.”
“It really scared me. When that happened my drinking was like a horse of a different color.”
Eventually, Smith’s drinking got to the point where she needed help. “Normally, I can figure things out and fix things. I would say, ‘I am just not going to drink before 5 PM, I’m only going to drink wine, not going to drink liquor, or I’m only going to drink at barbeques. If you know anything about alcoholism, this doesn’t work.”
Today’s workout is programmed by 20th place finisher at the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games Europe Semifinal, Aimee Cringle. She placed 12th at Strength in Depth in 2022 as well.
3 Rounds For Time:
20-Calorie Echo Bike
12 Hang Power Snatch @ 60/40kg
20 T2B
Time Cap: 14 Minutes
Scaling Options:
Use a weight on the snatch where you can complete the reps within a maximum of 2-3 sets and where you’re not massively resting over 10s between each one.
If you can perform T2B but 100 reps total will be too many for you, adjust the number to no less than 10. If you don’t have T2B, perform either toes to target or knee raises.
Advice from Aimee: This workout is all about setting a pace at the beginning and trying to stick to it until the end! The bike will get your heart rate nice and high so choose your RPM accordingly so you can jump off and pretty much start on the barbell straight away.
Relax your grip as much as possible on the Echo Bike as the workout is very grippy. If you’re also proficient in barbell cycling, try to re-grip the bar at the top of each snatch to save your forearms for the T2B.
To inquire about submitting an upcoming workout of the week, shoot us a note.
FATHER'S DAY SHOPPING GUIDE
It’s almost time to celebrate all the Dads out there (and their bad jokes). Whether you are shopping for a gift for your own Dad, or another Dad in your life, we’ve got all the gift ideas for you!
You may have heard “pregnant women need to keep their heart rate below X beats per minute during pregnancy”. But an expert is here to tell you the facts!
Does a lead attending a class increase their likelihood of converting? Does the timeframe in which the lead attends a class affect their likelihood of converting? Wodify found that getting leads into your gym as quickly as you can significantly increase your conversion rate!
True or False: Are These Habits Bad for Your Sleep?
Sleep is a hot topic when it comes to recovery. And well, duh, it’s the time you recover the most. But there is a lot of conflicting information out there about sleep. So let’s play a little game of true or false.
Wondering what kind of vitamins you should actually be taking? OLLY knows what you should be taking depends on what you need. That’s why they make vitamins based on your goals. From reducing stress, supporting healthy skin and nails, or strengthening your joints: there’s an OLLY vitamin for that. Buy now and get 20% off any ultra strength softgels using code “SUMMER23”.
Do you struggle with sciatica? Did you know that sciatica is treatable without surgery or medication? Learn how to become pain free with these exercises.
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise. Send us a tip.
🎉 Happy 5th affiliate anniversary to Motley Crew CrossFit in Cape Town, South Africa.
Congratulations Lexi from CrossFit Connection Burlington in Ontario on the lifetime PR back squat of 300 pounds/136kg.
😍 Congratulations to this power couple—David Shorunke and Emma Tall—on qualifying to the 2023 CrossFit Games in their respective individual divisions.
Tabitha Warner takes on the Rescue Your Husband Challenge— sub “friend, significant other, family member, workout partner”—think you can do it?
Kristi Eramo O’Connell hit a new strict pull-up PR at 1st Phorm Summer Smash in St. Louis, MO.
A GoFundMe has been created to support Sophia and Dario Aviles, owners of North Naples CrossFit in Florida, as their 6-month-old son was diagnosed with Congenital Glaucoma Disease last month.
There is currently no cure for glaucoma, and he is expected to undergo 6-8 surgeries within the next year. Medical bills and loss of income over this next year or two is a daunting reality for the Aviles family.
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