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CrossFit, Coffee and Community

Good morning and welcome to the weekend edition of the Morning Chalk Up. This is Jessica Danger, your Managing Editor filling in for Justin LoFranco who’s going live on YouTube at 10AM PT to announce the 10 lucky winners and their plus ones who are getting hooked up with a full expense paid trip to Dubai complete with hotel room, airfare, $500 in walking around money and the DCC VIP experience. 

Today’s edition is brought to you by the Wodapalooza Online Challenge & Qualifier.

T-minus 21 days until the start of the Wodapalooza Team Qualifier.

Grab you and your three closest (or fittest) friends and sign up. Who doesn’t want to escape the cold and throw down in sunny Miami this February with their team of 4? Step one is taking part in the Team qualifier, December 6 – December 16.

10 WOD’s over 10 days, with ton of prizes on the line, including hundreds of team of 4 spots to compete at WZA.

Do it. No, but really… do it!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Those that can, do. Those that can’t, try. Those that won’t, are usually the first ones to tell you why you shouldn’t.” — Pops, from CrossFit Chesapeake

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
When Coffee and CrossFit is Actually So Much More

I love a good theme.

Themed parties, themed holidays, even themed outfits, sometimes. So, for November, I thought I would put my money where my mouth is and go for a social media theme: Gratitude.

Every day I have been posting one thing that I am grateful for. Some are big and some seem little but are not. I am thankful for my children, but I am also thankful for good strong coffee in the morning. Seems like nothing, but when you think about that on a grander scale, what I am really expressing gratefulness for is the ability to spend my mornings having coffee while working hard on the stories that start in your boxes, stories like Tony and stories like Ann, doing a job that I love in a warm, quiet home that I own.

That is so much more than good, strong coffee.

What has especially been on my mind is how many of these posts revolve around CrossFit. Day three I expressed gratitude for my long-time best friend, who is almost always my competition partner, and whose presence at 6:00 AM classes helps guarantee my own attendance. 

Morning Chalk Up got all the glory and gratitude on day five.

Day seven went to a coach that opened his home when my kids and I needed short-term (short-term, lol) housing and I needed help, a lot of it.

Day eight is straight up a post to the Open, expressing gratitude for the fact that fitness is a microcosm for life. If you can do hard things in the gym, you can do hard things in life. Full stop.

So the other day, it seemed most fitting to give a shout out to the CrossFit Community as a whole for day 14. Because it isn’t really about the fitness, not entirely, for most of the CrossFit population. The fitness is a byproduct of hardwork, of dedication, of good nutrition, of consistency. But what gets us there is the community around us, the ones that see us and say, “Hey man, you’re doing great! Keep that shit up!” and also the ones who, when they don’t see us, call us to let us know we are part of a community that helps keep every member accounted for, every day. 

My challenge for you for the rest of November is to join me in gratitude. Practice gratitude, for CrossFit, for the community, and for the good, strong coffee. 

Yours in Fitness,
Jessica Danger
Managing Editor

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When Mackenzie Christie registered for her small town’s beauty pageant, she knew that her talent had to be weightlifting. “I knew that people didn’t show up to the pageant to watch a sporting event, so the idea of giving the audience a taste of something they didn’t expect got me excited to perform,” Mackenzie said.

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Video reviews of 20.3 were finalized and the 23 athletes penalized received only minor infractions. Jacob Heppner got the all clear for doing handstand push-ups on his knuckles while Lefteris Theofanidis received only a minor penalty for “failure to meet range-of-motion standards in handstand push-up.”

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THINGS TO IMPROVE: Your Olympic Weightlifting — Did 20.4 leave you staring at a heavy barbell? Improve your Olympic lifts with Invictus 3-day/week weightlifting program designed, monitored and led by 2018 CrossFit Games athlete Jared Enderton. The next training cycle starts on November 18 so jump in now.
MOVE MORE WEIGHT.

Today’s edition is brought to you by
COMMUNITY

1. First things first: The Open is over. What do we do now?

2. XND founder Spencer Murphy is going to get back to “stupid human tricks” like snatching 290 pounds.

3. Speaking of stupid human tricks, Bronislaw Olenkowicz wins with this 276 pound close grip snatch.

4. And if you thought your Open was stressful, try being the other half of Games athletes making a gun for top 20.

5. The holidays are almost here and Ambitious Kitchen has a full spread of lightened up Thanksgiving recipes. 

6. If you’re getting ready to travel for the holiday, here are some tips to stay on track.

Oh and let’s not forget…

The Pros and Cons of Intuitive Eating and Body Composition (Daniel DeBrocke/Breaking Muscle)

Productivity and Digital Organization Frameworks (Todd Nief/From Coach to Business)

Going Critical (Kevin Simler/Melting Asphalt)

Effects of Dietary Supplements on Adaptations to Endurance Training (Jeffrey Rothschild and David Bishop/My Sport Science)

Ten Tips To Restarting Fitness After Childbirth (Anton Mark/Breaking Muscle)

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