Early list of athletes registered for Dubai qualifier

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by Rx Smart Gear. Step up and challenge your high intensity cardio/strength workout with enough resistance to punish your weaknesses.

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“If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” — Coach Jim Valvano

How a Cycling Crash Sent Brig Edwards on a New Path

The story.

For more than twenty years, being on a bike was second nature for Brig Edwards. But in March of 2003, Edwards was forced to end his semi-professional cycling career when a sedan cut him off in the bike lane.

Edwards crashed into the back of the vehicle and through the rear windshield, fracturing several vertebrae in his neck, breaking his jaw in several places, and crushing the bones of his right eye and cheek.

Yikes.

Two weeks later Edwards returned home from the hospital and began years of reconstructive surgeries. There would be eight surgeries in total, including cranial incisions, bone grafts, and inserting a weight in his eyelid to allow him to close it. At one point his jaw was wired shut and Edwards could only communicate with his family via a white erase board.

Once Edwards was well enough to return to his usual fitness routine, he knew it wasn’t going to be cycling. “With the hazards of cycling, I needed to find something a little safer,” he said in an interview. “I had two children at the time and could not afford to go through the same thing again.” A friend introduced him to CrossFit and it’s been his sport ever since.

A new path.

Edwards set up a garage gym and started following the main site for his programming. Initially, everything he learned about CrossFit came from Internet videos. In 2012, Edwards made it to the CrossFit Games as a Masters Athlete. He has since returned four more times, taking first in the 55-59 division at the 2018 CrossFit Games.

That’s impressive.

But perhaps one of the most impressive things is his resiliency. The cycling accident left Edwards with permanent double vision. When he jumps to the rings, he sees four. When he jumps on a box, he sees two.

But Edwards refuses to see his remaining health issues as anything other than a challenge. “As bad as the accident was and the problems I still have to deal with as a result of the accident, if it wasn’t for the accident, I would probably still be cycling and would have never found CrossFit,” Edwards said.

Edwards continues to train by himself in his garage and hopes to continue to get better and to stay healthy in CrossFit. He told the CrossFit Journal, “I know the time will come when all of my times and lifts will no longer improve, but I want to prolong that as long as possible.”

So What Country Are You In Anyways?

The question on everyone’s mind.

Since the changes to the CrossFit Games season were announced, we’ve seen this question pop up several times:

If Katrin Davidsdottir is from Iceland but lives in the United States, which country will she be competing in for the Fittest in country spot at the CrossFit Games?

We don’t have a definitive answer, but we have a pretty good idea based on how they’ve handled this in the past.

Which is…

Here’s what the 2018 rulebook says:

“During the registration process, athletes will provide information to establish their competitive region for the Open. Athletes will remain assigned to this region throughout regionals and the Games.

“Residency requirements used to determine an athlete’s region are NOT based on country of origin, passport held, or nationality, but solely on where the athlete is living at the close of the first Open workout. For the vast majority of athletes, their region will coincide with where they live, work and train on a daily basis.”

In conclusion…

Wherever the athlete registers and resides at the close of the first Open workout will be their region. But we’d still wait for the rulebook to come out.

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell your friend who spends every weekend binge watching Netflix and eating potato chips…

Read a book. Yup, a book. As in one you can actually hold in your hand and turn the pages of. Anne Roderique-Jones of Self Magazine challenged herself to read a book a week for one month and swears it changed her life. She slept more, snacked and scrolled less, and learned to become okay crying in public. 

What to tell your swolemate the next time they complain that CrossFit is too expensive…

What would you do for free CrossFit for life? A Russian Domino’s franchise offered “100 free pizzas a year for 100 years” to customers who tattooed the Domino’s logo on their skin. The promotion was supposed to run for two months, but they discontinued it after four days because so many people were willing to ink up. In the end, 381 people qualified for the deal. So maybe we get a “CrossFit for Life” tattoo? And we get, I dunno, free CrossFit for life? We’re into it.

Things To…

WATCH: Who is the Greatest Female CrossFitter?

Armen Hammer sits down and asks the important question, who is the greatest female CrossFitter ever? Is it Annie Thorisdottir, Katrin Davidsdottir, or Tia-Clair Toomey? Each have two wins apiece. 

WHICH IS IT?

HEAR: Desert Island Fitness

Ben Bergeron sits down for another episode of the Chasing Excellence podcast where Patrick asks him to narrow down how he would chose to stay fit in specific “stranded on a desert island” situations. Some of his answers might surprise you.

FITNESS EVERYWHERE.

EAT: Chicken and Rice Soup with Green Chiles and Ginger

Summer is over and it is officially soup season. Start your season off right with a spicy twist on an old favorite. This is a stick-to-your-bones kind of chicken soup with some spicy chiles and the zing of ginger.

GET THE CROCK POT.

BUY: Morning Chalk Up Muscle Tank

Don’t worry! It’s not too late to pre-order the limited edition Morning Chalk Up muscle tank. Because who doesn’t love shirts? And limited edition things? And Morning Chalk Up?

GET IT NOW. 

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

Chalk Up Community

• HELP FOR LAURYN — Members of CrossFit Resolute in Whittier, CA are rallying behind Lauryn Rafferty, a 15-year-old who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Her father, a Los Angeles County Sheriff, is a member of the gym. They are accepting all donations offered to the family. 
• HORSES AND CROSSFIT — International event rider, world champion, olympic medalist, and national coach for the Netherlands Bettina Hoy from Germany, dropped in at CrossFit HVL for a workout (and her CrossFit fix!) while visiting for the World Equestrian Games.
• CROSSFIT FOR KAYDEN — The members of Miraculous CrossFit in Levittown, PA are hosting a memorial workout for seven-year-old Kayden who was tragically murdered. You can help by competing or donating. 
• PD DOES HANDSTAND PUSH-UPS — The Tyler Police Department in Texas wanted to use their fitness to raise awareness about Court-Appointed Special Advocates for Children, a program that provides abused and neglected children with safe homes and the love and care they need. The Department put out the handstand push-up offer on Facebook and officers were able to raise about $2,000 in just two hours.
• FIRE IN THE GYM — CrossFit Illuminati in Houston, TX, caught fire in the early morning hours Tuesday and the community is raising money to help them rebuild. 

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

Maddy Curley gets puppy love during her WOD • Congratulations to fourteen-year-old Melanie Jump on her Cascade Classic sponsorship from 911 Driving School • CrossFit Kid Seth gets his first ring muscle-up • Emily Molnar does her first competition after finishing chemo • Congratulations to owner of Black Iron Gym Krissy Mae Cagney on her marriage over the weekend. 

CrossFit At Fifty — Once she hit fifty-years-old, Jennifer Burns wanted a lifestyle change. She found it in CrossFit. “I was overdue for a lifestyle change – not just to lose weight, but to get healthy, and tone and strengthen my body. Yes, any gym, any workout place, will offer tools to help with that. But I also wanted experts to work with me. And by work with, I don’t mean set me up on a machine, or count off my reps, or charge me by the hour to stand next to me while I walk on a treadmill. I wanted real coaches who would get to know me and help me advance every time I showed up, whose success
was reliant on, and celebrated by, my own. And that’s exactly what I got at CrossFit WCG.”

Confirmed: Athletes Signed Up for Dubai Qualifier — The first opportunity to qualify for the 2019 CrossFit Games kicks off October 3 with the online qualifier for the Dubai CrossFit Championship. Here’s a list of confirmed top athletes registered for the qualifier so far:

— Travis Mayer, Sam Briggs, Roman Khrennikov, Paul Tremblay, Jamie Greene, Alex Anderson, Khan Porter, Jessica Coughlan, Lindsey Valenzuela, Jason Smith, Madeline Sturt, Royce Dunne, Pip Malone, Sara Sigmundsdottir, Zeke Grove, and Becca Voigt.

— Not competing: Kara Webb. 

“Rescue On the Mountain. How Noah Ohlsen Helped Save a Life,” by Justin LoFranco, Morning Chalk Up

On Saturday, approximately four miles into the Ultimate Hawaiian Trail Run near the summit, a runner started to experience severe fatigue, cramping, nausea and chills.

Fellow racers noticed this runner in distress and notified the medical team down at the bottom.

And along comes Noah Ohlsen…

Running up the trail right after the “stairway to heaven” (translation: a really steep climb up), Noah spotted a guy leaning up against a tree with another concerned runner next to him.

“Right away I could tell that he wasn’t [OK],” Ohlsen told us. “He was pale, dizzy and delirious. He said he needed to sit down and then pretty much passed out.”

At one point he stopped breathing for about 10 seconds.

“We started pounding his chest and yelling at him to stay with us and I really considered that this dude might die in my arms,” Ohlsen said.

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: Beers and Burpees (Charlotte, NC)

9/22: Burpees 4 Autism at Lucky’s (Roswell, GA)

9/22: Lt. Nathan Flynn Memorial WOD (Columbia, MD)

9/22: Fall Jam (Columbus, OH)

9/22: 2018 GR Games (Grand Rapids, MI)

9/23 – 9/23: Field of Teams (Cedar Falls, IA)

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

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

9/22 – 9/23: Heartland Havoc 3 (Davenport, IA)

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, OH)

​9/29: CrossFit Be Someone Charity WODathon (Houston, TX)

9/29: Garage Girls (Pousbo, WA)

9/29: Adoption Fundraiser WOD (Millcreek, UT)

9/29: Warrior Slam at CrossFit Waldwick (Waldwick, NJ)

9/29: Fall Face Off 2018 (Albany, NY)

9/29: CrossFit Knightsdale Autism Awareness (Knightdale, NC)

9/29: Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer @ CrossFit Petram (Middletown, DE)

9/29: Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer @ CrossFit 88 (Park Ridge, IL)

9/29: 2018 515 Wingman Challenge (Grimes, IA)

10/3: Wodapalooza Qualifier (Online) 

10/5: The Hopper (Asheville, NC)

10/6: Beer City Beatdown (Asheville, NC)

10/6: Gallant Gauntlet 2 (Bedford, TX)

10/6: WOD for Water Troy (Troy, AL)

10/6: Cactus Games (Phoenix, AZ)

10/6: Pound-4-Pound Competition (Denver, CO)

10/6: Invictus Boston Barbells for Boobs (Boston, MA)

10/6: Girls Gone RX @ Old Line Crossfit (Millersville, MD)

10/6: The Battle To Benefit Badge (Utica NY)

10/6: Iron Eagle Challenge (Cookeville, TN)

10/6: The Grit Games (Jacksonville, FL)

10/6: Fit For Freedom (St. Peters, MO)

10/6: Fitness Freedom Project Jay WOD (San Marcos, CA)

10/6: OUTWOD (Philadelphia, PA)

10/6: Garden State Open 2018 (Berkeley Heights, NJ)

10/6: T-Town Throwdown (Toledo, OH)

10/6: 7th Annual Dog – WOD (Minneapolis, MN)

10/6 – 10/7: The Iron Clash (Fayetteville, NC)

10/6- 10/7: 307 Throwdown (Casper, WY)

10/12: 10/14: Faith RX’d (Denver, CO)

10/13: Barbells For Boobs 2018 (Sutton, MA)

10/13: WOD for a Cause (Bloomsburg, PA)

​10/13: C4 CrossFit Co-Ed Classic (Brunswick, NJ)

10/13: 2018 War in the Woods (Norton, MA)

10/13: The Festivus Games (Online)

10/13: Grand Games 2018 (Westfield, IN)

10/13: Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer @ Red Island CrossFit (Smithfield, RI)

10/13: Barbells for Boobs (Steamboat Springs, CO)

10/13: Older, Wiser, Faster, Stronger (Plymouth, MI)

10/13: The Greenville Games (Greenville, SC)

10/13: Reps For Recovery (Hickory, NC) 

10/13: Kal-Haven Trail Ruck (Kalamazoo, MI)

10/14: CrossFit for Kayden (Fallsington, PA)

10/20: BCS Classic 2018 (Bryan, TX)

10/20: Head 2 Head in Hamilton (Hamilton, NJ)

10/20: Fittest on the Valley VI (Lahaina, HI)

10/20: Crossfit Bona Fide Third Wheel Throwdown (Portsmouth, NH)

10/21: Me Jane, You Jane (Santa Rosa, CA)

10/20 – 10/21: The Independence Games (Florence, SC)

​10/20 – 10/21: The Lincoln Invitational (Spokane, WA)