“I remember when I spoke the words out loud for the first time”

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“Every great story happened when someone decided not to give up.” — Spryte Loriano

CrossFit Announces Four New Sanctioned Events, Expands Competition to Five Continents

The Story.

Yesterday, CrossFit HQ added four more sanctioned events to the 2019 CrossFit Games qualification calendar: the CrossFit French Throwdown, the CrossFit Fittest in Cape Town, the Mid Atlantic CrossFit Challenge, and Brazil CrossFit Championship.

As part of broad changes introduced to the CrossFit Games season and qualification process to globalize the Sport of Fitness, CrossFit sanctioned events have already expanded to five continents and Greg Glassman indicated that events in China, Australia, Iceland, Ohio, Miami, Del Mar, and Amsterdam were also in the works. Additionally, another competition in South America will be announced in the coming weeks.

Similar to the Dubai Fitness Championship and CrossFit Granite Games, these four new events will offer CrossFit Games qualifying spots to the top male and female athletes, and teams. Official sanctioned events are the only way for teams to qualify for the Games.

“We’re stoked to even be considered with the other events already announced, they all put on a great show,” said Luke Espe, CEO of the Mid Atlantic CrossFit Challenge. “We plan on sticking to our roots and traditions that have made us who we are over the past 8 years. We’re an event driven by this incredible CrossFit community, with divisions for every skill level. Our goal has always been the highest quality athlete experience we can provide for all divisions, and that won’t change. Now we just get to hand out a qualifying Games spot to the winners of the Elite Divisions.”

Updated 2019 CrossFit Games Season Calendar:

October 3 – October 21, 2018: Dubai CrossFit Championship online qualifier

December 12 – 15, 2018: Dubai CrossFit Championship (Dubai, UAE)

End of January – Early February 2019: Mid Atlantic CrossFit Challenge online qualifier

February 2019: CrossFit Fittest in Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa)

April 2019: CrossFit French Throwdown online qualifier

April 2019: Mid Atlantic CrossFit Challenge (Location TBD)

May 2019: Brazil CrossFit Championship (São Paulo, Brazil)

June 2019: CrossFit Granite Games (Location TBD)

June 2019: CrossFit French Throwdown (Paris, France)

August 2019: The CrossFit Games (Madison, WI)

October 2019: The CrossFit Open for the 2020 season.

Additional Details: The Pathway to Qualification

In addition to each national champion and winner of a sanctioned event receiving an invite to the CrossFit Games, CrossFit HQ will also be selecting four at-large athletes to receive invitations. No further details have been shared at this point.

QUICK BRIEF

Welcome to the Muscle-Up Club

I remember when I spoke the words out loud for the first time: “I want to be a Regionals athlete for the CrossFit Games.” With a wavering voice and fear in my eyes, I said it.

I didn’t actually believe that being a member of a Regionals-caliber team would ever be possible for little old me. I was newer to CrossFit, and I didn’t even know all the lifts yet. But I shoved that little devil-of-a-doubtful thought aside for the time being, telling myself that if I stated my goal out loud, and someone actually heard me, I’d have no choice but to hold myself accountable for working toward my dream of competing at Regionals.

Jamie, my coach at the time, was the first one to hear me say it.

“I believe you have what it takes to get to Regionals one day, Brittany,” he said as I dropped him off at his doorstep that September evening four years ago. His car was in the shop, so I’d offered to give him a ride home after the workout that day.

“But you’ll have to work very hard. Harder than you’ve ever worked before. It will be tough. It’ll hurt. You might fail a thousand times before you make it. Others will beat you in competition. But I can assure you, if you keep your head in the game and train harder than you think you can, the reward will be sweet in the end.”

Continue reading…

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell yourself the next time you get home from a date sure that everything you said was ridiculous and you’re doomed to die alone…

Cool your jets. You (probably) did just fine. It’s easy to tell yourself that you said the wrong thing or that you came off as boring or dumb. When actually, the other person isn’t thinking that at all. According to new research, people actually like us way more than we know. It’s called “the liking gap” and it means that we generally tend to underestimate how much people actually like us after all.

Things To…

WATCH: Managing Type 1 Diabetes

Jon Copeland was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was thirteen-years-old. He found CrossFit at a Yankees games and it changed his life, helped him improve his diet, and learned to manage the every day struggles of living with diabetes.

AT A YANKEES GAME.

HEAR: Debunking Nutrition Myths

Julie Foucher, host of the Pursuing Health podcast, sits down with Gary Taubes, investigative science and health journalist, to discuss his relationship with the CrossFit community, how he came to be involved in nutrition, and the research and writing process for his book: “Good Calories, Bad Calories.”

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. 

EAT: Cranberry Pecan Quinoa Salad

This salad is packed with cranberries, pecans, and a delicious honey orange dressing. The toasted pecans and quinoa give it a nice nutty flavor, but the dressing sweetens it up a little. It would be a lovely light salad with some salmon or chicken for a healthy, well-rounded meal.

SUPER FOODS FOR THE WIN. 

DO: The Gym Owner Growth Summit

Hosted by the 321GoProject, the summit takes place online September 26 – 28. Each day of the three day event will include eight speakers with pre-recorded talks and a live component at the end for Q&A to help gym owners take control over the growth of their gyms.

GONNA BE FUN. 

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

Chalk Up Community

• WIN AN ASSAULT BIKE — Earlier this year, David Liston won an Assault Fitness bike through an online contest with this video. He’s decided to pay it forward and raffle it off October 20th at Iron House CrossFit Wodtoberfest to benefit Kids Shouldn’t Have Cancer. You can register for the event or buy a raffle ticket to try and win the Assault bike. 
• HEADED TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS — Shelly Burns, owner of CrossFit HVL, has qualified to compete in the Spartan Race World Championships in Lake Tahoe at the end of September and in the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships in London in October.
• SWEAT FOR GEORGIA MAE — First in Flight Athletics is hosting a fundraiser WOD to benefit the family of Georgia Mae, a brave girl fighting stage 4 neuroblastoma. There’s a $5 cover charge for the corn hole tournament, food trucks and a 30 minute AMRAP. Or you can sponsor an athlete and donate money for every round and rep they complete.
• NATHAN FLYNN MEMORIAL WOD — Blackbird CrossFit in Columbia, MD hosted a memorial fundraiser for Lt. Nathan Flynn, who passed away in the line of duty on July 23. They raised $1500 for Lt. Nathan Flynn’s wife and five children. 

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

Morning Chalk Up is starting a Facebook live show soon and you can let us know what topics you’d like us to cover in 15 minutes or less • Princess P was labeled the strongest four-year-old in the world • Marcus Filly
is hosting an Ask Me Anything session today on Reddit starting at 9 AM PT • CrossFit Burn is out helping neighbors clean up after Hurricane Florence • Emily Bridgers issues the Baby Shark Challenge • The US Army wants CrossFitters • Happy birthday
Ryan Fischer • Happy anniversary to Claire and Brent Fikowski. 

…and that’s one way to get a WOD in at work. 

What You Should be Reading — CJ Martin: “No CrossFit Regionals? No Problem.” CrossFit Invictus’ head coach, CJ Martin discusses the changes coming to CrossFit and why they may be the best thing to happen to the sport of fitness.

“Last year there were 9 Regional competitions around the world over a 3-week period. But athletes could only compete in their assigned region – which meant that they only had a single opportunity to compete at a Games qualifying event. Now athletes will have 16 competitions to choose from.

“Imagine busting your butt training for the last 12-18 months for your opportunity to compete, and then one weekend in March you get ill or suffer a minor injury. Under the current system, your season is over. If you cannot put your best foot forward for five consecutive weeks during the Open, your CrossFit Games season concludes immediately. The new system, on the other hand, would allow for an ill or injured athlete to take the necessary time to get healthy and then come back to compete in a later competition and still qualify.

“More importantly, athletes should be much more attractive to potential sponsors – which is where most professional fitness athletes make the bulk of their stable income. Knowing that an athlete will be able to compete at qualifying events multiple times per season should make prospective sponsors happy. Multiple competitions each year should help athletes better tell their story as brand ambassadors – and it eliminates the concern that a minor injury or illness sidelines them for the entire season.”

Megan Benzik on Knowing She Would Fail Her Drug Test — Megan Benzik recently sat down on Todd Nief’s Show to discuss what it felt like knowing she would fail her drug test but still competing at Regionals. “It was really intense and then I went through the whole weekend. Part of me wanted to withdraw from the competition, but part of me was in extreme denial…Competing was definitely not the same at all. I was distracted, some of
the workouts I was just thinking how it would probably be my last time on the floor. It was just a waiting game after that. Just waiting for that email from CrossFit.

“I just felt so stupid…I never looked at it as taking a spot away from anyone, I just justified it and went on with it. 

“I had a lot of thinking time on that runner. I was trying to accept the fact that it was pretty much over for me for competing. I am glad I was caught, because I needed that.”

“NOBULL is Opening a Retail Store in New York City,” by Justin LoFranco, Morning Chalk Up 

After Ben Bergeron shared this image of what appeared to be a NOBULL retail store coming to New York the Internet has been abuzz but few details exist and even NOBULL has been mum on the subject. That is until we caught up co-founder Marcus Wilson who shared more plans about the ‘coming soon’ project.

In about four weeks — think end of October — NOBULL will open their first retail spot at 68 Prince Street in the chic SoHo neighborhood of New York City. This is not a pop-up shop or a temporary seasonal experiment. NOBULL is all in on this expansion into retail.

“We found out it was available and we jumped all the way in and signed up long term,” Wilson said on the phone. “We’re in the process of building it out right now. I’m in SoHo standing out in front of the store.”

Even though NOBULL is based in Boston, MA, their interest in New York started back to October 2015 when they held a launch event at CrossFit Solace to a packed house. It was then that they realized they had a strong customer base in the city.

The CrossFit industry has some very successful brands born inside the industry — think RXBAR and FITAID for starters — but no major apparel or shoe company has emerged to open a retail presence and in New York City no less.

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)

10/5 – 10/7: International Functional Fitness Federation World Championships (London)

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: Hulks and Ninjas (Bangor, ME)

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)

10/13: Fall Brawl (Saint Michael, MN)

10/13: Sweat for Georgia Mae (Wendell, NC)

10/13 – 10/14: Box Wars 3 (Fort Valley, GA) 

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)