“Anyone can give up; it is the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, now that is true strength.”- Chris Bradford
COMPETITION
From Pumping Iron to Ironman: Mayhem Athletes Use Their CrossFit Background to Take on Ironman Chattanooga
“Regularly play and learn new sports”
It’s one of the central tenets on which Greg Glassman founded the CrossFit Methodology. The idea that his athletes would utilize the fitness they earned through CrossFit to enrich their lives through a variety of sports and activities was always at the root of what makes CrossFit so incredible.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of top athletes take on this challenge to the extreme level. Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr competed in the Olympics for weightlifting just weeks after the close of the 2016 CrossFit Games. This past year, former Games champion Rich Froning Jr. completed the Leadville 100 Trail Race, a 100-mile mountain bike race in Colorado.
One big thing: This year, seven athletes from CrossFit Mayhem will rely on their CrossFit backgrounds to take on the Chattanooga Ironman race in Tennessee on September 24th.
The details: Ironman Chattanooga is a 140.6-mile race consisting of swimming, biking, and running. Athletes begin the race with a 2.4-mile swim, move to a 112-mile bike, and finish with a marathon run (26.2 miles).
The race is not for the faint of heart and many participants will take over 12 hours to finish.
But Jake Lockert, director of Mayhem athlete and president of Mayhem Nation, feels that he and his athletes are up for the challenge.
“For me and I think a lot of the guys, I think it was kind of a bucket list type item that seemed to be something we could do, but also something we might fail,” said Lockert.
“Of course, there’s no guarantee,” he added.
Despite the daunting challenge of the Ironman, Lockert believes that his crew can rely heavily on their background in CrossFit to help them cross the finish line.
“A lot of us haven’t trained nearly as much as most triathletes train,” said Lockert.
While most athletes looking to race in an Ironman will put over 20 hours per week into their endurance training, Lockert and his crew split their efforts more amongst CrossFit and their endurance training.
“We were not training even 10 hours a week for most of the year until the last couple of months,” he said.
“The fitness really does pay off, and the base of CrossFit really does help. We do just enough fitness to keep it fun,” Lockert added.
Beyond just the fitness groundwork that CrossFit has laid for them, Lockert also believes that mental toughness is a key element that will allow him and his fellow Mayhem athletes to finish the race.
“The hurt in the Ironman is way different. It’s more of a mental battle. That’s so different than a 5-minute AMRAP,” said Lockert
“But we definitely have the mental resilience. We’re going to finish or we’re gonna die trying,” Lockert added laughing.
How it all started: While Lockert is confident that he will finish, he knows he has a bit of extra pressure going for him to complete the race.
A year ago, he posted on Instagram that he was going to complete Ironman Chattanooga and asked if anyone would be interested.
“I did the post for the social accountability,” said Lockert.
Out of the people in the comments, seven other athletes from Mayhem athlete decided to join him on this journey and six will race in just a few days (the final athlete postponed his race to 2024 due to injury).
The CrossFit to endurance pipeline: While only a small percentage of the world has finished an Ironman, a number of CrossFitters over the years have utilized their base fitness from CrossFit to help them cross the finish line.
We surveyed over 100 CrossFitters who have finished either an Ironman race or an Ironman 70.3 to see how CrossFit impacted their training and performance.
By the numbers: Of our surveyed athletes, 58% completed at least one Ironman 70.3, while 42% had completed at least one Ironman.
We’ve made some updates to our already best selling sleep & recovery support for athletes:
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🚨 🚨 TYR Wodapalooza Online Qualifier: Week two of the TYR WZAOC for individuals is coming to an end. Get those workouts in and get your scores posted. They are due today at 8 PM ET.
🎙️ 🎙️ The Weekly Buzz: Check out the new collab between the Morning Chalk Up and Kettlebells and Cocktails and get caught up on some of the top community, affiliate, and sport stories of the week.
On this episode: The CrossFit Games are headed to Fort Worth, the Rogue Invitational roster is set, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr 🐐 is making her return to the competition floor, Sweetwater High School teacher fights to keep her CrossFit program (and rig), and more.
The Fittest Experience: Mark your calendars! The Fittest Experience qualifiers are coming up, September 27-October 10, 2023, for individuals and team.
ICYMI: Who is competing at the Rogue Invitational (plus prize purse details and more)?
PROFILE
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Dana Paran Prepares for Dubai and the 2024 CrossFit Season
Although Dana Paran has been a part of the competitive CrossFit world, off and on for the last handful of years, many first heard her name at the 2023 North America East Semifinal, as she won Test 3 with a 210 pound snatch. Since then, Paran’s life and training have been full steam ahead as she prepares for all that is to come in 2024.
Some background: Although she qualified for the Syndicate Crown in 2022, Paran passed up her spot to attend, as she had been battling extreme bouts of depression that prevented her from training more than twice a week.
IF3 Masters and Juniors World Championship Heads to Vancouver, Canada
While multiple divisions represent the International Functional Fitness Federation as a whole, two of them–the Masters and Junior–are set for three days of competition, coming up at the end of this month. The event is to be held in Vancouver, Canada and will consist of six tests, combining to represent “functional fitness” as a whole.
independent international governing body for the competitive sport of functional fitness. As stated on their website, “We provide international leadership, structure, and resources to fuel the growth of functional fitness as well as enrich the experience and safety of its worldwide participants.”
“Our mission is to promote and grow functional fitness around the globe by developing a governance structure which provides rules, safety standards, Technical Official training, and competitive opportunities for athletes. We ultimately aim to create a pathway for competitive functional fitness to be included in the Olympic Games.”
There has been major crossover between CrossFit competitions and IF3 championships in recent years, as the two organically align.
In December of last year, the World Championships for the individual athletes was held in Hermosillo, Mexico and ended with Games veteran Matilda Garnes as the women’s champion, Jan Matiaska taking home first place for men, and Norway winning in the team division. This year’s Individual World Championship will take place in November, in Oslo, Norway.
The Masters and Juniors World Championship, which is held separately, will be host to eight Masters Divisions for each gender beginning at age 30, and three Junior Divisions for each gender, beginning at age 13.
The workouts: Four qualifier workouts for the event took place in April of this year, and they were all Quarterfinal workouts from the 2023 CrossFit season. Just days ago, the six workouts for the World Championship were released, and are categorized by the six components of functional fitness, as determined by the Federation.
The six categories, consisting of Endurance, Strength, Bodyweight, Skill, Mixed and Power, all have corresponding, representative workouts, testing those skills with workouts like “Death by 10 Meters,” (the Endurance test), where after a 1 minute max rep burpee over box for Masters and burpee broad jump for Juniors, athletes then must run 100 meters each minute, adding either 10 meters or a burpee box jump over depending on the division.
To make a difference this October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Morning Chalk Up has partnered with Compete for a Cure, a 501(c) non-profit that has made a huge difference in the fitness community in the lives of those impacted by breast cancer.
“We are so excited to partner with the Morning Chalk Up for Chalktober,” said Lindsey Marcelli, the Founder and Executive Director of Compete for a Cure. “Women shouldn’t have to worry about funding to thrive after diagnosis. Chalktober is an awesome way to bring the CrossFit community together, give people the opportunity to bid on amazing prizes from our partners, and make a huge difference with the funds raised throughout the month.”
What is Chalktober? Chalktober is a month-long online auction promoted and shared via the Morning Chalk Up, with all proceeds benefiting Compete for a Cure.
The details: From October 1st through October 31st, participants will be able to bid on multiple products, experiences, and more from Chalktober partners:
2POOD
Ascent Protein
Barbell Babes
Beam
Brute Force
Caffeine and Kilos
Element 26
FITAID
goodr
KleanFreak
Leave No Doubt
LSKD
Moxie
Reebok
RX Smart Gear
Strong Coffee
TYR
Unbroken RTR
Virus International
Vuori
Brands can join in on the auction by contacting Morning Chalk Up here.
Keep an eye on the newsletter and the Morning Chalk Up’s social media to stay updated with items that are live for bidding!
All funds raised from the auction will go to Compete for a Cure, whose mission is to fund breast cancer survivors’ and thrivers’ wellness within local communities, and provide education for coaches, trainers and athletes. Compete for a Cure also recently launched their Unbroken benchmark workout that can be done at any gym.
If you are interested in setting up a gym or individual fundraising page, click here!
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