Margaux Alvarez Terminated from Seminar Staff

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“I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true — hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.” — Ray Bradbury

After Speaking Out, Margaux Alvarez Terminated from L1 Seminar Staff

The story.

In an email blast sent out on Friday with the subject line, “Why I’m not doing the Open,” Margaux Alvarez said, “the owner of CF doesn’t really care about us competing in CF, so [instead] I will continue to spread the word of CF Methodology through seminars.”

The email got the six-time CrossFit Games athlete fired today, the Morning Chalk Up has learned. Alvarez, a CFL3 instructor, has been a Seminar staffer for five-and-a-half years.

Alvarez was unable to comment due to restrictions under a nondisclosure agreement signed by the former CrossFit employee. However, we were able to get ahold of Alex Cardenas, Alvarez’s fiance and coach, who was willing to speak on the record.

“It is an unfortunate decision, one that probably could have been discussed for clarity as I have read Coach [Glassman] publicly state his concerns about the Games while laying off a lot of his staff,” Cardenas said. “Margaux in no way was trying to dissuade anyone from participating in the Open, and has always been a supporter of people’s goals but she should also have a right to communicate in her own personal email thread, the reasons she was not competing in the Open this year.”



CrossFit, Inc. declined to comment for this story.

Continue Reading.

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell your bestie who doesn’t know how to end it with beau…

Get a friend to do that like you did back in the third grade. If saying “it’s over” just isn’t your thing, there’s a concierge service for that. After all, if you can hire a wedding planner or a funeral director why not a breakup coordinator. Just don’t use it on your box.

What to tell your sister when she says she can’t do the Open because she’s preggo…

Not so fast, sister. There are so many ways to continue to CrossFit during pregnancy and post-delivery and there’s a whole community out there ready to cheer you on while you get after it.

Things To…

WATCH: Catching Up With Tommy Marquez

Morning Chalk Up Founder and Editor-in-Chief Justin LoFranco sat down with Tommy Marquez to discuss what he’s been doing since being let go by CrossFit HQ, an app he’s involved with right now called Challenge Me, and who he has his eye on for the Open.

STOP AND EVALUATE.

HEAR: Habit Stacking for Big Changes

Coach, athlete and entrepreneur Adam Feit joins Michael Cazayoux, host of the Brute Strength podcast, to discuss goal setting, the power of starting small and how stacking smaller habit changes can lead to big results.

EACH CHANGE COUNTS.

EAT: Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup 

The best healthy slow cooker chicken tortilla soup recipe loaded with fire-roasted tomatoes, tender chicken and savory spices. This easy recipe is perfect for meal prep or family dinner and can easily be made on the stovetop too. Top with avocado, cheese, sour cream and crispy tortilla chips!

SOUP SEASON RULES.

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Chalk Up Community

• PRO-TIP: PACING — With the Open just days away, the folks at Invictus have a few tips for you on pacing including how to start slower to finish stronger. 
• STACI STRONG — BCF CrossFit in Banks, OR is fundraising for Staci Rizzo, a member who was recently placed in hospice care. All funds raised will be used to help Staci’s husband and two young daughters. 
• NEW START — Cottontown CrossFit, formally Forest Drive CrossFit, just opened their new location in downtown Columbia, SC.
• HONORING A COACH — Michael Goerne, who coached at Sopris CrossFit and Roaring Fork CrossFit in CO, died in a backcountry avalanche over the weekend. 

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

Sara Sigmundsdottir signed a sponsorship agreement with Foodspring Athletics, a sports nutrition company • Kelsey Henson back squats 154 pounds weeks after an injury • Sean Hutchinson front squats 300 pounds for three • Allison McKail gets a 170 pound snatch • Daniel Mullen gets his first muscle-up • Taylor Deering does 15 back squats at 265 pounds • Rasmus Andersen does six snatches at 245 pounds in 40 seconds. 

File this headline under ‘can’t make this up’…“Naked man arrested at Planet Fitness thought it was ‘judgment-free zone,’ police say.”

…to be fair, he has a point. 

JUST LAUNCHED…Inside Elite Fitness. The dynamic CrossFit media duo of Sean Woodland and Tommy Marquez, along with cadre of former CF Media folks, just (re)launched the update studio under a new banner. Inside Elite Fitness will also be providing before and after coverage during live Open announcements. WATCH.

…P.S. Follow these three YouTube channels for the most comprehensive coverage of the season: Inside Elite Fitness, ArmenHammerTV and (shameless self plug) Morning Chalk Up. 

Because you need something to do while waiting for your next meeting…scroll through these 19 behind the scenes shots from USAW Junior Nationals in Chicago this past weekend. Featuring athletes like Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, CJ Cummings, Cortney Batchelor and Olympian Morghan
King. 

Annie Thorisdottir on Re-doing Open Workouts — Annie Thorisdottir feels strongly that athletes should always re-do Open workouts. Last year Thorisdottir, who owns CrossFit Reykjavik, programmed the Open WOD to be the class WOD on Friday but also again on Monday.

— “Everyone can improve a little bit more by doing a workout a second time. It’s about learning what you could have done different and then actually doing that. It’s really cool to see how you can improve by having a different strategy or a different mindset going into a workout.”

How to Plan for 19.1 — The 2019 CrossFit Open is just two days away. With that in mind, CompTrain emailed advice as CrossFitters everywhere begin to plan their 2019 Open.

— “Stressing out about whether rope climbs or strict pull-ups will be in the Open this year can only make you less competitive. Imagine a book of matches. A typical matchbook has twenty matches, and together, they represent all of your energy for the day. Energy is a finite resource; once it’s gone, you can’t get it back. If you burn through your matchsticks on things that are outside of your control, you have less energy for things you can control — things that can actually move the needle on your performance.”

— “At the end of the day, the Open is a test of work capacity. We’ve spent the last year getting extremely fit, and that fitness will carry over to whatever pops up in the 2019 season.”

And Don’t Forget Nutrition — Registered Dietitian Paul Salter of Renaissance Periodization answered questions about pre-workout and post workout meals, maximizing performance, and recovery. 

“Urban Organics Wants to Fix Food,” by Michael Behar, Outside Magazine

On a cold, breezy morning in March 2017, I found myself shivering in a half-empty parking lot outside the entrance to the century-old Schmidt brewery in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The brick-walled landmark appeared abandoned. Beer hasn’t flowed through its industrial arteries since 2002, when brewing ceased permanently. Its whitewashed grain silos were yellowed and rust-stained; the chimney stack that once billowed fragrant, hops-scented steam had been capped.

But a rebirth was underway here, one that has nothing to do with cheap lager. It was happening inside an empty 85,000-square-foot warehouse once used for storing kegs. That’s where I stood waiting for Fred Haberman, the then 51-year-old cofounder of Urban Organics, who pulled up in a black Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid.

Haberman runs a successful marketing agency that bears his name, which has worked with foodie clients like Annie’s Homegrown, Earthbound Farm, and Organic Valley, along with Prana, Volvo, and LeafLine Labs, a medical-cannabis outfit that manufacturers pharmaceutical-grade THC and CBD extracts.

He launched Urban Organics in 2011 with three friends and a plan, among other things, to create the world’s largest organic aquaponics farm. Aquaponics combines hydroponics — growing plants without soil in a water-based mineral solution — with aquaculture, otherwise known as fish farming. Poop-laden wastewater from the fish is pumped into the plant beds, where roots suck up the nutrients and help purify the sullied water before it’s recirculated back to the aquaculture tanks.

2/21: Open Announcement 19.1 (Online)

2/23: Amicus Ambush: Mixed Teams (Dickinson, ND)

2/28: Open Announcement 19.2 (Online)

2/23 – 2/24: Strength in Depth (London, England)

3/7: Open Announcement 19.3 (Online) 

3/14: Open Announcement 19.4 (Online)

3/21: Open Announcement 19.5 (Online)

3/24: The Rockwell Championships Series Team Qualifiers (Online)

4/6: Feed, Clothe, Love and Lift (Amarillo, TX) 

4/12 – 4/13: Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge (Washington, D.C.)

4/20: The Wodfather VII 2019 (Keller, TX)