How One Florida CrossFit Affiliate Rallied After the School Shooting

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by FNX, the Official Supplement Sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up. Sleep is the most important aspect of recovery, but one we often overlook. FNX wants to help you get the best possible quality sleep so you can wakeup recovered and ready for your next WOD. That’s why they’re offering you 20% off their natural sleep aide + this walkthrough on
why sleep is so important.

“One of the things I learned the hard way was that is doesn’t pay to get discouraged.” — Lucille Ball

18.1 is over. On to the next one…

HOW ONE FLORIDA CROSSFIT AFFILIATE RALLIED AFTER THE MARJORY STONEMAN SHOOTING.

Remind me.

On February 14, a former student opened fire killing 17 adults and students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. More than a dozen were treated for injuries. After more than an hour, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz was taken into custody and students were sent home to be with their families for the remainder of the week.

Got it. What happened next?

When Gabriele Schlicht, owner of CrossFit Deerfield Beach which is just down 11 miles down the street, heard about the shooting she knew she had to do something to help. So the gym organized and hosted a 12-hour WOD-A-THON from 6am until 6pm on Friday, February 16th. They ditched their regularly scheduled classes and hosted a memorial workout to not only honor the victims of the school shooting, but to raise funds for the victims and families of this tragedy.

The WOD.

The memorial WOD is as follows:

30 min AMRAP
200m Run
14 Pull-Ups
18 Push-Ups
17 Air Squats

Athletes had the opportunity to raise an additional $30 per person by completing 10 rounds RX within the allotted 30 minutes, thanks to sponsorship donations pledged by Matt Hornaday, Amy Colombo, and Lululemon ambassadors. Talk about a meaningful reason to push yourself to the limits.

How much was raised?

The WOD-A-THON raised more than $1,500 with donations still rolling in at the end of the day. The memorial WOD will become an annual tradition for the affiliate, they donated the money to the Stoneman Douglas Victims’ Fund— which has already raised over $2.1 million of their $2.5 million goal in only 8 days (and still taking donations).

Action helps communities grieve. We want to say kudos to the CrossFit community in Parkland for rising to the occasion and kicking some ass in the face of tragedy.

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

What to tell your wifey who basically hate the sound of your barbells…

Happy wife equals happy life. A few weeks back we told you how Zero Machine CrossFit literally saved their business by purchasing some serious noise reducing mats; they were faced with getting kicked out. Well one garage CrossFitter discovered that Great Mats only sold these magic mats in bulk. Not to be dismayed, James contacted the actual manufacturer (Sof Surfaces) based in Canada. They don’t advertise this, but they’ll help out the litle guy with small orders if you just call — (800) 263-2363. 

THINGS TO…

RE-WATCH: Ro v. Boz

The annual average joes throwdown kicked off yesterday. In case you don’t wanna watch the entire 20 minute WOD again, Rory took the workout, beating Adrian 352 – 312; that’s 11 rounds to just under 10 rounds for you non-math majors.

TUNE IN.

HEAR: From Elite Athlete to Elite Coach

What happens when a legacy CrossFit Games athlete has to move on from the sport of CrossFit? Michele Letendre joins the Mind Muscle Project to discuss her transition to full time coach and the legacy she’s building off the competitie stage.

RETIREMENT.

KNOW: How to Pick the Perfect Avocado

Because we’ve all been there before coming back from work drooling about that avocado chicken salad with a little salt and olive oil only to find it soft and sad. Don’t let it happen again. 

BUY BETTER AVOCADOS.

EAT: 12 High Protein Instant Pot Recipes 

The Instant Pot — aka that device that cooks things like waaaaay faster than you think it should and therefore saves you gobbles of time — is basically your meal prep’s soul mate. Now here’s what you can start cooking with it. 

SET IT AND FORGET IT.

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

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

• A TORNADO HIT — On Saturday, February 24, a tornado touched down in Clarksville, TN damaging around 90 homes. A few of those homes belonged to members of CrossFit Clarksville. Members mobilized through their Facebook group and helped not only their friends but neighbors in the community clean up, drop off food and water, and step in wherever needed. 
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY — To us! Our second birthday was actually yesterday but we forgot. Next year we’ll do something way cooler 🙂 
• WOD FOR WHITNEY — Over the weekend, more than 60 athletes joined Spartan Fitness 360 and raised $4500 to help their coach Whitney with her cancer treatments. 

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

Here are seven things that made us smile from 18.1 • Margaux Alvarez hit a 190 pound snatch PR • Operation Underground Rescue (OUR) is now officially partnering with the Peruvian government to stop human trafficking. OUR operates CrossFit OUR, a non-profit affiliate that exists to raise money to stop human trafficking • Jamie Hagiya and Chelsey Grigsby have found a way to bring curling to your CrossFit box. 

18.1 — If some of these numbers shift over night, don’t bite our heads off. Numbers in ( ) designate current worldwide rank.

— The Ladies: Nothing really shocking with the names at the top, but a few things we wanted to point out. Jamie Greene (13) appears to be healthy after she’d hinted at an injury on Feb 3 • Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (36) is so far, so good post shoulder surgery • Kelsey Kiel (50) is for real, coming off a big CrossFit Liftoff win • Brooke Ence (167) is back.

— The Dudes: Mostly the same story over here. Alex Vigneault (11) looks healthy after withdrawing from the 2017 Regionals due to a peck injury • Jacob Heppner (39) is back for the 2018 season.

— The Teams: A couple really quick highlights. Both Mayhem teams looks strong in the Central East ranked 1 and 7. CrossFit Invictus has three teams in the top 25 in the West, a fourth team sits in 31st. We also noticed that Sam and Jenn Dancer’s scores are up on their affiliate. They moved to San Diego back in December which makes us think they’re going team with Invictus. In the North East, Invictus Boston and Invictus Back Bay are placed second and 18th, respectively. NOTE: All team rankings are based on region not worldwide. 

So when’s the next clue coming? The most probably answer is today. Of the 19 clues Dave has given since 2016, six have come on Tuesday; that’s 31.58% of the time. 

SHOTS FIRED — Lachy Rowston and Raph Freedman, hosts of The Mind Muscle Project want Dave Castro out as Director of the CrossFit Games (starts around 1:10)…“Is it just me or is there a way to sign some kind of petition where we can just vote Dave Castro off as the Director of the Games; give it to Rory or Boz, it just doesn’t seem right that that guy is the director of the Games still to this day, it’s almost like the guy who was subbed in at the last minute, he’s really nervous, doesn’t even look like he works out, is a bit of a dweeb, breaks the rules…It’s pathetic…Let’s vote Rory in or
something like that, much more presentable, looks like he actually works out.”

— Responding on the podcast, five-time CrossFit Games athlete Michele Letendre said, “I really do think things will shift towards eventually more competition in the sport in terms of sponsors…Dave Castro is so Dave Castro and there’s not a lot of room for growth and I think that eventually, I hope eventually his mentality will shift towards a more opening of the sport and things will continue to grow but I think as long as Dave is so, it’s his baby, he’s trying to control it so much, it’s kind of limiting it’s growth a bit.”

3/1: CrossFit Open 18.2 (Worldwide)3/8: CrossFit Open 18.3 (Worldwide)

3/10: Women Who WOD (Barbados)

3/15: CrossFit Open 18.4 (Worldwide)

3/22: CrossFit Open 18.5 (Worldwide)

3/23: The Redeemed and the Dominant: Fittest on Earth is released (iTunes)

3/24: 4th Annual St. Paddy’s Day Competition (Norwood, MA)

4/7: Battle of the Badges (Anaheim, CA)

4/7: The Revolution (San Antonio, TX)

4/7: GenX Masters Comp (Salem, MA)

4/14: Battle for the Mountain (Dawsonville, GA)

4/14: Appalachian Games (Asheville, NC)

4/14: Deuces Wild by Warrior Affiliate League (Baldwin Park, CA)

4/14 – 4/15: Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Challenge (Columbia, MD)

4/14 – 4/15: WOD Wars Fitfest (Dunedin, FL)

4/19: Teens and Masters Qualifier (Invitation Only)

4/20 – 4/22: Athens Throwdown (Athens, Greece)

4/21: Festivus Games (Nationwide)

4/21: Mayhem for MSR (Cookeville, TN)

4/21: Loganville Lockdown (Loganville, GA)

4/28: Battleground SoCal (Wimington, CA)

4/28: Girls Gone Rx (Cincinnati, OH)

4/28: Salem Slaughterfest (Salem, OR)

4/28: 3rd Annual Appletown Throwdown (Cornelia, GA)

4/28 – 4/29: Walter’s Cup Throwdown (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

5/4 – 5/5: Tough As Nails (Lubbock, TX)

5/4 – 5/6: European Masters Throwdown (Budapest, Hungary)

5/5 – 5/6: Tribal Clash (Quarteira, Portugal)

5/5: Cinco de Mayo Classic (San Antonio, TX)

5/5: The Locomotive Games III (Youngstown, OH)

5/11 – 5/12: Beast Mode Games (Greenville, SC)

5/11 – 5/12: Midwest Monster (Joplin, MO)

5/12: Barbells for Bullies (Danbury, CT)

5/19: Raising the Bar for Recovery (Medina, OH)

5/19: East Coast Battle (Hanover, MD)

5/26: Beauty is a Beast 2 (Indian Rocks Beach, FL)