“Pain is dangerous. Discomfort is where you get better. That's not all it takes, but you can't keep improving in this sport without it. So, sorry, CrossFit never becomes easy. You just learn to handle the discomfort better.”- Mat Fraser, HWPO, p. 90.
INTERVIEWS
Four Jobs, CrossFit, and a Dream: How Liz Bell Completed an Ultramarathon
One day during the CrossFit Games, Liz Bell ran 16 miles.
Between shifts running the Barbell Voodoo booth in Vendor Village, she found time to run a distance most CrossFitters–let alone the general population–could never imagine taking on. For Bell, though, she didn’t think it was close to enough.
The long-time runner and CrossFitter since 2019 had set her mind on an ultramarathon. With her and her husband’s anniversary coming up at exactly the same time he was scheduled to be sent off for basic training, she knew she didn’t want to spend the day alone. Besides that, her intrinsic motivation took her the rest of the way.
“I’m not an elite athlete, but just knowing that I can do these things that a lot of people can’t or won’t do,” Bell said. “I see a lot of people out there in wheelchairs or overweight and I’m happy everytime I see someone on the trails, I’m happy to see them walking. But they’re not going to do what I’m doing. I’m doing it because I can.”
To train leading up to her race, Bell was doing only one focused running workout every week, relying otherwise on CrossFit workouts at her gym (where she also coaches), CrossFit Westchase. Part of this struggle was her commitment to the 75 Hard challenge, which dictates that participants should do two 45-minute workouts each day. So even if Bell did run long distances in order to prepare for her upcoming 46-mile race, she would still have to do another workout. Between this and her jobs, it wasn’t feasible.
Because her husband was set to leave for basic training in the military, Bell had to take on extra work to support the family. On top of her regular job as an athletic trainer, she took on bartending shifts, coaching at Westchase, nutrition coaching with First Phorm, and work with Barbell Voodoo.
When race day arrived, that 16-mile run at the Games (a month ago at the time) was the longest run Bell had completed. Now, she faced down a race nearly three times the distance.
“I knew it was a mental game,” Bell said. She recalls that for the first 12 miles, her morale was high. After that, things got tough. “I was mentally like, ‘okay, three miles at a time, I can do this.’ I knew that I (could) chip away at it, it was just a long chipper.”
Besides her ability to push through challenges she’d never seen before, Bell said her recovery after the race was much better than she expected.
Bell: “I recover really well, and I think CrossFit has a lot to do with it. Because I constantly practice fitness and nutrition, the recovery process is so much better than what I’ve heard from other people.”
Even when the going got tough during the race, Bell says that she was lucky to have her sister and friends cheering her on throughout. When that chipper mentality she knew so well from CrossFit started to fade, she was able to rely on them.
“The only thing that kept me from quitting is that my sister was cheering me on,” Bell said. “I was like, I feel like I’m not crushing this, but I’m gonna complete it because there’s so many other people that believe I can do this.”
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The TYR WZAOC is on now and the second and third workouts have been released. Here they are:
Individual Workout 2
In 5 minutes, find a 1RM complex of:
1 Snatch
2 Hang Snatches
Tie-break: Max Unbroken Overhead Squats
Individual Workout 3
For Time
15-20-25
Calorie Row
Wallballs
C2B Pull-ups
Box Jump Overs
Alt. DB Snatch (R+L=1, R+L=2…)*1 min rest after each roundTime Cap: 20 minutes
The first two weeks of the TYR WZAOC are focused on individual athletes and started yesterday, Thursday, September 14th, with scores due and registration closing on Monday, September 18th at 8:00 PM ET. Check it out and register now!
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 Become an OUT Foundation Partner Gym: The OUT Foundation is partnering with local gyms across the country to help set LGBTQ+ athletes up for success through wellness resources, access to a network of current and former OUTAthletes, tailored nutrition coaching and more. Applications open on September 26 to become a partner gym.
ELFIT x Underdogs Retreat: Following the ELFIT CrossFit Championship, members of the Underdogs Athletics team (the technical partner for the event and programmers for the championship) will host the Hurghada Fitness Retreat with ELFIT. The retreat is November 22-26 and will include workouts and skill training sessions, excursions on Mahmya Island, a sunset safari, relaxation on the Red Sea beach, and more.
The first ten people to register will receive a $100 discount, so sign up now!
ICYMI: Core City Kids makes CrossFit accessible to kids in Detroit.
COMPETITIONS
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Ranking the Men and Women Who Qualified for the Rogue Invitational
The 2023 Rogue Invitational is about a month and a half away and we finally have our confirmed athletes who made it through the qualifier.
In total six men and six women qualified for the event. Typically the Invitational only qualifies five men and women, but this year it was bumped to six a piece due to a software error on the leaderboard.
With that being said, let’s take a look at these 12 athletes and give them a ranking against one another.
In January of this year, Zach and Angie Minor left their gym in Vacaville, CA, along with more than 30 members, in search of something different that better fit their needs.
This large group had formed tight bonds over the course of ten or more years together, and the ties that bonded them were created through CrossFit. They wanted to stick together, but finding a gym that accommodated so many new members and aligned with their larger goals was a challenge.
The new normal: For a time, the group kept up their workouts, sans workout space. They met at each others’ garages, at parks and in communal spaces, everyone bringing with them their own equipment to share.
“People were loading up minivans with barbells – it was crazy, and it connected us, but it just couldn’t last. We were such a huge group and it just wasn’t something that would work in the long run,” said Angie Minor.
The lightbulb: In 2020, Morning Chalk Up’s Maggie Weaver wrote an article about two separate CrossFit gyms in Wisconsin, successfully operating as cooperatives, with a large group of members, guided by a small board.
The Minors, along with a number of their friends, read the article and were inspired by the idea of a cooperative: a common space with like-minded leaders, and a board of advisors that would vote on big decisions.
“We were so inspired by the idea, so we thought, ‘we could do this!’ …We elected a board, with a president, (Abe Flores), vice president, (Luis Valencia), treasurer, (Aaron Davanzo), and secretary, (Melissa Davanzo) and a social media manager, (Noel JR Oribello), who are a mix of coaches and members,” continued Minor.
The first step was securing a space that would accommodate their community, which was challenging, and although it was small, they found the perfect location. As a large group, the cooperative met and discussed finances. They needed start-up costs as well as equipment, which everyone was willing to provide, in some regard.
“People were like, ‘I’ll give $1,000’, or ‘I’ll give $100’, or ‘I have an assault bike that I can donate.’ And that’s how it all began, just people donating equipment from their garage gyms and donating the money that they could so that we could build this. Everyone was so into the idea, they were so excited. We knew we could do this,” said Minor.
Today’s workout is programmed by six-time CrossFit Games veteran and full-time law enforcement officer, Alex Vigneault. The Canadian Mayhem athlete has placed in the top-ten at the Games twice in his career (eighth in 2021 and ninth in 2016). During the 2023 season, he placed ninth overall at the North America East Semifinal and 35th at the Games.
Alex Vigneault
21-15-9
Calories Assault Runner
12-9-6
Burpee Box Get Overs (48/40)
Right into…
21-15-9
Calories Echo Bike
15-12-9
Burpee Box Jump Overs (24/20)
Right into…
21-15-9
Calories Row
Lateral Burpees over the Rower
Scaling Options: Athletes can substitute 300m/250m/200m run if they do not have access to a runner. Box height can be adjusted down if necessary and athletes can forego jumping over the rower in the final couplet.
Advice from Alex: “The burpees get easier as you go in the workout so you need to go faster at the end. It’s a good endurance and burpee capacity workout, so push hard and have fun!”
To inquire about submitting an upcoming workout of the week, shoot us a note.
THINGS TO...
...TRY
This Great Core Exercise
Looking for a core exercise that you probably haven’t tried yet? Check this one out!
Tired of clawing through your bag to find your jump rope or your grips? Haven Athletic was too. That’s why they made their organized bags with a space for all of your equipment, including internal pockets, a separate vented shoe garage for your stinky shoes, and tons more amazing features. Organize your stuff today!
CrossFit Omnia in Denver, CO is hosting a Snatch and Clean and Jerk Total Competition this Saturday, the 16th to raise money for the displaced locals of the Maui, HI wildfires. The event starts at 9:00 a.m., and registration is donation based.
“This is an inclusive event for anyone who wants to participate! There will be male and female, novice and advanced divisions. Whichever athlete has the biggest Olympic Total in each division wins!”
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