Rogue Invitational is the 15th Sanctioned Event

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by FITAID, the official beverage sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up. 

Happy FITAID Friday! Today’s the perfect day to join the FITAID community on YouTube – subscribe to the FITAID YouTube Channel to tune-in to their live streams, catch the latest episodes of FITAID Morning Show, or binge watch the “Sara Sigmundsdottir: Perseverance” documentary series. Once you subscribe, make sure you enable channel notifications so you don’t miss a video!

“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” — Arianna Huffington

“Strong”

A guest post by Julia Anderson

I started CrossFit from a place of just needing something more, different.  I’m not there to lose 20 pounds or to compete in the CrossFit Games, but to care for my body, to recognize its worth.  I’m there with hopes of learning to build up instead of shrink down; not to punish but to celebrate. And a fragile wish for an hour’s rest from the anxiety that consumes me.

I hate jumping rope. I’m terrible at it, and despite the progress I’ve made in the seven months since starting CrossFit, it still feels humiliating; a pointed reminder of all that I lack. The WOD on this day asked for sixty unbroken jumps in a minute. 

Sixty. Unbroken. Four Rounds.

Round 1: Thirty-two and the rope hits my shins. I look at the clock. I start jumping again.  I make it to 20 and stop close to the end of the minute. I put the rope down, irritated.

Two: only 25 before tripping up.

Three: I am well and truly angry. 

Four: about 50 jumps and I just stop. I’m disheartened and out of breath but now it’s time to go outside for the actual WOD. Into the pouring rain.

We gather at the starting line with kettlebells at our feet for farmer carries. Every 100 meters or so, I set the weights down, try to dry off the handles for a better grip, pick them up and walk on. 

Continue reading…

GAMES UPDATE

See You in Columbus, Rogue Nabs 15th Sanctioned Event

What happened?

Yesteday, the Rogue Invitational was announced as the 15th sanctioned event for the 2019 CrossFit Games season. 

The Invitational will take place at Rogue HQ in Columbus, OH on May 18-19, 2019, and consist of 20 male and 20 female athletes, and 10 teams. The winner of each division will receive an invitation to the 2019 CrossFit Games.

“Invitees will include the Top 10 male and female finishers from the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games, along with a select number of additional athletes from the top ranks of the sport,” according to Rogue’s website. “The final competition spots will be filled via an online qualifier. Details on the individual and team qualifying process will be released at a later date.”

Payouts and prize money

The winner of the Invitational will take home $50,000 for individuals and $20,000 for teams, and event wins pay out $5,000 each.

Rogue Invitational’s prize purse is the second largest among sanctioned events, totaling more than $400,000. Dubai CrossFit Championship, which will dole out $616,000 in both the qualifier and championship events, tops the list.

“Every athlete that competes at the Rogue Invitational will take home a cash prize,” Rogue said.

Rogue and Dubai are also the only events so far which award prize money to every competitor.

The 2019 Games season, a packed schedule

Greg Glassman said on multiple occasions that there would be 16 sanctioned events for the 2019 season, but that remains to be seen.

Due to the truncated timeline of the 2019 season, it appears there isn’t much room for more events this season. The 2019 Open, from late February through March, removes five weekends from the competition calendar and May itself already has five events in five different countries. In all likelihood this is the final event for the 2019 season.

Anything else?

The CrossFit Italian Showdown is inviting all 2018 Regionals athletes to bypass their online qualifier and compete at the first day of the Showdown on April 26, 2019 in Milan, Italy.

This is the only competition so far to invite Regional athletes to bypass a qualifier. In order to secure a spot, athletes must send an email to the Italian Showdown by November 11th.

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell your friend the next time she cries in the movies…

It’s totally cool to cry. Just take a look at Jonathan Pelts, the other half of Girls Gone WODs Olivia Pelts, who just had her baby. He cried the whole time like, well a baby. Way to go, Dad.

Things To…

WATCH: How One Person Changed a Community 

Since 2009, Scott Batson has been making monthly visits to Nicaragua, bringing along teams of volunteers from the United States for week-long mission trips to teach CrossFit and other life skills to locals. CrossFit has been so impactful in the community that it’s become the core of what everyone does there.

CHANGING COMMUNITIES.

HEAR: Let’s WOD About it With Mary Teunis

Danny and Steve, hosts of the Let’s WOD About It podcast, sat down with Mary Teunis, a 2018 Regionals athlete from CrossFit Revamped. They discuss everything from her gymnastics background to being at the 2018 Atlantic Regionals. They also talk about body image and eating disorders and how CrossFit can help with some of those issues.

LIFE REVAMPED.

TRY: A 7-Day Free Olympic Weightlifting Trial

Designed by legendary Olympic Weightlifting coach, Sean Waxman, TrainingIQ is the dedicated weightlifting program you’ve been looking for to get stronger and improve your Olympic lifts. TrainingIQ is a fully customized training program that you can access right from your Android or iPhone.

GET LIFTING.

EAT: Chili-Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins

These uber delicious chili-stuffed sweet potato skins with an epic honey-lime chipotle yogurt sauce make a great vegetarian lunch or the perfect Sunday football snack. Think potato skins times a hundred. Top them with japalenos, chives, or cheese and set a plate out this Sunday.

CRISPY AND DELICIOUS.

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

Chalk Up Community

• WOD FOR WARRIORS — WOD for Warriors is a workout held on and around Veterans Day, from November 2 – 12 at gyms all across the country. This event is an opportunity to support veterans through functional fitness, compete for more than $2,000 in prizes, and raise funds for America’s veterans. One hundred percent of the proceeds from this event go directly to support Team RWB’s mission.
• VETWOD 2018 — Compete in VETWOD, the first annual online-only functional fitness competition to benefit Mission 22, an organization fighting against veteran suicide. The workouts will take place over three weeks with podium winners in each workout and overall winners.
• BERGERON ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR —  Ben Bergeron is hosting two athlete development seminars using his “6 Steps to Mental Toughness”, and the template he uses to create his training programs. Info only, no workouts, this seminar is open to anyone and is in Boston on Sunday November 4, and in Denver on November 11.

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

Joel Hurst put his functional fitness to use carrying his son on Halloween while dressed as Mat Fraser • Meredith Root and Alex Parker anounced their new nutrition, lifestyle, and fitness company Tactic Functional Nutrition • Congratulations to Bryan and Krissell for deciding to join CrossFit Imperial Valley • Rogue is sending out special “Legends” invitations to athletes to compete at the newly announced Rogue Invitational and Matt Chan just got one • Congratulations to Vern May on her 235 pound back squat PR. 

Wodapalooza Team Events — Wodapalooza Team WODs are dropping today and tomorrow. For the Online Challenge, athletes will complete 10 workouts over 10 days and you have until scores are due on November 12th at 5:00 PM PT to register. (P.S. You can get $10 off registration with code “WZATEAMCHALKUP18”)

— P.S. This isn’t for the elite teams. Those fellas are invite only. 

Fittest in Cape Town — The second of three WODs for the Fittest in Cape Town online qualifier was released this morning.

WOD #2: 

7 Minute AMRAP

5 Toes to bar

4 Chest to bar pull-ups

3 Hang squat cleans (155/105 pounds)

2 Front squats (155/105 pounds)

1 Shoulder to overhead (155/105 pounds)

— What’s next: WOD #3 will be released Saturday morning at 3:00 AM PT but you’re on your own with that release. (We’ll be sleeping, dreaming of metcon combinations in the night.) Registered athletes will have until November 11 to submit their scores.

Team USA Weekend Schedule — The International Weightlifting Federation 2018 World Championship is underway in Turkmenistan and Team USA has twenty athletes out there lifting all the weights for all the gold. Here’s who is up this weekend and how to watch.

— Saturday: Jourdan Delacruz (55 KG) and Caitlin Hogan (55 KG) at Midnight PT, Alyssa Ritchey (49 KG) Saturday at 2:25 AM PT.

— Sunday: Jessica Lucero (59 KG) at Midnight PT, and CJ Cummings (73 KG) at 6:55 PM PT.

Three Signs You Have an ‘Upper Limit’ Problem,” by Katie Sullivan, Working Against Gravity 

Imagine this scenario:

It’s been a great week of nutrition and training. You’ve hit your macros spot-on for five days in a row, you’ve had great workouts and you’re seeing awesome progress in the mirror and in the way your clothes fit. You are on a roll and feeling confident!

But somewhere, in the back of your mind, a little voice quietly suggests that maybe this week is ‘too good to be true.’ After all, every time you’ve reached this point on a nutrition program in the past, you’ve messed things up. You can do great for five or so days, maybe even a couple of weeks, but then you always end up making a mistake and falling back into old habits. You just can’t seem to break this pattern and you aren’t sure why.

Maybe it’s not your fault. Maybe, you have an upper limit problem. This is a phrase created by Gay Hendricks, author of the book, The Big Leap.

Here’s how an upper limit problem works: We all have an inner ‘thermostat setting’ that determines how much success we allow ourselves to enjoy in various areas of life. When we exceed our inner thermostat setting, we may do something to sabotage ourselves, causing us to drop back into the old, familiar zone where we feel secure.

So if we achieve a significant amount of success in one area of life, our upper limit problem makes us feel guilty or anxious about it. When our ‘old belief’ clashes our new positive feelings, one of them has to win. If the old belief wins, we are likely to self-sabotage (for example, we might spend a weekend binge-eating or giving up tracking) to bring ourselves down to our prior level of success.

How can we avoid this situation and get past our upper limit problems?

The most important thing is to become aware of your upper limit problems, so you can catch them in self-sabotaging behavior.

11/2: Wodapalooza Qualifier – Team (Online)

11/2: WOD League Mixed Doubles Edition (São Paulo, Brazil)

11/2 – 11/3: Women’s WOD Jam Individuals (Denver, CO)

11/2 – 11/3: Fenrir’s Mayhem at CrossFit Iron Legion (Ocala, FL)

11/3: The Battle of Port Royal Sound (Okatie, SC)

11/3: Battle for the Badges (St. Charles, MO)

11/3: PPS CrossFit Fall Throwsdown (Portland, OR)

11/3: CFT’s 2018 Strongman Classic (Carol Stream, IL)

11/3: WODamania (Riviera Beach, FL)

11/3: Barbells For Boobs at CrossFit Florian (Norwood, MA)

11/3: Bar Wars 2018  (Harker Heights, TX)

11/3: Masters Of The Midway (The Hills, IL)

11/3: Dynamic Duo Deathmatch 2018 (Southlake, TX) 

11/3: Inferno in the Forge (Lawrenceville, IL)

11/3: Perimeter Rowdown (Atlanta, GA)

11/3: Central Texas Showdown (Seguin, TX)

11/3: Rookie Rollout 3 at Troy CrossFit (San Diego, CA)

11/3: Masters of the Midwest (Greenwood IN)

11/3: Fit Wars Competition (Cedar Park, TX)

11/3: Super Awesome Fun Time Pairs Challenge (Toronta, Canada)

11/3: Justin Martin Memorial Competition (Des Moines, IA)

11/3- 11/4: Reignited Games 2018 (Wilmington, NC) 

11/3 – 11/4: Charlotte Throwdown for Mental Health Awareness (Charlotte, NC)

11/3 – 11/4: GameDay Championship (St. Paul, MN)

11/3 – 11/4: Clearwater Beach Brawl (Clearwater, FL)

11/04 – 11/05: WODNATION BR (Vinhedo, Brazil)

11/9: Veteran Games ABQ (Albuquerque, NM)

11/10: The Battle at Branded One (Las Vegas, NV)

11/10: Emerald Coast Honor Games (Destin, FL)

11/10: Patriot Games (Rochester Hills, MI) 

11/10 – 11/11: Extreme Games (Piauí, Brazil)

11/10 – 11/11: South Loop Games (Chicago, IL)

11/10- 11/11: Southie Showdown (Boston, MA)

11/10 – 11/11: Florida Grid League Championship (Fort Myers, FL)

11/10: Metcon 4 Hope (Reno, NV)

11/10: Best of the Wurst (New Braunfels, TX)

11/10: Warrior Affiliate League Delta Force (Duarte, CA)

11/10: USA Powerlifting Veterans Day Championship (Philadelphia, PA) 

11/10: Blue Cooler Throwdown (Deland, FL)

11/10: Bromageddon 2018 (Chandler, AZ)

11/10: Garage Games Masters Tour 2018 (McKinney, TX)

11/10: First Annual Sergeants Fitness Patriot Games (Caldwell, ID)

11/10: Boobs and Bells (Schaumburg, IL) 

11/11: Bonsai Brawl (Philadelphia, PA)

11/11: CFF Team Marathon Row 2018 (Metuchen, NJ)

11/15: Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer @ Hybrid Athletics Bridgport (Bridgeport, CT)

11/16 – 11/17: Veterans Day Bash at CrossFit Wild West (Lubbock,TX)

11/17: MetCon Mashups CrossFit Lubbock (Lubbock,TX)

11/17: CrossFit TIG Turf Wars (Brighton, MI)

11/17: 2018 Energy Games (Houston, TX)

11/17: MetCon Mashups (Tulsa, OK) 

11/17: Green Valley Clash of the Fittest (Green Valley, AZ)

11/17: Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer @ Invictus Boston (Boston, MA)

11/17: North County Fall Brawl (Watertown, NY)

11/17: BCF for Homeless Kids Kettlebells4Kids Fundraiser (Derry, NH)

11/17: Team SuperFit Charlotte (Charlotte, NC)

11/17: 2nd Annual Well Seasoned Masters Competition (Burlington, MA) 

11/17: Guardian Games National Championship (Ashland, VA)

11/20: Ben Marconi Memorial WOD (San Antonio, TX)

11/25: Carpathian Games II (Kosice, Slovakia)

11/30 – 12/2: Rogue Winter Classic (Cleveland, OH)