Rowing on a mountain top

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is built by Brute Strength, the Official Online Training Sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up. Learn 27 ways to build lean muscle, bust fake fitness news and more with Brute Strength’s FREE eBook. Download yours here: Ladies or Gents.

“The absolute best, the world class, etc. They all have one thing in common: they are o b s e s s e d. Food becomes fuel. Sleep becomes recovery. Working out becomes ‘training.’ Negative people are cut out. Everything revolves around the one goal. Life happens and unforeseen challenges arise along the way. This happens. Weak people give up after one failure. Average give up after 10. Good people after 100. And the best just NEVER give up. What’s your obsession?” — Unknown

HOW ONE ORG IS PULLING FOR PANCREATIC CANCER.

The story.

Project Purple is a Connecticut-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a serious goal: to find a cure for pancreatic cancer and improve the lives of diagnosed patients. The foundation was founded in 2010 by Dino Verrelli after his father was diagnosed.

If you know anything about pancreatic cancer you know it’s bad news. Here’s a quick rundown: It’s the number three killer among major cancers, 75% will die within six months of diagnosis, and there are no early detection or curative treatments.

So what is Project Purple doing?

For starters, they’re an official charity partner of 18 different endurance races across the country and have been expanding into the CrossFit community since 2015. They created a badass workout to help raise awareness and funds for the cancer that is diagnosed every 86 seconds. Last year, 35 gyms registered for the event and raised more than $40,000.

That’s a lot of dough.

Yep, it sure is. The event is called Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer and the workout looks pretty spicy.

For 2018, their goal is to get 100 boxes participating, raising more than $100,000 combined.

That’s legit. How can we help?

Gyms can host the event any day of the year for free — just create a team, program the AMRAP as your workout of the day, and let your athletes register online if they want to participate.

It’s only 25 bucks and can help put a huge dent in funding needed to fight this vicious diagnosis and help families everywhere.

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

What to tell your friend who wishes they could row in a more scenic location…

How’s 9,000 feet atop a Colorado mountain sound? Well it sounds lovely now that you’re asking. The only catch is, if you want to do it you’ll have to carry the erg the entire way up. You’re probably wondering why this is coming up right now, but Stephanie (our V.P. of all things ‘out of the ordinary’) noticed someone rowing on an erg perched atop some epic mountains like this and this. One
Instagrammer suggested some photoshop tomfoolery, but here’s the video evidence to prove she (and her friends) carry them ‘all the way.’

THINGS TO…

WATCH: The ‘Holy Donut’ Challenge

Ummmmm this might be the most awesome thing you’re going to watch over the next three weeks of extreme fitness. Chyna Cho and Kenzi Riley took on the Holy Donut challenge, which requires each athlete to eat four massive donuts over the course of a stomach-wrenching WOD.

EAT UP BUTTERCUP.

KNOW: Tips to Prevent Theft at Your Box

CrossFitters are basically the best people on the planet, but there are a few bad apples out there trying to ruin all the fun for everyone else. 

BOX IS SECURE.

DO: Take a European River Cruise with Christmas Abbott

Spend six days, five nights cruising down the Rhine River, from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland. Oh and did we mention it’s being led by Christmas Abbott and comes with WODs, wine and excursions through some of old Europe’s most breathtaking cities? 

NOW BOOKING UP.

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

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

• LEUKEMIA, ROUND 3 — Two athlete’s from San Diego’s CrossFit 858, are battling through the Open while facing very personal struggles of their own. Jerry Sandoval is fighting stage-four Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Bernard Llave is fighting his third battle of leukemia: “I did not even know it, but I was training the fight against leukemia my whole life and it has helped me overcome.” Both athletes are in the Open.
• FIRE, FIRE — After a member of Lake State CrossFit’s house caught fire, one of the coaches messaged the Lake State CF family for volunteers that night to come help. “To those who came and helped in the dark w flashlights…people…you filled my heart.  Showing up ready to help and give support, just being there….for my kids to see that…it was what my family needed more than anything last night.”

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

18.2 Leaderboarding — If some of these shift overnight, don’t cry foul.

— The Dudes: Mathew Fraser is number one • The second fittest teen on Earth, nineteen-year-old George Sterner, currently sits in 6th worldwide • Sam Dancer, who failed to qualify for the 2017 Games, is 28th • Josh Bridges sits 6 places outside of qualifying for West Regionals. 

— The Ladies: Emma Ferreira, who has never qualified for Regionals, is currently second worldwide • Camille Leblanc-Bazinet remains healthy after week two and sits in ninth • Brooke Ence is climbing the leaderboard now at 28th • Why can’t I find Kara Webb?? That’s cause she’s Kara Saunders now and she’s doing fine, 3rd in the world • Lauren Fisher is looking strong in her new Region,
sitting in 2nd • Tia-Clair Toomey hustles back into qualification after week 2, now sits in fourth after 40th last week • Melissa Doss, coming off a devastating broken ankle, is only two spots out from qualifying for central Regional.

Christmas Abbott just announced she’s 9 weeks pregnant…“Well, I’ve always expected the unexpected in my life and this year is no different! In January I discovered I am actually EXPECTING and a whole new life would be laid out before me…Ben and I couldn’t be happier with this news and are over the moon excited about this wild, new journey. I’m currently 9 weeks and our #babybunny has a very active heartbeat! We were so relieved to see the baby healthy and strong. After I saw the heart beating I couldn’t stop crying for most of the remaining day. It was intense. I’m excited to share my experience
in this process as much as I feel comfortable.”

Sheila Barden to the world after posting an 18.2 time of 3:54, ‘chase me down’…“The world went dark, my mind shut down, and I let my endorphins run the show. Might not hold up as the top female score in the world, but I want someone to have the chance to chase me down if they want to in the next 24 hours. If you’re willing to dig deeper than me on this one, then hell yeah! I’ll tip my hat to you and be proud of my score anyway, because no mater what, I couldn’t have gone any faster.”

…and looks like two people did: 1) Ashleigh Corby 3:50 and 2) Kari Pearce 3:51.

Dan Bailey to Sean Woodland in a video just released yesterday…“I’m planning on competing, planning on going through the Open, seeing what kind of, if any, issues come up from there. Training hard towards Regionals and then making it to the Games.”

Change of Story — Yesterday afternoon, Bailey posted to Instagram…“‪I’m disappointed to say that my CrossFitGames season was cut short due to injuring my knee during 18.2a last week…I’ll be back at it soon enough!”

“Above the Commotion: Preparing Mentally for the Open” by Joshua Littauer, CrossFit Invictus

The beginning of the year is always an exciting and busy time in the fitness industry. Dozens of new athletes learning the ropes, getting excited about every new movement they learn, and being highly motivated to achieve their goals. This is certainly one of the most exciting times of the year for coaches, gym owners, and all members of the community. This excitement is certainly true in the CrossFit community, and to added icing to the cake the CrossFit Open is upon us.

2018 is the 8th year for the worldwide CrossFit Open which has seen hundreds of thousands of participants come through over the past few years. With increased growth and popularity expected, it is not surprising that everyone in the community is being inundated with hype and advertisement for the upcoming event. From banner ads, Facebook profile picture filters, Instagram ads and commercials, email newsletters and more; it is easy to get wrapped up in the hype.

I’d like to create a discussion towards a healthy approach for everyone participating in the Open and set some strategies for approach to help make it the most positive experience. With all the hype that surrounds the Open each year, it is easy to begin to put some kind of pressure on yourself to perform a certain way. Whether that be pressure you feel to break into a certain group, perhaps qualify for Regionals, or pressure to just be more fit than the year before.

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)

4/13 – 4/15: The Railyard Games (Albuquerque, NM)

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: Atlas Blarney Stone Competition (Denver, CO)

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)

4/21: FoxWOD (Panama City Beach, FL)

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)

5/11 – 5/12: Reebok’s Ready for Action – Fittest in Israel (Israel)

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

5/12: The Mountain Meltdown (Parks City, UT)

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

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

5/28: The HAMMY (Hudson, OH)

5/19 – 5/20: GameDay Mankato (Mankato, MN)

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