Tragedy on a Canadian Highway

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by ButcherBox, your neighborhood butcher for the modern world.

Imagine your buddy owned a farm and every month he dropped off a box of the tastiest grass-fed and grass-finished beef, free range organic chicken and heritage breed pork (not the dry kind you get at the grocery store). Well, that’s ButcherBox in a nutshell. And because they want to help stock your freezer for grilling season, they’re giving you $10 off your first order + 2 Filet Mignons + Bacon!

“Do not look up at the whole mountain ahead. Only focus on putting the right foot ahead of the left. Once that step is completed, focus on putting the left foot in front of the right foot. Once you’ve done those two small steps enough times, you can look out at the top of the mountain and see the masterpiece you’ve conquered. It’s only conquered if you focus on the small steps in the moment. Don’t get ahead of yourself and don’t harp on the steps you’ve already completed.” — Dr. Fortunato, my freshman year of college chemistry professor

APRIL IS OFFICIALLY OUR FAV MONTH.

In case you needed an excuse to hang with your pup more.

It’s April, and do you know what that means? It’s Canine Fitness Month!

Seriously, it’s a thing and we’re really excited about it. Canine Fitness Month was created by FitPAWS. FitPAWS has been the leader in canine fitness for over ten years.

Man’s best friend.

Our furry, four legged friends are our family— they provide us with the purest form of unconditional love imaginable, and we owe it to them to take care of them right back. Dogs need exercise and proper nutrition to thrive just like their hooms, and it’s up to us to make sure that happens!

So what can we do?

FunPAWS has a great list of suggestions to help you get started, but basically just keep them moving. We all know an exercised dog is a happy dog. Bring your fluffer to the box! Make sure they get their daily walk. Set up puppy play dates and engage their brain and make them work for their treats.

Maybe even try a fun game of tug-of-war like Jacob Heppner does with his corgi, Winston.

THINGS TO…

HEAR: Visualization, Emotion and Phobias

Froning and Friends is back from crushing the Open for a new episode discussing which animals are the rudest (seriously), Elly’s tick, and some more serious topics like phobias, fear and emotions in a performance mindset.

TUNE IN.

KNOW: Keto v. Carbs

Want to learn more about popular diet plans, ways to balance different types of carbohydrates and the glycemic index? Adee Cazayoux from Working Against Gravity answers your questions about these topics in this episode of FYI.

KNOWLEDGE BOMB IN LESS THAN 3 MINUTES.

EAT: Cherry Cobbler Protein Balls

These paleo protein balls are the perfect combination of sweet, savory and healthy. And the best part is you can make a bunch, then grab a handful for work or just on the go.

TASTY TREATS.

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

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

• CUSTOMIZE THAT — Tal Short, senior product manager at Reebok, revealed in an interview yesterday that the Reebok Legacy lifters will be available for customization starting this week. 
• BEFORE GRADUATION — One of the new owners of CrossFit Huntington in Huntington, WV is a senior at Marshall University getting her bachelors degree in mathematics. 
• HONORING A LOCAL HERO — Lance Cpl. Taylor Conrad’s died when his helicopter crashed Tuesday, April 3, during a training exercise in California. The Baton Rouge native was honored at Geaux CrossFit with a hero WOD even though he was never a member there.  
• TRAGIC LOSS — CrossFit Basinview in Nova Scotia, Canada honored the fifteen members of the Humboldt Broncos who died in a tragic bus accident Friday night on their way to a playoff hockey game. 

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

Information on tickets for the CrossFit Games will be released sometime this week • Fourteen-year-old Jazz Taggs hit a 210 pound clean PR just after his first CrossFit Open • ‘What is CrossFit’ was the answer to a jeopardy question • Congratulations to 46-year-old Leslie Allen, owner of True Spirit CrossFit in Bozeman, MT for taking home silver at the National Masters Weightlifting Championships this weekend.

…and we all want to be this grandma when we grow up. 

Teaser Trailer — Working Against Gravity teases the new docu-series on Camille-Leblanc Bazinet debuting this Friday. 

T-Shirt of the Month Club — Doughnuts & Deadlifts launched a new t-shirt of the month club — dubbed the “Doughlivery Club” — where members will get “one totally exclusive Doughnuts & Deadlifts t-shirt that no one will ever be able to get anywhere else or at any other time. EVER,” delivered once a month. The cost is $30. 

“Starting CrossFit After 40” by Hyla Ridenour, Morning Chalk Up

Four months shy of my 40th birthday, plagued with burnout and an overuse injury while training for my tenth marathon, I signed up for a free trial at the nearby CrossFit gym. I wanted to build strength and create more balance by adding some cross-training to my regime.

Starting anything later in life is challenging and this is especially true of beginning CrossFit at almost 40 years old. The learning curve feels quite a bit steeper when your hair has started to turn silver and your knees creak every time you squat. Regardless, the value I’ve gotten out of every single WOD has been well worth the effort. Here are a few personal insights from starting CrossFit later in life.

“Did you add more weight?” The question cut through the conversation I was having with the two other gals I’d partnered up with.

“Yes.” I sheepishly replied, uncertain if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Why? You didn’t master the movement.”

“Oh.” Bad thing. My lip formed into a pout as I removed the two five pound plates I’d added to the bar.

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: RISE of the Masters (Statesboro, GA)

4/14: CrossFit Forte FORCE For Families (Nashville, TN)

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

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

4/14 – 4/15: Funky Town Throwdown (Ft. Worth, TX)

4/15: The last day to sign up for Croatia with VoyEdge RX

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)

4/21: Swamp Challenge (Gainesville, FL)

4/21: Mucctown Throwdown (Winnemucca, NV)

4/21: Famously Hot Showdown (Columbia, SC)

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: Brew-N-Brawl 2018 (Lenoir, NC)

4/28: CrossFit Cheltenham Throwdown (Gloucestershire, United Kingdom)

4/29: Three of A Kind (Gloucestershire, United Kingdom)

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

4/28 – 4/29: Battle of the Bluffs (Council Bluffs, IA)

4/28 – 4/29: King City Throwdown (Tupelo, MS)

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

5/4 – 5/5: No Gutz No Glory (Denver, CO)

5/4 – 5/5: Throwdown in Joe Town (St. Joseph, MO)

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

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

5/5 – 5/6: Barbell de Mayo (Woodbridge, VA)

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

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

5/5: Granite Games Throwdown (Southaven,  MS)

5/5: Battle of the Boro (Goldsboro, NC)

5/5: New WODs on the Block (Grand Rapids, MI)

5/5: The Crawfish Challenge (Columbia, SC)

5/5: Masters of the Shed (Roxbury, NJ)

5/9 – 5/10: The Heartland Games 2018 (Chicago, IL)

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 (Park City, UT)

5/12: The 5th Element (Bedford, NH)

5/12: Soho Brawl (Tampa, FL)

5/12: Fallout in the Falls (Wichita Falls, TX)

5/18 – 5/20: East Regional (Albany, NY)

5/18 – 5/20: Europe Regional (Berlin, Germany)

5/18 – 5/20: South Regional (Salt Lake City, UT)

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

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

5/19: Barbells in the Burbs (Carol Stream, IL)

5/19: Gladiator Games (Concord, NC)

5/19: The Pillage of Palm Harbor (Palm Harbor, FL)

5/19: Spring Fling Partner Throwdown (San Anselmo, CA)

5/19: SilverFox Masters Competition (San Clemente, CA)

5/19: Ultimate Fitness Championship (Kennewick, WA)

5/19: Warriors Hope 2018 (Greenwood, IN)

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

5/25 – 5/27: West Regional (Del Mar, CA)

5/25 – 5/27: Central Regional (Nashville, TN)

5/25 – 5/27: Latin America Regional (Rio de Janiero, Brazil)

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

6/1 – 6/3: Atlantic Regional (West Palm Beach, FL)

6/1 – 6/3: Meridian Regional (Madrid, Spain)

6/1 – 6/3: Pacific Regional (Sydney, Australia)

6/2: Kegs and Kilos (Manhattan, KS)

6/9: Beastette Bash at CrossFit Ananda (Arlington, TX)

6/16: Battle on the Creek (Johns Creek, GA)