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What’s in Dan Bailey’s Future?

 
Morning Chalk Up

August 31
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It’s the final day of August and 176 days since the last 2020 CrossFit Games season event wrapped, welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. As gyms have re-opened, athletes and coaches have recognized that chasing PRs may not be the priority for everyone during a pandemic; just getting in the gym and getting a good sweat is a “win.” Emily Beers has more. And, Dan Bailey dropped into the Master’s Fitness Collective Championship where Tommy Marquez got a chance to talk with him.

  • Also, don’t miss Niki Brazier and Justin LoFranco discuss the announcement of the Athlete Advisory Council.

Keep those quote suggestions, story tips and PRs rolling in at [email protected].

The Morning Chalk Up is looking for an experienced writer interested in covering CrossFit Games athlete feature stories. Apply now!

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.” – John Wooden

 

How COVID-19 has Shifted Our Fitness Priorities: Hitting PRs vs “Just Happy to be There”

  How COVID-19 has Shifted Our Fitness Priorities: Hitting PRs vs “Just Happy to be There”  

Six months ago, Annika Buckle and her husband joined group classes together five days a week in Vancouver, BC with their five-year-old daughter in tow. Buckle paid close attention to her lifting numbers. Hitting PRs and reaching new benchmarks were important to her, she explained.

This is no longer the case. Now, because of COVID-19, the couple isn’t able to bring their daughter along, so they each only get three days a week of gym time.

  • “I am not working on any gains really at all,” she said. “It’s such a weird and hard time, knowing I’m not as strong as I was and also feeling like there isn’t anything I can do about it right now.”

Today, with all the stresses of life, Buckle’s only priority is to get to the gym.

  • “If I can get myself there and sweat, I just have to call it a win…I have really had to work on my mindset (to be OK with that),” she said.

The big picture: This shift in perspective — from chasing PRs to just getting there being a “win” — is one many have noticed in their membership base.

  • “People are gentler with themselves,” said Jennifer Broxterman, a former Canada East regionals athlete who’s husband Dave Henry owns CrossFit London in Ontario.
  • “They recognize that they’re under tremendous life stress with running businesses in turmoil, homeschooling kids, dealing with uncertainty, so I have noticed people are just happy to come in, break a light sweat and do a shorter, less intense workout, and then get on with dealing with the challenges of their day,” she added.
 

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Dan Bailey Talks 2020, Future as an Athlete

  Dan Bailey Talks 2020, Future as an Athlete  

If there was a CrossFit athlete out there that is best suited to deal with the craziness that is 2020 it would have to be Dan Bailey. The five-time Games athlete has seen his share of obstacles as an athlete since his career-best fourth place finish at the 2015 Games.

He missed qualifying for the 2016 Games after finishing seventh in the California Regional. A promising start to the 2017 Central Regionals was cut short due to an injury. Numerous injuries and surgeries have shelved the fan favorite in the following years. After competing at the 2019 Rogue Invitational in the Legends Division, Bailey made his Sanctional debut and competed in his first live, elite competition since the 2017 Regionals in Dublin, Ireland at the Filthy 150 last November.

Our own Tommy Marquez caught up with Bailey at the Masters Fitness Collective Championships to get an update on what he’s been up to and what he has planned in the future. Here are some highlights from the interview.

On competing at Filthy 150: “Super-stoked to get that invite out to Ireland. Great people who ran the event, it was a great event. I could definitely feel it on day two, actually on day three, I’m not quite in shape for this yet coming off 2018 with all the surgeries and just trying to make sure that I’m healthy and get back without having any problems. I took my time and had been very careful with training and still performed really well and still happy with how I did out there.”

On what he has been doing this year: “I’m training a little bit but there’s not much to train for at the moment. Don’t know what the 2021 season is going to hold and don’t know how it’s all going to unfold. Just taking my time, trying to stay healthy and enjoy it I guess.”

 

What Does the Athlete Council Mean for Competitive CrossFit?

  What Does the Athlete Council Mean for Competitive CrossFit?  
 

THINGS TO…

…WATCH

The Buttery Bros Take on Tommy Marquez in a Master’s Fitness Collective Championship Workout

Heber Cannon, Marston Sawyers and the Marquez brothers traveled to Fort Wayne, IN for the Master’s Fitness Collective Championship. And, they tested out an Echo Bike, muscle-up workout on the competition floor.

  Morning Chalk Up  

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…EAT

Healthy Apple Pancakes

We are heading into the fall season and that means apples and pumpkins and all the cinnamon-y goodness you can handle. Kick things off with these fluffy, gluten-free pancakes made with oats, applesauce and a touch of maple syrup. It’s a delicious and healthy breakfast for the whole family.

 

TRIVIA

Congratulations to Wing L., who was the first to correctly answer which athlete won the most Games Events in the Teenager division. The correct answer was Haley Adams, she has 15 Teenager Games Event Wins. This was the second time that Wing was the first person to correctly answer the trivia question.

  • Today’s question: Which Games individual men’s champions did not win the Regional they competed in the year they won the Games?

Submit your answer.

 

HIGHLIGHTS…

 

COMMUNITY

Good Read: Niki Brazier on Connecting with Athletes

A few days ago, Patrick Blennerhassett, writing for the South China Morning Post, profiled CrossFit sideline reporter, Morning Chalk Up contributor and all-around media maven extraordinaire, Niki Brazier. The article provides some great insight into Brazier’s approach to reporting; here are few highlights:

  • Brazier on being genuine: “For me, I’ve always tried to be exactly who I am in real life, on TV. That means no overbearing formality, no on-camera reporter voice, just authenticity. I’ve always been able to connect better with people that way. They feel more comfortable and at ease and down-to-earth, rather than staunch and formal and on camera, if that makes any sense.”
  • On her first CrossFit WOD: “My first workout was Fran…And it just about murdered me. I think I used a training bar and a thick band for pull-ups. But I was hooked.” 
  • On her interviewing approach: “I typically approach CrossFit athletes as a friend who is genuinely interested in hearing how that event or heat or competition went for them. I try to ask questions that their training partners in their own boxes would ask, because those are the questions we’re all thinking about at home, too. And I try to be human. Because sometimes they are tired. Or upset.”
  • Steph Chung on Brazier: “I knew that she was a fantastic sideline reporter for the CrossFit Games before I met her in 2018, and my respect for her as a media presence in this sport has only grown since getting to know her better…She brings so much personality and fun to her interviews, while also asking very smart, informed questions.”

There’s much more in the article, be sure to check it out.

 
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