Yeah that’s right, can you believe it, the Open is already here. Wow time flies, it seems like just yesterday my nerves were jacked up thinking about what the workout was going to be, waiting on pins and needles on Thursday night. This will be Champlain Valley CrossFit’s 6^th year competing in the CrossFit Open. That’s right, the 6^th year, we’ve partaken in the Open every year that it has run, and have been fortunate enough to be graced with some incredible talent in our gym. That incredible talent has helped get individuals and teams to the Regionals and the CrossFit Games every single year we’ve participated, and I’m confident we’ll do the same again this year. I don’t think there are more than a handful of gyms in the world that can say the same.

With each year of the Open comes the same chit chat and mumblings throughout the gym. Some are pumped to sign-up, some are scared $hitless, and some use the age old excuse of I’m not in shape enough or I’m not ready. You will never be ready, that’s just the way it is, whatever the workouts are, they will always put you outside of your comfort zone, they will be difficult for you, and they will open your eyes to what you’re truly capable of and also what you really need to work on. You will never be ready, because you can always be better tomorrow than you are today, that’s just the way it is. The best athletes in the world “aren’t ready,” because they, just like you, continue to improve day after day. So cut the crap on not being ready, you’re as ready as you’re ever going to be, maybe your not in the same shape you were last year, who cares, I know I’m in that boat, I’m still going to hit every workout, every week with everything I have and the end result will be the same as last year, I’ll know what I need to work on, know that I’m capable of performing better, and it will help push me in my training.

Why should you sign-up for the Open. Well frankly, because it’s an experience! One that for many of you who weren’t high school or college athletes, that is unlike anything you’ve ever done before. Yes it’ll be nerve racking, it may make you want to run to the bathroom or cry, but I guarantee after the 5 weeks are done you’ll be happy you did it, and you’ll come out a changed person. Seriously, you’ll be mentally stronger, you’ll be a little grittier, and you’ll be more attached to this awesome community at Champlain Valley CrossFit then ever before. And how could you not want to be part of such an amazing TEAM. Seriously, we have some of the best athletes in the world that represent Champlain Valley CrossFit, and represent the team that is CVCF and you can call yourself part of that team, part of that group, you can workout beside them, have them cheer you on, and cheer them on. That’s a lot cooler than yelling at your TV and talking about how “your team” did so great at the game this weekend, “your team” that you actually have no connection to aside from the damn TV. Come on people, sign-up, come in Friday night, work hard, yell a little at each other, and have a beer afterward. We’ve had, and continue to have some of our most physically challenged athletes sign-up for the Open, so get out of your own head, you CAN do it. It’ll be nerve racking, it’ll be hard, but it will also be immensely rewarding.

A few notes for the upcoming Open…

• We will run the Open workouts Friday night, starting approximately 4:00 PM and running until around 7:30 PM. We will run heats at intervals dictated by what the workout is. There will be a sign-up on the TV’s in the gym. Heat assignments will be first come, first serve. This is your guaranteed opportunity to perform the workout and get judged. If you can’t come in Friday night, you can come in Sunday during Open gym, there will be an extra coach on, and you get can get anyone who is willing from the Judges list HERE to judge you. With some 100+ people participating we unfortunately can’t bend to everybody’s perfect schedule. If you can’t make it Friday night or Sunday morning then it’s probably not happening. Sorry.
• If you come in Friday night feel free to bring in some beer or food. CVCF will provide some drinks in the fridge for after you workout, but any donations would be appreciated. Please don’t come in, hit the workout and leave, hangout, cheer on your fellow competitors and have fun.
• Retesting workouts. If you would like to retest the workouts that’s awesome! With that said we will only be allowing judged re-tests for those that are either in a position to help boost our team score, are in a qualifying position for Regionals, or are working to move up the leaderboard for the Master’s Online Qualifier. If the past dictates the future, we will likely have 100+ people signed up for the Open. If you’d like to re-test one of the workouts that’s awesome. However if you’re not in one of the above positions you will need to do it on your own time and can video record it. Everyone under the sun has a smartphone these days, and it’s extremely easy to record your workout and submit your score via video submission. While the Open is an awesome event, it is also a very stressful time for the coaching staff and gym, and we don’t have the manpower or time to have 100 people re-test their workouts. Come Monday please be mindful that the gym schedule will be back to normal, classes will go on as normal, and we expect that everyone respect the needs of the gym community as a whole in participating in classes on Monday.
• I have always taken our standards in our gym very seriously, we teach you all how to perform every movement to the higheststandard possible. To make sure these standards are upheld, this year we will only be allowing certain individuals to judge. If you perform the workout and are not judged by one of the individuals on the judge’s list (this will be up by next Friday), your score will not be validated. While we work to make sure you all understand proper range of motion, we’ve seen in the past certain individuals not have the best eye, or be “nice” and let certain things slide with athletes that are really struggling with certain movements. If you can’t perform a movement you won’t get the reps, clear, simple, and FAIR!
• As many of you know we will be looking to send a team to Regionals again after missing one last year. For all who are interested. To be completely CLEAR, no one has a guaranteed spot. I’ve already heard certain individuals talking about how they can’t wait until they get to compete at Regionals. No one has been given a spot yet, and no one will receive a spot until the appropriate time comes. We have a relatively deep group of Men and Women, and there are probably 5-6 Men and Women who could comprise a team. Our Team roster will be picked based upon Open Performances, Performance in the Gym, training leading up to Regionals, body health, as well as competitive experience. I will make the initial roster and from there with a some input from the coaches and athletes we will decide upon a final team roster.
• So with that, I know a bunch of people have already taken the CF Judges course. While I won’t require that to be a judge to help in the Open, depending on the individual, it’s a great thing to do to just hone-up your eyes. The coaches will be helping out with judging, but anyone else who would like to help out with Judging it would be greatly appreciated so that we aren’t spread so thin. If you’d like to be added to our judging roster please let myself (Jade) know.

 

I think that’s about it. Get pumped. It’s going to be an awesome year, we’ll see PR’s, first Pull-ups, heavier weights than ever before, and you’ll get to be part of a truly amazing TEAM! Now go SIGN-UP!