By: Mike Collette
Since opening our doors September 1st 2012, we have seen tremendous growth not just in the quantity of our members but also true growth in our community as a whole. As you now know, CrossFit brings people together for a greater purpose than just an hour of exercise. This hour a day that you spend at CFP or any box for that matter helps to create bonds with people like no other. The CrossFit Games Open is the culmination of what we have been creating here at CFP. It is used as a measure of your fitness to see how you rank among-st the worlds most elite CrossFitters and your everyday weekend warrior, but it definitely is more than just a quantifiable measurement.
What you can’t measure here at CFP is a persons mental and physical commitment to excellence. You can’t measure a persons true grit, determination and motivation to achieve a task. You can’t measure the relationships people are building everyday. You can measure your work capacity during 150 wall ball shots. You can measure how high your HR was during 13.5’s vicious “Fran” like WOD. You can measure how much weight you can snatch and how it might not be relevant after a ton of burpees. There is a difference between these two concepts, but what is similar is that they both exist during the Open.
This was my 1st Open experience as well and I have never seen more people come together to cheer each other on to succeed. Remember, this is a competition? You are competing against each other right?? Yes, that is true to an extent. Where CrossFit differs is that everyone is enduring the same struggle. They know how it feels after a tough WOD. Remember those Saturdays watching Nam go HAM on 13.5, giving it all he had? Nothing beats that determination. Nothing beats the true grit it takes to step to a bar where the weight seems impossible to lift and it doesn’t go up, but tired and gassed, you press on until the clock stops. There is no quitting from anyone from CFP. That is truly impressive. Becky Lambe, going after her first Pull up in 13.5 after 15 thrusters and didn’t stop for the rest of the time. There were several who tried and tried to throw 14lbs at a 9ft target and were “no repped” but pressed on in persistence of fact that quitting isn’t an option in a 12 min AMRAP. Failure isn’t a word we use because you don’t fail. You only continue to thrive and get better. Now we realize there are new goals to tackle and only room to improve your strength and work capacity. The Open tests your fitness for sure, but the drive and motivation for success is innate in each and every person.
I can honestly say I haven’t been more proud of what I have seen from our members yet then from this experience and I am so blessed to have been a part of it with them.
During this experience we have seen a first muscle up, PR’s on the clean and Jerk, first chest to bar pull ups and first kipping pull ups! The Open brings out the inner strength and power to achieve greatness that once seemed near impossible but is now tangible. It has shown everyone that the hard work they put in everyday here at CFP has payed off and it shows that there is plenty to keep getting better at. Fitness is a journey and there is so much more success to come!
Now lets set some goals to do even better next year and more importantly keep growing this community to beyond measurable quantities, thank you all who have participated in the WODs, you all kick ass!
Here are a couple member perspectives on the Open and what they have learned:
Heather Burke
Liz Nasser