WOD:  Bear Complex: Power Clean/Front Squat/Push Press/Back Squat/Push Jerk.   7 reps without putting bar down.  5 Rds increasing weight each round.  

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A little inspiration:

Regionals:  Day 1 

Day 1 of the Mid-Atlantic Regionals

Impressions:  I have to say that I had some really good impressions on the first day of the Mid-Atlantic Regionals.  I liked the facility even though the parking and parking staff did not excel in customer service.  I am not sure why we were suppose to park as far away from the facility as possible.      The workout area was set up with plenty of spectator space and the warm up area was sufficient even though it lacked items for mobility.(bands, foam rollers, etc) - Luckily, I brought my own.   There were some really good vendors and they were not stingy about handing out samples.  I am a big fan of some free stuff!     I thought the athlete meeting went well and the directors spent a lot of time preparing the judges.   I will also say that I thought the judging was pretty consistent throughout the weekend.  The judges went out of their way to answer questions or find answers if they did not know.  There were some mis-called throughout the weekend- there are always is- but overall it was consistent.   

The Green Machine... Ok -this potential disaster could not have worked out any better.    It starts with the competitive gear donated by RokFit.   I decided to purchase some extra gear to go along with that for spectators to wear.   I thought we could use at as a fundraising tool( I felt pretty good about our chances)  The colors were green and grey.   Not my favorite colors but they stood out.  Earlier in the week though, RokFit let me know that they could not send us the Nike shorts that we requested for the ladies.  Needless to say, I did not expect the middle school volleyball shorts that they sent us.  On a positive note, we made a big joke out of it and the team relaxed.  

Coaches duties:   1:  Consistent warm-up, mobility, and movement work.   For some reason, athletes either warm-up for 2 hours or for 5 minutes at competition.  I tried to keep the warm-up consistent with past wods and make sure that they spend enough time mobilizing for the activities.    Consistency builds calmness.    

2.  Standards review:   For each workout, I gave them a list of items to address prior to competition.   Who runs first, who talks, basic strategy.  I had it broken down to the language we would use at the bar.  Ready, Grab, Go.   I had a series of judge questions on movement standards to determine the judges specific standards.   We addressed hip extension, lockout prior to hspu, who goes in and out under the wall and who would run first to the bar.  We worked on clips, counting and pretty much covered the wod soup to nuts.    I  then verbally walked through the wods beginning to end with each person saying their part.   We talked about order on the second wod and what their personal goals were.   Finally, I gave them a little prep-talk.   

WOD 1:   We never intended to win this workout.   We knew that we could do it unbroken and we had rehearsed a 6:06 time with some mistakes.   However, shorter athletes were always going to have an advantage on this wod.   Our goal was unbroken deadlifts, 2 sets on HSPU, and run fast with minimal calls on HSPU or hip extension on the deadlift.   I think the adrenaline of the first workout caused us to rush a little making us miss a handful of reps putting us at 3rd with a time of 5:33.  This was a good start but this was not our workout.  

WOD 2:  This workout scared me the most.   Even though we had a good time in practice, it was our least tested workout with the group we used.     Catherine was put on the spot here.  She had just cleaned 135 from the hang 2 weeks before and now we were asking her to do it  15 times in a wod in about 3 minutes.  A tough request for any athlete.    Our strategy was simple... Brendan had a fast row but had been slower on the  pistols and hang cleans.  We were going to run him first to get him out of the way and hope know one had to wait.  We had a strategy of 5 cleans a minute for him which he did beautifully.     Catherine was our slowest rower but one of our fastest on the pistols but she needed a lot of time on the cleans  because she would need to deadlift, set up, and clean each rep separately.   Alex would go next because he had a great time on this workout... fastest row, pretty good pistols, and had practiced doing the cleans unbroken.     Finally, cameron would mop up.  She had medium row pace, fastest pistols and could really burn the cleans if need be.    We should have won this workout.   Our time was 18:10 due to a series of unfortunate events.  Number 1:   I was distracted by someone wanting an interview in the middle of Catherine doing her cleans.   She even said she was looking for me during the wod and I had her on the clock to finish in a perfect time prior to distraction.     Number 2:  Cameron’s bar was facing the wrong way.   Cameron and Dawn from CFW were both on the rowers at the same time.   Dawn got off the rower before Cameron and started her cleans.  Cameron got on the bar as Dawn dropped the bar at 8 cleans.   Cameron did not see this because the bar was facing the wrong way.    She did about half the cleans before dropping the bar.   This drop was about time that Dawn picked her bar up to finish.   If Cameron had seen Dawn drop the bar, she would have gone for 15 unbroken.  Even with my whiteboard, Cameron could not see my message to go unbroken.    They finished at 17:31 and 1st place and we finished at 18:10 and 4th place.  

At the of the day, our consistency helped and we were first place.    I smiled because I knew our best workout came first thing in the morning.    California, here we come!  

SWOD:  Wendler 3 Deadlift
WOD":  "Helen"  400m Run 21 KB Swings  12 Pullups   3 Rds for time!  A classic wod but worthy of a Monday morning!

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Congratulations to the CFG Competition Team and all that helped get us here!   WE ARE #1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region and we now are going to the CrossFit Games in California.    I couldn't be  prouder of  Cameron, Tracy, Catherine, Bruce, Brendan and Alex.  They have worked hard and deserve this!   However, we also must thank all the members of the team that have pushed them along the way.   Without that push, we would not be where we are today.  I would also like to thank all the well-wishes and chearing from the "Green Machine"  this weekend.    A big thanks to Jason and his cooking which kept us alive.   Over the next few days, I would like to blog on the total experience so check in each day if you want to read about the games from a coach's perspective.   

Prep Speech:   Here is the prep speech I gave the team prior to competing on Friday.  I probably changed a few of the words as I spoke but these were my notes.

"I have been working on this prep talk for about a week.   What can I say to do or say to inspire you.   What do I say to a group of elite athletes that have all excelled in your first sport and are now about to excel in CrossFit.   You have heard it all before, all the pre-game speaches and it's going to sound like a repeat to you.   so what do I say... 

You know this started with a dream, a goal, an aspiration.  We put our minds to it, we worked hard... we sacrificed days, we drove for hours, we spent money, we gave up weekends with our families for this.  We did better than anyone expected conming out 4th in the open.   This past weekend when we did the workouts, we did great almost unbelievable.   However, here is the truth of the matter:  NONE OF THAT MATTERS!  NOT HERE/NOT NOW.   The only thing that matters now is what we do Here!  

I need you to HSPU like you have never done it before.   I need you and you to clean like you have never done it before!   I need you to squat and pullups like never before and I need you to snatch like never before.  I need you to be a team like no other team.

You know me... I don't sugarcoat, I don't lie, and I don't hold back.   5 Months ago, we had a goal to just get to California.    Right now, i am changing that goal!  Now our goal is to not only win regionals but beat every team in every regional everywhere.   Every workout is a battle.  Every workout determines whether or not we make it to regional.  We give no one a chance.   We take every wod like it is our last chance to make it to the games.    Nobody knows this yet but we are the team to beat.   We show them that this weekend.  

You know when I was writing this on the way down,  my mind was blank.  Then all of sudden this song came on the radio  "There's no stopping us right now" (Calvin Harris Feel So Close-See below)  I knew right then.   ( I didn't tell the team this but chill bumps came over my body and almost cried- of course I was ridiing with Bruce so I covered up well!) 

Before coming, I went ahead and purchased my tickets to the games... I am going to Cali- whose going with me?"