5 Tips to Survive The CrossFit Open
It’s here, The Open is here. This marks the 10th iteration of the CrossFit Open, and my 10th time being subjected to the evil wizardry of Dave Castro. Whether it’s your first time or your 10th time, here are some tips to help survive The Open:
Signup! This seems obvious but there seems to be less excitement about The Open this time, and a lot of “we just did it a few months ago.” While that may be true it is also a benchmark year, it’s the 10th Open, and this is the first time it’s being held in October to start the 2020 Games season. If you’re a member at FWCF and you plan on coming to a Friday class over the next 5 weeks, then you’re going to do the workout anyway so just signup Here
Accept that there are things you can’t control and focus on the things you can. In the next 5 weeks you are almost guaranteed to be hit with a workout that a) you can’t complete RX and/or b) a movement that you have never done. That’s ok! You can’t control what crazy little things come out of Dave Castro’s twisted mind. What you can control is your response to it. Instead of saying “I can’t do that”, say “I haven’t done that yet”. Instead of just throwing in the towel and saying “I’m not going to even try”, just go in and do your best. That is all you can realistically expect of yourself, to give your absolute best effort and rest in the fact that, that is enough.
Avoid “leaderboarding”. Spending time comparing yourself to other people will never bring you joy. There will always be someone younger, more fit, or better looking than you. That’s life. Be content that you gave your best effort and wherever that lands you on the leaderboard doesn’t define your effort.
It’s about the journey. We are all on this “Fitness Journey” together, and we all have the same goal of becoming a better version of ourselves. It doesn’t matter if this is the beginning of your journey, or your 10th time doing The Open: we are all just trying to improve ourselves and lead better lives. Don’t worry about your scores or that you are 13,461st place in the world. Feel pride that you showed up, that you took the test, and that you are still on your journey.
The Community is alive during The Open. This is the only time during the year that every CrossFitter in the world is doing the same workouts. When you meet a fellow CrossFitter in the airport in Bangladesh you can laugh and talk about how rough 20.5 was, and that “Dave Castro is a prick”. In the gym you will see your classmates push themselves way beyond what they have before, and you will see people get their very “first” of some movements. People you don’t even know will be cheering you on, wanting nothing more than to see you succeed. And we will all be doing it together.
To be honest when I started writing this post I was still feeling a little bit of the “oh man I can’t believe it’s The Open again already”. But writing what I love about The Open helped bring it back into perspective, and give me the motivation to have a positive outlook. So there it is, I’m signed up for my 10th Open, care to join me?
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Announcements
Friday (10/11) - Pop-up Kids Class 9-9:30a (3-7yos) and 9:30-10a (8 and up)
Trick or Treat at FWCF (10.19) https://www.facebook.com/events/921358261557600/ - invite your family, friends and neighbors! This is a FREE event for the community!
Fall Kids Day Camp (10.20) 8 and up years old (12p-3p)
