Wednesday Wins! Team “Run, Row, Ride”
Today we shine a light on some of our most ambitious and selfish athletes — Team “RUN ROW RIDE: GO THE DISTANCE”! . Inspired by the rowing challenge in December (remember that? 100K between Thanksgiving and New Years?) Nassim, Corey, Meredith and Terry set out to up the ante AND do it for a good cause. They committed to rowing one million meters this year (also encouraging others to do it riding or running too) and have stayed true to that mission. They’ve raised almost $1,500 for The Community of Strength Project , an amazing organization committed to empowering and motivating at-risk youths through CrossFit (Founded by our very own WODFather, Geo Rockwell). The dollars they raise are to provide education (tuition) and materials (books and living expenses) to continue their successes outside the box. Even the smallest donation will make a difference, so please consider supporting this great cause. The Cove recently ran a ‘check in for charity’ FB program and we’re happy to say we raised $200 for the fund. If you can spare just a little, give to Team “RUN ROW RIDE: GO THE DISTANCE”!
But this mighty team got more out of giving than they ever imagined. Corey, Nassim and Meredith all started around 8 months ago AND all came to us from our Fresh Start Six-Week Challenges. Corey went from dreading the rower to knowing way more about it than most people could think possible. He proved his mental toughness when he took the December Holiday 100k rowing challenge, blew the lid off of it and hit 200K. Meredith also took the 100K challenge easily and hit 200k… and she, too, got the bug. Then Nassim. And Terry. And now Julie P. All have the rowing fever!
So what drives them to spend so much time on the erg? To make this kind of massive commitment in energy and time? No matter which one you ask, you’ll hear two common themes. The first is that it took them outside their comfort zones. It was a challenge they never thought they could possibly do before now. Nine months ago, none of these athletes even considered themselves ‘athletes’; now they are part of an elite rowing club.
Secondly, it helped them prioritize things and keep motivated. As Meredith so beautifully said “In this race to a million rowed meters, I’ve learned that you have to prioritize what’s important to yourself and that you can always make the time if you are motivated, even if it means adjusting your schedule and sleeping a little less. After recording 660,000+ meters in the last ~5.5 months, I have a completely different outlook on the rower and have so many new friends to talk rower strategy with, including a few coworkers!”. All of these people have demanding jobs (some have multiple jobs!) and busy family lives (Corey has FIVE kids!), but yet prioritizing time for THEMSELVES allowed them to succeed. Heck, Nassim even bought a rower for the house so she could multi-task ‘me’ and ‘them’ time!
As if rowing 1,000,000 meters isn’t enough, they added another challenge to the list: rowing a full marathon. Yep, that’s 42,195 meters in one sitting. Meredith and Corey completed it last week and Nassim and Julie hope to hit it this weekend! To put this in perspective, that’s working on the erg for around FOUR HOURS. Burning over 2,000 calories. And nursing a bit of a numb bum when it’s over.
So much has changed in these last 8-9 months for these athletes. As Corey said, “If you’d told me 9 months into my CrossFit journey that I’d row 42,195m in one sitting, I’d laughed in your face. I actually wasn’t a fan of the rower until I did the 200k in December. In putting such a large number out there, it forced me to learn to like rowing and has also been beneficial for me in building my endurance.” We hope this amazing group provides you with motivation, inspiration and a desire to step outside your comfort zone — AND to make a change in someone’s life through the charitable act of giving!
SKILL WOD
8 Bulgarian Split Squats (6 per leg, use DBs to go weighted)
20 Second Hollow Hold
3 Rounds
WOD
40 Cal Row
10 Power Cleans
30 Sit ups
2 Rounds
Fitness (FX): 115/75
Open (RX): 185/125
Performance (RX)+: 205/135
COACH’S TIP: The focus today will be on core and lower body since you’re shoulders are likely a little toasty from Run, Cindy, Run! For the Bulgarian split squats, focus on range of motion before loading too much (no weight is OK!). Shoot for 3:00 per round (ladies might be longer due to the row) but this should be a quick burner Metcon. The clean weight should be heavy and challenging. It’s ok to go in fast singles for each set of 10.
A whole new kind of Daddy/Daughter “Dance”…
