HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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If there were ever a time for a coming out party for CrossFit, 2011 was it. Thousands upon thousands of athletes, from all over the world, participated in the 2011 CrossFit Games Open. The staff at CrossFit HQ deftly utilized the scope and power of online media by creating a uniquely egalitarian and ecumenical forum for athletic competition. The corollary of which was an unprecedented expansion within the competitive field of CrossFit. Someone living in Alpine,Wyoming could just as easily compete for the title of "Fittest On Earth" as a member of a large affiliate in New York City. All you needed was a smart phone and the most bare bones of gym equipment sets. (Hours of practice and unremitting desire helps too.) The stories coming out during those early weeks of competition - of average people overcoming tremendous odds, not with a dream of making it to the Games per se, but for a reason much purer than that, for a simple love of sport - was captured in poignant interviews by CrossFit media for all to see. In the midst of feverish, high-stakes competition, these were the inspirational stories that reminded us what we should really value in all of this.
Here at CrossFit Santa Cruz we are fortunate to train in such historic surroundings, literally. 10 years ago there were no Reebok clothing deals, Rogue equipment sponsorships, or contracts with ESPN. All there was was a core group of people in Santa Cruz, California dedicated to creating, testing, and living the most comprehensive, measurable, and encompassing fitness program ever developed. Today, those fitness iconoclasts are CrossFit legends. We are lucky to have many of them in our own backyard - coaching us, training alongside us, or just dropping by to say "hi". As members of CFSC we find ourselves in that rarefied and fortunate position to learn from some of the best in the world, on a personal and daily basis.
In this globalized age where so much information is digitized - when ideas spread from Boston to Bangalore as quickly as one's finger can tap on a tablet - CrossFit too is fast becoming a global fitness phenomenon. From Reykjavik, to Rio de Janeiro, to Auckland, to a university gym somewhere in Tennessee, CrossFit transcends time zones and cultures as it fluidly carves out new spaces for ordinary people to make extraordinary changes in their lives. This is what elite fitness does. CrossFit is also rapidly becoming a lucrative marketing enterprise. All these changes may alter the exterior of CrossFit, but what will never change is what's under the hood - the methodology and the passion of its athletes. The 2012 Games will be as every bit as spectacular and dramatic as 2011, so enjoy it. Just don't forget its humble beginnings.
- Dahlberg
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Workout:
Rest Day
