Sunday, May 03, 2009

Don't Save Anything For the Swim Back



This weekend found some of the SFCF kids hanging it out there at the Nor Cal regional Crossfit Games qualifier. And while the competition was fierce, we are always blown away by how much more untapped capacity our athletes have.

What is it about us as athletes that requires extraordinary circumstances in order to
elicit our best?



How about Mike D (Captain Flabongo) cleaning his PR 10 times during a little short ten
minute piece?

Or,

A little thing called my first 10 muscle ups, ever.
Way more impressive pulling out the last Muscle up in the final 15 seconds than the other two top 5 finishes in the other wods. Nice work Dizzle.



Or, C-Rin jerking about her bodyweight 10 times like it was nothing.



Or, Gravelly-nice laying down the third fastest row-burbpee-jerk wod?



In the great movie Gattica, Ethan Hawke is telling his brother how he was always able to beat him in their private swimming battles. He turns to his big brother and says, "I never saved anything for the swim back".

All you had to do was watch the classy, humble man-beast Coach Angel this weekend to understand what it was that Ethan Hawke meant. Turns out Angel qualified for the Crossfit Games this weekend with performances that were inspiring and brilliant.




So,put yourself in the pressure cooker. See what turns up. Chances are you will.


K-anxiety-increases-performance-star

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kelly Starrett it is an honor to have my row technique criticized by ya:) But really, it does need lots of work. That's probably because I rarely spend time practicing it and probably the reason that it was one move I wouldn't have wanted to have come out of the hopper. Anyway, thanks for the support. I'll definitely be up your way sometime soon for a little work.

Congrats to all the CF San Fran athletes who competed in the qualifier. That was by far the toughest qualifier so far in my opinion and just finishing it is an achievement in itself. JD, I don't know how you pulled 10 muscle ups with no prior experience but that rocks! Go Bears:)

Cheers,
Jocelyn
CrossFit West Santa Cruz

Person said...

Cool, cool, cool, and totally rad. Great post, great pics, great work. I'm really stoked for everyone. Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

AMAZING work SFCF athletes and coaches. I was super impressed by your guys' efforts this weekend. Competition brings out the best in us. Angel...I knew you had it in you buddy. Way to push it! I'm already looking forward to cheering for you in July.

Great to see the rest of you that showed up in support too.

Justin Cascarina

meg said...

so proud. :)
-mk

Rudy Tapalla said...

Angel, Awesome job man! I'll catch you in Aromas. Maybe I'll swing by SFCF and give the coffin another try too.

Unknown said...

technically i did 6 on thursday and 3 on friday. But first time ever doing in a WOD, and how i pulled it out of my ass i don't know. KStar is right the enviornment and competition brings it out in you sometimes when you didn't know it was there. Thank You so much to everyone who was there yelling and willing me up on #10.

Big Props back to you Jocelyn, no one saw you coming. go Bears! Huge Recognition to Angel this weekend he put on a beastly showing and finishing top 5, but he also still played an important as a coach to everyone at the same time. You are a solid man, but we knew that...

Cath and C-rin looked stronger than most as always as mentioned, but not to be overlooked were the more than solid performances by Lucas and Damian. Im not even close to sad that i didn't qualify after watching all of you compete. Bring on the Affiliate challange!!!!

Adrian said...

You guys all rocked it! I was so proud to see all of our gang out there doing their thing.

-Boz

Hollis said...

SFCF represented well. Great to see all you guys and gals out there.

Can't wait for the Games!

Steven said...

Strong sauce! You guys/gals are inspiring to me. I'm lucky, and honored, because I get to train along side of you and with the rest of the SFCF crew! Way to be!

Zach Singer said...

Great to see such a strong contingency of SFCF athletes at the Qualifiers.

Great to see the highlights here of everyone's individual achievements. Strong work by all, no doubt.

And finally, a huge congratulations to Angel for such an inspirational showing and for his qualifying performance. You're a beast man - can't wait to see you bring it to the Games.

Best,

Zach
Crossfit NYC

FilthyBrit said...

Kelly, thank you so much for all your coaching during the clean/muscle-up workout! Meant the world to me. And Carl, your clean coaching on Thursday made all the difference.

Angel, you'll find out this weekend how happy I was to hear you made the Games, over a bottle of tequila. And we get to watch you prepare these next two months, which will be a spectacle unto itself!

Corrine, Catherine, one word, BOOM!

Damien, Lucas, JD, I was truly inspired by you all this weekend. Add Corrine, Catherine and Tamara to the mix, and I know our SFCF affiliate team is going to be a force to be reckoned with in July!

Finally, thanks Adrian and the rest of your team! I know how much work must have gone into organizing such an epic event.

I have to say that watching the qualifiers was an incredible experience, especially the women (congrats, Jocelyn!). These people must have eaten a lot Spinach-Filled Wheaties when they were kids. It was both humbling and inspiring to see.

Adam Roth said...

We're inspired from 3000 miles away. You are all amazing. Excellent work!

Tom Woodward said...

Congrats on qualifying Angel and to all who competed from CrossFit SF. As a big, tall guy myself, I was very inspired by JD's performance in the Sunday WOD. Strong work!

Tom
CF Marin

Scott A. said...

Way to go team SFCF!! It was great watching you all perform this weekend. And congrats to Angel!! Can't wait to cheer you on.

John Hill Gardner III said...

congratulations angel!

AOD said...

Thanks to everyone! It was a Great event. Dizzle, Lucas, Catherine, Corrine, Damian, Michael-Y'all put out your best efforts and def have alot more to give in the affiliate cup! The real training begins after Cinco de Mayo Taco social tuesday...

Kristy A. said...

Congratulations, Angel! You really kicked ass on those workouts and trudged through the rain and mud (falling spectacularly!) to an outstanding finish that earned you a top 5 spot! Well done and amazing effort out there!

Great job to all SFCF athletes! You all put an incredible amount of effort into those hardcore workouts and triumphed just by participating in this seriously badass qualifier!

And thank you to Adrian and your fellow organizers for putting on such an incredible event! It was an honor to work with you as a volunteer. Thank you for your tireless effort to help everything run smoothly. I am proud to have taken part in such a momentous qualifier!

Justin CFES said...

Big congrats to Angel on a great performance this weekend. I am looking forward to competing against you again at the games. In the mean time, Kahlipa, Barber, Travis and I are talking about trying to get together on a somewhat regular basis to do some crazy rouge shit to prepare for the Games. Let me know if you are interested. Lets show the world that nor cal is still the Mecca of CrossFit

Darren said...

Angel, funny you remember the High Five up that hill. Thanks for setting the pace on that WOD. You are a Beast. I am glad that the points worked out in your favor. Lets try and hook with the Justin and the others for some prep WODs.

kg. said...

Love [and miss] this [and all you!]. Way to go SFCF :)

kg.

ps. the facebook fan page is up & running, please show it some love! http://tinyurl.com/SFCFFan :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Boz and the organizers of the Nor Cal qualifiers for putting on a tremendous event. I was amazed at how many great athletes Nor Cal sent to the qualifiers. Every one at the event from the athletes, judges and spectators wanted you to do your best.

The energy and enthusiasm was incredible to say the least. Thanks
to Angel and J.D. for the ridiculous performance. You guys killed your work outs and it was incredible to watch.

Thanks to Kelly for the great coaching to get me through my 10 muscle ups. Thanks to Lucas, Corrine, Catherine, Michael, Dial, Dave and the rest of the SFCF crew for cheering us on.

It was an amazing experience and has me ready to hit it even harder at the games with our SFCF affiliate Team.

Damian

ECaf said...

Rock on. So proud of all you guys. They ain't seen nothin yet- wait til you guys get two more months of training under your belt...breathe fire.

Will Blaker said...

You guys hosting an affiliate throwdown this weekend? What are the details?