Thats what its all about!

May 25, 2012

Today was the first day of the North East Crossfit Regional. A few months ago after competing in the opens and feeling the unbelievable energy within the gym Hubs and I decided we were going to take today off and be sure to witness the entire weekend live. We knew it was something we didn’t want to miss. To top it off K and M both qualified as individuals so we were excited to see our coaches in action! As weeks went by we decided that instead of just attending we wanted to do more, so we signed ourselves up to be volunteers for the weekend! A free ticket into the festivities for the weekend and up close and personal, hands on, in the action FUN! As soon as we got our assignment “athlete relations” for the weekend, we were so excited!!

What a sight. Yes, we took the day off from work  (CrossFit Wachusett was closed) and we got up at 4:30am and drove to Canton MA for 7:00am! When we arrived I got all giddy driving up the driveway! First of all, the Reebok facility is amazing. It was designed by NBBJ Architects in 2002 and… lets just say WOW… its this girl an “architect and an athelete’s ” fantasy play land! I was drawn in right away with the giant 3…2…1.. GO! Across the glazing and the building and grounds just continued to amaze me from there on! This is a quote from O’Connor Constructors who were part of the building team;  “The stunning result is a 520,000 square-foot office complex consisting of four office buildings which include 286,000 square-feet of corporate office space, conference space, seminar rooms and training facilities, biomechanical labs, advertising and design studios, showrooms, executive offices, computer/telecommunications room, security center, a fitness/recreation center complete with aerobics studios, an indoor basketball court, locker rooms, reception areas, lounges and a kitchen and cafeteria. Additional features include a soccer field, running track, and basketball and tennis courts, a softball field and two parking garages to accommodate 1,200 vehicles. The entry area features an expansive curved and angled corridor, a perfect place to exhibit an impressive collection of sports memorabilia.” 

We talked to one of the at the end of the day they had a cookout for the staff and judges. We had an opportunity to talk with one of the women who is “blessed” to work at this kick ass facility. She got all over our case because we were wearing New Balances, of course she was joking but then proceeded to totally sell me on the new Reebok Nano. Anyway, she talked about how great Reebok is to work for (not that we couldn’t already tell) and how excited they were to host the weekend. She than told us about the CrossFit facility that they have on site. Its in a brick building located a little down the road from the actual facility, but that’s no problem because the employees are all encouraged to work out. In fact… if they want to take a break and go to the gym, more power to them. They are paid to workout. WHAT THE HELL!! Total paradise! So of course I did some more research and found that they are working on a mission to get their employees in shape. They have over 1000 employees at the Canton location, and more than 400 of them belong to the CF Box they have on site! It is of course only open to employees of Reebok. In the article I linked above it shows that the 1000 Reebok Employed CrossFitters have lost over 4,000 lbs  collectively in 2011. They are continuing this through 2012 of course!

Now, onto the actual day! I would love to say Hubs and I worked our asses off… but not nearly as hard as the amazing display of talent we saw in the 60 men, 60 women and 30 teams from across the North East that competed. We were assigned to the equipment tent, which was pretty awesome. We were to help with all the equipment set ups for each event, re aligning weights between each heat, switching out weights from mens weight to womens weight… and of course “cleaning” the “DNA” off of the bars and rig. That was a fun job! We were running on weights of all sizes, giant 8X8 wooden platforms, large rubber mats, stall mats, dumbells… again, it was a lot of work!! Totally worth it and totally worth the front row seat to all the action!

K and M did not disappoint! They both killed their workouts and showed how CrossFit Wachusett deserves to be on top! We were also cheering on R, who was competing on the CrossFit Newton team, our friends at CrossFit Route 1, and of course we were cheering on the Mega Phenoms… CrossFit New England!  The energy was awesome, the talent was awesome, the weather was… not so awesome… but overall it was a day I will never forget!

There is a phrase in CF… known all over. Its one of the reasons people do CrossFit. Its one of the reasons people don’t quit CrossFit. Its also the reason that I love CrossFit.

“CrossFit: The only sport where everyone cheers the loudest for whoever is last.”

The highlight of the day today…

This image is from Event 2, Team WODs. Each of the 4 Athletes on the team had to start with a 1K row, followed by 25 alternating leg pistol squats, followed by 135lb or 225lb hang cleans. They had to cycle through so one athlete could not start the next part of the circuit until the one before them had completed theirs. This picture shows the last athlete working in one of the heats. She was surrounded by all of the other athletes that were part of that heat pushing, cheering, yelling with each and every minute.

That… my friends is why I love CrossFit!  

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