QUARTERFINALS WEEKEND IS DONE!
Four workouts in four days with friends.
Diablo’s Quarterfinalist athletes got together over the last four days to knock out the QF workouts – and coach, and cheer and judge!
There were many PRs, fist bumps and hugs – even a few tears – and plenty of awesome memories.
Diablo is thrilled to have the Quarterfinals back!
“Courage isn’t the absence of fear, but an urgent impulse to do something despite fear.”
Grant Cardone
A F*K UP LEADS TO AN EPIC PERFORMANCE x2
We all make mistakes. We’ve all experienced failure – especially at CrossFit, where everything is measurable and observable. In a daily class workout, a mistake or failure is easily brushed off and quickly forgotten. But, in a competition, one mistake could lead to a loss, which can be emotionally devastating given the amount of work and practice devoted to the effort.
On Saturday, I witnessed two major mistakes by athletes that disqualified their Quarterfinal workouts – one completed and one nearly completed. Both athletes were distraught. Coach Sarah Howard’s deadlift barbell was loaded with the wrong weight for the last round of 10 reps in QF3. She discovered the loading error AFTER completing 300 double-unders and 60 heavy deadlifts. A short while later, Coach Stef Arcia was stopped after a 1000m row and 25 Clean & Jerk reps that her 85lb barbells was supposed to be 95lbs for QF4. While there was plenty of excitement most of the day, the mood quickly changed as word spread that the athletes’ workouts were DQ’d and that they’d have to repeat their performances.
Much to my surprise (and everyone else’s), both Sarah and Stef said they would repeat their performances in later heats within the hour! Sarah went first and knocked out another 300 dubs(!!) and 60 heavier deadlifts.. with only a 30 second difference from her time less than an hour before. Everyone was blown away by the effort and especially her attitude: “this is my jam and what I love to do!” (paraphrasing). Unbelievably, Coach stepped up and matched Sarah’s bravado with an epic performance on her repeat workout: completing two 1000m rows and 30 Clean & Jerks and amazingly: 15 strict handstand push ups at the end of QF4! Diablo athletes and members gathered round and celebrated every single one of her impressive handstand push ups – especially the last at the buzzer.
Needless to say, both athletes will NEVER forget their comeback performances from crushing failure – I know I won’t. I guarantee you that immediately after the mistakes that led to disqualification, both athletes considered quitting the Quarterfinals all together – albeit briefly. Instead they mustered the courage and energy to deliver performances that inspired everyone in the room. From failure, they created core memories that will likely serve as motivation for future challenges.
My takeaway from yesterday is that failure and mistakes only stay losses if you leave them there. When something goes wrong—whether it’s a missed lift, a bad workout, a poor decision, or a setback in life—you’re handed something valuable: feedback. The people who ultimately succeed aren’t the ones who avoid failure; they’re the ones who study it, own it, and use it to make better choices the next time.
#itsup2us
HEADS UP: MEMBERSHIP RATE CHANGE – BEGINNING APRIL 1
It has been more than 5 years since we’ve increased our membership rates at Diablo. Since then, pretty much the cost of everything has appreciated with inflation. Additionally, our building recently sold and property tax increases have been passed along to tenants. We’re also renewing our lease in a few months and our expected lease rate will raised to market rates (our last renewal was in the 1st year of the pandemic).
We’ll be sending a separate rate-change emails this month as renewals approach. And, as always, we thank you for your continuing financial support of our gym, our coaches and our community.
Yvonne and I are committed to providing the absolute best CrossFit experience in the world for you and your investment.
VISITS GALORE – GET YOUR PATCH
Diablo has more than 100 members with more than 1000 visits!!
Recently, at the movie premiere “Fittest on Earth 2025” we celebrated Kathy Simons’ incredible accomplishment of 4000 class visits since 2009. Now it’s time to recognize our other amazing members who have put in the work over many years.
We have designed custom backpack patches to commemorate your hard work and consistency. If you’re on this list – stop by our front desk and pick up your(s)! We’d love to see it on display.
And, as always, THANK YOU for trusting us with your fitness.
SPRING DATES TO REMEMBER (CLOSED ON EASTER)
- EASTER SUNDAY – Apr 5th: Diablo CrossFit is Closed (only 2 days a year.. this is one of ’em)
- RUN BETTER CLINIC with Coach Monica – Sat, April 11th and Sat, April 18 at 11AM. Limit 8 people per clinic. Register on the app: “Events”
- BRING A FRIEND DAY: Sat, April 18th, 11AM. These are partner workouts and always a blast. Sign up on the app (and your friend too!)
PROGRAMMING THIS WEEK:
- Mon: Clean-BJ-Pullups – 5RFT: 5 Squat Cleans, 10 Box Jumps, 15 Pullups
- Tue: Row-Rest: 8 RFT – 450/500m Row, Rest 2min
- Wed: Inverted Holds. Metcon: DB Power Clean-FC – Amrap 8m: 12 DB Power Cleans, 75′ Farmer Carry, 30s Rest
- Thu: Run-WB-T2B – 10RFT: 200m Run, 10WB, 6 T2B
- Fri: Partner: Amrap 14m – 1 Rope Climb, 10/15c Bike, 4WW
- Sat: Burpee-HPSn-Sit ups – 5RFT: 9 Lateral Burp over Bar, 12 HPSn, 15 Situps (65/95#)
- Sun: L-Sit-Row-Hang-Row – 3RFT: 30s L-Sit, 400/500m Row, 30s Hang, 250/300m Row, 1m Rest
CRAIG’S LIST: Stuff I’m Watching, Reading, Using or Listening to….
- NETFLIX: SISU: Road to Revenge. This is a sequel to the sleeper hit “SISU” which takes place in Finland post WWII. Sisu is an ex-Finnish special forces soldier who vows to honor his murdered family. This is a violent, comic-style movie that is entertaining (and violent) from start to finish. If you did not watch the first one I highly recommend watching that one first (on Prime). Great popcorn entertainment.
- NETFLIX: Keep Breathing Yvonne and I stumbled on this one while looking for a sub-1hr show. It’s a pretty good story about a young woman who ends up stranded deep in the wilderness after a plane crash. Her story of survival is mixed with her internal desire to find and connect with her mother who left her as a child. We burned through this one pretty quick – good show.
- NEW CROSSFIT GEAR!: Admittedly, CrossFit’s new apparel line is pretty damn cool and very high quality. Use this referral link to show some love to Diablo when you shop.
Make it an awesome week!
