Our intramural Open was an unexpectedly VERY close race every single week. But at the end of 3 weeks, the She Devils hung on for an 11 point victory (1114 vs. 1103!!) – even though the DiaBros won 25.3 by 25 points!
So, how did the Devils do it? Well, as expected, Judging was the big separator (249 vs 192) and, PRs (!! – the Devils had 46 PRs vs. 22 for the Bros).
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THANK YOU for supporting our wild, Intramural Open this year. It made the OPEN so much fun.
“Beating yourself up for your flaws and mistakes won’t make you perfect, and you don’t have to be. Learn, forgive yourself, and remember: We all struggle; it’s just part of being human.”
Lori Deschene
TIM-GPT:
[Craig: This week, I’m handing off my preachy editorial section to my good friend, Tim Dymmel, owner & coach at CrossFit Palo Alto. I’m on his weekly email list. His email this week hit hard – and I thought it would resonate within our community. Enjoy! (and email info@crossfitpaloalto to be added to his mailing list) ]
TIM’S DEEP SQUATS (Deep Thoughts):
- “I PR’d my deadlift and cleans today! It’s amazing how much the environment and encouragement make a difference.”
- “The open is always a blast.”
- “Thank you so much for yesterday. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. Truly. I wish it was more than once a year!”
The 2025 CrossFit Open is complete. It was another amazing year. Lots of work, frustration, pain, suffering, elation, screams of joy and grunts of effort. Congratulations to everyone that made it to one, two or all of the workouts. The quotes above are just some of the many that I receive over the course of The Open and they help make it all worthwhile for me. That is really because it’s so rewarding to me to see our members realize how worthwhile the extra effort is.
As I’ve gotten older, I get reflective after big events. I want to soak in everything they have to offer while knowing I’ll still miss some things. It’s funny because I’ve watched my kids play game after game, score tons of goals, win/lose games and tournaments without a second thought to the impact they may be having. But, that’s youth for ya’.
CrossFit is hard. We don’t shy away from that. I believe that it is why people value it so much. Hard things cost us something. Time. Energy. Our ego.
After more than 20 years of doing CrossFit I think the ego is the biggest strength AND weakness. The many psychologists in our gym and mailing list are welcome to correct me on the following. But, here’s one of the many ways I see things happen in the gym regularly, and especially during The Open.
Workout gets released. We watch young professional exercisers perform said workout in near superhuman time with unrelatable scores. We then strategize how to execute the same workout with a vision of ourselves doing what these pro’s do. Saturday rolls around and we are HYPED up. Then the workout happens and it is kicking the crap out of us. We get stuck. We hit a wall. We start to fail. Maybe we finish. Maybe we’re time capped. Regardless, we get mad.
“I should be able to do this!” is a phrase I have heard since I started CrossFit in 2004. Most often from myself.
The ego drives us to go harder, faster, learn new skills and puff ourselves up. It also holds us back and keeps us from accepting the growth we have achieved. I can just about hear the voice of Veruca Salt in Wonka’s factory, “I want it now!” We’re happy with our progress and results. BUT, we want more progess and results even faster than what we’ve already done.
Serendipity won with me again. This past week I started listening to Win The Inside Game by Steve Magness. I get a lot out of these types of psychology books. And this one drove home the importance of having identity outside of sport, work, etc. Steve questions how our culture values people, winning and everything in our lives. Perhaps you need to question how you see yourself. Maybe try to see yourself like someone at a CrossFit gym sees you.
Your friends and peers at CrossFit will cheer for you the loudest when you get your first pullup, heaviest lift or fastest time. But, really, we don’t care half as much as just seeing you show up to class and giving 100%. That inspires the rest of us to keep showing up and working hard, knowing that the gains and PR’s will come when they come.
With that, I encourage you to treat yourself like you would treat another member of class. Pump yourself up. Tell yourself to give it all you’ve got. Also, be kind. Love yourself for showing up and doing some crazy workout with a bunch of other people looking for the same things that you are.
See you in class.
Tim
25.3 SPIRIT OF THE OPEN ….(it’s a tie!)
- We could not talk about 25.3 without recognizing these two people who helped make it awesome Don Faul & Erka Linden.
First, honorary DiaBro, CrossFit CEO Don Faul, drove more than an hour (in traffic) to get to Diablo where he hung out, judged athletes and did the workout along side his 8yo daughter! Even more impressive, Don came dressed in “Party in the USA” gear for our event. That is the Spirit of the Open.
On the other hand, all of the photo evidence of Don being at Diablo was taken by She Devil Erika Linden who was on hand for ALL 3 workouts! Erika captured thousands of amazing pictures of our community in action – working out, cheering, judging and sharing special moments. And, she did it literally on a whim: “hey Craig, if you have the camera, I’ll shoot.” And she did! Check out her work: Open 25.1 Open 25.2. Open 25.3
SMURPH CHALLENGE We’re going to step it up a little this week. Check Train every day for the SMurph challenge accessory work that will include some nutrition challenges. We’ll be focusing on improving your bodyweight exercises and getting tight with our nutrition. Be sure to keep your alcohol consumption (if at all) on Fri & Sat! Just click on “Smurph Challenge” and post your result at the end of the day.
MAR EVENTS
- !! THIS THURSDAY !! MAR 27 – THU: 7:30PM – Breath Work Techniques for Improved Performance and Mental Health – Richard Blake, PhD. (RSVP on the Diablo App)
Can holding your breath before a workout improve performance?! Recent research studies seem to validate this process! A recent study explored how tapping into the mammalian diving reflex—yes, the same reflex that kicks in when you submerge your face in cold water—might actually boost endurance. In fact, purposeful breathing techniques have been shown to reduce stress, improve sleep and help with recovery.
Dr. Richard Blake, PhD (our member!) will share some of these techniques with our community at this one-of-a-kind, 1 hour clinic for our Diablo Community.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT DIABLO...
It’s NOT official yet, but it looks like Diablo has a few athletes moving on to the next level of competition: The Semi-Finals for Open athletes and Age-Group Semi Finals. Congratulations athletes!
CrossFit Games Individual Affiliate Semi-Final Qualifiers (top 1% in the world!)
- Coach Jackson Miller (307th in the World & 50th in the Region)
CrossFit Games Age-Group Qualifiers:
- Kendra Watters 35-39 (77th in the World)
- Alessandra Pichelli 35-39 (210th in the World)
- Kim Hilen 55-59 (63rd in the World)
- Melissa Chatterton 55-59 (75th in the World)
- Yvonne Howard 60-64 (39th!! in the World)
In-Affiliates SemiFinal Dates:
- Age-Group; April 3-6
- Individual: May 1-4
PRSALLDAY THIS WEEK:
March Focus: Primary – Back Squat; Secondary – Oly Power Lifts; Skills – TGUs.
- Mon: 5RFT – 6 Snatches 400m Run (#95/135)
- Tue: Hang Clean. Metcon: Amrap 3rnds – 1m Air Bike, 1m Burpees, 1m Rest
- Wed: Back Squat. Metcon: 4RFT – 10 DB Push Press, 8 FR Lunge, 6 DB HSClean #35/50
- Thu: 8RFT 500m Row. Rest 2m
- Fri: “HELEN” – CrossFit Benchmark!
- Sat: Sandbag Get Ups. Metcon: “ANNIE” – CrossFit Benchmark
- Sun: E5MOM x 3 – Buy-In: 200m FC. Then, Amrap 6HSPU, 9WB, 12 Medball Step Ups
- IG: – MUST WATCH! Coach Herald’s AMAZING “Celebrating The End of The Open” Video! He truly captured the spirit of the Open in one short, but amazing video. Check it out.
- YT: TERMINATOR? Boston Dynamics Atlas Robot is Scary Good. We are witnessing the incredibly fast evolution of robotics. It’s hard to think what its going to be like in 10 years..
- YT: Peter Attia, MD – Scrutinizing Supplements: Creatine, Fish Oil, D, etc. These are all my favs. This is an Ask Me Anything episode which moves quickly. More endorsement for our supplement partner Thorne – renowned for their exceptionally high quality production process.
- Podcast: Freakonomics Radio: 10 Myths About The US Tax System – This is an interview with Jessica Reidl, a senior fellow in budget, tax, and economic policy at the Manhattan Institute.Jessica has advised both administrations in her career and has an admitted non-partisan approach to the US Tax system and budget. I really enjoyed this podcast – it moves quickly and helped me understand how our Country got to where we are financially AND more importantly, how we can effectively reverse the course of debt accumulation. Her assessment and recommendations will surprise you. And, its gonna take a looong time.
Craig
