I’m Back! Murph Recap. No SM. Perspective. Sandy & Lara at the Semis. Plastics..The Week Ahead 5.31.21

“The most reliable way to change your life is by not changing your entire life.”   James Clear

MURPH 2021 was our best attended ‘Murph since 2018 (which included multiple locations!). 152 members participated today to honor our servicemen & women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. It was an amazing representation of our community and a very bold statement that “Diablo is back!” Thank you to our Diablo family for your overwhelming support & passion for CrossFit that make Diablo a world-class CrossFit gym and an incredibly fun place to workout with friends. 

Stephen’s pics will be posted soon!

TIME AWAY  Yvonne, Alana and I finally took some time away from Diablo & the Bay Area. We spent 10 days in San Diego mostly relaxing on the beach with our dogs. We also got a few workouts in at CF Ocean Beach – a killer little box with a brutal uphill 400m. It was really cool to just be members for a week. 

“It Could Have Been Worse..” CFOB Owner Brian Pitllli’s story is humbling: he purchased his gym in January, 2020. His wife gave birth to their first child in February. And, on March 16th, 2020, Brian had to close his new gym for several months due to the pandemic. Because it was a new business, Brian wasn’t eligible for the PPP program. But, his landlord stepped up and waived his rent and many members of his community kept their memberships in place – despite not knowing Brian very well. He made it through the shut downs and his business is now thriving. Brian’s story gave me valuable perspective.

No Social Media  I took a full two weeks off of all social media. It was refreshing to be honest. And, I certainly added more time to my day. At first, I replaced my morning coffee social media with news feeds but that became depressing – as news feeds dwell primarily on sensational bad news. Admittedly, I did miss seeing pictures and updates of friends, family, Diablo members & the CF community. There is quite a bit of positivity & love in my daily feed. Going forward, I’m reducing my SM to just 2-3 days a week which feels like a nice balance. 

JUNE 4-6: SANDY & LARA AT THE SEMIFINALS!  Coaches Sandy & Lara will be competing to qualify for the CrossFit Games. Alessandra will be at the Granite Games in Minnesota and Coach Lara will be at the Fittest in CapeTown in South Africa. The events begin on Friday and end on Sunday. Please tune in and cheer them on!

Granite Games Workouts – I’m pumped to watch this event! The movements in these workouts are not new to Sandy. Based on her training and experience, she should do very well. It will be especially exciting to see her in the Max Snatch event on Day 1. Sandy is coming off of a dominating Age-Group Qualifier performance, taking 1st place in the world in the 35-39 age group. The Granite Games will be broadcast on the CFG website and on YouTube. Tune in to watch Sandy smash!

Fittest in Cape Town Workouts – Unfortunately, the Fittest in Cape Town may not be live-streamed (at this point). Covid restrictions have limited fan participation and athlete access. Coach Lara is admittedly nervous about this event since she’s spent the last several months training for her first Ironman triathlon. That said, it will be very exciting to see her perform and there are more than a few workouts in her wheelhouse. Workout 1 should be a showcase for her endurance capacity. She’s admittedly nervous about the snatch ladder (#2) but should recover fine and hang on for a very good overall performance! We’ll keep everyone updated in our FB group.

MEMORIAL DAY SHIRTS: Order soon to get them on time

TWEET OF THE WEEK: “The 3 most destructive addictions in America today: opioids, alcohol & sugar.”  

PROGRESSIVE PROGRAMMING 

June Progessions (Speed & Skill)  (watch Jamie Lee’s monthly recap)

  • Primary:  Hang Squat Clean & Front Squats
  • Secondary: Jerks
  • Skill: Kettlebell

The week ahead:

CRAIG’S LIST (Stuff I’m Reading, Listening To or Watching)

Sooo much stuff to share, since I spent a lot of time on vacation, driving, listening & reading. Here’s some of my favs:

Joe Rogan #1639 with Dr. Shanna Swan  – This was an incredibly enlightening and frightening discussion about declining global male fertility related primarily to chemicals in our products and foods. Dr. Shanna Swan is an environmental epidemiologist. In this podcast, she talks about her very extensive, Government funded studies into the decline of male fertility over the last 20 years. This is an important topic and a must-listen. Alternatively, you can read her book: “Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race

The Devils Hand, Jack Carr – Vacation is better with fiction! This is the latest in the James Reece series (soon to be movie on Amazon). I love these: ex-Navy Seal with a justified grudge. 

Watching: 

John Oliver May 23: Sponsored Content – This was an unbelievable episode about the influence of business over local news content. Local broadcast news remains the largest source of news media for most Americans. Yet, business has incredible influence over broadcast content, especially direct sponsored content – and local news stations do very little to vet the content. John Oliver is hilarious – while making an amazing case for more oversight in local news media content. 

Mare of Eastwood – HBO. Kate Winslet nails this one. This is a very, very good series about a small town cop (Kate) working to solve a series of murders of teenage girls. I can’t say too much about it without spoiling – but I can say you will be surprised and you will be entertained. This is very binge-worthy. 

Make it an awesome week!

Craig