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It’s not surprising to me that a record number of CrossFit Jaguar members participated in this year’s CrossFit Opens I & II—I would expect nothing less from our incredible and ever growing community. What may be surprising to those not in the CrossFit arena is the diversity among these participants.
In the early years (like a decade ago) the Open brought to mind elite level athletes and the highly skilled being the majority of competitors. In both 2019 and 2020 CF Jaguar is proud to have such an athlete, our Head Coach Eberle Funches, representing our box in the Masters Over 50.
What is equally exciting is to see is our members participating in the Open and how well they are doing. Some are veteran athletes aka ‘firebreathers’ that anticipate the Open with the excitement of a child at Christmas. To be expected. Each year they continue to improve in their performance. They are driven, they are disciplined, they are successful.
We now have several of our members that have been here awhile and decided it was finally time to test their skills in the Open. These are people with busy corporate careers, raising children or both that do not live and breathe fitness 24/7. They compete in other areas and may or may not have played a sport in their youth but fitness is now a part of their life and they want to showcase it.
Possibly most impressive are some of our newest members. They came in a little gun shy, some of them doubted their athletic capabilities when they first came to us. That put their trust in us, committed to consistent training and doubt no more this group is doing it and doing it exceptionally well!
Let’s hear it loud and clear for the age 50+ participants!! Being 59 I am a little biased but having lived this long let me tell you it ain’t like being 25. Stuff changes; recovery slows, you have orthopedic challenges due to wear and tear over the decades and if you haven’t been using it you’re on the verge of losing it. Our 50 something year olds are kicking ass. The baby boomer majority is silent no more. They are proving that through the CF lifestyle you can slow down the hands of time and remain fit and functional in your latter decades. #ageisnotanexcuse.
We have so many amazing people representing CF Jaguar this year that we want to highlight some of them during this Open season. . .
Julie (age 50): Julie has been a member for over 7 months. 'Why' did she sign up? “Because Carol Ann told me too. I replied, I can?" And she said “Yes, you’ll love it”. “So I did, wanted to try something to push me.” Highlight: “Open workout 20.2. When I started at CF Jag I couldn’t do a single jump rope and during this workout I did 7 rounds of 24 unbroken singles and completed a total of 11 rounds”
Jay: A member since 2009 and his first open! ‘Why?’ “It was time." Highlight: "I’ve liked the wods and found them challenging.”
Coach Eberle (age 51): Our Head Coach for the past year and her 9th Open. 'Why'? "It's measurable, observable and repeatable. It's truly a test of each individuals fitness." HighLight: "Watching 'firsts' like muscle ups, handstand push ups and movements that people didn't think they could do. It's so exciting to count reps, coach people through tough workouts, and then analyze with them after they're done. I'm a strategist and know where the stimulus should be. It's such a blast watching people perform at their next level. As for me my goal is making it to the top 200. When that happens, we'll go from there."
Alisha: A member for over 2 years, Alisha’s ‘why’ – “because I’ve never been insecure until I broke my foot, this is a reminder I can fucking do it”. Highlight: “several rounds of unbroken singles in 20.2, never have been able to jump rope well.”
Kyle (age 44): A veteran member of over 6 years and 6 CF Opens. His ‘why’ – “I like to see where I’m at comparing my progress from year to year and where I stack up against others my same age (Kyle will turn 45 on the last day of this year’s open which places him in a new age bracket this year). HighLight: “March 2019 – my highest placing in the open to date. As for 2020 – I’m looking forward to 20.3 because they’re already programmed all my worst movements in the first two.”
Carol Ann (age 56): A veteran CF Jag member since 2008 this in only her second open. ‘Why’ now? “I like the competition.” HighLight – “every week I look forward to the high energy in the box and the camaraderie.”
There's only two weeks left in this year's Open but are you ready for next year? The training starts now...