Are you pumped for the CrossFit Open? Yeah, me too. Are you also terrified of what the first workout will be? Yeah, me three! But no matter what medieval torture awaits us in The Open, I’m always all in as soon as registration opens, because it’s my favorite part of the CrossFit season. It’s the part of the year that most highlights for me the absolute best thing about CrossFit – the community.
We have a strong community at CrossFit Kent Island. We have members who would do anything for each other – and have. Luckily, we get to experience the fun and camaraderie and love for each other every time we get together or jump on the CFKI Members page on Facebook. But sometimes we forget that we are also part of a much larger CrossFit community – hard working individuals at gyms like ours as close as Annapolis and as far as Ankara (there are three gyms there, I just checked). And during The Open, we get to connect with them, cheer for them… and see how we compare to them on the leaderboard! At times like these when we’re wondering how many days away the next world war is, the CrossFit Open is happening just in time.
PS – invading another country during the CrossFit Open should definitely incur a major burpee penalty, am I right??
The other AMAZING thing that we’ve started doing over the past few years is the CFKI Intramural Open. It follows the same timeline of the CrossFit Open and we will take on the Open workouts as part of the experience, but it’s much more than that. It’s an awesome time to celebrate that CrossFit Kent Island community that we all love to be a part of. And for all you new guys and gals out there, this is an AWESOME time to jump in headfirst and feel the love!
Just like the worldwide CrossFit Open, we’ll get the chance to connect with each other, cheer for each other, and just generally have fun getting fit while waiting for the first beers to crack on Friday nights at the gym. And to add some fun competition to it, you get to be part of a team!
PPS – if you haven’t signed up for the Intramural Open yet, teams are being picked later this week, so drop everything you’re doing right now unless you’re literally holding a baby, and email Alicia@crossfitkentisland.com!!!
Being on a team like we all have the chance to do during the Intramural Open can be an awesome bonding experience, especially when you’re having fun together or going through something tough together, both of which we’ll have the chance to do! There will be times when you don’t want to do one more box jump, and your teammates will surround you and cheer you on to finishing strong (unless you don’t like that, in which case they will respectfully clap from a distance). But there will also be times when you will have to emotionally pick up your teammate when they don’t want to get into the gym that day, or maybe they just need someone to talk to. A high-performing team needs everyone to be a leader when they’re at their strongest, and for each teammate to also show the humility to ask for support when they need it. To succeed, everyone puts the team first and does what it takes to push the whole team forward, knowing that the team will be there for them to fall back on when they need it most.
“For the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf.”
— Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book
It’s not about you, it’s about the team. I see it every day at CrossFit Kent Island, with our people not letting their teammates give up on a Hero WOD, with our coaches demanding an even more perfect squat in the spirit of continuous improvement, with the care that we take of our equipment and our space.
We are all part of one of the greatest teams I’ve ever been associated with. I can’t wait for the party to start next week!
To learn more or sign up for the CrossFit Open, click here.
To learn more or sign up for the CFKI Intramural Open, email Alicia!
Ryan