We Won!

Great team work, way to go team CFO!

Look out CF Games 2009!!

wow! first place? holy #$%@! congratulations to all the competitors and everyone on the support crew. you guys are unbelievable.

Edgar,

You have a lifetime contract with Team CFO for the Games, brother!

T-

You are a beast! Saw you in action at the Hopper Challenge and only wished I could have done it as you did...had to stick with my 55#. Haha. Congrats on your performance!!

Crossfit Oakland, congrats on the affiliate cup!

Sakura
Martinez, CA

CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM CFO!

You guys rocked like I knew you would. I wish we would have planned things better so we could have gone, but we are already planning to go next year.

We did the deadlift/burpees workout on friday at CFO, then a 4 hour easy/moderate mt. bike ride on saturday, and we did a mile hill run plus tabata pushups and tabata situps on sunday. We were thinking about you and sending you positive vibes all weekend! It must have been really hard doing all three workouts in one day, and then another _heavy_ one on sunday...Sounds like the format favored the really big/strong competitors a little bit this year with the heavy deadlifts and heavy C&J'S and the relatively short run.

It would be interesting to see how the results would have come out if the weightlifting loads were a percentage of bodyweight instead of the same poundage for everyone. It would probably be a logistical nightmare for the organizers though.

Thanks for the kind words, Allen.

Having said that, you've hit my one CF-related pet peeves: the scaling of load based on one's bodyweight.

What's funny is that I should totally be arguing for that standard since I'm such a skinny mofo! But I can't stand it.

It doesn't make sense to me in the grand CF scheme of things, plus it's a slippery slope.

Should we scale distances on runs based on bodyweight (little guys go farther, big guys go shorter distances)? Should we scale the number of reps of pull-ups (little guys do more, big guys do fewer)?

To me, the beauty of CF is that it just comes down to work capacity.

I got smoked by Daniel and Brandon on the clean-and-jerk workout but left simply saying that I have to get much stronger in the overhead component of my game. Never was there a moment where I thought the workout was unfair, but rather that I had a serious weakness exposed. And you better believe that I'm gonna be doing lots of overhead and pushing work to get ready for the 2009 Games!

And I can't speak for Daniel, but I'm guessing that when I beat him on the run (after he elbowed me out of the way in the beginning of the race), he wasn't thinking the workout was unfair 'cause he outweighs me by 15 lbs and had to run the same distance I did.

Anyway, this isn't anything personal...just a philosophical debate. That scaling-of-load-relative-to-bodyweight thing really touches a nerve for some reason.

Allen,
I actually liked the format. The smaller guys did way better than the big/strong guys on saturday. The run might have been short, but any excess weight you had to carry up the hill killed you, and even though the DL were heavy there was only 5 reps and the small guys killed the burpees. I was glad that the weight was heavy on sunday to prove that you not only had to be fast, but you also had to be strong to win.
I don't think that it should be scaled based on %body weight. 155# is heavy but I think if you have good form and strength than you should still be able to compete with the big guys.
...just my thoughts

1. Nicole and Franklin, thank you for all the support, the food, and enduring our incessant riffing on Allison NYC. Obviously, we would have been failed miserably without you guys. Thank You!

2. Thank you to everyone who came out to cheer us on during the events. The yelling and encouragement played a HUGE role in everyone performances. Hanging out with everybody during those two days underneath the tents was so much fun. I’m so proud to call myself a member of CFO.

3. Mike, I’m relieved that I was able to make positive contribution to the CFO team on the final day. Heading into Sunday, I thought that you were going kick me out of CFO because of my piss-poor Saturday showing. I’m also excited that I was able to witness you consuming multiple jars of baby food in between events-amazing.

4. Brad, those pics of everyone are sick. You should be the official CFO photographer. Every single picture captures a signature moment of CFO during the Games.

5. The most enjoyable part of the games, by far, was cheering for everybody. Well, that, and watching that guy throw his baby down the hill.

Congrats to everyone who competed, supported, cheered, etc. It took the whole group to get it done, I'm sure.

I'm hopeful that I can compete with you all in 09...or even 2010.

As for the loading/bodyweight thing, my take is that if you averaged workouts over a long period of time (like months) you'd end up pretty balanced, but the Games were only two days, so perhaps there was a small bias.

Looking at the men's winners, seems like the 180# beast is the prototype, with Khalipa representing an unusual mix of size, speed and strength, even for Crossfit. None of the really big guys cracked the top 15, which I think is significant. As for the guys under 150#, it's tough to rep near or over bodyweight for time against significantly larger people, unless of course, you're out of the box exceptional.

I don't know anything substantive about the women who won, but I'd guess the same general dynamic holds there. What a bummer Tamara couldn't slip in there after making up so much ground with her sC/J time--second fastest for all women.

Mike and Daniel,

You both make good points - it is true that the run and burpees and pullups favor the little guys, just as the heavy stuff favors the big guys. So overall maybe it was more balanced than I thought at first glance. Pure strength and overhead lifts are my biggest weaknesses too (that and double-unders but let's not go there).

I actually wasn't saying they _should_ scale the weights, just that it would be interesting to see what would happen if they did. I doubt they would ever do that, too complicated and for the reasons Mike mentioned. Overall I guess it was a very good choice of workouts to test broad fitness across a variety of tasks.

From the sound of it, you all did great and showed a lot of heart, soul and teamwork. You all deserve a ton of credit for that, and Mike and Nicole deserve a ton of credit for creating and building the CFO community into what it is.

CONGRATULATIONS CFO!!

You guys have an awesome crew that often flys under the radar. Not anymore!! Hope you guys are ready for the CF paparazzi!

Mike, you and your community are an inspiration to our little Shed in the East Bay.

Congratulations again from your humble friends at Diablo CrossFit!

Cheers,

Craig

This weekend was a fitness freak festival and we all fit in. Like Brandon said, even hanging out under the tent talking smack was a blast. I hope all my screaming and now horse voice did something for you guys out there. It was so bad ass to see you guys in the same heats, getting pounds to set it off. I am fired up to compete in 2009 and proud to be a small part of CFO.

This weekend was fantastic... Oakland not only represented, we were triumphant. Best of all we embodied Crossfit and shared with the other affiliates what it's like having the driving force and support that our crew has to offer. There are a lot of people that make our Gym eclectic and complete and I'm proud to know and train along side all of you. Big props to everyone who took time away and contributed to this event, especially Nicole and Franklin for hosting, and sharing their family with us.
Oh yeah, and I agree with you Mike, I'm more hungry for Crossfit after this weekends grueling toll on my body.

Also on a side note, I want to thank Allison of Crossfit NYC for coming out and supporting the Crossfit games in what I can only say was a truly inspirational display of devotion and enthusiasm for us all!!!

I feel like a winner because my butt looks deceptively small in the picture above. Kudos to the photographer:)

Thanks to EVERYONE. The cheering, camaraderie and level of performance all around was breath-taking. That was certainly a trying weekend but... it's only the beginning. My weaknesses felt blaring but possibility was reassuring. If only I'd walked twice rather than three times on that blasted run. If only I had stuffed my bra before those pull-ups. If only I had quit my job and focused exclusively on crossfiting. If only I had not eaten two dozen cookies in the two weeks preceding the games...

We all have "if only's"... some more heart wrenching the others - the point being, i hope to see the team grow, hold one another accountable for our individual goals, and perform even better in future years.

all hail mike, nicole and franklin for their coaching, love and support.

Nabil,
You are right...there is no scaling in the real world. Go practice your belly flop.

Tom,
Where are the pictures?

> Tom,
> Where are the pictures?

What pictures?

Fear not, my friend. I've gone through about 3/4 of the 2700+ images. I should have my top 100 ready this evening. Provided I can get everything together, I will have a link ready either tonight or tomorrow night. I've got some cool shots of you, bro. Actually, I'm pretty excited to let everyone see these pics. Some of them came out nicely.

I can't say enough about the fine men and women who competed, cheered, and supported at the Games! Coming home with the cup to boot! I am amazed with each and everyone's stamina, strength and spirit.

Mike and Nicole...not too many people in their lifetime can honestly know that they really have done something to change the world for the better. I am so proud of you two, for what you have created, nurtured and loved for a long time: CFO. You both deserve a medal! Thanks for letting me, my home family, and CFO family be a part of this.

Well,

I have only trained with CFO a handful of times, but I am seeing quickly why you guys took the Affiliate Cup. You train hard, you support each other and you worked your butts off at the games and that is what it takes. Even though I will be going back to HEL in a couple of weeks, I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to train with a team such as yourselves. Keep it up and I will be at the games in 2009!

Thanks Robyn.... since you mentioned it, I do have this really big, long, hard math problem that I could use your help with. It will probably take me a good hour and a half to finish.

On another note (sort of), do we need to have a clinic on how to make the Oakland "O" symbol?! Candace is making the same symbol that Daniel made to me just before I started my final workout when he realized I had scaled the weight. (Seriously)

I have no response that will not be removed by the forum moderators.

Daniel, Robyn, Nabil, LB - I'm laughing so hard I have tears in my eyes.

This might help...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28352489@N05/?saved=1

Speaking of showing support, am I right in believing that the woman in the center of this photo of Jason Khalipa and coach Glassman at
CrossFit Unlimited is Lauren Glassman? (Photo caption is "A big thank you to the 2 that started this whole fitness movement!" so it's not really in question, I guess.) I saw her at the games but did not realize the import of what I was seeing. I must say I understand the AlliNYC phenom much better, now.

P.S. Edgar, you're the only NY hottie we will ever love.

Hopefully, this is better.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28352489@N05/sets/72157606038616156/

Sorry to force y'all (as Rippetoe would say) to share my learning curve.

S.

Nabil: Following LB's most excellent logic, then I'd say you are the fittest of them all, with all of your frequent "math problems". So for the good of mankind, don't jump! Think of all the satisfying math problems you'd miss out on! (Oh my -- all the tent talk must have, um, rubbed off on me.)

Way to bring home the cup, CFO!!!!! You were all outstanding.