BTSCF Newsletter - April 2020
The world has continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, so what do we do? We WOD at home, Facebook Live, Zoom, and get creative. The weather is warming up, we have our community, and if you look around there are plenty of examples showing the best of humanity. What more can you ask for? Here is what April at (or away) from Burn the Ships CrossFit looked like.
THANK YOU!
Before we get into other things, let’s start off with what is most important and take a moment to be grateful. This one goes out to not only the members within our BTSCF community, but to all of those who have stepped up to help the world out in these crazy times. Things have gotten weird and you have persevered through it. While this is not much, we want to offer a sincere THANK YOU!
Thank you to first responders and law enforcement. Police, Fire, Corrections, and EMTs. You continue to help everyone around you in big and small ways.
Thank you to our military of all branches, active duty, retired, and those who are no longer with us. Your dedication and commitment to our nation has protected us and our freedoms. For those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, we remember you.
Thank you to the medical community. Doctors, nurses, lab technicians, receptionists, and mental health care workers. You have dedicated your lives to helping others live the healthiest and longest lives they can and in doing so put yourself at risk. Your tireless efforts to help those in need are beyond commendable, they’re heroic.
Thank you to truck drivers and retail workers. In helping to keep the supply chain moving so everyone can purchase the food and other essential items to live, you have been out in the public helping them when they are scared and stressed.
Thank you to the teachers and educators who have had to completely alter the way they deliver the information and tools students across the country need as they grow. You have made yourselves available and have reached out to students to make sure they continue moving forward.
Thank you to all those who have been deemed essential and are out there keeping the water running, electricity flowing, and the internet connected. Thank you to those who are at home getting the job done so people still have access to some sort of service you normally offer. Thank you to all of the small business and restaurants that have adapted to keep their doors open, and help our local economy.
Lastly, thank you to all of the moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other caretakers who are now at home playing the role of family member, teacher, chef, counselor, and coach - in many cases while still performing duties elsewhere.
We are all connected and we will get through this. We are grateful for all of those who are keeping us together and continue pushing us forward. What are you grateful for?
BTSCF 800 gram Challenge Results
For four weeks of measuring, weighing, tracking, and trying new fruits and vegetables, we had hoped our athletes would learn more about improving the quality of their nutrition. Over the course of the challenge our athletes earned points for consuming 800 grams of fruits or vegetables each day. They also earned points for consuming a diverse mix, specific bonus items, and getting a workout in.
At the end of the challenge, we had a tie for first place. The winners of the challenge were:
From top left, clockwise, Lauren N., Robb R., Kristin B., and Jim M.
1st Place:
Robb R. & Lauren N.
2nd Place:
Jim M.
3rd Place:
Kristin B.
Congratulations to all of our athletes who participated.
Live WODs - a.k.a Let’s Watch Our Trainers Go To A Dark Place
Every day at 9:30am, we have featured different trainers explaining the daily workout, providing tips or modification suggestions, and then demonstrating the workout on Facebook Live. We get that for some, they may not be working out at the same time, and they’re simply watching how the workout goes and possibly enjoying it a little too much. For those athletes, our trainers say “just wait until we get back to the box! Just kidding.” (Or not). In all seriousness, we know some of our athletes are right there working out with us. Others are learning and are doing the workouts at a different time. The bottom line though is our athletes are putting in the work and we are proud of them.
Looking forward though, we are excited to announce that we are adding another aspect to our remote training program. Coinciding with the 9:30 am Facebook Live, we will also be on Zoom so we can provide feedback and so our athletes can work out with each other. We are also adding a 5:30 pm Zoom class as well. Speaking of Zoom…
Zooming Around
Humans are social and when we have to be so distanced as we have been, you tend to recognize just home much you miss those who are in your life daily. That’s how we certainly feel about our BTSCF Community, which is why we started up a BTSCF Happy Hour on Zoom on Friday evenings. We have shared stories, laughed, played games, and have had the opportunity to see faces and hear voices that we’ve been forced away from lately.
Burn the Ships CrossFit T-Shirt Design Contest
There are a few pieces of apparel that CrossFitters can’t seem to get enough of. Shoes are one…how many pairs of Metcons, Nanos, or No Bulls do you own? The other is T-Shirts. We can’t help ourselves. If we do a drop in, we buy a shirt. If our box creates a new shirt, we say “take our money now.” So with that in mind, we wanted to give the community a chance to be creative and help us design our next BTSCF T-Shirt.
We asked everyone to email a design concept so all of our trainers could vote on them and select the top 3 designs. The artistic quality wasn’t a basis in the voting, just the concept. From there we would put the options out for a vote from the community to select a winner.
We received a number of submissions and look forward to seeing which one wins. Stay tuned for our announcement of the finalists and how you can help decide which design concept will be our next T-Shirt.
BTSCF Feature Athelete
Meet Mary Kate Herbert:
When did you start CrossFitting?
October 2018
What brought you to CrossFit?
My low and ever decreasing fitness level and of course my sister Beth who had been trying to get everyone in my family to do it for years!
What have you learned from doing CrossFit?
I have learned probably way too many things to list here but it has definitely shown me how to listen to my body in what it can and can't do (yet.)
What would you say to someone who is on the fence about starting CrossFit?
You should absolutely try it, anyone can do it, we all start somewhere.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Free time??? What is that??? I love getting out and about with my boys but if we are talking about me alone then I would say I love to veg out and do nothing and just relax!
What do you do for work and how has CrossFit impacted how you do your job?
I work at home for a K-12 school foodservice management company. I took this job around the time I started at BTSCF. This job has me way more sedentary than my last one so I welcome the activity and challenge and the family and support is an added bonus!
Lightning Round
“Mary Kate is strong, determined and one of the most focused athletes we have ever had the honor of working with. She quietly works towards her goals, making adaptations where necessary to maintain long term health and fitness. Mary overcomes obstacles. She is always positive. She has a caring, genuine and supportive attitude towards all community members. We are thankful to be able to work with an athlete with such a strong commitment towards improving herself. She is an asset to the BTS community.”
Q: What super power would you give yourself?
A: Teleportation
Q: What's your favorite healthy food?
A: Hummus
Q: What's your favorite not so healthy food?
A: A nice crusty loaf of bread.
Q: What TV Sitcom family or group would you be a member of?
A: Rose's- Schitt's Creek
Q: If you were famous, what would you be famous for?
A: Having cookie parties.
Q: If you could write your own fortune cookie fortune, what would it say?
A: A cynic is only a frustrated optimist.
