Gratitude and Partner Bear

JT Scott | 11/22/2016 | 1

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection and gratitude. It’s been five full years since we opened the doors here at CrossFit Somerville on 11/11/11. I’m especially grateful for these people who have been with us since that very first month; you’ll probably recognize most of these names. By their signup date…

Kirstie Young: actually joined me at CF Fenway before I built CFSV, and became the coach we all love after working through the internship program.
Nick Detar-Koch: signed up on our very first day, and became our favorite monkey coach after years of loving CFSV and joining the internship program.
Erin “EB” Baumgartner: always enthusiastic, aggressive, and supportive; ensures that our music is appropriately energetic.
Amos “Boo-Boo” Worth: long a favorite personality in classes and a Twitter maven when away from the box, he has trusted us to help him prepare for lifting meets and generally recover from life’s injuries and indignities.
Brian Hack: organizes our volunteer programs, spearheads the Urban Ag effort with Talia, and fills in coaching when everyone else is on vacation!
Hillary Holloway: “Best Attendance” award winner at least one year, passionate about helping people in our community, she’s the reason we’re involved with Community Cooks.

All of these people have left their mark on the facility and as you can see really shaped what we do here. This is a very homegrown community effort, and I could never have imagined what this place would become when I finished renovations and opened the doors in 2011.

(Image: ribbon cutting with Mayor Curtatone, Nick (our first member and very young at that), my then-current coaching staff at CFF/CFSV entirely comprised of people who went through the internship program, and a random passerby. Of these people, 6 are still full-time coaches (and the passerby is still probably random).

We’ve got quite a few other members who will be celebrating their 5-year anniversaries here at CFSV in the next few months too: Bonnie Tominack, Jeffery “Big Cat” Vautour, Monika Navarro, Niki Brown (webmaster), Kyle Rose, Christine Liu (cultural attache), Rebecca Masse (nee Cottam), Mark Rosedale, Olivia Leitermann, Ben Pender-Cudlip (photographer)

Image: The Mayor was a paying member for a few months, too.

I’m enormously grateful for all of your contributions to the community and the facility. Everyone here is a tremendously valued member of CFSV’s little family, and I could tell you stories about everyone on these lists. Over the past 5 years, you’ve all contributed to make CFSV the incredible place that it is, and none of it would be the same without you.

To celebrate our 5 year anniversary, I’ll be throwing a little post-holiday party at the Box in January – right now scheduled for Saturday, January 14. I’ll be hiring a bartender and dressing the joint up a bit, and inviting y’all to dress up as well. Bring partners, friends, former members, and anyone you like… the drinks will be free and the times will be good.

Now, on to business:

Today’s WOD is the Bear Complex with a twist. We’ll be working for 5 minutes with a partner, sharing a barbell. First you go – one full bear complex – and then when you drop the bar your partner picks it up and does a bear complex of their own. Make the most of your rest, cheer them on, and be ready to take that bar back. The goal as a team is to get as many complexes done as you can in 5 minutes.

Then rest for 2 minutes (really, really rest) and then try to match that tally again in the next 5 minute AMRAP. Rinse and repeat once more, and I assure you that you’ll be quite ready for a rest day tomorrow. 🙂

PARTNER WOD:

AMRAP 5
“Bear Complex”: Power Clean, Front Squat, Push Jerk, Back Squat, Rack Jerk
* Alternate each complex. Share a bar. One partner works at a time.

REST 2 MINUTES

AMRAP 5
“Bear Complex”

REST 2 MINUTES

AMRAP 5
“Bear Complex”

(Image: the very first WOD photo at CFSV, Nick standing in front of the garage door, uploaded exactly 5 years ago today.)