I've been doing CrossFit for almost 6 years and this is the 3rd year I've done the Open and there has NEVER been a WOD that has confounded me more than 16.2. As a coach, I was WAY wrong on my predictions for average Rx scores. If you remember correctly, I said that most of the prescribed athletes would get to 250 reps. I clearly overshot on that. And as an athlete, I COULD NOT FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET INTO THE 3RD ROUND! For the first time ever, I actually re-did a WOD. The first time I did it I got 169 reps. I did it with literally no warmup and no excitement. I just dove right in. But, the second round I mentally prepped, spent time actually warmup up and then attacked the WOD with some genuine enthusiasm. And got 170 reps. I know that several of you guys re-did the WOD at least once and either didn't improve your score or only slightly improved your score. Kudos for re-doing but wasn't it kind of infuriating to do that whole freaking WOD again for just 1-2 more reps? That just means it's a good time to remember how much general physical fitness it takes to even finish ANY of the Open WODs so don't overthink your place on the leaderboard. As far as I'm concerned, once the Open is done the leaderboard ceases to exist. That said, the Open is a competition so let's take a quick glance at the Renew Leaderboard and at some of the gym highlights from 16.2:
CAN'T YOU JUST FEEL THE TENSION EMANATING FROM THAT PIC??!! PAIGE IS ABOUT TO PUNCH JESS IN THE FACE! On 16.2, they scored the same number of reps but Paige won via the tiebreaker time on the double unders. Lurking in third and fourth places are Becky and Becca, respectively. If 16.3 is something heavy then I think Becca will take it. I also think there is a WOD coming up that's right in Becky's wheelhouse as well. I can't wait to watch how it all plays out. There were also some scaled performances that were super dope. First was Cara Griswold who broke away from caring from a sick kiddo to rip off 263 reps. Second, Sadie Flynn finished the WOD. Finished. It. Also, if you are looking a fun little Instagram follow during the Open, one of our members, Jamie Gunthorp, has been documenting Julia Essington's Open WODs every Monday. You can follow Jamie on Instagram or you can check the hashtag #thejuliadiaries.
Then his four-year old James asked, "Why is Daddy laying out there? Let me close with a word of encouragement...Week 3 is usually where people lose steam in the Open. They get discouraged by performance or by unmet expectations. Don't let that happen to you. Keep showing up on Friday nights and having fun with this. Be a finisher with this stuff! Can't wait to see you guys on Friday night! Chris
Renew Women's Leaderboard
Here is a snapshot of the Renew Women's Leaderboard. As you can see, the top two spots are occupied by Jess Rhodes and Paige Jones, respectively. If you know anything about these two, this competition is just super fierce. Both of them are just generally angry and surly in their everyday life and the Open is bringing out the worst in them. They are just waaaaaay competitive and the tension between them before the Open WODs is palpable.
CAN'T YOU JUST FEEL THE TENSION EMANATING FROM THAT PIC??!! PAIGE IS ABOUT TO PUNCH JESS IN THE FACE! On 16.2, they scored the same number of reps but Paige won via the tiebreaker time on the double unders. Lurking in third and fourth places are Becky and Becca, respectively. If 16.3 is something heavy then I think Becca will take it. I also think there is a WOD coming up that's right in Becky's wheelhouse as well. I can't wait to watch how it all plays out. There were also some scaled performances that were super dope. First was Cara Griswold who broke away from caring from a sick kiddo to rip off 263 reps. Second, Sadie Flynn finished the WOD. Finished. It. Also, if you are looking a fun little Instagram follow during the Open, one of our members, Jamie Gunthorp, has been documenting Julia Essington's Open WODs every Monday. You can follow Jamie on Instagram or you can check the hashtag #thejuliadiaries.Renew Men's Leaderboard
The top two spots on the Men's Leaderboard didn't change after week two. It's still Justin Hroch at the top followed by Russell Hene. The really fun race here is going to be between Philip Edsel and Austin Jones. Our two newest coaches have been friends forever, are in a great band called New York Movie together, and are now occupying spots on the leaderboard together. These two guys are so fun to be in the gym with and I love the properly competitive spirit they are bringing to the Open. Anyone want to make a prediction as to who comes out on top? And a special shoutout goes to Doug Phillips who made two heroic runs at 16.2, with the second one leaving him in a heap on the sidewalk in front of the gym.
Then his four-year old James asked, "Why is Daddy laying out there? Let me close with a word of encouragement...Week 3 is usually where people lose steam in the Open. They get discouraged by performance or by unmet expectations. Don't let that happen to you. Keep showing up on Friday nights and having fun with this. Be a finisher with this stuff! Can't wait to see you guys on Friday night! Chris 
