Introduction:
The weekend started with that faithful text from my little bro at 0645 hours saying had I left yet. Needless to say the mantra "Timings are crucial not flexible" was thrown around. We hit the road and arrived at 0945 to a heaving leisure center and the usual time related banter. A banter which I'm glad to say was high throughout the two days and showed a real camaraderie between both teams and the faithful supporters who traveled with us namely, Teri, Lynn, Jimmy, Kirsty, Coatsie, Yvonne, Kala, and Ryan.
A big well done to Matt Evans and the Velocity team for the great work they have put in to the event. The bar has well and truly been raised. Once again another successful Divided We Fall competition came to a rip roaring conclusion with arguably the team of the competition, Bath 1 winning after Train for a 3rd year running self destructed from an almost unassailable lead. The organisation of the event was spot on. I have to say that the timings were pretty good and both days ran very well. I have to also say a big well done to all the judges. The standards were very high, although I think that there should have been a couple of floating judges overseeing the standards to ensure continuity between teams and movements.
Having programmed the last 6 months towards competing in this years event, having spent £200/team to enter, traveled over 100 miles to get to DWF2012 I think the program of events could have been more inclusive. I know its a logistical challenge to keep 106 teams happy however value for money is my only priority. I would have liked some of the second day formats with all 6 members being involved on day 1. As we saw in the final this would have really shown up some weaknesses that a ball throw simply didn't.
TAFS Performance:
I could not be happier about the effort both teams put into the events. Myself, Darren and Dave have worked together to put the program of the last 6 months into action and I feel that based on the weekend we have moved forward quite considerably from last year. To have 4 women achieve 30 or more pull ups in a workout would have been impossible to think about 12 months ago. Although on the face of it a 67 and 88 placed finish does not look that great I feel the only reason why we didn't get both teams a lot higher was a planning mistake in setting the guys off first on the Jackie WOD. Having evaluated our positions, saving 2-3 mins here by switching would have given us a shot at day two.
Conclusion:
In comparing AFS to the top boxes of the competition we have a fair bit of work ahead of us. We have cracking cardio athletes, however we are behind when it comes to raw strength. The 60/40 hang snatch and the bear ladder gave me nightmares. Equally on the gymnastics front bar muscle ups and weighted pull ups would have been a real challenge for 90% of the gym.
Overall I think a worth while weekend away. The bonding on Saturday night alone was worth the admission fee. I love CrossFit and I think we have the perfect blend of the CrossFit ethos with a real life attitude. I, as a coach have learned a hell of lot in terms of where we have come from and where we need to be. I have now got to plan the route to get there and am looking forward to the challenge immensely. As a member of TAFS I have 1 simple ambition. TO BE AS GOOD AS I CAN BE. Hopefully that will be good enough to qualify for our team in next years DWF but at the very least I will be able to coach, help, support, motivate and drive you all to be as good as you can be!!
NEW PROGRAM STARTS MONDAY!!!
The weekend started with that faithful text from my little bro at 0645 hours saying had I left yet. Needless to say the mantra "Timings are crucial not flexible" was thrown around. We hit the road and arrived at 0945 to a heaving leisure center and the usual time related banter. A banter which I'm glad to say was high throughout the two days and showed a real camaraderie between both teams and the faithful supporters who traveled with us namely, Teri, Lynn, Jimmy, Kirsty, Coatsie, Yvonne, Kala, and Ryan.
A big well done to Matt Evans and the Velocity team for the great work they have put in to the event. The bar has well and truly been raised. Once again another successful Divided We Fall competition came to a rip roaring conclusion with arguably the team of the competition, Bath 1 winning after Train for a 3rd year running self destructed from an almost unassailable lead. The organisation of the event was spot on. I have to say that the timings were pretty good and both days ran very well. I have to also say a big well done to all the judges. The standards were very high, although I think that there should have been a couple of floating judges overseeing the standards to ensure continuity between teams and movements.
Having programmed the last 6 months towards competing in this years event, having spent £200/team to enter, traveled over 100 miles to get to DWF2012 I think the program of events could have been more inclusive. I know its a logistical challenge to keep 106 teams happy however value for money is my only priority. I would have liked some of the second day formats with all 6 members being involved on day 1. As we saw in the final this would have really shown up some weaknesses that a ball throw simply didn't.
TAFS Performance:
I could not be happier about the effort both teams put into the events. Myself, Darren and Dave have worked together to put the program of the last 6 months into action and I feel that based on the weekend we have moved forward quite considerably from last year. To have 4 women achieve 30 or more pull ups in a workout would have been impossible to think about 12 months ago. Although on the face of it a 67 and 88 placed finish does not look that great I feel the only reason why we didn't get both teams a lot higher was a planning mistake in setting the guys off first on the Jackie WOD. Having evaluated our positions, saving 2-3 mins here by switching would have given us a shot at day two.
Conclusion:
In comparing AFS to the top boxes of the competition we have a fair bit of work ahead of us. We have cracking cardio athletes, however we are behind when it comes to raw strength. The 60/40 hang snatch and the bear ladder gave me nightmares. Equally on the gymnastics front bar muscle ups and weighted pull ups would have been a real challenge for 90% of the gym.
Overall I think a worth while weekend away. The bonding on Saturday night alone was worth the admission fee. I love CrossFit and I think we have the perfect blend of the CrossFit ethos with a real life attitude. I, as a coach have learned a hell of lot in terms of where we have come from and where we need to be. I have now got to plan the route to get there and am looking forward to the challenge immensely. As a member of TAFS I have 1 simple ambition. TO BE AS GOOD AS I CAN BE. Hopefully that will be good enough to qualify for our team in next years DWF but at the very least I will be able to coach, help, support, motivate and drive you all to be as good as you can be!!
NEW PROGRAM STARTS MONDAY!!!
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