To do or not to do the Open?

Yes - there is an elephant in the room:-)


The Open is almost upon us and it is time to get after it and prove our fitness, both to ourselves and to the rest of the world!  It is time to slap the fingers of all the people who still have not understood the magnificent nature of CrossFit, and to show all the haters, that CrossFit athletes are legit in every sense of the word!

I get all that - and to me the Open, the Regionals and the Games are like X-mas all over again, except that I dont have to endure the part of the family that I would rather not have spent time with - instead I get to spend this amazing period of time with some of the finest people I know - the CrossFit community!  So just to make it clear before we proceed - I am a huge fan!

Every year before the Open, the question is always whether to do the Open or not? Everywhere you go the first question you get is if you are going to compete in the Open?   Needless to say I got the same question this year, and the answer this year was NO!  I will not do the Open!  I have had a year of injuries that culminated with a herniated disc, an bulging disc, a dislocated shoulder, and a torn quad.  I have spent the last 6 months trying to stick to a rehab regimen, that is not always fun, but I am moving in the right direction! So should I abandon this to do the open, and add an intensity to my workouts that I have not seen since I began my rehab - I dont think so!

So when I have answered the question as to whether I should do the Open or not with my above mentioned injury status, I always get the same answer. " Dude, you can always scale the workouts!"  "The open is for everyone!"  and this is where I get in trouble, and I will have to see if I manage to get your temper flaring from my answer?
The open is not for everyone!  The open is for those in our community who consider themselves athletes, and have a physical status that will allow them to step outside their comfortzone and perform! The reason I say this is that to me, the open is not about doing all the workouts despite the fact that you are injured!  That to me is just stupid!  Instead you should use the CrossFit methodology to rehab your injury, so that you can compete next year! I dont find it particularly impressive to see someone with an injury go through the Open - however I am genuinely impressed when someone who has not done anything like this acknowledges the fact that they now feel like they can compete with others  in the same position as themselves - given that they are all injury free!
In a perfect world, I would like to see our community celebrate the individuals who use CrossFit to become painfree and rehabilitate, just as much as those who fight their way through the Open! 

Going back to myself - I could probably go through the Open, and get pathetic scores on every single workout, and not get more hurt than I am right now - but to what end?  To be a part of the community?  My question is if I am not a part of the community if I dont?  Am I excluded from the community if I dont gamble with my health?

So my question to all you dear friends is quite simply  - what do you think?


Much love!