Norcal Regionals - Team: My Experience

The NorCal CrossFit team @ NorCal Regionals

The top thirty teams in each region were invited to compete at Regionals, the final step in the road to the CrossFit Games.  Each team consisted of six athletes, three women and three men.  I was lucky enough to be on the NorCal CrossFit team this year, along with Cheryl, Gary, Liz, Nate, and Sal.  A first for all of us!

There were six workouts total, two workouts per day.  All teams were required to participate the first five workouts and then the top twelve teams advance to the final workout.  Each member of the team must participate in one of the two workouts each day.  The top three teams overall get to compete at the CrossFit Games in July!

Norcal Regionals - Summary

NorCal CrossFit @ Regionals!

Congratulations to Jason Khalipa for winning first place at the CrossFit Games NorCal Regionals!  And to Neal Maddox for second place!  It was unbelievable to watch the two alternate between first and second place on each event!  Also congratulations to Alex Rollin, Garret Fisher, and Miranda Oldroyd (might as well join our gym lady!) for a top 15 finish!!  And congratulations to our team for finishing the weekend strong!  A lot of phenomenal performances and a lot of PRs.  It was a really great weekend!

My Posts: Individual | Team | Pre

NorCal Regionals!

NorCal Regionals this weekend!

For those of you in the bay area this weekend, come check out the 2012 Northern California CrossFit Games Regionals!  It's going to be insane!  NorCal CrossFit is sending three individuals and one team!  I will be competing on the NorCal CrossFit team, along with Cheryl, Liz, Gary, Nate, and Sal!  Our trainers, Jason Khalipa, Alex Rollin, and Garret Fisher will be competing in the individual division!  Unfortunately, Pat Barber is out this year, due to appendicitis. 

My Posts: Summary | Individual | Team

CrossFit Napoli

14:00 crew!

I was so antsy and excited to visit CrossFit Napoli in Naples, Italy.  After France, I traveled around Italy for about 10 days.  There are only a couple CrossFit gyms in northern Italy, outside of Milan, and there were either no gyms in the cities I visited, way too far, or a pain to get to.  So I was pretty much itching for a workout.  We were briefly in Naples to catch a ferry to Capri.  Along with trying the original pizza, visiting CrossFit Napoli was top of my list of things to do in Naples.

CrossFit Napoli is very new.  Its grand opening was in September 2011.  It is also pretty much the only box located in southern Italy currently.  Luckily, it can be easily reached by public transportation.  Two brothers, Luca and Silvio Travaglione own and run the box.  In addition to CrossFit classes, they also have boxing and personal training classes.  

CrossFit Cannes

Tire flips up the stairs in Cannes

CrossFit Cannes, located in Cannes, France, was the first CrossFit box I visited outside the US!  It is the only CrossFit gym located along the southern coast of France.  It is pretty new.  Their grand opening was in late January of this year.

When I looked up its location, I was surprised to find it so close to our apartment, less than 200 meters!  When I arrived in Cannes, I thought how could a CrossFit gym exist here?  Cannes is pretty packed.  Space is tight.  CrossFit Cannes is located in Le Suquet, which is the old part of Cannes and also where most people visit.  The Palais de Festival and the beach are a 5-10 minute walk.  Its prime location made visiting it easy!

UPDATE 9/5/2014: This CF box is closed and is now CrossFit Monaco.

My Trip to France and Italy

Handstand in Cinque Terre, Italy.

Sorry for the lack of posts during the past couple weeks.  I was on vacation in France and Italy.  Good news is I am back with plenty to share!

This post is more of a personal post: my trip recap.  Our trip started in France, where we visited only the Southern Part: Nice, Cannes, and Monte Carlo (well, technically Monaco).  In Italy we visited: Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Rome, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Positano, Pompeii, and Capri.  The cities were absolutely beautiful.  Saw some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.  I especially loved Cannes, Nice, Cinque Terre, and Florence.


Food was also pretty amazing.  I am a huge foodie and ate anything I wanted and in large quantities: gelato 3x/day, 5+ croissants for breakfast in France, lots of truffle dishes, steak (the legit stuff), pizza, sweets with cream, and coffee!!  At least food quality in France and Italy is a lot better than the US... fresh produce and grass-fed meats, by default.  I did manage to get some CrossFit in, from doing pull ups in our apartment to tire flips on the streets of Cannes!  I visited two CrossFit gyms while in Europe: CrossFit Cannes and CrossFit Napoli (posts to come soon).  But now I am back, ready to train hard for Regionals!