“Risky Run” Pub Run 4/13

After much anticipation… it’s time for another CFA Pub Run, so get ready!

Let’s Get “Risky”!
When: Friday, April 13th at 7:45pm
Where: Town Lake (by the water coolers at South 1st)

We’ll meet at Town Lake (by the water coolers at South 1st) at 7:45pm on Friday April 13th and leave from there.
Come out in your best Risky Business attire and join the fun!

Bun Run 2012 with Austin Running Club

It’s time for the 30th Annual Schlotzsky’s Bun Run in downtown Austin, Texas!

In addition to offering the longest running 5K in Austin, The Schlotzsky’s Bun Run will offer a 10K  race for the first time ever this year! All proceeds of the run benefit the Austin Sunshine Camps, which through the support of the YMBL, has provided summer camping experiences and leadership opportunities for under served youth in the Austin area. CrossFit Austin and Austin Athletics Running Club are proud to offer the official training program for the 2012 Bun Run! Learn more here.

When: Sunday, April 29, 2012
Where: Auditorium Shores (across from Palmer Events Center)
Details: 7:00 am – 10K – NEW for 2012!
7:45 am – Kids K
8:30 am – 5K
Fees: 5K = $30
10K = $35

Ready to sign up???
Click here and sign up to run for TEAM CrossFit Austin
(located under the TEAM drop box on the registration site)

Last Call for The CrossFit Open!

In case you haven’t heard… The Open is coming!!!

Registration has been extended through Sunday, February 26th. If you haven’t signed up yet, please click here to do so. Once you create a profile and register, you will be able to designate CFA as your affiliate. Need a reason to sign up? Click here!

The first CFA workout for the Open will be held onSaturday, February 25th. Be sure to sign up for a class (click here) and come join in on the fun! Because the Open workouts will be done as a gym on Saturdays, we’ve added an 11:00am Saturday session so that there will be room for all of our awesome CFA participants!

  • CFA Participants will have 3 times to complete the workout:
    Thursday during all class times for Make-up Day (the current week’s WOD only)
    Friday during Open Gym (5:30 PM)
    Saturday at our regularly scheduled All-Levels Class (9 AM, 10 AM, 11 AM)
  • Visiting or non-member CrossFitters are welcome to come do the workout and get their score validated at any of those times ($25 drop-in fee will be required).
  • All workouts must have a judge: the athlete will sign off on their score, the judge will sign the score card, and the coach in charge of class will sign off on the score.

COA Challenge Fiesta 3/10

In honor of the final day of the Circle of Awesomeness Challenge (March 10th), we are excited to announce 3 Bonus Challenges that will happen as the challenge comes to a close. More details will be announced as the day draws nearer, but get excited for…

  • Bonus Challenge #1: Paleo Pizza Cook-Off
    For the culinary creators in the group,  we will have a Paleo Pizza Cooking Contest. Participants must follow two rules: 1) No grains and 2) No sugar or sweeteners. The winner of this challenge will be awarded a copy of Mel Joulwan’s Well Fed Cook Book for even more cooking adventures. Please let us know if you are planning to participate in the cook-off!
  • Bonus Challenge #2: Best-Dressed Challenger
    Do you like to work out in style? Do you have a flare for fashion? Come dressed in your best CrossFit attire and work that work out! Winner of the Best Dressed Award will receive $50 worth of our ever-so-popular CrossFit Austin Merchandise – and look good doing it!
  • Bonus Challenge #3: Dodge Ball
    Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and… Dodge your way to victory in the CFA Dodge Ball Game! Along with bragging rights, the winner will receive a copy of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (movie).
Want to know the full schedule of Retest dates? Click here and scroll to the bottom.

Happy Hour 3/1

CrossFit Austin will be having a Happy Hour on March 1st at 7pm at the South Park Meadows Little Woodrow’s.  We hope you’ll join us as we catch up with old friends and meet new members! Hope to see y’all there!

When: March 1st (Thursday) at 7:00pm

Where: Little Woodrow’s (9500 S IH-35, Austin, TX 78748)

Who: You!

 

Black Box Weightlifting Championships

 CFA members Liz Yankiver and Cody Skinner will be competing in this upcoming weightlifting meet. Best of luck to both of them!

Date: Febraury 25th 2012

Schedule:

  • Women weigh-in at 10:00am and lift at noon
  • Men weigh in at noon and lift at 2:00pm

Venue:

  • BlackBox Fort Worth
    3518 W Vickery Blvd
    Fort Worth, TX 76107
For more information, click here.

 

New Member Orientation

Who’s invited:

  • Open to all members for FREE (Beneficial to any member, but geared towards members who have been with us 3 months or less)
  • Friends and/or family who are interested in learning more about CFA are welcome to come along with any current members!

Includes:

  • Presentation of CFA’s Goals and Core Values
  • Discussion on the importance of nutrition and recovery
  • The “what” and “why” of functional movement
  • Keys to Success

When: February 15th, 2012 (Wednesday) from 7:00pm to 8:00pm

Where: CrossFit Austin (8708 S. Congress Avenue, Suite A-190)

Sign up here!

Rally the Troops, CFA! The 2012 CrossFit Open is Here!

It’s that time again! The 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games Open is here! With registration beginning tomorrow (February 1), and the release of the first WOD on February 22nd, CrossFitters from all over the world will be able to showcase their abilities in hopes of being crowned the “Fittest in the World.”

Last year’s Open at CrossFit Austin was an amazing experience, and one you can join in this year! You may not be striving to become the next Annie Thorsdottir or Rich Froning, (and even better if you are) but I can assure you, the dynamic of CFA during the Open is electric and something you WILL want to be a part of! Instead of spouting off reasons as to why to join the Open, I’d much rather recap last year’s CFA experience in hopes that it will get you excited to be a part of something that not only is fun but makes our CFA family that much more motivated and supportive.

I remember when the first WOD of the Open was released. They were late in releasing it, causing everyone to stay up well beyond their normal bedtime, hitting “refresh” every five minutes on the CrossFit Games website. As soon as it was released, Facebook exploded with CFA members updating their status’ with the Open’s first WOD. The road to the Games had begun!

Every Wednesday (this year is will be Thursdays) for 6 weeks, CFA’s WOD was that of the Open. Whether you were registered for the Open or not, you were doing the WOD that CrossFitters from all over the world were doing. It was a big deal! Members were coming in early and staying later to support others who were doing the WOD (registered or not). I remember some coming in at 4:30 pm to cheer others on, get their shot at the workout at 5:30 pm, and then stay to support others in the 6:30 pm class. Every Wednesday, CFA turned into a mini-competition arena with music blasting and our members playing the roles of competitors, spectators, judges and coaches – all at once. We even had the “media” there, as I remember Geno recording the evening classes as they completed the WOD. We had athletes of all levels performing the WODs which brought out a newer and higher level of intensity from everyone!

I know for a fact the Open brought a stronger sense of community and pride to our CFA box. It was a great way for members to push themselves and others beyond normal limits. It added a competitive edge where we could check our individual standings and also see if our efforts could keep CFA within the top 30 boxes in our region. The Open allowed for more work to get done faster among CFA members as everyone’s hard work and intensity motivated their fellow athletes to push even more. Rankings among individuals within CFA were going up weekly because they had friends, next to them, pushing them to produce bigger numbers.

For the most part, the Open took over the lives of CFA coaches and members for six weeks. It was six weeks of having set times or days to perform the Open WOD. It was a great opener that unknowingly prepped CFA for the proverbial “Road to the Games!” Last year, after the final scores of the Open were tallied, we had two people qualify as individuals to advance to Regionals, we had a high enough score to qualify a team to represent CFA at Regionals, and we had our very own Darlene Price qualify to compete at the Games in California in hopes of being crowned the “Fittest Woman in the World” in the Master’s Division. That being said, CFA had no idea how well we’d actually do. Miguel finished strong with a 15th place finish in the individual Men’s Division at Regionals. Our team went into Regionals ranked 19th and left with a solid 7th place finish. And Darlene? Well, if you haven’t heard, she went to the Games in California and came home as the 2nd Fittest Woman in the World!

All of these things couldn’t have happened without the community the Open had strengthened within CFA. I can NOT wait for this year’s Open and am excited to see our CFA members, new and old, exceed all my expectations again. Again, I encourage everyone to participate (if you don’t, I will personally stalk you and make you do wall balls until you do)! Throw yourself into the adventure of the Open and get excited for the hype and improvement it will bring to you and your fellow CrossFit Austinites! You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain! If anything, it’ll help solidify why you joined this crazy community we call CrossFit Austin!

GET EXCITED!  -Coach Leigh

Want to get involved? Sign up for the Open here!

Book Signing with Melissa Joulwan – 1/28

You’ve seen her sweat through WODs and heard her talking about her cookbook… now Well Fed: Paleo Recipes For People Who Love To Eat is published and Melissa Joulwan is joining us at CrossFit Austin to celebrate the kickoff of The Circle Of Awesomeness Challenge with a book signing.

What: Book Signing with Mel “Melicious” Joulwan
Date: Saturday, January 28
Time: Noon

Mel is offering the book at $24.95 ($5 off the cover price), so get your hands on Well Fed. It’s packed with 115+ recipes that are 100% super-strict, paleo compliant — and 100% tasty. Learn more about the book, read reviews, and download a free PDF sampler here.

Here’s a sample recipe from Well Fed to whet your appetite:

Egg Foo Yong
Prep 5 min | Cook 20 min | Serves 2

Egg Foo Yong has a deliciously confused identity. It’s not quite an omelet, almost a pancake, and somewhere beyond a fritter. It has become a 100% American dish, although its culinary roots reach back to Shanghai, and its Cantonese name has at least six accepted English spellings. Egg foo yong appeared in the first Chinese cookbook for American cooks in 1912, but reached the pinnacle of its popularity after World War II.

I use pancake rings to make 3-inch egg foo yong patties; you can also make large, skillet-sized omelets instead. No chicken in your fridge? Replace the grilled chicken with just about any cooked protein — beef, pork, and shrimp are all great!

INGREDIENTS:
Egg Foo Yong:

4 large eggs
4 ounces grilled chicken thighs, diced
2 cups steam-sautéed cabbage, minced
4 scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced
2 teaspoon coconut aminos
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons coconut oil
additional scallion tops, for garnish

Spicy Secret Sauce:
2 tablespoons homemade mayo (http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2010/06/03/the-secret-to-homemade-mayo-patience/)
1 teaspoon coconut aminos
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
pinch cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk or fork, then add the diced chicken, cabbage, scallions, coconut aminos, five-spice powder, cayenne, and sesame oil. Blend well.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes. Add coconut oil and allow it to melt. Place pancake rings in the skillet, and pour 1/4 cup batter into each ring. Cook 5 minutes, remove the rings, and flip the patties to brown the other side. Cook about

5 minutes, then remove to the baking sheet and place in the oven to keep them hot while you make the rest of the patties.

To make the Spicy Secret Sauce, place all the ingredients in a small bowl and use a fork to mix until blended.

To serve egg foo yong, stack the patties on a plate top with a dollop of Spicy Secret Sauce, and sprinkle with sliced scallion tops.