We Don’t Get Here Alone
Written by C.J. Martin
Grateful. After taking some time to reflect on the 2017 California Regionals, I am overwhelmed with gratitude as I look back on the weekend.
Last weekend was the culmination of a lot of hard work by many people. We were blessed to send 3 teams and 6 individual athletes from the gym to compete in Del Mar. Once the dust had settled on the weekend, Team Invictus (2nd place) earned its 9th consecutive trip to the CrossFit Games, Garret Fisher (2nd place) and Lauren Fisher (5th place) earned their return trips, and Holden Rethwill earned his first trip as an individual athlete. These results wouldn’t be possible without an incredible community of support.
We train as a team, and support each other like family. While Maddy Myers (6th place), Rebecca Delaney and Hank Lopez (who tore his pec in event 2) are not moving on to the CrossFit Games, they deserve credit and recognition for their individual accomplishments and contributions to the success of their training partners. Without the constant push of great training partners, we couldn’t have created a training environment that produces such solid results.
Bryce Smith and Brittany Stevens weren’t on the arena floor for Team Invictus, but they are every bit as important as the six who were. Both were physically and mentally prepared to step in and the team wouldn’t have missed a beat. We move on to Madison as a team of eight incredible athletes.
Tino Marini’s contributions cannot be overstated. He not only coached Garret, Holden and Hank all year, but also served at times as primary coach or co-coach to all of our athletes and teams. We could not have done any of this without his tireless work ethic. Additionally, this season he set out to coach and not compete, opting instead to make sure he gave his full focus to our athletes and his 10-week-old son. But when the Regionals workouts were released, I asked him to step back in as an athlete to give Team Unconquerable the best chance at success. This man was up at 4:00 a.m. every day to spend 3-4 hours with his son, then raced to the gym to train and coach for 8-10 hours. He found a way to do it all exceptionally well.
Heidi Fearon Barker has been one of my most trusted advisers for 6 years now. She is the first person we call when an athlete is injured or ill, and without fail she fixes their mind and body. Her calming presence and mental coaching of our athletes allows us to ensure they are at their best when the pressure is highest. Without her and her suggestion to bring on Jonathan Pierce to our team of healers, there is no way that we could have fielded this group of healthy, thriving athletes.
Pops and Karen Martin’s support of our athletes is unrivaled. They put in countless hours behind the scenes to make sure athletes don’t have to think about anything other than competing to the best of their ability. From team uniforms to meal preparation, they have handled everything that occurs off the competition floor, but is vital to our success on it.
Nike Training and Thorne Performance have been the best partners we could hope to work with. Nike’s support puts our athletes in the best training gear available, and like our athletes and coaches they’re constantly pushing to improve the athlete experience. Thorne has kept our athletes healthy with not only the best supplements in the world, but also diagnostic resources and world-class health practitioners to make sure that we prevent injuries and illness before we’re blindsided by them.
Finally, I owe a huge amount of gratitude to the CrossFit Games staff, judges and volunteers. I have been lucky to see this sport grow from 2007 to present, and the athlete experience has improved every single year. This year’s organization, judging consistency and athlete services were exceptional. The volunteers making this thing tick are professional, passionate and smart, and without their good work, none of this would be possible. Thank you all for creating these opportunities for our athletes and us coaches.