#103 - Its Five Times for Friel

On the podcast this episode is Kelly Friel, who's season - after a painful start - now sees her returning to Madison in the 40-44 division for the fourth time. Actually the fifth time she has qualified in the same division - a feat not matched by any other age group athlete! We chat about her journey into CrossFit, as a methodology & a sport, taking to the Regionals floor in 2018 as 40 y/o Individual athlete before heading to Madison as Masters athlete for the first but far from the last...

Celebrating 10 years of The European Championships, we sit down with Carl Saville - taking a look back and look forward to one of the household names in UK competition. From humble beginnings in a sports hall to making the move to the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham - it was special to understand what makes Carl tick when it comes to events and the quest to return the UK scene to a colesium style venue. The 2022 TEC Live finals will by on August 16-21st, including Day 1 held off-site at Holm...

Prior to SemiFinals, I sat down to chat with Ste Fawcett of JST Compete & High Performance CrossFit. We discuss the changes in the sport since Ste's first trip to the Games in 2015 & how competitive programming can help to create structure, focus & reward outside of the changing landscape of the Games. With JST Compete in their new home of High Performance CrossFit, we chat the intent of that centre and what it means for his daily coaching & training experiences. Finally, as a...

Wrapping up the SiD mini-series down in London at Motion Training - home of CrossFit Surbiton. Affiliate Co-owners Harrison & Grace not only went to the Games last year but finished 4th in the process. This season was looking different with no firm plans to compete but went new blood showed competitive potential, things evolved from there! Support the show

This week we're running a SiD mini series as we fast approach CrossFit Strength in Depth - a CrossFit Games SemiFinal taking place in London at the Excel. Now we head down the A1 and chat to the team from CrossFit Witham. Making it as far as Regionals/Semifinals was a long-standing goal for the affiliate - which they achieved last year & its awesome to see them repeating that achievement now we're back to live events. Speaking to the team its very apparent that whilst 4 take to the elit...

This week we're running a SiD mini series as we fast approach CrossFit Strength in Depth - a CrossFit Games SemiFinal taking place in London at the Excel. Today we chat the team from Dauntless Fitness (CrossFit Blaydon) who are making the trip down from the North-east. We chat about final preparations including worm rigidity of all things! Stay tuned for short chats with more UK teams this week. Support the show

What better way to mark the Episode 100 of the podcast than to welcome Sam Briggs! With over a decade a the pinnacle of the sport, Sam is in her last year as an individual and is soon to be heading to CrossFit Strength in Depth to try and secure another trip to Madison. We take time to reflect on the evolution of the sport over the last 10 years but also focus on this season, spending time training here in the UK and get excited to take to the floor with a ticket to the Games on the line on...

Back with another episode from the CrossFit UK & Eire Affiliate Gathering. This time sitting down with Shortz of Flow State & Gavin Hesleton of CrossFit Glasgow. With only 1% of trainers obtaining the credential, we chat about the intent of the Certified CrossFit Level 3 Trainer and how it helps to further develop a trainers knowledge. Beyond this we also discuss the importance of continual development through a trainers journey, from giving & receiving feedback to how thing...

Following a trip to the Games in 2021, Georgia Radley made the move to JST Compete. But more than that, she made the move to Wigan and a focus on training full-time. We chat about her journey with CrossFit, the journey to Madison and some of the frustrations with competitive CrossFit when you're giving your all day-in-day out. Be sure to follow Chalking Fitness on Instagram & sign up for the Chalking Fitness Newsletter for more podcast insights & UK centric competition news & art...

Recording on-location at the CrossFit® UK & Eire Affiliate Gathering, we're talking with affiliate opening & ownership with some of the newest affiliate owners in the UK & Ireland. Roice Gummer, of CrossFit Thurrock, along with David Marks & Rebekah Thompson of Avenge CrossFit, Northern Ireland, share their experiences of opening during the last couple of years. From finding a premises to welcoming new members, there's plenty to cover! Chalking Fitness is sponsored by B...