The Impulse Intramural Open, Legend of 18.2 “The Redo”
Upcoming Events
- The Impulse Intramural Open- 27 Feb-13 March. Signups $25 all proceed will go to prizes for winning team, Spirit of the open winner, and 8th street mission house. Skip Chipotle for one day, spend three Friday nights making lifelong memories with your friends.
- Changing of the Gym Software- in the near future, between now and 1 April, we will be switching from Zen Planner (billing) and SugarWod (workouts) to an all in one system called WodHopper. We are working through all the back end now, sometime in the next several weeks you will receive a “welcome to WodHopper” email that will prompt the new App download, completion of a couple forms, and re-entry of payment data. More to follow, just a heads up it’s coming.
“The Redo” and why I Do the Open – The Story of One Burpee
So no-shit there I was.
18.2, first time around—one burpee short of earning a clean score in Part B.
One. Damn. Burpee.
Workout was a 1–10 ladder of double dumbbell front squats and burpees over the bar, then whatever time was left to hit a max clean. I missed it by a single rep, and that kind of miss follows you home. It followed me home like a lost puppy. Gnawing at my brain. Really Steve? REALLY? 1 Burpee?
Fam, that shit hurt. Hurt more than it should. It’s just a damn workout. I can’t believe it hurt that bad. As you can imagine, I was bent, and well, my friends, the whole ass village of CFI, wasn’t letting me off the hook. After a weekend of trash talk, I went for a redo.
Monday night, between 5 and 6Pm classes, C-side fills up. Jeff “Brodin Actual”, is my spirit guide, Matt “The Swole Proprietor” is judging, and Chris Ivey “Ultra Dad” has already crushed his redo, blazing a trail for me to the depths of pain. The crowd is humming, you can feel the juice in the air. 3…2…1… go.
I send it. Full send—because, the way my “fitness” is set up, that’s the only option. The round of 7 hits, halfway through, and two thoughts flash:
- Why am I doing this again?
- I can’t breathe.
Then… the lights go out. I don’t remember the next few minutes—It’s a blank in my memory. Next thing I remember Jeff’s yelling that he’ll drop the clean weight because I’m out of time. I waved him off, ripped one ugly muscle clean at 187 (shout out Ultra dad for sneaking 1lb plates into the inside of the barbell), and collapsed.
All for one burpee. I learned alot about myself that night. I learned you don’t have to be “all there” to do work. You don’t need to stop to breathe. You just think you do. And when you owe a debt, to yourself, to the HOG, to this crazy thing we do… Well, you pay it. Sweat equity matters. Your effort matters. And sometimes, you just don’t take no from yourself as an acceptable answer.
Now… Legend says Jeff assisted me to the floor for a burpee with the “Hand of Brodin” to keep me moving and Rhino was screaming like a man possessed. A lot happened I’ll either never forget—or can’t remember at all.
And that’s the Open. It’s just a different feeling than any regular ole Friday workout you are ever going to do. I can’t explain it any better than that. It might just be a 3 Fridays in 2026 to dress up, have fun suffering with friends, or you might make a lifetime core memory, for you and all your friends as well. Maybe I’m crazy… but that sounds like something worth doing. The only way to get it is to play the game. I liken the Open to Friday night football in my hometown. There’s kids playing around with a football in the parking lot, and there’s those of us on the field, IN THE GAME. The two experiences are both fun, but they are absolutely not the same.
Throw your hat in the ring, spend a few bucks, see what happens. If its boring and you hate it, shit come talk to me, I’ll buy you a steak. But I bet future you will be glad you didn’t stand in the parking lot and pretend.
It isn’t about being the fittest. It’s about finding out what you’ve got when your people are in your corner and the clock is running. Doing hard things together. Laughing about it later.
That score sheet—11:25, 187 lbs—still sits on my desk to remind me: don’t leave one burpee to chance.
So this year, whatever the workout is—send it. Leave no doubt about your effort. Leave no room for a redo.
LFG Fam,
Gorilla.
Programming Notes
Wrapping up Back Squat, and moving into a Strict Press/Push Press Cycle. We will do 3 weeks of strict, and roll that into 3 weeks of push press. I’ve marinated on this cycle concept for quite some time, I’m confident that we are going to see some hellified boulder shoulders on the tail end. Fun and enjoyment will be had, fitness shall be gained.
— Steve