With the weather of late, we at Industrial Athletics think it is fair to say that cold weather is here to stay. With winter weather in Pittsburgh comes rain, snow, ice, salt, sand, and other treacherous conditions. With that in mind, we want to review the following items and set some guidelines for safety:
1. Running and outdoor activities:
Just because it is getting cold does not mean all activities will be reserved to the indoors. In CrossFit, we train for “Modal Domains.” That means we train for a number of different environments and conditions. Just last week, those who competed in Fall Brawl had to handle the cold wet weather while running, jumping rope, and doing overhead squats. An ability to adapt over changing terrains was tested.
As such, we will continue to train outdoors during the winter weather. This will primarily be reserved to running, but all athletes are warned to be prepared. You need to bring a change of shoes, layer your clothing, and bring hats/gloves/scarves. We will continue to consider immediate weather condition as we always do, i.e. the road is a sheet of ice, it is raining at the time, it is below zero.
Consider yourself warned.
2. Bringing a change of shoes:
When it is wet, the area outside of Industrial Athletics becomes muddy. When it snows, they will be spreading salt and sand. No one wants to do burpees in mud, salt, or sand. So, leave it at the door. We have a long carpet that extends from our front door and we expect our athletes to use it. We are asking everyone to bring two or more pairs of shoes: one for outside, and one for inside. If you wish to leave a pair of shoes at the box, we will provide a cubby system similar to the one in the locker rooms for storage.
This does not apply obviously if the WOD calls for running outside. We are not going to ask you to change shoes mid-WOD. However, every little bit helps keep our gym clean.
3. Class cancellations:
It is 8pm and the snow is coming down. Will there be class tomorrow? What about 6am? When will we announce cancellations? While not very helpful, we will say that cancellations will be announced as soon as we decide that the weather is too dangerous for travel. We will do our best to cancel classes the night before. However, there may be times that it snows overnight and we will not know until we wake up the next morning. We know that this primarily affects the 6am athletes, and we apologize in advance for any inconvenience. We will say that if class is not cancelled by 5:45am, you may assume class is still on. If you regularly attend 6am and do not have a coach’s contact information, it is your responsibility to get it.
Class cancellations will be announced on the website, Twitter, and Facebook. It is your responsibility to look.
We have a lot planned for the coming months, so get ready. If you have any questions, ask a coach.
