This year marked my self re-initiation into CrossFit, a world which I had taken for granted and forgotten how much I love it. Last year, after the Open, I decided to train for and run a marathon, "it's time to test my limits and do something different," is what I rationalized. Really I think that I just needed to step away in order to have a yearlong journey of athletic attempts and challenges, which would re-instate the appreciation that I have for CrossFit. It's all about finding your strength. By strength I mean, what gets you going; what makes you excited to perform; and what keeps you coming back. See I signed up for the marathon because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I actually trained for the marathon more out of fear (of race day!). I knew I could run it, even with minimal training, because of willpower. But...I also knew it would be crazy and hurt really bad to not train for it. The Navy SEAL motto is "the only easy day was yesterday." If a SEAL can live everyday with this attitude, then, as an abled bodied athletic chick, I can run 1 marathon. And I did.
Ok, back to the 2012 CrossFit Open.
I competed with CrossFit DC (CFDC), where my CrossFit life began. Have you ever had an experience, gone somewhere, met someone, did something, tried something; and knew your perspective would never be the same? July of 2007, I hadn't found my workout groove yet. After the workout, I laid on my floor for a couple of hours, completely spent; but exhilirated. ("If I could only move, I'd go celebrate") Like so many CrossFitters, I was totally hooked after that first workout.
After the marathon, I didn't feel that way. I felt relief; "thank goodness it's over, maybe I'll do another in 5 years." With CrossFit, it's a different story. I can't wait for the next workout, no matter how brutal of a workout the current day brings.
Competing with CFDC there was a wide variety of athletes, ranging from seasoned veterans to newer model CrossFitters. Although their were many levels represented, but there were 2 unifying factors:
Encouragement and support....no matter what
You could complete 3 reps of a workout (my personal performance in workout 12.5) and the team is there to high-five, say "good job, you did awesome"....and guess what? They mean it. It's not a pity good job. It's a good job, you fought for it, I'm glad to be in the gym with you.
Practice takes humility
In workout 12.4, you had 12-minutes to get through as many reps as possible of 150 wallballs, 90 double unders, and 30 muscle-ups. For real, I thought I would fly through the wallballs with a couple minutes to spare and make a big dent in the double unders; but I completed 113 reps. Coach Chris (who holds each athlete to a high standard), called "no rep" on me probably 25-30 times. If I used profanity, this would have been the workout for it. But I don't. Even with the "no reps" I still wouldn't have made 150 wall balls. It was humbling (to say the least!). Chris is a great coach and I appreciate that he holds me to a high standard with each workout. I don't want to skate by or kid myself into thinking I'm better than I am. In this case, the tough coaching really translates to belief; it's not bringing me down (nor should it bring you down), its showing you that you can do better. Humility is powerful and it can drive you to be better.
Another part of support and encouragement is that everyone expects you to:
Do more than you think you can
Love this. It's like in week two. The workout was to proceed through a sequence of snatches (for girls: 30 reps @ 45#, 30 reps @ 75#, 30 reps @ 100#) and complete was as many reps as you could in 10 minutes. I knew the 45# wouldn't be a problem, but I had never snatched 75# before, only 65.. Before my heat, Sara made a huge point to set me up with plates for the 100#, because she was convinced I would get through the set of 75#. Now I knew I wouldn't, but because she believed in me, I knew I had to snatch that 75#. And I did. Thank you Sara.
The last principle I will cover today is the will to:
Push yourself
In workout, 12.1, we were called to do as many burpees as possible in 7-minutes. My goal was 70 (10 per minute). Coach Tom Brose, founder of CrossFit DC was my judge on this one and I still remember his coaching, "trust me, don't stop on the ground, pause after the jump," "don't stop" (this was probably recurring!) This was brutal, and the first time I have really felt burpees in the legs, because it was so continuous. I was able to do 72 (actually surpassed the goal!). I believe that the coaching to "push myself" had a lot to do with this. Seven minutes is a really long time to continuously do burpees. On my own, 72 would not have happened. Thank you Coach Tom!
There are so many other stories and inspirations from CFDC folks and other affiliates. I would love to hear them!
Alright, let's apply this to life (my favorite part!)
The focus today is "practice takes humility." I consider the above a great testament to this. It would have been so easy not to participate in the open, because I knew my fitness level was not at it's best. But guess what? I decided to suck it up (hard to do), be a little bit humble (harder to do), and just do my best, for the moment I am in. It wasn't pretty. It was even frustrating at times. But today, now, after this 5-week experience, I must say, I am stronger mentally and physically, and can't wait for the next challenge (in life, in business, in workout, whatever).
Apply this to what you do, who you are, and what you want to get better at. Have you opened yourself to show the weak side and dedicate yourself to getting stronger? I know there are areas of my life that I haven't applied this too..yet. Being humble is really a showcase of strength. It's a statement (maybe just to yourself), that you accept where you are, but you make a commitment to drive forward to be better. To get what you want.
Have you ever heard the phrase, "the calm before the storm"
Humility is the calm, success is the storm
(a good storm: strong, dynamic and forceful). Sorry Oklahoma & Kansas roots; I love storms :)
Can you be humble in one area of your life this week? It's not easy, but it's worth it.
In health & prosperity,
Monica
No comments:
Post a Comment