I have no idea where I'm going here today. ;) Hang in there with me. First of all, I am inspired having watched the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games this weekend (starting Wednesday, actually, and continuing through today) from Master's division athletes to teams and individuals. Each group has its own attributes to admire.
I have heard many things from people (nonCrossFitters) about how it's a cult (what?!?!) or an obsessed group of people. Well, I am honestly a bit obsessed. I've grown my devotion to the sport (YES, it's a sport!) throughout the 4 years since I've begun. I worked harder and harder to make it from one scaled WOD (Workout Of the Day) to another to finally doing them mostly RX'd (prescribed). I still cannot do certain movements, and the ones I can do often aren't really that pretty. However, I get better each time, and I'm still getting stronger at 41. :D I was doing the 3 days on, 1 day off thing (mostly) for a while, but God pointed out to me in my bible study that year how CrossFit had become more of an idol. Now, it's not like CrossFit was breaking me down morally or harming me, but spiritually, I was putting SO much more thought into when, where and how I would do a WOD the next day. I'd plan my whole day around it, but I wasn't putting much time and energy into checking in with God. SO, I gave it to God. For some people, that sounds ______ (fill in the blank with stupid, crazy, nuts, not something God cares about, etc.). For me, that is something in which I wholeheartedly believe. It was just another thing from which I released "control." In fact, He was not anti-CrossFit, either. ;) He was great with my schedule, dare I say better than I was. He opened up time where I thought I had none, ADDING a WOD here. He changed my perspective to allow me to live in the present and enjoy something else he wanted to bless me with that day- TAKING a WOD away. I did that for a while, and I was a much better woman, mother and wife because of it. In doing that, it showed me how well my body felt with a little more than 1 or 2 days of rest a week, too. So, I've stuck with more rest, and it hasn't been a trade off in strength. YEA! Now, I try to do one on, one off. I'm still not always consistent, but I DO NOT LIKE missing WODs. I've put in a lot of hard work so far, and it's kind of scary to risk losing any ground. So, I try to keep it up. Watching the Games, though, the athletes made the workouts look relatively easy. It's deceptive to a spectator. Unless you've done a workout like that, you could not possibly know the suck factor. One event, Triple 3, was ridiculous, and I'd done it the day before the athletes. It sucked so much energy out of me that I feel asleep for 30" on the couch afterwards and dragged my body through the rest of the day. Yet those elite athletes came back and did 3 MORE workouts that day, and they did 7 more during the following two days! I rested! So, when Camille Lebanc-Bazinet won after 5 years of competing and putting in the work, I had to cry. All of that time and effort finally paid off for her. It was an awesome moment to watch... on my couch... drinking a coffee. ;)
Last night, I had the privilege of listening to Russ do a run through on his presentation for today. He's leading the opening day of Twitter's Global Sales Conference with his awesomeness. It's a methodology of leadership and development of people that he's also been writing a book about. He is SOOOOOOO good at what he does. Starks was pushing a bar stool around the island/kitchen while Russ presented to us. However, Anthony, Chas and I sat with full attention taking in what Russ was teaching. It was interesting, and I loved it! In fact, I was left disappointed that I wasn't going to be a part of the exercise and full day of presentation. It made me think about what I value. My thoughts took many tangents afterwards, and one of them led to CrossFit. I value autonomy, and I think that may be another reason why I enjoy and can do CrossFit on my own in my garage. I love the flexibility of it, not having anyone else around me with which to compare myself/my effort/my time, and that CrossFit feels like an individual sport in a sense. I still feel part of a community, though. The CrossFit community is HUGE. They are amazing fans of each other. They embrace you no matter what your age, weight, or ability. They are just excited that you are at their box to experience the wonderful change that happens internally often before you see changes externally. It's difficult to describe to someone and have it sound as compelling as it feels. It's like Reagan to Gorby "TEAR THIS WALL!" It tears down walls in your mind that say "You can't go there." "You can't do this." "This area is off limits." Your mind probably has "good" reasons (lies, really) telling you why those three statements are true. Then suddenly, you tear down one wall, and you break free! It opens up all of this space of opportunity and possibility that you didn't know existed inside you. Therefore, you run up to the wall on the other side and slowly chip away at IT, too, to see if you can tear it down, and if so, find out what's on the other side. It keeps happening. It happens to me still. There is a growth in your mind and in the way you think about yourself. You are freer. You are stronger both mentally and physically. You feel AMAZING. Right or wrong, CrossFit.com will post a WOD that I read and laugh at immediately. "Yeah, right!" Then, I think, "Well, if they put it up there, then they think we can do it." So, I do it! I'm not the fastest, but I finish it strong... and tear down another wall that limited my thinking. THAT'S why CrossFitters will try to weaken your excuses and reasons for not trying it.... because even though you may not think you can, they KNOW you can! And, they just want you to discover it- that feeling inside. It will change you in other aspects of your life, too. You start looking for more walls standing in your way. ;)
*stepping off my soapbox*
This Saturday, we spent time with friends from South Carolina here on vacation with their adult sons. Paul and Tara Hinson invited us to join them on a their trek to stop at a few spots in the area before they headed to Yosemite, and we did! We met them at In N' Out Burger because their boys had never been. Then, we went to the Vista Area on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. After that, we drove to Lagunitas Brewing Co. From there, we went to Russian River Brewing Co, but the line to get in was long, so they nixed that idea and carried on instead to Armstrong Park to see the redwood forest. :) Russ and I had a great time, of course, as Paul and Tara are genuine and fun people. The boys hung in there, and Starks was happy getting to the forest and playing with sticks. Relationships are work. Not work in the sense of struggle but in terms of effort. You have to make time for the people you care about. It can be as easy as spending a Saturday driving to great places with friends, or it can be scheduling yourself from home life and work to fly somewhere else to spend time with someone you care about. My husband has taught classes at work on "Work Life Balance" because he is amazing at it. What he tells people is you just make being home a priority. It doesn't magically come into balance, but you have to make that your priority and make changes and decisions that don't jeopardize it. It's work because there is effort involved. However, as an adult, I've not been disappointed with making time for people. The payout is more than worth the effort!
Speaking of relationships, we have three more "wake ups" until we leave for our East Coast trip!!!! We are leaving our dogs and house in very capable hands, and we're heading out to meet up with the Neadings for 10 days! Oh.My.Goodness. The bonds we have with each other are priceless. I love all 5 of them. I ENJOY all 5 of them. I cannot wait for hugs, laughs, chats, and being together. We will show them Philly for a couple of days and then head to a beach house in Cape May. This annual trip (minus last year) has afforded us time to catch up with friends and family. This particular trip means more time with family, and it's going to be awesome! Plus, worlds merge for us as the Neadings are introduced to Russ' side, a view into his life, and how he grew up. We cannot wait and are on a countdown here! It's such a blessing to love and be loved.
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