Memorial WOD

It's been a stressful week. I have gone on and on to many of my loved ones about my stresses. (Sorry!). But as I prepare for tomorrow's hero wod, lumberjack 20, I feel so much gratitude for all of my problems, conflicts and stresses.

We are all guilty of getting caught up in "me". Focused in, we tend to get caught up in what's best for ourselves and what our microcosm of issues are.

The interesting fact is that when we focus out, good shit happens. Tomorrow is the ultimate way of focusing out. Accepting pain, suffering and the inconvenient as a token of appreciation.

Spend the time you have NOW focusing out, don't wait...

There is so much going on I don't even know what to write about!!!! Last weekend at the Black Box Summit in Austin, Carey Kepler spoke eloquently about her experience with CrossFit. She said something to the affect about how CF allows you to realize what you are truly capable of and raise your level of awareness about your life. Or at least that's what I heard!

It was such a powerful message to me. I look at the challenges of life and am so grateful that CrossFit trains my mind to stay strong and approach each one like a WOD. Step by step, persevere and I will get through it.

How exciting it is to be embarking on a new community in Morristown...However, it is scary at the same time! It amazes me what has grown in 1-year from our humble little spot. I can't wait for all of what's to come this year!

expect the unexpected.

CrossFit trains us for the unknown.

Sometimes we would all love to be able to look into our crystal ball and see exactly what is in store for us. "How will this decision affect me in 1 month?", "How will this idea pan out?", "What adversity will I be facing next week?". Would life be easier with this magic ability to forecast? Of course. Could we navigate our way around the mistakes and problems we see dead ahead? Most certainly.

However, this isn't our reality. Life is unpredictable and throws the unexpected at us. We have no control over how our decisions, steps and mis-steps will affect others. We can never grasp what domino affect they will produce. What we can control is our own reaction. Reaction is crucial.

This begs the question, "how do we get better at these reactions?" Learning to react not our of fear or reflex takes practice. Practice in enduring suffering we might encounter. Practice is crossfit. Everyday that we approach the WOD and prepare for "3, 2, 1...go", we prepare to suffer and to endure. The wod offers pain, temptation to quit, struggle, discomfort, and mental anguish. How I react to all of these affects my results.

CrossFit is the outlet for me to make my reaction process second nature. CrossFit teaches me to control my reactions and to overcome the unknown that presents itself everyday in my life. Mastery? Never. Practice? Yes please.

Standards & PRs

Standards are critical. I did Fran yesterday at 5:35, a PR for me. However, when I looked back at my records, I had a Fran time of 5:40 from pre-summer. I know that it is IMPOSSIBLE that I only shaved 5 seconds off with the same standards. Not getting my butt low enough, not coming to full overhead extension and not getting chin legitimately over the bar could have all been in effect with my first score. So now I am left wondering about all of that. Had I known that my standards were exact in my first wod, I would know exactly how much faster and stronger I was now.

Let me be clear. I have never intentionally shunned standards in a wod, however, when alone it is easy to miss something. This is the difference between doing your wods under the supervision and guidance of a coach versus in the comforts of your own home or globo gym...

There were a ton of PR's on the board this week between FRAN and HELEN. Nice work to all!

26.2

Very proud moment today for Erin Finnegan who ran the NYC marathon for a great cause, Tuesday's Children, supporting children and families who lost loved ones in 9/11.

I bumped into Erin less than a month ago at Starbucks (crazy me being there, I know!). She was struggling with her training, had an injury and was mentally frieked out about her upcoming feat. Coincidence? I think not. We struck up a conversation about proper training, CrossFit, muscle release and diet.

Erin dove head first into trusting me with her program, backing off on the miles, cutting out the processed carbs, integrating the CrossFit program and CrossFit endurance program into her training and finally, doing some good old foam rolling and chiropractic work.

It was a fantastic transformation, Erin started our training nervous, scared, injured and intimidated. Today she crossed the finish line strong, determined, focused and confident. Today she was a true ahtlete. Congrats and thank you Erin.

WODS & random

Squeezing a quick blog in before my afternoon wod. Traps are killing me from yesterday's wod:
3 rounds
20 Squat Cleans, 95#
20 steps Walking lunge, 25# DBs
20 Burpees

(18:05)
TORTURE!!! But very proud of myself for the squat cleans, it was not that long ago that I wouldn't have had a chance at even 10 of these babies.

Today is 5's Push Press. Going for 125#. Going to start making use of video camera today. For me and everyone else! Great tool.

Look for video footage and accompanying critique of form later this week!

The "Good Mood" Challenge

Our Paleo challenge is underway at the gym. Most people are off to a great start. Eager to change their lives, their health and their body comp. Although I struggle too, I've got the Paleo thing down...yet I can't feel like I should embark on a challenge to share in their strife.

I've decided to create a coinciding challenge of shifting my energy to be positive on a daily, hourly, momentary basis. Whatever it takes. At this point, the "eating cardboard" challenge seems like it could be easier! So, I hereby commit to doing my best to keep the up for the duration. Regardless of the stress or pressure life throws your way, you should not end up in a mood 'ditch'. It keeps good things from coming your way and is HIGHLY contagious.

Sidenote: in the same way, bitching about what you "can't" eat and how much you'd love a loaf of bread is contagious as well...Don't go there! Other's will join you and you'll responsible for the demise of 20 people's nutrition goals.

Have fun today with Tabata, this great pic from the affiliate blog today, very appropriate, the shirt reads, "TABATA: Closely resembles labor"