Resilience

“Abs are made in the kitchen.”
Here’s another one…
“You can’t out train a bad diet.”
And this…
I love pizza and Reeses peanut butter cups.

According to the Doc I should not squat below parallel until Friday. Last night was Strongman and Ladies Night.

Strongman, 4 Round Press Medly the following:
5 Push Jerk at 80lbs., 3 Keg Press at 57lbs., 1 Stone over head at 35lbs. Never lifted a shiny heavy slippery smooth stone over head before. Very uncomfortable feeling. Cement stones to do not give. Tried for the 60lbs., but completely and utterly chickened out. 35lbs. it is.

Ladies Night:
Burgener Warmup and then practice practice practice of the Hang Squat Clean. Since no squatting, practice, practice, practice of the Hang Power Clean.

Goals.

A lot of talk about this recently. I told Dean on Monday that I was having a rough 4 days. Not feeling 100%, diet less than great. Blah. Why do you feel blah? he asked. Because I’m plateau-ing all over the place, I complained. (I don’t like complainers as much as the next person, especially when I’m the one doing it.)

It means you’re no longer a novice he said. Congratulations.

It’s true, when first embarking on this journey there were PR’s all over the place. I was learning and growing. Doing my first deadlift at 125lbs. Was huge! Then 155lbs. PR. Then 165lbs. PR. Like I said, PR’s all over the place.

But now, the next chapter in the journey really begins. The chapter of a true Athlete; with knowledge and experience, and a foundation of training under my Strongman heavy lifting belt. The question is; do I have the commitment to rise up and meet the next level?

Therein lie, Goals. What are my goals for a week from now? A month? A year? Specifically, what are my health goals?

Jason asked me if I ever considered competing in the CF Master’s Division. You qualify at age 45. I turn 45 in January, 2014. Here’s a sampling of the 2012 Masters Division Workouts.

Anyone can compete in the Crossfit Games. ANYONE. That is the beauty of Crossfit. You just have to want it. First you compete in the Open. In the words of the Crossfit Games, here’s how it worked for 2012:

We posted one workout per week for five weeks from February 22nd through March 21, 2012. Athletes had from the workout’s release each Wednesday until the following Sunday at 5 p.m. to submit their results.

At the end of the Open, the top 60 men, 60 women and 30 teams from each of the world’s 17 regions were invited to compete live at the upcoming Regional competitions (April 27 – May 27, 2012).

Truth, I have thought about the Masters Division, many, many times. The idea of qualifying, to competing, fills me with warm excitement and hope fused with opportunity, with a dash of nausea eventually leading to fear induced vomiting. What an incredible experience that would be. Competing. Downright, Incredible. But how to get there.

The Commitment involved. Commitment with a capital ‘C’.

Because it would require 24 hour 7 Day a Week for a year Commitment. Of working really, really hard. I would need to read a lot more too, learn. Book learn. Hands on learn. Lots of learning to be done. Basically pour whatever is left of my free time into my Goal. My Crossfit Goal. It’s so much broader than that. Imagine the places I would go if I started in the direction of this goal.

Which, if you think about it, whatever your Goal, therein lies the absolute truth. No Goal worth achieving is reached with only one eye on the finish line. You have to be All In. With everything you’ve got. And you also have to be patient… steady, persistent, resilient… patient.