Sufjan. Yes.

There's too much, too much, too much love

There are so many reasons to love Dan John

This one, from his recent book, just makes me smile.

Thaaank goodness I don't have to go here anymore...

Honestly, have a group of young athletes do any serious movement that involves peak concentration, perfection of technique, well maintained equipment and developed skills and one of these fine young people will ask: “What muscle does it build?” Shake your head, shake your hand to the sky in rage and wrath, or come to grips with all of this stuff.

For the record, we have two standard answers to “what muscle does it build?” when the athlete is snatching, cleaning or swinging. First: “You know when you leap up in the end zone and snag the ball between two defenders and win the state championship? Yes? Well, it is that muscle.”

Second answer: “Let’s just keep doing snatches for another hour and we will ask you tomorrow as a pop quiz?” Both answers are excellent, but the second one is really more fun for the coach.

Is OPT Yoda?

I'm pretty sure he is.

From my first CrossFit competition ever.

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.
And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream.

Glutes.

I like this dude's warm-up.

YAY :)

You know I need to remember these...

THURSDAY 110120

Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Jake Rubash 247lbs, Josh Everett 245lbs, Michael Giardina 243lbs,Brandon Pastorek 243lbs, Brandon Phillips 235lbs, Rob Miller 225lbs,Kristan Clever 155lbs, Katie Hogan 155lbs, Rebecca Voigt 120lbs.

The question competition inspires.

Could I have done more?

For me, training is fun, even if you are there to get legitimate work done. Training is done with a plan to be better... but it is ok if the week just doesn't permit it. Training can be serious, but never so serious that you feel like doing well might be something imminently important to you. Training can be approached in a variety of moods and still completed. Training is done with some eyes on you but no one really minding what you do for better or for worse - it's just what you do.

But competition demands respect.

Competition demands your best. Competition demands a stern mind, a fueled body, a rested nervous system, and a standard. It demands a plan. It demands discipline.

On competition day, If you can't do it, you aren't going to do it. You aren't going to scale. You aren't going to get an extra second to run to the bathroom. You aren't going to get what you want because you're not having a good day.

And unlike when you train and you ask yourself "could I have done more?" and the answer is RARELY ever "Nope", competition makes that question feel deeply important. Because, after all, this is kind of your chance. It's your opportunity to take all of what you have done every 6am, noon, or 530p class and see what it is worth in numbers, and in contrast to everyone else who does what you do.

And whether you win, or you lose, you want your effort to be honest - you want it to be a real representation of WHAT YOU CAN DO.

So this is how the question always haunts me. I know my effort during competitions is very different than my effort during training (if only because I feel less pressured when training) - but that voice in my head is always the same, "slow down", "be careful", "it doesn't really matter", "you're already behind anyway".

Battling those small nudges is what bettering myself is ultimately about. Balancing them out is the challenge.

"Get rid of your fear of failure, your tensions about succeeding, you will be yourself. Relaxed. You wouldn’t be driving with your brakes on. That’s what would happen."

- Anthony DeMello