It’s that time of year again, when CrossFitters all over the
world wait with baited breath for HQ to release the workouts we’ll have to do,
if we want to qualify for Regionals. As a marketing exercise it’s top-notch:
compare yourself with the rest of your region, with the rest of the world, and
have everyone talking about the workout non-stop for a week, before getting
giddy like children at Christmas time before the next workout is announced.
… and I’ll admit, while I may keep my tongue firmly in my
cheek while doing so, I do enjoy the excitement. Even the first workout (7
minutes of as many burpees as you can do), has my name written all over it. Of
course, the web site is still just as broken as it was last year. You’d think
they could get that AJAX shit sorted out … but no.
But … I’m not as excited as I was last year. Excited that we
have a much stronger team this year, and since there are actually 100 women
registered in Africa (up from I think 27 or so last year!), the level of
competition is increasing which is always, always a good thing. Maybe that is
why I’m not as excited … last year it was all new, and this year … well, it’s
almost like going through the motions.
Was chatting to Mo, the rapper who performs with Jeremy,
about performance. For a performance artist you feed off of and engage with the
crowd. Focus and being in the moment is key. For a competitive athlete in a
competition (which is actually a performance), it’s same same but different, as
they say in Vietnam. For me, at least, it’s about that silence and pure focus
where you literally can’t remember what music was playing, and everything
around you goes completely quiet and it’s peaceful, and serene. Painful, yes,
but it’s a meditative still, quiet pain.
Not every workout can be like that … there are many where
you reach local muscular failure or you lack technique and need to think before
you go again, or where grip is an issue. But the ones that are, where you just
have to keep moving as fast as you can …. Those are beautiful. They quiet my
head, and right about now, I need some silence in my head. So bring the shit
on. The guys in my gym are telling me just how damn well they expect me to do,
and I appreciate that, both because of the confidence, and also because of the
pressure. It makes a workout that doesn’t actually matter for much into
something where I do, in fact, care. Unfortunately it’s going to be all
downhill from here.
The ankle continues to heal well. Wednesday’s acupuncture
session felt quite awful but did wonders for the injury, as the swelling was much
reduced afterwards. By the next morning it actually looked like something
resembling a normal ankle again. I’ve gotten full range of motion back, but I’m
still a bit afraid of tweaking it. Happily, burpees don’t require any huge use
of jumping force. Come on baby, heal up ….
In other news, my mother will probably remember many a time
telling me to suck my belly in as a child. I think I have been lazy in my
mid-section probably my entire life, but I was really realizing it this week.
First on Tuesday evening we were doing a barbell complex called ‘the bear’ and
Chris kept telling me to keep my stomach tight. Which is HARD when you’re
tired! Then the next morning I went to train and due to the ankle I couldn’t do
either box jumps or walking lunges, so Rika had me do pushups and overhead
squats instead (bad combo if you don’t tape your wrists…), and on BOTH
exercises she was telling me I needed to be using my stomach, not my back. Wow,
can I just say that overhead squats feel like a whole new exercise that way?? I
finally understand why they are supposed to be good for your abs now. Moral of the
story? I need to pay attention to this about infinitely more than I am right
now.
I managed to finish a couple of things at work this week
and, possibly more importantly, start some others. For me, starting is often
harder than finishing. Once I start something, I usually do finish it which is
why the act of starting takes on a good deal of importance.
We’re coming quite close to getting a new logo for one of
our businesses. I had a bit of a laugh when an ex-employee responded to my
request to pass over the Twitter login credentials by ignoring my request and
instead deleting all the old Tweets …. Yeah, I can be passive aggressive too.
Save that sh*t for something that matters, buddy! So that’s quite exciting.
Next week is exciting too; with a couple of big networking events and meetings.
One of my recent tasks has been collecting references from
past interns and some testimonials from the people we work with. They are
beautiful, and this is only the beginning (or, rather: you ain’t seen nothing
yet). Still, challenges remain, not the least of which is making sure to focus
on the important, not the easy. But sometimes the easy is fun too … one of my
self-assigned tasks this week was collections of outstanding payments and it
does feel nice to mark a “Y” in the paid column for customer after customer.
I guess I’m feeling almost normal again. I will admit to the
use of some drugs to help get me there …. Coffee makes me happy. It just does.
I’ll cut it out again when my head is screwed back on my shoulders properly.
- “No, the New Skin wasn’t the weird thing. The rings were the weird thing.” – Jeff
- “It’s making my blood boil.” – Mandy
- “Well that’s pretty much a nightmare, hey.” – Hollie
- “Do we have to go as hard as we can?” – Graham
- “I have to kill him. Before he kills you.” – my car guard
- “He looks sweet.” – Charlotte
- “Ahhh, you’re getting clever.” – Dr Lan
- “110 should be your level of shame.” – Grant (f*ck me…)
- “Why can’t Americans just conform to the rest of the world?” – Jon
- "And your point is?" – Allan
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