REST DAY: WHY DO WE DO THIS?

As you know Team CrossFit CFT went to the Faction Games in Memphis, TN. It was a great time even though the heat was near the unbearable point at times. We had a great cheering section with Amanda, Brandi, Jeremy, Kent, Tom, and Jennifer who also competed in the Beginner's division. There were some incredible performances by all the competitors.

After the competition I was able to speak with competitors like Mike McGoldrick, whom by the way is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet and was a Southeast Regionals qualifier. I also was able to speak with Michelle Kinney, who was a judge at the event. She is the Southeast Sectionals & Regionals winner, as well as CrossFit Games competitor. Michelle is one of the kindest athletes around and it was a great pleasure speaking with her. These athletes input, wisdom, drive, and philosophies about competition gave me a new perspective on CrossFit style competitions. The greatest assistance I received in trying to figure out the great mystery of "why we do this" was from someone you already know, and that's Carissa. Four hour drives give you plenty of time to think and listen.

On that drive home Sunday, Carissa asked me a common but pivotal question. "Have you thought more about returning to competitive cycling?" The question was derived from another question that I was trying to answer all weekend, which was "should I be doing this?" My answer to the question about competitive cycling was "if I return to cycling I stand a better chance of winning, but is that really what I want?" These questions were flowing out like, well.... a flow chart, except there weren't any yes/no answers for them, yet. This whole weekend I was trying to figure out whether I should be competing against guys that are much younger, stronger, faster, and obviously better than me? No one wants to be in last place or even in the middle of the pack. You want to believe you have a shot at winning. But winning comes in many forms and not just the top spot of the podium. Don't get me wrong, the top spot is sweet and those that get there are truly the best that day or weekend. Every sport I have played I have walked into the event knowing I was going to win, and more often than not I did. This is the first sport I have played that I knew right away that I was going to be taking a backseat in the final standings. But what is competition about if not to find out what you are really capable of when the judge says 3,2,1... GO!!

Let me preface the rest of this article with I can only give you my perspective on the main question of "why we do this." Hopefully it will help you gather your own perspective if you haven't answered this question yet. One thing Mike said to me was "you have to be a chaser." He also said "it would get really boring if you were winning all the time." A "chaser" is that guy/gal that is always climbing his/her way up the standings year by year, or event by event. They get better each time they compete. They take the lessons of losing and apply them to training. It makes them better each time they're on the playing field. Their competition fears but relishes the improvements these "chasers" are making because it means the gap is closing and making things a little more exciting. This is what I saw at the Faction Games this weekend.

After the first event on Saturday Carissa stated she wasn't feeling well and it was apparent. She struggled on the second event and the third event (5K) went just south of horrible for her. By this point she was sitting in 9th place. On Sunday she put on two performances that left me in awe. By the end I was standing around with my jaw open trying to figure out if what I just saw was reality or if I was hallucinating from heat stroke. I will fill you in on the details in another post.

After all was said and done Carissa confessed to me that during the fifth and last event of Sunday she asked herself "why am I doing this?" Her confession answered the question for me.

We do this because we can. Seems simple, right? But there's more to it. When I was competing in Football, cycling, or later Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I had opponents. If I could wear down my opponents or break their will, then I won. This took time, skill, strength, and strategy but if I could do it early then the rest of the match or competition was a cake walk. When you are doing a CrossFit wod or competing in a CrossFit style competition there are those athletes lined up ready to see who comes out on top but they are not your competition. They are there merely trying to do what you are there to do, and that's to see what you've got. The real competition is you and those objects laying in front of you like a barbell loaded with weight or an apparatus ascending from the floor like a Pull-up cage. Those objects will not falter. They will not fatigue each rep and round like you will. The worst part is that they will only get heavier or more difficult each rep and round you do to the end. They are immovable objects. The reason you are there is to see if you can move those objects and be an unstoppable force.

This is really why "we do this." We want to move something that refuses to move or quit. Everything we have ever done has been a walk in the park till now. We have overcome hurdles in life. We have crossed the finish line before the rest or made another human being submit to our will, skill, or strength. Now we stand toe to bar, stone, rope, or ball knowing damn well that this opponent will not show one iota of fear, doubt, fatigue, or concern for what we are about to do. When the round is over or the timer goes off, those objects will not congratulate us on our performance, for moving, climbing, swinging, or pushing them around. No, they will just lay there taunting us saying "bring it on big boy", waiting for us to come back, and try to do better then the last time.

Not everyone has to compete. Those that don't may have a different perspective on life or maybe they're the normal ones. Those of us that do may have unresolved demons or just a love for pain. It's a sickness really. That love for pain that will not subside. Kinda like when you take an ice bath, get out, look at the tub of ice, then get back in, but this time submerging yourself to the neck. You know it's going to hurt but you want to see if you can overcome it. It doesn't make you harder than anyone else. It just makes you who you are.

So, the reason I do this, knowing damn well it's not going to get any easier, is because life for me is about seeing what I can do today, tomorrow, and basically until the end of my time. I compete amongst those guys that are going to do much better than me in those events not to see if I can beat them but to see what I am capable of that day. I want to see if all the training is making me better athlete to do things that someone else set out for me to do. This is my judgement, my gauge, my ruler. For me it doesn't matter if I lose the competition. It doesn't matter that I'm growing older each day, or that I'm smaller than my competition. You can use what ever label you want to describe me or place me in any category but it matters not. None of that matters. What does matter is to see if my will is going to break before time runs out. This is why I do "this." - from CrossFit CFT