Be as awesome as the day allows
As a general rule I’m not the most competitive of people ..
Sure I’d prefer to win, but I don’t have that “extra oomph” that says, “get the fuck out of my way I’m coming through” that true athletes tend to possess.
In fact if I’m honest I generally expect to finish at the back of the pack in any wod, unless it was say a bench press ladder, then I’d be uber mad if I wasn’t at least in the top quarter … 😉
Since starting crossfit a little over a year ago, I’ve watched people reach milestones. I’ve cheered for them as they string double unders together, I’ve rallied them to believe in themselves when lifting heavier weights than they are used too and I’ve jumped up and down for joy with someone who is excitedly telling me how they got their first pull up.
I’ve watched people get awesome (and those who were already awesome get even more awesome). In short, I’m surrounded by awesome so as a general rule I never compare my skills or the speed of my progress with that of the people around me, after all “comparison is the thief of joy” and, I don’t know their “behind the scenes” I’m only seeing the finished product. I don’t however afford myself the same courtesy and I’m constantly comparing my previous self with my “now self”.
Today for instance is benchmark Friday at CrossfitHPU and I was quietly pleased to see that we had 2 WODs that didn’t suck.
The first WOD was Mary and although I’ve never attempted it before it’s a “grown up” version of my favorite benchmark WOD, Cindy. It’s a gymnastics based WOD (with no running or skipping) which is much more “my thing”, in fact if I had to design a WOD that suited me it would be Mary (but I would have put the pull ups first and the HSPU’s last). As such I thought I’d do pretty well in Mary. I wouldn’t be as strong in the second WOD which was the Grace/Isabel hybrid (15 reps of each for time) but I’d be able to comfortably complete it within the 10 minute time cap.
So we get started on Mary. The Handstand push ups were a doddle, the pistols took a couple of rounds to warm into but I only had a couple of no reps so that’s not bad considering I haven’t done pistols in quite some time BUT my pull ups had forsaken me. Honestly if today was the first time you had even seen me do pull ups you would swear I had no idea what I was doing and be handing me a green band. (No offence intended for those of you who use a green band). I’m ok with being beaten by other people but it’s frustrating as hell to be beaten by your “past self” (who could kill those pull ups!)
Since taking up daily yoga, I’ve noticed the same thing happens in that discipline too. Some days I can get into arm balances easily and hold them forever, yet other days I constantly fall on my face just attempting to get into the pose. It doesn’t mean that I can’t do the pose, it just means I can’t TODAY.
Today was my reminder that you can’t be equally awesome each and everyday. Thankfully there is always tomorrow ..(At least I showed Grace & Isabel who is the boss – me!) 😉
Till next time
