Sunday, January 15, 2012

Clearing the Air - The Whole Team

I feel like I need to clear the air on this whole "B Team" business.

This is an interesting time to be CrossFitting.  More specifically, this is an interesting time to be new to CrossFitting.  A Reebok commercial aired today during the Packers/Giants game that signaled a monumental turning point in CrossFit as a grassroots, organic movement to a media bitch of a sport.  Tomorrow, many people will make inquiries to local Crossfit affiliates looking for someone they can pay to make them look like the people in Womens/Mens Health Magazines.  It isn't really hard to see what will happen.  I forecast a positive correlation between box memberships and glorification of "woding your best" and wods to cure diseases (just eat Paleo and you can do more to prevent cancer).

The thing about commercialization is it doesn't scare away the crazy people.  The sport/cult will see an increase in mediocre followers, but anyone who disregards something because of its popularity is as shallow as someone who follows something because of its popularity.  People are always going to push the limits of human capacity in athletics because intrinsic motivation for greatness runs deep.  Some still feel the itch.  I am commercially apathetic, so I have had some mixed feelings about "the sport of fitness" going mainstream.  Apathy wins out, I still don't care.

The thing I love about CrossFit is that it is purely competitive.  When a group of people complete the same work, the time required to complete the work clearly determines the most powerful person.  There is no room for interpretation.  This brings me to my "point" on the "B TEAM"...

The "A Team" has a right to be distinguished from everyone else.  They are awe inspiring athletes.  I am so lucky and thankful to be able to be on the same team as athletes that are competitive on a global scale.  CrossFit makes it possible for us all to be on the same team because the timed and competitive structure of the workouts makes it unnecessary to tell anyone how they stack up.  It wasn't that making a B Team wasn't true, it's that it wasn't necessary.  That being said, I have never given 100% on a workout and received anything but respect.  

Today was the final day of a 21 day training cycle.  It has been the hardest I have ever trained for anything in my life.  Three months ago I struggled putting 35 pounds over my head, and today I get frustrated when I can't break 100.  Although I am chasing the coat tails of my team, I am going to take a second to appreciate the fact that I am an exponentially more powerful woman than I was a few months ago.  God help anyone who tries to take me on once I have enough time to let my body catch up with my ambition.  

Luckily, I have the best team in the world that will push me to absolute edge of my athletic potential.  




Credits:


A Team, B Team, B2 Team, Everyone at F2F

Fit 2 Fight CrossFit
819 S 7th Street
Omaha, NE 


(I did not get paid or told to do this)



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About Sam

I am a writer in Omaha, Nebraska sharing my adventures in the foundations of healthy living - nutrition, being active, and being funny.

I was born in Kansas City in the sweltering summer of July, 1986. I was nearly born in the car because I was so pumped to get my life started. I have been bouncing off of the walls ever since. Growing up I hung out with the big kids who were even older than my sister (and best friend) Allie. I quickly developed an "I'm over it" 'tude toward kids my own age whose pastimes seemed juvenile - an interesting perspective coming from a preschooler. My snobbish worldview was hard earned however, as I was forced to learn both multiplication and division early to keep up when we played "school," and I was always forced to do dangerous stuff first to make sure it was okay, like eating unidentified berries and making the first run on super steep hills while sledding. We biked all day, ate wild honeysuckle, painted the house with mud, and collected cicada shells for no reason other than they stick to fabric and freaked my mom out.

I quickly realized that even little legs can get you as far as a car can, and as a young child, you really have nothing but time. My adventures were only restrained by the fact that adults do not find it acceptable for young children to explore the town on foot unaccompanied. I prematurely developed a desire to be an independent self-supporting person, so I opened a Kool-Aid/popcorn business to finance my big plans. Looking back, I would say that the only issues holding me back were my limited advertising budget and the fact that I was still too short to ride roller coasters. People just don't take you seriously when you can't go on the upside-down rides.

I was moved to Omaha in the second grade. I continued walking all over the place, exploring surrounding neighborhoods and visiting grocery stores to pick up my favorites: Goldfish, Sprite, and sugar cigarettes. I don't even think you can buy those anymore, and for the record, I never started smoking.

I never lost my hard work ethic, and I needed to increase my income to afford my new hobbies of beading and Polaroid photography. At the age of ten I mailed in a response to an advertisement for paper delivery routes without discussing the issue with my family. Sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands when people don't share you vision. The people at the Omaha World Herald must have had a good feeling about me becuase they contacted my parents to tell them that they wanted to hire me but would feel better if there was an older family member onboard. I still wonder if Allie holds any resentment toward me for pulling her into the labor force when she was only twelve.

In third grade, I followed Allie's lead and began taking dance classes at Mary Lorraine's Dance Center. For the next eleven years it became "what I did." Nowadays, I train more like an athlete, but I will always move like a dancer, and being in a studio will always feel like home.

After high school I relocated again (this time of my own volition) to study "everything" in the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I acquired a degree in marketing and finance that I may use someday. More importantly, I became a close friend and Alpha Phi sister with a cross country runner who easily persuaded me to train for the 2005 Lincoln half-marathon. I have been running ever since. In April 2011 I developed plantar fasciitis after jumping into an intense 50-70 mile/week schedule. This is the first athletic injury in my life. Although it has been indescribably frustrating both physically and emotionally, the silver lining is my increased receptivity to more variety in fitness disciplines.

I enjoy Pilates, yoga, enjoy Zumba, plyometric interval training, running, walking, and seeing how quickly I can run up stairs without losing my lunch. When I am too exhausted to move, I read and write. I love fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, poetry, philosophy, song lyrics, and comedy. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I love spell check, and felt tip pens.

I am happy and optimistic most of the time. I enjoy living simply and deeply. I hope you enjoy what I have to share.







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