Thursday, March 29, 2012

Where Awesome Street meets Mediocre Lane


There are several similarities between this week, and my first week of CrossFit.  Most obvious is the fact that I am doing all of the same workouts.  Also, I am sore as fuck.  I am only upright because my quads and hamstrings are equally ruined.    The two differences are that instead of rest days I have strength workouts and I am no longer a total worthless sack of shit.
A combination of good luck and six months of grind has found me training for CrossFit regionals in late May to compete with my team from Fit2Fight CrossFit.  I am SO EXCITED, but I keep my enthusiasm below the annoying line because I am too effing tired to even give out high fives right now.  I swear I spend more time washing blender bottles than I do working out, yet my arms are almost too sore to hold the sponge.  IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
I am trying to get all motivational on myself because the mantra, "at least it isn't another seven minutes of burpees" is starting to wear thin. 
It has been said several different ways by many people that what you do with what life throws at you makes your character.  You usually hear this when someone encounters misfortune.  But the thing is, in general, people aren't really bad at bouncing back from tough times.  I like to call this "reestablishing comfortable mediocrity."  It is sad, but it is so common that nobody is willing to call each other on their shit.

But what if you consider that your character is also made up of what you make of your opportunities.  If you are given the opportunity to be a part of something great, is your character strong enough to do everything right even though you will have to make some compromises and you aren't the one calling the shots?

My gym used to have an athlete who had a lot of potential.  He had plenty of experience and could have been one of the best athletes in the gym, but he isn't.  Lack of commitment to training, diet, and respect led to his eventual demise...and exile.  He will likely go train somewhere else, but will never actualize his full potential because he simply does not have the character to do so.

The CrossFit Games Open ended last Sunday, and training for Regionals began promptly on Monday.  I am lucky to have this opportunity.  I made the team by the skin on my teeth, but at the same time I know that if I did not spend the last six months working my ass off it would not have even been an option.  I will obviously be a much stronger competitor in 2013, but I will also have the advantage of competing in 2012.  You can't get that kind of experience anywhere else, no matter how you train.

I found myself at this crossroads, and I am not going to deny that I had some flashbacks to middle school assemblies about avoiding drugs.  Tehehe, funny thought, but really... I want to do the right thing. 

So I am looking at the next seven weeks and wondering, where will I be if I do everything right?  I cannot say how our team will do, but I know that on Sunday, May 20th I will be with my friends and I will be without regret.  

BTW - I can't believe I totally forgot that Britney Spears was in a movie.

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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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