12.1 ...7 Minutes in Heaven (or not)

The first WOD of the 2012 CrossFit Games Open is now OVER!!! Woo-hoo!!!! What's the worst way you can spend 7 minutes? Probably doing wall climbs. But HQ would never do that to us. Instead, they give us a 7 minute AMRAP of burpees. Seriously. Who thinks of these?


What I love about the Open and about the Games in general is that so many people did so much better than they thought they would. We had an amazing turnout for the WOD on Saturday morning. It almost made me sad that I wasn't trying it for a second time (more on that below). 


I am so proud of my affiliate. We have 120 athletes registered for the Open! I'm so excited for everyone who is competing this year and who was able to submit a score for this first WOD. And of course, I'm looking forward to our team and individual athletes kicking ass at Regionals!


How did I do? Eh. I got 78. I kept moving the whole time, but I was moving slower than I should have been. Also, I'm injured. I strained something in my ribs last week and it feels like a horse (or a whore, depending on who you talk to) kicked me in the back. So I am trying my best to not do anything and let it heal. This is not easy.


It's especially not easy since I have felt not-so-great about my overall condition lately. So, as of right now and until the end of the Open, I will not have anymore desserts and I will limit my sugar intake. No more cake (that's right). No more chocolaty Larabars. No more fro yo. More veggies, for real this time. I need to get back into the shape I was in last spring. If I'm going to be telling people what they should and shouldn't be eating, I should also follow that advice. 


So what am I hoping for this upcoming week? I'm hoping that they don't go too heavy right away. Because if they do, I will try, and I could hurt myself even more. I'm hoping for another met-con with some reasonable weight thrown in. I'm guessing they'll give us a 15 minute AMRAP with 3 different moves. And there better be double unders. Please, for the love of all things CrossFit, let there be double unders!!!

A Love Letter to GWOD

Since last fall, I've spent an hour every Wednesday and Friday evening with some of the best people I know. If you would have asked me a few years ago if I would have been doing anything like this, I would have rolled my eyes and had another drink. But now it seems my favorite part of the week is Gymnastics WOD.

GWOD

Gymnasty

Or whatever. It's just fun. It is coached by my most favorite coach (I said it) and attended by some of my most favorite people (you know who you are). The intent of GWOD is to work on skills and form. Yes, we do plenty of this (it's good form that matters, not the time, right?). We also do workouts that I never really believe I'll finish (one-armed kettlebell overhead squats - really?). But above all else, and what I appreciate most about it, is that it is FUN.

We do handstands. We do wall climbs. We play on the rings. We do pull-ups. We do A LOT of hollow rocks. We jump and run and climb. We try different things. We realize that we may have many strengths ... but sometimes when we come across something that is not a strength, we can work on it and sometimes ...sometimes we have to laugh. 


If you've ever heard me laugh - really laugh - you know that it is loud and it is natural and it is true. I cannot fake that laugh. My sisters have that laugh. My grandma had that laugh. My niece has that laugh. My friends in GWOD have heard it on numerous occasions.

I remember this mainsite WOD from a few months ago. The main site got so many nasty comments about posting this WOD, which was comprised of a few gymnastics movements. The strong guys hate that stuff. So we did it. 20 minute AMRAP that included wall climbs. Oh, those wall climbs. Sometimes the time just flies. Sometimes, it does not. I looked at the clock at one pointed and shouted, "Only 15 more minutes" and my coach did the honorable thing and turned the clock around so I couldn't see it. "Only a few more minutes," he shouted after that. Oh those wall climbs can be so discouraging.

Something about the class brings out the awesomeness in people. I've seen athletes get their first hanstand push-up (unfortunately not me yet). I've seen a husband help his pregnant wife with pistols (one of the sweetest things I've seen in a long time). And I've surprised myself. I will remember one night in particular for a long time - the rope climbs.


I've done rope climbs before once or twice but never perfected the technique. We worked on it, then started a WOD. It had been a long week. I hardly had anything in me. By the second round, I walked over to the rope and looked at it for a long time. My coach came over and I said I had nothing left. He said I couldn't use my arms - I had to use my legs. I finally made it up there. And for the next round, the clock ran out and I still had a rope climb to do. He looks at me and (nonverbally) said, "Are you going to finish that?" And it took all that I had in me, but I did.


I'll remember that for a long time.


So thanks GWOD, for being my favorite part of the week. I'm sure it's made me a better Crossfitter and a better person, but sometimes, most of the time, it's just fun. Where else can I tell the coach, "I'm injured and can't really do anything right now," and he says, "Show up anyway."And besides, where else could a girl like me hang out with 22 year old guys (who accept me completely for who I am) and listen to dubstep? 

The Open

A couple weeks ago, I took up a personal challenge of trying to sign up as many Eugene CrossFitters for the CrossFit Games Open, which starts this Wednesday (we're currently at 86). Why? I like challenges. I love the Open and what it represents. And I want everyone out there to experience it, too.


The Open is an opportunity for everyone to participate in the CrossFit Games. Starting Wednesday, CFHQ will release a WOD each week that tens of thousands of athletes from around the world will complete and submit their score for that week. If they don't belong to an affiliate, they'll submit a video, like this: 

For Eugene CrossFit, we'll do the Open every Thursday and Saturday. You'll have a judge who will count your reps and make sure that you're meeting the standards. It's hard to explain why it's so awesome until you're actually doing it.


I haven't been the best CrossFitter lately. I'm not really into heavy lifting right now (really, who cares if I can or can't back squat 155lb.? I don't!). I think I pulled a muscle the other day with heavy kettlebells and I'm taking an extended break (which for me means 4 days). My eating has been terrible. I feel like a cow (I know I don't look like one. That's not the issue). 


But I'm still really excited about the Open.


I need that extra motivation. I was in hella good shape last spring. That all went away quickly. I've been trying to catch up and honestly, I've probably been trying too hard. But the Open is just what I need to push myself.


I'm even more excited for my friends who have been training for the past 6 months to a year for this. I know that some who came close last year will make it as individuals to Regionals. I can't wait to see who makes our team. So many people are going to give it their all and it's a great time to be a part of CrossFit.


But what about the rest of us? Those who won't make it to Regionals? You will set PRs. You will be amazing. You will surprise yourself. This is why you signed up:

We're all good enough.

Hey Girl...part 3

And more from your athletes at Eugene CrossFit

And again, Ryan, if you have an issue with any of these, I'm happy to meet with you personally to talk about them. We could hit a WOD together. It's all good.

Hey Girl...part 2

Another round of our CrossFit fantasies... (from the athletes at Eugene CrossFit)

Just think of this during the Open, ladies. 

That's right ;)

We do a lot of mobility work. Ryan's into that.

Hey Girl

This is what happens when creative and bored CrossFitters take an idea and adapt it to CrossFit. Thanks Gabe, Kelly, and Crystal! And Ryan Gosling, if you have a problem with any of these pictures, please contact me directly! I'd be happy to sit down and talk with you about them :)

And many of the ladies will appreciate this one...

And yes, we have many more on the way. 

CrossFit and the Single Girl

I am single. Fact. After a bizarro period of time in my life, I can say with confidence that I am single and I like being single. It also has me thinking about where to find the right guy. Lately, my friends and family have said, "You know Robin, you could date people who don't go to your gym." Sure. I get the reasoning behind that. BUT, when so much of my life is spent at the box, wouldn't it make sense to combine these two areas of my life? It's multi-tasking, right? As with anything, there are pros and cons to the situation. Let's sort them out.


Cons

• What if it doesn't work out? That would be awkward, right? 
• Sure, depending on the situation. Can't people just work out when I'm not there? 
• But you're a coach now. You shouldn't date the athletes.
• Come on. All the other coaches do it.

Are there other cons? I don't know.

Pros

• Common interests!
• I know lots about CrossFit. We already have something to talk about, especially if the other person doesn't like baseball (God forbid).
• We can see each other at our best...and at our worst.
• That's what's so great about CrossFit - we do things we wouldn't normally do and we surprise ourselves and others. Somedays it's like, 'Whoa, I just did butterfly pull-ups!' or 'I totally finished that WOD when I didn't think I could.' Other days, it's more like, 'I just threw out more f-bombs in the last 5 minutes than I ever have in my life, and that person still high-fived me' or 'I have snot running out of my nose and that person's still talking to me.' We know how we do and what we look like. We live with it. And we keep coming back.
• And honestly, people usually see you at your best...or at least that's what they remember.
• Maybe you had a bad day. You didn't get that PR. It's in your head. But that other person saw you try. And they keep seeing that over time. There are so many people at Eugene CrossFit that I ADORE (and I don't use that word lightly) because of how supportive they are to the other athletes: my friends I hang out with socially, my buddies in GWOD, my fellow coaches ... it's an amazing place. What was I talking about again?
• A built in panel of relationship experts!  (OK, maybe not experts)
• BUT if there's someone that catches your eye, you can ask someone else at the box about them. I do this all the time. Actually, maybe we gossip too much. Never mind. This is a bad example.
• Where else would I meet people?
• A bar? A website? Work? Ugh. These are terrible options. And in a place like Eugene, which is defeating to begin with, where else would someone like me look?

I would argue that CrossFit is the IDEAL place to find the next great catch. Take that, mom!

Confidence

I haven't been making significant gains lately and I'm sure I could attribute that to factors that are measurable, like diet. But the more likely reason I'm not making gains is because of the biggest factor that I can't measure: confidence. I want to make these gains so bad, especially in strength, but the truth is that I don't feel like I can do it.


And this isn't something a motivational quote will help with. CrossFit is full of motivational crap. I get it. I know I can do it. But I don't feel like I can do it.


I've been taking Oly lifting classes for the past month to try to get stronger. The first two classes were disasters, with me almost crying in both of them. And in the third class, the instructor said to me, "You looked good. You just need to be confident that you can get under that bar."  I have the strength. My form isn't great and the frustration takes over when the weight gets heavy, and I collapse. I know I need to be more aggressive. I know I have to move my feet. I know this.


And this applies to other areas of my life. I've really been working on what I want to be doing professionally, and what I've figured out is that my confidence has prevented me from doing a lot in the past 10 years. I don't think I'm the best writer or teacher or whatever I do. I'm feeling better about my teaching (I got stellar evaluations from my students last term), but I'm still hesitant to apply to other places. In order to make real money, I should probably get a different job, which would take a whole new level of confidence. It is the most important thing I have to work on this year.


And funny enough, I'm very confident in other areas of my life. I can tell someone how I feel about them in ways that shock my friends. But I have to. What's the point of holding that back? They don't like me? I can deal with that.


I wish I could feel as confident in many areas of my life as I look here:

If I could just stay in that mindset, I'll finally get to where I need to go.