{"id":454,"date":"2013-04-05T19:34:55","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T19:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/?p=454"},"modified":"2013-04-05T22:13:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-05T22:13:00","slug":"what-iearned-from-the-crossfit-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/what-iearned-from-the-crossfit-open\/","title":{"rendered":"What I learned from the Crossfit Open."},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, the Crossfit Open has officially ended!\u00a0 I don’t know whether I am depressed about that or jumping for joy that it’s over…maaaaaybe a little bit of both?\u00a0 The last 5 weeks of doing these workouts, I felt like such a mental case.\u00a0 Some weeks I was all like “YEAH! I am awesome!”<\/em> and then other weeks I was all like “Holy cow, I SUCK.”\u00a0<\/em> But that also pretty much sums up the life of a crossfitter.\u00a0 Some workouts you leave high on life, while others beat you down.\u00a0\u00a0 Even if you do not crossfit, this is how your workouts should be.\u00a0 Maybe not all of them, but at least\u00a0 a couple\u00a0 where you are pushing your body past it’s threshold.\u00a0 This is how you get faster, stronger, leaner, better.\u00a0 If you keep doing what you have always done, you will not improve. Whether you are a biker, runner, swimmer, lifter etc.\u00a0 Doesn’t matter.\u00a0 If you want results, you must push yourself past that threshold. <\/strong>
\n\u00a0<\/strong> \"aequote\"<\/a>As somebody who tells people this on a weekly basis, I was surprised to find out that I have NOT been doing this with my own strength workouts.\u00a0 What a hypocrite I am! When training for a marathon or triathlon I am all about pushing myself past my limits.\u00a0 But since starting Crossfit almost a year ago, I stayed in my comfort zone, especially with any heavy olympic movements.\u00a0 Anytime they were in a workout, I always stuck to a ‘safe’ weight.\u00a0 I used my size as an excuse.\u00a0 I didn’t realize what I was capable of.\u00a0 I didn’t know that I could push press 75 pounds several times, let alone power snatch it.\u00a0 I didn’t know I could clean and jerk more than 95 pounds.\u00a0 Every single week the workout was posted during the open I literally thought to myself, “well crap, I can’t do that.”\u00a0 But guess what?\u00a0 I did it. It was ugly.\u00a0 It was out of my comfort zone.\u00a0 My results may not have been that good. But I did it, and that’s all that matters because it’s only up from here.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"MJ\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This concept does not just go for working out.\u00a0 This goes for LIFE.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Too many of us just stay comfortable, just doing the same old same old.\u00a0 Same old job that we hate, same old relationship that does not make us happy, same bad habits, because it is what we KNOW.\u00a0 Change is hard. Why change?\u00a0 I cannot explain the feeling of conquering a fear or going outside your comfort zone in words, it is one of the most tremendous and empowering feelings that exists in human life.\u00a0 I felt it when I traveled across the world for the first time on my own.\u00a0 I felt it before my first day on a new job.\u00a0 I felt it when I showed up for my first master swim class.\u00a0 I feel it every time I am about to hit a PR.<\/strong>\u00a0 What is the common denominator of all these? FEAR.<\/p>\n

I am not just talking “oh, this might be hard” …I am talking about body shaking, heart beating, palms sweating, looking for any possible excuse to not do it, FEAR.<\/strong> We’ve all been there.\u00a0 Ask Shain or my friend Suz the state of mind I was in when he was driving me to the airport for my flight to Indonesia.\u00a0 Shain later on told me that he was pretty positive I was not getting on the plane haha, I was HYSTERICAL.\u00a0\u00a0 When training for my first ever 70.3 Ironman, I signed up for a master swim class knowing that almost everybody would be way above my level.\u00a0 I literally sat in the locker room during the entire\u00a0 first class and never actually went in, I was terrified.\u00a0 The feeling that came after I went through with\u00a0 these things was exhilarating, I felt like I was on top of the world.\u00a0 I conquered a fear, what was next?\u00a0 Bring it on.<\/p>\n

\"quote\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You see, when you push yourself like this it leaks into other aspects of your life.\u00a0 Your work ethic, your attitude, your effect on others. Things will start coming together for you, magic starts to happen.<\/p>\n

Of course it helps to surround yourself with people that are not going to allow you to fail, that are going to push you, even when you don’t want them to.\u00a0 I have to give a shout out to some Crossfit Oswego peeps here, without them I probably would have tried to sneak my way out of the open and I am so glad I didn’t.\u00a0 Thank you Joe for pressuring me, pushing me and expecting more than I expect of myself.\u00a0 Thank you Ryan for screaming at me when needed and then helping me “shake it off” and keep things in perspective.\u00a0 Thank you Andy, for always being the first one to send me a ridiculously long motivating text after a bad workout.\u00a0 Thank you to my fellow CFO members who inspire me every time I walk into that box.<\/p>\n

What are you afraid of? Tell that negative voice inside your head to shove it and go conquer that fear that has been eating away at you<\/strong>. You are capable, you are ready. You have nothing to lose.<\/p>\n

\"comfort<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, the Crossfit Open has officially ended!\u00a0 I don’t know whether I am depressed about that or jumping for joy that it’s over…maaaaaybe a little bit of both?\u00a0 The last 5 weeks of doing these workouts, I felt like such a mental case.\u00a0 Some weeks I was all like “YEAH! I am awesome!” and then other weeks I was all like “Holy cow, I SUCK.”\u00a0 But that also pretty much sums up the life of a crossfitter.\u00a0 Some workouts you leave high on life, while others beat you down.\u00a0\u00a0 Even if you do not crossfit, this is how your workouts should be.\u00a0 Maybe not all of them, but at least\u00a0 a couple\u00a0 where you are pushing your body past it’s threshold.\u00a0 This is how you get faster, stronger, leaner, better.\u00a0 If you keep doing what you have always done, you will not improve. Whether you are a biker, runner, swimmer, lifter etc.\u00a0 Doesn’t matter.\u00a0 If you want results, you must push yourself past that threshold. \u00a0 As somebody who tells people this on a weekly basis, I was surprised to find out that I have NOT been doing this with my own strength workouts.\u00a0 What a hypocrite I am! When training for a marathon or triathlon I am all about pushing myself past my limits.\u00a0 But since starting Crossfit almost a year ago, I stayed in my comfort zone, especially with any heavy olympic movements.\u00a0 Anytime they were in a workout, I always stuck to a ‘safe’ weight.\u00a0 I used my size as an excuse.\u00a0 I didn’t realize what I was capable of.\u00a0 I didn’t know that I could push press 75 pounds several times, let alone power snatch it.\u00a0 I didn’t know I could clean and jerk more than 95 pounds.\u00a0 Every single week the workout was posted during the open I literally thought to myself, “well crap, I can’t do that.”\u00a0 But guess what?\u00a0 I did it. It was ugly.\u00a0 It was out of my comfort zone.\u00a0 My results may not have been that good. But I did it, and that’s all that matters because it’s only up from here. This concept does not just go for working out.\u00a0 This goes for LIFE.\u00a0\u00a0 Too many of us just stay comfortable, just doing the same old same old.\u00a0 Same old job that we hate, same old relationship that does not make us happy, same bad habits, because it is what we KNOW.\u00a0 Change is hard. Why change?\u00a0 I cannot explain the feeling of conquering a fear or going outside your comfort zone in words, it is one of the most tremendous and empowering feelings that exists in human life.\u00a0 I felt it when I traveled across the world for the first time on my own.\u00a0 I felt it before my first day on a new job.\u00a0 I felt it when I showed up for my first master swim class.\u00a0 I feel it every time I am about to hit a PR.\u00a0 What is the common denominator of all these? FEAR. I am not just talking “oh, this might be hard” …I am talking about body shaking, heart beating, palms sweating, looking for any possible excuse to not do it, FEAR. We’ve all been there.\u00a0 Ask Shain or my friend Suz the state of mind I was in when he was driving me to the airport for my flight to Indonesia.\u00a0 Shain later on told me that he was pretty positive I was not getting on the plane haha, I was HYSTERICAL.\u00a0\u00a0 When training for my first ever 70.3 Ironman, I signed up for a master swim class knowing that almost everybody would be way above my level.\u00a0 I literally sat in the locker room during the entire\u00a0 first class and never actually went in, I was terrified.\u00a0 The feeling that came after I went through with\u00a0 these things was exhilarating, I felt like I was on top of the world.\u00a0 I conquered a fear, what was next?\u00a0 Bring it on. You see, when you push yourself like this it leaks into other aspects of your life.\u00a0 Your work ethic, your attitude, your effect on others. Things will start coming together for you, magic starts to happen. Of course it helps to surround yourself with people that are not going to allow you to fail, that are going to push you, even when you don’t want them to.\u00a0 I have to give a shout out to some Crossfit Oswego peeps here, without them I probably would have tried to sneak my way out of the open and I am so glad I didn’t.\u00a0 Thank you Joe for pressuring me, pushing me and expecting more than I expect of myself.\u00a0 Thank you Ryan for screaming at me when needed and then helping me “shake it off” and keep things in perspective.\u00a0 Thank you Andy, for always being the first one to send me a ridiculously long motivating text after a bad workout.\u00a0 Thank you to my fellow CFO members who inspire me every time I walk into that box. What are you afraid of? Tell that negative voice inside your head to shove it and go conquer that fear that has been eating away at you. You are capable, you are ready. You have nothing to lose.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t