On the topic of PR's...

Ahhhh... snow days. :) They're great for lots of things, like catching up on my blogging while eating somewhat zone friendly bagel sammiches and drinking coffee. :) I know that my blog has been lacking as of late. My posts have been shorter than normal, and I haven't really been delving into CF the way I was, with a lot of personal reflection etc. But, I've been hearing more and more people talking about PR's and competing with others and getting frustrated about things, so I just wanted to post some thoughts in the event that they may help.

One of the great things about CF is that even though we're a family, it's still a place to push yourself and be competitive with the white board and yourself. But, one of the problems with CF is that it's a place where you can be competitive. See, competition, IMHO, is a double edged sword. It's great because you push yourself. But, it's a problem when you get wrapped up in it. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes, I get too wrappd up in it. I'm so focused on where my name and weights rank on the white board that I forget the real reasons that I'm doing this, and I forget about my own personal achievements. CF is great because in this environment, you have people to compete against and to help push you. But at the same time, you need to keep your perspective, and sometimes that's hard.

At the end of the day, it is really all about you. How do you feel? How are you doing? What's your progress like? THAT is what is most important. I know that we look at the white board and say, "God I really want to be as strong as _________ (insert name here)" but really, that's not what's important. What's important is finding your own strength goals and looking at yourself. How far have you come since you started CF? THAT is what you need to focus on. Your PR is awesome no matter how small you think it may be. It's a PR! It means you're getting stronger. It means you're progressing. It means you're moving forward. We can't all be superhuman anomolies. We need to be proud of ourselves for the strides we make and be proud of ourselves for taking the steps to lead healthy lives and be athletes instead of couch potatoes. It's far easier to make excuses and to sit on your couch and say "Tomorrow I'll start getting in shape" than it is to get out and hit a workout in the morning. It takes strength just to get out of bed and get to the gym sometimes. You have to have the resolve to get there.

Be proud of you. Stop thinking that all your successes are relative to what everyone else is doing. They're not. They're relative to what YOU'RE doing. Now, I know that some people are reading this post and thinking, "That's easy for her to say. She jerks 140." Ok, yeah, you're right. I do. So what? You know what? I've been doing this now for nearly a year and a half. I also came from a college sports background and was a swimmer from the time I was six years old. My background, plus my current training allowed me to get there. There was a time when I couldn't clean 35 lbs without getting frustrated, and you know what, it really wasn't all that long ago. In April of last year, I was ecstatic was a 60 lb clean PR, which compared to now, doesn't seem so impressive. But it was my PR, and I was proud of it. And I'm still proud of myself for setting PR's.

So, I guess my whole point of this post is just to say, be proud of YOU. Use the other people to push you, but stop looking at their succeses and putting down your own. Be proud of the progress you're making, and know that regardless of how much you lift, you made the workout and you're taking important steps to keep yourself healthy and be an awesome athlete. Regardless of your load, your time, your pull up number, you are a strong person just for getting out of bed in the morning. Love CrossFit, but don't forget to love yourself too.

*****

A video of me that I just found from last March... note the bar and the form...



I'm going to repost this video as a little reminder for you all.... this was the video I created one my one year anniversary with CF... it was done VERY tongue in cheek, but I think you can get the point...



I made this video so it was ready to post on my 1 year anniversary with CF. I posted it, then went to hit our WOD. On the day of my 1 year anniversary with CF, I then hit this WOD... truly, this shows what a year of CF can do... be patient grasshopper... good things happen over time.