[Another great debut on the CrossFit Genesis blog, this one from Rick. - John P.]
I have always looked at my fitness levels in terms of athletic competition – fighting, wrestling or racing. Can I do it better or faster than someone else?
Last week, I took the family camping at high mountain lake near Tahoe. The boats and gear had to go from the truck to the water and back a half a dozen times.
At the end of one hump with a loaded canoe, Sally said, “It kind of makes you glad you did those farmer’s walks, huh?” Later, the kids wanted some help with the rock castle they’d built. I went for the biggest rock I thought I could carry. When I got back to the castle, Sally was there, catching her breath, with a giant boulder at her feet too.
Five years ago, I never would have expected Sally to carry a heavy boat or ice chest down a hill to the water. I certainly wouldn’t have thought she would jump in a canoe and paddle across a lake.
On the CrossFit main site it says “Forging Elite Fitness.” It’s empowering. I am sure that is the point of choosing strong words like “forging” and “elite.” But looking back on my weekend with my family, it wasn’t about fitness.
I guess I have finally come to terms with what all this is really about. In the past, I have never had the motivation to train for what I considered nothing. I needed a fight or a race. Finally, maybe I have learned that it’s about enjoying our lives – not in the sense of decadence but in terms of being able to do what we need to, to do whatever we want to.
With all due respect, the elite levels of fitness are great, but it may be more appropriate to look at what we are doing as “Forging Elite Levels of Living.”
August 31, 2009 WOD
Power Clean
5-5-3-3-1-1-1
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I ended up volunteering myself for moving duty for my roomate today because it was just her and another gal and they had nobody else.
It wasn’t even as strenous as when I coach classes. I was fairly apalled by what they thought was heavy, and these two gals are scholarship rowers.
Which has ruined my envisionment that rowers were strong.
Rick- nice job on the blog!
)
Ummm…Blair….I sure hope those gals don’t follow this blog by any chance! For those of us who aren’t real strong, I think you probably could have made your point in a gentler way- just my opinion though.
Sorry- I have more to say…
I think it is important to remember that the things we post here are read by many who simply follow the blog as they consider if they want to join CFG. For me, being a part of the CFG community has been a very positive and encouraging experience and I care a great deal about the success of this gym. I hope that we are all mindful of who is reading this blog as we post our experiences and opinions. The things we post ultimately reflect back on CFG…so let’s be careful with hard judgements…we’d hate to offend or turn away any potential new members.
Sounds kind of funny, but through crossfit, my daily physical activities have become easier – Activities like picking up toys, lifting the kids, climbing the stairs, sprinting home from a walk with the dog because I forgot I had chicken on the grill… you know, that kind of stuff.
Elite level of living indeed, Rick!
First of all, Sally you ARE strong! And Blair, I just recently happened to coach a scholarship rower who’s been out of it for a while, but I was impressed.
Sally, I agree with your sentiments (for hopefully obvious reasons). Notwithstanding occasional blog comments from non-members, we’ve always tried to cultivate a very positive and upbeat atmosphere within our community.
Good Blog. As an ex-athlete, I struggle with training for “nothiing” too. But have had to adjust my outlook to include “training to be a strong mom and role model to my kids”.
My prior experience had been in the Marin area which is known for it’s rowing prowess. I knew of a couple of our girls who ended up rowing in HS after careers in gymnastics and they all impressed me as big, strong girls. Not very petite gymnasts but I’m pretty they were pretty good at moving equipment around the gym or spotting/lifting.
One of the rowers I moved used to have a row time of 1:40s which is very hard while the other currently steers but had been such a rower to get a full ride to Yale. Coming from the experience of what CF seem to row at, I figure they would be a lot tougher.
Here’s hoping the rowers out there are still tough.