“Dig deep when it’s hard.
Deliver when it’s tough.”
– Robin Sharma
It’s not really that hard to be a physical specimen. If you get in the gym and lift weights, work on your conditioning, and eat pretty well, you’ll look good naked. And I’m not saying it’s easy to get there, I’m just saying it’s a formula, it’s science, it works. I’ve grown to be unimpressed with physical studliness. It’s a really good start, but it won’t get you through today’s “Filthy Fifty”, or any other workout designed to test whether you have grit. Determination. The ability to stick to your plan although obstacles might come up and derail many other people.
Today in the 10am class I witnessed grit in many forms, as everyone powered through this tough WOD, but especially with the last-place finisher, an athlete who is usually not the final person to be working through reps in a group of her peers, but this time was a little bit different. She had never completed the Filthy Fifty “Rx”, or exactly as prescribed. She knew that attempting this was going to present her with several physical and mental mountains to climb, and she set off on her way at 3-2-1-GO. At times when her confidence wavered, I witnessed her interdicting any negative thoughts, put on a smile and push through a few more reps. Feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to help, she knew that she had to keep on pushing through those Knees-to-Elbows, and those initial Double-unders that just weren’t happening because of her physical exhaustion. She willed a second, third, and fourth wind to propel her through to the end. I know at the end she was disappointed in her final time, as any competitive athlete would be, but I hope she is proud of her training session today – she accomplished her goal of completing this tough benchmark CrossFit workout, but more importantly she demonstrated tremendous “fire in the belly”, or grit.
If you feel like your belly fire needs to be stoked, there are a couple things you can do. Number one, lean into hard challenges, like today’s WOD. Understanding that it’s going to be hard, you put your head down and drive forward, never quitting. And number two, find motivation by looking up and watching your determined teammates kicking ass. Pick them up when they’re looking down, encourage them to keep it up, and then you do the same.
Let’s get after it!
Ryan
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