Monday 7.22.13
Holy cow. This is why I love CrossFit.
The 2013 CrossFit Games in Carson, CA are starting this weekend and things have kicked off with some drama as always! Athletes reported today to pick up gear, check in, and attend the infamous athlete dinner where Dave Castro, director of the Games, has historically had some ridiculous announcement for the competitors. CrossFit is all about the unknown and unknowable, and these athletes have only a tiny glimpse of what their weekend will look like before heading out to California to compete. Outlines of SOME of the WODs are given in advance - mostly to keep us fans entertained - and a schedule of events had been released with events ranging from Friday to Sunday.
Two years ago at the athlete dinner, Dave Castro surprised everyone by announcing that the Games would kick off with pretty much a super "Murph" that included an ocean swim. Last year, it was that competition would start the following day at Camp Pendleton with a mountain-filled triathlon. And this year? A half marathon...........Wait for it........on a rower. Can we just pause for a second and think about that? Remember how we rowed 4 sets of 500m last week in our workout? Half marathon = 21,097m. That's right. They just found out that their Games are starting earlier than originally announced, and that they have not one but three scored events on Thursday. The first event is a swim and bar muscle up combo, the second is the first 2000m of the half marathon row (like a check point), and the third score comes from the final 21,097m row time.
Think of the mindset it must take to be able to receive an announcement like that under those conditions and walk into the event with the attitude that it takes to win. The Games schedule was put out yesterday announcing event one would take place on Friday. It turns out that event 1 is now in a pool and on Wednesday. Event two is that evening and is more rowing than most people have ever done in one sitting. How do you react when a wrench is thrown into your plans? You have a huge presentation at work, but all of a sudden the projector doesn't work. You're ready to wind down for the evening, and your kid tells you they have a massive project that they haven't started yet. And it's due tomorrow. Do you mentally collapse or feel sorry for yourself? Do you panic? Do you give up? Do you tell your kid it just can't be done? Or your boss that you can't present? Or do you keep your wits about you and expect that you can make it happen?
Whether we're talking about CrossFit, sports, work or home, the same thing separates the good from the great: mental game.
Strength:
20 min to work up to heavy power clean and jerk
WOD
"Grace"
30 ground to overhead (135/95)