150804 - CrossFit | Oh no, I'm behind everyone!
My first Olympic distance triathlon was in college. We had a mass open water start for the open men's division and I got out dead last.
I thought to myself "I suck. How can I be the worst swimmer out of all these people?"
The rational answer was that I'd only been taught survival swimming in the military and never really learned to swim growing up. The answer in front of me however was:
“I am the worst swimmer alive”
I hadn't yet learned the skill set or practiced enough to be a great swimmer. Still haven't. But each exposure to swimming make me better and better.
I see it in peoples' eyes during workouts. They look around and wonder how can everyone be better on this movement, workout or effort?
Once that realization sets in there are a few approaches that that athlete can have.
The worst is half-assing the movements in order to go faster. (Actually the worst is "adjusting" your round or rep count to be more in line with others. That's called cheating.)
Another approach might be to recognize that the person(s) they're comparing themselves to might have months or years of experience, or were a childhood gymnast, or just more practiced at it.
Being behind isn't a bad thing. It's a good thing. It gives you perspective and more importantly a goal: to be as smooth or fast or coordinated or comfortable upside down as so and so.
So being behind right now is a good thing. Because you can't surpass people unless you're behind.
CrossFit
Warm-up
3 rounds
200m row
15 squats
10 push-ups
5 handstands (attempts, up against the wall or free-standing)
WOD
Row 2000 meters then
AMRAP 12:
25 burpees
50 box jumps
400m run