(Big D and Mike hammer out yesterday’s burpee and ring dip WOD.)
Mentally, it’s not easy being last in a CrossFit workout. (But, physically, it’s not easy being first. And being in the middle kind of sucks too.)
So, where do you find comfort? If sometimes it feels like your best is never good enough, where do you find solace?
In good form. In doing the complete range of motion. In reaching the movement standards you set for yourself. In finishing the workout.
None of us are getting any younger. But that’s okay. Finishing first is a young woman’s (or man’s) game, most of the time.
The rest of us inspire when we perspire — or at least we hope we do. When you think about it, that’s pretty important too.
But, really, don’t mind us old folk if we trip you on the run, or we “accidentally” crossload your barbell, or we bribe your spouse to feed you high-carb, low-fat crap to sap your energy and send you into a food coma. We’re just evening the playing field, after all . . .
September 16th, 2009 at 8:46 am
very sick people here
September 16th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Ha… I’ve been censored by the CFW blog police.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:24 am
When Justas was little, I used to have to take away the sharp knives from him so he would not hurt himself.
Ever have to do that with your kids, Tooner?
September 16th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Really…to wake up that early and blog for 30mins….& you have 3 little ones at home….dude, what is wrong with you??? It becomes a rather sick game no doubt!!! Love bananas, alone, in my cereal, mashed, in bread, cake…you name it, I love me my bonaners!!!
September 16th, 2009 at 9:27 am
And, Greg, if you paid attention to the photos and/or the text on the blog (instead of solely your own comments) you would have seen Bob, Matt, and Oddette in photos this week alone. And look above and you’ll see Mike.
Amazing what we can see in life when we cast our gaze beyond ourselves . . .
September 16th, 2009 at 9:29 am
And bananas are okay. But blueberries rule the world.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Greg Toon, new undisputed champion of uninterrupted blog posts. I am very impressed. Where was K to break him up. She’s usually rolling in at that time and could have easily thrown a monkey wrench in the mix. I will say, as much as I liked Greg’s stream of consciousness posts, I think one sentence posts shouldn’t really count. There should be a word count minimum to really qualify.
@ Greg, I think my wife liked it too. Although, she was sore and when she was complaining/discussing the soreness, I told her that the soreness should be embraced, it is a sign that you are alive and are living! She told me to shut up. Can you believe that?
Now that I’m just rambling on, I’m wondering what the record is for size of blog post. Is there character limit for a single post? Can I reach it?
September 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Does anybody even notice that I write words every day? That there’s usually a damn good photo to accompany it?
I think maybe I need to just post a series of blurry butt photos with no words for a week or two or 50.
Butt Photos: An Exhibition by Lisbeth Darsh
I think that has a nice ring to it.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Lis, we let the kids play with the samurai swords in case we have an intruder in the house or they end up going to John Hopkins.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Awesome Post Lis! I just read it now
I am a consultant and have to say ‘it depends’ on the day to where I find comfort/solace. If I feel good going into a WOD, I’m looking to set PRs. If the day has been horrible and I feel like a Mac truck hit me, I looking for the best effort I can put forth that day. On the days that I’m really just not feel it, I just want to finish. So, my consultant answer stands… it depends. I’m also sure you have plenty of CFW butt photos to have more than one exhibition.
… this is Tooner trying to mend fences so he can walk back through the doors of CFW after hijacking the comments. Oh and I didn’t notice you caught Big D at the peak of his burpee… nice work.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Toon is such a suck up.
@ Lis, of course we know you write stuff everyday. I find comfort in just getting through the WOD. Especially the ones where I’m hoping/praying for injury around round 3 because I can never make 5 rounds and don’t want a DNF just because I’m not tough enough to get through. The days I think I’m gonna hit a PR are the days I fail miserably and the days I think I’ll turn in a fair to moderate performance, I smoke it. So, I’m just happy to WOD, even if it is a Mellisa suck fest, I mean metcon.
@ Greg, in all seriousness, very impressive string of posts today.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:33 am
First of all there is a letter o my keyboard that is ot workig. Ca you guess which oe?
As I comprehend ( because I read what Lis writes) this oe is about the metal game. What’s i your head? Why do you do what you do? How do you do it? Yogi Berra oce said ” Baseball is 90% metal, the other half is physical.”
Lesso #2: Older people are smarter ad more resourceful tha all you youg folk.
What is old though?
As for me Crossfit is’t for thikig. I think all day. I just go… ad Lis, Melissa ad Je clea up my lousy techique. It works for me. The best part about fiish quickly is supportig others ad gettig to study the techique of others. I get to see lots of people do it better tha me every time i’m there. I’m a lousy observer of myself. This way I keep learig.
I like to watch the girls. They ca’t always just power through movemets , so they focus o techique. As a guy it is the coolest ad most humbling thig to aspire to Sue’s lifts or Eri’s pullups. It takes a real ma to admit to aspiring to be as good as a girl. Or at least that what I keep tellig myself.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:43 am
OOOooooo the N is not working! I WIN!
Lis I love the photo because the guys look SEXY – Mike with his shorts so short and D hanging from the fire extinguishing system.
PS Mike watches the girls because we are H-O-T! But he is scared to say it for fear that we will construe it as sexual harassment. Mike, I for one enjoy and encourage the sexual harassment. Hootin’ and Hollerin’ make me work harder.
September 16th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Ugh.. Im a failure.. I should have been here to stop this but 5am was a bit late
lol
September 16th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I will play the role of N8 and post my thoughts in the form of song lyrics. May I present “What It Feels Like For a Girl” by Madonna:
Girls can wear jeans
And cut their hair short
Wear shirts and boots
cause its ok to be a boy
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading
cause you think that being a girl is degrading
But secretly youd love to know what its like
Wouldnt you
What it feels like for a girl
Silky smooth
Lips as sweet as candy, baby
Tight blue jeans
Skin that shows in patches
Strong inside but you dont know it
Good little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak
Chorus:
Do you know what it feels like for a girl
Do you know what it feels like in this world
For a girl
Hair that twirls on finger tips so gently, baby
Hands that rest on jutting hips repenting
Hurt thats not supposed to show
And tears that fall when no one knows
When youre trying hard to be your best
Could you be a little less
(chorus)
(chorus, prefixing 3rd line with what it feels like)
Strong inside but you dont know it
Good little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak
(chorus, repeat)
In this world
Do you know
Do you know
Do you know what it feels like for a girl
What it feels like in this world
September 16th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
There are times when I just can’t seem to find any strength to finish a WoD. Especially a football suck fest. But it’s those moments when I feel stronger. I know that not every workout is going to be a PR or to impress very many people but I do know effort when I see it and when I feel it. Crossfit is about collecting your personal data, plotting them on an XY Graph and watching the totality of your work create more power. There’s more to WOD’s than a PR in “Gorda Fran.” You have to know that after a year, those first few efforts won’t compare to any time that you do it now because you’ve improved since then. Even on your bad days you’ll crush what at one point felt like your very limit. It’s the same for everybody, whether you’re Speal, Khalipa or 97 years old
September 16th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Yes, Becky you win. I just fixed it though. I think I had a wedgie in that picture. You girls have the market cornered when it comes to sexual harassment. I couldn’t compete if I tried. Referring to ones own ass as many times as possible seems to be some sort of competition amongst you all. Besides, I only look at my wife.
I will hoot and holler if you wish, but only because I know Barry can’t catch me.
Interesting lyrics Lis. I’ve never payed attention to Maddona. At least not anything she was saying. Nothing would evr make me want to be a girl. Being a guy is way easier.
September 16th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Oh Mike, I don’t even know where to begin with what you just said. I think I’m going to go stick my head in the oven.
September 16th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Don’t do it Lis. Remember what happened to Sylvia Plath
September 16th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
What did I say? Should I stay home tonight?
September 16th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
And to Mikes point, I too never really paid attention to Madona
September 16th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Buttberries, heheh Lis said Butberries!
September 16th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
mikes a liar, on several points….. annnnd BUTTBERRIES! lmao
September 16th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
liar? could you elaborate?
September 16th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Mike, I know your heart is in the right place. The written word is sometimes not our friend. All is well. I’ll explain tonight.
September 16th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Great, because I don’t get it. I may not be in until tomorrow though depending on when I leave work today.
September 16th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
That’s okay too!
And the internet is a beautiful and frustrating tool.
Anybody read “In Defense of the Book” — the article linked on the CF main page today? Very dense, but interesting. Don’t care for his writing style — and his own intentional obfuscation only contributes to his perceived misinterpretation, which only feeds his annoyance, which only produces more misinterpretation, etc.
September 16th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Where do I find Solace? In being a Weightlifter a Gymnast a Kettlebeller and Odd object lifter, I find solace in being a Crossftter. None of those words have a gender attached to them.
You may not notice this or know this but I struggle with the fact that I can’t do a lot of kipping pull-ups. I can’t/should not do a lot of them do to an injury. I don’t often come in last, but that’s because I’m dong ring rows and not kips. Some would/have judge me and say that I’m not working as hard because I’m not doing kips during a WOD. I also can’t do a ton of KBS overhead, because it fucks with my shoulder. You wont see my times on the boad because of this, it’s humbling and sometimes gets me down.
But I find solace in areas like Gymnastics, the rings to be honest. Rings in high school were for the boys, I was not aloud to compete on them during our once a year gymnastics comp even though I was better then all the boys on them. Yet, I’ve never wanted to be like the boys on the rings, I’ve always wanted to be like a gymnast on the rings(still a long way to go).
I’ve always been a strong women, but never wanted to lift like a guy.
All that being said we are all Crossfitters, Last..first…scaled or not. So Mike get your ass out of work and get to CFW!
We’ve got some CF’ing to do… last, first, scaled or RX’ed!
September 16th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
well…well…looks like you guys have been having fun….Tooner you got issues
September 16th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
#1 u could at least TRY to compete with us lol
#2 you so know Barry can catch you, he’s like an angry bear lol
i suppose we don’t have to call u out on the wife comment … but I dunno lol
also…… BUTTBERRIES!! that’s my new fav word bahahaha
September 16th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Thanks K. I will try to compete and you are correct I wouldn’t want to have an angry bear chasing me. Thanks for seeing the sarcasm in my wife comment. My DNA doesn’t allow that one to be even remotely true. Butt berries, kind of sounds like a cereal.
It doesn’t look like I will make it tonight, but I’ll be there tomorrow. Which means tonight will be heavy lifting and I’ll miss it.
September 16th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Don’t worry, Mike, you’ll love/hate tomorrow’s WOD too . . .
September 16th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
BTW, Big D is doing one-handed pull-ups off the sprinkler pipe in the photo.
September 16th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
im sure i will.
September 16th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Well its 9:40 here in Europa time and there are 84 comments so I’m just trying to get in on fun. And I’ve read maybe 20-30 of the mayhem comments
on topic – I rarely finish first (or even close to) in most wods and tend to feel like i get my ass handed to me regardless of where i finish…i try to attempt to maintain good form, range of motion and honest reps – but yeah ass kicked is the bottom line
September 16th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Great Post Lis, Thanks for being a Leader.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
@lis – WOW, I’ve never physically met this Mark Helprin person but, based on the first sentence of that article, I have deduced that he absolutely must be the douchebag on the planet. Now keep in mind, Kanye West resides on this planet so he is not without competition.
September 16th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
So, this is definitely a comment record.