How Far Have I Come?

In CrossFit your life is centered around Metcons, Barbells and Whiteboards. They all serve a purpose and tell a story about you and your progress. Although the Whiteboard is intended to track your progress, sometimes it isn’t as clear or friendly as you want it to be.

Case in point, my Metcons. You see, when I started CrossFit a year ago, I was dead last on the Whiteboard every day. I always finished last, I was the one getting “cheered on” and I received a lot of one on one attention from my coaches because I was the only one left to coach most days.

Here I am a year later and guess what? I am still dead last on the Whiteboard 9 out of 10 Metcons and I am still getting lots of that one on one attention. So how far have I really come? Am I just surrounded by exceptional athletes or do I suck? Am I wasting my money on this CrossFit thing?

If you only look at the black and white you might think I suck but there’s more to CrossFit than where you place on the Whiteboard. I excel at the Strength/Skill portion prior to the Metcons because I am a lifter and that’s my jam! I have a higher likelihood of placing near the top of the Whiteboard in this arena than I ever do with our Metcons.

My other factor is that I went from scaling nearly every single WOD (both Strength/Skill and Metcons) to RXing or almost RXing the majority of the work we do. So, as I continue to get stronger and faster it doesn’t always look that way and honestly it doesn’t always feel that way either.

Some weeks I am on cloud-9 with my progress and some weeks I just want to have a pity party. I have a lot of “DNF’s” (did not finish) and “scaled” remarks on my Metcons but none of them ever made me worse or weaker, each day makes me better.

It can be really hard to remember where you started but if you surround yourself with exceptional coaches and athletes, they are great at reminding you of how far you have come. Do yourself a favor and journal your WOD’s and make notes in WODIFY (or what ever software your box uses) so you know a year later how you felt when you last did that work out.

As I look back over my work outs there are some WOD’s I can not believe I did and then I look at my time and I am so impressed with myself. I may have not been that particular day but sometimes you have to just step back and look at it from a different angle.

The secret is, the Whiteboard tracks your work but without researching, you don’t know where you placed that day. So I can look back be amazed at my 30 Bar Facing Burpees for time at 3:41 but the reality is, I probably finished dead last, huffing and puffing for air and upset that it took THAT long. However, 4 months later just cruising through my results I am like, WOAH go me!

It is all about perspective. I used to perceive myself as a fat, weak and asthmatic person who couldn’t work out because of my breathing issues. Today, I am the heaviest I have ever been, the happiest I have ever been and by far the strongest I have ever been. So yeah, no, I haven’t wasted my money on this CrossFit thing.