‘The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…These are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence’ – Confucius,
and we were. ok. not great. definitely not great. but ok. we SURVIVED. no one threw up. no injuries. that was pretty much a successful first event in my book. we had fun together and accomplished something none of us had ever done. which was totally awesome. but im pretty sure we came in last. or next to last. either way, for 4 fairly competitive individuals, it was not exactly an awe-inspiring outcome.
but it was a great lesson. AND it led to a commitment to doing better NEXT year. which is THIS saturday. one year to the day later. and i'm writing about it before it happens, so im not clouded by actual results - you know, in case we come in last, or next to last, again.
first of all, i LOVE my team. we are old. and we fight like siblings - 2 of us are ACTUAL siblings, but the 4 of us just GET each other. im not sure i would have powered through this year without having them to keep me motivated. and without them needing me to keep pushing THEM. we spent an inordinate amount of time sharing youtube videos, and critiquing each other - mostly good-naturedly. but sometimes not so much. i became the "mean sister" not just to Lisa, but to John & Boyd as well. and it's become a second family, for which i am so incredibly grateful.
so what did i learn this year? some of these lessons are new - and some are repeats - but all were necessary to my growth - individually and for SiB as a studio.
i'm stronger than i thought. physically stronger. i can move a ton more weight than i ever thought i would be able to. and i'm not done yet. pushing past limits just moves the needle further down the road. last year i never believed i would get to the point where i felt i could compete with those badass RX chics. and i'm still not there, exactly. but now i know i can get there. eventually. and to come to that realization at 46 is just empowering.
‘In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer’ – Albert Camus
knee surgery was an excuse i leaned on for not doing things i didnt like, ahem, running. i can't squat that low "because of my knees". i can't jump that high "because of my knees". i had to mentally move beyond the limitation i was placing on myself. i am not the only person to have both of my knees reconstructed in the world. not even in my own studio. if i use it as an excuse, how can i ask other people not to. we all have physical limitations. but some are as much mental as they are physical. if one more person tells me they CANT because they have bad knees, im just going to start showing them a video. of my 51 year old sister. who ALSO has had both of her knees reconstructed. and feels some degree of discomfort all the time. AND who decided to not let it limit her. if she can jump on a damn box, then so can i. and so can you. we just have to want to as much as she does.
‘The world breaks everyone and afterward some are strong at the broken places’ – Ernest Hemingway
lifting might be more fun, but bodyweight is the bread and butter of fitness. i have a tuesday/thursday crew of barbell friends. and EVERYONE agrees that those workouts are more fun. OF COURSE they are. you can measure your progress easily. and you get to drop those bumper plates. it's loud and exciting and motivating. all the things you want it to be. but lifting barbells is not going to get me over the hump in a competition. or in life. 100 burpees is. whats the difference? one is rewarding. the other is just freaking HARD. it takes every bit of mental stamina to make yourself do those burpees. or box jumps. or straddle jumps. when your legs are burning and your breath is sawing in and out of your lungs - THAT is where you find your fitness. its not pretty in that place. and only you can make yourself push through it. you dont feel any accomplishment when you are done. you just feel spent. but making yourself finish those workouts is what makes the weights fun. without that foundation, the weights you can move never get heavier.
‘Full effort is full victory’ – Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir
everything is better with friends. this is an easy one. but what SiB has given to me in terms of relationships with amazing people is nothing short of a gift. its common ground for us. but its also a definer. it takes a special bit of crazy to want to work like we do, day in and day out. its our level. and its where we all live. i can count on them to push me when i need it. and vice versa. we take care of each other. we joke, and cajole, and prod. theres an occasional taunt thrown in. but we are there for each other. because deep down, we all love the journey we are travelling together.
friendly competition never hurt anyone. whether its for time or for reps or not, someone always has to say "what did you get?". ALWAYS. because we are, at heart, competitors. mostly athletes in some form or fashion. and not only do WE want to get better, we want to make sure YOU are getting better too. it's just no fun if i'm in it by myself. if i'm going to be dead at the end, you better be dead with me. you can always see a sideways glance - its usually discreet - but its just to check and make sure you are not too far behind, or you are still ahead. either way, its a status check. that keeps us all moving at maximum capacity. and we love it. even when we all want to kill Marty.“Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything.” – Vince Lombardi
it takes a village. i'm not an expert. i have a lot of experience, and feel pretty confident about what we are doing 90% of the time. but i am one person. with a background in group fitness and personal training. i am not an olympic lifting coach. and i accept my limitations. i have learned a ton since starting SiB that i didnt know before. and that is fun for me. but the most fun has been learning FROM my people. those dreaded youtube videos. and asking for help. the internet is a miraculous place. god love the guys at WODprep and Invictus for sharing instructional videos. and our crew for being open to trying new things. videoing each other. providing feedback and generally just trying to help the entire group get better. Boyd got a muscle up by watching videos. We corrected John's osprey pullup by filming and critiquing over and over again. it's not the best way - or the easiest. but we make it work. together.
water is for cowards. not really. but like many of my sports life lessons, i feel like "remember the titans" is always appropriate. "we are gonna do up/downs until Blue is no longer tired -or thirsty". there will always be a point that you reach when you want to stop. ALWAYS. and you have to find it within yourself to push through that place if you want to experience growth. ONE more set. or rep. ONE more lap. or burpee. just ONE MORE MINUTE. these are the moments when we commit to getting better. sometimes they are internal, but more often they are being yelled by someone next to you. who you want to kill. if you could only lift up your arms to do it.
‘Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period’
– Lou Holtz
all i can say overall, is i'm a lucky girl. i have found a new passion, and awesome people to share it with. i am growing as a person, a coach and hopefully as a friend. i absolutely love this current chapter, and hope next year i will be able to post that we did, in fact, NOT come in last again :)
“Some quit due to slow progress. Never grasping the fact that slow progress…is progress.”
