Hang snatch 3-3-3-3-3
Bench press 5-5-5
Weighted pull-ups 5-5-5
Post loads to comments and BTWB
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
A US Navy Admiral, William H. McRaven, returned to his alma mater, University of Texas, Austin, last week to give the commencement speech to the 2014 graduating class. I was told about the speech by a Verve athlete. This athlete told me that the Admiral’s speech about life lessons learned carried over into his world of CrossFit. He could relate to the Admiral’s words when he was approaching his WODs. After listening to the Admiral’s speech I couldn’t agree more. I think every one of us could hear his words and find the encouragement in them to do new and great things, in and outside of the gym.
This speech makes me think about how much I give the 5:30am class a hard time in the mornings. Mostly because I can’t imagine working out that early, but I know why they do. What better way to start a day then by tackling a difficult physical activity. Not just physical but mental as well. Because if you can push yourself to the end and fight any urge to quit when it gets hard at 5:30am, then I’m pretty sure your day is all down hill from there.
This speech reminds me of how CrossFit also brings people from all levels of fitness and athleticism together. How CrossFit creates an environment of shared misery that bonds us together at the moment we all finish. A moment when we can high five at the idea of simply completing the work. Then express joy over the individual accomplishments within that work, the PR’s.
This speech highlights to me that no CrossFitter can be judged by their mere appearance. Neither can a WOD. Looks can be deceiving. Every body brings something to the table, every one has their wheelhouse. When it shows up on the whiteboard relish in it. Vow to own it for the day and celebrate when you do. Then come back tomorrow when the work involves your weakness. Make the same vow. Strive for virtuosity. Strive to be better than yesterday. Knowing that we may never be perfect should not stop us from working hard to be.
I think about this speech especially as I hop in a car at 6am this morning and start my trek to Salt Lake City. I think about the Admiral’s words and I think about my teammates. At the end of the Open we came together and started training as a team. Once the workouts were announced for regionals I think everyone saw something they were excited about and saw something that made their stomach turn. Here we are, 4 weeks later, and it’s game time. We spent hours practicing these WODs, sometimes we failed, sometimes we succeeded beyond what we thought we could do, but no matter the outcome we are ready to enter the circus. We are ready to jump in head first, not back down from any shark, and if you know anything about the members of this team, you know that we will probably be doing it all while singing and dancing.
But here is the biggest thing that I take away from this speech. “Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end up as a sugar cookie. It’s just the way life is sometimes. If we want to change the world, we need to get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.” Everyday we show up to the gym is a success. We are up and moving, the outcome of the WOD may not be what we hoped but we still accomplished being active and healthy. This weekend, going to regionals, having the opportunity to compete against the best athletes in our region is our success. We will put 100% of our efforts in to everything we do, and we will be proud long before we ever look at a scoreboard. And we will continue moving forward.
I would like to wish the best of luck to Anna Mattson, Maddie Berky, Jason Kaplan, Nate Rader, Dan Pope, and Emmalee Teribery this weekend. It is my great honor to share in this experience with you. I’m excited for the laughs, the triumphs, and to see the product of our hard work. Thank you to Robyn Kunick-Bosch, Ryan Young, and Joylyn Godinez. Team Verve baby!!
If you would like to watch the action go down, it will all be live streaming on the CrossFit Games website.
Friday: Team Event 1 is @ 9:20am, Team Event 2/3 is @ 10:40am
Friday: Emmalee Individual Event 1/2 is @ 1pm, Emmalee Individual Event 3 is @ 3:55pm
We will update heat times for Saturday and Sunday
**The Body Fat Test truck is coming back Wednesday June 4th. Sign up here for it.
