EDITOR’S NOTE:
Journals will be posted at 3pm Pacific:
Mondays – Ingrid Kantola of CrossFit Central
Tuesdays – Peter Egyed of CrossFit Fury
Wednesdays – Michael Winchester of CrossFit Central
Michael Winchester – Athlete Journal 3/21/12
(Read Michael’s Bio here)
12.4: in the books; 12.5: on the horizon.
The fourth week of the 2012 Open was a great week both for our gym and for me personally. I finished the WOD with 256 total reps (16 muscle ups at the end), which moved me into 109th place in the South Central Region.
The points being what they are, it looks like I will not qualify top 60 in the region (as was my goal at the start of the season). But that is completely irrelevant at this point. My goal has never been to compete as an individual!
Our team sits 2nd in the region and 15th in the world. The success of our team (especially our women!) has only sharpened my intentions moving into Regionals: WIN. This year we will have a stronger and more focused team than we have ever had. We know the competition will also be stronger and more focused – which will only fuel our workouts that much more.
A quote often used by my high school track and field coach has come to define my training over the past year, and I keep coming back to it whenever I question what it is that I am doing, “You can either have the pain of sacrifice, or the pain of regret. Choose one.”
For me this means doing the little things. To do the little things requires sacrifice. In order to be a peak performer, one has to give up certain things or add certain things to their life in order to achieve the lofty goals they have set for themselves.
I could probably spout out a list of about one hundred or so “little things” – but suffice to say that a) training, b) recovery, c) nutrition, d) hydration, e) supplementation and f) sleep has to be dialed-in! These six things are but a few very general areas that have to work in harmony and be synchronized in order to work at full potential.
Over the past four weeks, hydration and sleep have been the two areas I have really dialed in. I know my body very well and know exactly how much I need to drink and how much sleep I need to feel good and perform well. It comes down to simply doing it!
For each athlete with aspirations of moving on from the Open to Regionals, or from Regionals to the Games, I would ask, “What are you doing in these six areas to make sure you are prepared for the unknown and unknowable?”
I will leave you all with another quote that has lit a fire under my ass and pushed both my body and mind toward massive action:
“We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.”
Train hard, and good luck on 12.5.
