Eye Of The Storm: The Only Way There Is To Get Wet...

Hollywood...

"What am I to the universe, or, the universe, what is it to me"?

Your feeling before, during, and after a WOD are all very personal to you. But just because everyone doesn't know exactly whats mulling over in your mind, doesn't mean your unique. Join Doctor, Trainer, Brother, and all around Vunderkind Justin, as he accounts in beautiful tones, shapes, and dynamics his WOD feelings, and the value thereof.

Authored by: Justin Coby Pharm D

After finishing Sectionals WOD 5 today, I had the privilege of sharing an intimate conversation with the kind ladies in my personal cheering section.  I’m not gonna kid myself here, I know they had a secondary agenda in their support of a games WOD (just like we all do).  So I repaid their vocal motivation with an analysis of the WOD.  20 minute amrap….5 power cleans, 10 toes-to-bar, and 15 wall ball.  How would I describe that feeling?  I stole a line from The Princess Bride, when the Count puts dreaded pirate Wesley on the death machine, “I just took one year of your life away”.   If you’re not familiar with the picture, then “ouch” will suffice.  

Then I took a moment to truly relive the dizzying 20 minutes, or any rough amrap for that matter, and found a similarity in the suffering.  There always seems to be this rip in time, whether it be ½ or ¾ the way through the WOD, where a change in mentality occurs.  I have always referred to it as the eye of the storm.  For just a second the rain and thundering subsides, the sea calms, and everything around me seems to go peaceful.  The pain is no longer the loudest noise in the room, however, I can’t seem to hear anyone’s shouts either.  A soothing comes over me and I wish I could encapsulate the feeling and sell it on street corners.

Though I always assumed that everyone went through these stations of a longer WOD, I was surprised to see the reactions I got from my little group.  I had never discussed this aloud, and so had no precedent to go off from, but I realized that this is when the work can truly begin.  It’s like climbing a mountain, only to get to the peak and say, “Now I can sprint down to the valley”.  There’s a strength in it…there’s a fear in it…and the body takes over where the mind has stepped out.  This is where we have to go if we want to get better, I realized.  This is intensity training at its best…gut check time.  In this rip in time I am joined with images of a mother lifting a Suburban off her trapped child, an injured sprinter crawling across the finish line, and a soldier making the decision to cross over to a hero.  A bit dramatic, but this is our opportunity to take a step off the hamster wheel of mundane onto the wood-chipped floor of extraordinary.  We cannot waste this opportunity.  

Whatever your next amrap may be, don’t approach it fretting the fact that now YOU have to decide how many rounds will come out of it, instead revel in the fact that your mountain peak will come, and at that moment you can decide how long it’ll take to get back down to the valley.

Strength:

Rest

For Score:

5-Sumo Deadlift Highpulls 65/95

5-Push-ups

AMRAP 8 Minutes

-Rest 1 Minute-

10-Swings 35/55

10-Jumping Pull-up

AMRAP 4 Minutes

-Rest 1 Minute-

-Max Rep Wall Climb

AMRAP 2 Minutes

Post reps and rounds from each event to comments.

Comments

[holly]

good job on cropping that josh!

[aNGelA]

Omg! Would u get over it! Ur butt is NOT BIG!!!! ur just right hollywood ;)

[Steph]

Poetic j.co...and inspiring beyond words.

[k]

i dig your sentiments, Cobster. not dramatic at all. you describe a moment in time ive referred to in convo as "the humbling"...tho i believe painful noise has always followed that moment for the duration of the WOD...at least in my epxerience.

somewhat relevant quote i doc-ed from the affiliate site last eve...

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself." -Paul Coelho

[jb]

If u see Ken and Cledith while venturing through Kroger, leave quickly.....Not only did we cause a stir and get several looks due to our rather loud store wide conversation, but somehow they managed to steal my cart, hit me with a bath sponge thingey from 3 isles away, and stick a huge container of Reese's cups in my cart at the checkout...I checked the Resee's to make sure they weren't Paleo Cups...not luck...they were left behind.....oh and we were all chalked up post WOD to boot..Kroger loves CrossFitters..

[Angela]

14(m)reg sumo instead of highpulls
4
2(m)that wall is hard to climb! :)

[vicki]

A bath sponge thingey from 3 isles away? That's good aim!!

12m/4/4m didn't make it flat to the wall.

[Sammy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Justin. "The eye of the storm". I love it.

[Jen D]

Holly, and you tried to tell me prior to WOD 5 that your T2B wasn't very good, looks pretty awesome to me, nice work!

Justin very nice post!

Yeah I don't think Kroger will ever get used to CFrs coming in post wod all sweaty, chalked up, and grocery shopping for time...

[runmelrun]

Present. participated. exceeded Bonnie`s expectations. what more can you ask at 5am 2 days before the last sections wko? :)

[Shelly]

Great post!
8/3/<1 (m)

[jen w]

12/5/5

[Bonnie Mac]

Mitchell! You make me sound like I have no faith!

Ken & Cledith, when are you going shopping next? I'd like to join you! We should all go as a group and grocery shop for time. See who wins. :-)

[Renee]

Nice work Mitchell & Monica.....but I beat you today=) Doesn't happen too often so yeah I'm going to brag about it!

11/5+/4

Mitchell I don't have your cell number so shoot me a text if you girls are doing 5am.

[Bonnie Mac]

On second thought, I already like it when I see the wonderful Roosas at the grocery... I get HUGS! Which is certainly better than Reese Cups or being pelted with self-cleansing devices.

[aNGelA]

Um well I sorta want a hug right now or to even get harassed in the store. Just saying.....:(

[HeatherT]

10m/4/5m

[runmelrun]

LOL welcome to 5am Bonnie! renee what can i say? mo and i battled each other til neither was left standing...you should have seen the wt on the bar!

[Bonnie Mac]

What a battle it was... I fought the same battle (Bonnie vs. bar) at the 6 AM.

17(m)/5+/(m)
*looks like some kind of code... SDHP with bar only, American swings, handstand holds

WOD 6 tomorrow for this girl!!!

Angela - I'll hug you. :-)

Nice job, nooners & niners! (And sixers and fivers... but that sounds less cool, somehow.)

[Lori]

11/4+/6

[Dana]

10.5 / 5 / 7 (my chest did not touch the wall on most of these, though...)

[Mindy]

I am so missing the 5 am ladies!!!! I'm almost there.....

[Tyler W]

15/4/6
Good post Justin

[Dave]

WOD 11.6 for me

Completed rounds of 9 and 6 thrusters.
42 reps

those were heavy thrusters!

[kara MIKOLAJEWSKI]

13/6/10