Going there.

CrossFit is a mental challenge.

Yes yes... it's a physical one too.  But today I want to focus on the mental aspects.  There is a lot to be said for consistently working out, working hard, and eating right.  I've had a few athletes come to me recently with concerns and comments like "I feel like I should be getting faster" or "I feel like I should be getting stronger in X I practice it all the time!".  So we start working down the stack.

Showing up for class (3-5 days a week), check.
Getting enough sleep (7-8+ hours), check.
Eating cleanly and appropriately, check
Staying hydrated, check.
Are you putting yourself - there -, wait what?

Are you taking yourself - there - you know, the place that the magic happens?  Are you regularly taking yourself outside of your comfort zone when you work out?  Are you taking yourself to the point where - yeah - one more thruster is going to make me throw up.  Are you pushing the pace on that 5k to the point where - yea - I can't breath and I don't know if I can push through.

"If you're willing to go there CrossFit will take you there."  - Chris Spealler

When I started CrossFit I heard that quote from Chris Spealler and I really wasn't quite sure what he meant.  It wasn't until much later in the journey that I started to really understand what he meant by that and just what it meant to go there.  Years later, hundreds of metcons and sessions later I understand what that means.  It's that nervous "oh shit" feeling I get before doing a workout like 14.5 because I know that I'm going to go to that place deep in the recesses of my psyche where I have to move and I have to perform in a way that is going to be uncomfortable to a point that the outcome might just be walking outside and tossing my cookies.

I get that the visual there is not appealing to all.  And to some the idea of going so far outside of ones comfort zone is so scary that doing so isn't something that the average person is willing to do.  To quote another favorite of mine, CT Fletcher; "fuck average".  Get comfortable with being uncomfortable - for that is where truly spectacular change happens.  And it isn't just the change in terms of "hey my Fran time improved" but it's all the mental aspects that go hand in hand with going there and getting uncomfy.

Here is the other unique secret about getting uncomfortable and regularly going there, by going there it gets easier to go back there.  That doesn't mean it sucks any less.. but the mental game of getting yourself down that path does get easier and it gets easier to fight back those negative thoughts and the "I cant's".

I say all of that only to come full circle and say know and understand your limits.  What we are discussing today isn't something that Joe Newcrossfitter should be considering.  Too much, too soon, and too hard can result in injury.  Even at the highest level of CrossFit there is always such a thing as too much or too hard.  Know your limits, work within them, but your limits do exist somewhere north-east of your perceived comfort zone.