Back on Planet Earth. — by Coach Mary

If you had a chance to watch the Games on Saturday you might have found yourself yelling ‘Up’ ‘Up’ ‘Up’ to the TV in a rallying cry of support from the depths of your living room as you witnessed the prowess and sheer grit from athletes like Cody Anderson or Lauren Brooks as they worked their way through the Clean Speed Ladder. Down to the final pull these athletes dug in and dug deep, through the last push to stand they battled back against buckling knees and caving chest. I like to imagine they were repeating to themselves that familiar mantra we all know too well, ‘Elbows UP!’ until that last moment when they miraculously stand up against the steel, buoyed by the cheers of 25,000 fans.

Back home, far away from the roar of 25,000 fans and the California sun it’s just us and our local community. Showing up, beating back the buckle and doing the work to get the weight off the floor. The weights may vary but the struggle is the same. If you’re a CrossFitter, you’ve been there – whether in Albany, or Carson or in your garage. As CrossFitters, that is the tie that binds us.

Rich Froning or Julie Foucher are pretty to watch but back here on planet earth that’s not my main reason as to why I continue to choose CrossFit. Yes, they are spectacular athletes on an ever-expanding stage whom collectively we watch in awe and admiration. But ultimately, what motivates is the people right here in our own community. You may not have formally met that athlete next to you in the triple but you see them each morning and as they work on their pull-ups and refuse to quit during the most brutal of WODs and you feel happy when they go to add extra weight to their back squat. Maybe that person is a newer athlete whose form needs a lot of work (whose doesn’t?) but they keep trying, just like you and me. That’s really all that matters. Isn’t it? Each of us chipping away at what’s inside and out, our goals, our battles, our personal challenges, our dreams. WODs are symbolic of life. CrossFit not only gives the physical but the mental tools to navigate and keep going. The Games are spectacular but personally I’ll take a 3pm on a Thursday at ACF with athletes like Dona, or TJ, or Woody as my own personal form of what truly motivates. How about you?