If you are like me, there are many days when you walk into the gym and you feel like Sisyphus, condemned to a lifetime of physical struggle, with no hope of relief.
You show up. You persist. You plod for every inch of ground, or pound of weight. And progress seems to be infinitesimal.
Then one day, out of nowhere, comes a gift from heaven. A sign. True evidence that your efforts are actually bearing fruit. Evidence that you have slayed one of your many goats. For me, today was that day.
Readers of this blog are well aware of my frustration with learning two moves that require jumping: Rope and Box Jumps. I used to dread WODs that involved either of these because I was weak, had no power to lift myself off the ground, and I was afraid of hurting myself. Now I just show up and do my best to perform whatever is assigned. Sometimes I even do it without complaining.
Today was a big deal because we had two back-to-back WODS that involved both these moves. The first one had 4 reps of 70 Single Unders. I was able to do all four sets of 70 unbroken. That’s 280 jumps without a miss. For me that is a big deal.
The second WOD included five rounds that had 15 Box Jumps. Two weeks ago I couldn’t do these to save my life. Today I knocked out all 75 of them without any fear, pain or mis-steps.
There are no shortcuts to progress in this game, at least for me. It is a constant battle against an aging body and a doubting mind. I show up every day, determined to stand up to both, my body and mind. Oftentimes I fail and get discouraged. But I keep coming back, knowing that one day I will savor the fruit of my effort. Today tasted so sweet. I will dwell on it until my head hits the pillow this evening, knowing that tomorrow there will be another goat that needs to be challenged.
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