The Beauty of being Last

This is certainly a strange title, perhaps “beauty” is not the word I am searching for, but it will stand nonetheless.

I attended the competition at CrossFit Free this morning (April 14, 2013). I wasn’t competing; even the scaled men’s WODs looked beyond my current strength and skill level. My primary reason for going was to offer a little moral support for my CF2a friends.

I figured this was an opportunity to try something a bit more powerful than my iPhone for capturing the event. I picked up a compact HD video recorder last year and I’ve barely used it, so I am not familiar with it. When the first women’s workout was just about to begin, I was up in the mezzanine looking down on the floor. I had an unobstructed view of Katie, Tia, Maria and Julia as they would perform the Barbell Burpees and Thrusters.

As the buzzer counted down to begin the WOD, the viewer screen on my camera blanked out with big red letters, ONBOARD MEMORY FULL. I was quite annoyed (a polite euphemism for very P.O.ed, see photo). I stuck the camera in the pocket of my sweatshirt and watched the girls do their WOD. Then I went through a few menu selections, trying to figure out how to set the default to the A or B memory cards, which were each 16GB blank canvases, all to no avail.

A while later, I went and sat in my truck where it was quiet and I explored this compact electronic nightmare. Finally I was able to copy the Onboard Memory to A, which at least freed up the onboard memory for some filming. I made my way back into the CFF Box just as the Rx Men were about to begin. I crossed the room to be with the CF2a crowd who were there to cheer on Adam and Andrew. I filmed both of them as they went through Barbell Burpees and Ground to Overhead 185#. Then I followed them across the room to watch them Rowing.

By the time I got there Adam was done and Andrew was just finishing up. In fact most of the athletes were done, but I heard a ruckus across the room. I turned around and there was this lone athlete, still struggling to lift the bar overhead. It was deja vu of the 13.4 WOD.

This guy was much younger than me. He was much stronger than me. But his form was as screwed up as mine. Because of his strength, he was able to muscle the bar overhead for a dozen lifts, then fatigue would no longer allow him to fake it. From then on his results drew a stark resemblance to my 13.4. The noise that drew my attention to that corner of the room was all the people cheering him on. There were at least a dozen people surrounding him, yelling at him, some were in his face. I felt his pain and frustration, especially as he got to the point where he could no longer clean the bar, and eventually he couldn’t even lift the bar off the ground. The timer ran out. He never got his 20 lifts. He never made it to the rowers. He was gassed. But he didn’t hold back, he gave it all he had to the final second.

I have never known a sport where the losers get as much love as the winners. It’s not like kid’s sports where everyone get a trophy just for showing up. There are no trophies. There is just 100%. For some of the more elite among us, 100% will get you to the podium. For others, 100% will get you a bucket of tears.

Join the growing Defiant Wellness Tribe!