Performance Only

I've been absolutely ranting to myself for the past few hours. Daddy issues. I've been doing some transcribing, and I'll most likely put it up tomorrow, because I can hardly bear the thought of wasted emotion, but in the meantime I'll distract myself.

So I spent the last two days in the sun, from sunup to sundown. Kept covered with my adult hat, but didn't use sunblock, and I'm a bit, um, more golden than usual. Yes, I choose to see it as golden. Mostly the tip of my nose. And why, you ask? Well, it's my son, you see, competing in the sectionals for the CrossFit games. Next is the Regionals in 53 days I seem to have heard, then the Games, in August. Of the two hundred male competitors from Southern California, N came in ninth. Top twenty qualify to move on to the Regionals.

Three separate "events" -- called WODs, workout(s) of the day. Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning. Saturdays workouts ... oh, it's too much bother. Here. My, isn't he scary? Hope the info is easy for your little peabrain to comprehend. Weakling.

They ran the workouts as heats, male and female. Sunday, seventeen heats for men, with the best scorers going last. N was in that final group, top 8. The workout was six events of 1) rowing machine, as many calories as possible in 3 minutes; 2) 275 lb deadlifts, max in 3 minutes, 3 min rest; 3) L-sits, seconds held in three minutes, 3 min rest; 4) max overhead squats with 95 lbs in 3, rest 3; 5) max chinups in 3, rest 3; and 6) an 800 m run. In that group, of the highest scorers, N came in 5th. The run was the problem -- cramps. Ah well, can't be great at everything. That's what training is for.

Now, you don't really have any conception of how very very difficult all this really is. Sure, it sounds tough, but doing your taxes is tough, and you do your taxes. How hard can it be? You FOOL! Let me put it this way. Those last 8 guys, all lined up on the track for the final run -- it was like an anatomy lesson. There are lots of really impressive athletes doing CF, stellar performers, but they may actually look like your average dude. The very top guys though appear to be everything you'd expect, in terms of abs and pecs and all that prettyboy stuff. It's not about appearance. It just seems to be that the truly committed ones go the extra distance, of getting their diets in line.

The strange thing is that there were some absolutely amazingly muscular dudes there, who trailed the pack. Really on-stage with baby oil muscles, that didn't seem to translate into better than average good performance. Better than I could do, of course, but you can imagine the valid excuses I could come up with. Point is, be genuine. How must it feel, to have people just stare at you as you walk around shirtless, and make people feel a bit outclassed when the event begins, but then to come in last? It's a little like me, in that I do look like something with my shirt off, but I don't perform up to reasonable expectations, given the lean muscled look that I have. Sorry. It's not on purpose. All my ego is passive -- I just look the way I look. With the muscle men, well, they're trying. CF is the wrong sport for them. It's not about posing.

As N was standing on the start line, the guy next to him said that it was a pretty intimidating group. N laughed and said that must be what each of them was thinking. But somebody has to win. We start with the luck we have, improve our chances proportionally by the efficiency of our preparation and effort, and take what comes our way.

I am thinking about notching it up. There's no Masters competition yet, but next year, or after, there may be. The old guys who have been doing it for some years will outclass me big time, but I suppose that I can catch up, in my 50s, to what they have maintained through the decades. Right? Isn't that reasonable? It will just take me longer than it takes a young guy. I have time. Right?

Already I'm doing a steady strength program, and my weekly interval runs, and the CF metabolic conditioning three times a week. Essential to have enough recovery time, especially in middle age. Diet, also essential. Add a daily green drink. N has one of those mega mixers, that will liquefy a hockey puck. Should take care of kale and okra. Yummy. Eliminate the industrial carbs. I just went out and bought and ate a heap of sugarless chocolate raisins. Maybe a few, not a meal of them, from now on? It's about what works. Get my sleep schedule on a schedule. Like, not staying up into the wee hours writing you information that you don't appreciate.

We shall see. I was sick for two days, Monday and Tues. Just a lot of mucus. Odd. But that's a good thing. Cleansing. Otherwise, I'd be full of mucus. It's not a nutrient, you know. You don't need a lot of it. Just something to line parts of the alimentary canal. I don't know of any other active use. So let it flow.

Things like chinups. I'm not sure how to train for them. I know how to get better -- progressively -- but how do you do that without overtraining, or neglecting all the other things. Well, just do them regularly, of course. But that wouldn't be fast enough. See my dilemma?

No matter. It will all work out. I've noticed in life that if you just want something hard enough, it happens. Life is wonderful. I'm so happy. Or should be. I'd have to be pretty ungrateful not to be. I'm not ungrateful. Why would you think that? You're very blind, and rude. You know what? I'd rather go to sleep than pound away on this wretched keyboard any more. First I'm going to eat. Maybe ... cookies?

J