Gems From The Depths

What a way to kick off 18.1!  Today was full of action and incredibly impressive efforts and performances.  Beautiful job to all of the athletes who stepped up today!

Going along with the theme of last Fridays post and thinking about motivation and why we do CrossFit (click here to catch up), I started to realize how challenging it is to not let extrinsic factors swoop into your mind.  The way The Open, and Crossfit in general are set up, does not necessarily make it easy to stay away from extrinsic motivations.

So how do you stay away from the anxiety/stress inducing extrinsic motivations?  First, a good idea is to find something that motivates you intrinsically.  Do you have one?  Do you enjoy some (any) aspect of doing a CrossFit workout?  Or how about the joy that comes when you finish a workout knowing you gave it everything you had? - the sense of peace of mind that creates.  Whatever it is for you, let that be your "mantra."  Let that thing that most powerfully intrinsically motivates you be your focus point throughout the process of thinking about or visualizing your workouts. 

When you call upon that intrinsic factor, the sense of joy and peace of mind it creates will only lend itself to positive outcomes for the workout.  On the other hand (and this may be the most valuable aspect of finding what intrinsically motivates you and focusing on it), when you find yourself in an extrinsic downward spiral - (guilty as charged), "oh he got that score, that means I wont' be able to get close" (insert deflated feeling) OR, "oh she only got that score, man I hope I beat her" (insert energy sucking stress response) - as many times as possible and for as long as you can, come back to focusing on that thing you chose that intrinsically motivates you.  Focus on the joy you feel during or after (or before?) a workout, and remember why you do CrossFit.  The more and more you immerse yourself in the enjoyment of CrossFit, the more your putting your mind and body in a performance enhancing state.

Another aspect there is to love about CrossFit and The Open is sharing your workout with others - revealing the gems you've brought back from the depths. 
Here is Connor sharing some tips with Annie, while Carmen does the same with Tim.

Workout:

5 Rounds of:
AMRAP 4:
30/20 Calorie Row
30/20 Calorie Schwinn Bike
AMRAP 10 Meter Shuttles
rest 4 minutes