Being Smart

Over the past 30 plus years of training and racing I find pride in having never been injured as a result of my training methods. However in recent years I have noticed a trend that I, along with other members of our group, the Odyssey Agoge find alarming, specifically the practice to turn vomiting during or after workout, endless trips to a physical therapist or rupturing ones Achilles tendon during a workout or race into a “testimonial” of eliteness, bravery or heroics of one’s self and eliciting the resulting flagellated to death accolades of the herd to said individuals of epicness, awesomeness or extremeness.

There was never a book written titled The Technicolor Yawn Badge of Courage. It seems many are trying to write this book and are killing their Self in the process.

Recently prominent CrossFit athlete Kate Rawlings suffered a rupture of her Achilles tendon during the CrossFit workout called The Filthy Fifty, a workout done for time and beginning with 50 box jumps to a 24 inch box. CrossFit HQ advises the box jumps be done “as safely as possible”. Apparently “Killer Kate”, as she is known in the CrossFit community, ignored the advice as she ruptured her Achilles tendon between the 27th and 28th box jump. This is not the first major injury she has suffered in her CrossFit “career” but she, like many CrossFitters feel you are not working hard enough or committed enough if Kool-Aid red blood does not flow from your torn callouses, scraped shins or if you don’t puke it into a bucket after each workout.

In perusing the message boards, forums and her blog there were wishes for a complete recovery. I agree with these sentiments 100%. However the overabundance of comments such as this from “Joe” (presumably a fellow CrossFitter) on her No More Tears blog entry I found equally disturbing and revolting:

“You know you are doing Crossfit properly when you get injured. You should be proud of yourself that you pushed your body till it broke. You will recover from this do not worry. You should continue to workout though and do not let this set you back. You still have one good leg and you can try one legged snatches, one legged squats, also plenty of bench press and of course muscle ups and pulls ups. Good luck healing and see if you can recover without missing a work out. You can work around every injury.”

Really? Just what exactly is in that CrossFit Kool-Aid you have been swilling after every workout Joe?

But Joe is not alone. Rather he and his fellow CrossFitters are joined by legions of triathletes sitting in ice baths and the lumbering stampede of 6 hour marathon “runners” who are covered in enough colors of Kinesio-Tape to rival the Rose Windows at the Notre Dame Cathedral in France. This is not training or racing smart.

The first component of training or racing smart is to be awake and develop awareness for what is appropriate for ones abilities. Not everyone needs to run a marathon or crack walnuts with their ass to be “in shape”, triathlons need not be completed to get married. These choices are a result of being conditioned to and then accepting the propaganda of the masses. In that conditioning and acceptance there is a resulting loss of Self or identity.

A second component of training or racing smart is to take the awareness developed through sound practice and become mindful to the changes that occur when one is training or racing. Not every session will be perfect in the same way every session need be grueling. There is a middle way. In becoming aware and using our awareness to cultivate mindfulness in our practice we learn how to not go too hard nor go too soft.

Third, we must consider that when training and racing smart we should learn to understand what our body is telling us when we are made aware of aches, pains or exceptional discomfort. These signs serve as a barometer of sorts. The changes in pressure indicate the possibility of bad weather occurring. It is up to the individual to use these readings and apply them to their practice so that they may weather the storm. Ignoring these signs may result in having the roof ripped off or ones house torn from its foundation. However taking a moment to prepare or evacuate until the storm passes will allow one to train and race another day. But one must keep in mind that not every fluctuation in the barometer is accompanied by bad weather but instead use the mindfulness contained within their Self to determine their own course of actions. The sky is not forever falling nor should it be perceived as it is forever falling.

Next (and by no means is this list complete) in order to train and race smart it is wise to cultivate acceptance and the resulting grace one is given from practicing acceptance. The I Ching tells us “the superior man respectfully appreciates the cycles of increase and decrease…external ploys will not put an end to the natural cycle of deterioration. Time will. Nurture your mind and body… Look for wisdom in your acceptance of the times.” At times these are difficult terms to accept and even the most veteran athletes, myself included have encountered this challenge. For example UltraMan Rich Roll found himself coughing blood during the 171 mile leg of the second day of the UltraMan Hawaii World Championships this November, a race he had finished well twice before. He chose to drop out, a difficult choice given the commitment and investment needed to undertake such a race. However his essay, here written with acceptance and grace shows how he applied the advice given in the above quote from the I Ching.

It’s easy to train and race one’s self into the ground, simple to injure one’s body and mind in workouts as evidenced by the multitude of “Killer Kates” of the McGloboGymMcFitnessWorld. It is a little more difficult to train and race one’s Self via awareness and mindfulness but the benefits realized through such practice are well worth the investment.

Train and race smart by being apart from the herd.