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I have had a hard time with my birthday for a long time. Some of it is the time of year…early October and the seasons are changing. Shorter days, colder mornings, crispness and a nip in the air signal winter is coming. I love summer, the heat and the sun and the water and the seemingly free feelings that go along with my memories of summer. So there is a certain melancholy around now that I have a hard time shaking off. So when my birthday arrives, for me, I know summer is lost and winter is just around the summer.
That being said, I do love the early fall….fresh apples, pumpkins and squash, falling leaves and the warm, warm afternoon sun. A time we often refer to as “Indian Summer”. And, although winter is coming there is sweetness in the air that comes before the winter’s long sleep. So, for me my birthday time is a bittersweet neighborhood that I often have a hard time enjoying.
Some of my trouble around my birthday is sadness for the things I have not done, have not yet accomplished. And it seems, the longer I live the longer the list is of things left undone. I can’t change this. Some of those things will never be done…they are the province of a much younger me. A me who didn’t have the will, or the wherewithal, or the drive to get those things done and looking back probably didn’t even know he should have been doing them. Such is a life lived, a life viewed in the rear view mirror.
This year I had no big plans, no “thing off the bucket list to do”. I have jumped out of airplanes once or twice for my birthdays, gone helicopter snow-boarding (no, not in October, later), and several other adventures (OK I did do the Tough Mudder a couple weeks ago). Not this year. This year I am on a mission…a mission to go to the CrossFit Games. This is a 12 month long quest to improve my fitness across the board. At the “open” part of the Games (the qualifier) last year I was 53rd in my age group. To get to the games I have to be in the top 20. There were over 500 competitors in my age group last year (55-59) worldwide. I am sure there will be more this year and I am sure they will be stronger, faster, and better than last year.
My diet has to improve. For those of you who know me you may find that one hard to believe. But yes it needs to get even more dialed in, even more exact with less room for “cheats”.
My rest has to improve. This is a huge hurdle for me. Like many of you I came up in a time when we bragged about how little sleep we could operate on. ‘I got 4 hours of sleep and I have been going for 16 hours now…”this is bad juju folks. You cannot improve performance on less sleep. Your cortisol (a stress related hormone) goes off the charts and your diet becomes less effective and your performance goes down the tube. Your body and your mind can only take so much of that and then bad things begin to happen. Too much cortisol and you put on weight. Too much cortisol and you get injured. Too much cortisol and your emotional state goes from “happy-go-lucky” to “there’s a dark cloud hovering over my head”. None of those things will contribute to peak performance.
My technique has to improve. This is a practice thing. This is showing up every day and working on movements that are difficult and challenging. Even in the face of failure. Even in the face of often going backwards or having to take 3 or 4 steps back towards the beginning. This is approaching things with the “beginners” mind...listening to coaching and implementing the suggestions.
My strength has to improve. That means increasing the volume of work. That means moving more weight longer distances. That means finding reserves of strength that I don’t know about at present. That means getting up in the morning and hurting from the previous day’s work and doing even more today.
Overall, my general physical preparedness needs to improve. Then my ability to perform on demand needs to improve. Then my mental fortitude needs to be strengthened. This is my quest this year.
This morning I did a workout called “Grace” it was part of a fundraising effort in the CrossFit community to provide mammograms for low income and uninsured women and men. The workout was simple…take 135 pounds, pull it off the floor to your chest and then jerk it overhead (a clean and jerk). This year I finished in 5:20…an improvement of over 2 minutes and 30 seconds from last fall and I will need to be faster yet. It is possible to get stronger, no matter how old you are. It is possible to get faster, no matter how old you are. It is possible to get better, no matter how old you are.
Someone asked me what I wanted for my birthday…how about a donation to Barbells for Boobs? Go here: https://support.barbellsforboobs.org/individual-fundraising/JMariotti/
Support the effort. My good friend, Wendy Tustin, has, in 1 year, gone through hell with breast cancer. Support this effort so other people can get early detection and maybe experience less hell than she has.
In the meantime, I will get better. And in April I will be ready to qualify for the Games. And in July I will be ready to run with the big dogs and yes give them a serious run for the top dog slot!
Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com
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