Year of Push 2.18 I’m Not Competing

by | Apr 26, 2017 | Blog

Yay for lessons! Today brought a great one. Sure, it’s one I already knew & one I teach my FLFT clients all the time, but as with all lessons, we have to learn them over and over.

Today, I re-learned. I’m so grateful for a good friend giving me a powerful truth.

My workout was brutal today. It was a combination of being a little sore & tired from yesterday and just a tough slog of a workout. I was bringing my best effort but definitely not functioning at my best.

Somedays I feel strong & energetic in the gym. I probably feel that way most days. But other days, things I’m normally good at, like rowing, feel really hard. Today was one of those days. Everything felt HARD.

The workout consisted of 3 back-to-back 21/15/9s

“Make It Rain”

21 – 15 – 9
Bike for Calories
Kettlebell Swings (53/35)

21 – 15 – 9:
Row for Calories
Burpees

21 – 15 – 9:
Medball Squat Cleans (20/14)
200 Meter Run

Let me clarify for those who aren’t familiar with this structure. I’m gonna condense it.

The clock starts and you’re looking to finish as fast as possible:

21 cal bike/21 kettlebell swings/15 cal bike/15 KB swings/9 cal bike/9 KB swings/21 cal row/21 burpees/15 cal row/15 burpees/9 cal row/9 burpees/21 med ball squat cleans/200m run/15 med ball squat cleans/200m run/9 med ball squat cleans/200m run

Oh, and the run was in the rain.

Here’s what I’m proud of – I finished the dang thing in a good-for-me time & I brought my very best effort.

After the workout, I texted my friend Nathan (who was also my personal trainer for quite some time before I moved) and I said:

I got my ass handed to me in my workout. I came in last.

He asked what the workout was & I told him.

He came back with EXACTLY what I needed to be reminded of.

I am not there to compete. I am not there to win.

I am there to improve myself, which has absolutely nothing to do with when I finish relative to other people.

Yup, it’s super easy to feel excited when I come in first or in the top few. And it’s super easy to feel crummy when you come in last.

But none of that matters. What matters is the effort I bring, the effort YOU bring every day.

You are interested in improving. I am interested in improving. That’s about you vs you and me vs me. We aren’t competing. We’re training.

I tell my FLFT clients this all the time. When they compare themselves to what others are doing or the results others are getting, I’m quick to remind them to keep their eyes on their own work.

Today, I needed that message to come through for me.

I’m not competing.

I’m training.

I’m not training against anyone else, I’m training to improve myself.

I can come in last every single workout for the rest of my life and still get dramatically better if I’m bringing my best effort.

I could also come in first in every workout, not give my best effort, and not get any better.

Training is training. It’s not competing.

And now I have an awesome reminder to keep my eyes on my own work & judge my workouts based on my effort & attitude, not the place in which I finish.

I’ll judge my weight & time compared to my previous workouts, not to anyone else’s weight or time.

Later in the afternoon, around 4pm, I did a little rowing workout – nothing crazy, this morning was enough – but skill building. Training. Me vs. Me.

I spent time alone on the rower working on my efficiency so that the next time I do this morning’s workout, I’m just a little bit better than I was today.

On the food front:

Holy voracious appetite mid-morning! I did the workout on an empty stomach (I worked out around 7:30am) and then got a massage. After the massage, I came home to eat 2 servings of coconut crusted chicken strips from Paleo Power Meals.

coconut crusted chicken fingers

I can’t say I’ve ever done that before but I’ll adjust accordingly. I definitely didn’t need lunch after that!

Dinner was intentionally heavier on the veggies since I hadn’t had any yet – cobb salad from Paleo Power Meals with added spinach. I added about 4 cups of spinach to the salad.

Since I got a massage today, I made sure to drink lots & lots of water to help facilitate detoxification.

Make it a great day, guys! See you tomorrow!

PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.

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