Crossfit Rocks My World!

Let me first define what I mean by 'rocks my world'. First off when something rocks my world it creates a paradigm shift in my life, it makes me see the world in a whole new light, it changes my perspective, it invigorates me and in essence it means that it fills me up and lifts me up!

Things in my life that I would define as rocking my proverbial world (for some context):
Rock climbing
Outward Bound
TIOBEC diversity training (for Outward Bounders you may know what I mean by this)
Travel
Love
Paddling
and now Crossfit

Crossfit, much like climbing, is the physical manifestation of elevate - definition - verb. to increase the amplitude, intensity, or volume of. The end of January marks only 3 months that I have been doing crossfit and I am sold. In a short period of time Crossfit has made me run faster, lift more, pull more, and push more. When I first started I never thought I could do as much as I have already. When you first learned how to do a thruster do you ever think you would be able to do 100 in a WOD? Whether you are a naturally gifted with athletics or not, crossfit can give you an extra edge over anything you want to accomplish - be that a physical or mental pursuit. Also similiar to climbing, crossfit for me tests both my physical and mental fitness. If you don't think you can pull a climbing move and tell yourself that you can't do it, chances are you won't be able to - the opposite mental thinking will more likely result in your success - if you believe that you can do something you are more mentally fit to accomplish it physically. The same I think has been true in crossfit - when I have not limited myself with negative self talk I can more often physically do what I set my mind to. This opportunity for both physical and mental fitness training is what I love about crossfit and how it parallels in that regard with climbing.

Arno Ilgner who developed the Rock Warriors Way a mental fitness training program for climber's believes that "The conscious mind is the primary agent active in the preparation phase. It lays the groundwork to allow the subconscious mind to effectively guide action later, when you're actually in action, when there's little time for thought. In the preparation phase, ideas and concepts are the important elements. You will ' clean house' in your brain, assess, and plan. You'll learn to avoid traps such as wishing behavior. You will train to focus not on how difficult the climbing is, but rather on what possibilities are open to you. You also will prepare the conscious mind to stay out of the way once you're in the heat of action."

The first 3 tenets of the Rock Warriors way apply to crossfit:

1) Our performance is greatly affected by the subconscious, hidden parts of our mind.

2) Improved performance occurs through a process that is fundamentally one of growth, which, in the mental sphere, we also call learning. You learn best by focusing your attention on the situation, in an attitude of problem solving.

and

3) Motivation is a key ingredient in performance, and the quality of that motivation, not just its quantity, matters. Performance is improved by moving away from fear-based motivation and toward love-based motivation.

One specific way that crossfit has shifted my perspective is on how important short periods of intense and explosive workouts actually make you more fit. When I say short I mean short - some work outs are as short as 5 minutes, when I say intense I mean intense - you are giving it all you have in each moment. I used to think that longer is better - the longer the run, the longer you workout etc. Crossfit has shown me that constantly varied workouts that are short and intense are really beneficial to overall fitness. One of the things that initially lead me to try crossfit was that it focuses on 10 aspects of fitness: cardiovascular endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, speed, agility, balance, and accuracy. By training each of these 10 areas you will be able to perform any task better and you will even be able to perform well at unfamiliar tasks. Even though I have only been at this for 3 months - it really is true. I recently ran a 10k that I did not really train for, my main source of activity in the months leading up to it was crossfit workouts. I surprised myself with my performance and beat my goal I set for myself by 9 minutes! I am sure that this was not a random event.

In summary - Crossfit rocks my world - it's awesome! My favorite exercises so far: pull-ups, deadlifts, thrusters, and KB swings. So far I am most challenged by power cleans, snatches, and handstands (not to mention the many crossfit exercises I haven't done yet) Thanks so much to the coaches and members at Crossfit Asheville, you all are very inspiring and uplifting!

Reading:
Check out the CF Asheville link and associated links
Arno Ilgner's book: The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training for Climbers

Snow Day!

Got to love the weather in the southeast - one day sunny warm and we are bouldering at the Bald and the next day snow! This is our cozy little house in West Asheville, which may be the subject of some future posts.

Sunny Winter Day

We enjoyed a warm sunny day here in western NC today. Luckily Glenn and I were both free and able to head out to the Rumbling Bald boulders. We decided to check out something new - went over to the east side boulders which seems like it sees less traffic. Ahh...climbing is sooo good! For the last couple of years I have taken a bit of a break from it. It is always nice to return to something you love. There was a lot of water over there - the creeks were flowing and it was nice hearing the tumble of water through the trees while climbing. Thanks to Patrick Boland who gave us his crash pad (now we have 2 again!), we got to use it today.

Sense of Place

January 2010 -reflections on 2009. I don't make new year's resolutions instead I tend to reflect on the last year. 2009 marked the first year in a long time that I lived in one place. Western North Carolina is a region that I have lived and worked in for about 10 years. I have considered it home in many ways - returning to it after extended travels away in the North American west, Europe, and South America. I have a very vivid memory of returning to WNC after my first big road trip west for 4 months. It was spring and I drove in through Great Smoky National park - I remember how I thought "Wow! It's so green!". As spring is typically the rainy season in WNC the creeks were flowing strong and clear with fresh water. Green and wet, an appalachian rainforest. This struck me so much because I had just returned from the southwest where it was brown, tan, red and dry. Where my skin was as rough as sandpaper and the cracks in my hands grew deep from lack of moisture.

Place and what meaning it holds is difficult to pin down. It is encompasses so much that it can be an overwhelming thing to describe. Some thoughts...for much of my adult life (I am defining as 18+) place for me was rock climbing - I felt most comfortable in a place that had boulders and big rock walls. It was about what I did in the place that gave me a sense of place. Initially climbing took to me to a lot of places, specific climbing destinations and locales. Not to mention that climbing took me to places like tiny rock ledges hundreds of feet high. I have a great memory of enjoying a birthday on one of those rock ledges looking down into a desert canyon and remember being awed by the sense of place and beauty. Climbing was also the reason why I did not stay in one place - I wanted to be on the road, traveling to the next climbing spot. It is ironic that climbing has given me the greatest sense of place in someways but also given me the greatest reason to be transient and leave place behind. How long does it take to gain a sense of place and what does that mean? For me a full year in one place has been huge - it's shown me so much that I love. I would be holding back if I did not say that it has also given me wanderlust (assuming it was ever gone to begin with).

Focusing on a year, other thoughts on place. Place for a year is 4 seasons here in Western North Carolina - winter, spring, summer and autumn. Place is waking up and knowing which direction the sun will rise. Place is watching the trees begin to bud out in the spring and then watching the leaves fall in the autumn and wondering how long those last few will hang on for? Place is going wildflower hunting - where's that patch were the ladyslipper's grow? Place is getting really excited in the dorkiest way possible about finding morels and ramps amongst the forest floor. Place is watching the hummingbirds in the summer and fall and then hoping they come back for a visit next year. Place is watching the river swell with rain and then seeing it drop and dry up in a drought. Place is understanding the watershed. Place is knowing where the roots are in the trail you like to walk. As you can tell sense of place for me is at first defined by the natural world - the sky, trees, plants, animals, creeks, rivers and trails (the simpliest human route into the natural world). Place for me is more than that, it's just that I tend to think about all that stuff first. Place is about people - your family, friends, co-workers. Place can be as simple as waving to your neighbor. Place is about joining a community (or I'll say the possibility of joining a community) that you depend on and are accountable to. Place is knowing your local resources and how to tap into them. Place is knowing the shortcuts around town - driving, walking and biking. If you are a city dweller - place is also about the mundane things like putting out your garbage can and recycling bins on sunday night for early monday morning pickup. Place for me is less about material things though - but it does include local landmarks like the favorite restaurants, parks, bookstore and bakery.

There are thousands of writers and poets who have written about place. Each culture of people define and experience place in a different way. They are all rich and valid. I am reading the book The French Broad by Wilma Dykeman (copyright 1955) right now which I highly suggest to anyone who specifically would like to delve into the complexities and history of place in Western North Carolina. She was the most well known environmental advocate for the French Broad watershed and this book helped elevate the need for and the ultimate passing of the Clean Water Act in 1973. She lived from 1920 to 2006.

Desert Climbing Place

Journey of ourselves

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

So you have probably come across this quote before by Marianne Williamson. If you are an Outward Bounder you have probably read it to your students - at least your co-instructor did. I love this quote and I hate this quote at the same time (mostly since I think it gets overplayed and used out of context with little to no explanation or discussion - I am guilty of using it that way for sure). I think the last time (a couple of years ago) I heard it, I was over it. However, very recently I heard it read by someone and it sparked me to ponder it again. In context with this blog I present it as a foundation on which to begin documenting the meaning behind elevate and how I act or not act to do so both for myself and others. The interplay between Williamson's quote and the Annie Dillard's quote at the bottom of this page urges us to find, embrace, recognize both the light and dark of our nature. Dillard suggests that we must go down into the dark places of ourselves in order to find that which cradles us all together. Williamson suggests that on an individual level we fear the reality that we may actually be good; we fear that we are worthy and in doing so we fail to elevate ourselves and in doing so we fail to elevate others. The author, educator and activist Parker Palmer suggests that many leaders over-project an extroverted personality which makes the darkness hard to see. He says "when we are insecure about our identities, we create settings that deprive other people of their identities as a way of buttressing our own." Humm...Going back Williamson reminds us that there is no service in pushing ourselves down and falling back so that others "won't feel insecure around you".

There is a balance here I think. How do we elevate and hold ourselves up while doing the same for others. Is it in a AND world not a BUT world approach? Is it in our affirmation and celebration of both our identity and that of others? If so, what does that look like? Feel like? Taste like? Smell like? Sound like? I am not sure but this log will explore some and perhaps none of it - it's okay to miss the mark - let's give ourselves permission to do that. When the trail become unclear or just simply disappears, you're still there moving onward, even though you may end up doubling back on yourself in the end. Okay now I am just rambling...I am going to let you all weigh in on this one. What do you think?