Monday, June 28, 2010

What makes a benchmark day special?




Monday was a special day over at CrossFit Elysium. What made it so special? Did every single member show up for class? No. Did we win an award for something? Not that I know of. Monday was a benchmark day.

At Elysium we normally have the first half of class dedicated to strength training. You know... squats, deadlifts, press, jerks or any other barbell movement normally. Today was no different, athletes came in, warmed up and hit the racks shooting for a new PR at a 3 rep back squat effort. Then there was the met-con portion!

This day we were giving "Grace" a shot. 30 reps of clean & jerks for time. The prescribed weight for men is 135lbs and for the ladies 95lbs. It is a very simple workout and a pretty fast one as well. We have done this workout before at Elysium, if I remember correctly it was in the first month of being open. There were several athletes in attendance that were shooting for PRs as well as several who were doing it for the first time.

So what made today special? It is a day that we witness and measure progress! Several people today smashed old PR's, some people by several minutes. Including people like Mr. Bill who made the barbell heavier then last time and still went faster!!!

Well what about the people who have never done it before? Is it still any thing different for them, as opposed to a regular workout day? Of course there is. One of the first steps in your crossfit carreer is setting the first times. Being able to look back on the months or years and see where you have come from is so important.

Some of the people today that did this workout for the first time were some of the most inspiring. One of our new athletes Irene was in attendance for the 5pm class. It was actually her first full class ever... since she finished fundamentals on saturday. While it wasn't her first "girl" ever, it was inspirig to watch. What made her attempt so great? Did I mention she is 370+lbs at a height of about 5'5? She finished around 6 minutes with her scaled weight, but finished none the less. She has already lost about 30+lbs by herself... with our support, guidance and community backing her now, it will be amazing to watch her transformation!

Others were Dr. Ben and Mr. Brandon going head to head and both of them finishing seconds apart... and might I mention beating coach Leon's PR for the workout! The ladies were well represented by Ms. Courtney, Ms. Alessandra and Ms. Karla all going full RX. Some beating Pr's and other setting their first time ever! Doing this workout full RX the first time you ever do it is bad-ass in its own right!

Finishing the day was even better. Hearing every one give each other congrats on the efforts and hearing people talk about the goal for the next time the workout comes up!

So what makes a benchmark day so special? It is a day where we look back on our CrossFit journey and measure how far we have traveled or it is a day where we plant a flag in the ground for us to look back at in the months and years to come!

Keep up the great work every one!

Coach Paul
PS. Have we ever mentioned wearing high neon socks will instantly reduce you wod time by 10%. As well wearing nifty cycling singlets will add 20% to your coolness level!