I Won't And I Can't

I Won’t shouldn’t be taken lightly here.  I Won’t belongs in particular categories here at CrossFit.  It belongs to areas such as:

I Won’t leave weights around when I am lifting - safety
I Won’t leave when someone else is still finishing the workout – teamwork
I Won’t give up on a workout – confidence

Never should it ever be – “I won’t do this workout”



Anxiety builds rather quickly when you look at the whiteboard; the
penetrating stare that I see painted on individual’s faces as they stare
intently, as if their own thoughts could change the writing on the wall.
That anxiety certainly escalates to some semblance of fear.  I believe that
a healthy fear is good.  It’s that anxiety, fear, and nervousness that send
you racing to the bathroom 20 seconds before the WOD is about to start,
“Coach, do I have 2 seconds to pee?” Sure ya do

The fear that isn’t good is the I Can’t . . .

I happen to be a big movie buff, gotta love this quote:

Bagger Vance: You wanna quit Mr. Junuh? You know you can just go ahead and
creep off somewhere I'll tell folk you took sick... Truth be told, ain't
nobody gonna really object... In fact, they'd probably be happy as bugs in
a bake shop to see you pack up and go home...
Rannulph Junuh: You know I can't quit
Bagger Vance: I know... Just makin sure you know it too...

You gave up, you never tried, you didn’t want to fail, and you lost your
confidence.  And guess what – the I Can’t turned into the I Couldn’t – and
in the end, it was the “I could have done more – gone faster, lifted
heavier, went harder, etc.”

Put pessimism to the side, take a deep breath, take a focal point that is
your own, look inward and determine where you are, who you are, and what
you want.

Here comes optimism!

You step up to the bar, the rower, the starting line, etc. . . .

Another movie to describe:

There was a scene in the movie, "For Love Of The Game" where Billy Chapel
(played by Kevin Costner) plays his last game as a professional baseball
pitcher... and as he steps to the mound... he takes in all of what
surrounds him (the fans, the players, the field, the smells, the lights,
everything) and soaks it all in. From there... he focuses in on his catcher
and the distance between him and the plate. At that time... he tells
himself to “clear the mechanism”, and one by one, each disturbance around
him clears out so the only thing left is a “tunnel” from his glove to the
catcher.

There are really two types of workouts in CrossFit, task driven workouts
and time driven workouts, figure out where your tunnel is and keep your eye
on the catcher.

- Coach Tony