Olympic Lifting Class tomorrow at 6pm. Limited space for non-members. Contact us to sign up. Members welcome like any other class. Barbells for Boobs this Saturday. Check it out here! $20 suggested donation.

I know most of you aren’t even going to read this so I’ll let you skip to the bottom. For those of you who are going to give the next 5 minutes a go, it is appreciated. I know I am far from short winded. I consider it a gift.

Today wasn’t the best of days. It was just “one of those days”. We all have them. Just a day. Not bad, not great, but nothing seems to be good or bring extensive amounts of joy to you as person in existence. Just another day marked off the calendar.

An example that explains today is what happened about an hour ago. I was checking something in the closet, set a drill down where it usually goes, and all three shelves proceeded to crash to the floor, catalyzed by the top one coming down first and taking everything with it in it’s path. There are way worse things that could happen on any given night, like someone breaking into the gym and stabbing me to death only to be found by the 5:30 am class, but there are certainly way better things to have happened to me as I wrapped up 10 hours of being at “work” wanting to try and get home before 9pm and spend some time with my wife and furry child. Instead I spent the past hour cleaning up all of about 673 nails and screws that dumped onto the floor. I still don’t know where the biggest socket wrench attachment went, but I also am not worried as I don’t plan on constructing a WWII replica tank anytime in the next 2 days.

There are just days like this. Days that just suck. It is written somewhere in the “Rules of Existence” that you must have X amount of days that suck in a calendar year. I strongly believe this X is directly tied to your karma rating. The worst part about shitty days is the fact that the world around you still exists. Yes you are in fact expected to still operate like a normal human being even when your day sucks. Imagine if, when you are having a day that you want to just end and turn into tomorrow, you could be guaranteed to not interact with another human or thing for the entirety of the time you are awake? You could just go about your business, get things done that need to be done, go home and drink yourself to sleep, and nobody would know or care! Sadly this isn’t the case. Instead we are faced with the questions, “what’s wrong?” and “you ok?” , questions that lead to either more questions or a worse day because we all know your answers aren’t going to consist of a smile and a positive explanation. You can’t avoid them, people that is.

Worse yet you can’t avoid their advice or pep talks. Trust me, as a coach I have become increasingly aware of this entire phenomenon. I know the look you give me when I’m giving you the 3rd piece of advice on snatching in 5 minutes and it just ain’t happening. Been on the other side and I am finally learning that sometimes the best thing a coach can do is turn and walk away…and come back with a hug, beer, and/or ice cream. A few more members and we will have a full service bar and ice cream parlor. Promise.

The thing is, days like this are ok. We all know what one of these days looks and feels like in the gym. It usually is catalyzed by the fact that you are having a day before the gym, had to skip every meal like a slave worker because your boss is in fact Jefferson Davis, slept like crap the night before, and spent 8 hours in a conference room. Of course it’s Snatch day, why wouldn’t it be? Nothing works, nothing feels good, and even though you suck at snatching you end up hitting 30# less than your PR. Kill me. Seriously, shot to face.

The thing is think about what happens during and after one of these days? Probably some tears, or a lot of tears, many swear words and possibly broken toes due to kicking, and some laying the fetal position. Yet after all is said and done, life goes on does it not? For better or for worse the world doesn’t end when the day sucks and you suck at life/the gym. You go to sleep, whether aided by tons of booze or not, and you wake up the next day. Life goes on, the world keeps going, Earth spins, and you have a chance at a better life experience. Proof that it is in fact OK to not be OK.

I distinctly remember the first time I became conscious of the fact that life can suck and the world isn’t made to just make us happy. It was recently believe it or not. Not that I lived in some fairy tale before this but I don’t think the full reality of our existence and relation to the world and each other had really hit me. Oddly enough this occurred after watching Where the Wild Things Are, the one that came out a few years ago that had real people in it. I watched it with my girlfriend at the time and I am pretty sure what transpired after had a lot to do with our not being together anymore (aside from the fact she was a terrible person and thought “drop crotch jeans” were a good thing). For whatever reason watching that stupid movie brought me through birth to current state in about 30 seconds and I realized that, well, life can suck sometimes. I proceeded to have a complete existential melt down. Some tears, lots of wide eyed staring at the wall, sudden urges to fast forward to the 5th of November and let freedom ring! I literally had a completely life changing moment from watching that movie. Very odd. Granted it (the movie) had strong ties to my childhood, and I was in the middle of a research project connecting my current life to the existential teachings of Irving Yalom. Still, very odd.

I realized we are no longer comforted by our parents at night through pretty books that have a sad story and a happy ending. In fact our parents sometimes annoy the hell out of us and do the exact opposite of providing comfort. I realized that there isn’t always a solution to the problems of the day and that we can in fact go to bed angry, tired, alone, and afraid of monsters being in the closet or under the bed, and now there isn’t a way to make us feel better about it. Worse yet these monsters are way scarier than actual thrashing, growling, drooling monsters. Real life monsters are way worse, like bank accounts with 0s as the first number, 3 hour client dinners with a client who doesn’t drink, cross country flights in the middle seat and a severe anxiety of flying (or not being in control of a situation), or kids, or death itself, can’t be slain with the mighty sword or the closing of a book. These monsters are here to stay.

I think of the many great things about being a kid the greatest easily is that every day is good and ends with a positive solution to our problems. This is also the worst part about being a kid because it fools us into thinking this is how the world works. I don’t know how young kids do CrossFit. They must fail a lift and be completely dumbfounded about what just happened. Half of them probably think if they just stare at the bar it will lift and end up locked out overhead with them in a squat.

Just like shaking off the trauma of no longer being a child, we live and grow with the power to keep fighting. Sometimes the fight just doesn’t get the job done and you end up having a day. It’s OK. It happens to everyone. Trust me, even the happy people who never seem to be struggling are really just better at answering the bad day questions. While it sometimes is a struggle to make everyone around us understand that, there is nothing wrong with going to bed at night knowing that what transpired for the past 12-24 hours was complete horses**t. It is OK to not PR when it’s 1 rep max day, it’s even OK to not improve on a single thing throughout the Paleo Challenge. Heck it’s even OK to be in a year long CrossFit funk. I have lived in this odd universe where I go from feeling amazing to feeling like I am 20 years older than I am in a matter of 2 days. Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it’s fine. I am still here, and I still like lifting weights. Most of the time. I consider this a win overall.

No matter what, the day ends and a new one begins. As long as a new one always begins it’s another opportunity to have a good one, and that is enough to keep us going.

WEDNESDAY

BASE
1. Back Squat (low bar)
8-5-5-3-3
– If you are feeling sore and run down, make this all a 7-8/10 effort

2. WOD: For Time
Row 500m
rest :30
21-15-9
Box Jumps 24/20 (full stand)
HSPU

PLUS
1. Back Squat (low bar)
8-5-5-3-3
– If you are feeling sore and run down, make this all a 7-8/10 effort

2. WOD: For Time
Row 500m
rest :30
21-15-9
Box Jumps 24/20 (full stand)
HSPU

3. SkWAT Team: EMOM 8m, 1 power clean + 2 front squat + 1 hang squat clean

THE PROGRAM
1. Back Squat (low bar)
3×3 @ 90% 3 rep max, then 2m AMRAP @ 275/205

2. WOD: For Time
Row 500m
rest :30
21-15-9
Box Jumps 30/24 (full stand)
HSPU to 3″ deficit (25s on floor/mat)

SESSION II

1. EMOM 20m
O: 1 Power Clean + 2 Front Squat + 1 Hang Squat Clean
E: 50′ Yoke Carry

all are heaviest able