Firestarter

This week should see a return to good hard running.

This past weekend I competed in my first Crossfit event, the Firestarter Challenge. Held at Triangle Crossfit, this competition was geared towards newer Crossfitters, who's ability levels aren't quite advanced, or they're just new to competing. With individuals on Saturday, I competed with a four-person team on Sunday. It was loads of fun and completely exhausting; everything an athletic competition should be. Our gym had four teams competing and it was great day of hanging out with other competitors. Since starting Crossfit, it has reaffirmed my belief that it doesn't matter one bit what your choice of motion is, or your motives, or the fine details of your sport: we're all after the same, indescribable, incomparable feeling that comes from pushing your body to its limit.

It also furthers my conundrum of balancing Crossfit and running. It's nice being able to run far. It's nice being able to lift heavy shit. I do believe it's possible to do both. But I'm not sure I can run at the level I have been. And if I want to be more balanced, I'm sure if I want to. I mean, of course I WANT to. And I've had people tell me that I need to train like a pro... [implying I want to be pro level.] But I've never done run or raced to place. However, if I don't run, or train to race at my peak, am I wasting some unique talent I have? I'm not trying to be boastful; those are just the words that come to mind. I think I could continue to run really well. Would I give that up to just be an average Crossfitter/athlete?

Leave it to me to take an awesome weekend, and make it some introspective depression.

Soundtrack:
"Lola Montez" by Volbeat
"Freak Like Me" by Halestorm

Everything Has Changed

I ran 20 miles this week. Only three days. The last day I ran was Thursday. I won't run again until Tuesday.

This is freaking me out, and it's not freaking me out. The thing is, I've been "wanting" to scale back my mileage. And I've always appreciated that my volume of running sacrifices a lot of strength in Crossfit. Nonetheless, actually putting that into practice has been very difficult. I still have a subconscious desire and belief that more is better. But this past weekend, I drove up to Michigan with my brother for his start of medical school. Based on logistics, we pretty much needed to leave by 4am on Friday morning. I was totally trying to plan out how early I could wake up and get a run in on Friday. Or I totally could've packed running clothes and I could've run Saturday morning. Then we all were going to go drop-in at Crossfit gym up there. But, I went against my raging instincts and decided, "no, we're just gonna let it go. Let it be rest, recovery, and rebuilding."

I can't say yet that it feels great. Or that I feel rested, despite being stuck in a vehicle for 13 hours on Friday, and then flying back all this morning. Years and years of day after day of miles and miles just makes me feel bloated, heavy, sluggish. But I'll admit, it may just be relative. And it doesn't mean I'm slower. But it's just weird to wrap my head around it.

David is now gone. He's all the way up in Michigan. It's odd. It's another phase in life for him; for both of us. I'm bittersweet about it. But the weekend was fun, and I am so excited for him.