Rachel J.
PROGRAM
NEW YEAR PERFORMANCE CHALLENGE: 2ND PLACE WINNER
I’m not going to lie - the challenge was challenging for me before the challenge even started. I really wanted to do the Transformation Challenge. Despite all the training and mindset-shifting and the fact that I tell people every day as a CrossFit coach myself that they should focus on what their body can do rather than what it looks like, I still kinda wanted to be smaller. I was heavier than I had been in over a year. I was thinking about summer and wearing shorts. I was swept up by before and after photos, and let the number on the scale get into my head (again!). So I found ways to justify my choice, like saying it was because I wanted to focus on gymnastics skills and building my engine, not because I wanted to see some abs – lol! But the reality was, I needed to train for a winter mountaineering summit of Mt. Whitney in March, to get ready for a three-summit expedition in Ecuador in June. Along the way, I also wanted to do well in the Open and throw down with my new gym community here.
So after some soul searching (who am I kidding, it was a friend who gently called me out), I changed my selection to Performance. I chose Morgan as my coach after resonating with some things in her bio, selected Black Iron Vert as my programming, and got to work. I made two commitments to myself to get as much out of the challenge as possible: to attend every webinar possible during the challenge *and* ask at least one question, and not resist anything my coach would suggest that I do. Curiosity – that was my word. And here’s how it worked:
I learned how to foster more mental toughness and not let flashbacks of past injury impact my future performance - this webinar of Krissy’s was the same day as her SendFemme one on Risk Tolerance and, wow, what a combo!
I learned how to set better goals and “bank confidence” - thanks, Kels and Kelly!
I learned how to periodize my training when mountaineering goals and gym phases/goals don’t always align – love Chris and all his nerdiness and peer-reviewed studies!
I learned how to treat my mountain goals similarly to CF comps and have a whole new mindset about my annual cycle of testing, training, and competing – thanks, Sabs and Margaux, for telling me straight up I’d need at least 4 days to recover from my 4-day trek (I didn’t listen and attempted a CF class 2 days later and was destroyed – lol! – then slept for 2 more days).
I unlearned some major assumptions – I can get all the protein I need without protein supplements if I just try; I can sleep more than 7 hours a night if I just give myself the time and conditions to do so; the number on the scale doesn’t determine whether or not my handstand pushups feel okay; it’s okay to not work on all the goals at the same time and sometimes I have to say “no” to other good things to get to work on the good-for-me-right-now things. I don’t even know how to thank Morgan for all the wisdom and real talk she has given me over the last 12 weeks….but we’re going to still work together, so I’ve got more time to do so.
The last week of the Challenge, I returned from Mt. Whitney, got my first invitation to the Age-Group Quarterfinals, and turned 44. And while I believe that this number means about as little as the one on the scale, there are some other new numbers recently that do mean a great deal to me now:
My new snatch PR - 115#
My new clean PR - 175#
My percentile in the worldwide Open - 92nd
Climbing Mt. Whitney’s Mountaineers Route in once in a lifetime conditions, carrying 50+ pounds on my back, feeling 100% physically trained, feeling 100% mentally prepared, with 3 amazing friends, and 0 injuries.
Thanks, BIN – this has been a great 12 weeks!