Intoxication

It’s Monday night and that means tonight’s post is guest written by Joceyln.  Her post reminds us all of something that is, I think, integral to the CrossFit experience and our love of it.

You hear the stories shared by CrossFitters everywhere. You read them in the blogs, and reminisce when you run into a fellow CrossFitter in the grocery store. You tell these stories to those who ask about CrossFit and wonder what all the hype is. They want to know about how you started and why you do what you do. The story usually starts with some interesting run in with a person or coach who enticed you to try it and always ends with, “…and I was hooked.” It can be intoxicating, CrossFit. Can’t it?

As humans we are driven by 3 basic, natural needs: sex, food, and sleep. However Ronald K Siegal, author of Intoxication: Life in Pursuit of Artificial Paradise, suggests that there is a fourth human need required for survival; Intoxication. It starts when we are just kids. Think back to the days when you rolled down steep grassy hills only to stand up and try to run while you were dizzy. Remember a time when you played on the swings, swaying back and fourth as high as you could go while closing your eyes and tilting your head back as you “lost your stomach” while flying through the air. That sense of euphoria you felt in your bones was a feeling that was second to none. And it was a feeling that you just couldn’t get enough of.

I may be reaching here, believe me I know how much it physically hurts in the minutes it takes to finish Fran or Grace, but the sense of pleasure and euphoria that follows sure feels good. Or rather, intoxicating. You feel it when you finish that last rep only to toss the weight and collapse to the floor as blood rushes to your head. You can feel your heart beating so hard it feels like it’s going to burst out of your chest and you desperately gasp for more air to enter your lungs. The sense of accomplishment and pride that follows when your coach shouts out your time, a new PR, and the people you love surround you with hi-fives and genuine excitement at your effort. You feel it when you get your first pull up, your first rx’d benchmark, when you commit to your first high box jump, and when you climb to the top of that 17 foot rope. Everyday you show up at the box, ready to dig deep for that same feeling because, as your story goes, you are addicted.

One thing’s for sure; this is one habit I don’t want to kick.

Please post thoughts to Comments.

Congratulations to Vero and Kirsten on their 2nd place finish in last weekend’s California Beach Volleyball Association’s Santa Cruz tourney at Main beach. You guys rock.

Workout:

Power Clean

work up to a 3RM and then do that weight 3×3

Then:

Playtime–work whatever you want.  Have fun.  Nothing heavy.

Post weight and movements practiced to Comments.