Ovid

CrossFit West – Cindy – May 09 from Crossfit West Santa Cruz on Vimeo.

The Roman poet Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) lived from 43 BC to AD 17 or 18, and thus through some very famous times. His life witnessed the passing of the Roman Republic and the birth of the Roman Empire under Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus. He was born near Rome, educated in the city to which “all roads lead”, and died in exile in Roman Romania. A prolific writer, he is considered one of the great poets of antiquity, ranked by Dante himself (in the Inferno) with Homer, Vergil, Horace, and Lucan. His most famous work is probably the poem Metamorphoses, and over the centuries he has inspired a truly staggering array of artists–Botticelli, Shakespeare, Petrarch, Chaucer, Marlowe, James Joyce, Osip Mandlestam, Pushkin, Rubens, Bernini, Bob Dylan, David Malouf, even Anne Rice.

But, what does this have to do with CrossFit? I have to admit that I didn’t really see the connection either until a CF West athlete brought a quotation of Ovid’s to my attention. “Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim“, which translates as “Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you.”

And that is a quotation that should be of great relevance to any hard charging CrossFitter. Daily we immerse ourselves in pain, daily we must be tough and endure, and daily I find that toughness and endurance, that forbearance of giving up, of great benefit to me.

Please post thoughts to Comments.

Workout:

Back Squat

7 sets of 3 reps with the final 3 sets being 3RM weight.

Then:

5 Rounds

5 Deadlift

5 Push Jerk/Press

100m Sprint

Post WOD completed and score to Comments.

golden

June 1st, 2009 at 7:38 am

Great video CFWSC (specifically Cliff). Very inspirational!

I think my score might be wrong I know i must have gotten at least 2 rounds.

Cliff

June 1st, 2009 at 8:22 am

On the subject of “pain”, it reminds me of something I tell people in a lot of my survival classes, backpacking trips, etc: Think about the times in your life when you really felt alive. Times when your blood was pumping, your senses were heightened, and your mind was sharp. Now I’m willing to bet at those times, there was nothing about your situation that could be defined as traditionally “comfortable”. There was a good chance you freezing cold, or totally out of breath, getting rained on, or sweating like crazy as you climbed a mountain. When we push ourselves outside of the comfort of our modern lives, that is when I think we really start to unlock some of the most amazing and fulfilling secrets of the human experience.

And as for the video – apology to anybody’s score that was wrong. If we didn’t get an email from you (or got your email too late) I just had to guess. I think there was 3-4 of you that I wasn’t positive about. But Golden, I’m pretty sure that’s right.