30 Days

30 days.

The post stops me in my tracks, and brings my dopamine dive on my social media feeds to a grinding halt.

The CrossFit Open – less than a month away, it reads. The dopamine is now replaced by nerves, as I realise the imminence of the occasion.

These are the same pre-competition nerves that I felt three years prior before I hefted a piece of steel overhead in my first CrossFit Open. It’s the same feeling prior to beginning anything I perceive to be important.

However, nerves are just misplaced excitement… Or so the saying goes.

But surely this year is different, my brain rationalises. Maybe your nerves are warranted; it tells me. Your open prep has been anything but optimal; it proclaims, taking me back to a little over 12 months ago…

It’s a typically cold Melbourne morning; the rain splatters against the windshield of my car as I make my way down the deserted highways of 4:30am. The radio, while typically mute at this hour – giving me time alone with my thoughts – suddenly booms to life.

Something catches my attention; the hosts are speaking about a virus – COVID-19 they call it. It’s pretty serious, the dialogue continues; “worldwide pandemic” they mention.

I park my car and the telecast leaves my mind as quickly as it entered – I have more important matters to attend too as my mind shifts to the job ahead of me – firing up a cohort of half-asleep humans for some heavy deadlifts at 5:30am in the morning.

This is no easy feat, but this is what I love.

During this time, I floated between three different gyms across Melbourne, coaching for work and training between classes.

I had moved down some months earlier and had just began to generate some momentum with my training; a strength biased CrossFit program designed for athletes like me, who spend far too much time looking at a heavy barbell, rather than actually lifting it.

On my commutes, I heard more and more whispers of the COVID-19 virus. I refused to take it seriously and yet, it refused to go away.

When the government legislated a nationwide lockdown, the severity of the situation slapped me hard across the face.

In my small world, this meant the closure of gyms, consequently bringing my livelihood, training momentum and Open preparations to a screeching halt.

Little did I know that I wouldn’t be lifting heavy bits of steel overhead for some time. Nor would I be briefing (in person) a class of rowdy CrossFitters.

That was over 12 months ago. But now the Open is a mere 30 days away.

The internal conversation continues…
Is it too late to start preparing?

Absolutely – the rational part of my brain rebukes. Anyone with a basic understanding of human physiology knows that’s near impossible.

“Maybe this year you can take it easy… Maybe this year you can write it off… Maybe this year you can give the Open a miss…”

But here I draw the line, refusing to entertain any temptation to give less than what I am capable of.

True, the last 12 months have been erratic and my fitness is definitely reflective of this.

However, the Open has always been a chance to better myself; to explore my physical capacity; an opportunity to grow, melded by the uncomfortable.

“The greatest adaptation of a physical practice occurs between the ears”, a sagacious intellect once said, and herein lies the objective of the 2021 CrossFit Open.

In this sense, I have been preparing for this Open since that cold Melbourne morning over 12 months prior – facing adversity, building resilience and learning to adapt.

Yes, the Open will be unpredictable. It will be uncomfortable and it most definitely will be hard.

But this is nothing new. We’ve been through this before. Our last 12 months reflect this.

I return to my feed.

30 days, the post reads.

I am ready. And even if you think you aren’t, you are too.