I woke up today and thought, no knew, that today was going to be a good day. Whitney and the team had put in countless hours upon hours of training. They had spent virtually every minute of free time training, practicing and suffering all in the name of top level performance. Our team was headed to make a strong showing and for Whit it was a stepping stone to the next level.
It was not meant to be.
In the team wod 2 and 3 the women comprised of Jacy, Reena, and Patty cruised through the overhead squats in good fashion with lifts of 130, 145, and 130, while the guys comprised of Matt, AJ, and Sean were smashing the muscle ups. The guys totaled 53 MU in 7 minutes. Then they switched and the girls went for the muscle ups. The girls did great and got 7 between them while the guys attacked the OHS. Then it went south a bit. On a 245 lift, Matts elbow came unglued (not sure of the damage yet) and his efforts of the previous years came to an end right then. More than the effort, we were all worried about him and his health. It was a tough few hours but we regrouped and got back to getting Whit ready to go.
Whit started the morning with a lifetime PR on Jackie and a fifth place finish. It was a great start to the morning and exactly where we wanted her to be. Going in to the OHS squat we knew she could win it and also pull out a top three finish on the MU workout. Things started well and she hit 175×3, 180×3, 185×3 and then she went for 190. She got the first two and then on rep three her elbow deformed and she dropped to the floor and came up holding her elbow. She gutted out the minimum 3 MU like a true stud but her chance at the Games effectively came to an end.
Shit.
So what is there to make of this? First, are some thoughts on numbers. You want to have a shot of being the best? Then take a cue from Whit. Some rough numbers of reps completed in the last year by her in training: 2000 squats, 1000 cleans, 1000 snatches, 600 musclups, 1000 HSPU, 1000 TTB and over 1000 hours of training. That is dedication and what it takes to be great. Then on the flip side, one second was all it took to stop the forward progress. That one second is called life. And sometimes life sucks. It hurts, it’s mean and it knocks you down. All you can do is pick yourself back up. And that is what they will do. Matt and Whit and the team are fighters. They are competitors. And they are damn good people. They exhibit the essence of what makes CrossFit Albuquerque such a unique place. All of us in this gym are a family of fighters. We will get back up, dust ourselves off, pick up the bar and continue our mission of being the best.
Im not going to lie, today sucked…but in a way it was also amazing. It was amazing to see the grace, courage and resilience of Whit, Patty, Reena, Matt, Sean, AJ and all of our supporters. I am humbled to be part of such a unique group of people, people who make me better just by being around them. I thank you for that.
Never stop. Never quit. Persevere.
It is so amazing to be part of CFABQ and to train amongst the best athletes in the world! I know exactly how it feels to put in the countless hours of training and then be defeated by a silly injury, but it only makes you stronger and more hungry! Matt and Whit you guys will recover and find that you will be stronger mentally and physically and come back next year to kick ass!