The other day I did a workout and I had a definite plan in mind.
6 rounds
- 10 Hang Cleans
- 7 Bar Facing Burpees
My plan, use the hook grip, go unbroken on the hang cleans, as soon as the bar hit the floor, start the burpees. After the last burpee, immediately start the hang cleans. That was the plan. Simple enough. After finishing round one in less than a minute, I estimated that I’d finish the WOD in eight minutes or less. I finished in 8:58. *sigh* I didn’t beat the my time goal. A year ago, this would have ruined the rest of my day. But as I thought about my performance, something occurred to me. I wanted to achieve several very specific goals during the WOD.
- Use the hook grip with the hang cleans
- Go unbroken on the hang cleans
- As soon as the Barbell hits the floor, start on the burpees
- As soon as I finish the burpees, pick up the Barbell.
- Finish in under 8 minutes
So if I honestly assess how I did on my goals, I achieved 4/5 of my goals. That is impressive. I did everything I could and the only thing I didn’t do was beat my time goal. But my time goal was just a guess. Even with smooth transitions, it would’ve been impossible to accurately predict a finish time.
Here’s the point. You can give 100% effort and still not get the outcome you expect or want. If you ever watch the CrossFit Games or Regionals, you will see this happen with heat 1 & heat 2 athletes. They give 100%, but their performances do not always lead to event wins. But does that mean they didn’t grow and learn from that experience? It may be that they beat their practice time or were able to complete more reps unbroken. Whatever the case, remember this: whatever you do, if you give it your all, you will have done enough. Don’t dwell on what you didn’t do or achieve. Celebrate what you DID achieve.
