The Clock Runs Out

We’ve been doing a lot of AMRAPs and circuit training at Xplore lately. Metcons on metcons, yo. I like metcons. Really, I like anything where pacing is up to you. I usually get stomped, but I do work appropriate to my level or above it, and it doesn’t matter how inaccurate you are with the weight or difficulty. If you choose a weight too light for you, you just gotta do it faster and cleaner. Too heavy, and you just have to do your best.

The thing with that style of workout is that, while you go in feeling strong and leave feeling accomplished, there’s this moment a little ways in where you’re positive, and I mean POSITIVE, that you can’t handle any more physical abuse. Its that moment that one more kettlebell swing is beyond your abilities. When you’re staring down the barbell that’s sitting in front of you because lifting it seems like an impossible, Herculean task. When that wall-ball target seems like 15 m instead of 15 ft.

I’ve been there a lot. Hell, I’ve been there a lot this week alone. Its a bad place and you don’t want to be there. You’re sure that the pain is gonna last forever and the Sisyphean task you’ve been assigned will never end.

But it will. Time might seem like its stopped, but it hasn’t. Every single AMRAP I’ve done has ended. The clock runs out; all you gotta do is survive. You don’t need to beat anyone other than your own expectations, and as long as you try hard, you’ll do that.

My life seems like a metcon recently. Every morning is a challenge. There isn’t a day I don’t consider walking into my manager’s office and quitting and moving to a new city. Not. A. Day. But just like Crossfit, the clock is gonna run out. It isn’t today, and it probably won’t be tomorrow, or even next week, but soon I’ll finish and move on to something better. You just gotta keep strong, or as strong as you can manage, and do as much as you can. Unlike Crossfit, there isn’t a whiteboard for life; truly, the only person you compete with is yourself.

Just make sure you post a good score