Long time, no posts. Ive been busy, but we all know ‘I’m too busy’ is often more along the lines of ‘it’s not a priority’ and/or a lame attempt to justify not doing what you should have. So, I’ll spare you the lame excuses and simply say ‘I’m baaaack'(NOT meant to be said in the creepy way Jack Nicholson did in The Shining; I’m hoping I’m not that creepy or scary)!

During the past few weeks a few personal truths (as opposed to universal truths, to the extent there truly are any…gee, is it obvious I studied philosophy????) have revealed themselves to me:

1) I like competing, but it isn’t the ‘be all and end all’ nor perhaps as important as I’d once thought. I went into this year’s Open at what I’d probably describe as 60-70% prepared in terms of overall fitness, skills development and conditioning. I did ok, not as well as last year, or as well as I’d like, but most importantly, me and my knee survived intact. Could I have trained harder, smarter, etc? Probably, but in the context of various circumstances, I did the best I could with what I had. Did finishing 25th (Masters 40-44 in Europe) see me beating myself up, getting upset or questioning the competition? No. Simply went in, got the WODs done and moved on. I enjoyed returning to competition and getting back to WODing, but it didn’t and doesn’t define me.

2) Nutrition is a lot more important to my feeling good and training well than I’d realised. Although it now seems far too obvious, but, by and large eating REAL foods yields real results! Eat well and I train and feel well. Similarly, by eating well I don’t mean never having chocolate, pizza or the like; I’m not banishing any food to the ‘I will never eat’ pile. Equally, what works for me isn’t ‘labelled’ (as in it’s ‘paleo’, ‘low carb’, ‘high fat’, ‘Mediterranean, etc.) or dogmatic; I’ve worked out what (currently) works for me. Depending on how I feel, I’ve begun to understand how this is and can be influenced by my nutrition.

3) There’s a lot more to training than just strength training. Yeah, it’s fair to say most people probably think of me in terms of strength stuff, but I can honestly say the last few weeks have seen me doing more running, rowing, gymnastics and kettlebells than I’ve done in a long time. I’ve been running and actually enjoying it(though my knee may take a bit of ‘convincing’). Bodyweight circuits have featured regularly in my training. I’m beginning to think my focus on strength training was like going to an all you can eat buffet and only eating salad; that is, rather limited (not to mention limiting).

4) Injuries provide us with the opportunity to be either very smart or very stupid. Suffer an injury and you can work on finding ways to enhance recovery and train around it (assuming some form of training is possible) or you can try to keep pushing on and through the pain/discomfort. If your life or that of loved ones was dependent on gutting it out, I would totally understand and ‘get it’. When however pushing through pain in a WOD, competition or training may result in a permanent injury that could prove to be life altering, I’m at a loss to understand why anyone would do so? Assuming you’re fit to play, play hard, but play smart.

5) A lot of what I’d thought ‘impossible’ is entirely possible with the right attitude and approach. All too often ‘quick’ and/or ‘easy’ solutions are offered as the way to achieve results, whether it be weight loss, adding kilos to your squat, writing a blockbuster, revealing six pack abs or getting rich. I think it’s safe to say that in all but the very rarest of instances, very few big achievements happen quickly or easily. Typically, it’s only through consistent, persistent efforts that lofty goals are attained. Thinking you’re going to achieve big things quickly or easily is probably setting you up for little more than disappointment. Conversely, if you’re prepared to work long and hard you will likely find you’re capable of achieving and accomplishing a great deal more than you may have initially thought. Mission possible.