Teachable Moments.

So it’s last block and I am giving my students a run down of what is going on for this week since I”ll be missing two days of school for Regionals. A few students ask some questions about the competition, so I explain what I am in store for this weekend. Watching their eyes bug out after telling them some of the WODs was the best. This is my chattest class AND it's last block AND they were all silently listening to me. Score! A few of the boys ask me how well I need to do in order to make it to the next step in July, so I continue explaining the process. Another one of my students tells me to “WIN!” And there it was…..a teachable moment that I couldn’t pass up. Othello would have to wait a minute….so I told the class that it wasn’t about winning. Then another student says, “then why do they call it a competition?”
Valid Question. So I clarified what I meant….
We all want to win! Who doesn’t want to win? Winning is FUN and AMAZING! Yes, when I am regionals I will be trying to beat other girls. Yes, I want to see how well I can do on the leaderboard. Yes, I want to make it to the Crossfit Games in July. However, if that becomes the only thing that it is about, then problems arise and don’t feel you will ever be at your very best.
I explained to the class about my experience with muscle ups over the last two regionals and how I have my own personal goals to actually make it to that WOD and how I want to perform in that WOD along with lots of other goals, too….and those are just as important as beating the girl next to me. I have went all year long with passion, determination, and excitement working toward these personal goals, so this is about me and nobody else.
One girl in the front row piped up and said that is exactly what her track coach told her the other day and once she started focusing more on herself….she got a huge PR and, as a result, placed high in her track meet. Wow! Could this have been a better moment in class? Can I just go home now and call it a day? Anyway, that track coach sounds like a damn good guy. In fact, he has been doing Crossfit for just under a year now. I remember the day he asked me to help him get started!
I am lucky to have those types of coaches around me every day at Valley to remind me of what is important, even if they are my competition this weekend:) However, we will all be out there fighting our own personal battles though…… because that is what it is truly about.

I'm Back!

Well, here I am! (That is for YOU, my three followers of this blog. LOL)I know I stopped blogging for a while there. I got a little sick after the Open and my parents came into two for a few weeks to visit, which was awesome!!The Open was long but great! I stuck to my rules that I made for myself, which made the Open pretty smooth for me. Don’t get me wrong. Negative thoughts entered my head throughout the long 5 weeks of the Open. Although I do have to say I did a pretty good job kicking those negative thoughts in the ass! I really feel like this year’s Open has helped me in my mental game. Every time a negative thought entered my head I replaced it a positive one, a positive rep, or a feeling of excitement. Most importantly, these positive thoughts weren’t forced but rather I made myself actually BELIEVE them. I had to work hard to do this but as the weeks trudged on….I kept at it. As I am sitting here recaping the Open, I realized I need to be doing the same thing right now for Regionals!!! Regionals training has been tough –trying to get all the extra stuff in while also teaching. I was spoiled last year because regionals was after school got out. However, I did what I needed to do without feeling too sorry for myself or letting myself get into that "victim" mentality again:)I have to give a shout out to Jared, my hubby, for being so supportive with my crazy schedule and mood swings:):) In fact, I just gave my students this same speech last week in class. Since we got back from spring break, I caught three students cheating, have a long list of kids with missing homework, and, on top of that, students can’t even remember to bring their damn Othello books to class. I always joke with my students at the end of the year and tell them “not to fall off the ship.” “The ship is sailing and isn’t to port until mid-June.” This year one of the class clowns pipes up and says, “But what if we hit an iceberg?!” I respond, “Don’t worry. I am a good captain.” And we all have a laugh. I am desperate to motivate my students right now. I find myself in the same predicament every year at this time; it is very hard for the kids to focus and begin to feel like everyday we are one step closer to sinking. Will I change all of the kids? Absolutely not. However, I always try my best each year. This year I decided to tell them about my training program because most of the time if I talk about Crossfit they actually listen. I explained that I am at the gym for 2 to 3 hours every night doing workouts, strength, skills, and anything else to get ready for Regionals. Many nights have been spent in the parking lot of my gym, in the dark, alone, pushing/pulling weight. I explained to them that it would be easy for me to skip it, quit half way through, or go home to sleep, but I don’t. It is so much more important to me that my students learn work ethics, perseverance, and integrity rather than comma rules. So, I figure if I can try to model this to them as much as possible, it will help. On that note, I am so excited yet nervous for Regionals. I have a lot of goals set for myself that I have been thinking about since last year’s regional. These nerves have seemed to get the best of me lately, but I need to be my own damn captain- nobody can do it for me. I need to control my thoughts like I did in the Open so I don’t let any 70 pound icebergs throw me around. I am the one in control!! Let’s do this!