Have You Recovered Yet?

AFFILIATE STORIES: OUR NAME  |  CrossFit Tides — Saint Joseph, MI

“Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth. CrossFit Tides was chosen because we thought that the rise and fall of an athlete’s fitness is the combined effect of our programming, coaching, and training philosophy resulting in the athletes success.”

Cory Cortese of Pearland CrossFit debunks one of the biggest myths about CrossFit, that you have to be fit to join: “I started this journey about 3-and-a-half years ago and I was about 380 pounds. Today, as I sit here I’m under 265 pounds.”

In March of 2016, a 28-year-old husband and father of two small children went missing from his home in lower central Michigan. The man, a marine, had battled Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression. His wife alerted the police and his friends, fellow marines who began searching the woods and lakes. Three weeks later, a state police helicopter spied the man’s blue and white Ford Bronco amid a stand of trees in the exurbs of Detroit. Geoffrey Bowen was dead from apparent suicide.

Not half an hour from Abbott’s home, a bunch of strangers were getting together on a Sunday morning to raise money under Bowen’s name. Not one of them was family to Bowen. Not one them had fought for the 2/6. Even more suspicious to Abbott, somehow CrossFit was involved. On the morning of, Abbott drove to the gym, CrossFit Inspire in Malvern. He stubbed a cigarette out on the strip mall parking lot, and headed in, hackles fully raised.

“Christmas Abbott on Breaking Through Training Purgatory” by Christmas Abbott

In all workouts, training cycles, or programs there is a start, middle, end. The beginning is exciting! It’s fresh, so you are energized and your focus is laser sharp. You are all in, one hundred percent, doing all the required tasks and staying on top of it completely. You have a game plan in mind and are thrilled to be doing whatever work needs to get done. Whether it’s a multi-week program or a 10 minute AMRAP, the beginning is like flirting — fun and exciting with high hopes of victory!

The end is very similar to the beginning. You aren’t as fresh as the start but you can actually see the END! That knowledge gives you power and reaffirms your hard work to that point where you can keep going and happily drudge through the final parts to complete your task. You are IN IT because you have worked so hard, and there is no pulling you away from that finish line! The thrill of the hopeful ending is back, full force, and you are ready to reap the rewards.

The middle, or as I prefer to call it, purgatory, is that ungodly part of training where you just want it to be over, when you don’t care if you win or lose. You can’t see the end goal anymore. It’s not fun. It hurts. There’s no end in sight. It’s worse than hell.