AO: Lightning Rod
QIC: Slash
PAX: Kiwi, Free Lunch
Conditions
High 50s, clear and dark. Groundskeeper saw us coming and turned on the football field lights. Perfect conditions for a banger.
Warm up
SSH x20
Mosey to field
(Slash scrambles to get EMOM timer + speakers set up)
3rd grade exercise x10
Alligators x10
Forward + reverse arm circles x10 (each way)
Worlds Greatest Stretch x 10
The Thang
Performed IronPax Week 3!
Strong performance by Free Lunch and Kiwi. We all finished by 6:30am.
COT
“Don’t Try”
It was my first time playing golf last weekend in about 20 years, and something interesting occurred to me. I wanted to do well-enough but wasn’t overly concerned about it. I put in the right amount of effort and didn’t overthink it. I did better than I thought I would (not great, just good enough)! But interestingly, on any hole I tried too hard, the ball ended up betraying me. By not getting in my mind (i.e. trying too hard) and just playing, it reminded me of being in a flow state where I’m applying the right amount of effort without thinking about it.
It also reminded me of the motto on Charles Bukowski’s tombstone: “Don’t Try”. On the surface it seems pretty negative, but I think his intention is to say “do the thing, find the flow and get out of your head about whether you can or not”.
Kiwi brought up points about the power of surrendering and allowing our lives to unfold – being aware of the moment and adapting to it versus spending energy on trying to make it something it’s not. It’s also about giving up on the stories we tell ourselves, “I could never do 100 burpees”.
Free Lunch had a good example of getting lost in his own stories during the IPC beatdown. Once he gave up those internal narratives and just focused on the run, he got faster.
Rock on, Slash!
F3 Portland 