Chop the Wood and Carry the Water

The theme of this recent Instagram post is relevant to Peterson Watch Co.'s proposition that we must be fully present, regardless of outcome.

(Swipe) @tomio_filiaci (on the erg) and @jennystevenson6 (cooling down on the Assault Bike) pulled their 2000m erg tests on Saturday. They both pulled gutsy pieces, but in different ways and with different outcomes.

Jenny knocked more than 7 sec. off her PR to get 7:13.2. She’d been hunting for 7:15 for two years, so she was pleased. If you look at her splits, you can see she held back a bit too much for the middle 1000, simply because she didn’t know what she was capable of. Once she saw an opening in the last 500, she dropped the hammer and f*cking TOOK it. It was an amazing sight. When she does this again she’ll pull a more consistent piece.

Tomio, whose last piece had been a 6:13.2 (pretty weird that his and Jenny’s PRs are X:13.2…), had the opposite experience in terms of pacing. He threw everything he had at the piece and came out with a 6:14.0. T was disappointed, but to get that close to a PR is still a success. If you look at his split for the last 500, you can see he slipped quite a bit. But he stuck with it, and did the best he could; you can’t ask for more than that. Like Jenny’s piece, it was an amazing sight – just in a different way.

Every athlete has a different psycho-physical makeup – which can manifest in all sorts of ways – and the athlete and the coach both have to understand what works and doesn’t for that individual. But the basics are always the same. Everyone has to follow generally accepted training and recovery protocols. And everyone has to do this one thing: chop the wood and carry the water. Focus on the task at hand, regardless.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have emotions. It just means, if you’re going to make a commitment to do something, be fully present for it. You may feel like you SHOULD be doing better at something, but “shoulds” often aren’t helpful. And there may be all sorts of things going on, but you’re still right here, right now, and you still have to finish the task at hand. What’s the alternative? . Chop the wood and carry the water.

#training #mindfulness #crossfitsouthbrooklyn #rowing #rowingtraining #concept2 #bepresent #bepresentinthemoment

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Nicholaas Peterson