are you good enough?

Many years ago when I was training for Ironman New Zealand, I rode with a cycling team in Albuquerque.  At that time, a "retired" cyclist approached me, suggesting I had serious talent and he was interested in coaching me.  It was an exciting idea: that someone saw enough in me to take me on and lead me toward greatness.  But there was a twist.  I would have to give up running.  He was firm on that, as he knew that I loved to run and knew it would detract from becoming a great cyclist.


We all know the end result of that proposition, but the interesting aspect is that it was a virtual no-brainer for me.  Never could I imagine willingly giving up my passion for running, even with the promise of becoming exceptionally skilled at another sport.

Enter CrossFit.  Ever since Tim and I first started training (me less consistently than he), I have faced this "no-brainer" several times.  In the early days of the sport, when we watched the games in Aromas, I watched the women perform a few workouts in a weekend and asked myself, "Could I do that?"  Maybe.

In 2009, Tim competed in the regionals in Aromas and again I asked myself, "Could I be good enough to be here?"  He trained at a gym in San Jose, which is owned by a phenomenal female competitor, and I would watch her and wonder, "Could I ever be at her level?"  Each time, I answered with a maybe, but being in the middle of rearing a mess of mini-me's, I focused on family and running.  Essentially, it was always a no-brainer for a variety of reasons. 
This weekend in San Jose, CrossFit athletes from the Northern California region competed in the CrossFit Regional Qualifier Competition.  It was an incredible spectacle of talent, guts and spirit.  Without going too into the details of who did what, which can be found HERE, athletes gave it their all and performed several workouts over the course of three days.  Once again, I watched the women and wondered, "Could I reach the level of qualifying for regionals?"  With my body returning to normal after three kids and access to a gym whenever I can arrange childcare, is there an excuse not to go for it?  Well, yes.  I know that in order to commit to being competitive in CrossFit (and I am in no way saying I have the skill to get to any level at all!), I would need to put running on hold.  At least my passion for running long distance.
Tim has never actually told me I do not have what it takes to make it to this regional level, but he has also never indicated that he sees that "something" in me that I know he sees in others.  I love CrossFit and "competing" against myself and others at our box.  But I love running and how it feeds my soul.  Every time I watch a CrossFit competition I will wonder if I could ever be as good as those competing, but I already know that I love running and for now I will continue to stick with what I know, love and am good at. Would it be fun to compete against the best CrossFitters out there? Well, sure, but the joy that comes from pushing myself to be a better runner, winning my age group, or just finishing a long ultra simply cannot be measured.  Just this morning I laced up my Inov8s and hit the road.  I am finding new joys in becoming more efficient and finding that effortless running.  The best part is our kids have the best of both worlds: they love CrossFit because that is what we do and what provides for us, and they love running because...I guess because I love it.

Some truths hold no matter what passes.