Prepared to Fail

This past week, I had a couple of workouts that proved to be outside my ability. On paper, I could tell they would be brutally tough, but somehow the thought never crossed my mind that I would fail to complete it. CJ had given me several difficult EMOMs (every minute on the minute work) in the past few weeks and prided myself on being able to complete them as they were written. This week was a totally different story.

What was the difference?

Everything. I cannot compare EMOM a, b, c, etc. They are all unique in reps, movements, surrounding workouts, and evilness. I cannot think that success in one EMOM ranks higher than another. I had to tell myself this a few times.

Frustration

During the minute that I realized I couldn’t physically complete the assigned work, I experienced my oh-so-typical anger and frustration at myself. Why can’t I do this? Am I not giving enough effort? Is this all that I have? Every four-letter word was vocalized too.

The Take-Away

Once the rage and total self-disdain wore off, I got a chance to reflect on the training sessions with on open mind and heart. Maybe, I thought to myself, I wasn’t supposed to finish those EMOMs. Maybe that wasn’t the point of the workout. Maybe I am missing something…

I need to be ready to fail.

There is so much to be learned from failure. Not only does it open my eyes to the way I respond when I encounter disappointment, the experience also helps me adapt to it better.  It doesn’t do me much good to always crush a workout and walk away feeling all warm and fuzzy. That isn’t reality. That isn’t competition. And that sure-as-shit isn’t Regionals.

How will I respond when shit hits the fan? My knee-jerk reaction is to want to punch a wall, punt a foam roller, or something destructive like that. My challenge is to remain calm and collected and press on. This week I encountered good training for that and I am prepared to fail.

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