“What pressure?”

“When I compete”

“Just think of it as another workout and have fun”

Hmmm, Good Point.

That was a from a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago, and although it’s not exactly word-for-word that’s more or less what was covered and it stuck in my head.

When someone plays a sport, has a hobby or does pretty much anything their actions are driven by two different types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation originates from within and is associated with personal enjoyment or feelings of fulfillment (e.g. running because you love being outside and it makes you happy); whereas extrinsic motivation is derived from external sources and is associated with a reward (e.g. running a race to win prizes or money) and people are typically motivated by a combination of the two. However, while both extrinsic and intrinsic factors are super important, if you to want stick with something and avoid burnout I believe it is the intrinsic factors that really matter.

ON BEING COMPETITIVE

So Here’s the Thing

I am a very competitive person and I can get competitive with pretty much anyone or anything (friends, family members, inanimate objects), but the person I get most competitive with is myself. I want to excel at (almost) everything but even when I do a part of me always thinks I could have done just a little bit better. Now I like to compete for a number of reasons…. its fun, it makes me push my comfort zone and I feel super alive (intrinsic) but I admit I also really like ‘title’ or ‘recognition’ that comes along with winning (extrinsic). If I don’t win that doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun along the way or step outside my comfort zone (although the disappointment of losing sometimes makes me forget that I did) but if I’m not having fun anymore not only is ‘the win’ less likely to happen but it’s not as satisfying if it does.

Competition (official or me deciding to compete against someone often without their knowledge) motivates me to keep going when I want to give up because it gives me something (or someone) to chase. When I have a goal I push myself to try things that scare me…

Check out the full post on Coach Taryn’s blog: Go Hard Get Strong

Event 1: log 1 rep max clean and jerk.
Pretty jazzed on having one of the top scores across all weight classes.

Event 2: Sandbag toss. Adam went beast mode and forced me to try to keep up! We won that one by a landslide (both being over 6' helped there)

Event 3: the triple carry... Adam legitimately blacked out during the first carry. Rallied and followed up with a 500lb yoke carry (he still doesn't remember this). We came into this event in first and I assumed we'd lost it after that... Which Adam and I were both totally ok with because we were having fun... And because he lay on the ground borderline unconscious for about 45minutes after.

Event 4: the stones. After doing some math and realizing we were coming into the final in a 3 way tie for first I had to go to Adam (who was now sitting up... Barely) and the conversation went something like this "Adam, I've got bad news. We're not out of this. We're tied for first. So ima need you to get up and pickup some rocks with me and let's win this shit"
"...how long is the event?"
"2 minutes, want to practice some stones?"
"No... No energy for that (chugs an OJ and slowly stands up)... let's do this"

We went on to be the only team to finish all the stones. Securing us first place in the most competitive weight class!

Thank you to @crossfitsquamish & Jesse & the whole team for hands down my favorite competition every year. To the @raincityathls crew for coming out. @athlete_inside for always being everywhere. @ryu_apparel for the epic gear. @endurapparel for my favorite socks.

Final shoutout to the 2 MVPs of the event: my partner Adam for forcing me out of retirement to do this event with him, and @walesyyy for making my arms look incredible.

#doitforthegram
#thordoestheexerciseandspamstheinternets
#thordoesntdocardio
#stonesandstrength