I read this quote a few days ago, and it actually took some time to sink in and think about…
“The suffering is so intense, that it’s absolutely cleansing. The pain is so deep and strong that a curtain descends over your brain….Once, someone asked me what pleasure I took in riding for so long. ‘PLEASURE???? I said.’ ‘I don’t understand the question.’ I didn’t do it for the pleasure; I did it for the pain.†– Lance Armstrong
I totally get it! I have spent years competing. In Judo – where i have represented my country for many years, and then in CrossFit, where I have fought, and succeeded for a place at the Regionals in 2014 and 2015.
We put ourselves through these workouts… and yes, it actually hurts! Every single person who is competing in the Open will have finished a workout and been left rolling around on the floor – thinking what the fuck! Incoherent and bemused yet satisfied!
What pleasure is there in feeling your lungs hurt, and your muscles cry?! Well there is pleasure… there is pleasure in pain.
Having competed and fought for a place at the European/ Meridian Regionals for two years, I was a bit – no let’s re-phrase that… very down… not to be in ‘that fighting place’ this year. A shoulder injury has set me back this year, and I was thinking about not entering the Open for 2016.
But then I remembered why I love this sport. I love the pain. I thrive off the feeling of hurting. Of putting myself into ‘that’ place where nothing else matters apart from the few seconds in front of you where someone somewhere next to you is screaming at you to pick the bar up/ move faster/ push harder/ not to put it down.
We all look for that small thing that will enable us to do such things, and I can honestly say that the guys at RockTape have literally held me together. My specialist has told me that I have a few tears in my shoulder, but that I am OK to train as long as I can manage the pain. Well the team at Rocktape have done a fantastic job of advising me on taping methods to help aid my recovery and also ways to support my shoulder. Not to mention their roller… its super dreamy when you have any niggles post WOD!
So thank you Team RockTape… For keeping me going week in week out…so I can feel the pain that CrossFit can bring…And experience the pleasure!
Many thanks
Beth Hoggarth