Recognition
Posted in life on 19. Nov, 2009
I won an award on Sunday… it was the first award I’ve won in a long time. I wasn’t really expecting to win anything, which made it even better. Combine that with my general Debbie Downer day, and it made everything better.
What was the award? More on that later.
It’s funny… I have to admit that I felt a little “left out” when I wasn’t one of the people recognized during Client Recognition month at CrossFit. But then I realized that I don’t really deserve a workout named after me, at least yet. The people we’re recognizing have truly accomplished great things at our gym, over and beyond simply feeling, performing, and looking better. They’ve transformed their lives in some way. I’m still working on that, and I don’t need a workout named after me to know that.
That said, it feels damn good when someone notices what you do… which parlays right into the award.
My award was the “Superfly Rookie of the Year” award of the cycling instructors at Pure Austin. It means a lot, because it shows that people really do appreciate the work I put into my classes… programming workouts and making them work with music is not easy. Sometimes I question why I do this… between Pure, 24, IBM, and now CrossFit Central, I have like 4 jobs and it gets a little overwhelming. But knowing that I’m providing a support structure that enables a transformation in my clients, just like I had (and continue to have) a support structure around mine, is rewarding.
Despite the fact that us CrossFitters tend to dismiss “Globo Gyms” as useless, Pure Austin really has a ton to offer even the most hardcore CrossFitter. They’re constantly innovating (thanks for the Oly platforms!) and they’re always in a quest to make their members happy and successful.
Recognition is great… and it doesn’t have to be a cool award. It can be as simple as some kind words from a complete stranger. Have you recognized someone’s effort lately (in the gym, at work, at home… anywhere really)? If not, do it! Everyone needs some karma points.
I’m looking forward to some exciting stuff in the near future with Pure Austin and with CrossFit Central… more on that in another post.
Congrats! I just realized where I know you from.
I used to take your spin class at 24 hr. Small world!
B
I’m going to start calling you Superfly from this point forward. Congratulations on your much deserved award! You do so much for the community and it’s fab that someone finally noticed
Hey Eric!
I work out in one of Crystal’s CFW classes and found your blog through Central’s microcosm of bloggers. I really enjoy your blog and all of the posts over at Thelabelsayspaleo too! It seems like Central has really lit a fire under all of our asses to keep control through the holidays – we’re starting a challenge/mandatory food logging/paleo/zone program similar to yours in December.
My aunt just started PAC and I was curious to see if you were involved with that. So far, she’s only mentioned the name Shawn as one of the coaches. I’m also curious with how you incorporate CF with cycling and running. I read your post about preparation for the half (SA’s R n R was my first half!) which was vastly different to what Rogue’s training runs put us through. Do you think 2+ hours runs are beneficial? Also, how do you respond to runners’ food recommendations – chocolate milk after the workout, carbs?
Thanks for your help! And dude, congrats on being “Superfly”!!
-Lory
P.S. Maybe Central didn’t name a WOD after you because they didn’t have enough cycling equipment handy:
“Eric”
400m run
20 OH bike squats
1 mile bike ride
Hey Lory, thanks for the comments. The WOD is awesome… I should try that some time!
PAC is a great opportunity for Pure Austin athletes to get involved with an experienced coach in Shawn. Shawn’s an awesome athlete and a great coach… he got me to my first tri a couple years ago! I’m not personally involved with PAC, but I like what they’re doing. My only thing with most traditional endurance training programs is the amount of garbage miles you end up putting on your body. It’s been shown those miles just aren’t good for you!
To that end, if you’re not doing a consistent athletic training program like CrossFit, then using a CF Endurance method won’t work out too well. That’s also how you end up with endurance programs that make you do all those garbage miles.
From my experience, when I started CrossFitting, I stopped running. I had already gone through one full cycle of 13.1 training with Rogue, so I wanted to compare my experience. I stopped all the garbage miles. I did CrossFit 3 days a week, 1 track workout a week, and then every 2-3 weeks I ran the long run. What I found is that the combination is very powerful — I started PR-ing all the long run distances, and then I PR’d my next races!
As for the food recommendations, if you’re eating paleo, then the chocolate/dairy/carbs post-workout will probably just make you sick. On the paleo/zone diet, your post-workout nutrition should be a starchy carb, like sweet potato, the amount of which is proportionate to the amount of work (in terms of power output) you did (Fran requires more sweet potato than an easy 7-miler, for example). So starchy carbs after your track workouts, but a regular meal after your long runs should be fine. Just be careful to take the athlete zone prescription and up your fats.
See ya around the gym!
–e
Just catching up on my blog reading after the flu, congrats on the award SuperFly!