Every Second Counts + Groove = Gen X Weekend Warriors

(and a race report…)

People use the expression “work hard, play harder” all the time. And I think they mean it, but I think most people use the phrase for that one bender of a weekend or that show they saw Wednesday night and had to work early the next day. I think I’ve found a group of friends who epitomize “work hard, play harder.”

Imagine the movie “Every Second Counts” — a movie about some elite CrossFitters experience leading up to and including the Crossfit Games.  Then imagine the movie Groove — a movie about the San Francisco party underground that juxtaposes “real life” with “club life.”  That’s “work hard, play harder.”  And while our lives are quite a bit different in both camps, the intersection of the two is the best way I can characterize 2010 so far.

Somehow we balance jobs, training, racing, and nightlife in a way that seems perfectly ok, but I wonder when it all comes crashing down around me.  This was last week:

Sunday: spend the day with friends at an Alzheimer’s benefit.  Drink copious amounts of champagne mixed with tequila shots (ironic? perhaps.). Go to bed late.

Monday: work all day, CrossFit.

Tuesday: work all day, CrossFit, teach spin class.

Wednesday: coach a morning track workout, work all day, tuneup bike ride, coach evening track workout, host a party, drink all night (it was Cinco De Mayo, after all).

Thursday: coach a morning spin class, work all day, tuneup swim, dinner with friends, drinks in celebration of other friends’ wedding.

Friday: took the day off of work. Easy workout, errands, go to friends’ wedding, go to bars after said wedding, stay up almost all night.

Saturday: coach a morning CrossFit class, try to pick up the drunken pieces (imagine the scene in Groove at the End Up), go to a party barge and try not to drink (I do have a race on Sunday, after all).  Go home, eat dinner, pack race bag, sleep.

Sunday: wake up at 4:50, arrive at race around 6:30, race at 8, home by 12. Brunch at 1, long ass nap, get groceries, cook. Sleep!

That’s a normal week for me… just move around the training days and the drinking days and somehow it works.

I have to say that when I race, I’m jealous of the people who can dedicate their time to training and being “clean.”  There’s a certain guilt associated with this lifestyle (at least for me).  I think that’s because there’s the elephant in the room — if I wasn’t out drinking all week, I’d do so much better at these athletic feats.  But at what cost?

My strict CrossFit friends only hang out with other CrossFitters who eat paleo and drink Makers or NorCal margaritas.  My triathlon friends only hang out with other triathletes who rarely drink, eat tons of carbs, and go out on long rides and runs every weekend.  My non-athletic friends do whatever the hell they want.  I’m tired of having to “pick a side.”  I want it all, and I want it all to work.

Perhaps that’s the downfall of Gen X — we want our (paleo) cakes, and we want to eat the whole damn thing with (paleo) ice cream, on a unicorn.  Why?  Because we can.  At what cost?  Who cares… just as long as I’m happy. (aside: I know that’s a long leap from the previous paragraph to this one. I’m not in the business of writing a thesis, this is just the way I feel at the moment… hell, I don’t even know how I got to this point)

It sounds self-centered, and perhaps it is.

(another aside: I read this back before I clicked “Publish,” and I realize it may come off as a) pretentious, b) whiny, or c) narcissistic. or any combination of the above. Again, realize that I’m attempting to write down how I feel and what’s been going on… not to tell you about my training log, but instead of tell how what the rest of my life looks like. It’s a vent at the moment. Deal.)

So I had a race on Sunday… The Rookie Tri.  And once again, I did… ok. Actually I did worse than I thought.  I was all amped on Sunday because I thought I PR’d, when I actually got 10 seconds slower.  I know exactly where it was.  This is the magic of repeating races, which coincidentally is one of the reasons CrossFit works — comparisons and benchmarks.

Event	2010	2009
Swim 300m	9:26	9:36
T1	2:55	2:19
Bike 11.2mi	32:40	32:19
T2	1:21	1:52
Run 2mi	14:53	14:58

So… this is a wake up call for me that perhaps things have gotten a little out of balance, and it’s time to bring things back in line. We’ll see how I do on my next few rides and races, and hopefully I can maintain my existing relationships and get back to those PRs and achievements.