The Pain That Comes With Success

We see athletes and think, wow I wish I was like that. It would be so awesome to be that in-shape. It’s a fleeting thought, maybe with a hint of jealousy. That “shape” doesn’t come without pain. Facebook and day to day posts highlight all the great accomplishments, as they should, but what people don’t see is the work. The hours and hours of pain put in to get there.

16.1 crossfit open workout was a brutal 20 minutes of pure exhaustion. The pain didn’t set in until after. It isn’t one work out and then you take a week to recover. It is one day of working out, that will be followed by another and another and another.  Today; away from home I dragged myself to a gym as a visitor. You always feel just a tad self-conscious as a visitor at a gym, even though they are super welcoming.

I was tired. I was hungry. I was sore. I showed up.

That workout was also brutal. By the sixth rope climb, I had effectively rope burned all the skin off the outside of my right leg. The 8 rounds of squat snatches nearly destroyed my already severely sore bum. 21-15-9 of calorie row and toes to bar effectively deteriorated any remaining portions of my body that weren’t already sore. My shoulders are done. My abs are done. My legs were done before I started and have reached and all new level of numbing pain.

I lay in my hotel bed, trying to find the motivation to roll out my throbbing legs. Everything hurts and I am starving, but so sore and exhausted from the work out that I feel a bit too sick to eat any more than I already have.  I am so exhausted that I kind of want to cry. I know if I don’t roll out my legs I may not be able to walk tomorrow without a lot of pain. And to be clear, foam rolling hurts like hell. The groans let out during foam rolling are not groans of pleasure.

Now when I see someone who is in incredible shape, I have pure respect. I know the pain they have put in to get there.

The hours of work

The ice baths

The Ibuprofen

The dates with friends skipped for sleep in order to recover for the next workout.

So why do it? Are abs really worth all that? No. They aren’t. But every new personal record is worth every ounce of pain. An entire gym of friends cheering you on when you accomplish a new goal is worth it. Not feeling exhausted from daily tasks is worth it. It’s not about having a perfect body; it’s about something that is so much bigger. It’s about building confidence and realizing how amazing the human body is.

And I mean at the end of the day I figure it will give me better odds of surviving a zombie apocalypse