Taranis Titan Challenge 2013
It has taken me a little longer to write about this than it
has in previous years because this year, unlike others, was almost overwhelming
and in a very positive way. In past years we have never seen the kind of
support for an athlete, be it supportive text messages and emails and phone
calls all the way to so many people making the trip down to support Jen. Hell
even I was getting Text messages and emails because not everyone had Jen's
contact info! The outpouring had a lot to do with the athlete that we sent as
well as what our little gym has become. Of both of these reasons I am
incredibly proud. The gym is realizing my original vision of what my dream gym
would be and to say that I am proud of Jen as an athlete, a coach, a
representative of our gym and most importantly as a friend is a colossal
understatement.
Jen being a very numbers oriented person told me that she,
"felt really good about the weekend and all the amazing support she has
received, but between you and me (she) didn't do very well numbers
wise." I understand where Jen is
coming from but have to disagree with her. THE LEADERBOARD DOES NOT TELL THE
WHOLE STORY. In fact it is a very small part of it, almost inconsequential in
this case.
This time last year Jen and Freddy came down to Victoria
Leading into the last few weeks before the competition, as
with any athlete competing for the first time on a pretty big stage, Jen had
doubts. Was she good enough, did she work hard enough, was she going to
embarrass herself? After a few long
conversations she was reassured that she would be just fine. With her build we
were really hoping for a good balance of heavy weight and "gymnasty"
stuff. When the workouts were released this was not the case, lots of high volume,
lots of light weights and an entire workout that was a gymnastics skill she
couldn't do. She was disappointed but worked hard to stay optimistic.
When it was game time Jen flipped a switch and was ready to
go. She attacked the workouts with intelligent aggression and pulled out some
amazing times. They were not the top times of the competition but they were
easily PR times for her. She was able to take her game to a whole new level
when it mattered. Now I know you all are thinking that I am going to say that
the sled pull workout where she came in 5th overall is the workout I am most
proud of Jen for but it is not. I'm not going to lie, it was spectacular and I
have never seen Jen just grit her teeth and grind it out to that extent. Keep
in mind that regionals athletes and some of the best CrossFitters in BC were
collapsing and crumbling during this workout while Jen seemed to be able to
just keep running. No, I am probably most proud of the workout that Jen would
deem her biggest failure. She was more than giddy about doing the barbell
complex, after all this was dead centre in her wheelhouse. She lost focus for
only a moment and it ended in almost the worst case scenario. On top of that
she had 1 minute to get her act together and tackle the workout that was
completely outside of what she knew she could do, burpee bar muscle-ups. Jen's
intelligence as an athlete shone through and she went straight for the burpee
chest to bar pull-ups (also not her strength but at least she could do a few)
and went after them as hard as she could. She ended with 27 in 5 minutes and
had removed a good portion of her skin on her left hand in the act but her
quick thinking and ability to regain composure after something so devastating
was in itself spectacular. After all greatness doesn't come from following the
easy path it comes from overcoming adversity.
All weekend Jen navigated the event with poise and
character, smiling all the way. Never before have I seen an athlete in a sport
as competitive as CrossFit make friends with athletes from competing gyms to
the point that those people from the other gyms start cheering for her....even
though one of their athletes is competing in the same heat. As a representative
of our gym Jen is unbelievable. She competes with courage, honour and a sense
of character that I have not seen in a competitor before. While she feels that
she placed low, her 22nd place is our 1st place. Her power does not come from
the number that she placed in a competition, her power comes from her ability
to inspire us all to work harder to achieve greater things. Her power comes
from the fact that almost half the gym made the trip down to cheer her on. Her
power comes from that smile, even on a cardboard cut out it is infectious, and
her ability to use it no matter the obstacles that face her.
Jen from the bottom of my heart I want to thank you for your
colossal effort this past weekend. I want to thank you for being an absolute
dream athlete to coach. I want to thank you for elevating our gym to the place
that I had dreamed it would go. I want to thank you for the best fucking 22nd
place finish I have ever seen!
All right enough of this sappy garbage lets go lift some
heavy shit!