12/21 Mental Toughness Thursday and Festivus Miracles

Red Feather has beautiful form in her toes to barbell feat of strength. #festivuswod
Today's workout is a repeat from almost exactly one year ago today, we did it last year on December 22. Of course, this year we are doing the Festivus WOD on December 22. 
Repeating workouts is an excellent way to see if you've increased your fitness. CrossFit defines fitness as increased work capacity. Before we found CrossFit, most of us lacked an observable, measurable and repeatable definition of fitness. We thought we were fit if we felt better or looked better. Sure, those are aspects of fitness, but they are aspects that are hard to measure. 
One of the benefits of CrossFit training is the measurement of fitness through how fast we run or row, how many unbroken pull-ups or double unders we can do, how much weight we can deadlift, squat or press, etc. In fact, we try to measure as many fitness variables as we can.
While all of these measurements can validate our hard work and help us stay motivated to continue our training, they can also highlight our weaknesses. It takes only about 2 months of consistent CrossFit training for us to be unceremoniously humiliated by our weaknesses. 
It takes a lot of mental toughness to work on our weaknesses. It's way more fun and wholly enjoyable to work on the things we're good at. But, to deliberately practice what we suck at, well, that takes letting go of our ego and being willing to admit we're not perfect. Why is this so damn hard?
Most folks would rather avoid the things they're not good at. But, they remain frustrated and angry when those things come up in a WOD. What are they waiting for, a Festivus miracle? Working on our weaknesses will help increase our mental and physical fitness. Want to be a better person? Work on the things you suck at. Good luck! 

Kramer declares two miracles in the Festivus episode of Seinfeld. Of course neither are true miracles and both are funny! "Duane did 50 burpees without dropping the F bomb even once!" is more along the lines of a Festivus miracle we can understand. Or "Matt did five rounds of deadlifts without using all the chalk. It's a Festivus miracle!" Stuff like that we can all relate to. So what's your Festivus miracle? Let us know in the comments and on social media with the hashtag #festivuswod any Festivus miracles you observe!

Click Here for The WOD