Being part of CrossFit Skirmish is a journey where each week you progress, develop and find out something new about yourself. Eleanor Graff, ‘Ellie’ has been with us since our launch and has inspired us with her strength of body and mind. This is Ellie’s blog – enjoy.
“It’s often quoted that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill, so with having been to around 140 (or so!) CrossFit Skirmish sessions since the beginning of the year, at that rate it means I’ve got a few more WODs to go before I master skills like the ever-elusive pull-up, let alone a handstand push-up! However, due to all those 140 hours so far, I have already seen improvements in my physical strength, and not only that, I think my mental strength has grown too.
The great thing about CrossFit is that you are part of a team, with everyone willing each other on to do their personal best, but at the same time you are ‘competing’ against yourself. I’ve walked away from sessions feeling like I’m walking on cloud nine having lifted heavy or had a great WOD, but at other times have left feeling disappointed and frustrated and like my body has let me down. It’s at those times that I have to tell myself to use those days as motivation to keep ‘practising’, know that if I keep training and trying to keep on track with eating well (a daily challenge!) then I’ll continue to get better. I feel like CrossFit Skirmish is training my brain as well as my body…
The mental benefits of CrossFit have also spread into every day life too. One day last week, having had a very stressful day where I just wanted to hide under the bedcovers and eat chocolate, I went to CrossFit Skirmish. There was no space in my head to think about anything other than finding the energy to fire out the next burpee and getting in a box jump without the dreaded shin vs box scenario. An hour later, the stresses of the day had completely disappeared and were replaced with post-WOD feel-good factor.
After each session, I always write down what weight I lifted, or what time I got in a WOD so that I can track my progress, but I think I’m going to start documenting my mental ‘training’ too, who knows where I’ll be after 10,000 hours!”
CrossFit Skirmish