7 Minutes, 170+ Burpees, 1 Inspiring Couple

Every year, CrossFit hosts its version of the Olympic Games: the CrossFit Games.  All CrossFitters worldwide, regardless of experience or ability, are invited to participate in the CrossFit Open, the initial qualifying rounds for the Games.  A new WOD ("Workout of the Day") is announced each week for the five week duration of the Open.  Last week was the first week, and the first workout was the following:

As Many Burpees As Possible in 7 Minutes 
     *Requirements: body to the floor (chest and thighs), push-up, hop in, jump up 6" off the floor

I am not competing and had not done this workout...until I teamed up with three of my favorite YMCA class participants, my friend Ginger and married couple, Angie and Frank Hopkins.  Randomly, we decided to meet up before my 5:30pm class last night to give this nasty WOD a go.  We had no precise measuring method for the 6" jump and no judge to count our reps; we simply did it on our own to see how it felt and to challenge ourselves.  Frank and Angie ROCKED all 7 minutes of this thing!  See the photo above of them tackling the monster together.  Angie scored something like 74 reps, while Frank hit 97 (if my memory serves me correctly).  Wow!  They then went ahead and did my hour-long Total Strength Extreme class immediately afterwards.

SPECIAL NOTE: Angie and Frank are new to CrossFit.  In fact, Angie and Frank are new to fitness in general.  See below for a visual demonstration that shows just how far Frank has come...

"Don't Throw Away Your Confidence"

Self-confidence can be a very fragile thing for most of us.  We are not alone in worrying that we are not good enough sometimes: Am I a good enough parent? Am I fit/ smart/ attractive/ successful enough?  


I met with a girlfriend of mine yesterday, and over a normal hour of girl-talk in the pool, she somehow figured out that I've been struggling a bit with self-confidence lately.  She sent me this passage from the daily devotional she reads via email within hours of our get-together.  Thank you, dear Mary, for thinking of me, for taking the time to pass this along, and for knowing just what I needed to hear at just the right moment in time.  


I hope that this passage gives you faith to believe in yourself just a little bit more today.  Share what is good about you/ what you love about yourself with others.  I will try to do the same.


August 3, 2011

Don’t Throw Away Your Confidence
Renee Swope

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV)

One night I was cleaning our kitchen and found this little rubber thingy on our countertop. It wasn’t until after I threw it away that I realized it was the power button for our TV remote control. As I dug through the trash to find it, I regretted how quickly I’d thrown it away.

Then, as I reached to pull it out, I sensed God showing me that’s how easily I throw away my confidence—without recognizing it.

It’s usually very subtle. Sometimes I’ll be thinking about something I want to do or sense God calling me to, and a feeling of uncertainty comes over me and whispers to my heart, You can’t do that. You’re not good enough. Out of the blue, I’ll just get that awful, insecure feeling.

Too many times in the past I’ve gone along with it, tossing my confidence into the trash without even thinking.

For years, I didn’t tell anyone about my lack of confidence because I figured if I told them all the reasons I doubted myself, they’d see my flaws and agree with me. Honestly, I was convinced I was the only one who struggled with doubt.

However, I didn’t call it doubt. Maybe you don’t either. Sometimes I called it worry—worry that I was going to disappoint someone, worry that I might make a mistake and get criticized for it, worry that I might start something but not be able to finish.

Other times I’d call it fear—fear that I wouldn’t measure up, fear that I’d look stupid, fear that I’d look prideful thinking I could do something special for God. What I’ve realized over the past several years is that these feelings may end up as fear or worry, but their source is self-doubt.

Looking back, I see a pattern in my thinking that led to the pattern of my doubting.

As a child I thought I wasn’t worth keeping. My insecurity kept me from riding the carousel at an amusement park, because I doubted my dad would wait for me. In school, I thought I wasn’t smart enough. I avoided some great opportunities because they came with the risk of failure.

Even as a young bride, I doubted my worth in my husband’s eyes. Although he gave me no reason to fear he’d ever leave me, our newlywed memories include a lot of arguments based on my insecurities.

What about you? Do you ever question your worth as a woman? How often do you agree with the whispers of self-doubt and throw away confidence that should be yours as a child of God?

I’ve learned to ask God to show me when I’m tempted to throw away my confidence and then depend on Him to help me throw away my insecurities instead. Want to join me? Let’s hold onto God’s promises and depend on His truth for the security we need and the confidence we long for:

• When self-doubt whispers, “I can’t do that. I’m going to fail and look foolish.” Throw away that lie away and hold onto this truth (even say it out loud): “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6, NIV 1984)

• When self-doubt whispers, “I’ll never change.” Throw away that lie away and claim this truth: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in [me] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6, NASB)

• When self-doubt whispers, “This is too hard for me. I don’t have what it takes to…” Throw away that lie away and hold onto this truth: “No, in all these things [I am] more than a [conqueror] through him who loved [me].” (Romans 8:37, NIV)

Lord, I want to become a woman with a confident heart in Christ. Will you help me recognize when I throw away my confidence, and remind me to throw away my insecurities instead? I want to persevere in Your truth so that when I have done Your will, I will receive what You have promised. When doubt or insecurity tells me I can’t do something, I will remember that all things are possible to her who believes.

Thought For The Day

I and three other amazing instructors (Leonard Wheeler, Elizabeth Kapsiak, and Monica Patterson) taught the Weekend Warrior Bootcamp this weekend at the Siskey YMCA in Matthews, NC.  We had fantastic weather, a great crowd, and crazy challenging sessions both Saturday and Sunday.

The YMCA tradition is to have its group exercise instructors read an inspirational/ religious thought for the day after each class.  At the end of Saturday's session, I read the following quote to our Weekend Warriors:

"Whatever we truly love - our friends, our family, beauty and goodness - it is a gift of love from God.  Cherish these gifts.  Enjoy them.  Return trust with trust.  Return love with love...and stay loose. He loves you the way He made you."

                                                    -Louis I. Bannan, S.J. (1914-1998)

Father Lou Bannan, a Jesuit priest and long time teacher and counselor at Santa Clara University, was my great uncle.