Grace (not just a crossfit workout)

It always amuses me when people ask me what my "long term life plans" are.  Life is like the honey badger, he just don't give a shit!  Life does not care if you have plans to do a 9:30:00 Ironman or to retire at 60 years old.  At some point, every person alive will be faced with mounting pressure and hardship, it is how we handle that adversity that determines our character.  The question is when life kicks you down a flight of stairs straight into a cactus patch, are you capable of laughing it off?  In 2005 Norman Stadlers had the weight of the world on his shoulders as he attempted to defend his Ironman world championship title.  Norman was handed a country sized helping of "How the F*** are you going to handle this??" in the form of not one, but two flat tires.  In my opinion He did not handle this adversity as a champion should.

Don't get me wrong, I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Stadler's athletic abilities but I do not believe that the term "Champion" should be confined to just those who win the race.  In 2006 Rutger Beke came in 3rd overall at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.  In fact, he has placed in the top 5 five times in 7 years.  The following year in 2007 Rutger was forced to walk most of the marathon due to an injury.  He could have quit and saved his legs for another race as many Pros do. He finished..... in 898th place!  He said after the race that "A lot of people in Belgium and America, they might never qualify for Hawaii. Out of respect to them, they'd love to do Ironman Hawaii in 11 hours," Beke explained at the finish. "To win at Kona takes huge amounts of physical and mental strength, but to tough it out and watch 890 athletes pass you by requires an enormous amount of courage and humility."  THAT is character.  THAT is a champion!  When I think of character I think of 10 time Ironman finisher Jesse Sund.  He has yet to reach his full athletic potential (or even close to it in my opinion) at any of the IM races he has participated in, but he has never ever given up.  I once told Jesse that sometimes you have to be willing to bleed to meet your goals.  I still believe that is true.  I am learning now, however, that sometimes that isn't even enough.  Sometimes the only way to become a true champion is to be knocked completely on your backside, get kicked in the face, laugh it off, get up and keep moving.  

Whether it is a 10 minute CrossFit workout, a 10 hour Ironman, or life in general when life kicks you in the teeth... and it WILL kick you!

How will you handle it??

(I would like to note that when I attempted to post this the first time it erased everything that I wrote and I had to write everything again)