The Lumberyard Throwdown was almost a month ago. The day of the event, things were hectic, busy, and high energy. I ended up emceeing, so I was on the floor the majority of the time. Microphones are weird and emceeing is kinda awkward for an amateur. But instead of running around the venue, taking care of things, I got to just watch our athletes. As a coach and owner at NoCoast, watching my own athletes break mental and physical barriers right in front of me was a true gift. CrossFit competition really reveals what's at the heart of people. It's so amazing to see their strength from the inside out. Josh Garland was kind enough to answer some questions about the experience.
1. How long have you been CrossFitting?
Almost two and a half years with 2 5 month breaks to race road bikes.
2. What made you start CrossFit?
I wanted to spend more time with my littlest brother, Brandon. He was really into CrossFit; doing it gave me not only an excuse to hang out with him, but something to talk with him about on a daily basis...but, I drank the Kool-aid and fell in love.
3. Have you ever competed in any other sport?
I did Judo in middle and high school, actually went all the way to Junior Olympics in that. But, I got hurt at the Junior Olympics and didn't do anything after that until graduate school (10 years later) when I started racing road bikes for the CU cycling team.
4. What made you decide to do the LYTD?
Peer pressure from Leah and Sam ;) .. Just kidding (kind of), mostly I was curious to see how I would do and wanted to challenge myself. I really like strongman/ odd-object stuff and thought it would be a fun event (and it was!)
5. High and low of the day?
I have thought about it quite a bit and I am honestly not sure there was a low part of the day. We were of course a little bummed when we found out we were in last after the first two events, but, in a lot of ways this just took the pressure off for the rest of the day so we could just have fun. I think as silly as it sounds the high was finishing. I have only really been doing exercise involving any kind of weights for two years and I thought it was cool that after two years of hard work I was able to complete all those workouts. Something that would have been impossible for me even a year ago.
6. Nutrition tips for competition day?
I honestly have no idea about this. I just transplanted my nutrition knowledge from racing, which may not be the best idea. We drank protein and ate oat-peanut-butter-banana cookies (a recipe I used for quick carbs protein and fat when I was racing) after each workout. I mean, having a team name like #fatkidsforlife you better eat at least one (or seven) cookie(s) during the day! For a solid mid-day meal we both had a burrito bowl. I don't know if this is the best strategy but it seemed to work for us.
7. What was most fun and most challenging about being on a team?
The most fun was having your teammate there to embrace the suck with you and to encourage you when you wanted to take a break. The most challenging thing for us was coming up with a strategy for each workout that played to both of our strengths and mitigated the others weakness. While this was challenging it was also really fun!
8. How did your body respond to your first ever competition? Your mind?
My body and mind were great during the competition, I felt like my body was ready for each workout, which really surprised me. I thought after that first hell-fest of a workout I would be destroyed the rest of the day. But, luckily my body seemed to recover really fast and I was able to give my all in every workout. (It was probably the cookies) The next day was another story, physically I felt like I got hit by a bus and mentally I was exhausted, but, we were both back in the gym working out on monday. I found it hard not to beat myself up mentally about not doing better. But i think that going through this mental battle and really accepting that I did my best was healthy and made me grow as a person and an athlete.
9. How was competing beneficial to you overall as a person? And as an athlete?
I think as a person and as an athlete, it showed me how to embrace the suck more effectively and that I have way more in the tank than I thought I did. Salina agrees with me on this completely. There were several times that both of us would have normally taken a break but didn't because we didn't want to let the other person down. This showed us that we didn't actually need to take a break, our bodies were capable of a lot more but that we had just been giving up in the past. Both of us have already seen this increased tolerance for suck help us in workouts and in life. A couple days after the competition Salina texted me and said "Today I realized that water polo doesn't actually feel like death because that sandbag run was the worst thing of my life. After surviving that run, trying to tread water, without being able to breathe, while someone tries to drown you doesn't seem so bad. :)"
10. Will you compete again? Would you recommend others do it?
My gut answer is probably not, while it was really fun and we did our best, I think this competition showed me I am not ready to compete in CrossFit. However, I don't know that I am willing to give up on it completely. With the training and coaching I get at NoCoast, I get stronger and faster every day and who knows where I will be in a year from now. I would definitely recommend it to others. You learn a lot about yourself, it is fun and there is nothing to lose... and in the words of Salina "it is an excuse to eat cookies", which is a win!
