Psychological Extortion

Last night was weird. According to the whiteboard in the box, we were doing 3 sets of presses and then a rowing time trial (1500m).


I like presses…even though it’s an overhead lift, the movement is not technically complicated like snatch. As long as I don’t use my legs too much, I can usually get through a few half-decent presses without getting yelled at too bad by a coach.

The rowing part of the WOD was going to be a chore though. 1500 is not a comfortable distance. I start to lose vision at right about 900 meters.

Before the WOD starts last night, Corey informs me that Ronnie is telling people that if I don’t row 1500m in under 6 minutes he’s gonna quit CFDC.

Ronnie is probably one of the strongest guys I’ve ever met. And he’s not the kind of strong guy who would kick sand in your face at the beach – he’s just a great guy that's always willing to help you out with form and give you lifting advice. 

I was not quite sure why Ronnie would stake his CFDC future on my rowing results. I mean, I knew he was joking, but even the joke started to mess with my head a little. Friendly competition is like crack at CFDC; everyone gets hooked on it very quickly, even when it’s just a friendly joke. People were going to be watching my row time now. Ronnie put my row time on Front Street.

One of the advantages of the 7PM class is that you can kind of gauge the intensity of a WOD from the whiteboard which displays the results of people who completed the same WOD in earlier classes. I usually look at the overall results on the board and set my own goal somewhere towards the low to middle range.

Based on the results that I saw yesterday for the row, I would have normally set my sights somewhere between 6:15 and 6:30 for the 1500m row. Under 6:00 was clearly going to require a less-than comfortable pace.

Well, long-story-short, Ronnie and Corey had played some kind of Jedi-mind trick on me and I consequently coughed-up a lung during the row. I finished in 5:42.

I am still not quite sure why that happened. I am not at all motivated by PRs. I am not trying to be a hero, a firebreather, a hoss – at my age, I feel satisfied with just showing up and ‘getting through’ a WOD without injury.

But while I do not feel motivated by PRs, I think that the team element that often exists at CFDC does kind of resonate with me. In a team WOD, I know I push a little harder in order to not let the team down…I will cruise during an 800m run on my own, but will not fall behind on an Indian run. Ronnie’s joke kind of triggered that same kind of challenge, and I admit, it kinda worked.