There's a Japanese proverb that says "fall down 7 times, get up 8" (七転び八起き), which pretty much describes my relationship with trying to clean and jerk 225 pounds. I've failed more times over the past 4 years than I can count.

Yesterday felt so redeeming failing twice and then finally hitting this PR at the end of a CrossFit quarterfinals competition workout, just milliseconds under the 10 minute time limit. Man, it was close!

I have a very specific memory of being in the 5th grade and trying to do a pull up. All the kids were crowded around the monkey bars as we attempted to do 10 pullups for the President's Physical Fitness Test. I knew I was light years away from being able to do a single one. The P.E. teacher knew it. And every other kid in my class knew it. I fell from the bar almost immediately and everyone laughed as I walked away.

Maybe that's why attempting the CrossFit Quarterfinals was so vindicating, challenging, inspiring, and fun, all rolled into one.

Thanks to my coaches and friends at EnduraLAB and Crossfit Westwood for constantly pushing me to get better. I've gotten a little better on those monkey bars and even learned some new movements at 46 I never dreamed I'd be able to do.