The Thing About Stepping Back Is...

Today's WOD. This one is coming on the road for sure.

Today, my planned morning class got canceled, which was a blessing in SO many ways. I got to 'sleep in' (well, if 3am -9:45am can be considered 'sleeping in'). The rest was much needed, but I immediately made plans to make up the missed workout with The Lady in Grey.  Left to my own devices, I can usually come up with some doozies, but knowing that I had soccer, and that I'd been going pretty hard at it all week, a bit of a 'lighter' day before soccer probably wouldn't be a bad thing. So I got there early enough to work on my kick up handstands a bit (so far, a 30 second hold isn't too much of a challenge...) before we got together. So once she showed up, we warmed up with some running, kettle bell swings and kettle bell squats before heading into the WOD - that's 'Work Out Of The Day' for those of you non-Crossfit speakers.  It was nice to face this WOD with someone other than My Sailor, and it's given me some great ideas to take this on the road and see if we can beat the time.
  My bench press is coming along pretty well, to say I can comfortably bench 95lbs without much supervision. It wasn't entirely easy, but I was in no danger of dropping it on myself. My last recorded 1 rep max was 115lbs, so to be doing multiple reps of something so close to 100 lbs is just amazing. Most of my cleans are around 80lbs. A year ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of that kind of progress.

I went directly from the gym to soccer. Lucky for me, we had ONE female sub... which means I got off the field for about 8-12 minutes of a 48 minute game. But that's not the 'graduation' I'm referring to.  I've played entire games without subbing out.

I've always played in the back field. Even in outdoor soccer.  It's no secret that, even as I lean out, I'm still not a small woman. Other players tend to bounce off me. Big girls cut off angles. We're hard to go around. So I made a great defender. Quick reflexes and a fearless attitude made me a damn good goalie too. But that left me in the back field playing defense anyway you sliced it. Ball control? Eh... it's okay. But I had a big foot behind the rest of me that's big and was able to clear it without too much of an issue. I was a force to be reckoned with on defense, so often stuck back there.

The thing about playing back field is that I got to watch the game a lot. I learned. I started to call out direction. One forward thinking coach made me put my money where my mouth was and moved me to half-back - the position (in outdoor soccer) that does the most running, hands down.  Since I started playing Indoor soccer last year, that was My Sailor's position. When he went out to Find Nemo, I slowly slipped into his position. Instead of calling out instructions, I just did what I thought needed to be done. It clicked pretty well.

Last week, the team captain and I were talking about things the team was lacking on after the game. One of them was people who would stay forward. (As a team that loses A LOT, you get really good at defense.) So this game, I started to do that. Me! Yes, ME! This 200 lbs girl playing striker?!  How in the world did that happen?! From goalie to TAKING SHOTS on goal and making assists?!

Well, it was exhausting, but amazing. I hurt MUCH more than I expected to after a day like today, but it was a great game. I made mistakes, but I'm still proud of the way I played and am stepping up.

Boy... will My Sailor ever be surprised when he gets back! His goal tender wife can now adequately play EVERY position on the field! On top of all the other gains in the gym, it's going to be a whole new me in lots of ways when he gets back. Like I've said before, I won't say I've "transformed" - that's not fair. I'm still the girl with the "I Love Nerds" Disney wallet and backpack. Far from 'cool', I'm happy to be the theater loving, sci-fi nerd I've always been.  As much as there are things that are different, some things will never change...

like my dire need for a bubble bath after my double-up-workout days.

The thing about playing the back field for a while is that it gives you a view of the bigger picture. Sometimes, spending some time stepping back is the best thing we can do to devise a successful plan to move forward with confidence.

I've played the back field in my life long enough, and moving forward with my training and career path seems to be timed just right.  I'm interested to see what else the future has in store.

(Yes, the Blooper Reel/Fail blog is still in the works! Stay tuned next week!)