Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Recently Megan Wolansky competed in her first Olympic weightlifting meet - The Midwest Strongest Unicorn at Endeavor Defense + Fitness in Hilliard, Ohio.  She was incredibly nervous, as most people would be, but stayed focused and really impressed.  This is her story...

“Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” 

This is most likely a quote that we have all heard before, especially in the world of CrossFit. If you haven’t, this quote is one that emphasizes the importance of mental strength. As athletes, we can all complete a WOD by scaling the weight well below our strengths or go through the WOD without pushing ourselves to our maximal physical capacity. We go through the workout rather quickly, thinking “this isn’t that hard.” We are comfortable with the weight, or the pace that we chose for this workout. The workout was probably completed fairly easily, or with little difficultly, but we missed the major point of this quote - being uncomfortable. Being able to push past the physical discomfort into the uncomfortable, where your mind is telling you that you definitely cannot finish the workout, or lift the weight that you chose. Trying to become comfortable in this state of physical discomfort is a mentally tough task. Continually telling yourself “I CAN do it,” “The weight ISN’T that heavy,” and “I CAN keep going during this workout.”

            

Being comfortable in the uncomfortable is a life long process and doesn’t apply just to CrossFit, but applies to every aspect of your life. For me, I have always been uncomfortable being the center of attention. I dreaded being called on in class, and started worrying about presentations days before I had to present. There’s something about being in the spotlight and the center of attention that I hate. “What if I mess up?” “What if I have something on my face?” “What if I don’t make sense?” Being the center of attention doesn’t happen much in CrossFit competitions, as you’re always working out with someone else. The crowd doesn’t HAVE to watch you; they can focus their attention on other athletes. I started becoming comfortable with CrossFit competitions this summer, so there was one other goal that I wanted to complete - an Olympic weightlifting competition.

            

For those that don’t know, there is only one athlete completing a lift at a time during Olympic weightlifting competitions. You ARE the center of attention. This scared the living sh*t out of me and of course the thoughts of “what if I mess up” came creeping back. I decided to sign up on one condition, if Coach Jeff did it with me. I knew that this was both out of our comfort limits and I felt somewhat comfortable knowing that if he was doing it with me, then I would be ok. Unfortunately, that plan didn’t work out and I was signed up for the competition by myself. “Oh Sh*t.”

             

I had never even seen an Olympic weightlifting meet before. I knew that you were grouped by body weight, and you had 3 attempts at a snatch, and clean & jerk. I had no idea how to warm up for lifting (since I mostly did the WOD and then strolled over to the platforms for Oly class). I had no idea what weight to start at. I knew what weight I could absolutely make and felt comfortable with, but I didn’t even know what weight to chose for this meet. I had no idea about a lot of things so I started reading articles on how to prepare for Olympic weightlifting competitions, how to warm up, how to eat before, during and after the competition. I tried to prepare and educate myself as much as I could. The week before the meet, I chose the weight I was going to lift with this thought process:

Coach Jeff: “What are you going to start off at?”

Me: “No idea.”

Coach Jeff: “What are you comfortable with?”

Me: “Snatch, 125lbs.”

Coach Jeff: “Why don’t you start at 130lbs?”

Me: “Ok.”

I knew I could make 125, and barely missed it in practice. How do I start at 130, and increase my weight so that I finish with a weight that I am proud of without increasing by 10lbs each lift? I never increase weight by more than 5 lbs when I’m practicing so how am I supposed to do this? I chose to increase both of my lifts by 7lbs each time. This was more than the 5lbs that I was comfortable doing, but less than 10lbs that scared the sh*t out of me. I was able to lift my starting weights the Wednesday and Thursday before the meet, so I felt comfortable with those weights. I hadn’t lifted heavier than that in quite some time, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. The only thing I could focus on was finding what I was going to wear.

             

The singlet that I bought is the worst thing I have ever worn. It shows EVERYTHING and hugged my thighs in places it shouldn’t. I gathered together some spandex shorts and a black tank top that I could wear instead. I was off work the Friday before the meet, so of course I started getting anxious and decided to read every single rule of weightlifting and of course stumbled across a page that states a singlet must be worn. So I packed up my singlet, and the hopeful outfit (that I was used to) of spandex and a tank top. I was somewhat ready that night before, but anxiety started to take over. Was I really ready to lift these weights? I knew I could complete my opener weights, but could I really increase by 7lbs each time? What is my weight? Did I eat well enough this week to be comfortable eating on Saturday morning and not starving myself like a lot of athletes do?  

             

I’m not sure how Mike put up with me on Saturday, as I was full of nerves and kept sighing trying to calm myself down. I slept for about a half hour on the way down to Columbus, and then I decided I would watch the master’s women compete via the Live stream. I was able to see Linda complete all of her snatch attempts and we arrived just in time to watch her complete her final two clean and jerks. The actual competition site was full of excitement. There was music playing in-between lifters and weight lifters were announced with the attempts being made. The stage was lit up, and the lights over the crowd were dimmed. The weight lifters were definitely in the spotlight. By this time, I was not concerned with being in the spotlight at all. I was actually relieved because I felt I wouldn’t even be able to see the crowd with the lights like this. I was starting to get excited.

           

I was able to watch different male lifters warm up and see different techniques. When it became the open Women’s turn to warm up, most of the platforms were already taken. Luckily, I was able to grab the last open platform, and no one decided to share with me until I was preparing to go on stage. Looking at the bar, there was only one line on it. Where the hell do I put my hands? I’m used to having two lines on the bar, and I put my hands in-between them. Coach Jeff had told me they were the outside lines, but I didn’t believe him and started warming up. The bar hit off my hips and stung. “What the hell. I can’t lift heavy weights like this.” I was starting to get worried. What was I supposed to do?! I listened to Jeff and placed my hands inside the line on the bar. Then, the warm up snatches felt AMAZING. I completely forget about all of my worries and the weight just flew up. I felt confident.   

I had my singlet on, and wore a shirt over it the entire warm up. It was almost my turn, so Jeff told me to wait by the stage, because I was going to be called soon. At the very last moment, I took of my shirt (and the best coach ever held it for me) and then I chalked my hands. I could see the crowd from where I was standing, but I didn’t pay attention to them. I was very calm, and ready. I had nothing on my mind and I knew what I had to do. Walking out, I kept my glance down towards the ground. I set up the same way I had practiced the past weeks, and found a spot out in the crowd. I could see shapes of people, but I couldn’t see anyone in particular. Then, I started the lift and caught it. I could hear some man in the crowd shout “YES.” I had successfully completed my first snatch in an Olympic weight lifting competition and it felt awesome. My next snatches didn’t go as planned. I was able to successfully snatch my second attempt, but missed my third. Normally, I would get pissed off and let my mind take over. Mike asked multiple times “Are you ok?” I didn’t let my miss bother me, and that’s how I was able to make all 3 of my clean and jerk attempts.

I let go of the miss, and focused on my clean and jerks. It felt heavy warming up, and for a split second I thought “oh sh*t, am I going to be able to do this.” Again, I put my doubts aside, stayed calm and had almost nothing on my mind again. I was able to make every single lift. I felt confident, and it didn’t matter what was on that bar because I knew I could lift it. I was able to make my first clean and jerk and honestly didn’t care if I was going to make the final two attempts. I had gotten a meet total (successful snatch & clean and jerk) already, so making the final two attempts would only boost my confidence. I also didn’t PR or set up to PR that day and that didn’t matter to me. What mattered was that I was able to confidently get up in front of a crowd of people. I didn’t let my “what ifs” get in the way of what I KNEW I could do. I stayed calmed the entire day and had FUN. The main thing that I took away from this competition is that I had just done something I never thought I would be able to do, and I actually had fun doing it. I put myself in the uncomfortable, and I felt comfortable. On to higher weights and more competitions! 

Megan earned 3rd place in her weight class!