Bonnie, Piranhas, and Always Finishing Strong
Written by Kendall Kimball
No one was more terrifying than Bonnie. Her strawberry blonde hair, freckles, and petite 4-foot frame painted a picture of innocence, but the entire 3rd Grade class knew the truth. She was a tiny hellion who ruled the playground with an iron first.
There were three things that Bonnie loved: torturing her classmates, bragging about her pet piranhas, and running the 50-yard dash. And Bonnie was FAST. All that rage seemed to give her superhuman speed!
Every day – after Bonnie would afflict her pain at recess – she would challenge anyone not requiring a visit to the school nurse – to a foot race. The prize? Bragging rights and a front row seat to watch Bonnie’s beloved piranhas at feeding time.
Piranhas and the chance to take down Bonnie?! It was too excellent to pass up. I – along with half the 3rd Grade – lined up and at “GO” we were off and running. Of course, Bonnie was the fastest. She blew all of us away.
The result of these foot races was always the same – my legs and lungs were on fire and I was nowhere close to catching Bonnie. However, I did notice something interesting: Bonnie always coasted across the finish line.
It gave me an idea.
Rather than slowing down as soon as I saw Bonnie had won, I would keep running as fast as possible until after I had crossed the finish line. It took practice at first, but I stuck to my game plan. Day after day, for months, I would dash across the finish line with my little arms and legs pumping like pistons.
Then one day my hard work finally paid off.
Twenty-five yards into our race, I could see I was closing the gap. This small but significant realization told me all I needed to know. I WAS CATCHING BONNIE. With a flood of adrenaline, my focus narrowed to the only things that mattered: the finish line and Bonnie. I pushed harder. With five yards to go, I surged past Bonnie (who yelled a word 8-year-olds aren’t supposed to know) and hurtled across the finish line in first.
I had finally beat Bonnie!
So, what does this have to do with CrossFit?
It’s about always finishing strong. With ten seconds left on the clock, do you ease off the gas or push the pedal to the metal? What about rowing or Assault bike intervals? Do you work all the way through or slow down with a few seconds left? These micro moments matter. Working through every second of an interval and stopping only after hearing the buzzer, is a training tool that will yield big results over time.
Like any skill, it requires practice and consistency, but it will be worth it because your mental and physical game will grow in ways you never imagined!
Epilogue
Around 1990, Bonnie was sworn into the Detroit Police Department. God help the perps trying to outrun her.
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Absolutely love this!!! Lesson’s from the 3rd grade, Never Give Up until you pass that finish line! And a great reason why CJ would prefer we don’t count down the final seconds. Go hard until you hear TIME!