What is fit for one is not for another

After recovering from a 3:47 Fran, Derek told me, “I could hear you yelling but your voice was getting further away.”  That’s called hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency.  The oxygen demand of the motor muscles was so high, he was literally approaching his physical limit.  His lungs could not exchange enough CO2 for O2 and his heart could not distribute it fast enough.  The result was that the available oxygen in the blood was nearly insufficient for basic cognitive functions like consciousness.

It takes a combination of conditioning and willpower to push yourself like that.  I respect the heart it takes to get to that point.  The physical and psychic stresses are extremely uncomfortable.  Regardless of the actual time it took, you have to walk away from a workout like that proud and satisfied.

Now having said that, know that Derek is a special case.  He’s one of the strongest guys in the gym and is routinely in the hunt for the fastest time or the heaviest lift.  Pushing your body to this extreme is not appropriate for everyone and I don’t want to advocate that everyone should be flinging themselves headlong off a cliff towards hypoxia, nausea, rhabdo, or debilitating soreness.  One person’s physical threshold is going to be different than another.  It’s why the 10 minute Fran with scaled weights and assisted pull-ups can still be epic and inspiring when it’s that person’s equivalent of Derek’s 3:47.

Another inspiring performance was Jaclyn who was well into the “dark place”, but dug deep and finished the last round unbroken on pure guts.  Amanda deserves mention as well for getting a 5:38 claiming the top time just 9 seconds ahead of Andrea’s blistering 5:47.

The fastest women’s time I know of is 3:51.  For men it’s 1:58.  We’re getting fast, but there are some really fast people out there.