We overuse the hashtag, #justshowup. It’s now part of our everyday vocabulary and IG captioning. Shit, a dozen of us probably have it inked on our bodies. Has it lost it’s meaning? Fuck No. Have we and this tribe step up our game?! Absolutely, Fuck Yeah we have!
#Justshowing up is a powerful thing. But what I realized today, is that we — the tribe — have been doing more than #justshowingup.
Look at the last week and a half. It’s been wild. The tribe came together last Wednesday stronger than I’ve ever seen, to honor a dude close to all of our hearts. During which we threw down a workout that left us all exhausted, winded and barely able to talk. Only to follow this up with the WOahMAN 2.0 throw down. Not only did we show up at 4:30am, but we took on one of the hardest workouts this #freefitness movement has in it’s bank. Oh and we didn’t just run it, we fucking raced it. HARD. We had someone blow the previous record out of the water…?!? The only plausible next step I see for WOahMAN, the trilogy, is to go for #breaking1 (I’m looking at you Frakeman). If you hadn’t had enough stairs yet, we figured we’d give you a spoonful of frogman 1 which you came after like starving hyenas. I can’t count the PR’s and have trouble fathoming the fact that we’re still breaking the record for the fasted frogman after 5.5 years of this shit…
That gets us to today. #HighscoreHills*. Just as people started showing up, the mist came down strong. Perfect timing, a little earlier and a lot of us might have made the choice to stay indoors. A little more warning and you probably would have still been in bed. The conditions were just too perfect. So we did what we do best and we raced.
Too many people ended up PRing.
PRing at everything we’ve been throwing at you lately…
So much so, that we’re running out of space on our High Score hats and reverting to this. Blown on High Score, Tramp Stamps. #HighScoreTrampStamps
But what shocked me most happened after the workout. After the birthday crowd surf and the passing of the PA to sir Jarod Cain. It was the three #newbies that galloped across Corey Hill park seconds before the group photo; then Paulina and Kat and what many people didn’t see was Timmy just passing the hydrant for the third time as he heard a screech off in the distance, “Have a GREEEEEEEEEAAATT Day!”. This isn’t a first, we’ve been seeing it a lot lately. We saw it last week at WOahMAN and are still continuing to see it as people plan their own WOah’s to get their fill in the next few weeks. A lot of people are setting scary goals and taking them down, no matter what it means. They’re more than #justshowingup.
It reminded me a bit of the OG days. The days almost 4 years ago when I knew no one, a newbie. I had no rush to get to the group photo, or listen to the big guys tell their jokes. It was all about finishing what I set out to do. Whether it was finishing the workout, the section, the hill, PRing or just getting more comfortable — getting uncomfortable. I was there for one thing. To race. To improve. To test what I’m capable of. A lot has changed since then and I’m still continually blown away by the strength and power of this community, a lot more than just the racing culture I first saw it as.
But I’ll always have a soft spot for that #raceeverything vibe.
As I saw both those newbies and veterans finishing up their workout, which meant missing the crowd surfing and the group photo, I couldn’t help but scream FUCK YEAH inside. It’s those kind of moments that still get me fired up, that inspire me to tackle something I’m scared of. You don’t have to be #breaking1, setting new stadium records or even PRing to be inspiring. It’s that game time mentality you bring that’s infectious for the rest of the tribe. So keep it up.
I’m not sure if it’s something in the water, the air or those Shakespearean blogs that Em Sauce has been firing out lately but what’s been going on within the tribe the last few weeks is more than #justshowingup. It’s #lightingusup and its apparently contagious AF.
So thank you. Thank you for pointing those arrows higher and higher because apparently no matter how high we aim, we keep hitting our marks.
Much love,
Capoze
Wednesday May 24th : Yearbook photos at Harvard Stadium. The theme was dropped this morning and it’s #behindbars. It’s wide open to your interpretation. Use your imagination — get creative, anything goes… I’m absolutely going to regret saying that. We’ll see what happens. #Justshowup and recruit everyone.
Friday June 9th : We’re swapping the Wednesday and Friday workout that week. We’ll be hosting thousands of the worlds most happiest, craziest and energetic people at 6:29AM Friday the 9th. That means Wednesday June 7th we’ll be on the hills. The swap is sure to fuck up your week as we head into work on hump day with that weekend high we usually leave the hills with.
THIS MONDAY DESTINATION DECK: This location is going to be the highlight of this spring. We’re here. Yes, it might be treacherous getting there; Yes, it’s not the most clear location to get too but there is only one rule you need to follow. NO ON CROSSES STORROW DRIVE TO #JUSTSHOWUP. There are safer ways to get there. Spend all of 3 minutes planning it out. EmC2 will have to get real pissed if you cross the road. Don’t make us be those upset parents. Especially on a Monday morning…
*We’re officially calling #PRhills, #HighscoreHills after our little buddy Moose pranced around screaming he just got his new highscore on last PR day.
