There is no such thing as failure: when a goal does not go your way, you either win or you learn, and the only real loss is letting the setback break your routine. The weekend of the CrossFit age group qualifier did not go the way I wanted. I did not do well, I am out for the year, and in this Physical Friday I walk through exactly how I respond to a result like that — no excuses, fast restart, honest lessons applied to the next attempt.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
It means that when a goal does not go your way, you have two choices: call it a failure and quit, or extract the lessons and apply them to the next attempt. I did not make the cut in the CrossFit age group qualifier, and instead of making excuses I looked honestly at what happened, identified exactly where I was unprepared, and built those lessons into my training. The outcome you wanted did not happen, but the learning did, and that learning is what makes the next attempt better.
Get back on the horse as fast as possible. The longer you stay away from the gym, the road, or whatever activity you just came up short in, the harder it is to start again. If you blow up in a marathon this weekend, get back out on the road within days. No excuses, no blame, no wallowing. Do a little honest introspection, name the specific lessons, apply them to your training, and keep your consistent routine intact, because losing the routine is the real loss.
I was not prepared for one specific movement: the pistol, an alternating single leg squat. I had not trained pistols in a long time and it showed immediately. In a field that competitive, one workout you are unprepared for is all it takes, because the scoring is unforgiving. I did not look at all the potential movements and train them throughout the year. That was my fault, nobody else's, and it was completely forecastable, which is exactly the lesson I am taking forward.
Almost directly. Physical goals teach you to ask whether you are preparing for everything that can be forecasted, and that same question applies to a business deal, parenting, or a friendship. If a deal goes south because you were unprepared and had no plan B, C, or D, you either learn from it or repeat it. The gym is just the place where the feedback is fastest and most honest, which is why I treat every physical setback as practice for handling the rest of life.
Letting it knock you out of your consistent behavior and routine. It is easy to fail at something, decide it was not much fun, and quietly stop showing up. That is when the torpedo hits. The disappointment itself costs you nothing if you keep training; the drift afterward is what actually sets you back. Keep your head up, get back out there immediately, and treat the introspection as a job to finish, not a mood to sit in.
This week the workout is the process I use after any failed goal, and it works whether you came up short in a qualifier, a marathon, a 5K, or GORUCK Selection:
I walk through each step with the full story of the qualifier in the episode.
The honest answer is that one workout exposed me. In a field that competitive, a single movement you have not trained is all it takes, and the scoring is unforgiving. The frustrating part is that it was completely forecastable, which is exactly why I refuse to call it bad luck. I break down the specific workout that ended my season and what I am changing in the episode, so press play in the player above.
For me, the time between the setback and the next session is the most dangerous window of the whole year. It is easy to fail at something, decide it was not much fun, and quietly stop showing up. The longer I stay away, the harder starting again becomes, so I treat the fast restart as non-negotiable. I explain how I structure those first few days back in the episode, so press play in the player above.
One of the reasons I love physical goals is that the lessons transfer everywhere. The same question that sank my qualifier — am I preparing for everything that can be forecasted? — applies to a business deal, to parenting, to friendships. The gym just delivers the feedback faster and more honestly than anywhere else. I get into how I am auditing the rest of my life with that question in the episode, so press play in the player above.
In the words of Cameron Hanes: nobody cares, work harder. That is the whole plan. No excuses, no blame, a short honest look at what happened, and then right back to work with the lessons in hand.
If you have had a disappointment in your own training, keep your head up and get back out there this week. You did not fail. You learned. Press play in the player above for the full episode.
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
CrossFit age group online qualifier · CrossFit Games · pistols (single leg squats) · marathon training · GORUCK Selection · Cameron Hanes · consistency · introspection · goal setting · resilience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset work I use to stay strong for a life outdoors, so fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen can keep doing what they love for as long as possible.
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