journeyintoselfmatters

Well...I made weight! 67.2 kg! And I had a GREAT day! Actually, the best day that I have ever had in the weight class, because I beat my total record by 5 lbs! Starting out with the squat: I opened at 303. Felt awesome, so 2nd attempt was...um forget. I don't even think I know what it was. I usually don't ask. But, I did get stuck a little in the middle, though kept on going and got a good lift. 3rd attempt was 347 - which matched my PR. It was also a grinder...but I stuck with it and got a good lift! Not bad for someone who thought 2 weeks ago that my squats were going to suck! Bench press went ok. I opened at 197. Got it-piece of cake. I went up to 220. That one I sunk it a bit in the chest, didn't stay tight like I should have, and on the lockout ended up struggling a bit on the lockout and the bar ended up dipping. Red lights. I didn't think it was that bad, so I told Steve to bump it up to 225. That would have been a PR and a state record. Well...it was a big "no go". Couldn't even get it off the chest much. Felt like either I was out of the groove, or just plain tired. Oh well. On to deadlift. Opened at 297 - got it. Bumped it to 325 on the 2nd attempt. Grinded that one out. Now...my Mom, who has had a phenomenal day, is my only competition. While I have her beat on the absolute total, she has a chance to beat me pound for pound with her wilks. I need to pull my last deadlift. 330, which is a match PR. I stuck with it...and got it! Nice! I have to tell you though...my Mom is an inspiration. She not only set 3 American records and 5 state records, but pulled a 369 lb. personal record (and american record) deadlift!!! The lady is 136 lbs...and if she doesn't mind me stating her age - 56 years old! She is amazing!!!
I really want to thank all my friends for coming out to watch me on Saturday -- it was amazing to have that many people there rooting for me! Crossfit Omaha, Shan & John and Brian --- YOU ROCK!

WHEW!!! This morning I woke up and was 150.8# -- I am blow away by my weight progression this week. I started on Monday at 155, Tuesday 153.6, Wednesday 152.6, Thursday 151.8, Friday 150.8. I am positive to be able to make 67.5kg (148.8#) tomorrow morning. Funny thing is, I ATE! Really! I cut out the carbs - refined ones anyway. I still ate a ton of veggies and fruit on Mon - Wed in the morning. I also haven't yet started to truly dehydrate. Doing that today. What I did do is eat a lot of clean protein, veggies and drank tea/water. I used to do around 2 sodas a day, so cutting that out I am sure has helped. Has it been hard? Yep. I can't wait to add back in the fruit for my sweet tooth. I have been chewing gum instead! :) But I am gonna roll with the changes. Keep it up after the competition. I hate cutting weight, so there is an incentive! :)

Funny how I found this today after my last post...... Belief - thought I would share.

I have a powerlifting competition on December 6 that I may (or may not) be ready for. My training cycle got all messed up (coach on vacation and then father in law passing so emergency trip to France meant that I didn't powerlift for 3 weeks...) and while I can see its effects in certain areas, it doesn't seem to have made a difference in others. My bench is still really good. Well - considering that I am dropping a weight class (hopefully!!! I am still 6 lbs away and 1.5 weeks out) and with the missed training - I benched 225 lbs for 2 on Monday night. Not so bad at all since my PR at 148lb weight class is 220 (and the state record). My deadlift seemed to be awful - until last night I switched up from sumo to conventional and pulled easily a 300# that I couldn't get off the floor for 2 tries with sumo seconds before. Not sure what is going on there, but when you don't train sumo (training hiatus), its really hard to do sumo. Also, with Crossfit, I've been doing conventional training, so maybe there is a difference there. So maybe the deadlift won't be too bad. For squat ---- jeez has it gone down. I did 315 last night for 2 and it felt really heavy. Last competition I opened at 319! It has really frustrated me. BUT I have to remind myself that I am 10lbs lighter -- and because of that, not only may I have lost a bit of that brute strength, but also my suit is fitting really loose. May need to invest in a smaller one here soon. My coach also points to the fact that my peak might be about a week off...and that if I had one more week of training it would be better...but unless God suddenly gives me an extra week, that ain't gonna happen! I think that the key going into this competition is to remind myself that I am (will be) 15 lbs lighter than I have been in 1.5 years AND that all I really need to do is total enough to qualify for Womens nationals in the 148# class (I already have at 165#, just want to have my options in February to compete in either). Still doesn't take away that squat frustration.

For anyone who is interested in coming - December 6 - Mid-America Convention Center. Competition is supposed to start at 9am, but they are almost always 1/2 hour late. I will be in the first group to squat :) Being a girl and all.....

Of my father-in-law who passed away November 2, 2008. Michel was the kind of guy that you couldn't help but like (even when he was driving you crazy!).

Things I will miss about him: I'll miss trying to translate his crazy "jeux des mots" (l\play on words/puns/etc.) into English. I'll miss talking politics, even though we hardly ever agreed! I'll miss his uncanny ability to pair wine and food. I'll miss our smoke breaks (even though I don't smoke anymore I used to go outside with him during those long family dinners). I'll miss his generosity and love.

Fab told me you said that I had become like a daughter to you --- well Michel, you were my second dad --- merci pour le temps que j'ai pu avoir avec toi beau papa. J'espere te revoir un jour au ciel.

Yep...that's me lately. I haven't been to Crossfit in a week and haven't done powerlifting since Monday. Now -- I was out of town from Wednesday to today - but I can't use that as an excuse. Not like I couldn't have done a quick workout in the gym at the hotel I was at.

I find I have a really hard time when I don't have that "appointment" set to work out. And when I set it myself, I always cheat. That's why Crossfit has been so good with me...I go to class at a certain time and don't slack on that. Before I found Crossfit I was only going to my powerlifting training appointments 2 times a week! I had joined 24 hour in the hopes of getting in a couple other times a week...and that happened for maybe 1 month. With Crossfit I have been pretty consistent (except when I am out of town!) and it has been an amazing journey so far. I already feel that the weaknesses that I had in my powerlifting are starting to be corrected (i.e. mid-line strength) and am so incredibly excited to compete on December 6th because I want to measure that improvement. All I got to say is...thank goodness for Crossfit Omaha! I might actually place in the top 5 this year at Nationals if I keep working my ass off like this. But I do have to stop the appointment excuse and just get to it....

So 8 weeks ago I did Cindy and completed 10 rounds + 3 pullups. But my pushups were really not legit that time - very noodle like. This time I got 10 rounds + 5 pullups and 4 pushups. Not too bad! Feeling good about that time - especially with the legit pushups this time around. And I even did it kinda hungover - might have done better if I hadn't drank so much the night before, but only have the high school reunion weeked once in a great while! :)

"If you can talk, you’re not trying hard enough. If your nerves aren’t frayed and ready to rebel, you’ll never get there...There are no pills, no secrets, no passwords on the path to greatness. You’ve got to embrace the pain, push the threshold, and feel the suck, and then you’ve got to muster the courage to go back six times a week." from Again faster.com, Dedication.

I had an epiphany in my workout last night. I am much stronger and fitter than I think I am. I don't push my body nearly as much as I can. My mental blockages are starting to fall, as through Crossfit, I am finally realizing my potential.

Last night I pushed through that workout harder than I ever have before. Last night I competed, not only against myself, but secretly against the girl in front of me. I won, both against my mind and my fellow competitor (who was fully unaware of that little goal I set for myself...).

1000m row
5 rounds of:
7 push press (75# - prescribed was 85#)
20 db squats (25# dumbbells)

Time: 18:08

Why did I win? I pushed through the weight with less rest - I forced my mind and body to work how I wanted them to - I screamed through those last squats (with Ricky behind me cueing "push through, don't stop, tell your mind you can do it, don't listen to your body" or something to that extent) - and I caught up to, and beat that competitor that I slotted myself secretly against. I might feel like a truck hit me today (never wearing a sleeveless shirt again for push press days, my shoulders were eaten up by the bar), but it reminds me of my win last night. To many more wins....

Been a little late in posting - sorry.
Here's what happened on Friday:
Benching - a lot of benching. I think that I did 5x5 up to 125lbs index finger on the ring - 5x5 close grip to 120? - and then 5x5 wide grip...not sure there of what I ended with. I am posting at work (shhhhh don't tell!)...so I don't have my book with me. Honestly, my bench feels strong. One thing that I am noticing is the ability to grind it out. Before, I honestly couldn't...now I can. Must be those pushups and pullups...
And on Saturday:
I woke up - was going to go to the 9am Crossfit class...laid in bed. 9:20 rolled around, and I still didn't want to go for the 10am class. Then I got my butt out of bed and went. As an aside, my abs were still incredibly sore from Wednesday's abs from hell workout. I have never had cramping in my abs before...another new experience thanks to CF! Ha....So, I did end up getting to the 10am. And walking in, see everyone at the end of their workout in the 9am class...it was amazing. there were at least 15 people -- and when time was called they all were on the floor. This is why I love Crossfit. Hopefully they'll post some pics of it on the site soon...
Chief'ette'
4 rounds with 1 minute rest in between
As many rounds as possible in 4 minutes of:
2 dumbbell hang snatch (25#) each arm
6 burpees
9 deadlifts (85#)

I did 1st: 3 rounds + 2 Burpee / 2nd: 2 rounds + 6 deadlifts / 3rd: 2 rounds / 4th: 2 rounds + 2 burpees.

Hardest was the burpees. I was able to quickly grind out the deadlifts - as 85# isn't much for me. But those dang burpees. As a positive, I think I am getting better at them!

3-3-3-3-3-3-3 front squats

Ended up for my seventh set at 150. Then decided to do an 8th set at 154. Wasn't too bad. I know I could have done more, but I'll use this as a benchmark for the next time!

Then we did a pushup game...I am getting better, but I still fail on pushups pretty early. Keep working...

Strict pull-ups: 65 using a blue band 10-7-7-8...can't remember mid way but ended at 4-4-1 +300 sit-ups.

nice one....

Tonight I did some squats:
95 x5
135 x 5
165 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5 (wraps and belt)
235 x 5 (wraps and belt
Then I did some conventional stance good mornings:
225 x 4
225 x 4
245 x 4
265 x 4

I also decided to start the zone at lunch today. I watched a video on Crossfit Journal -- and I figured why not give it two weeks? So I zoned for lunch, snack, dinner & snack. I am looking forward to this...on the video the gal said "your body will hum on the zone" - I want to know what a humming body feels like. I want to see if it really does improve my performance. Its my little experiment....

3 rounds for time:
1000m row
80 slam balls
60 jump pull-ups
40 walking lunges

Brian and I were a team for this one and we ended up finishing 32:48. This one was intense -- well what CF WOD isn't? -- but there was a point were I was telling Brian "I am not doing very good...seriously I am not feeling well..." and I wasn't joking. I think that the transition row to slam balls there were a couple moments were I had tingles all over my body. And the jumping pull ups after that slam ball were brutal. Your arms were already jello and then you're supposed to jump and pull yourself up? Ha! Brian was a great teammate -- always pushing me and picking up some of my "slack" or rather my fatigue/failure! I'm pretty happy with how I performed...nothing like having a teammate who you don't want to let down...

So a group of us did Linda tonight. Wow that was brutal. It really puts into perspective the strength of a Crossfitter. Obviously I had to scale (or another thing would be just to pretend that I weigh 120 lbs...ha ha ha) as Linda is the following: 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of:
Deadlift 1.5 times bodyweight
Bench 1 times bodyweight
Cleans 0.75 times bodyweight

I've been running about 159lbs lately, and while I think I might be able to bench that a couple times, I would need a lift-off and would have to do them one at a time. Deadlift would have been 238.5lbs, and man, I usually have a belt on by then (my max with suit is 341 in competition!). Cleans would have been 119.25lbs. Not quite there yet in my core strength. So instead I did the following:

155lb deadlift (should have gone up, but I didn't know what to expect)
95lb bench (again, should have gone up)
90lb cleans --- just right....

But here's the deal...I got all messed up. I missed a deadlift round...so then I had to add it later. Had a DNF -- got through 3 deads, benches and 1 clean.
I love it that Ricky and Joe had me do this one. It was interesting to put my strength to the test Crossfit style -- and it definitely shows me I have a long journey to get where I want to be, but man will it be sweaty, sore and fun!

Worked on Turkish Get Ups today. I cannot believe that I have never done these. I honestly think they have to be one of the best core strength exercises that I have ever done. I'm tempted to go out and buy me a kettlebell so that I can practice these! I ended up doing 1.5 pood with my right hand and 1 pood with my left.



After about 20 minutes of working these -- our workout consisted of the following:
2 Rounds of
Run 400 m (I scaled it to 200m)
12 kettlebell swings 1.5 pood

I started this one with a huge cramp in my right thigh and ended it with a ball in my throat. But hey...thats the fun of it! Finished in 4:48

This article was linked on the main Crossfit website. I actually did read it all...you should too...

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

Tonight I did powerlifting training with Steve. It went a little like this:
Bench:
75x6 / 95x6 / 110x6 / 115x6 / 115x6
Squat:
95x5 / 135x5 / 185x5 / 205x5 / 205x5 (belt on at 185)
Good Mornings
135x5 / 195x5 / 195x5 (conventional deadlift stance)

For time:
39 handstand pushups (blue plate under head)
40 power cleans (63#)
50 KB swings (1)
60 pushups
70 jumping air squats

22 minute time cut-off

I didn't end up finishing this one. I made it through 43 pushups. I think that I could have pushed a little faster on the HSPU -- but oh well! I still can't believe the improvements that I am starting to make. I can feel my core tightening up and my endurance increasing.

Sometimes I try and imagine what I will be like in 6 months ---- hell, I can't wait to see what this will do for my competition in December! Stay tuned! :)

7 rounds of:
7 burpees
7 pull-ups
7 box jumps (22")

14:39

Can I say that sh*t sucked...bad. I felt like my lungs were exploding. One of the hardest workouts I have done, and actually the first one with burpees. I think those are what killed me. I feel fine when I do pull-ups, box jumps are hard, but burpees...man...burpees SUCK! Oh...did I say that as much as I hated it...I loved it. Crossfit makes me weak in order to make me strong....

enough happiness to keep you sweet;

3 rounds for time:
60 singles (jump rope) + 15 tuck jumps (instead of 30 double unders)
20 20lb thrusters

8:48

My arms are jello...

I truly love Crossfit -- in less than 10 minutes I did a workout that kicked my @ss.

Friday Crossfit I did Cindy:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats
AMRAP in 20 minutes

I ended up finishing 10 rounds + 3 pull-ups...my push-ups were really sad at the end though....maybe should have scaled.

Saturday morning I did the following WOD:
800 m run
65 jump rope singles + 35 tuck jumps (scaled from 65 Doubleunders since I don't know how to do them)
500 m row
2 rounds

DNF -- had 400 m left on the rowing. Endurance is something that I really don't have right now....and I hate running.

1000 meter row
50 thrusters 35# bar
30 pull-ups

Finish: 14:11

I'm starting to feel better about my breathing -- I am not so afraid of breathing hard anymore! Ha ha ha. The powerlifter is going to have some endurance here soon!

So, last night I did my first 1:1 at Crossfit Omaha. Dang that was fun! Joe, one of the founders, was my trainer for the night and I really liked the way that he went about it. Oh - and sorry Joe for getting you talking and making it last so long! But I do love to talk about training methods! We worked on the basics: squat (got some new technique tips), push-ups, pull-ups (yeah! I can do pull-ups! funny how I didn't know that!) . Then it was on to my first WOD: 200 m run, 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 air squats. So you know when you push your lungs so hard you feel like they are bleeding after you are done...yep, that was me! Funny though, I didn't even ask Joe what my time was. Oh well. But like I said --- that was fun!
My goals with Crossfit are to use it to better my GPP and to improve performance in my sport, powerlifting. I can't see how it won't make my lifts increase. My powerlifting has been sort of half-ass the past couple years. I pretty much only do about 2 hours of lifting per week and they are concentrated on the main lifts of the squat, bench and deadlift. With that sort of training regimen, I can only improve.
If you want to check out Crossfit Omaha's website: http://www.crossfitomaha.blogspot.com/
They'll be moving to their own space in a couple of weeks...it's gonna be amazing....

The beginning of "the blog" --- which all in all will just be a big mish mash of my musings.

You know how you discover something and you just can't get it out of your brain? Where you are searching the internet constantly for new topics on your subject of choice? Well, that's me anyway. I find that when I want to do something, I completely and totally immerse myself in it. I search every nook and cranny for new information about the subject. Lately, my obsessions have been: gardening, home remodeling, powerlifting (always!), zen buddhism, dog training. I know, I really am diverse! Here is my reasons for being obsessed about the above:

1. Dog training: just got a beautiful dog 5 months ago --- and I want a super well-behaved dog!
2. Zen Buddhism: if following some path of spirituality...this one takes the cake!
3. Powerlifting: I'm a powerlifter, been one for coming up on 4 years now. I love the sport...
4. Home remodeling: yep, bought a new (old) house --- have many many projects
5. Gardening: my new love. I didn't realize that gardening was so stress-relieving...

This blog won't necessarily be about these topics...but you will sure find stuff about them in here! Enjoy!