journeyintoselfmatters

"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! :)