The Power of a Positive Attitude

CrossFit Games Open 11.6

7:00 AMRAP @ 12+2
60 pound Thruster, 3 reps
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 6 reps
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 9 reps
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 12 reps
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 15 reps
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 18 reps
18 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 21 reps
21 Chest to bar Pull-ups…

My ego wanted to RX, but I ditched the witch and scaled down to 60# thrusters and regular chin-to-bar pullups. (…I felt bad for the 7pm gang due to the :10 sticking-out-tongue-sass squat penalty I caused! Sorry guys, I love you!)

Coach wrote a good article today about having a positive attitude and how it affects others. I admit that I get angry at the bar, rower, box, etc to get myself going … but I also realise that it’s not necessarily considerate of others - so I am committed to and am working on a new way to challenge myself without challenging others' nerves ;) I also didn't want to scare off my first-timer friend.

... luckily, she said she loved it and wants to join our merry community. Schweet! Yay!

I'm finding that by getting myself more involved and bringing friends along, (even at the minimal levels I am now with volunteering and reading), it reinforces better habits. Its been a slow start, but I'm a work in progress - improvement requires change in other areas than just fitness performance. I've found other ways to get motivated and I haven't been as sad about not having a climb this year (among other things).

Anyhoo, I heard this report and had to laugh...

http://radio.foxnews.com/2011/04/21/radio-buzz-cursing-cures-pain-new-terror-alert-system/

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sleep: 6

health: 9

stress: 7.5 (sorry, i still have my hate on for the prof)
recovery: 4 (DOMs!)
mental energy: 6-7
physical energy: 6 (see below)

diet: 6 (solid paleo, but not enough calories... putting good weight on is going to be work!)

Fat Fran, I think I hate you more than Cindy…

Fran ... she's mean, she's ugly, and today... she's carrying a few extra pounds.

Today’s Mainsite Workout

• 135 pound Thruster, 15 reps
• 35 pound weighted Pull-up, 15 reps
• 95 pound Thruster, 21 reps
• 20 pound weighted Pull-up, 21 reps
• 65 pound Thruster, 36 reps
• 36 Pull-ups

Tery’s sissy-scaled down version: (somewhere under 21:13?)

• 65lb Thruster, 15 reps
• 5lb weighted Pull-up, 15 reps
• 55lb Thruster, 21 reps
• un-weighted Pull-up, 21 reps
• 45lb Thruster, 36 reps
• un-weighted Pull-up, 36 reps

Notes on the WOD:

Yeah, I scaled it by almost 50%, I’m not above admitting that I have a lot of work to do and a ways to go. If I can do it before, I can totally do it again.

But OOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMGGGGGGG!!!

It was slow going, but steady-ish. I‘m not sure how my thrusters looked, but given what I know about my bad habits and history, I'm sure I would have benefitted from having a coach there going into the last round... it’s frustrating because I really want to get it right and I struggle with some movements ...

Speaking of trying to improve, I remembered to do something I used to do to keep myself honest. I mentally measured the bottom of each thruster where my tricep would almost touch my knees – whenever I’ve taken this approach I seem to get better depth and full range. But my hips and legs are going to be SORE! I guess that’s punishment for taking too much time off and getting complacent about my overall fitness and diet. Yes, yes, lesson learned.

Anyhoo, my back doesn’t feel sore but I can tell my abs and arms will be tomorrow, so I’m guessing that I didn’t move too poorly overall. I rested at the top of the thrusters and never put the bar down, so that helped. Pullups were single/doubles in the 3rd round and I was annoyed at how uncooperative my arms were being.

I hit the wall towards the end of round 2 and started thinking of my 2 friends with MS, fellow West Buttress climber, Pascal, and one of my personal heroes, Joe Puryear to get me going a bit more, but it was such a struggle and I’m sure I was still cursing up a storm. I’m going to have to think about why I have to work myself into such an emotional tizzy in order to get past the finish line each time. I know it can be annoying to others and is definitely something I can’t do near children, but it seems to be the only thing that works for me... any help or suggestions are welcome.

This would have been a great WOD to at the CFC box, but the storm would make my 12 mile round-trip take a couple of hours. A bummer, but OMG, I am just LOVING this storm!

Today, the intention was to focus on getting my head back into training, taking only 3-breath breaks only at the halfway point in between each round, and trying to move consistently and better instead of being “faster” or “stronger”. I think quality over quantity will help me in the long run – I’m naturally strong, but it doesn’t mean that I move efficiently to be stronger.

...Yeah, I ponder things a lot, but that doesn’t mean that space cadet here remembered to stop the timer (or even look at it) upon completion and total collapse. (I think there was dry heaving somewhere in round 3, I‘m honestly not sure). I think it took me longer to get up than the time it took to do the workout and I felt so traumatised that I totally forgot – thus the lack of accuracy in completion time. Seriously, I think my IQ drops by 75% and I become a mono-syllabic beastess when I workout. Anyway, I remember somewhere in round 2 seeing the clock around 9:24 ... not sure if there has been any improvement given how inconsistent I’ve been these last 3 months. But I can say that I haven't suffered this good in a long time

Consistency. Perhaps that is the ONE skill I should aim for in the next months.
* sleep: 5 (started using alarm to get to bed/get up at same time)
* stress: 8 (it hasn’t changed)
* health: 80% (coughy, but ok)
* diet: 4 (see below)
* physical energy: 7 (meh)
* mental energy: 8 (the storm is getting me excited, what can I say?!)

Diet: I’m guessing around 2000 calories, but I’ll start an online intake log and get better readings soon. One step at a time.

Before 11am: Only had 1/2 c of coffee... given my 4+ cups a day habit, this is a big improvement. God, I am SO addicted to this stuff.

Around noonish: whey protein with coconut milk. Also a couple of teaspoons of almond butter and avocado.

Around 3-ish: hot dog, plain. I was at costco and there wasn’t anything else available. Bad excuse, I know.

Really bad part  ... forgot to eat again until almost 7pm. Yes. I went THAT long without good calories. Got in a 4-egg omellete with some fresh turkey breast and an apple. It was my pre-wod.

Post WOD: endurox, water, and laying about on the floor.

20100208 Training: Fran

"Fran"
3 rounds, 21-15-9 reps for time:
- Thrusters @ 65lbs
- Pull-ups

Right. So I promised I wouldn't make an ass of myself with my potty mouth...

My lungs were on fire but ok...My legs were shaking, but ok... Bryce even
said my thrusters looked really good ... twice! (I know. Crazy, huh?!)

But around round 2, my arms gave out. My forearms refused to pull me above the bar, my hands refused to hold onto the clean ... and it was downhill from there. Once again, everyone got to experience Tery's Turrets Syndrome Workout.

Seriously, I can't help it. I REALLY try. But there is a point when my body just won't do what I tell it to. So I get upset and have to work up a good angry to move things along... and re-do reps I messed up on.

With that said, a rather annoying 9:01

:35 improvement, but :02 under my target of a sub 9:00

Well, I live to train another day.

Posted via email from Tery's Diet & Training

20100207 Training: God is Watching

Spent yesterday pre-superbowl at the police academy with Matty instead of what Mo calls "CFC Church". Very ok, though ... Amy's "Booyah Butter" made up for every moment of pain ... and the 3 slices of the pizza Matt ordered. Yes, I must come clean that I cheated. After 3 weeks of Paleo discipline, I had my Adam & Eve moment. Trust me, I'm feeling very guilty. 40 years in a Hispanic-Catholic family inoculated me into the whole culture of guilt and embracing your inner masochist.

Anyway ...

Bench Press 5-3-1+ @ 67.5%/76.5%/85.5%

Strength work : 80-95-105(3)
Still weak. I know. Still scaled 10%. I know. I'm busting my ass and working on it. My body refuses to recover like it would 10 years ago. Rather bemusing this whole aging thing.

From Alaskan Qualifier, Coach blessed us with a Metcon of 4 rounds for time of:
- 6 CTB pull-ups (3 for women)
- 6 Ring dips (3 for women)
- 500M row (I ran instead)
- 6 Thrusters (95 or 80% of max press)

Metcon @ 18:03

I'm sure I've mentioned it before but yes, my IQ drops about 150pts and I get Turrets Syndrome when I train. Women were supposed to do 3 reps instead of 6 (see above) ... in true turtle form, I struggled through 2 rounds of doing 6 reps of everything. When I finally realized what I'd done, I scared the poor donut-eaters in the gym and then realigned. 85lb thrusters of hell and ring dips of Satan ...

Running. I kept flashing in my mind the day Coach asked if I was hurt or in pain. He told me that I could step the box jumps only if I was hurt but not to stop. I got out of my head to make the distinction and started jumping ever since. This helped me with the running. As I was rounding out the last 100m of each running round, I really wanted to walk because of the pain in my legs and lungs. But I remembered this moment and the day I spent trudging around Windy Corner ... and kept on going. The last round of the run was really, really hard.

CTB and Ring Dips weren't as tough as I thought they'd be. Maybe because I'm a little lighter still and I'm recouperating... maybe because I do one of those movements at least once a day. Full-Movement ring dips will be bandless very soon. I was too frustrated with the little band to do CTB so I got pissed and did them on my own ... a little slower, but I'm secretly thrilled.

Thrusters felt heavy and awkward. Depth got better as I fatigued and began thinking of the movement as heavy wall-balls. That seemed to help and Matt stopped barking at me to re-do them. I'm not complaining, but I have to wonder if he conferences with the CFC coaches when I'm not around. Actually, I think Matt is awesome, but an incredible handful of mischief.

Physical Energy: 5
Mental Energy: 4
Sleep: 6 hrs (poo!)
Soreness: 3-4
Health/Recovery: 80%
Stress: 4
Weight: 136 (YES! 11lb gain! WOO HOO!)

Posted via email from Tery's Diet & Training