Found ma FLOW!

So today was an unexpected break through day. I dragged my feet through the gym door at about noon and "lets just get this over with" was my initial mentality going into my workout. On paper, I had planned:

Snatch warm up

Snatch power pos (x3) hang above knee (x3) below knee (x3) with 35 kilos

Snatch 3x1 @ 60 kilos

C & J 3x1 @ 75 kilos

Front Squat 3x3 @ 75 kilos

Push Press 3x3 @ 60 kilos

I have been really trying hard lately to nail my second pull (in the snatch particularly) however my efforts have resulted in over thinking and messing up what I already had going on. It's encouraging to me that I really understand what I am working towards. The more one understands and breaks down their technique (without going crazy!) the more quickly your nervous system learns. I believe that subconsciously our brains are often what stand in our way of improving a difficult skill and analyzing, watching video, and thinking about the movement helps speed up the mind to body process. Some folks say "just do it over and over and it will eventually come together." This is absolutely how it works, but its really only addressing half of the process.

So today, I unintentionally discovered what it means to "find a groove" or "flow" to a lift. It's not a success/failure thing, similar to a big hitter on a hot streak, but more so a state of mind. I listened to music for the first time ever during a lift. Im obsessed with Nine Inch Nails and found that even angry songs helped me find this perfect balance between being aggressive in my lifts but easy going in between. I don't think it's something I will do often but it was a nice change of pace. Driving home I felt a weird high from what I had discovered. Something I always tell the rowers is "analyze during off strokes, warm up, and cool down, and when you are on, it will eventually come together." What I have been missing is that balance. I can't analyze what I'm doing all the time. Simple self corrections are different, and I did quite a bit of that today. What was different was my frame of mind from start to finish... with a little help from Trent Reznor.

OLYMPIC LIFTING... and such

So, it dawned on me today that it would be a great idea to start blogging again since so much has changed. First of all, I have officially found my sport. I am an Olympic Lifter. The way it all has evolved makes so much sense to and I could not have found this at a better time in my life. Bottom line is that every sport I have been "good" at has been a result of being strong and fast, and Olympic lifting is just that. Being a rower and a coach has taught me how to really break down and analyze technical skills. Right now I am still in the beginning phases of really understanding the lifts and developing proper form. I have recently become much more consistent but know that I am only at the ice berg tip of this process.

I made the decision about a month ago, to be a 75 kilo lifter instead of a 69 kg. I am naturally right around 72-73 kilos (160 lbs) if eating well and training hard. I cut weight for my first meet back in November and lost about 10 pounds in order to make weight. I did just fine and had a very strong sense of accomplishment simply because I made weight. I learned the importance of nutrient timing and realized that I have total control over what foods I choose to fuel my body with. However, I am confident that being a 75 kilo lifter will be a more natural weight class for me, not because I don't want to cut weight, but because it gives me a small window to allow strength gains without having to eat like a gerbil.

This week has been a recovery week. I have gone full tilt the past 5/6 weeks, training 5 days per week and realize that all of the different locations and traveling has really taken it's toll on my body. I'm learning how to recognize when it's time to back off and when it's okay to push the numbers when I'm feeling good. It's all a balance. Here's a link to a video of my current snatch PR. It's not a super impressive rep- shaky in the bottom, not extending fully, and slightly jumping/rushing under the bar but it's getting better. My hope is to be in the 70's in the very near future. Tomorrow is a rest day and Saturday I'll be up in Chicago for two days and hopefully get some good training in.

12 DAYS OUT!!!!

After a few weeks of probably hittin it TOO hard, followed by a week of strange sickness (week off), then a week of slowly coming back, I am feeling great. I changed up my diet quite a bit as of 15 days ago. Cut out all wheat/gluten products for one months just to see if anything changes and limiting my caffeine intake big time. The most recent workouts that are fresh in my mind:

Run 800

Dead Lift 165# 21 reps

Run 800

Dead Lift 165# 15 reps

Run 800

Dead Lift 165# 9 reps

I was able to crank through straight sets and felt good. I was going to do a high rep wall ball, pull up, kb swing workout instead but decided that the 800's scared me more. It's easy to pinpoint weaknesses (especially training solo) if I ask myself "is there an element of this workout that scares you a little?"-- or maybe just triggers the nervous poops. Those of you who read this know what I mean :)

Sunday- Sore hamstrings DAHHHH

Ran around campus for an hour!!!!!! Felt good to just cruise and feel fresh. Bloomington is so hilly that it turned into a bit of an interval workout. I will always enjoy going out for a long run every once in a while.

Monday

Woke up feeling way energized and surprisingly recovered.

Rowed 2k..... Didn't have much time to workout today and since there are now erg's in the weight room, it seemed like the thing to do. I made the classic mistake of forgetting how awful flying and dying is. I started out at my former PR (1:49ish) and totally imploded with 1000 to go. I finished with a 7:43.2 which is NOT very impressive, however I was pleased with the ability to even sit down and finish 2000 meters like it was no big deal. It's nice to finally be able to look at the erg as a tool rather than a failure hungry torture machine. My goal is to PR by summer time this year.

Today

Ran a 1 mile warm up

Clean & Jerk 105#

As many reps as possible in 5 minutes

Reps: 33

I think I got closer to 35 but my form was CRAP after 20... I am still working on being strong from the floor for high rep cleans. They turn into a slow dead lift, fast hang clean sort of combo that just isn't very efficient. I am pleased with my score but know that I have more.

I will do a better job updated this and next week.

The rest of this week...

HOLY soreness.

Wednesday- Ran a quickie fartlek 2 miles as a warmup. Then did the 1' on 1' off circuit with varsity in the weightroom. I used to love this workout back in the day. I was quickly reminded why, as it got crazy competitive.

2 Rounds of:

50# BB back squat (speeeeed!)
25# overhead lunge (used the 50# bb overhead the first set)
Box Jumps

Pushups
Body weight horizontal hanging row
12.5# front shoulder raise, hold

25# Russian twist
12.5# Get up
Plank

The 300 m of broadjump the day before plus this has left me needing to call the SCOOTER STORE for a wheel chair haha. No big deal.

Thursday (yesterday) RECOVERY DAY
Biked at 100Watts for 40 mins to flush out soreness...ugh

"Either Chillin....or KILLIN"

CrossFit Malicious was alright. Josh and I stopped by after doing a full body lift (split squats are the devil) with the Novice. It seemed like a newer affiliate. We did a tabata workout that consisted of:

KB swings

Thrusters (went #75)

Burpees

They wanted to do just thrusters and burpees, but I successfully talked them into adding KB swings to the mix. I told them about the last tabata workout that I did (Tabata FML, rightfully named) and was pumped to only have THREE exercises. By the looks on their faces I assumed they thought I was full of crap. Oh well. The workout went ok, however the owner told me my burpees are crap and need to be more deliberate rather than quick. I do have the tendency to fire through certain exercises and need to work on being perfect because I'll have a judge watchin me soon!!! AHHHH!

Some accomplishments in the past week or so:

Rowed (yes in a boat) 5x5 minutes at 30 strokes/min (race pace sorta deal)... Went out at what I remembered to be race pace, and thought I was going to die. Was fun and humbling remembering what racing felt like. Nothing else out there leaves you with a better thick wheezy cough for 24 hours.... cramping hammies in the back of the truck for 15 hours was real fun too :)

Did Grace yesterday....she's a bitch. Did the women's RX #85

Time: 3:00 flat

Definitely have more here. I'm still wired to hang clean from lifting in college, so when I got tired, I stopped using my legs and lost all efficiency. I'm anxious to hit this one again. Next Tuesday is the plan. Also ran 2 miles sorta quick.. 7:45ish mile

Today, I did the main site WOD: 50m walking lunge, 100m broad jump, 200m sprint x 3 rounds for time. I went into it thinking this was going to be the easier of the two workouts I had planned to do back to back.

Time: 14:53

I definitely could have gone harder from the beginning. The jumps totally trashed my lower back but I kept a pretty decent pace. Lunges felt like "rest" haha! This one will be another soon to re-conquer WOD.

December update!

So it's official! I am signed up and paid. CrossFit sectionals in Columbus, Ohio HERE I COME!! A lot of time has passed since my last post, and a lot has happened. The first couple weeks of December I got into this mode where I basically did two-a-days up until finals. Knowing I would be sitting on my butt studying like a madwoman during finals, it worked out well because I was able to take some much needed time off. It's still refreshing to me realizing that I am better at letting myself rest and recover (used to not be the case). The week after finals, my fam and I went to Puerto Vallarta, MEXICOOOO! I can't explain how excited I was to spend a week playing at the beach, eating fresh fish, and working out like a machine. I was workin with a beach that was about 400 meters from end to end and a funny little squat rack that I almost broke a few times. I had a BLAST being creative and coming up with crazy ways to torture myself.

Here's a list of what went down in between body surfing and tequila shots:

- 400 m barefoot walking lunges

- 30 minute fartlek runs (followed by 10 mins barefoot running)

- Heavy snatches (wasn't enough weight to do much of anything else haha)

- 50 burpees.... EVERYDAY!

- Ran hotel stairs for time (11 stories) don't remember how many ups.. 30 mins worth

- Did pushup/table top/squat/sit up circuits on my towel on the beach

- Body surfed and played in the big waves for hours upon hours (got beat up pretty good)

- Found random large rocks to play with (beach squat cleans, overhead lunges...etc)

- Did water aerobics!!! Yea SUPER dorky... I was really aggressive and silly during it... and in result, was actually SORE the next day!!

All in all, it was a great week. I came home and spent a few days in Chicago with Kenny. I hit up good ol Xsport Fitness a few times and did an 8 miler and a 5 miler on the treadmill. I've been attempting to train at a 7:55 minute mile pace and it usually about kills me. But it's a good challenge that I think will become less scary the more I force myself to do it.

THIS WEEK- I am in Tampa Florida on the winter training trip with the team. So far it's been cold and windy (30 degrees in the AM... yea so much for Florida sunshine..) but the team has been putting in a lot of work on and off the water. On Saturday, I ran twice (~3 miles each run) and led a pushup/ab sort of workout after the team's evening run. The day's are crazy busy and I haven't been able to workout the last couple days. BUT- tomorrow I'm going to be able to lift with the novice AND go check out CrossFit Malicious!!!!!!!!! I about peed my pants when I saw that there's a CrossFit literally a half mile from where we keep the boats. I will definitely post how the workout goes. Off to run hotel stairs (story of my life).

Update

Ok, here's what the past week and a half of training has looked like:

Tues 11/24- 30ish mile ride with Dad and crazy cycling group... we met up with about 8 people (whom were all freaks) in Evanston, and rode up Sheridan rode. Dad and I held on for maybe 5 miles at a blazing 28mph until we got dropped!!! It was FAST. We felt accomplished to even have a prayer at hanging with this group as long as we did. If I trained on my bike regularly, I think I would have been fine. Another goal eh?

Wed 11/25- OLYMPIAN ATHLETICS!!!! Justin and I got crazy and battled through a workout, appropriately named, "Tabata FML."

8 sets per exercise of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off:
16kg KB swings
Sit Ups
65# Thruster
Burpees
185# Deadlift

Yeah.... REtarded. It was silly stupid, but oh so fun. The deadlift at the end was hilarious.

Thurs 11/26- TURKEY!! Cruised around Glencoe, running at a decent clip... about 35 mins. SORE from Wednesdays grinder.

Fri 11/27- REST (Grandma's wedding)

Sat 11/28- Post Thanksgiving workout at Olympian Athletics

21, 15, 9
HSPU (modified using plates under my head, or did a pike off of a box)
Run 400
Pullups (weighted or strict...)

The workout was supposed to be "strength" focused and about hammering out strict reps (pullups especially). I was neck and neck with a guy during the first set of HSPU's and the run. When we got inside, he began doing pullups with a band as I struggled to do strict bodyweight PU's. So.... Instead of being satisfied with working harder and in result, going slower, I got pissed and started kipping. I've become competitive lately, almost to a fault. It is a good thing, however I need to be careful to not cheat form (pushups during Barbara, for example!).

Sun 11/29- REST (drive back to B-Town)

Mon 11/30- 30 minute bike followed by a quick 10 min, interval run on the treadmill
Novice lift with Josh (split squats are the devil, RDL, Neg pullup pyramid: 2,4,8,8,4,2 etc.) The team had a sluggish, crappy lift that went over-time. Asremediation, I led a PLATE PT outside on the FB field!!! hahahah! So funny doing that again. Made them sound off and everything. It was a fun blast from the past (not so fun for them)

Tues 12/1- Getting sick? Took another rest day to just lay low and hopefully fend off the cold that may be brewing...

Wed 12/2- Woke up feeling better. Going to have a similar day to Monday... Tomorrow I'm hoping to hit up CFB.