Sunday, January 10, 2016

1/10/2016

Long, unplugged hike or easy 30:00 row

45:00 walk @Loveland Bike Trail 


Thoughts, feelings, and why everyone needs a best friend who believes in them

The past few weeks have been rough and I can't really narrow it down to one specific reason. I've been feeling drained, tired, and physically fatigued. Mentally I want to be "in" my workouts but physically I haven't been able to push myself to that point. My body is very tired. Like I said in the previous post, I think I need to increase my carbs and look into some supplements to help with my recovery/energy. I want to perform better because I really care about training but I need my body to catch up to my brain. I'm going to make a few changes and hopefully things will start to improve. Until then, I'm just going to continue to do the work. 

A few days ago in a previous post I said I don't really recognize the athlete I am right now. The "fire" that I had over the summer is still there but it has been feeling pretty dim lately, sort of like when you make a fire and it burns for like two minutes and then it dies suddenly and all you have is sparks and you're trying to fan it to make it bigger but nothing is really happening. That's basically how I've been feeling. I WANT to push myself but I guess I lost motivation to do so somewhere along the way in the past few months. I think part of it has to do with how physically fatigued I've been feeling, it's hard to push myself to make it hurt if my body is sluggish and tired. Also, mentally it's been tough to get my brain into an "open" mindset because I've taken to the bad habit of comparing myself to others and worrying I might not be able to contribute once the open rolls around. 

I was feeling sorry for myself all week when Friday afternoon I got a text from my buddy Megan asking me if everything was okay. I basically told her everything I had been feeling lately. She must have read my mind because earlier that morning I was literally thinking, "I wish someone would just tell me to get my shit together." Megan basically did just that, but in a way a best friend does. 

First, she told me if I was feeling off physically then I need to take steps to get control. That means changing things around in my diet, looking into adrenal fatigue supplements, workload, etc. I'm the only one who can make a change if something doesn't feel right, and that's why I'm upping my carbs and researching supplements. I think I also need to drink more water and (try to) get more sleep.

Second (and she read my mind about this), she said I needed to find something to do other than coach and train. We make multiple sacrifices to make sure we have the proper time to train and also to ensure we feel good while doing it, but there is more to life than coaching and training. I was already thinking about playing more music this year and I would eventually like to join a band or try to perform more in some way. I think it's healthy to have something other than CrossFit in my life. I always forget I'm good at other things besides working out and I need to try and explore that more as well. Music is fun and I'm very good at it!

She told me I've lost perspective on how far I've come and not to forget I'm a Regionals-level athlete. This is true, I earned my spot on the team last year. I have the shoes and neck pillow to prove it. And I want to do it again. 

She told me that at the end of the day I don't have to prove myself to anyone and that I'm on my own journey. I need to stop comparing myself to others and keep doing my own shit because no one is going to care more about my training than me. 

She told me she believes in me, and I needed to hear that. I really needed to hear all of it. Sometimes you just need a friend to remind you how far you've come. The truth is- I want to go back to Regionals and I want my performance in the Open to reflect that. I want to be on the team and I want to go fuck shit up with my friends. I want to earn that spot just like I did last year. If we make it to Regionals then I don't want there to be a shadow of a doubt that I'm going. I want it to be a done deal. So, this is me promising I'm going to try and figure out my shit. I'm going to try and fix whatever's causing my physical fatigue and I want to get back to where I was. I'm going to stop worrying about what other people are doing and only worry about myself and my progress. I'm going to take it one day at a time and keep doing the work. I need to be nicer to myself because I'm strong and I've improved so much over the past few years. I fucking cleaned 225 a few months ago! I stood on the podium three times in one month. I'm a good athlete with good friends who remind me of that when I lose sight of my goals. 

Loveland Bike Trail
It's a good thinking spot

1/9/2016

A. Clean-thruster, build to a heavy single
B. Front squat, 3-3-2-2, 40x1; 2:30 rest
+
5 sets:
5 CTB pull ups
5 thrusters, 65
5 CTB pull ups
5 thrusters, 65
:30 rest
500m row @90% aerobic
:60 rest
+
3 rounds not for time:
20m/side 1-arm farmers walk
20m/side 1-arm DB overhead carry

A. 155 (165 Fx2)
B. 185-195-205-215
+
complete
+
complete
70# KB for FW
50# DB for OHC


Disappointed with the heavy thruster, I should have been able to hit more than this. 155 was extremely easy so I jumped to 165 and failed twice, I got the bar eye-level and couldn't press it any higher. Eff. 

Front squats went really well, these were easy today even with the tempo. I'm pretty happy I was able to get 215 for two at that slow of a descent. These were awesome. 

CTB/thruster piece was okay, although my body was pretty drained of energy at this point. CTB pull ups were fine but thrusters felt awful, shoulder fatigue again. The row actually felt pretty good today, I made sure to focus on keeping it 90% aerobic and it was the first time in weeks that I didn't feel like shit during the row. I was just really tired during this whole piece and couldn't get my energy up. I'm going to start looking into some adrenal fatigue supplements because something isn't right. I shouldn't be THIS tired after heavy thrusters and front squats. I definitely didn't have enough carbs before I trained today either, I think that's why my energy was very low. I'm going to increase my carbs and look into some supplements, hopefully that helps. 

1/8/2016

AM
2 rounds easy of:
3:00 airdyne
3:00 row
:60 single-unders w/heavy rope
+
4 sets:
:30 row very hard
4:30 walk rest
+
10:00 mobility work

PM
A. 1 hang power snatch + 1 hang squat snatch, 7x1 starting moderate and building to a heavy set, begin a set every :90
+
For reps:
2:00 power cleans, 135
2:00 bar muscle ups
+
For 10:00
evens- 9 kipping handstand push ups
odds- 12 touch and go deadlifts, 95
+
3 rounds not for time:
5-8/leg 1-leg reverse hypers, slow & controlled
2:00 anterior loaded banded march (bear hug a med ball @chest)

AM
complete
+
DNS
+
complete

PM
A. 85-95-105-105-115-125-135(failed squat snatch)
+
27 power cleans
11 bar muscle ups
+
complete
+
complete
25#/side for RH
14# WB for banded march


I skipped the row sprints in the AM session due to time, I only had 30 minutes to do everything between classes so I figured I would do the airdyne/row and the mobility. I think I might have to switch some AM stuff to Thursdays when I have more time, I don't want to cut my AM sessions short on Fridays. Also, the heavy rope is really hard! I had actually never done this before and holy shit, it was very tiring. I enjoyed it though, it was different. 

PM session started off a bit rough but got better. Snatches weren't great today, shoulders are still feeling fried. Also, I've realized that I probably can't wear knee sleeves when I do any sort of snatch from the hang position, I kept getting super distracted by my knee sleeves every time I would slide the bar down, it was annoying. Hang power snatches were all pretty easy but the hang squat snatches were a bit rough, I kept landing on my toes. I didn't have any misses until the hang squat snatch at 135, I failed behind me. I asked Stephen if I should try it again but he said it was a good miss and to call it there. Merrrr. Not sure why my shoulders have been so fatigued lately. The bar also felt really heavy whenever I brought it to the first hang position. I can't believe I hang snatched 160 at one point. 

I was really happy with the cleans/bar muscle ups. I wasn't expecting to get that many cleans, I just did quick singles the whole way. I was breathing really hard by the time I got to the bar muscle ups and probably wasted 15 seconds standing there chalking my hands. I split up the bar muscle ups 3/3/2/2/1. I didn't fail any but they definitely got difficult near the end. I need to practice these a bit more to make them more efficient, I want to get them to the point of barely any press out. Overall I was very happy with this, I think Conner and I will do really well on this event. 

The EMOM was fun, my handstand push ups are so fast and easy all of a sudden! These felt great. I sped through the deadlifts imagining I was at the competition. The cycle time on these are going to have to be fucking quick. This got me excited for the competition. 

1/7/2016

OFF

30:00 mobility 

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