I'm not going to lie. Today sucked - but then it was awesome. The Strength portion of the workout went well for me. Turns out that I'm a bit stronger than I would have guessed I was. How was this figured out? The other day Coach Brian at Capital City CrossFit worked with me to establish my 1 Rep Max for a Clean & Press. What this is - is the heaviest weight you can get into rack position and then press overhead. This is probably a good time to mention that I'm completely terrible at tracking numbers in my head. Why is this important? Because after Coach Brian starts adding weights to the bar, I have no idea what I'm lifting. I only know that he believes I can lift more. Because he believes I can lift more, I figured 'I must be able lift more' - so I do. Another is added, another is added and then another adjustment made. I won't pretend it wasn't heavy. Yet every time I started the movement - I was able to press it overhead. I'm actually not sure how many weights he adjusted, but he finally seemed to agree that we had found my max. After I finished he asked if I knew what it was. Of course I stopped doing the math in my head after I couldn't remember the weight of the bar. Turns out it was 103 lbs. I was a bit proud. In fact - it felt slightly badass at that moment. Here's what I didn't know...That number was going to haunt me in almost every workout after that.
Which brings me to the workout below. Did I mention I'm atrocious at remembering numbers? Turns out I overloaded my bar. So for each move below I was unknowingly lifting more than I needed to. I was pooped. But it didn't suck yet. We move to the WOD. From almost the first Squat Clean Thruster I'm thinking how am I going to do 12 of these? Then I do, but I'm so happy to move on to the Burpees (something is wrong with that statement alone...) I clumsily get through those. On to Box Jumps, I'm in the homestretch now.... I start jumping with renewed vigor. But then it happens. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice my classmate and think "Why the Hell is she doing Squat Thrusters again?" and that is when the suckiness occurred. Maybe because I'm a newbie, or because I was too busy lifting too much weight due to poor basic math skills, I had totally missed the "3 rounds for time" portion of the WOD instructions.... In that moment those evil, negative thoughts that can immediately invade your mind started protesting LOUDLY. I was less than thrilled when I grabbed the bar to start round 2. Building excuses in my head, fretting about how to get through this. I mean the noise in my own head was far louder than the music coming from the stereo. Through all of this inner-chaos I notice my classmates moving into their 3rd rounds. My stress increases because I'm barely into my 2nd. But then the magical moments that seems to be inherent in the CrossFit community occur - I start hearing a few cheers of encouragement from classmates and coaches. Similar to how a small flame can snuff out darkness - a small cheer or a "you got this Pam" seems to drive you forward. Before I know it I'm finishing the Burpees and moving to the jump box except this time I know I've got one more round until I'm done. Coach Brian sees that I'm struggling and for round 3 he scales it back for me. By the time I finish, I'm exhausted, bummed that I struggled so much and yet exhilarated that I finished. In that moment the suckiness that is fear and doubt - gets overrun with the awesomeness of encouragement and accomplishment.
Which brings me to the workout below. Did I mention I'm atrocious at remembering numbers? Turns out I overloaded my bar. So for each move below I was unknowingly lifting more than I needed to. I was pooped. But it didn't suck yet. We move to the WOD. From almost the first Squat Clean Thruster I'm thinking how am I going to do 12 of these? Then I do, but I'm so happy to move on to the Burpees (something is wrong with that statement alone...) I clumsily get through those. On to Box Jumps, I'm in the homestretch now.... I start jumping with renewed vigor. But then it happens. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice my classmate and think "Why the Hell is she doing Squat Thrusters again?" and that is when the suckiness occurred. Maybe because I'm a newbie, or because I was too busy lifting too much weight due to poor basic math skills, I had totally missed the "3 rounds for time" portion of the WOD instructions.... In that moment those evil, negative thoughts that can immediately invade your mind started protesting LOUDLY. I was less than thrilled when I grabbed the bar to start round 2. Building excuses in my head, fretting about how to get through this. I mean the noise in my own head was far louder than the music coming from the stereo. Through all of this inner-chaos I notice my classmates moving into their 3rd rounds. My stress increases because I'm barely into my 2nd. But then the magical moments that seems to be inherent in the CrossFit community occur - I start hearing a few cheers of encouragement from classmates and coaches. Similar to how a small flame can snuff out darkness - a small cheer or a "you got this Pam" seems to drive you forward. Before I know it I'm finishing the Burpees and moving to the jump box except this time I know I've got one more round until I'm done. Coach Brian sees that I'm struggling and for round 3 he scales it back for me. By the time I finish, I'm exhausted, bummed that I struggled so much and yet exhilarated that I finished. In that moment the suckiness that is fear and doubt - gets overrun with the awesomeness of encouragement and accomplishment.
Lessons learned that day were plentiful.
1. learn how much the darn bar weighs.
2. read the WOD thoroughly - so you aren't surprised.
3. scaling back isn't failure - but quitting is.
Workout for April 1, 2013
Strength
Clean & Jerk
5×1 @ 80%
2×1 @ 90%
3×1 @ 95%
8×1 @ 70%
WOD
3 rounds for time:
12 Squat Clean Thrusters (95#/63#)
15 Hand Release Burpees
18 Lateral Over-the-Box Jumps (24″/20″)
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