Hey Everybody!
Don't you just love "ahh-ha" moments? Those moments when it seems like the cobwebs in your head somehow get brushed away and the things you have been wrestling with suddenly make sense and are easy to perform. I have had a few...and while I am always glad when the fog lifts, I still feel a little stupid when I realize just how hard I was making things by over thinking. As my mama always says "Stop making a mountain out of a mole hill."
Well apparently today was my day for some Crossfit ahh-ha moments...
Dropping under the bar, sounds easy right? Not really. Dropping under a bar with heavy weight isn't easy at all. It's one heck of a mind game. Who wants to be under a bar with 100+ pounds on it? But that one little movement, getting under that bar quickly, while it is still traveling up over your head, is critical to controlling that weight and getting it up. (I think that is one long ass run on sentence lol). I have been trying to do this for some time. I have cracked myself under the chin, whacked my forehead, and dropped the bar more times than I can count...learning this little movement has not been an easy road.
My moment came today while doing Power Snatches, one of my favorite oly lifts. I can't tell you how or what changed...I wish I could...but all I know is when I had the bar at eye level, my body dropped under the bar and I caught it with great form. I had coach watch me to make sure I wasn't lacking in the form department, and she said "looks awesome...you can lift more weight". So I did. And I got a new PR on Power Snatches...100lbs.
Running with the gazelles:
We always begin our warmup with a run, either 400 meters or an 800. Anyone who has ever joined in a WOD knows that Crossfit and running goes together like peanut butter and jelly. As I have probably mentioned in an earlier blog (?), I hate running. I cannot stand to run. I would rather do burpees than run. Have I mentioned that I hate running?
Since this is a weak area and one of my goals was to improve, I have been doing extra running intervals with my husband. And while I love him very very much, I can't help but want to trip him when we are doing these intervals. Have these extra sessions helped? I am beginning to think so. Steve is a fan of telling me that I am faster than what I think I am. He has also mentioned before that when I run, it is like I am fighting my body to stay slow and not stretch out and eat some ground. And he is absolutely right. I over think running. When I am running, all that is going through my head is how much I hate it, how weak I am in this area, any number of disparaging thoughts.
Today was different. On the drive to the box, the cobwebs cleared and I finally realized what Steve was saying. I am faster than what I think I am.Why was I wasting my energy fighting against being fast? What was I afraid of? What harm could possibly come from just letting go? So I let go. When coach said to run, I wasn't dreading it like I normally did. My mind wasn't whirling with how much I hated to run. My mind was quiet...and I just moved my feet...and while I felt myself running, I didn't FEEL myself running. Normally I can feel every thud of my feet on the asphalt, feel it jarring my legs...today, I didn't. I was just moving.
I jokingly call the faster runners in the noon class, gazelles, because they just bound away like they have wings on their feet....today, I was running with the gazelles...and it was nice.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
OK...I admit it...
Hey everybody!
OK, I admit it...I am not a blogger. It's been quite a while since my last post. In my defense, it is kind of hard to blog with a teething 4 month old. Plus, I've never really been one to write about what I am doing or thinking about. In the past I have tried to keep a journal...it seems that a lot of smart people I know keep one...but not me. I am alright for a couple of days, then I forget a night or three and before I know it, the journal has become a safe haven for dust bunnies. So, again, sorry for the lack of blogs...I will try to do better.
I guess now it would be good to catch everyone up on what's going on with my challenge. Well, I have been eating clean for a few weeks now (with the exception of this past Tuesday and tonight). I have noticed a huge difference in my performance in the gym as far as weight increase goes. I have already made my 200lbs+ deadlift. I recently got 125lbs overhead, which was freakin awesome and I jumped up 10lbs on my strict press.
As far as working on my pull ups and running, I am working with my coach and my husband. I am moving to the next color band on pull ups, no matter how bad I want to stay with the green band. The running, in a word, SUCKS! I am doing intervals with my husband and pushing myself to go as fast as I can. Steve says he can see an improvement...me, I just keep chanting in my head "I am a Velicoraptor, I am a Velicoraptor". Believe it or not, it helps me stay with the Pose running method. However, if I really were this particular dinosaur in the Jurassic period, I would have died way before the meteor crash because of my currant lack of speed.
How is Paleo and menu planning going, you may ask? Well, Paleo is going great. My husband and my coach have noticed a change. I stepped on the scale at home and my current status is 199.6lbs...not a bad drop from 207. I get pinched again on Tuesday so we will see how the inches look. Depending on what the results are, I may or may not start adding the Zone to my eating habits. The menu planning...eh. I understand the benefits of a little forethought in planning meals (saving money by getting just what you are planning to cook, not wondering what the heck to fix for dinner, etc). I am just getting waylaid by my lazy side in this area. But tomorrow is grocery day, so I may surprise myself and actually get a menu planned.
I am on day 64 of, not only this challenge, but also the push up challenge I placed upon myself. I have noticed a huge gain in this area. I can do ten boy push ups in a row and I am also doing incline push ups. I may be wrong, but I think my push ups helped me get 95lbs up in a strict press. I know that ten push ups in a row may not sound like a lot to some, but from not being able to do any, this is big. Am I doing them in the gym? I am doing a mix. I try to do as many on my toes as I can, then switch to me knees...some days are better than others though, but I still keep trying.
Well, I think that pretty much does it. I will try to do better about blogging, especially since I am coming to the end of my challenges. Until my next post,
I am Sincerely
- Mel
OK, I admit it...I am not a blogger. It's been quite a while since my last post. In my defense, it is kind of hard to blog with a teething 4 month old. Plus, I've never really been one to write about what I am doing or thinking about. In the past I have tried to keep a journal...it seems that a lot of smart people I know keep one...but not me. I am alright for a couple of days, then I forget a night or three and before I know it, the journal has become a safe haven for dust bunnies. So, again, sorry for the lack of blogs...I will try to do better.
I guess now it would be good to catch everyone up on what's going on with my challenge. Well, I have been eating clean for a few weeks now (with the exception of this past Tuesday and tonight). I have noticed a huge difference in my performance in the gym as far as weight increase goes. I have already made my 200lbs+ deadlift. I recently got 125lbs overhead, which was freakin awesome and I jumped up 10lbs on my strict press.
As far as working on my pull ups and running, I am working with my coach and my husband. I am moving to the next color band on pull ups, no matter how bad I want to stay with the green band. The running, in a word, SUCKS! I am doing intervals with my husband and pushing myself to go as fast as I can. Steve says he can see an improvement...me, I just keep chanting in my head "I am a Velicoraptor, I am a Velicoraptor". Believe it or not, it helps me stay with the Pose running method. However, if I really were this particular dinosaur in the Jurassic period, I would have died way before the meteor crash because of my currant lack of speed.
How is Paleo and menu planning going, you may ask? Well, Paleo is going great. My husband and my coach have noticed a change. I stepped on the scale at home and my current status is 199.6lbs...not a bad drop from 207. I get pinched again on Tuesday so we will see how the inches look. Depending on what the results are, I may or may not start adding the Zone to my eating habits. The menu planning...eh. I understand the benefits of a little forethought in planning meals (saving money by getting just what you are planning to cook, not wondering what the heck to fix for dinner, etc). I am just getting waylaid by my lazy side in this area. But tomorrow is grocery day, so I may surprise myself and actually get a menu planned.
I am on day 64 of, not only this challenge, but also the push up challenge I placed upon myself. I have noticed a huge gain in this area. I can do ten boy push ups in a row and I am also doing incline push ups. I may be wrong, but I think my push ups helped me get 95lbs up in a strict press. I know that ten push ups in a row may not sound like a lot to some, but from not being able to do any, this is big. Am I doing them in the gym? I am doing a mix. I try to do as many on my toes as I can, then switch to me knees...some days are better than others though, but I still keep trying.
Well, I think that pretty much does it. I will try to do better about blogging, especially since I am coming to the end of my challenges. Until my next post,
I am Sincerely
- Mel
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