Shiny Newness

The time has come for me to change it up a little bit.  For over a year I have had Olympic weight lifting as my main focus with the intentions on getting strong.  However, my training, although progressing, has gotten a little stale and a bit too stagnant for my liking.  Following Catalyst Athletics and then to Mikes Gym has been great in terms of getting stronger, but without the proper coaching I cannot see myself improving too much beyond this point (that’s actually untrue, I believe that I can get stronger, but gaining better technique would jump my #’s much quicker than just following the Mikes Gym template).  I have decided then, to finish out July using the Crossfit Football method.  August will be devoted to the main page and I will alternate as I see fit.  This could change, I don’t know, but this seems to me the right direction to follow, especially considering the goal, to be a complete athlete.

Missed Opportunity

Today is the last chance video qualifier for the Crossfit Games.  The workouts are ones that I feel are up my alley, but I'm not going to do them.  My best shot came and went at Albany last weekend.  I'm ok with this.  I've come to grips with being not the best, and besides we all know that Josh Everett's going to win anyway.  I am excited to see who comes out of the video entrants.  It seems to me that it's a great way of including troops or the voluntary organizers of the regional qualifiers like James "OPT" Fitzgerald.  Besides, I'm focused on breaking the 250# barrier for the Snatch and I physically can't do both.

Diet Experiment:

Alternating weeks between T-Nation Mass Gain and Paleo Diet Mass Gain for the month of June I hope to put on about 5-10 pounds of muscle while not adding any body fat.  I'm still doing research for the paleo mass gain but the T-Nation diet consists of roughly 400g of protein daily with 150g of carbs and fat.  We're looking at 3,550 calories daily.  It'll be a good experiment.  Hopefully this adds on more than just weight but strength to go along with it.

Get Back At It

It feels so good to strap those shoes back on and tear that weight off the floor again.  Those two weeks of training for the CFNEQ’s really took me out of my rhythm.  The afterward soreness of the “unfamiliar” movements done at high intensity really put me in my place, literally, but getting under the bar on Tuesday, with sore, tired legs put me back in the zone.  The two weeks I “took off” from Mike Burgener’s programming was almost like a training vacation.  That type of training is a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.  I think though that my “vacation” helped me refocus.  Granted, it’s only been a couple of days, but I have been hitting the WOD’s hard and not half-assing them.  I’ve made a pact with myself to not underachieve from this point going forward and to take this Oly-lifting ride as far as it can take me.  I’m not sure how strong I can get, I’m sure I won’t ever be an Olympian or National level athlete but I can keep progressing.  That visit to Crossfit Land helped me get back to why I decided to put my efforts into strength.  It’s something that I enjoy.  Tossing heavy shit in the air and dropping my ass underneath is a thrill and I get to do it everyday.  I enjoyed my Crossfit vacation but I’m back home in the land of wooden heeled shoes, ATA squats and shoulder girdle flexibility and it’s nice to be back.  Home Sweet Home.

In other news; my buddy has started a business venture.  His goal is to team up trainers and people who want to get in shape, whether it is the previously sedentary or those looking to get ready for training camp.  If you are a trainer looking for clients or are looking for a trainer yourself please visit his website.  This could be a great opportunity to create clientele revenue in your gyms.  All details are available on his website.

Advantage: Skinny Dudes

I just got trounced.  It was awful.  My ass was removed, prepared and then handed to me.  I don't like to make excuses, but I certainly can make the case that the three WOD's favored smaller Crossfitters who can run.  1. I'm big and 2. I'm an awful runner.  The WOD's were as follows:

4 rounds

450 meter run

10 Deadlifts @ 225

20 Pullups

19:58

This one was my mistake.  I took it out way too fast.  I tried keeping up with the quick runners in the first round.  Bad idea.  I died.  Absolutely got crushed.  If I was offered a do-over, I would have cruised the run and pounded out the DL's and Pullups.  That weight is really light for me and I can get those pullups pretty easily (although I will admit that some of my reps didn't count because my chin failed to get over the bar).  On a redo, I crush my 19:58 time by at least 3 minutes, it'd probably help if I didn't walk major portions of the run.

5round

5 Thruster @135

10 Burpees

7:59

More my speed.  I didn't do as well as I would have liked, but I was able to hold my own.  Still a little bit too light and favors the itty bitty guys just a little bit.  I think I should point out that 135# thrusters are not that light, but 155# would have really evened things out, especially considering what was coming up next. 

5k

28:29

Really?  WTF?  That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.  I'm starting to think that Jason from CFMilford doesn't like me.  Or maybe the offer CFEndurance and have a whole bunch of runners and triathletes.  The top time was 21:24, that's pretty quick.

If I was asked to do it again, I would, of course.  I'd hope that the WOD's would change but it is what it is and I know that I can do better.  I would argue that my middle of the pack finish wouldn't change much, especially with that run at the end but I did have a great time and I appreciate Jason hosting a great event that run smoothly.

Lessons learned: I can't run and those skinny people WOD's are a weakness.  Also, there are some really good Crossfitters (or possibly just runners) in Connecticut.  Maybe I'll do some CFE stuff before the qualifiers, but I'm really hoping that Albany has more stuff for the big guys.  Heavy snatches anybody, how about King Kong?

Beat

The beauty of Crossfit is that no matter how strong you are, how athletic you are and what great shape you're in, it will crush you.  Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some day it will put it's foot into your sternum.  Focus becomes key in those situations.  

It's easy to chalk it up to a bad day.  Maybe you ate too much yesterday or you didn't get a good enough warm up, you might have warmed up too much, or possible not enough sleep or maybe, and this could be true, this is your goat.  Now, what I want you to do is against human nature, but as crossfitters we should know this, embrace your goat.  Think Tom Brady.  You ought to be going full boar into what ails you.  Are you really good at metcons but lake the strength to place well in a CFT?  Well, my friend, it's time you dust off the squat rack, get under the bar and start hitting some triples.  Double unders not your friend?  Work on it.  Make a WOD 300 double unders for time.  By the end you're either going to have to string a couple together or have bloody shins, either way, everybody wins.  Failing is a good thing in crossfit.  Becoming a better athlete is all about getting humbled, again and again until your goats become strengths.  So, the next time you walk into your gym and see on that damned white board a workout that you know you'll come in last place, suck it up and think to yourself, this is what brought me here in the first place and this will take me to where I want to be; in first place.