New Month

So, another month has come and gone. I'm actually pretty thrown at how quickly April and May have gone by!

SPARK WODs: 24
Garage Gym WODs: 1
CrossFit 1MP WODs: 1

TOTAL: 26

Rest Days: May 1, 6, 9, 14, 25

Bad Idea of the Month: 10 straight days of WODs. I think doing work every day is good, but the volume and intensity of 10 straight SPARK WODs was a little much. By day 10 (May 24) I was absolutely spent. I am trying to go back to my 4-on-1-off split, but may increase what I actually do on that "off day". Overall - just listening to my body.

Accomplishments:

• Rx'ed Cindy (20 minute AMRAP - 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats) - 10 2/3 rounds. I was nowhere near our firebreathers (24ish rounds) and I didn't even catch my rabbit (12 rounds), but bodyweight WODs are not my forte and I was proud of Rx'ing everything, the whole time.
• Double unders - May 26 we did 10 rounds of 250m row and 20 double unders. I did the majority of my rounds unbroken. It was a day when my double unders just clicked and felt right.
• Nancy (400m run, 15 65# OHS x 5 rounds) - 22:19. Not fast, but one I intend to do later in the summer and crush my time. My runs just need to be stronger.
• 500m row time trial - 1:45.0 - this actually isn't my best time (1:43.3 - done way back in July of 2010!), but it gave me a lot to think about for my next time trial. I came out of the gate at 1:31 and held that for 150m or so, but then I get self doubt about how long I can post that. I was in the 1:50-1:55 range from 150m until 400m and then I cranked it up again and was around 1:38. Next time I'm going to focus on maintaining one solid pace for the first 400m and then cranking it the last 100m. I think that's the key for me busting through the 1:43.3. If I could turn my brain off and just sit with the discomfort, I know I can break 1:40.
• I survived the 100m lunge/700m run x 4 WOD. It took me over 30 minutes, but I did it. I was so scared of this WOD beforehand - it was the first really big test for my knee/quad and it held up. This was my first WOD of May and after doing it I feel like I really turned a corner in stopping to mentally block myself with the injury excuse.

My paleo was good for the first half of the month and shitty for the second half. Go figure, my weight loss was good for the first half of the month and shitty for the second half. I'm going to really dial myself back in now as I don't want to stagnate where I am. I'm a little less than halfway to my goal, so there's still a ways to go. And those onion rings last night really weren't that tasty. If I'm going to cheat, the food should at least be worth the effort.

GOALS FOR JUNE:
* 5 toes to bar
* 1 dead hang pull up
* 1 handstand push up
* 2x400m runs every time that I'm at SPARK
* Alternate dead hang practice and handstand work each time at SPARK
* Get back off the Diet Coke bandwagon (sadly...)

I Can't.

"How many times do I shut down opportunity by saying that I can’t, when that’s not really the true story? I’m thinking about how much more powerful it is to say what’s really true, whether that means saying “I don’t want to,” “I want to, but I need help thinking about how to make that happen,” or “I’ve made a different choice that works better for me.” There’s power in owning our choices, and that’s what I want to do more of."

(from: http://thefivetribe.com/?p=3249)

I always love it when something that I've been trying to articulate for myself comes up in someone else's writings.

I was thinking about this a lot on Sunday, in particular. I was at SPARK and the WOD had running (the bane of my existence). Three 800m runs, to be exact. From the second I looked at the board, I was filled with dread (this is not uncommon for me when I see "r-u-n" on that board).

I got through my first set of box jumps well enough (they were actually fast! I rebounded off the ground without stopping! I made progress!). My pull ups were...pull ups. Then the run. Oh, the run. I slogged away at round one. I wandered back into the box for round two of box jumps and pull ups. Then came run #2.

Somewhere around 400m, the excuses came to the forefront of my mind. I let the run get the better of me. "My calves are on fire" (they were). "Fuck am I tired today" (I was). "I feel like absolute shit" (this positive self talk was obviously helping with this one). "I should have eaten breakfast" (maybe). "I cannot finish this run".

And I walked.

It didn't make me feel better. It didn't magically make the WOD easier. What it did do, was make it easier for me to walk several more times. Once you've done it once, what's two times? Three?

I have never been a strong runner, but I have not walked during a WOD in what has to be two years. I didn't walk during Murph, for fuck's sake! What happened was I let my mind get the better of me. It wasn't a matter of I can't. It was a matter of, "you know what, I just don't want to right now. Maybe later."

I don't say this to beat myself up, but rather to recognize it. In recognizing it, I can acknowledge and deal with what's behind it. One of the things that I love about CrossFit and SPARK is that it's not just about working out for me; through the experiences garnered there, I learn so much more about myself. That run isn't the only time in my life that I've had that conversation with myself. How many times do you think it's happened at work? At home? With anything, really.

Thanks for calling me on my shit, 800m run. 'Til next we meet. I will be ready for you. I may not want to run you, but I can run you. And I will.

Burpees, I'm putting you on notice too.