22 February 2014

Attitude makes all the difference


I know I've said this before, but it is something that is not quite sticking yet. My attitude makes all the difference in my workouts. If I go in feeling all negative and woe is me because I can't do everything I want to, I have a crappy workout. If I go in there with the attitude of doing the very best with what I can do, I rock that workout. It seems pretty simple, but it;s not quite that simple. I have to be careful when just trying the best I can that I don't sell myself short. If I push as hard as I can without hurting myself, and I know that I really gave it everything I had, I'm happy. Really happy. But if I allow myself too many excuses and am too lenient, I'm not happy at all. That itself will put me in a bad mood. So it's a fine, fine line between cutting yourself some slack and going too easy. It's a tough line to walk. But I have been walking it these last two three four five days.

Tuesday night was a brutal workout. It was:
10 thrusters (55#)
5 toes to bar
8 thrusters
10 toes to bar
6 thrusters
15 toes to bar
4 thrusters
20 toes to bar
2 thrusters
25 toes to bar

By the end my arms were toast. You try thrusting 55# over your head 30 times and then hanging from a bar and trying to bring your toes up to your hands. Toast. By I got through it pretty well. I did it in 9:26 which was neither the fastest nor the slowest. Right there at the middle of the pack. Thing is was, it wiped me out. The next day I was exhausted. So exhausted I came home and took a nap instead of Crossfit. Thursday is my regular day off. I had briefly considered going that night, but I really hate when my routine gets thrown off. So I didn't go. I did go last night and it was ugly again. 5 rounds for max weight of 5 bear complexes. Bear complexes combine almost every movement from Crossfit into one rep. It is:
Power clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Jerk from back of neck.
That is one bear complex. We had to do 5 rounds of 5 of those. In other words, 25 of them, but you could not put the bar down during your set. So during your set of 5, you could not stop and rest by putting the bar down. Ugh!!! Started out with 55#. Then did 60#. Then did 2 rounds at 65# and decided to call it done. The shoulder was aching a little. The knee was popping on the squats. I decided to call it done. So I only did 4 rounds. Now, for me that was okay. I worked hard. I added weight. I pushed myself. Could I have done 5 more? Probably. But I probably would have hurt myself because everything was getting tired and sore. So I called it quits and was fine with that.

Today the WOD was:
200 m run
then
5 rounds
5 med ball cleans
10 med ball sit ups
15 wall balls
then
200 m run

This was tough because it was all cardio. Yikes. But I did it. I used a lighter ball, 8#, and kept moving. Each set of movements I did unbroken. So that was how I pushed myself. I took it easy by using the lighter ball, but then pushed myself by going unbroken. I did this whole thing in 15:21 and I felt awesome. I pushed, but not too hard.

So attitude is unbelievably important, but you also have to tread that fine line between cutting a little slack and letting yourself off the hook. It is a balancing act.

17 February 2014

So here's my take on diets


First off, let's discuss the term diet. People who say "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle" drive me up the freaking wall. Any way of eating is a diet. The standard American Diet (aka SAD) is one of processed and fast foods. The Weight Watcher DIET is one of counting points. The Atkins DIET is one of lots of meat. Okay, you get the idea. Everyone is on a diet because everyone eats. Also, diet is a noun, not a verb. You eat a type of diet, you do not diet. Okay, off the soapbox on that.

I have been on a Paleo challenge since January 15th. I have 12 more days left. The first time I did Paleo it was amazing. I dropped a lot of weight, I gained a lot of energy, it was awesome. This time? Not so much. I still feel good, much better then when I eat SAD, but not like the first time. I also notice this time that I need more carbs. Weird. So I started reading around and found that with the amount of training that I am doing, more carbs are definitely necessary. There is also this thing called carb backloading, where you eat carbs after you workout. The idea is that is when your body needs the carbs. I know some people who have had great success with it. I don't want to return to eating carbs all the time since I know that doesn't work, but maybe eating carbs only after a workout will work. I'm willing to give it a try.

I have found, over the many, many diets I have tried, that just about anything will work for a while. But your body adjusts and changes and so your food choices need to adjust and change with it. Paleo worked great the first time, and while it's been good this time, it hasn't been as good. So anyway, life is journey and you need to be constantly learning and changing or you die.

So that's my view on diets.

16 February 2014

This I have a problem with


I always try to find these keep calm quotes, because someone once told me they hated them. So, of course I want to use them :) But seriously. Finishing strong is not something I do well. It is not. I have always been that way. I reach a point, in anything, and I'm done. I just want it to end. Does not matter if it is finished or over or complete or whatever, I just want it done. I'm trying to get over that in Crossfit, and succeeding to some degree. Most workouts I can speed up as we near the end, some it's just not possible. But certain things it is just beyond my ability. I had a paper due today. It was a major paper. I have been working on it for 10 weeks. I reached the point today where I was over it. I could barely get up the energy to do it at all. I did a really crappy job but just as I was going to turn it in, I rethought it and rewrote it. It's a lot better than it was, but still crappy. But I'm done. I'm over it. I really would like to break this attitude. I'm not sure how to go about breaking it though. Doing things before I get to that point? Doing an entire project when I care about it?? I don't know. It is something I have dealt with all my life, not sure I'm going to be able to change now - though I really would like to.....

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...