Tough

I will be the first to admit that I am not as tough or strong as I sometimes appear to be. There are those moments that I want to feel bad for myself and complain and feel defeated. I’m human and will gave those moments, but it is great when you have people in your life who will give you that “tough love”. Yeah, all good things take hard work whether it is a job or your fitness goals. When things are given to us, it is harder to appreciate them and really feel comforted by them.

A blessing is what my family is, because they are able to provide things that I haven’t been able to provide on my own. But, sometimes I wish I got that tough love from them too. I am so thankful they are helping to reach my health and CrossFit goals-it is exciting!

Today was the end of a second week of training. I feel like I am getting stronger and shrinking each week-it is a fun feeling. I arrived at the box and did my warm-up and some mobility stretching on my own before the workout began. When I read the board I was extremely thankful to see that it was legs-my arms and shoulders were still sore from earlier in the week.

Training: 

A: Back Squat x 8-10 Rest 90 seconds, 3 sets

The advantage of personal training over group classes is you get that extra instruction for your lifts and tips to help you improve your form. I like to bounce at the bottom of the squat to help me get back up, Coach Anthony had me use more control while concentrating on pushing my knees out. It was a weird feeling, it almost felt as if the weight was on the outside of my feet and in my heels. By the end of the 3rd set, I was doing 70#’s. Coach stressed that form was more important than the amount of weight we did.

B. Reverse Sled Drag x 30 seconds-toes to heels, rest 2 minutes, 4 rounds

Oh yeah, I have been wanting to do a sled pull, not quite what I have envisioned-but it was pretty neat. So for 30 seconds I held on to the sled and walked backwards toe to heel leaning back while pulling it. The first and second time it wasn’t as hard and then the third and fourth time it took a lot more concentration to pull the sled and remember toes to heels. I was thankful for the rest time in between to regain strength to go again. The last pull it felt like it was never going to end. The weight was 80#’s.

Final piece: A/D: 15 sec at 100%, rest 45 seconds, repeat 4 times. Then 5 minute break and repeat! 

I am thankful for that week and a half I went to spinning for extra workouts, but this was ten times worse. I found myself really using my deep breaths to get air into my lungs and then not counting like the last time we did this set last week. That time we did 12 seconds at 95%, 30 seconds in between for 6 times. Today after the first 15 seconds my legs were burning and shaking.

When the break came it took me about a minute to catch my breath and then I tried to get up and walk around suck down water and keep my legs warm. The five minutes went by quickly and it was time to jump back on the bike and hit it. Each time I just tried to think about that 15 seconds and nothing else. Part of me wanted to hold back and the other part of me tried to peddle like a swarm of palmetto bugs (flying cockroaches) were coming after me. After the 2nd 15 seconds, I really felt like I was going to puke. I really had to fight hard the last two times.

Each session I train with Anthony he pushes me to fight through it, I noticed in my group WOD’s that I do, I have a tendency to fight harder than I fought before. This last week I took more to heart what it means to be your own competitor. My coach is really getting the the my mental game too–journalling and writing has really helped me to release that crap that gets clogged up in my grey matter and leave it on paper. I believe it is also helping me to be more mentally tough for WODs and slowly I am learning through “tough love” to suck it up, work hard, and go get it in all that I do in life!

Perfect ending quote below. “Suck it up buttercup!”