Mind Games

Do you have to constantly work on your mental toughness? I do. I find myself having to give pep talks (to myself) throughout a tough WOD. I play little scenarios in my head, pretending that I have to get just that much further, work just that much harder to survive whatever I’m imagining happening.

Luckily for me (or maybe not so lucky, not sure), I have a very active & vivid imagination. Always have. I can scare myself with ease, and the hubs thinks it’s hilarious to put this to the test.

How does this help with my CrossFit workouts? Well, most often if there is running involved in the WOD, I’m ready to give up halfway through. I just hate running that much. So I pretend that I’m in some sort of dangerous situation and I have to keep running to get to safety. Most of the scenarios play out that way… I have to run/jump/lift to survive. If anything like this ever happens, I’ll be TOTALLY prepared... riiight.

Or I get my inspiration from watching the fire breathers on the CrossFit.com site. I think to myself, those athletes got to where they are by pushing through even when they felt like quitting. And if they can do it, I can do it too. Now, I realize I will never be an elite athlete (not in this lifetime, pal), but I can test my limits and improve each time I step up to the plate and begin my workout.

Some days, it takes all the will I can muster just to start the warm-up. If I can get the warm-up started, then it’s like a chain reaction – warm-up to WOD to completion. I have too much stubbornness in me to go half-ass on a workout I know I can complete. Yes, I scale and I probably will for a long while, but by God, I will complete whatever I plan to accomplish that day (save for illness/injury).

I’m getting close to the end of my 90 day challenge. My body is definitely screaming for some rest, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is enough motivation to push on through to the end. I’m in the last 0.5 mile of a 5K and I’m so, so happy it’s almost time to hit the stopwatch.


(Great article from againfaster.com about pushing yourself to the limit.)

Rest Day - Day 78

Rest day...

plus 9 burpees.

Run 5K - Day 77

OH NO!! I wasn't expecting this.... so now it's bitch, moan & groan time for me!:)

Back to the routine of dinner with my mom (& sister) tonight, so this should be REALLY fun after that:). I'll have to go really light at dinner to make sure I can complete this when I get home.

I'm going to have to dig deep. Last time I did this, I just quit mentally. But I can't do that again.

Warm-Up:
5 min. jump rope
10 push-ups
10 jumping pull-ups
20 ball sit-ups
10 KTC's
8 Burpees

WOD:
Run 5K (~3.1miles)

Time: 31:17:39 (@6.0mph on treadmill)

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. -
Thomas Jefferson

YES! I finally completed a 5K! Time was incredibly slow, but my goal was to finish the full 3.1 miles and mission accomplished.

So tired now... shower, then bed.

SP, PP, PJ - Day 76

Butt is sore today after all those lunges:). I like being sore, as long as it's not debilitating, which this isn't even close to. Last time I did that WOD, I could barely get out of bed, so that's improvement for ya! I also did half as many reps last time and my time was slightly less than double. I love being able to measure my improvement over the course of this 90 days. I can't wait to see how much more I can do in the future as well.

Lifting day today. Should be interesting with all the blisters on my hands from yard work on Sunday. I'll just have to wear gloves again today.

Warm-Up:
5 min. jog
5 min. jump rope
10 jumping pull-ups
10 push-ups
20 ball sit-ups
10 KTC's
10 HSPU progressions (shins on bench)
10 KB swings, 15#
7 Burpees

WOD:
Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps

Loads:
SP - 45-65-75(F)-65-65
PP - 65-55-75(F)-65-55
PJ - 55-75(YES!)-65-65(ugly)-45

And here are some pics of me doing these!:) I always get such bad markings on my collar bones when I do any time of bar work. Maybe I'm relying on it too much to hold the weight;).

Lunges, PU, SU - Day 75

15 days left in my 90 day challenge! I'm super excited that I'll be done right before the Hokie Spring football game! I am planning to take about 1-2 weeks of rest (minus doing my burpees, of course), so the timeline is PERFECT!

Last time I completed this WOD is here and I scaled to "puppies". I'm going to try doing it RX'd this time (except of course for the pull-ups which will be jumping).

Warm-Up:
5 min. jog
5 min. jump rope X 3.5 min. instead
10 push-ups
10 HSPU progressions (shins on bench)
10 KB swings, 15#
6 Burpees

WOD:
Walking lunge 100 ft.
21 Pull-ups
21 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
18 Pull-ups (jumping)
18 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
15 Pull-ups (jumping)
15 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
12 Pull-ups (jumping)
12 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
9 Pull-ups (jumping)
9 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge 100 ft.
6 Pull-ups (jumping)
6 Sit-ups

Time: 21:11:16

Wow, much tougher to do this RX'd than scaled:)! I'm really happy when I can do a WOD almost RX'd though! I had a bit of trouble getting up after the sit-ups on the 9s & 6s rounds. Those lunges are TOUGH. Feel really good post work-out... and I did 81 jumping pull-ups! I'm super pumped about that:).

Rest Day - Day 74

God bless the rest days! :)

+ 5 burpees

I saw this quote on another person's blog and LOVE IT!

"Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated." -Anonymous

Power C & J - Day 73

Wow, my abs are SORE today. I had trouble sleeping b/c the throbbing kept me awake. I don't know what's going on, maybe it was the OHS??

I'm very happy it's a heavy day! It's been awhile since we've had a heavy lifting day and I've missed them.

Warm-Up:
5 min. jump rope
10 push-ups
10 jumping pull-ups
20 ball sit-ups
10 KTC's
10 HSPU progressions (shins on bench)
4 Burpees

WOD:
Hang Power Clean & Jerk
1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Load: 45-55-75-65-55-45

Abs now officially hurt. Had to rush through this due to lack of time, so no rest between reps. I think I could definitely get heavier next time, but I need to get some more 10# or 5# plates. The next highest weight I would have to go would be 95# and I doubt I can do that. 80# or 85# is probably doable though.

"Nancy" - Day 72

I'm going to attempt the "Pack" level today. Whoo hoo, moving up in the world! ;)

I've noticed that Brandx has started posting "Buy-Ins" and "Cash-Outs"... I probably am not going to start these yet, the WOD is enough for me. It seems like I'm seeing these terms everywhere all of a sudden. Must be the new thing with CrossFit...?


Warm-Up:
5 min. jump rope
5 min. punching bag
10 push-ups
10 jumping pull-ups
20 ball sit-ups
10 KTC's
3 burpees

“Nancy” (Pack):
Five rounds for time of-
400m run (~0.25mile)
45# Overhead squat, 15 reps XX 10 REPS

Time: ~20:00 - I must have hit the stop button when I checked the timer after round 4. I'm really bummed about this!
--Round 1: 3:42
--Round 2: 3:57
--Round 3: 4:02
--Round 4: 4:03
--Round 5: ~4:16

I was really not feeling this when I started out. The warm-up was hard, and I was not motivated; the first two rounds of the WOD were the same. But while running on the third round, I started thinking about that video of the girls at the qualifiers and decided to quit being a negative nancy (pun intended) and to just get in the game. Second two rounds were miraculously easier with my head in the right place!

I decided to scale this back to 10 OHS reps because my form isn't so great and my arms were SERIOUSLY TIRED!:)

Pull-ups & Ropes - Day 71

Today's WOD is actually one that I can not do EITHER of the exercises. I saw it posted this morning and was a little bummed at first, but the scaling on BrandX is perfect! I'll be doing the "puppies" scaling, like usual.

I'm going to have to jimmy-rig some kind of rope on the pull-up bar (maybe a towel) to try to do the rope climbs.

Warm-Up:
5 min. jog
5 min. jump rope
10 push-ups
20 ball sit-ups
10 KTC's
10 HSPU progressions (shins on bench)
2 burpees (2nd day of Burpee Challenge)

WOD (Puppies):
Three rounds for time of:
12 Pull-ups (jumping)
3 Beginner Rope Climbs (might do 6 instead)

Time: 7:17
--Round 1: 2:23 (H-jumping pull-ups - tried for L's, but it was actually an H; & 6 towel rope climbs)
--Round 2: 2:28
--Round 3: 2:26

The jumping pull-ups were REALLY difficult. I tried really hard to get my legs in an "L" shape, but could never quite accomplish it. Need to work on L-sits!

Rest Day - Day 70

Today is a Rest Day! My back, my legs, my everything is grateful:).

Today I'm starting the 100 Day Burpee Challenge (big thanks to CrossFit NRV for letting me tag along with them!).

Day 1 -
1 burpee

Oh, and HAPPY APRIL FOOL's DAY! :)