My Weaknesses to Work On

I read Josh's post wherein he looked at the 10 Components of Fitness and set some goals for himself.

I like this idea, so I'm going to do the same.

Accuracy--I do okay on this, but I can always improve.
Agility--I need a lot of work here...mostly O-lifting more will help this.
Balance--I'm getting better, but I still need more work on handstands and core body strength.
Coordination--I do okay here, but with more O-lifting, I know I can improve even more.
Endurance--I have improved a great deal here, but I have a long way to go! Sprints and more speed work will help along with pushing each WOD to my cardio-endurance max.
Flexibility--once again, I need work here. I'd like to be able to do back bends and the splits again.
Power--this is my weakest point and needs the most work through hard core weight lifting.
Speed--If I keep up what I'm doing, I'll keep improving here.
Stamina--I think if I push hard through my WODs, continue speed and sprint work, this will take care of itself.
Strength--my other weak link--I need more O-lifting and heavier weight lifting in general.

Goals for next 3 months... (I got this idea from Nathan. Current PR's are in parentheses.)

Deadlift 250lbs (205lbs)*This would be double my body weight!
Snatch 75lbs (55lbs)
Clean and Jerk 95lbs (75lbs)
Back Squat 175lbs (130lbs)
Bench Press 85lbs (65lbs)
Press 85lbs (70lbs)
Dead Hang Pullups 6 in a row (now 2)
Kipping Pullups 20 in a row (now 10)
Cindy 15 (12)
Fran sub 10 (22)

Preparing for Pain

So it has become extremely clear to me that in order to progress to the "bad ass" status I so covet and admire, I will have to welcome pain. I mean a lot of pain.

Nathan kicked my ass last night at O-lift during the mini-WOD. He kept pushing me "not to stop". It was a short WOD, for god's sake! I kept stopping, b/c it hurt. Wah!

Afterwards, he and Brian were talking about how getting stronger is not about avoiding pain. They said that it hurts even worse the stronger you get, b/c you push that much harder and faster. But you just learn to deal with the pain.

That is the key. There still is pain-- a LOT of it. You just focus and push past it.

Your body learns to adapt. Like Nathan said, "After a while, you can't go any faster. Your body has no choice but to adapt." So in other words, where 10 pushups would've caused pain before, now you can do 20 in the same amount of time. It still hurts, you just do more. Then you push it to 30, then 40. Each time, you push it to the most pain you can handle. That's where the "goods" come. That's where fire-breathers live.

It's time for pain.

Freaking Funny!

From Mark Rippetoe's, Quote of the Day. "I strongly advise against intentionally farting whilst moving heavy weights.

Sometimes -- especially under those circumstances -- farts have a solid center."

OMG, that is freaking disgustingly funny!

Pose Running Drills

Yeah, Baby! Damned Fine 5K PR!!

So I am closing in on the elusive 24 minute 5K! Today, my gun time was 24:19, although I lost about 3 seconds getting over the starting line. Either way, I am thrilled! I averaged a 8.063 minute mile! Here's my race recount, done derby style.

And she started around the track at Santa Anita quickly out of the gate. This middle aged mare seemed in fine shape. Oh! She pushed her way through the crowd to find herself a nice nitch to run with. Oh! Man! And a PR at mile one at 7:23. Trying to maintain this speed, our horse, Shannon kept the pace. She rounded the corner of the arboretum, withstanding a peacock's ass who had its tail feathers all in a huff for everyone to see. Wow! Our mare, Shannon managed mile two at 15:30, an 8:07 second mile...not bad for the old girl.

And she came into the home stretch, pushing her way past a few other mares. Oh, no! Oh! It looks like she lost a little steam. Hope, the seasoned favorite has made her move, passing our girl, Shannon. Oh, no! Now it's CJ rounding the corner leaving Shannon behind. Oh, and who's this? It's Raquel? Wait? Isn't she a filly, too young to be in this "Masters Class?" I guess not. Yes, that little filly's defeated Shannon the last few races by a few lengths.

As she entered onto the racetrack, the sand slowed our horse Shannon down a bit, but the old girl still pushed hard. Raquel was just ahead. Did she do it? No! Raquel defeated Shannon yet again...only this time by 5 seconds!

What a race!

Overtraining?

I have read that when your resting heart rate upon waking is 5-10 bpm above normal, that is a sign of overtraining. Mine went to 56 this am. It's usually in the 44 to 51 range.

I have read that if you do a workout, and despite your best effort, you results are terrible, that is a sign of overtraining.

I've done sprints at Arcadia. My best mile was 7:35. My worst at a sprinters pace was 8:05 (or thereabouts).

Yesterday, I did the CrossFit Endurance WOD from Tuesday which was: run for 20 mins at 95% RPE (Rate of perceived exertion--defined in this case as very hard exertion).

I ran as hard as I possibly could. I could not go any faster.

The best I could muster was 2.35 miles in 20 minutes---essentially a 9 minute mile. This sucks!!!! I haven't run this poorly in a very long time.

So I refuse to feel bad about taking today off. And as we have a race on Saturday, I am also going to take Friday off. (I also have to acknowledge that just maybe running the marathon had something to do with this?)

The good news is I have no more races until Mt. Wilson!

This means next week, I'll be back at CrossFit and O-lift full force. Only this time, I'm going to make sure I rest as RX'ed!!