Back in the Saddle

I went back to Razor's Edge this morning. The Julie I had today was completely different from the Julie I had last time. Except when we started talking about diet. I think that will be a topic we stay away from, because we both have strong opinions and I don't think we are ready to accept what the other person is saying. I don't mean that we are both closed-minded, I think we have found what works for us and are reluctant to change, even if it is working for someone else.

Anyway, Julie was super encouraging. There was another lady there with me initially, but she was getting a refresher. We started with medball cleans, as that was in today's WOD. Apparently I can get the first two parts of the move without any problem, but Julie was concerned about my squat form. I know I'm having trouble with this. In fact, I  mentioned this in another post recently, so I am glad she decided to take the time to work with me on it. I understand how I am supposed to do them, but I have trouble. I tend to lean forward because 1) I have rounded shoulders from sitting all the time with not-so-good posture and 2) my stabilizer muscles are underdeveloped through lack of use. If I do the squats correctly, I feel like I'm falling backwards. So I know I will need to work on that.

After a few million air squats, Julie developed a WOD for me:

Row 250m
10 push-ups
15 air squats
30 abmat sit-ups

I was to do two reps, but she said she'd push me for a third if I had anything left after two, and I was doing this for time. She wanted me to keep my 500m row time below 3:00. I did the push-ups with a dumbbell so I didn't have to extend my hands. I also did them on my knees because she wanted to see that I had full range of motion.

So I got on the rower and went to town. I did the 250m in 1:10, which truly surprised her. I went ahead and did all the workouts with minimal rest in between, which also surprised her. And I did three reps. She was really encouraging as I was going, telling me at several points that I looked like a "true crossfitter". Wow! Really? I guess she had the opinion that I was super weak. I am definitely not the strongest person in the room, but I can push myself to achieve a goal. I think most people would be amazed at my (inner) strength. My time for three reps was 19:19, which she said was great.

We talked for a while afterwards and I explained my goals and reasons for doing this. I specifically am not doing this to lift X number of pounds, or X pounds more than someone else. Frankly, I do not care how many pounds I can lift. If that is the attitude I should have, then I am moving on. I do care that on any given day I can lift more / go faster / go farther, etc. than I did the day / week / month before. I want to develop endurance, so I'm not winded after a brief exertion. I want to harden some of my soft parts. I want to lose my paunch. I want to weigh less. I want my clothes to fit better. I want smaller sized clothes to fit and fit well.

Think about it. The smaller size I am, the smaller the garment I have to knit, the less yarn I use, the more money I save, the less time it takes! Not my only reason or motivation, but ...  :-)

So I feel pretty good about today and the progress I'm making. I'm sure I'll hurt like heck later and I'll feel like I can never walk again, but tomorrow morning I'll be out doing sprints (at least this is the current plan) to train for Saturday, and Monday I'll be back in the box, doing more squats. Lots of them, I'm sure.