Scared

My dad was moving and needed help making the drive from Albany, NY to his new home in Port Charlotte, FL.  That means from Thursday night until Saturday night, I did the majority of 20+ hours of driving.  When I drive, I like to listen to podcasts; Weightlifting Talk, The TED Radio Hour, Invisibilia, The Joe Rogan Experience...

On the drive, I listened to this part of a TED talk and I was shocked.  Apparently, telling people your goal reduces the chances you'll ever achieve it.  It's especially shocking because when I put this post (describing my goals) out there, I didn't feel satisfied at having accomplished something.  I felt scared.

What ifs were flying through my mind; what if I get injured (it's happened before, especially when I push my limits)?  what if I don't get any stronger (I'm 41 and don't have the T levels I used to)?  what if I do all of the training and bomb out under pressure at a big meet?  what if I can't find time to train with a full-time job and 2 boys?  What if?

What if?

What if fear isn't really such a bad thing?

My biggest fear is that I would put the goal out there and not follow through on it.

What if I don't do enough?  What if I'm not pushing hard enough?  What if I'm not missing enough?  What if there aren't enough squats in my program?  What if I'm not competing enough?

A lot of people think fear is a negative emotion, but champions are partially driven by their fear of failure not just their vision of success.

It drove me to get to 13 Stripes CrossFit in Harrisburg, PA at 6am on Friday morning.

It drove me to get to CrossFit Wappoo at 8am on Saturday morning.

And, it drove me to get up this morning to start training at 5am.

The work is getting done.  The training is paying off.  I hit a Back Squat PR this morning.  That hasn't happened in over 2 years!!!  2 years of stagnancy,  I will hit 115/140 soon.  

More about how fear makes champions in this podcast.

To the Pain!! Or not?

What do you do when you have some pain to deal with?

This morning, I woke up right before my alarm was supposed to go off... in pain.  I wanted to pull the sheet over my head and just lay as still as possible in the hopes that it would pass.  My right arm was folded under me as I slept on my side and my right rhomboid felt like someone put a rock in it (right under the scapula).

Yeah!  Right thurr.

It's not the first time it has bothered me.  Last time, I rested several days with no relief before jumping back into things and feeling better.  So, I'm hoping it loosens up from working.  But, getting through today's training was tough.  And, that was after working on a lacrosse ball, stretching, doing dislocates, and running through the Crossover Symmetry warm-up to try to get the scapula sliding freely.

So, what is the right way to react to pain?  People say listen to your body.  My upper back was saying, "I am in a knot".  I don't know if it's trying to protect me from a bigger issue or just overstretched from the sleeping position.  So, I set to work...

Looking back at the video, I can see that my lifts are off.  Positioning and extension aren't as good as usual...  I made every lift.  I was feeling macho as I pushed through pain.  As much as I want to get stronger and learn to train through difficult states, I don't want to practice bad movement.  So, it looks to me like hitting training in pain was a mistake.

What do you think?

Jerk

When I was first introduced to Weightlifting (or Olympic Weightlifting as some people call it), my favorite lift was the jerk.  I could lift more than anyone (in my little pond) overhead, despite having one of the weakest presses in the gym, because I was efficient at launching the bar up and punching under it!  At the time, I was jerking over 200# and pressing 125# at best.

As time went on and people with decent shoulder strength became better movers, my jerk started to lag behind not only others in the gym, but also my snatch and clean.  Now, I love snatching.  A perfect snatch feels weightless!  Cleans are work and they're heavy, but as long as I keep squatting and practicing my pull, they have improved and I've cleaned 300# to date.  My most recent power clean 1RM was 292.5, so I think I have more in me!

But, that jerk...

Progress has been so slow, and sometimes so frustrating.  I've missed more jerks in practice and competition than I want to repeat.  In fact, I don't plan to repeat.

So, today's 1% closer to goal was the jerk drills in the warm-up and the push press PR (4 reps at my previous 1RM!!).  I think if I can improve my leg drive, upper body strength, and footwork for the split, I have a chance at becoming more consistent with weight.  I plan to add some heaving snatch balances and jerk supports in too so I can get used to having heavier loads overhead, but not today.

The Warm-up:

The training: