yes, yes, i am back

I know I know, it's been almost two months since I've posted anything. There were plenty of times I had something to share but than I never got around to actually sitting down and typing it all down. I let stuff get in the way of my making time to blog. I now have missed thoughts that I will never be able to fall back on. It is what it is and all I can do is move forward.

I am still not in 100% full CrossFit routine again, the right wrist is still rehabbing from my injury back in February. It is better and continues to get better but I am still unable to hold just a 35# bar in the front rack position. It is a very frustrating situation. I am however able to push press again and snatch, but find it hard to do an overhead squat. So I will continue working towards strengthening my wrist.

In tonights class I experienced a boost in my confidence that was much needed. My working out hasn't been as consistent as it use to be. This week was the first week in months I believe that I went in four days straight. I am sore but not enough to not function. I didn't want to miss tonights class, it was Randy. (Randy is a Hero WOD that is 75 Power Snatches for time) The last time I did Randy was a little over a year ago. I RX it back than and got a time of 8:03. I had a goal to beat that time given that my wrist could handle doing 75 Power Cleans. The weight for women is 55#, which is not a very heavy weight to begin with, but with this sort of rep load, it can get heavy pretty quickly. I knew I had something to prove to myself. So when the clock counted down 3-2-1-GO, I Snatched my little heart out, took no breaks other than to tighten the bumper plates to the bar. I managed to shave off :56 seconds from my time. Almost a full minute. This may not seem like a lot of time after a year, but when you factor in that I have lost a lot of workout time to minor setbacks here and there, it is a huge improvement! I am very proud of myself and look forward to smashing my new time later down the road.

I promise to make a better effort in posting more consistently. I hope you all are doing well!

one on one: day thirty-four

Given that today was a holiday and the gym was only having short hours, we still managed to have a session. I had to keep it short and sweet today to tend to other things before I headed into work (I did not get a day off like many of you did). Here's what Joon had me do:

Warm-up: Easy 5 min Row

Then,
3 Rounds, 1 min Rest after each round
     5 Front Squats @ 75#
     5 Power Snatches @ 75#

Then,
For Time- Grace:
     30 Clean & Jerks @ 65#
Final time- 2:47

It was a good day, though I did struggle with my power snatches a few times. The weight I did is only 10# less then my 1RM, which leads me to believe if I did 15 of them at 75# that 85# isn't my 1RM anymore. Then during my warm-up for Grace I managed to hit my chin with the bar, and well that sucked. Thankfully I didn't bite my lip this time, or break any kind of skin- yay- but I am still quite sore and will probably see a small bruise tomorrow. I did drop the bar about 3 times during Grace, but did my best to pick it right up. The last couple of days I've been surprising myself with pushing through the pain of breathing and yelling muscles and just continuing to move. I am most certainly making progress.

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

crossfit open wod 14.1

That statement couldn't be more truer for me then at this very moment. I registered to participate in the CrossFit Open this year. I have no delusions of making my way to the regionals, but this is certainly a great way to see where I am strong and what I need to work on. The Open is broken up into five weeks, one WOD a week. The WOD this week (week 1) was AMRAP in 10 minutes of 30 Doubleunders and 15 Power Snatches (75# for men & 55# for women). Now I expected to run into WODs that would be difficult but having the very first WOD start with something that I have NEVER been able to achieve was frustrating. I am not a fan of Doubleunders, mainly because I can't do them. I have only been trying for maybe the past 3 or so months, I avoided them when I first started CrossFit due to getting shin splints all the time. Last night I practiced my doubleunders, Joon and various other box mates gave me tips on what worked for them. I appreciated everyones input, but part of me wanted to just scream at the top of my lungs from being frustrated. I managed to squeeze out two doubleunders (my first ones) in a matter of an hour. 

Then came the day of truth, my very first competition, and I had already resolved to not making it very far. I accepted that this was not my day and that I would do the best that I could. Thought of it as a practice session, 10 minutes of doubleunders. I squeezed out…. absolutely nothing. I fought for it, tried and tried and tried, but it just wasn't clicking. Part of me is disappointed that I didn't get at least one but I also know that I am better for trying. I did my best and I could've very easily not signed up due to fear of not being able to accomplish anything. It is what it is. I am grateful for the experience and look forward to the next 4 weeks. 

My hand after 10 minutes of Doubleunder attempts.