Preparing for The Crossfit Atlas Games: 50+ Women's Division

So I meant to blog about all my crossfit stuffs and the upcoming competitions. But Atlas Games was cancelled the day I arrived in Montreal on March 12th 2020 to check-in. This Covid-19 Corona Virus is sweeping the world and who knows if we will get back to what we thought was "normal". I am currently trying to workout from home and using  Zoom to do workouts with CFC coaches. Its not quite the same as going to the gym, but its better than nothing. I am optimistic, that when this passes we can get back to a more normal life. But who knows? Its a once in a lifetime pandemic. Drinking wine and thinking I should go run more now that the weather is warm. I am hoping that this disease misses my family and friends and thats our efforts to stay at home will keep us safe.

It was a red letter day for me in Crossfit. I RX'd today's workout, a rare occurrence for me, and had a breakthrough with snatch technique So at today's weightlifting class with Mark, I he managed to find a way to get me to stop launching the barbell off my hip when I snatch. I will have to drill this so that I stop automatically doing it the wrong way. So first we worked on a snatch dead lift and getting the body into the correct position at mid thigh. Knees out, elbows toward the front, shoulder blades pinched together, chest up. The drill for me is to do this snatch grip dead lift, then stand up with the barbell at the hip crease. Check that elbows are still forward ( more a cue than actually possible to do) Then I perform a hang, to the knee high pull, remembering to keep the bar close. Then immediately move the bar down to just above my knee and then keeping my arms straight ( this is key because I bend too early as a long time issue), chest leading, snatch eithe...

Some days, the sleep isn't happening and/or too much barbell work at heavy ( for me) weights and the combo of my most hated movements equals a less than stellar workout. But this has happened before, when I felt like I couldn't manage my usual weights , scaled the pullups to ring rows and subbed in the low box etc. In the past I would think I had lost my fitness, or that I was at last getting too old and moving backwards. I know now that sometimes we just have an off day. Had I tried to do the workout RX, I would not have been even close to finishing. I was tired and just not feeling it. And that's OK. I got to the gym, I did a lot of work and I didn't injure myself. I call that a win. I do find myself worrying a little with the competition looming, that I may have such a day then. But then I back up and realize that the previous week included a 60 minute swim on my supposed rest day and tough Saturday long WOD, with a previously unused heavy weight ( Holleyman with...

        I have often thought to myself at 6:15 AM as I walk into the gym, that I should have taken a rest day. The people in the 5:30 class seem to be working really hard. The workout has ____( fill in the blank with a movement I struggle with). The 5:30 class is now gasping on the floor sweating and barely moving. I could just leave. Go back to bed. Have another cup of coffee. Anything else.        I notice that these thoughts, or similar ones,  are often in my head while I warm up. Especially during the group warmup. The simple stretches or burpees or even a row which is meant to start slow and move to a faster pace, feel just terrible. Its feels like I never go to the gym and that this is my first time. The moment my heart rate starts to rise, I feel uncomfortable. I feel like I want to stop. I sometimes slow down, but in 7 years of doing Crossfit, I have never actually left.  Once, however, I wasn't able to complete the workout. It...

      We did  " Fran"  to day and I feel very disappointed in my result. I know I don't have my pull ups back, but even with bands it was as though I had not been working out all these past few years. I did well with the back squats, getting to 145lbs on the waves, but I can't seem to catch a break when it comes to gymnastics. I work on drills, I try doing extra work, yet they feel as hard as ever and I don't feel as though I am improving at all. My body feels crazy heavy, yet I am wearing the same clothes.       I am back to being strict about eating and no more Monday night vodka and sodas. It was getting to be too much of a regular habit. I think after my mother died last year, I sort lost a lot of energy, I felt old and lonely and just out of sorts. I suppose that's normal, but I hope I can shake it off now that's its been a year. I just want to see improvement on the things I work at. It looks so easy for others and so hard for me. I am goi...

So, one of the things I realize that has affected my progress, has been  that I am not doing as much as I think I am in terms of skills drills. So I went to the  BTWB site and added "plans" to my schedule. I added some core work every other day for the month of January. When that workout of 10 V-ups, 30 seconds side plank Left, 30 sec side plank Right 30 Superman hold becomes "easy", then I will add rounds or time. So far its been very challenging to keep those 30 second holds on a day that I did a Crossfit workout. And today, an active recovery day, usually Thursday and Saturday, will include 45-60 minutes of some walking or running or both. Today it was 51 minutes of brisk walking on a 2.0 incline, with about 6 minutes of running in the second half. I also did some mobility, which I'll be sure to do after any workout.