Thank you. I kept your post in mind going into today's session. We'll need to run a few heats during each class to get everyone through this WOD, so show up on time today and register! Reminder - no 7:30pm class on Friday's for now... WOD: For time:15-12-9 reps of Deadlift, 315# Walking lunge steps holding KB overhead, right arm, 55#Walking lunge steps holding KB overhead, left arm, 55#-Then complete 30 - "2 for 1" Wall ball shots, 20# Leave nothing. **** impossible. Head went light and lost consciousness for a split second after the last rep of deadlifts before waking up to me falling to one knee. I hustled towards the kettlebell and finished my lunges. Only one thought in my mind. Finish RX and finish first in class. This content is protected I wondered how I did today overall and found my time to be higher than the leaders. Amazing times, one was in the mid 11 minutes. I'm working on it. I struggle each night not because I compete with people that excell or match me in strength and conditioning, but because I am fighting an unbeatable enemy. I'm fighting hopelessness. It more difficult and interesting when the struggle is of resolve or of a philosophical nature. The magnificence is not in the triumph, but in the struggle towards it. My obsessive commitment to my physical training is an extension of my resolve due to inner conflict and the ongoing fight for my soul and redemption. As I walk towards my door home, my head hangs and thoughts swirl around loved ones lost and the toll the journey takes on my body. "We mourn lives lost. Including our own." I refuse to entertain the thought of quitting. I made a promise that I would rid the hopelessness that enter people's lives by inspiring them. No matter what that hopelessness looks like or becomes. I believe someday I will make good on that promise. I have to. I believe in El Puma.
Yesterday was perfect weather to run in. It was champions weather. The snow mimicked what I will be facing at Devil's Lake in July. The cold air made my lungs work harder and the lactic acid build up quicker. It was perfect. This morning's schedule consists of 10 rounds of 12 burpees and 12 pull-ups for time. Followed by another run to further acclimate the body to this weather. There's no such thing as harsh weather or hard times, only soft people. Joker: "Don't you see it? Everything anyone has ever valued, or struggled for... It's nothing but an absurd, sick, demented gag! So why can't you get the joke?? Why aren't you laughing ?". Batman: "Because I've heard it before... and it wasn't funny the first time". In hoc signo vinces "in this sign you will conquer". This content is protected
Monday, January 16 2012 Paleo Challenge - Day 14 Two weeks down in the 30-day paleo challenge! On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being perfect, how would you rate your overall compliance? This content is protected Strength: Power snatch 2-2-2-2-2 WOD: AMRAP in 8 minutes of: 1 Clean & Jerk, 185#/135# 2 Strict pull-ups Couldn't pull the 185# I'm a bit light in the ass (152lbs) for that so I stuck w 165# and went 8 rounds plus a set of C&J. Pleased with my progress so far and I am looking forward to the races. Stronger. Faster. Lighter. How I do this year at Ultras will determine whether or not to do Leadville next year. "What does a man want? What does he reach for? Bigger better faster taller quicker stronger better. Does it exceed his grasp, to want so much? Towers, monoliths, empires and men... if too big, all have a tendency to fall. Does man's reach exceed his grasp? Depends on what he reaches for." _Batman & Poison Ivy: Cast Shadows_
Tuesday, January 17 2012 Gut Check What did you eat yesterday? Post everything to comments. Don't be shy, lay it all out there... WOD: AMRAP 12 minutes of: 20 Double unders 10 Ring dips 5 Front squats (no racks allowed) - Pick a weight for the front squat and stick with it the entire WOD. The heavier the better. Post rounds/partial rounds to BTW. This content is protected Looking forward to working with Emmitt one on one for 4-6 weeks on top of my regular CrossFit classes. I told him I wanted to take first at Devil's Lake for the 50 miler and he is researching a game plan for me (He's CrossFit Endurance cerified btw) Some of you may be wondering what Crossfit is so the following from a Men's Health article is for you. "IT TOOK JUST A FEW CLASSES TO UNDERSTAND why my ex was crazy for CrossFit. As bad as it feels when you're halfway through a WOD, you know it'll be over soon. And you know you'll make it to the end because no one is allowed to quit. That's one reason it's so exhilarating. Another is the camaraderie. You're not really competing with your fellow CrossFitters as much as competing against yourself, and everyone in the room wants you to win. But at the same time, you have to abandon whatever ideas you had about fitness being a linear pursuit toward a measurable goal—whether it's strength, size, or weight loss. Traditionally we're told to first define a goal, then find a program designed to reach the goal, and finally work toward a series of adaptations that will bring us closer to that goal. If you want to grow stronger, for example, your traditional program should help you increase your strength incrementally over time. That's not how CrossFit works. The workouts aren't typically programmed. You jump from one hard thing to the next, with the goal of becoming better at doing hard things. The approach mystifies many fitness experts. Glassman becomes specific about why CrossFit works the way it does. "Nature will punish the specialist," he says. "I want to be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. Specialization is for insects. I'm looking for breadth of experience, and anyone who is at all wise realizes that being a specialist represents a compromised position." He illustrates his point with a parable about a guy who can run a 4-minute mile and a guy who can squat 900 pounds. "What a 4-minute mile implies is that you've whittled away enough body mass that you're no longer strong by anyone's estimation. And by the point that you can do a 900-pound back squat—brother, you even walk funny. And to see you run is laughable." I'm not an addict. I'm a Crossfit beast being trained to be unleashed at Ultra marathons and whatever the world throws at me. This content is protected
Wednesday, January 18 2012 WOD: For time: 25 Toes-to-bar 500m Row 25 Ring push-ups 25 Box jumps, 24" 50 Abmat sit-ups 25 Box jumps, 24" 25 Ring push-ups 500m Row 25 Toes-to-bar This content is protected Little fatigued from this week but I took second in class today and finished with the upper echelon of Crossfitters. Looking forward to having 2 days off before the race this weekend. I can't wait for Ultra season to start. "My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy, and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture such as you cannot even imagine." "I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other." - The Frankenstein Monster
Motivation. What is it and where does it come from? What type is it? What is the drive? Looks? Abs? Being more attractive to the opposite sex? Filling a void insecurity has left within ones soul? Maybe the following will help you. "Motivation is the inner power or energy that pushes toward acting, performing actions and achieving. Motivation has much to do with desire and ambition, and if they are absent, motivation is absent too. Often, a person has the desire and ambition to get something done or achieve a certain goal, but lacks the push, the initiative and the willingness to take action. This is due to lack of motivation and inner drive. Motivation strengthens the ambition, increases initiative and gives direction, courage, energy and the persistence to follow one's goals. A motivated person takes action and does whatever it needs to achieve his/her goals." My motivation comes from people like you. I am motivated to inspire you to reach and surpass your goals. I use CrossFit and running as my stage to perform and to move you. "A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding." Everyone should experience the following. “At the peak of tremendous and victorious effort, while the blood is pounding in your head, all suddenly becomes quiet within you. Everything seems clearer and whiter than ever before, as if great spotlights had been turned on. At that moment, you have the conviction that you contain all the power in the world, that you are capable of everything, that you have wings. There is no more precious moment in life than this, the white moment, and you will work very hard for years just to taste it again.” -- Yuri Vlasov, Soviet Weightlifter The other part of my motivation stems from fulfilling a need, an inner beast, to reach my potential and to show those who thought so little of me, who gave up on me, that...they are not always right. See...I have this gift. It's not physical and can only be activated by pain and misery. Sadness and abandonment. It's the gift of fury. : extreme fierceness or violence : an avenging spirit : a state of inspired exaltation In the past, I have used this irresponsibly and hurt many loved ones. Now, they are gone, only adding to that which fuels it. I've learned to control it to the point of using it for training. For competition. Recently I've learned that I cannot use it to directly motivate as it hurts some most then others. You are here because you care enough about what you seek and took my challenge not as an attack, but as a different point of view worth exploring. Find your own way, seek methods that suit you to help in your goals. Find your inner mantra. Repeat it out loud and in your mind when things get bad. I will share mine. Before This content is protected During This content is protected After. This content is protected Godspeed.
"Once, someone asked me what pleasure I took in riding so long. "Pleasure" I said. "I don't understand the question." I didn't do it for pleasure. I did it for pain. - Lance Armstrong "It always hurts when you go as hard as you can." - Keith Bontrager
A little over 2.5 hours before the Half marathon. The goal is to beat my previous time of 1:50. Time to bring the pain. Leave nothing. **** impossible. Pain is good. Pain tells you when you're doing something hard right. It lets you know it's something you'll remember and appreciate forever. Learn to love pain. Don't fight it; accept it. Pain, despair, frustration, rage, sadness are just as important to making life beautiful as their brethren components: love, happiness, joy, contentedness, and satisfaction.-Unknown
:thumbsup I told you this one was for my family and friends Thank you for your part in motivating me. I brought the pain. The sub 20 degree weather with it's lake effect snow added to to the beauty. This content is protected "The best ones are those who fall hard, but get up even better" 2012 Chicago Polar Dash Half Marathon Carlos Garcia Age: 32 This content is protected 10K Split 47:31 10K Split 47:58 7:56 per mile 57 percent 67 out of 737 overall 55 out of 368 Males 13 out of 62 Males in the M3034 Age Group Muscles tight to the point of pain, steam coming off every part of my body, face frozen to the point of not being able to speak properly. The effort and the love shown from family and friends makes me smile. Thank you everyone. This content is protected [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Some people endure pain better than others. All things considered, the ability to withstandor even denypain would seem to be a valuable ally for the long distance runner in search of significant improvement. In truth, it is probably a double-edged sword, since medical experts tell us that pain is the body's warning signal to back off, and that to ignore such schedules is to roll the dice with both body and mind." Mark Will-Weber, The Quotable Runner[/FONT] I train my ass off so when the ante gets raised, I can bet when others fold.
^^JTF-2 motto? I just started reading your journal, I like the quotes, it's motivating. Please keep it up. :thumbsup
Latin for 'Deeds Not Words'. JTF 2 uses it as it's motto too. Been using that mantra myself in recent times. Puma is inspirational. :deal
