A Full Measure of Grace

After watching the affiliate team tryouts on Sunday, I have been supermotivated to push harder and go the extra mile, regardless of what my body is whining about. I will say that I refuse to ignore pain that is on the verge of injury -- I'm not that extreme. But taking breaks and stopping in the middle of an intense workout has got to stop. Today. Actually, yesterday.

It's been a long time since we did any of the named WODs, and I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about how this one would go today.

WOD: "Grace"

30 reps of squat clean and jerks, 85# Rx for women

I've really been trying to push myself to do everything as Rx'ed lately, so I was pumped to do that today. I really had to get my mind in the zone: I was trying to envision myself going through the movement, listening to my motivational, fast tempo, metal workout music. One thing about my class that is a mixed blessing is the level of intensity. On one hand, I love this group because they are awesome and supportive. No one makes you feel like you are too slow or aren't working hard enough. It's a very positive environment. On the other hand, sometimes I really need the loud, frenzied environment to help me play off the adrenaline rush. I need someone telling me to hurry and get back on that bar, or keep getting one more, or 3-2-1-GO! When I don't have that for a WOD like this, I feel heavy and slow. No good on a day when you're cashing in on your explosive power.

So I started off with 85#. I remember thinking to myself, "Geez, this feels sooo heavy!" Regardless, I did about five of them with the 85#, and let me tell ya, they weren't pretty. I really detest going down in weight during a WOD, but today was a day when I could tell that I would have to in order to complete this WOD with speed and intensity. So I did the rest at 75#, which felt much better. I still had to fight for it, and there were several times when I was as mentally tired as I was physically tired when I let my elbows point down, which dropped the bar down too low onto my chest. Thankfully my coach came over there and told me I had better get my elbows out. I just kept getting them one at a time, and for some reason, the number 30 didn't bother me so much. I was pooped at the end of the WOD, but not devastatingly so.

We went out and jogged a half mile when it was all said and done, and I hopped on the rower after that. I've been making a point to do some 500m sprints on the rower at the end of the day. Yesterday I logged 2:05, and today I dropped to 2:12 since I was already pretty smoked. On Monday I rowed 1150m in 5:00. Slowly but surely improvements will come.

Thank God tomorrow is a rest day!

Posted time: 10:15