Strength: Back Squat 5-5-5-5-5
Then:
8 rounds of:
Run 400 meters
Rest 90 seconds
Yes, running. It's spring. Get ready for Saturday….
————–
The Open is over, and I'm hit with a surprising emotion:
eagerness. I was so excited to be done with competition that I can't wait to
train. This is not my nature.
Though never an athlete as a child, I love competition. In
my first years of CrossFit, I'd be so excited before events that I'd want to
puke. I'd blame my fluctuating blood sugar on food, not nerves, and usually eat
too much or too little in the leadup. I'd pee about seven times pre-wod. This
is where the old Catalyst adage, "Anxiety is my cardio" was born.
This is a new one.
In my former life as an amateur powerlifter, I ONLY liked
competition. I disliked training: the reps, the buildup, the fatigue. It was
boring. Every training session took two hours, and even when done with friends, it
was repetitive.
This was the lure of Westside for so many powerlifters: a
chance to compete every week. Here was a way to hit a max on something – maybe
not a squat or bench or deadlift, but an amended version of them – every
Monday. Since Westside lifters competed in supportive gear, we all got
supportive gear, and watched our numbers move out of the realm of probability.
It was exciting, sure.
But I never left a powerlifting meet wondering if we could
stop somewhere to bench press on the way home. Today, after 13.5, I wanted
Robin to drop me off at the base of our hill so I could run the rest of the
way. I'm excited to train – the process has my heart now. I still love competing,
because I get to test my progress, but it's the PROCESS ITSELF that excites me now.
CrossFit is exciting. In my years training before CrossFit, I simply forgot what EXCITEMENT felt like. Isn't that funny?
You'll see some shifts in our programming now: workouts will be a bit more FUN, a lot more outside, and less strength bias (though we'll offer Barbell Bettys beginning in May, and continue the Green Army training right through the summer.) Let's get back at it!