Fancy Nancy

Wow, it has been a while since my last update. Last week was rather rough in my HEW workouts. In the middle of the Elizabeth benchmark, I pinched my back ... again! I still have an issue of lifting up my bottom first instead of keeping my core tight, so every time there is a Clean complex ... it gets the best out of my form. 

A couple of much needed rest days, by Monday I was back in full speed! And I am happy to report that when the Nancy aka "My WOD" came up, I was able to shave off 2:00 minutes of my time. Wahoooo!

Nancy:

 400 meters

15 Overhead Squats (65 lbs for Rx)

I think these were my previous times:

3/7/12 @ 35 lbs (only 4 rounds): 20:57

5/23/12 @ 35 lbs (only 4 rounds): 20:18

3/5/13 @ 42 lbs: 18:13

6/11/13 @ 42 lbs 16:19

Sorry to boast and to over gloat, but this workout was brutal. 

Another update that's happening in the real Nancy land is I GOT MY WEDDING DRESS over the weekend! All the plans for the wedding are creating massive amounts of stress, so I forsee a minimum 5-day a week attendance to the gym. Not to mention the fact that lately I feel rather distant from Danny -- for reasons I'd rather not share. Some people say this is the true test of a marriage, if we can work through this wedding planning, we can accomplish anything. But what the hell are sayings anyway.

Ashamed of my own hypocrisy

The previous post suggested my disdain over those that show-off how they "Rx" it all the time. Oddly enough, I am a victim of my own despising. Within that same day –– on Wednesday –– I proudly said aloud my score that proceeded with an Rx at the end. I get it. I realize there's a thrill of pride after going through 18 minutes of an AMRAP WOD which tested your strength, agility and coordination.

The WOD was:
9 - 95lb. deadlift
12 - push-up (big girl - on your toes version)
15 - box jumps (18")

It didn't seem like a lot considering it was a light deadlift and the jumps are lower than my usual 24 inches. But by the time three minutes had passed, I already felt gassed out in mid push-up. These dreaded push-ups. It took me so long to perfect the full movement on my knees this past year, now I've graduated to my toes!

Regardless, when that timer hit zero and my pace was at max speed, I wanted to talk to anyone and everyone, though I'm sure they could have been a little less indifferent about it since they did just endure the same "torture" ... Man, so I was that guy.

But the fact that I am now aware and have accomplished such a feat. I know one thing that worked well during my trials and tribulations of my Rx WOD .... which is to endlessly sing this song until they call time's up.

Your ego is a buzzkill.

Part of the reason I truly enjoy participating in the high-intensity workouts is the motto of helping each other succeed their personal goals. Whether to lose weight, achieve most of your personal records or just shed those extra annoying inches. I've never been to another CrossFit-like gym let alone completed a WOD at a franchised CrossFit gym but I have read plenty of blogs and met various people that frequent those places to sense out the "dude-brah" and/or douchebaggery amongst meatheads. It's like they graduated from the dumbell-clinking noises at the local commercial gym to the "brah, my Rx time was this ... what's yours?" mentality. 

Forgive me if I offend anyone here, but your ego is a total buzzkill. Don't get me wrong, I love competition and sharing each other's accomplishments to show progression. It's just completely annoying when the main objective is to be better than everyone else -- even though their form and technique is completely wrong or off. The word elite is a misrepresentation of the absolute aim of wellness and exercise.The goal being: to do it right and to do it well. 

I see it time and time again, this cream of the crop fitness mantra, even at my gym. Some say it's in my culture to make sure that no one is left behind. Whenever there's a one-mile buy out run, I cheer those that pass me or whom I pass. Maybe it's a personality thing, but I want to hear about everyone's goals and what they are doing to achieve this. What I don't want to hear are your grunts of how fast you can kip your pull ups or push your V-ups, but it's pretty evident, you're not getting your chin over the bar and your knees are bent to ease the v-ups.

Some will also say it may be pure jealousy on my end. It's not. I'm not jealous you can "complete" Rx 5 times a week. In fact when you score better than me my indifference overshadows the board. It's just overly frustrating when I see that your squats are not parallel to the ground and you're not opening up top on your burpees. (I'm guilty of this too. I have my Quizomoto burpees when I'm in the zone). 

At the end of the day, did you have a good workout or did you have a fabricated boost to your self-worth? If it's the former, I'll see you at the finish line. 

 

Photo taken 5/14/13.

WOD

Death by Burpees (10 minute)

Death by V-UPs (until failure)

Final score: 16/16

I gave up on my V-ups and felt awful about giving up. But then I saw this photo and was proud that I actually got my torso off the ground! Just two years ago, I couldn't do more than 5 sit-ups. This is the type of progression that I like to document.

Overcoming Adversity

I'm not one for quotes. I actually think some of them are a bit pretentious and unoriginal. Although, when it pertains to working out and identifying with the quote -- I've become a hypocrite.

I created this image about a year ago after injuring my left knee -- from banging it on the corner of my office desk. This is comical to me because I frequent Hard Exercise Works five to six days a week. A gym known for high-impact/intensity workouts, much like CrossFit. I put my body to the test and am susceptible to various kinds of injuries -- and yet I get hurt because of my clumsiness!

My injury set me back the whole freakin' summer of 2012. It was good in the sense that I didn't have to run in the South Florida heat, however I felt deflated and weak for a good three to four months.

Fast forward to a year later. Since slowly coming back from the injury, I've ran two 5Ks, one I finished sixth in my age group; surpassed all of my personal lift goals as far as dead lifts, split jerks, snatches, etc; and have gone down to three dress sizes. 

The purpose of this post is that I kept this quote in mind, thinking at the same time last year I would hope I would be where I am today. Now, I've reached my hypothesis. My adversity, aka my bum knee, is overshadowed by my accomplishments and always remembering to push through my limits.