hot crossfit chick running in crossfit competition in co springs

CrossFit: There is Only So Much I Can Mentally Do

by crossfitmomm, posted in CrossFit

More frequently than not, I wake up in the morning and scrap my CrossFit programming in light of something completely different. This is for two reasons:

  1. I am incredibly sore from the day before.
  2. I cannot do the workout for mental purposes.

With two CrossFit competitions in the last two weeks, I’ve had both of these reasons come into play several times. I’ve had to adjust my schedule every day for the last two weeks, and take unplanned rest days because I just couldn’t do it anymore.

Today was another example. I had a CrossFit Hero workout planned, which are CrossFit workouts named after service men and women and are known for being tough. However, when I woke up, I just couldn’t run. I had done a HIIT workout yesterday and ran over 3 miles. Hence, while doing the workout, I changed it.

While I freely admit I don’t know how to stop doing what I do, I do know when to stop doing a movement when I can’t. Today was one of those days. I stopped running and rowed instead. I cut all my reps in half. I did a 30 minute recovery workout.

HOW TO PRESERVE THE MENTAL GAME

In the past few months, I’ve learned the mental game of CrossFit is much more important to master than the physicalness of it. Don’t get me wrong, you have to be able to physically do the moves; but that’s not the hard part of CrossFit. The hard part is committing in your mind to do the CrossFit workout.

TIPS ON MASTERING THE MENTAL GAME

  • I’ve learned you can’t go hard core every day. You have to rest your mind as much as you rest your body. Sometimes you just have to get up and perform some mindless rowing so the next day you can hit it hard.
  • You have to preserve your sanity. CrossFit burnout is real; it hits me every few months. You have to pull back in order to move forward.
  • Do what you need to do when you need to do it. The beauty of at-workouts is you can do what you want, not what someone else programs. It’s the ultimate in listening to your body.
crossfitmomm doing crossfit competition at crossfit mob in denver hot crossfit chicks

CrossFit Competitions: Battle of the Boxes

by crossfitmomm, posted in crossfit competitions

This past weekend, my daughter and I competed in Battle of the Boxes at CrossFit MOB. I did this one last year and somehow managed to get second place. This year, however, with my daughter who has to scale all the weights, we were destined for last place. Hence, there is a completely different approach to a CrossFit competition when you know you’re not going to win it.

CrossFit Competition: When It’s Better Than Expected

However, we did better than expected. We got further on the workouts and actually beat some teams. We finished a WOD without being time capped. We did fairly well. We broke up the reps (although I had to do 130 wall balls since the target was 10 feet high, which sucked), but she did most of the snatches.

Overall, a good day.

Fitness: My Goal is to NOT Get 10,000 Steps — And Here’s Why

by crossfitmomm, posted in Fitness
hot crossfit chick at Masters CrossFit Competition at CrossFit Decimate in Colorado Springs
Masters CrossFit Competition at CrossFit Decimate

I’m beat up.

Literally.

I did a CrossFit Competition on Saturday. It was fun, don’t get me wrong. However, in my opinion, the CrossFit workouts were not balanced, and I’m paying the price for it this entire week.

I have a tweak in my hamstring (did you know there’s such a thing as hamstring tendonitis?). My shoulder hurts. I’ve been walking weird the last two days.  Trying to do workouts have been mentally challenging more than anything. And even the rower is challenging.

Today, I have no desire to workout. I have no desire to walk anywhere, lift anything heavier than my phone, or do anything whatsoever to raise my heart rate. When I take rest days (which are rare), I mean to rest.

So here’s to you, Fitbit — stay under 10,000 steps!

CrossFit Competitions: It’s Always a Good Day When You PR

by crossfitmomm, posted in crossfit competitions

As most of you know, the fitter you become, the harder it is to set personal records (PR). I haven’t had one in a while. Yesterday, at a CrossFit Masters competition in Colorado Springs, I PR’ed my thruster by 10 pounds. I was super excited! I also did really well, which I wasn’t expecting, which proves to myself I am getting stronger.

Hotcrossfitchick doing thrusters at crossfit competition in colorado springs
Thruster at CrossFit Competition

 

Orange Theory’s Dri Tri

by crossfitmomm, posted in HIIT Workouts, Running
Orange Theory's Dri Tri in Fort Collins, CO
Orange Theory’s Dri Tri

Yesterday, I did Orange Theory’s Dri Tri. The Dry Tri consists of:

  1. 2000 m row for time
  2. 300 body weight repetitions (20 push-ups | 20 bench tap squats | 20 burpees | 40 step ups | 30 bench hop overs | 20 plank jacks)
  3. 5k run

As some of you know, I’ve been battling a calf injury so this was my first time back running. It went well. I invested in compression sleeves; I don’t have any calf strains today so far. And this was fun. Orange Theory’s Dri Tri is twice a year (the next one is in September), so I think I’m going to try and use this as a benchmark in the future.

I finished in 44 minutes, with my 5k time being 24:29, which was good considering I haven’t run a 5k since Thanksgiving, and it was our last exercise. I did well on my 2000 m row as well.

TAKE-AWAYS FROM ORANGE THEORY’S DRI TRI

  • Running a 5k on a treadmill is hard. You have no one to overtake or to aim for. You have nothing to look at. And if the music is not your jam (which it wasn’t), you’re completely unmotivated to finish — except by the fact you want to be done.
  • 2000 m row was the perfect warm up.
  • Dri Tri should be offered in the mornings as well — give me a 5 am time slot for this any day. 2:30 pm in the afternoon was my down time. This was thus challenging for me to get started.
  • Cool swag. I got a Dri Tri hand towel and a Dri Tri water bottle. This was definitely unexpected. Thank you, Orange Theory!

Great workout put on by Orange Theory. I got the most splat points (which is Orange Theory speak for when you’re working about your 84% target heart rate) ever, which is hard for me to do since I have such a low resting heart rate and am in such good shape. I had a good time. This was fun. I’ll see ya in September!

What Did You Learn from the CrossFit Open?

by crossfitmomm, posted in CrossFit Open

Every year, a lot of CrossFitters participate in the CrossFit Open in hopes of being tops in their gym, their age group, or to top themselves from last year. We used to be able to compare ourselves in the Region, which gave us some valid numbers. However, this year, it’s you against everyone, which really doesn’t tell you a whole lot. Now, you’re going to have to evaluate yourself.

Practicing Ring Muscle Ups CrossFit hot crossfit chick in Colorado
Ring Muscle Ups CrossFit

Takeaways from the CrossFit Open

  • Getting ring muscle ups takes a lot longer than I’d ever thought. I’ve been working ring muscle ups consistently for 10 months now and although I’m close, I’m not there yet.
  • My bar muscle ups have gone to pot. With all my focus on ring muscle ups, I’ve let my bar muscle ups slide. I need to fix my form too if I’m ever to get better at them.
  • My strengths have not changed. The two workouts I did the best in are the double unders and the thrusters. I love thrusters so CrossFit Open WOD 19.5 was my favorite. Double unders makes the difference in a lot of workouts.
  • There are some movements I just don’t care about. This was CrossFit Open workout 19.3 and the strict handstand push ups. There is too much to work on for CrossFit. Pick the one or two moves you want to improve, and do those first. You can’t be good at everything unless you’re a professional and that’s all you do.

The CrossFit Open has changed nothing for me. I’m still working the two moves I actually care about: ring muscle ups and handstand walks. These are fun for me. Strict handstand push ups are not. I know in my mind I’m stronger than last year. But the CrossFit Open proved nothing for me, nor will it change anything for me.

What about you? Did the CrossFit Open change your fitness?