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Thursday, January 10, 2013

My journey...

My last post was about the new year and what I learned from this past year. Going forward I want to really look at my new journey and my path that I am on right now. I want to share my journey with those good people around me. I want to take a peak into the training I was doing last year and a little bit of the year before and see how I have progressed.

I started crossfitting in 2011; I actually started right before the 2011 CF Open. I was told about it and thought, yeah, I'll try this. I love to challenge myself and wanted to see what I can do with just 3 weeks of crossfit under my belt. It was a great experience and I enjoyed every minute of it; even the photo of me screaming my lungs out because I couldn't do double unders in the 11.1 workout (30 double unders, 15 snatches - or ground to overhead 55#). 

When I did that workout, I got 4 rounds and some change. Alex had programmed this workout a few months ago and I got 6 rounds and 30 double unders. He had programmed it again for Monday and we discussed the workout and how I would approach it. It made me a little nervous to do the workout again, but I felt good going into it; I was going to give it my best. I ended up getting 7 rounds, 30 double unders and 1 snatch. Wow... it was brutal but I happy with how I finished and how I have been able to progress in the past year. 

This was a good test to see where I came from. It will be two years in March and I look forward to each day, as it brings something new to me and to us. 

To take a look back, after the open was finished, I engulfed myself with CrossFit. I got my CF Mobility and Movement Certification in April. Then in June I got my Level 1 Certification. The following weekend, Whitney and I volunteered for the Southern California Regionals and helped out with the set up and organization for that weekend. It was amazing; to be able to be on the field with all those athletes, it was inspiring. I told myself that I want to make it to regionals and compete at that level. I want to be able to do all the work that is put in front of me and accomplish a goal of getting to that arena.

Following the SoCal Regionals, I volunteered to help out with CrossFit Games staff in July. I headed down there, helped set up and prep for the workouts. Again, another amazing opportunity to be backstage. Don't get me wrong, the days were long, 12+ hours moving weight, racks, running around getting food for the athletes and all the stuff that was needed for different workouts in the track and stadium. It was definitely work but it was totally worth it because it was an experience that cannot be replaced by anything.

Once I returned from the Games, I wanted to compete, a lot. I signed up and competed in three competitions, three weekends in a row. Looking back it wasn't the best decision, but I wanted to see what I could do and I put challenges in front of me. The month of August looked like this:

FemmeFit Summer Edition Competition - August 6th
LaLanne Competition - August 13th
CrossFit Mission Gorge Competition - August 20th

I had the next weekend off, then the following weekend I did the Moxie Team Competition in San Jose. After all these competitions, I was still interested in doing more, but I scaled back a little. I was interested in doing a Powerlifting meet but it didn't work out. In the next two months I did two more events, Diablo's Barbell for Boobs in October and the Good Times CrossFit Competition in November. After all this experience, I had learned a lot about myself. I love to push myself and see what I can accomplish when I put a goal in front of me.

During this time (August through November/December), I was all over the board with my training. I was lifting and doing met cons at Diablo, driving to CF Pleasanton to do Powerlifting and driving to CF 707 to practice my Olympic lifts with a coach out there. I enjoyed learning so much; I felt like I was a sponge and wanted to soak up all the knowledge and information that I was gathering from every place I was traveling too.

But, I was getting worn down. I was spending a lot of time driving, skimping on some sleep, not having enough time to get prepared for the next day. I was coaching three days a week at CF Pleasanton and five days a week at Diablo CF, so being prepared for the next day was huge for me. I felt like I was a pinball, going everywhere, trying to become a better athlete and coach.

Another aspect that was playing a part was my nutrition; I was eating a low carb/paleo food plan, lots of protein and fat, minimal to low carbs and it was starting to show that it wasn't the best for me in terms of what I was doing. I started to get migraines, almost every day. If I didn't have one when I woke up, it was induced by me exercising. This went on for almost three weeks; it was brutal. I felt tired a lot even when I was getting 7/8 hours of sleep. So to wrap it up, I was all over the board, trying to do everything all the time and it was taking a toll on me, mentally, physically and emotionally.

My journey then was over the hills, around the corner, back to the house, through the garage and over the hills again; doable but hectic and a little stressful. Things have changed a lot; it has taken about a year to get to a place where I am less stressed and not running around like a pinball, but it is well worth it. A big thanks goes to Alex for helping me see this and realize this. When we first met, we talked about having a goal and working towards that goal with a plan, and you can't focus on that goal if you are all over the place. I wanted to keep doing all the things I was doing, but if I really wanted to become a better athlete and coach, I need to focus myself and not spread myself too thin.

Fast forward to today, this year, this month. I am in a much better place; I am more focused and have a much better plan. I am training at one gym, focusing on my weaknesses and making gains with a plan that Alex and I have written out. It already has been an amazing journey, I have learned a lot in the past year and I know I will continue to learn as the days, months and years go by. Yes, I am the one doing the work and the lifts and all the stuff, but Alex has been the other half to this amazing journey and there is so much more in store.

I know this a very long post and it turned out to be more than I anticipated, but I feel that it is worth it. I want to write more on my journey going forward. There is so much that goes into training, it is more than just working out. I hope that I can inspire you to want more for yourself, to push and challenge yourself. To our journey's ahead...

~ MCA

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