In The Zone

Here's the aftermath of 14.4 today... One of the greatest photos ever taken. Also one of the most painful workouts ever. It was a good day.

Also, a big thank you to Tess Gong for coming out and supporting!

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After the workout this morning, a bunch of us went over to the new gym in progress to work on it. While we were working, Jim (in the picture) and I had a pretty cool talk about a lot of the stuff that I've been putting in this blog. We talked a lot about balance and how important it really is to everything. I haven't given it much attention in my past posts, but it deserves a special mention.

If you do too much of any one thing, you'll eventually burn out and not be able/willing to do it anymore. Makes sense, right? It applies to Crossfit too. It might even apply to this blog. (Hopefully not!) If you let yourself become consumed by any one thing, it won't be good for you in the long run. "Constantly varied" is a big theme in Crossfit, and it really applies to more than your time in the gym. Been doing a ton of heavy squats lately? Try throwing in some muscle-ups or handstand pushups. Been spending too much time on work or studying for school? Take a break. Go on a run. Do something fun. The time you spend switching it up and refreshing yourself will be paid back to you.

Another interesting point we talked about is something that really has helped me in almost everything I do: you can't worry about what everyone else does, because you can only control what you do. In the Open, you could score a 72 or a 272 on a workout, and that's it. That's all you can do. True, sometimes redoing an open workout can get you a couple extra reps, but most of the time you won't make any momentous, make-or-break Regionals changes to your standing. If you get smoked by a particular workout and someone else crushes it, oh well. Accept it and move on. I'm not saying accept failure, don't get me wrong. Learn how you need to improve and do so, then come back and be a beast next time. This "only worry about what you can control" mindset has also helped me keep a cool head in a lot of situations, knowing I can't control how rude or wrong someone else seems. It's helped me relax during tests in school, Open workouts, job interviews, etc. I know I've prepared as well as I can - I can't ask for any more than that.

Philosophical heavy lifting aside, here's what's going on tomorrow:

15-20 mins on push press/push jerk with light-moderate weight

Partner WOD:
AMRAP 8
- Partner 1 runs 200m
- Partner 2 racks up max burpee box jumps
Partners switch back and forth until time is up. Score is total burpee box jumps.

Rest 4 min

AMRAP 8
- Partner 1 runs 200m 
- Partner 2 racks up as many rounds as possible of:
  - 10 air squats
  - 10 kettlebell SDHP 
Same format and scoring as the first AMRAP.

I really like this kind of workout because the running partner can't slack off or the other partner will rack up points and get a higher score, and that partner can't slack off on the reps because that's how he's getting his score up. It's mean.

Same drill tonight: Roll out your legs/lower back, and spend some quality time hanging out in the bottom of the squat. I'll see some of you tomorrow!