July 24, 2008

I was a little disappointed with myself yesterday. I ended up not running/rowing/ or doing situps for a minute last night. I basically made excuses and then went to bed around 9:30pm. However, I woke up on a mission this morning to either GO HARD or GO HOME! (Maybe I should make it a goal of mine to incorporate that somewhere in every post)

Today's workout was called "Evak" I guess a combination of Eva and Kelly. Didn't matter to me I was pumped up. Here is the workout:

1,000 meter run (around both buildings)
25 wall ball
25 pull up
25 box jump
25 kettle bell swings (m70/f52)

I knew right away I had to substitute pull ups and asked Jerry if I could do ring dips. Maybe I should have rethought that since I did HEAVY ring dips Wednesday. Oh well. I also ended up doing one arm kettle bell swings with 52# or one pood.

We all started off together, and I was running a strong second behind Charlie, who is a big runner. Leslie caught me for the last 300m but I knew I would catch up or pull ahead later. I followed the progression as listed but did not realize you had to finish 25 of each before moving to the next exercise. I partitioned my ring dips and box jumps, going back and forth 5 at a time. I asked Jerry when I got back to start my second round. I really don't think it matters much, maybe 25 seconds or so because you can rest and work another body part. I was willing to make up for it because I was in the zone today and flying. I was the first one back out for the beginning of round two and actually saw some others just going out for their runs when I finished mine. That pumped me up even more.

I finished the workout in 33:18, first in the 6AM class and almost 3 minutes faster than anyone else. I was exhausted and thrilled that I pushed myself so hard and finished so strong. Today was one of those days (like most) where I get to work and can't wait for Jerry to post the board from the morning classes. He just posted them a little bit ago. Basically I got the best time, the next best time was Eric with 33:44. I was a little disappointed because there were notes next to each of our names, mine had a 50KB for the size kettlebell and the fact that I substituted ring dips for pull ups. Eric had a 70KB which was prescribed. I looked at that as if Eric worked harder than me. Here is where my competitiveness comes in, I wanted to put one arm KB swings next to my 50KB basically indicating I worked as hard or harder than Eric and the prescribed workout. I know I can be a little too competitive but I think that is one of my strong qualities to strive for my goals. The good thing is I never show it while I am working out and the fact is Crossfit is a sport and is competitive and god knows I am not the only competitive one.

Lately, I have been dealing with how others view me and especially my self confidence when I work out especially regarding working out or playing volleyball with my shirt off. Today I ran my second and third round 1,000m with my shirt off and then put it back on while I ran up the stairs. I was totally doing it for functionality and to cool off. I saw Charlie come back in with his shirt off as I was moving to box jumps of my last round and basically said F-it, I am hot and sweaty and taking my shirt off. I heard in the back of the room Jerry make a quick comment like "oh no." I have never worked out at Old Town with my shirt off and I will take it off sometimes at Loudon, while I am running or playing beach volleyball. First and foremost I do it for functional reasons to stay cool and not have to mess with a heavy sweaty shirt. Second, I am proud of my body and all the hard work I have done to get where I am. I am 30 in the best shape of my life and used to weigh 234#. Some people have said its "corny" but I say who cares. I never am the only guy with his shirt off and that is my little rule. Friends and coworkers constantly give me crap about working out without my shirt. I don't want to come across like some cocky asshole and do worry about what others think but if anything they should be proud of me for the weight I have lost and the lifestyle I live. I sort of went on a tangent but really wanted to write about this. No matter what I will always worry about what others think, no matter how hard I try to say "who cares." I just don't understand why I get so much grief for it.

Overall I gave this workout 110% and couldn't be more pleased heading into my off today tomorrow. I plan on hitting Crossfit Loudon-Dulles on Saturday morning or running a practice PFT. In terms of my 12 week challenge, I will do my situps tonight and have been doing good on my Zone diet but am punishing myself with a 5000m row because of a couple of slip ups.