Excitement and Competition Ahead!

So I know, I don’t really blog much. I’m a busy guy doing important things, I’m sorry. Kidding. I am just really bad at sitting down and actually DOING something when I have a free moment. I feel like I’m on the go so much that when I get some down time I just completely turn into the laziest person alive. I will sit and stare at the wall sometimes, which can be a bit awkward. But here's what's going on with me now

Anyways, I want to write about some stuff that’s been important to me lately. I’ve had a really good couple weeks in terms of a lot of things. I’ve been PR’ing left and right when it comes to lifts. For example, I hit both a 245lb split jerk PR and a 245lb squat clean in the last week or so. I can’t wait to put those together into a clean and jerk. As I mentioned in my last post, I hit my first muscle up a couple weeks ago. I have now managed to string together 3 in a row, and am that much closer to my goal of being able to do 10 in a row by the end of this 90 Day Challenge. I’m stoked.

I’m going to be competing in a Crossfit event or “throwdown” this weekend. It will be my first time competing in anything Crossfit related, and will by my first time competing in any sort of athletic event since high school. This should be interesting. Here are my thoughts on it:

1. There will be competitors from all over the Northeast competing, some (probably most of them) with much more time Crossfitting than me. Some of them are well-known competitors, others are not, but all are ambitious and hopeful. Their experience will do them well, but my inexperience might help me push myself harder (and thus do better) than perhaps I previously could have thought possible. Who knows, we shall see though.
2. I’m slightly nervous about this competition. I’ve never done more than one WOD in a day, let alone 4 in one day. Usually I’m exhausted after one WOD. I’m both excited and worried to see how I fare. No matter what, the days following the event should be interesting in terms of recovery.
3. I know I’m strong, but my cardiovascular/aerobic conditioning is still not what I would like it to be. I have no idea what the WODs will entail, but I hope that the number of movements remains low or I will be seriously sucking wind over the course of the day.
4. I’M EXCITED! I really want to do well this weekend. I can’t wait this should be nothing if not a good time.

I need to make sure I am mentally prepared for this endeavor. It will severely test not only my body but my mind as well. I can only pray that my mental fortitude will be strong enough, as it has not been tested in this manner before. I will not hesitate. I will not falter. I will not fail. I. WILL. TRIUMPH!!

Boom!

Until next time,

- Tommy

What a busy couple weeks!

So I know I promised an update last week, and never got to it. Lucky for me, I don't think many people read this, and those that do probably weren't that disappointed. If you were disappointed, tough haha. These past couple weeks have been ridiculously busy, and I've been swamped with school, studying, Crossfit, and life.

Let's talk about this 90 Day Challenge. I have a couple things to report on how that's going.

Diet:
I've been struggling a bit with diet. I had an exam last week, and ended up cheating on meals a couple times. While they weren't crazy cheats, I still felt bad about it (and did my corresponding burpee punishments). I've also been having some trouble with the Zone, mostly because I'm finding it difficult to eat so much food most of the time, and my schedule has been quite friggin' hectic lately and I haven't been able to have stable eating schedules and such. Not an excuse, I know, but frankly, it's difficult. I have, however, been eating fruits and veggies like it's my job, which is a big improvement over my pre-new year diet. I've also been managing to eat healthy snacks (mostly the jerky I've been making, almond butter, and fruits) which has helped me to keep my insulin levels more stable, and thus helped me both physically and to keep me focused mentally, which is a nice plus. I've also been slacking on my food journal, and have decided to mostly give it up. I know that's not really a good thing, but frankly, it was taking up too much time and I was running out of patience with it. I also don't think I am going to continue with the Zone diet, and have decided to go mostly Paleo/Primal. This will, I believe, be a better fit for me in terms of lifestyle and overall nutrition.

In cooking news, I made more jerky this weekend. That was awesome. I made the Cajun flavor again, as well as a Jamaican Jerk-style recipe. That one turned out REALLY good! I'm definitely going to make those two again. I still haven't tried the dried fruits yet, because I forgot to buy them, but I'll try soon.


Training:
Overall I have been improving! I managed to perform my first Muscle Up, which is AWESOME! I've been working on it for a while now, and have finally done it! I've also been doing WODs Rx'd for the most part. Granted, my times are a bit higher, but I think I'm doing quite well. (Side note, I did a WOD on Friday which I thought wouldn't be too difficult, and ended up puking afterwards. I haven't worked that hard since high school. Now I know how hard I can push myself.) I feel great, and am looking forward to continuing my growth and development.

Overall:
I'm feeling pretty good. I had an exam last week, which went well, and then had a great/relaxing weekend. I've been working on plans for the next couple months in terms of schooling, studying, and the National Board Exams that I will have to take sometime in June (ugh). I'm working more on planning/scheduling which is something I'm usually not that good at. As of late, I'm really enjoying the atmosphere around the Crossfit box, which has undergone some major renovations/upgrades within the past month. I'm a fan. There have also been a bunch of new members around, including some classmates, which has been awesome. The new members seem pretty cool and hardworking. I'm excited to watch their progress as they work towards becoming fitter individuals.

That's it for now,

- Tommy

Mental Toughness

So I've been thinking about stuff a lot today. Mostly about mental toughness and how that plays into all aspects of life. More specifically, how it effects my life and how I can become mentally stronger, and thus a better human being.

For a while I've been my own worst enemy. In high school I ran track and wrestled. Especially in track, I would get halfway through a run or a workout and it would start to get difficult. I'd talk to myself, and tell myself things like "OK Tommy, this is far enough, you've put in a lot of effort. Take this shortcut on the route and walk a bit and make sure you get some rest. You've done a good job." This sort of thinking was easier, yet it was a thousand times worse for me as a person and as an athlete. I thought I was doing something good for myself, but instead I was just hurting myself. My thought process was along the lines of Clint Eastwood, "A man's gotta know his limitations." The problem was that I didn't know what my limitations were, and instead stopped myself short. I did this with other aspects of my training, and I probably suffered for it. This continued up until recently. When I started Crossfit I would get mid-WOD and say "I can't do this," but I'd continue with the WOD, at a pace less than my max.

Within the last couple months, I realized how I was hindering myself. I decided to make a change. I tried pushing myself more and more in each WOD. It wasn't that helpful, but I made some progress. The real improvement came when I watched the 2011 Crossfit Games. It made me realize the incredible lengths I can be capable of if I just put my mind to it. Since then, I have put everything I have and more into each and every WOD. I'm not going to lie, I still get inside my own head, but I'm combating it. How? I may feel like I can't continue any more, but then I count down from 3 and when I reach 1, I force myself into the next rep or round or whatever the task may be. From here it will only get better!

I'm determined to keep this mentality going. I will be a better athlete. I will utilize this mentality in other aspects of my life. I will be the best that I possibly can be, and will strive to help others to push themselves to their full potential as well.

That's all for now, let me know what you think.

- Tommy

90 Day Challenge - 5 Days Deep

Well, it has been 5 days since the start of this 90 Day Crossfit Challenge. So far I feel great! I have several things to talk about. I'll go with the negative stuff first so I can end on a positive note.

- I am having issues with following the appropriate amounts of food for the Zone Diet. It's not that I have problems with wanting to eat other stuff or sticking to the plan, it's that I have problems eating ALL of the food required. For example, yesterday's breakfast was this:

This was 6 eggs, 1 whole red onion, 1.5 cups of blueberries, 21 cherries, and 18 almonds. I realized in hindsight that this contained too many blocks of carbs, by 1, but still, it's a lot of food. Also on reflection, I could have substituted some other type of protein to cut down on the giant load of eggs, but I hadn't thought of that. Oh well. Live and learn, right? Right.

- I'm also finding that this is quite planning and time intensive and rather expensive. I am horrible at planning, and cooking and the like. Thanks to some help from Sarah and several others, I have been given some good advice on how to manage the time and cooking to minimize the time commitment. I've also been instructed in several ways to make my food healthier and incorporate other foods. Thanks everyone!

On to the good stuff..
I've made some serious improvements this week both mentally and physically. Today I hit a 1 rep max dead lift of 405lbs! That's 20lbs more than my previous PR and 25lbs more than twice my body weight! Saweeeet!!! Combine that with the PR I had doing "Cindy" on Tuesday and I've had one awesome week. I feel great! I'm thinking better, and my focus is much better! Nothing is going to stop me!

Oh, I've also decided to purchase a food dehydrator, which will allow me to make my own jerky and dried fruits and such. It should arrive within the next week so be sure come back to find out how my first jerky making experience goes.

That's all for now, folks.

-Tommy

Day 3 of the 90 Day Challenge: Oh it's ON!

So although today is technically day 3 of the 90 Day Crossfit Challenge, it's more like day 1 for me. I got a slow start to it because I was home for the holidays and traveling back screwed up my schedule and such. Not an excuse, just an explanation.

So today I hit my first WOD of the new year. It was 3 parts, max pullups, "Cindy" (which is 20 minutes of AMRAP [As Many Rounds As Possible] 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 air squats), and then 24" box jump AMRAP in 2 minutes. I managed 33 pullups, which was disappointing for me because I felt like I could do at least another 10, but my grip gave out and I fell off the bar. Oh well, next time I'll do better!

This was not the first time I have done "Cindy". Within my first month or so of Crossfit, I did Cindy for the first time. At that point I managed to get through 13 rounds. Today I rocked out and crushed that, setting a new Personal Record (PR) with 16 rounds even. That's an extra 3 full rounds on my previous PR! I got through an extra 90 reps in the same allotted time! I then managed 35 box jumps in the 2 minute time frame. That should have been better, but Cindy tired me out quite a bit. My improvement in Cindy, however, shows the power of Crossfit training. I've only been Crossfitting for a couple months now, but have been able to see some great gains in terms of my aerobic, cardiovascular, and overall fitness and stamina and strength. I'm hooked!

Diet is going alright, this is the first time I'm trying the Zone diet, and I'm still trying to figure it out. I'll have more updates later. Feel free to leave tips, thoughts, and such in the comments!

-Tommy