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A Personal Reflection…3/28/13

It’s been a few days since I performed 13.3 and I’ve finally found the time to sit down and write out a few thoughts both to clear my head and provide insight for others about how to approach each WOD by providing a glimpse into what goes through my head about past workouts.
I’d like to preface this post with the following: I am absolutely in NO WAY a “glass half-empty” person when it comes to personal reflection. If you know me well enough, you know that I am very proud of who I am, what I’ve achieved, and what I stand for. I may be critical of myself when it comes to my performances in the box, but this is the analytical side of me trying to squeeze out every last ounce of performance possible. In my ever-elusive quest to improve my fitness, this is a crucial part of what I do.
Moving on.
Leading up to 13.3, I was filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was excited to give this workout my best shot. On the other, I was bummed that I didn’t have a performance to judge it against. Last year, I was unable to perform this one due to injury. Nevertheless, I still went in very goal oriented, something I always have going into a WOD. I was very specific with where I wanted to be during each phase of the workout – # of wall balls, # of seconds of rest, time to completion of wall balls, time frame for double unders, acceptable break points for the double unders and “muscle ups.”
Wait – muscle ups? That’s it?
What sparked this post was a comment Jay made to me after narrowly edging me out in what was a great WOD for the both of us. He had overheard quite a few people ask me what I was shooting for. He told me that he was surprised to hear me reply each time, “Muscle Ups.”
Yes, in fact, muscle ups were my goal. But how many was I shooting for? I had broken everything else down to sets/reps/rest/transition/break points, etc. In the words of Lauren Hill: “Everything is Everything.” Knowing approximately when I’d make it to the rings should have made it very easy to figure out how many I could count on getting. But I didn’t.
I remember asking Jay what his plan was when he got to them – “Two at a time, singles if I have to, I’m going for 250 (that’d be 10 muscle ups).”
Thinking that sounded good, I adopted that strategy (of doing no more than two at a time).
But, I sold myself short. I got to the muscle ups and they were much easier than I anticipated them being. On my first set, I ripped off two and came down knowing that I could have done at least one if not two more. Same thing on the second set.
Why does this even matter, you ask?
Because I never set a specific goal for myself, my brain was ready to accept any number of muscle ups that I got – be it one or thirty. And once I put the idea in my head of “no more than two at a time,” I was content with that even if I could have pushed harder and gotten one or two more.
Having watched tape of our muscle up portion, it sank in even more; I realized how much time I wasted in between reps. Knowing what I was feeling at each second of that workout, I know I could have been back on the rings much sooner. And seeing how fresh I looked during each set is further proof that I need to get better at pushing the envelope of what I think is possible for myself.
Overall, I was pleased with my performance, I really was. But as a thinking person, and an athlete, I can’t help but analyze where I could move better, faster, and with more resolve. I try to take away a few things from each WOD that I perform, so that I am ready when I see something similar down the road.
250 was out there, ripe for the taking. Next year, I’ll be shooting for a specific number.
As a CrossFIt athlete (yes, that’s ALL of you), how do you reflect on your WODs? I promise that the more thought you put into your performance, before, during and after, the better your fitness will become.
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WOD 13.4 was announced at 8pm, and here she is: 
7 min Ascending Ladder –
3 Clean and Jerks
3 Toes to Bar
6 Clean and Jerks
6 Toes to Bar
9 Clean and Jerks
9 Toes to Bar
…continue going up by 3’s until time is up!
See here for all standards information!!!
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And now for Thursday’s WOD –
A. Skill:
Pull-Ups OR Practice 13.4
 
B. MWOD:
Tie down the ribcage
 
C. WOD:
Buy-In:
30 Sit-Ups
-then-
21-15-9
KB Swings
Box Jumps
-then-
Cash Out:
30 Sit-Ups

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