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Thursday, September 15, 2011

I am not a natural born athlete, but I disregard that handicap I perform as best as I can…that’s, I guess, what makes me an athlete." ~ Katy McCabe

Spartan Shape-Up, Day 57:

Today is officially the first day of Week 9 of my Spartan Shape-Up training. Yikes. Time flies when you're running all over your neighborhood and lifting heavy stuff.

Before I go into today's regularly scheduled programming, I have to share something written by Spartan Race's own Glamazon, Katy McCabe:
  "I’m not a natural born athlete.  I was born to be heavy, I was born to be slow, I was born to procrastinate, and I was born to under achieve or get by on the bare minimum.  I know that.  I have been in my head and I have seen my own habits and bore witness to my own methods.  I am not a natural born athlete.  Everything I do is hard for me.  Every time I run I’m taxed.  Every time I swing a kettle-bell, power clean 155#, walk up walls, pull up, push down, jump over…it’s difficult and I want to stop.  I am not a natural born athlete.  I beat myself mentally before I start.  I think of ways to give up mid stride.  I don’t see progression.  I have to practice.  I have to fail…a LOT.  I have to do things over and over and over and over.  I have to drag myself sometimes…most times.  I get angry with myself multiple times in every workout.   I am not a natural born athlete.  I know I have limits I face them daily.  I know that when I get home today and strap on my pack that it’s going to hurt and its going to wear on me and I will struggle up hills and over rocks.  I am not a natural born athlete.  I am not particularly good at anything but I do all of these things despite how familiar I am with just that fact.  I am not a natural born athlete, but I disregard that handicap I perform as best as I can…that’s, I guess, what makes me an athlete." ~ Katy McCabe


When I ran across this in my internet traversing today, I suddenly felt a flash of hope, as I identified with Katy's thoughts. These were things I feel all the time, as I eek out the extra half mile in my run, or try and push through that extra set of lifts, these were the same thoughts I've had. Which was amazingly inspirational. Because, hey, maybe that means I'm 'normal' and not just some fat chick with ridiculously big pipe dreams. If Katy (who, I'm sure, can leap tall building with a single bound) questions herself, gets angry at herself, too, then maybe - just maybe - it's all just part of the journey. (Thanks, Katy.)

Having said that, we're onto today's WOD - It's a lifting day! Today's complex went like this:

  • w/u - Jump rope, 5min (5 du's without dying! yeah! lol)
  • Bent Row x6
  • Upright Row x6
  • Military Press x6
  • Good Mornings x6
  • Split Squats L/R x6
  • Thrusters x6
  • Deadlifts x6
I got 5 rounds of that, with two 21# DB's. 
Admittedly, this is the complex (the dreaded Complex #4, on my list, da da DAAaaaa) that I tend to want to avoid. Why? Because it's hard for me. Or, really, it's not that it's hard for me, but it challenges me to push more than I naturally want to. Military presses with 21 pound DB's are hard, at the moment. Doable, but not easily.They are easier than they were a couple of weeks ago, though, I noticed today, but they're hard (particularly for my slightly slower to learn left arm? wtf? lol). Split Squats, with 42 pounds, followed immediately by thrusters with total 42 pounds, are a challenge to not want to take a break in between. HOWEVER. This is why we do these things, is it not? Because they're hard. So we do them until they get easier, and then we set our sights on the next hard thing, to see what we're made of. So here's what I have to say to you, Split Squats followed by Thrusters of Death: I OWNED you today. 5 rounds. TKO. 

Oh! In other news (how could I forget!), I must report in on my very first ice bath. I wish I had STFU and done that sooner. This was the first morning in probably the last 3 months that I hopped out of bed and didn't hobble around all creaky and stiff. I will say, that lowering yourself (thank GOD I've been practicing my dips, to facilitate a slooooow immersion) into a vat of really cold water is NOT an enjoyable process, once you get past the first few minutes and just go numb, it's really not that bad. You probably don't want to sit there unoccupied (tweet or fb yourself silly, or read a book, or SOMEthing) and focus on how damn cold you are, but it really isn't that bad. Take it from a skeptic. You can do this, and you probably should. You can do anything for 20 minutes, right?? Particularly the persistently stiff muscles in my hip area (maybe adductors?) from running and squatting were really relieved by this. 

Alright, Blog-Land. I bid you adieu for another day, while I wait in slight trepidation for the next block of 4 week plans from the GT (We decided Guru Trainer was probably slightly more grammatically correct than Trainer Guru... lol.). He mentioned things like making a DIY T-handle to do swings with, and that it was time to find and bond with my pet rock. Oh My. It's on like Donkey Kong! 







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