Now that the Open has officially ended, I figured now would be a great time to write my March blog. What an amazing 5 weeks! First and foremost...congratulations to all the first-timers. So proud of each and every one of you for testing your limits and going outside your comfort zone!! You all did amazing. Also, kudos to everyone who saw progress from last year and for hitting some PR’s along the way! Putting in the time and getting the work done truly does pay off in the end! I had this crazy idea at 12:30 AM to recap the workouts a bit and let you into my head about how I felt about each one of them...get ready for an interesting trip down memory lane lol! 19.1 I like to call the “soul crusher”. While my ability to row has gotten better and so have wall balls, this was by far a “soul crushing” experience. I think I cried a little getting off the rower my last round because I couldn’t make my legs work. Wall balls and rowing...how hard can it be?? OMG I still don’t fully understand what happened to me. Next year I’m going with platform sneakers haha. 19.2 I call this one “head case” I liked it in 2016 and equally liked it this year. Progress was made even after hip and shoulder surgery between those years. 2016 was scaled doing single unders and knee raises. This year double unders and..well...not so pretty t2b. I need to work on stringing them together better and pushing away from the bar instead of dropping down. Future goals! Hit a wall at 115 cleans! Yup...I get in my head and the weight doesn’t move! Future goal...stop overthinking things...right Coach Mike?? I’m on it :-) 19.3 I call this “my jam”! My single arm lunges were much more stable that’s for sure. Step ups were tough since I still struggle with stepping up with weight on the right side so I had to keep the dumbbell on my left shoulder for all 50 reps (I see more work to be done to get this balanced out). Not ideal, but doable! Then came the sweet strict HSPU! Oh yeah I do love me some HSPU! This was my moment of glory. We all have one! Think about which one was yours and own it! 19.4 I call this “the half workout” I completed the first half then RX’d the 3 minute rest haha. Just not ready for MU’s just yet. I have something to work on for the next Open! So many of you did them for the first time!!! That’s the magic of the Open! 19.5 I call this “sweet victory” Having never attempted a chest to bar pull-up I figured if I got one I’d be thrilled. So here’s how I went into this workout...finish the 33 thrusters and have about 18-ish minutes to get a c2b. Rest in between attempts and see what happens. With this plan in my mind, I decided to wear my lifters and knee sleeves then take off the knee sleeves and switch into my regular workout sneakers when I got to the c2b, which I did. I broke up the thrusters into 7-7-7-6-6. Nice pace...some might say “slooooww” lol. Did my sneaker swap and removed knee sleeves. Didn’t even consider wearing grips. Got to the bar and started getting c2b. Wow it was awesome. Finished the 33 c2b. Now I have to go back to thrusters which I wasn’t ready for. So I took off my sneakers and put my knee sleeves back on lol...yep I did...right in the middle of the workout. Then I stood in front of the bar and looked at Frank and said, “how do I break these up?” I had never even given it a thought. I went on to get 143 reps and some nice ripped hands! Well worth it! There will be a do-over since I wasted more than 2 minutes with wardrobe changes lol! I encourage you all to reflect on these past 5 weeks. Enjoy what you’ve learned about yourself from these workouts and recognize how far you’ve come and what you’re truly made of l! Not every workout was great or in your wheelhouse. Some really sucked but you did it! Some of you did things you never imagined you could do and some of you have a list of things you want to work on now. I know I do. That’s progress! So take some time and look back at each workout. Notice your strengths and weaknesses. There was progress in every one of them for all of you. Don’t make light of any of it no matter how small you think it might be. It’s still progress! Embrace it, own it, and continue to grow! See you in October!
