The Game Plan

I have a plan. Well to be exact my coaches have a plan for me. After having to explain where I am at and seeking for guidance on where I could wind up we have now set the wheels in motion.  It’s a daunting task that I am now undertaking. I now need to step up and perform, back up all the talk I’ve done about wanting things to be different. I actually have to DO it now. No excuses, no regrets, no half arsed efforts, just pure simple hard work.  I love rules & structure and now I have plenty of that between my CrossFit and my running plans.  No room to drift along aimlessly, the holiday cruise is over.

I posted my Tuesday 1:1 session on a page in Facebook and said how shattered I was after it and how hard was.  One of the comments was about how this person had a feeling that I really kinda liked it this way.  And to be honest I absolutely do.  I love that feeling of being completely pushed past what I think I am capable of.  The WOD was punishing and went for a long time, took me 40:10 to complete the work.  My WOD’s of late have been short and sharp, which has been good for developing my short intensity and explosive power, but now it’s time to burn.  So James my coach is building more endurance into my programs. However with the endurance there still has to be intensity, so always moving, still pushing to get done as soon as possible, but not backing off.

It’s finding this balance that helps build the mental strength I need and the ability to keep going when all I want to do is stop and crash.

The WOD was:

6rds for time

10 x 22kg Bench Press
10 x 22kg Power Clean
20 x Sit Ups
20 x Step Ups
20 x 3kg Wall Balls
150m Row

Originally it was going to be 8 rounds, which when announced my eyes nearly popped out of my head. James assured me he was serious. Couple of warm up reps with the bar to check the weight and we were straight into it. Surprisingly I was moving through the movements fairly well, slowed up on the step ups as that is not a strong movement for me but I kept going. Another weak movement is the wall balls but once I had the ball in hand James kept pushing me to get the set done without breaking it up.  Usually with wall balls I’ll break them up into sets of 10 because they just shatter me.  Regardless I pushed through and hit the rower for the 150m row.  The round had taken a while to get through but back into it.  The only rest I took was in between movements. Even with the power cleans once I had that bar in my hands I did not let it go. If I needed a breath I simply paused for one breath in the hang position before returning the bar to the floor to touch & go again.

Once I’d done 3 rounds James said if I got through the 4^th round without breaking up reps he would scale it back. I my mind I was thinking cool less reps on the things I struggle with. However as I entered the 5^th set he advised me we’d be working to a 40min time cap. So not less reps just keep going. This was a little deflating but I wanted to get through as much work as I could.  In my head I started pushing myself not to stop. Keep moving. The last 2 rounds of step ups and wall balls were really tough. So very nearly stopped each time but with a bit of encouragement from James I kept going.

There was a sneaky addition to the WOD in that after each set of bench press I had to then unrack the bar and position it on the floor ready for the cleans and then after the row re-rack it and position the bench again.  Doesn’t seem like much but when everything is hurting that extra effort takes a lot.

Coming out of that last round I knew time was tight to get it done before the end of the time cap and I gave everything I had on that row.  I was shattered at the end.  James on the other hand was pretty happy that I’d done it without majorly breaking up reps. I would pause for a breath and keep moving, not putting down the equipment or walking away.

Tuesday was a big day as I had been scheduled a sprint session by my run coach Tash. It’s been a little while since I have tackled sprints and I knew it would be tough.   10 x 50m sprints doesn’t seem much but recovery was only 20sec between efforts and it was hard work.  I did my usual trick of getting out there to my favourite back street super early so I could do it in peace.  First few laps I was really feeling the burn through the body and the lungs. And that 20sec recovery burned off so quickly. I dreaded hearing the countdown beeps on my watch.  However I got it done. I went home and downloaded the data and to be frank was bitterly disappointed to see how much slower I was than previous effort.  Logically I expected it but I still didn’t like to see it. 

As always Tash is more than supportive and encouraging, always reassuring me of the bigger plan and that it’ll all be ok.  She knows how I responded to the training before so in her mind it’s all good. She has a plan for me and as I trust her implicitly I hang onto that belief and push the frustration to the side. 

Both the plans are complimentary and linked into the overall goals and will help me achieve big things.  I am beyond grateful for the time & effort these guys put into my training and helping me become better. Helping me become an athlete and achieve anything I want to. I’ve learnt a lot this year about the value of support and how it’s critical to have the right support.

Gradually I am learning to recognise genuine real support rather than people who simply use you to further their own cause.  The layers of these false people are being stripped out of my life and I’m content with who I now choose to have around me. My inner circle has shrunk and I am happy about that. At the start of the year I had a small circle and against my better judgement I widened it, allowed people to get close.  This was an error in judgement. Having had no one I accepted any support as genuine, and this was not the case. As the year has gone on and events unfolded, my eyes have been opened and I realise now where I need to be & who I need to have around me.

I have lots of plans for my life now. I have a focus & something to strive for that I am totally committed to achieving.  Some of the plans scare the shit outta me. Rather than focus on that and be paralysed by what at this moment seems unattainable, my time is taken up by doing everything today I need to do.  If I keep repeating that process all these days of hard work will make those goals achievable. Good decisions, good actions, consistent effort & hard work, that’s the recipe.

Game On..................