The Open has begun!

Well, 2012 CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.1 is officially in the books!
If you don't know, WOD 12.1 is 7 minutes of as many burpees as you can do, BUT you have to jump and touch a target 6" above your standing reach.
I had originally thought to myself that I would not do the Open workouts more than once for 2 reasons.
1. you don't get a second chance in a competition and
2. in the past I haven't done well at second attempts.
But when you have an opportunity to improve your score, it can be hard to let that score just sit there knowing it could have been better.
So, my first go at it was 84 burpees. I really was surprised and disappointed. I was expecting at least 100. I have done 100 burpees in under 7 minutes before, but jumping up to reach a target 6 inches above your reach REALLY makes a difference. I decided to do it one more time and got a new score of 87. Not great considering the highest score in my Region is 140! I mean, that is MOVING!  I know that I didn't leave anything in tank, though. I know that was my best effort and I couldn't ask anything more from myself.
The main reason that I generally don't do WOD's more than once in a short time frame is because of where I go mentally.
About 2 weeks before I competed in the Garage Games One, they released what the WODs were going to be. I had a few friends do those WODs and post their times. They looked at as a practice run.
I did not do this. I worked on the movements, but I did not do the WOD. I was afraid it would backfire on me. I was very worried I would get to the competition and just suck because all I would be able to think of is that "I had already done this". This is what happened to me last year on two  WOD's that I redid during the 2011 Open. My score was actually lower than when I did it the first time.
On the other hand, this works really well for others. My buddy, Joe will do a WOD again the same day just to improve his score. So, in his case it works really well. In fact, I don't think he has ever done worse on a second go on a WOD. He typically will improve or at worst, have the same score.
This generally doesn't work for me. Especially if the WOD sucks really bad. All I can think of throughout the whole thing is "I don't want to do this again!" or "This sucks more than it did the first time!".
Now I am not talking about bench mark WOD's. I have no problems redoing those, but in those instances it will be many months in between. Redoing Benchmark WODs is a great way to check your progress and that is why they are called Benchmark WODs! We have several Benchmark WOD's that we will do periodically at Trinity CrossFit and I love watching all the scores improve. But we spread them out. We do not do them 2 times in a week.
Last week was the first time in over a year I have redone a WOD within hours or days of doing it the first time. And surprisingly, I actually had some success with it.
The first WOD I redid was a 10 minute AMRAP of as many ground to overhead as possible in 10 minutes. I chose to use 95lbs on the bar. The score was the total amount of weight put overhead by the end of the WOD. The first time through, I paced myself too slowly and when time was called I still had plenty left in the tank.
I came back that afternoon and PR'd by 1000lbs.
This time it worked really well. Why did it work this time? Because I liked this WOD. It was fun. But then...
7 Minutes of Burpees
I don't care how many times you do them or how good you are at them, Burpees ARE. NOT. FUN. Especially not for 7 minutes!
The second time through this WOD at about minute 4, this is what it sounded like in my head "I hate burpees!". "I am sucking at these!" and "I don't want to go to Regionals anyways!" "I'm going to throw up!" "I need faster music." and "I think Danny miscounted! I know I have done 1000!"
So what do you think? Do you think I could have done more if I had been thinking differently?
I think so.

How can I change this? How can I train my head to want it (during the suck) as much as I want it in my heart?
I've been thinking about this for days and yesterday I came across Sage Burgener Mertz's post about Mental Toughness. Please go read this! (After you finish here of course)
WOW! This was exactly what I needed to read.
Her brother Casey talks about making the decision about what you really want. Once you have truly decided THIS is what you want, then everything becomes easier.
So here I am now with my decision.
My decision is this. I WILL do my best no matter what!
I WILL be dedicated to clean eating to better my training.
I DO want to make it to Regionals next year.
I DO!
What is your decision?

Garage Games One Done!

This past weekend I competed in the Garage Games One.
I had competed last year in the Garage Games but in the Scaled Women's division. Last year I didn't finish as well I wanted to and knew I wanted to really improve myself as a competitor and an athlete. I needed to up my game.
My number one objective? To compete in this years Garage Games as Rxd.
Done!
This year there were 30 Rx women that competed and I finished 27th. I know, I know, not great and I spent about 1 day disappointed and feeling like I had let people down.
I had so many people tell me how proud they were of me that I finally began to realize that the only person I had let down was myself.
Sunday, as I was sitting on the couch, icing my knee, feeling every joint and muscle in me ache, feeling very 40 and having a small pity party for one in my head, I really began to think about what I had done this past weekend in Woodstock, Georgia.
I had done my very first Rx competition...and I didn't suck too bad. (although I will admit I was next to last on the run. More about that later). This was also the first time I had ever done 5 very tough WOD's in one day. I hung in there with the big dawgs! Incredible athletes like winner, Amy Wight (who I watched clean 175lbs!), Shelby Levy, Crystal McCullough and many, many more. Yes! I did it!
And what's more is that I realized how much I had improved from just last year! HUGE! Something I know I can be very proud of.
What I also learned is that humble pie can be good for you.
Walking out there full of confidence and then having your ass handed to you because of weather conditions (20 degrees and snowing...are you kidding?), or because you just ran a measly 2 1/2 miles and now your knee won't cooperate because you make excuses not to put that into your training (yep, that's me....I.HATE.RUNNING!)...yeah, BIG old helping of humble pie.
I think the one thing I was the most upset about was my clean and jerk. I was full of confidence! I had been practicing with 135lb clean and jerks weeks leading up to this. I HAD it. I was hoping to get a new PR at 145lbs. But at the 125lbs, my thoughts were already on the 135lb bar. I went to jerk 125lb and everything on my body stopped working. Even my legs went out from under me making it impossible to get out of the way. Yes, I dropped 125lbs down my back. ARE. YOU. KIDDING?!?!?!
On that event, I walked away in tears. Not from pain but from frustration and embarrassment. If you were to ask my athletes, they would tell you that I coach just as much about getting out of the way of the bar as I do about lifting it and here I had just dropped it on my back. This was a first for me.
Then of course you have to add the "Unknown". On this day, the "unknown" was the weather. This winter in the South has been incredibly mild. I think we have had only about 2 weeks of 30 degree or below temperatures, so I hadn't experienced training in this cold. This was the UNKNOWN. It was in the upper 20's, cloudy, snowing, with 40 mph winds. People had windburn. Crazy Southern weather! It was 60 degrees two days before the event and now it's back in the 60's again. Only this past weekend was it in the 20's. Another serving of humble pie.
So what is the takeaway?
I am soooo glad I participated in this event. It was fun in a CrossFit strange sort of way. I loved seeing friends that I have gotten to know through these competitions and making new ones. I loved watching my husband and Joe (one of my athletes) compete. I did REALLY LOVE IT!
I loved having my friends there from my gym cheering me, Mike and Joe on and dancing to keep warm.
I loved have my bestie there screaming at me to "keep going" and to "save the baby!" I love you Cindy!!
What can I say? I love this stuff!
What I also loved, believe it or not, is that this event also showcased my weaknesses and really highlighted what I need to work on....yes, running and stamina. This is a good thing, it really is.
The bottom line is that it was fun and I really recommend you trying it out. The Garage Games has a series for the entire year. Go to their website and get registered. They really run a great event!
Okay so, now that I am recovered, aside from the beautiful bruise on my back, (you're jealous, it's okay)  I know what my next step in training needs to be. Endurance and Running.
My most important goal  for 2012 is to continue to become a better athlete, not just a better CrossFitter and to become the best coach I can be.
What are your goals? Write them down! Check them off and then set new goals!
Keep going forward. If you fall, get up and try again.