I was on a roll. Up until last week I was eating Paleo at least one-meal per day. I was going to Crossfit 5-6 times per week and even Rx’ing some of the WODs. I was feeling good -- like maybe I had turned a corner in my Crossfit journey.
Then I ran up against the curb.
On Monday of last week I showed up at Crossfit, changed my clothes, warmed up with the group and then lost my nerve. It was hot. I hadn’t slept well the night before and my head ached. I think the WOD was some kind of Olympic lifting…not my strong suit. I actually slipped out the door before anyone could notice.
Tuesday morning arrived after another restless night with very little sleep.
I skipped the workout on Tuesday.
I skipped Wednesday. Got my dinner from the Wendy’s drive-thru.
By Thursday I was so disgusted with myself that I decided to take another day off.
I didn’t even pretend to myself that I was even considering working out until Saturday morning. I actually showed up Saturday – and Sunday too, but was totally without any motivation.
So yes, along with a string of days that I didn’t even bother to go to the gym, I have actually driven to Crossfit, parked the car, filled my water bottle and stood around pacing the floor a few times without working out.
Thank gawd tomorrow is Monday and I can try and start the week with a fresh slate. I miss the workouts.
But at the same time, after a short break it gets harder and harder to jump back into the routine. I know that this is true with any fitness routine, but I think that a short break becomes much more of a hurdle with Crossfit. Each WOD feels like much more of a “building block” than a traditional gym workout. The mental toughness required to read the WOD board and then jump into it on your own or with a partner (which is often the case) is much more intense. If you were able to complete the WOD the previous day, it’s just so much easier to find the confidence to complete the WOD on the following day. So here it is, Sunday night.
My gym bag is packed. It's gotta be a better week.
7 comments:
I completely understand your feelings, Howard. Not getting enough sleep definitely makes me hesitant and almost resentful about working out! Crazy, I know. And when my sleeping falls off, so does my diet. I ate sooooo poorly last week at professional development--they provided us with all the bad-fatty, processed, grain-infused junk a non-Crossfitter could ever want! And I caved both Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday, I told myself to stop sabotaging myself. My workouts definitely suffered with doing Helen on Monday and then whatever we did on Tuesday (too long ago so I can't remember). I had to skip Sat. and Sun. even though I was supposed to return those days, but I stayed up until 4 a.m. working on grad school assignments instead. Got four hours of sleep total for both nights, so there was no way I was going to stagger into CFDC on Sunday and expect to be able to workout well. I even felt the effects on Monday when we did the running WOD. Got a PR on the first round, but wow was I slogging through those last three runs! Nutrition and sleep DO make an impact, but it's so hard to be disciplined about these aspects (sleep more than nutrition for me) now that work has resumed and my current grad class requires at least ten assignments completed per week.
I am thrilled that you stayed tonight, and great job on your clean and presses! I knew you would use more than 100#. :) That's my goal for next time we do these. Stick with it, Howard! And you know, I think your five-day break is nothing to be ashamed of. I think it was your body's way of telling you to take it easy and that you needed those rest days. It is tough to jump back into the routine, but just reset the sequence--3 on, 1 off. I hope to see you tomorrow! I'm planning on going to the 7 since I have to run some errands after work tomorrow. Take care!
Thanks for the encouraging words, Carrie. It's nice to know that I am not alone when it comes to these minor slips and obstacles. Diet and rest are huge for me too, and seeing as it's pushing 1AM at the moment, I am hoping to fall into a DEEP sleep pretty soon.
The clean/presses went well tonight. Hopefully these next few days will get me back on track and I can file last week into the ancient-history/lessons learned category. Sam gave us a little pep talk after our WOD tonight -- "virtuosity". I'm ready to focus on the basics, intensely! See you at 7PM!
(10 assignments per week!?!?!?!)
Great to see you yesterday, Howard! I'm glad you felt good on both WODs, and you definitely will get those MUs soon, especially with the kind of "encouragement" our coaches seem to be shoving at us lately. :{ That's great that Sam helped you get your focus back! He's great at his pep talks, isn't he?
Yes, ten. And no late work is accepted. The prof for this class seems to forget we're teachers who returned to work this week. (violin playing) Haha, I'll survive, but I'm not expecting my very best at WODs until this course is OVER, which will be September 12 (counting down!!!). See you Saturday--I'm planning to do both WODs unless I stay up way too late on Friday night doing work, which is a very good possibility. Good? I meant awful.
Fortunately, September isn't too far away. But that sounds like a crazy workload. So far my courses have involved a lot of reading but the deadlines for submitting coursework have been reasonable. Stay strong -- don't push too hard, lack-of-sleep can make you loopy -- especially if you're trying to lift weighted bars over your head! See you Sat (for at least one WOD)
Too late, Howard--I dream very weird things when I doze off at my computer during really late nights. Sometimes I just feel like I'm not even at my desk but floating somewhere on the ocean. Haha, I'm metaphorical even in my delirious times. I forgot you're taking classes, too, and for what. Sorry, the brain cells storing that memory have been oxygen-starved for too long. :(
Sounds like there are not enough hours in the day for you, Carrie. Which makes your performance at xfit even more impressive.
My grad program is in Human Resource Education. But I am on hiatus right now until Sept.
Very nice! I'm going to enjoy my two-month hiatus in December and January! No classes in December, and I already have credit for the class that's in session during January. Woohoo! :)
Yeah, I agree--there are definitely not enough hours in the day for this kind of business. We need 36-hour days!
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