On Saturday, I competed in my 2nd N.A.S.A. ~ www.nasa-sports.com, powerlifting meet.
This would be my 2nd competitive endeavor in all my 46 years and I have to say the road to the meet was not easy. The last couple of weeks leading up to meet was mentally exhausting for me and my my coach ~ www.defylimitations.com; www.examiner.com/x-4578-Denver-Personal-Training-Examiner?showbio, who had to put up with my tears and self doubt and once again proved to me that "I'm stronger then I think I am!"
Coach and I decided beforehand that my starting weights would be as follows:
149 lbs on the back squat
94 lbs on the bench press
276 lbs on the deadlift
The morning of the meet I was actually more calm then I thought I would be...I think I had worked myself up so much the previous week that I was just ready for it to be over. I was also feeling a little more pressure because the evening before at the weigh-in, I was told that I had set a state record for my division and weight class last meet. I was amazed and shocked to say the least!
The first event was the Back Squat and they had a new squat rack that actually suspended the bar over your shoulders until you lifted and then the arms of the rack moved out of the way...it was really rather odd. When it was my turn to go, I moved into position, nodded to the judge and proceeded to shuffle my feet....WTF was I thinking.....3 automatic red lights!! My immediate first thought was "HOLY CRAP, I'm going to bomb out of the meet!" But once again, Coach calmed me down and we moved up in weight anyway to 154 lbs. Next time up, I got under the bar and this time moved back, like I'm used to doing, set my feet, nodded at the judge and squatted....SUCCESS! Whew...what a freakin' relief!! For the 3rd round we decided to go for 165 lbs...not a PR but at least I would have the 1st event under my belt and I actually got it pretty easily.
The second event was Bench Press and I started at a pretty easy 94 lbs and got it up without any problem. The 2nd time up Coach and I decided to go for 105 lbs and I got it! The 3rd time up I decided to go for a PR (personal record) and went for 116 lbs, my highest previous PR was 112 lbs. ~ I got set on the bench and I heard the announcer say "Patty is going for a State Record attempt" and my first thought was "who is she talking about?" and then "Holy Crap that's me"!! I took a deep breath, let Coach know I was ready for the bar to be handed off to me and lowered it to my chest and then pushed and then I heard the judge say "Press". NOOOOO......not again......3 red lights! But on a positive note I did get the bar up and it will be considered a PR in my gym!
The 3rd and last event was the Deadlift...now the deadlift is MY lift, the one I feel strongest and most confident in! But all of a sudden I was REALLY nervous about my opening weight of 276 lbs., if I didn't get it in 3 attempts I would bomb out and I would not get a trophy and all my state attempts would be for nothing.....I think Coach must have sensed my fear because he asked if I wanted to lower my opening weight, to which I replied "Can I...please" and he said okay he would lower it to 265 lbs but I better hit 300 in one of my attempts! So my first time up, Gary helped me with my belt, I walked up to the platform and again heard "Patty is going for a State Record Attempt" and Gary said that I looked like a deer caught in headlights....I was pretty freakin' nervous! But I pulled and got it up with no problem....Thank God! Now the rest was just extra....I could go for broke! My second attempt was at a weight of 292 lbs and again no problem! For my 3rd attempt Coach and I decided to go for a PR attempt of 309 lbs.....I walked up to the platform, set up, set up again and dipped, gripped and ripped and I actually got that sucker up!!! It's amazing what an adrenaline rush will do!!
I got first in my weight class and division and set some new state records.....all in all, a very, VERY AMAZING day, for a girl who has always said, she does not have an athletic bone in her body! Life is good!
A big THANK YOU to my Coach, Jonathan Sabar....I couldn't have done it without you!!!!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Fight Gone Bad IV
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a bit of a cautious nature and am pretty reluctant to try new things....to say the least.
When the opportunity arose to do this workout for charity, my first response was no! Mainly because I was worried about raising the money that it would take to participate, I was more then willing to contribute, I just did not want to have to "ask" for people to donate for me. After some pushing from a friend (Ellen), I agreed to do it and was quite surprised that I actually raised over $200.00.....thank you to everyone who gave to this great cause!!
My second and equal concern to money was the actual workout, especially after I found out that the 20" box was involved! I have this love/hate relationship with the box jump and especially with the 20" box jump....I LOVE it when I can do it and HATE it when I fail!!!
The days leading up to the workout were consumed with thoughts of the dreaded box jump! Then before I knew it, I was in the gym warming up for "The Workout".....Which consisted of the following:
The Rules for Fight Gone Bad
The CrossFit workout is ‘Fight Gone Bad.’ In this workout you spend one minute at each of five stations, resulting in a a five-minute round after which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. This event calls for three rounds. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of ‘rotate,’ the athletes must move to the next station immediately. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower, where each calorie is one point. The stations are:
Wall-ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull (Reps)
Box jump (Reps)
Push-press (Reps)
Row (Calories)
Standard Women = 55lb push-press and sumo deadlift high pull, 14lb wall-ball and 20 inch box Jump
Ellen and I decided to partner up and I would go first while she counted my reps and coached me. We could go in any order we wanted, so we decided that I would go in the following order; Sumo deadlift high-pull, box jump, push-press, row and end with Wall-ball.
The Sumo deadlift high-pull was actually pretty easy with only 55 lbs and I did 28 reps the first minute. Next was the 20" Box Jump....I walked up to it, set myself up AND.....NOTHING, I could not make myself jump for anything, you heard me right....I freakin' FROZE. I could hear Ellen encouraging me...I could hear the spectators encouraging me....I even heard Joe yelling for me AS he was jumping but nothing happened! Then the minute was up and I moved on to the push-press....The next round and the next, was the same results with the box jump...I completely and totally choked but even with that failure, I still came up with some pretty decent numbers overall:
Round 1
SDHP - 28
Box Jump - 0
Push-Press - 12
Row - 6 Calories burned
Wall-Ball - 7
Round 2
SDHP - 18
Box Jump - 0
Push-Press - 13
Row - 8 CB
Wall-Ball - 8
Round 3
SDHP - 20
Box Jump - 0 (I did do 3 step-ups, hoping it would help - it didn't)
Push-Press - 8
Row - 7 CB
Wall-Ball - 7
TOTAL
SDHP =66
Box Jump = 0
Push-Press = 33
Row = 21 CB
Wall-Ball= 22
Grand Total = 142 Reps
When the opportunity arose to do this workout for charity, my first response was no! Mainly because I was worried about raising the money that it would take to participate, I was more then willing to contribute, I just did not want to have to "ask" for people to donate for me. After some pushing from a friend (Ellen), I agreed to do it and was quite surprised that I actually raised over $200.00.....thank you to everyone who gave to this great cause!!
My second and equal concern to money was the actual workout, especially after I found out that the 20" box was involved! I have this love/hate relationship with the box jump and especially with the 20" box jump....I LOVE it when I can do it and HATE it when I fail!!!
The days leading up to the workout were consumed with thoughts of the dreaded box jump! Then before I knew it, I was in the gym warming up for "The Workout".....Which consisted of the following:
The Rules for Fight Gone Bad
The CrossFit workout is ‘Fight Gone Bad.’ In this workout you spend one minute at each of five stations, resulting in a a five-minute round after which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. This event calls for three rounds. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of ‘rotate,’ the athletes must move to the next station immediately. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower, where each calorie is one point. The stations are:
Wall-ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull (Reps)
Box jump (Reps)
Push-press (Reps)
Row (Calories)
Standard Women = 55lb push-press and sumo deadlift high pull, 14lb wall-ball and 20 inch box Jump
Ellen and I decided to partner up and I would go first while she counted my reps and coached me. We could go in any order we wanted, so we decided that I would go in the following order; Sumo deadlift high-pull, box jump, push-press, row and end with Wall-ball.
The Sumo deadlift high-pull was actually pretty easy with only 55 lbs and I did 28 reps the first minute. Next was the 20" Box Jump....I walked up to it, set myself up AND.....NOTHING, I could not make myself jump for anything, you heard me right....I freakin' FROZE. I could hear Ellen encouraging me...I could hear the spectators encouraging me....I even heard Joe yelling for me AS he was jumping but nothing happened! Then the minute was up and I moved on to the push-press....The next round and the next, was the same results with the box jump...I completely and totally choked but even with that failure, I still came up with some pretty decent numbers overall:
Round 1
SDHP - 28
Box Jump - 0
Push-Press - 12
Row - 6 Calories burned
Wall-Ball - 7
Round 2
SDHP - 18
Box Jump - 0
Push-Press - 13
Row - 8 CB
Wall-Ball - 8
Round 3
SDHP - 20
Box Jump - 0 (I did do 3 step-ups, hoping it would help - it didn't)
Push-Press - 8
Row - 7 CB
Wall-Ball - 7
TOTAL
SDHP =66
Box Jump = 0
Push-Press = 33
Row = 21 CB
Wall-Ball= 22
Grand Total = 142 Reps
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
"Kettlebell Hell"
Tabata Intervals (20 seconds work/10 seconds rest repeated 8 times) applied in turn to:
- Front squat
- Double clean-and-jerk
- Alternating floor press
- Bent-over rows
with a one-minute rotation break between exercises.
(24/16 kg)
Score is total number of reps in the workout
I have made a decison to really crank up my workout's and part of that entails learning how to dig deep and do more then I think can. With Coach and Ellen encouraging me.....I managed to do 21 more reps then I did last time....21!!!! What a great feeling!
~ Front Squat = 16
~ Double clean-and-jerk = 12
~ Alternating floor press = 17
~ Bent-over rows = 46
TOTAL: 91
- Front squat
- Double clean-and-jerk
- Alternating floor press
- Bent-over rows
with a one-minute rotation break between exercises.
(24/16 kg)
Score is total number of reps in the workout
I have made a decison to really crank up my workout's and part of that entails learning how to dig deep and do more then I think can. With Coach and Ellen encouraging me.....I managed to do 21 more reps then I did last time....21!!!! What a great feeling!
~ Front Squat = 16
~ Double clean-and-jerk = 12
~ Alternating floor press = 17
~ Bent-over rows = 46
TOTAL: 91
Friday, September 4, 2009
NASA Colorado Powerlifting Meet
What in the world would possess a 46 year old woman, who has never been athletic her entire life and in addition has never participated in any kind of sport, enter a Powerlifting Meet?
It takes a couple of key ingredients:
An amazing Coach who gets the best out of regular, everyday, working people and motivates them so much they think they can do anything!
A great group of fellow students who offer nothing but encouragement!
And that is how I found myself at the NASA Colorado Powerlifting one day in August 2009. The whole day had a somewhat surreal feeling to it...from the moment I walked up to the table to actually register, the weigh-in, the pre-meet athlete meeting during which I had this distinct "How Did I Get Here" feeling...yet feeling so much pride, to be in a room with all these amazing people.
The first event was Back Squat and I was scheduled to go on FIRST!! I walked to the front of the room, chalked up, walked to bar and followed Coach's direction and started to squat...."down, down, down, down...good" and then I came back up.... the first lift was done in all of 30 seconds.
And that is how it went throughout the day....I missed only one lift on Bench, other then that everything was successful! I even got my first trophy (well plate) for being first in my weight class in the novice division.
What's next? Another meet in November and this time I hope to go heavier and be a little more daring in my lifts!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Bench Press/SDHP & Ring Dips
Coach let me do two workouts today....one strength training and one metcon and I LOVED it....it was REALLY hard but oh so satisfying!!!
Workout Number 1
"Gettin' Stronger" WOD: Bench presses
The object of today's bench presses was to go down, pause for one second and then explode back up....8 reps.
I did 55/65/75/85x7/95x4
Workout Number 2
CrossFit WOD:
7 rounds for time of:
- 65 lb Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (SDLHP), 10 reps
- Ring Dips, 10 reps
I did the ring dips on the rings with the green bands for assistance.....by the last 3 rounds my right arm was not wanting to go extend at all and I did try with all my might...it wasn't pretty but I did finish.
I did the SDLHP as prescribed.
Considering I was seeing spots by the end of the workout I feel pretty good about my time.
Time: 12:53
I then did two laps around the building (at a VERY slow jog) with Tricia, GariAnn and El.
What a satisfying night!
Workout Number 1
"Gettin' Stronger" WOD: Bench presses
The object of today's bench presses was to go down, pause for one second and then explode back up....8 reps.
I did 55/65/75/85x7/95x4
Workout Number 2
CrossFit WOD:
7 rounds for time of:
- 65 lb Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (SDLHP), 10 reps
- Ring Dips, 10 reps
I did the ring dips on the rings with the green bands for assistance.....by the last 3 rounds my right arm was not wanting to go extend at all and I did try with all my might...it wasn't pretty but I did finish.
I did the SDLHP as prescribed.
Considering I was seeing spots by the end of the workout I feel pretty good about my time.
Time: 12:53
I then did two laps around the building (at a VERY slow jog) with Tricia, GariAnn and El.
What a satisfying night!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Chief - July 10
Workout:
Max rounds in 3 minutes of:
135 pound Power cleans, 3 reps
6 Push-ups
9 Squats
Rest 1 minute. Repeat for a total of 5 cycles. Your score is max rounds completed for each of the 5 cycles.
Each year in the United States Navy, a highly qualified and elite cadre of Sailors are selected and promoted to the join the ranks of Chief Petty Officer. Since 1893, "The Chiefs" have been relied upon by subordinates and superiors alike for their personal example, technical expertise and above all, their unique leadership capabilities.
My PR is 9
I love this workout!
I did it as prescribed using 95 lbs for my cleans...it wasn't pretty but there is no place to go but up...I did end up writing it in blue because of my lrom on the pushups.
Sent from my iPhone
Max rounds in 3 minutes of:
135 pound Power cleans, 3 reps
6 Push-ups
9 Squats
Rest 1 minute. Repeat for a total of 5 cycles. Your score is max rounds completed for each of the 5 cycles.
Each year in the United States Navy, a highly qualified and elite cadre of Sailors are selected and promoted to the join the ranks of Chief Petty Officer. Since 1893, "The Chiefs" have been relied upon by subordinates and superiors alike for their personal example, technical expertise and above all, their unique leadership capabilities.
My PR is 9
I love this workout!
I did it as prescribed using 95 lbs for my cleans...it wasn't pretty but there is no place to go but up...I did end up writing it in blue because of my lrom on the pushups.
Sent from my iPhone
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday 6/9/09 ~ Functional Focus
- Slosh pipes - Tire flippin'
- Rope climbin'
Fun stuff!
What a fun workout….I have to say that Tire flippin’ is pretty darn awesome….I was absolutely amazed when I flipped the tire all by myself!!
Slosh pipes were pretty cool as well but not as much fun as the tire flippin’
Rope climbin’…..well….everything can’t be fun. At least not yet!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
