One Hundred Seventeen! AND IT'S IN YOUR HEAD!

That's right! I cleaned, and power cleaned at that, 117 #'s. That is 10 lbs over body weight! HOW EXCITING! And if I can get my arse back to Roger's gym, I have a feeling 125 is right around the corner. Damn, I miss Roger Nielsen!

So I have to tell the story because it rings true for so many of us I'm sure. We did a clean ladder, starting at 55, and progressing up by 10 lbs every 30 seconds. 85 and 95 went up pretty easy. I got to 105 and thought, this is close to your PR Anj (previously 110 squat clean), just go get it. It went up pretty easy and I thought, wow, this strength programming is working.

I then proceeded to the 115 bar, and after a number of attempts of pulling the bar quite high, my catch was just off and I kept landing on my ass! At least my hips were open! So, out of the ladder I went.

AND then, as I was reporting my score, Glenn came to me and said, Anj, that 105# bar was not loaded correctly. You actually did 115# (really 117 because it was the 22# bar)....

I was SO surprised at the difference between the two lifts. When I knew I could do the weight, it went up no problem. When I questioned my ability or even took the split second to process the number of pounds, it got into my head, I over thought it, and was unable to get it. Either that, or I really did PR and just didn't have any more in me. :=) I like to think it's the first one.

So seriously friends, GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD. HAVE FAITH. Trust yourself and don't think about it. I suppose it's why Roger never tells you how much is on the bar. I suppose it's why I do much better at life in general when I don't have time to think about it. Work in progress, but that is my new mission!

Don't get greedy!

What an interesting choice for a workout! After a lot of reflection, I think this was really, really well done. I mean, what other lift tests technique, strength, skill, and explosiveness all at once? And to tier it that way made it accessible to just about every one. You can't fake a snatch, trust me I know.

How did it go? Well,  I got 43 reps. That 75# snatch was 2 pounds lower than my snatch PR. I did it 13 times in about 6.5 minutes. I was  really psyched about this, because I was hoping to get one, just one. A year ago, I wouldn't have been able to even think about getting 75#'s up, so that was really, really encouraging. For the first time in the Open, I saw the strength work really pay off. I mean it didn't feel heavy at all.

And of course the enemy of good is perfect, so I decided to try again. I got greedy and decided that my goal was going to be to make it through the entire set, and get 60 reps. And strangely, I didn't get it up once. I couldn't complete ONE rep. Ouch. It felt heavy, I couldn't squat underneath effectively, and it was an overall disaster. It got me so frustrated that I teared up in the last minute...because all of a sudden, I couldn't do something that I thought I could.

I have no idea why. Technique? Probably. Strength? Probably not. Psych out? No idea.  Slice of humble pie? Absolutely.

And then I realized something that Roger often says. It's different on different days. It just is. Some days you feel great and suck, others you feel terrible and do great. I wish I knew how to be more consistent. I do know though, that the harder you work, the better you get, and things start to get more consistent. That was a really heavy snatch for me. A year ago,the 45 # snatch was fairly heavy for me. So, I suppose like it says in Roger's gym, "the harder you work, the luckier you get." 

Oh yeah, and don't get greedy.