The Department of Redundancy Department

Workout date: 3/1/15

Acceptable.

That was my body fat rating when I began the Nutrition Challenge last month.  And after 5 weeks of going without my favorite foods, 5 weeks of trying to eat better, 5 weeks of eating 19 blocks whether I was hungry, full, or otherwise, I had my body fat percentage calculated again.

Acceptable.

I guess it beats being rated as obese.  I used to do the Wii Fit program at home and each morning I would step on the balance board and it would tell me my BMI.  As the program finished its calculations, the machine gave an audible sigh, followed by a "womp, womp" sound, and then a flashing graphic saying I was obese.  I've never been much of a morning person, but starting your day that way certainly doesn't want to make you get out of bed.

As a gambler, my two loves have been horse racing and poker.  And like any poker player, I was captivated by the movie Rounders when it came out.  There is a great monologue at the beginning of the movie when Matt Damon's character, Mike McDermott, explains how he lives life as a grinder.  A grinder is a solid player who wins a little at a time.  Don't make mistakes, play smart.  Nothing flashy.  But every grinder comes to the same realization: "if you're too careful, your whole life can become a fuckin' grind".

I'm a grinder.  And most aspects of my life have been a grind.  Don't get me wrong, I've been blessed along the way to have met lots of great people and I'm incredibly grateful for it.  But for the most part, it's taken a lot of effort for each small advancement I've made.  Nothing has come easy for me except math.  And now we have computers to do math, so it's a bit of an antiquated (big word for me!) skill.  When most things are a grind for you, you thirst for new challenges.  If I'm going to be pouring all that effort into something, I might as well be accomplishing something new.

That's how I arrived at KOP two years ago.  I saw these crazy events on TV and thought to myself "screw it, let me go try that".  Part of me thought I would be good at Crossfit, part of me thought I was going to get laughed out of the gym.  But it seemed like the next natural challenge in my life.  I set high goals for myself, but I expected that I would finish last.  A lot.  And accepting that was the only way I would get better.  I have never been happy about finishing last in a workout.  I'm as competitive as the next guy, if not more.  I may internalize my ego, but it exists.

Two years later, I have improved a lot at the gym.  And it has been a grind.  I mentioned the Brett Mercer PR in a previous post and I wish I had more breakthroughs like that.  But for the most part, progress has been slow and steady.  A disturbing amount of sweat has been poured in that gym.  An unfortunate amount of blood has been shed in that gym.  Little by little, I've gone from the last one finished at 70% of RX to the last one finished at 80%, then 90%, and now every so often, the last one finished at RX.  Eventually I'll stop finishing last so much, but I wouldn't trade faster finishes for the progress that I've made.

The bet with Rachel has been all about finding that new challenge.  The delusional part of me thought there was a small chance of beating her.  And who knows, maybe I'll miraculously pull off these last 4 Open workouts.  I certainly won't be giving up, even if we get to the last workout with her having destroyed me in every workout to that point.  But the first workout (first two workouts?) shed some real light on how high that hill will be to climb.  I am helping out with the scorekeeping for this year's Open and currently she sits 4th overall in the gym.  Out of 74 people.  And yes, there are coaches in this competition.  So...I'm kinda screwed.  But hey, if you don't want your life to turn into a fuckin' grind, you gotta reach for that brass ring every now and then.

That was the mindset behind my second attempt at 15.1 this morning.  I truly believed that I could have scored higher on Friday if I had not just given in to doing singles once I started my second round of toes-to-bar.  Maybe, just maybe, I could get to Rachel's score of 129.  Turns out that I was wrong.  I simply don't have the technique, the ability, or maybe the athleticism to continue stringing toes-to-bar for a long period of time.  After being unsatisfied with my 98 reps on Friday, I was relatively satisfied with my 97 reps today.  I needed to know whether I was capable of finishing that 4th round and I got my answer.

When I got to the clean and jerk, I knew I needed 225 to consider changing my score.  Like Friday, I did 165 easily, had some struggle on 195, and then went to 215.  Unlike Friday, I did not have to "waterbed" 215 up to my shoulders.  Instead, I executed what might have been the best heavy squat clean I've ever attempted.  I felt like I met the bar almost exactly where I was supposed to and then I front squatted it up to get ready for the jerk.  My split could use some more practice, but in my 3 recent tries at 215, I've been able to handle the weight despite some shaky form.  With more time remaining than I had on Friday, I prepared for 225.  Still, it felt a bit rushed.  I gave myself about 15-20 seconds to mentally prepare for the lift, leaving myself 25 seconds for the actual lift.  When I went to pull the bar, I got very little height on it, and had no chance of diving under it for the squat.

98 reps and 215 pounds on Friday.  97 reps and 215 pounds on Sunday.  Still acceptable, still grinding.

What keeps me grinding?  For starters, I just don't know any other way.  But part of me believes the notion that if you grind long enough, the universe throws you a bone every now and then.  And after watching Cline string together 49 double unders, I decided to try and better my own double under PR of 23 reps.

44 reps later, I had my second Brett Mercer PR of the year.

Looking forward to starting the grind again tomorrow...