Everyday I'm...

My workout today was harder than I thought it would be... yes, this is a rather common occurrence. I did three 2500 meter repeats on the erg. The first one was hard, but ok... definitely a reality check. During the second one, I had a really hard time catching my breath. I felt like I needed to yawn, but every time I reached in with my arms and my knees came into my chest, I kept getting cut off. It was an awful feeling. The third one was only better because it was the last one and I knew I could make it.

Something I was thinking about (during my recovery rows), is how much I love running. I love that when I get tired and start to slow down, there isn't a number staring me in the face telling me that I am moving slower (even if I know it). On the erg, its right there in my face. I can get a little obsessive over numbers sometimes, so when I see my split time start to creep up, I quickly do what I need to do to get it back down to where it should be. It is very helpful, but can also be annoying. Today was definitely a mental battle. My body could have probably gone a little faster, but mentally this would have been real tough. 2500 meters is a long enough distance to mess with your mind a little bit. I would get down to 2000 meters to go, and think... only 4 more 500's, then immediately think... I still have to row a 2k! I tried to focus on one piece at a time, one stroke at a time, one breath at a time. I think this is key to not giving up.

One of the guys at the gym asked me today how much I thought I had improved in the last year. A lot, I told him. It's kind of a funny thing because the changes have felt pretty gradual, and I see myself every day, so sometimes I forget that much of what I can do now was really difficult or even impossible for me a year ago. I definitely didn't believe in myself as much, and I'm certain that has made a big difference. Every so often Steve makes me look back at my old workout times and max lifts and notes in my workout journal, so that I can see how far I have come. I don't always like doing this, because I tend to be too hard on myself and can usually pick out the flaws, or say "yeah, but...". However, I can't deny the numbers that I am in fact stronger, nor the feeling inside.

Today's workout--
10am:
5 min. SMR, mobility, dynamic
1. General warm up: none
2. PT: Jobes shoulder circuit #1
3. Specific warm up: 10 min. erg 2-3 hard efforts
4. WORKOUT: Cardio - 2500m x3 @ 2k + 9" (2:00-2:02), 1500m recovery between @ recovery pace (2:41ish)
1.) 2:00.8/10:04/ 33spm
2.) 2:02.1/10:10/ 34spm
3.) 2:01.4/10:07/ 34spm
5. Supplemental: 4x 30”/30” push press (hold in OH during "rest" period) (32,28,20,16 reps... dropped on hold once last 2 rounds... better than last time!)
6. Cool Down: 10 min. sled drag @35#