Sunday Story…The countdown

We are about 30 days out from the start of the Masters CrossFit Games. Things are getting real. Headquarters is asking for updated biographical information, as well as updated athlete profile numbers.

The real question is how much improvement can be made in 20 training days? The answer is not much in the strength areas. Much more in the skill areas. My double unders seem to be improving (albeit slowly). My handstand work is getting better. And amazingly my cardio-respiratory endurance has ticked up just a little. Those things should continue to improve, and a small improvement will pay big dividends. The other thing that is shifting now is the timing of the work. What happens at a big competition is you spend 30-45 minutes warming up for the event. Then you get corralled, get a timing chip, and wait for 10-20 minutes. Then you are led to a smaller warmup area just outside the event arena where you can warm up for another 5-10 minutes. Finally, you get to line up and enter the playing field. So training is now going to mimic that process a little bit. Usually, we warm up and then go.  Now I am taking more time between warming up and working. It’s a hard thing to do but very necessary.

Several of you have asked if I will taper off training as the games approach and the answer is a resounding Yes. The 4-5 days before the 28^th will be light movement days, focusing on recovery and rest. Invictus has been doing this for quite a few years and they are good at it.

Overall, I am feeling better, and my training is progressing. It’s just a challenge to stay balanced on the knife’s edge!

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Back on the Horse

My various little tweaks and twinges have subsided, and training has resumed in earnest. I have made a couple little adjustments. I was doing both my hangs and holds every day but now I am only doing the hangs on one day and the holds on another and then only twice a week for each. This volume seems much more manageable.

I am still running but, again keeping the volume down. I am trying to work up to 1 mile runs but it seems that 800 in a stretch is all my knee can handle. I’ve added weekly swimming sessions for both recovery and some sprint work. It seems to be easier for me to go hard while swimming whereas when I try to do that running the penalties are just too high…risk vs. reward.

I am also keeping the weight loads in the 80-85% neighborhoods but adding in a few more reps and or going slower to increase the “time under tension.” My Olympic lifts feel smoother but again I haven’t really tried to push any real weights recently.

The metcons I have been doing have included some odd things as well…for instance, six rounds of a 300-meter run, followed by 10 toes to rings and 5 burpee ring pull-ups wearing a 20# weight vest. Of course, it was 96 degrees and raining so that added to the suffering! Then if that wasn’t enough, I followed that with a twenty-minute EMOM of 15 calories on the rower and either a 100# sandbag carry (45 seconds) or a 70# farmers carry (45 seconds).

Just good old CrossFit sort of fun.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Perspective

It is important to maintain a fair and neutral perspective on situations in our life. It is quite easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, moment-to-moment activity of life. Where the difference arises is when we see someone every day and don’t notice the incremental changes taking place and then we haven’t seen that person for a couple of years and all those changes show up all at once.

It is difficult to do this for ourselves. How do you back all your “stuff” out of your perspective? All your ego, all your hopes, dreams, and desires, everything you are is all tied up in being and doing what it is you said you were going to do. But maybe, just maybe it isn’t really what you should be doing anymore. Or maybe you should be doing it differently, or in a way that is new and refreshing.

My journey to the games started back in 2012. You could say it started long before that but really that was when the idea first coalesced. In the last 12 years, I have been there six times (if you count this year!) I haven’t always been the smartest trainee, but I have had quite a ride. Many of you have been witness to most if not all of this journey. At this point, I am trying to put a distinct perspective on my journey.

For many years I thought being a Games athlete was the important thing. Over the years that has shifted and morphed. I now understand that the most important thing and the most impactful thing is the focus and transformation I can teach and provide each one of you. This has been my mission statement for over 20 years…Teaching Focus and Inspiring Transformation.

Perspective…get some.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Another Week!

Another week of training. Unfortunately, this has not been my best week. I found the edge and tipped over it a bit. By that I mean I pushed my volume (amount of work done in a session) up and found myself floundering. What happens for me is I have a tough time getting started on my workout. My body says no, and my mind wants to push ahead.

A few weeks ago, I went 340# for 15 reps on my deadlift and it overtaxed my back, particularly my erectors. The erectors are the large muscles that run on either side of your spine from your glutes up. I wore the glutes out and the erectors took over and they got overworked. Since that day, my back has been barking like a big dog.

This is the edge we don’t want to go over. Not me as I prepare for the CrossFit Games, nor you as you prepare for the game of life. The idea is to walk up to the edge and back off. The older we get the more important it is to avoid injury. I am not injured but it has still slowed my training down. In the past, this little tweak or twinge would have lasted 2 or 3 days. Now it’s 2 or 3 weeks. Ten years from now it may be 2 or 3 months.

How do we walk on that edge without falling off? Number one is to drop your ego off at the door. When we think back to what we used to do or think we should be able to do, we get into trouble. Listen to your body and back off when fatigue sets in. Number two is to honestly assess where you stand on any given day…how much rest, how hydrated, how well fed are you? These are all factors that play a larger and larger part in your training the older you get.

Knowing yourself is a grand experiment. Just try not to let the experiment blow up the lab!!!

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com         

www.crossfitodyssey.com    

775-338-2412