Ughh

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. Back is feeling much better just some pain, no more nerve pain, however I got smacked with a 102 degree fever, cold sweats, and non-stop headaches. Feels like I can't win!

Mandie has had a mean cough for the last couple of days and late last night I started to get some throat pain. Then it went on with cold sweats, getting up every hour, and intermittent muscle/joint pain. Then in the normal morning hours 8am ish came the headaches and the nausea and that's I how I spent the entire day.

I haven't ate anything at all today but am lucky to hold down some Sprite and some Gatorade.

I'm actually going to go to work tomorrow so I can get up and move around. I really haven't left the house in days. 

Laid back

No, not with my mind on my money and my money on my mind.

So I've been training on a sore back for a while... ok it was 8 days to be exact before it got BAD. Somewhere between over-training on a sore back, 3 mobility wods to open up my hip flexors, and a crappy diet, I'm in a ridiculous amount of pain. Starting Thursday evening I started to get some minor nerve stingers in my back. I thought it was just a sporadic thing and figure it would be better the next day. Nope, about 5 times worse.

The good thing is that it was very predictable ie if I would bend in a certain direction, a certain amount it would zing a nerve. It may sound silly that this is a good thing but about 8 years ago I had really bad bouts of sciatica that came out of no where and would leave me twitching on the floor as if I had been tazered and with a migraine from the absurd amount of pain it would cause. So knowing where and when I can expect pain really isn't so bad.

Now, it's pretty pathetic that my wife offered to help me on with my socks but that is where the pain is almost intolerable. I currently have to cross my leg like a figure four to put on my socks because bringing my knee to my chest and my hands to my feet is ridiculously painful. I of course declined and painfully slide on my own socks.

I cancelled all of my clients today and tomorrow and Bryce is fortunately covering my classes as I'm hoping it will be miraculously better tomorrow. I painfully emailed Roger to cancel for the week. This is some what of a set back for me but a small set back is tolerable. If I don't recover from this pain... game over.

My diagnosis is that it's a inflamed psoas irritating a couple of nerves.

So here's my current course of action:
1 more day of full rest, continuing with a heat pack, limiting inflammatory foods, and adding a ridiculous amount of fish oil.

Humbled

I can write a bit about how I had a bad training day... but would rather not. Take the time to watch this video. INSPIRING!!!

Questioning yourself

Last week Thursday I had one of those days...

It started out pretty well, snatched 80kg (176#) for 5 singles with only one miss in the beginning. I got to the clean and jerk and I missed 115kg (253.5#), not once but twice. I wasn't just missing. It felt awfully heavy and I was trying to heave the weight around. Roger asked me what was going on and I had no clue. He asked me if I was sore (which I was slightly, but not enough to give me issues) and I said maybe a little in my lower back but nothing bad. He had me back it down for one last rep at 110kg (242#) which I made but it was neither pretty or easy. I almost made excuses for myself on the way home as I was figuring kilo convesions that it was ok to miss 253.5#. It's heavy right? Fuck that! If you can clean and jerk 270#s then 253# shouldn't be an issue.

I just left feeling DEFEATED. I QUESTIONED everything that I am currently doing. Is it really WORTH it to not CrossFit and focus on a sport that just kicked the shit out of me? CAN I actually hit the goals that I set for myself? Is trying to qualifying nationally OUT OF MY LEAGUE? Very FRUSTRATING!

Thursday night I hit the videos and reviewed and broke down my lifts. Over and over and over.

Still sore on Friday I worked on my snatch technique for 1.5 hours (it's the one the "Video Analysis" is from). Changed my start position and widened up my grip a ton.

Still sore on Saturday I pushed through my strength workout. Power snatches at 70.5kg (155# for triples and push press at 93kgs (205#) for triples regained my faith in what I'm doing. Just felt strong.

Even more sore, I rested on Sunday.

Still sore, I hang power snatched on Monday on the third attempt hit 93kg (205#)! Building back up my precious previously crushed ego.

Still sore on Tuesday (today) I still went in to see Roger. I was a bit shaken up over last weeks mishaps, but really excited to try the new setup/grip.

A pretty great day. Weights were feeling light. I quickly made it up to 90kg (198#). This is a weight I have never made at BG. First attempt I was almost surprised I got under it but couldn't hold the lockout. My second attempt was disastrous! I tried to save it coming up, almost ran in to the squat stand bailed it, bar hits a stand and shoots back clips me in the leg. Pretty embarrassing, but I'm not there to impress anyone. I'm there to battle my own demons. Third attempt I decided to go with a grip wider than I had ever used and nailed it. 90kg is not a voodoo "bad number" weight for me (that is really why I chose 91kg at the meet, even though snatching 200#s is pretty cool too).

As much as I wanted to snatch all day, Roger had me move on to cleans. Surprisingly, the weights felt great! I was able to fully extend, get a small little jump back, cruised up to 100kg (220#) and 110kg (242#) jerks were a little heavy in the front foot but everything good for the most part. I hit 115kg (253.5#) easily. I consulted with my coach that I continually failed at this weight last week, he advises me to go up small increments 117.5kg (359#) felt good, still extending and jumping back slightly, jerk was solid. He has me go up to 120kg (264.5#) still felt good, small jump back, slow dip in jerk but got under it easily. He asks me how it felt, I said it felt good. He asks me what I did in comp? 123kg. He asks me if I want to go 125kg... I never say no, when Roger asks "Do you want to try...") BAM nailed it! He asks me again, "One more?" As I said, Roger asks and I have yet to say no. "Throw the silvers on" (1.25kg plates). It pulled me very slightly forward but I got it. 281 pounds!!! Faith is restored and we are back on the positive mindset to the National Qualifying goal. NEW OLY TOTAL: 217.5!!!

I guess in a sport like this there are going to be good days and there are going to be not-so-good days... okay, I won't sugar coat it, there are going to be horribly shitty days that make me question myself. This last few days was a mental battle and I'm sure many more of these are to come. One of my new goals is to maintain the discipline to accept bad days and take advantage of good days. Like Coach B says, "WHEN THE FRYING PAN IS HOT, YOU DO THE COOKING!!!"

Snatch Obsession

So when I say I have a snatch obsession, I don't think people really know what an obsession is. It's 1:00am and I just finished a small video on a sample of how much I actually analyze my videos. I'm convinced if I can make small changes daily and reinforce basics I can make my goal sooner than expected. I'd snatch right now if I had a barbell at home and my thumbs didn't hurt so much. Oh yeah! Hit a 205 hang snatch today! That is 4.8 lbs more than my max snatch so I'm hoping my snatch number is getting better.


Alright, this is the 4th time I'm uploading this video due to typos and other bullshit.
I embedded this, but open it full screen for a true appreciation of it!!!

Snatch Analysis from Rudy Tapalla on Vimeo.

This is the video I use to see what the most optimal position is:

It's not vanity... I swear!

This is probably the only place that I'd really post that I currently have a snatch obsession (go ahead and chuckle).

I've watched videos of Olympians over and over and over and over... Then watched what I do over and over and over... at speed, in slow-mo, multiple reps. I know Mandie probably thinks it's a vanity thing but it is almost completely the opposite. I continually watch how much I jack up the snatch and contemplate late at night what I need to do to make those look as similar as my given genetic potential will allow. 

There's some dude "crackyflipside" that has some sick videos on you tube.

If you forward it to about 1:05 you'll see my current Oly hero, a Chinese dude named Hui. He does the fastest power snatch warming up (of course with more than my max c&j). He also snatches 160kgs in the end.

Training went well today considering I have a pretty sore lower back. Worked on a new snatch setup and having more of a knee bend above the knee. Also pretty happy with a 93kg push press x3 of course with the blocks.

The Return

I know it's been a while but decided I should really update my blog. For a while, I've kept it on the DL that my newest goal was to pick up a new sport and give it my all. Olympic Weightlifting. Oly lifting is something that I really enjoy and wasn't sure what the actually possibility of being somewhat competitive at it was in my means. I decided to work with some pro's. Mike and Roger are by far the most experienced coaches in the area and it is a true shame that I haven't used them to my max advantage earlier.

I want to compete on that stage one day! A 238 total is what I need to qualify for the 77kg weight class.