Solcana blog

Hi buddies,

Welcome to week nine! It was a big week this week – for the first time I went to Powerlifting Club on Saturday. I wanted to go last Saturday, but I got kind of nervous and scared about it, so I bailed after my 9am class. I know. I assure you I am judging myself on that ridiculousness enough for all of us. With the Solcana Powerlifting Meet on September 13, I only have 6 weeks to get prepared for my first meet (OHMYGOD). I’m freaking.

This past Saturday, I did the 11am class with Chelsea, Ann, Josh, and a few new folks that I just met for the first time. We are in week 2 of running drills – we did 20:20 second (sprint:recover) for twelve rounds. I had my new trusty inhaler so I almost completed all of them (damn asthma). This looks easy on paper…sprint 20 seconds, recover 20 seconds, and then do it again and again and again and again. It’s not. We were all beat by the end. Don’t believe me? Go out to your alley right now. NOW! Take your stop watch or i-telephone so you can time yourself doing 20 second sprints with only 20 second recovery time, twelve times, and then you better give me some sympathy. I swear I am not being a baby about this.

Immediately after the 11am regular class was Powerlifting Club at noon. I went. I did. I got over my fear and intimidation and I stayed.

It was nice that I knew Ann already who also stayed for Powerlifting Club, so that made me a little more comfortable as I wasn’t sure what I was in for. Coach Michael, who I met for the first time, introduced himself to me and then told us all to partner up with someone around the same size. There were only three of us gals in the class, and the other two (Ann and Sara) were kind enough to ask me if I wanted to work with them (OMG THANK YOU!). I learned that Sara is the teacher for the MERC Alternative High School class that comes to work out at Solcana, and I told her a bunch of times how cool I thought that is that she comes and works out with her students. In fact, one of them even came to the Powerlifting Club and I thought that was amazing considering the night before had been her 17th birthday. I mean, I can’t necessarily remember what I did for my 17th birthday, but I can tell you that I for sure DID NOT go to a powerlifting club the very next morning. That kid has got determination, and I learned she, Sara and Ann are all doing the powerlifting meet, too. YES OMG I WILL KNOW PEOPLE AT THE MEET! I felt better about everything with each moment that passed. To begin lifting, Ann, Sara, and I started with squatting – I did 5 sets of 5 reps of 90lbs. Coach Michael told me in my first couple of sets that I needed to get lower in my squat or I’d be disqualified at the meet. I really focused on that and it was great to have Sara and Ann watching my form to let me know if I was getting low enough. (CUE FLO RIDA, SHORTY)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn9mE-VvOwo

I felt pretty confident after the 5 sets that I was doing just that. Apple Bottom jeans, or not.  Then we moved on to the deadlift, which I had only done once before. Ann and Sara teed up the barbell with 135lbs and I wasn’t sure if I could do that or not. I watched them do it, and then practiced a couple so they could look at my form and tell me if I was on the right track. I put chalk on my hands, even! It was tough as this was a new lift for me, but I somehow managed to crank out 5 sets of 5 reps at 135lbs. For 3 of the 5 sets I used the double overhand grip, but then switched to the mixed grip which I liked a lot better overall. As my muscles got tired, it felt like the barbell was slipping out of my hands and the mixed grip really helped with that. If you want to see what those grips look like, you can…right here! Even more exciting than my hand placement was the fact that Coach Hannah told me she thought I’d be able to pull 200lbs for the meet in September. Can you even?! YOU BROS BETTER WATCH OUT. I AM COMING AT YOU.

After we finished squats and deadlifting, it was about 12:45 and I had to be out the door just after 1pm. So, I was able to get a few rounds of bench press in. Man, it’s been a long time since I benched at Northwest Athletic Club in Fridley in the early 2000s. Needless to say, I was able to stay pretty consistent on my 5 sets of 5 reps at 85 lbs. I know I’ve got a long way to go here, so I’m not embarrassed to tell you what I benched. It’s not my 1x Max and I plan on improving here especially so I can confidently answer the next time a broski asks me “Yo, what do you bench?!” We’ll get there.

As I was driving today, I was thinking about how much I really enjoy weightlifting and powerlifting. There is a real trackable sense of accomplishment there unlike anything I’ve experienced with other work outs. I think this is something I can really get behind, you guys. I mean, it’s been nine weeks and I’m still going. I think we’re on to something.

Oh, and I finally completely quit smoking. (I KNOW OMG GROSS) In comedy, a lot of my friends are smokers so it was really easy to fall back into a habit I had quit for nearly 10 years. And boy did I fall back into it. It was less than before, but I was still smoking every day. Maybe just not nearly as much. I was smoking my car (I KNOW!), at the comedy clubs, in my backyard with coffee. It’s been 36 days now and I’ve been out socially with my smoking friends a bunch and haven’t even had the thought about asking them for a cigarette (except for the bourbon fueled evening you saw in my videoblog last week). I think I’ve really done it, and CrossFit is a huge part of that, so, thank you. I mean, these work outs are tough. And as someone who already struggles a little with breathing, smoking only exacerbates the issue. Especially when sprinting! Ugh god, the sprinting. There’s no way I could do it with out having quit.

So, it’s a new week. Let’s see what Solcana has in store for us this week and say a prayer for me it doesn’t involve burpees (still working on those, too).

Thanks for reading this and talking to me about CrossFit on the networks or when we see each other. Anytime you would like to come check out Solcana with me I would love to have you see what it’s all about and why it is such a cool place to be.

I think next week is the week I will actually buy weightlifting shoes. OMG THE EXCITEMENT STAY TUNED!!!!!!

Until then –

Jenn