Solcana blog

WEEK 49. Man. That’s almost unbelievable, because it means we are just over 3 weeks to the one year anniversary of Solcana CrossFit, and just over three weeks to the day that my life was completely changed.

Aside from the 1 year anniversary, there’s another couple of big dates looming right around the corner, too. May 16, I’ll be competing in the Solcana CrossFit Beginner Olympic Weightlifting Meet. You know I’ve talked lots and lots about powerlifting. That’s my jam. I’m not so hot at Olympic lifting, so I’ve really spent the last 6 weeks focusing on that as the clean & jerk and the snatch have been mainstays in the daily WODs (workout of the day). Olympic lifting relies heavily on technique and they are hard to master, so it has been very humbling to strip things down and work on that these last few weeks. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been dedicated to going to the gym 5-6 times per week. I want to get better (and reap the benefits, of course).  There are 15 male-identified and 15 female-identified lifters that will be competing, so if you’re in town and want to check this out feel free to stop by! Lifting starts at 10am. I will be wearing a singlet. You probably won’t want to miss this.

A-year-from-now-you-will-wish-you-had-started-todayAnd, May 30, marks my very first USA Powerlifting sanctioned meet as a card carryin’ member, where a few of my pals and I will be competing in the USAPL Twin Ports Open in Duluth at St. Scholastica. I know I’ve talked about this briefly before, but you guys. IT IS REAL NOW. I’ve spent nearly every Saturday since the beginning of 2015 at the gym from 9am-2pm with my powerlifitng crew endlessly squatting, benching, and deadlifting our little hearts out. I’ve loved every single second of it – even the last few (many) weeks we’ve just completed doing 5x5s (5 sets of 5 reps) at ungodly weights – like 85% of our one rep max. These training sessions can be tough. OHMYGOD so tough…like I CANT LIFT THIS SO MANY TIMES AND I AM GONNA CRY kind of tough. Feeling like giving up kind of tough. And then one day, something magical happens and things just connect, making you forget about all of the difficulties and only focus on the gains. Like last weekend, for example. My bench has been sitting stagnant at 125lbs for months. I’ve been doing much more auxiliary work with hopes of increasing my bench press for the May 30 meet – things like sets of 3×15  close grip bench press and dumbell skull crushers (don’t they sound SO SCARY?!). Last Saturday, I did 5×3 at 120lbs, which is 96% of my current one rep max of 125lb, I think 15 lifts at 96% means I’m going to see an increase the next time we test our one rep max, hopefully before the May 30 meet so I know what to shoot for.

June 1 marks the exact one year anniversary of this journey and the opening of Solcana CrossFit, so I’m feeling extra emotional and grateful to be competing in my first-ever USAPL sanctioned meet nearly a year to the exact day we started this together. To think, a year ago I hadn’t even ever had a thought about lifting a barbell let alone doing it in a competition.

It’s gonna be a big celebration, friends.

The strength to change. The power to do it. Exactly right.

 

 

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