More Than 1 Way To Skin A Cat

Today was another fun day.  It has been a great week at the box with a couple of days working on our gymnastic skills.  These movements are a massive challenge for me as I have so many fears but at the same time I enjoy having a go and trying to learn new movements.

This morning's WOD was Diane which is 21, 15, 9 reps of deadlifts (70 kg) and handstand push ups.  We did this one earlier in the year so I had some numbers to compare:

Date	Time	Deadlift Weight (kg)	HSPU Option
9/01/2014	3:56	40	Box Pike
15/08/2014	5:10	55	Box Pike

As usual, as my weight increased as did my time.  I'm happy that my time is still around the 5 minute mark.  Both my 21 and 9 rep scheme of deadlifts went unbroken with which I was really pleased.  Previously I had done the HSPU with an ab mat but Jardan said that it looked too easy so removed it.  It was good for me to get challenged that way (still wish I could kick up into a handstand though!)

The rest of the session was dedicated to our gymnastics skills with one of those movements being 'skin the cat'.  At first I thought that there was no way I would be able to do it.  I had Jardan and Tracey spotting me throughout the movement and Benito giving me verbal cues.  My first attempt I got myself upside down and didn't feel comfortable with flipping myself over.  The second try I got a bit further and with my spotters help I flipped all the way over on my third attempt.  I DID IT!!!  This was a huge accomplishment for me as I don't feel comfortable with being upside down but now that I've done it I want to go back to the gym to do it again.  Isn't funny how once you've overcome something you wonder what you were afraid of.

What the???

As I said yesterday I have been working on a few things at home.  I'm practicing my wall walks as well as my jumping.  We have a small retaining wall which is 16" height at the back of our house leading to some stairs and I have been practicing my box jumps on that as I can hold onto the railing while I'm doing it.  I am making some progress in all areas; getting closer to the wall with my wall walks, jumping over some obstacles for both my lateral and forward jumping and doing the 16" wall jump. 

Last night I looked at my bed and wondered if I could jump that.  I had a couple of failed attempts and then on the third go I nailed it.  To see if I didn't fluke it I tried again and lo and behold the jump stuck again.  I then called out for Missy T to show her (she is a box jump queen) and she was excited as I was when I showed her.

Fast forward to this morning at the gym when I decided to try to jump the 12" box and, nup, could not make it happen.  WTF?  I was doing 20" with ease last night and as soon as my box turns from a nice, soft mattress to a hard, wooden box my thinky brain takes over despite the height being reduced by 8".  I wish I could learn to turn off my head.

This morning we did 'Diane' which is a 21, 15, 9 doublet of deadlifts and HSPU.  I went in thinking I would do 50 kg deadies today until I warmed up and changed my mind to 40 kg and the handstand push ups were scaled to box pikes with an abmat.  I did the workout in 3:56 and was pretty happy with the time.  I was a little down on myself in the warm up as we had to do some handstand  holds and it was only me and another girl who couldn't do it.  I feel like such a lame-arse because I can't even kick into a handstand let alone hold myself there.  One day, Michelle, one day.