Improving Deadlift and Pacing

     I was in the crossfit gym last night.  I did deadlifts for the second time, and I felt more comfortable with the form this time around.  I’m definitely not as stiff as I was after the first time I tried them.  I learned more about proper breathing and how much I can lift.  We were working our way up to 3 heavy reps.  I had no idea what heavy was for me, and I was pretty tentative.  I just kept adding 5s to see what would happen, and, after some coaching, I focused on proper breathing.

     I'm not particularly aggressive when it comes to lifting, and it shows in my pace and breathing.  I need to work on deep heavy breathes and getting psyched for the reps.  And I should just rip them.  Jeff also showed me a better gripping technique and warned me that it would eventually be my limiting factor.  But I thought I would control the variables and only adjust the weight.  Sure enough, a set or two later my grip failed.  I thought it was kind of funny.

     The workout was 5 rounds of 7 deadlifts and 11 burpees for time.  Oh, and I got to wear a 30 lb. weight vest.  I think I can safely say that I am not going all out on these workouts, and it's my notion of pacing that's holding me back.  Although, that is not to say that I would have done better than my 7:32 if I had pushed harder.

     When I started trying to run for distance, I had to learn to pace myself.  If I wanted to finish strong and run consistently without walking, I could not just run hard out of the gate.  And I'm inappropriately applying that pacing concept to my crossfit workouts.  Last night was a sprint workout, and I can’t say I sprinted.  I didn’t understand that however hard I pushed last night, I was going to finish.  It was just a matter of how fast.  And what was I pacing myself for anyway?  My couch that I'm going to relax on post workout?  There was no crappy 8th mile to worry about like there was on Sunday.

     After talking to Jeff about pacing, I realized that I don't need to be worried about finishing.  I'm going to finish.  What I need to teach my body to do is to go harder longer. I just need to go all out, and that is going to be a mental decision.  For example, a guy in our gym rowed a 2k in 7:18, and he asked the trainer when he would be able to do it in 7:00.  The answer was that he probably already can and could have during that same 2k.  It's just mental at that point.  How hard can you push?

I need to set my mind first, and my body will listen.