Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Growing Frustrations and Change of Date

As you probably noticed from my last post, my week has proven to be a very hectic one. Add to that the fact that I have been struggling though a few workouts and you get one very frustrated Liz. Add to that a mischievous 4-month old puppy and the frustration continues to build.

I've been trying to get back on track with nutrition, which wasn't so great this weekend, given the Super Bowl and all it entailed (though I am proud I stuck to one two drinks over the entire course of the game--4 hours sounds about right). So far, so good, though yesterday I left the gym at 10pm FAMISHED and ate the majority of a bag of baby carrots and half a small container of hummus. Oops. Though in my defense, Tuesdays and Thursdays are my long days, so it's hard to get full meals in, especially dinner. Then this morning, I realize I'm out of eggs and had to improvise a decent breakfast. All these little small things are adding up.

This is how my form should look...
These past two days, my weight training has just seemed harder than usual, and I don't know what to attribute it to. Monday was a back day, and if you've been reading for a while, you will know that I detest am not a fan of back days. For the most part, it is deadlifts that kill me, and of course Monday was no exception. Except that it was, in the sense that I could not continue at the weight we moved up to. I'm still confused and frustrated by it--it's not like I pulled something, but my lower back started hurting. I know I don't have the best form with deadlifts as it is, and I know I need to work on it, but it was just PATHETIC. And of course, that being the beginning of my workout, I was slightly disheartened for the rest of it. Now, the only thing I can think of that could possibly contribute to that would be that I did 40 minutes of cardio THEN zumba before training. Maybe it's overkill (though zumba doesn't prove to be much of a cardio workout for me...and I'm still utterly uncoordinated)?

Yesterday wasn't as terrible: I got to the gym after my internship and my training wasn't until 9:30. This gave me an hour and a half to do cardio, though I normally still to about an hour each day. I was trying to fill this time, so I managed 30 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical with a short cooldown and 2 interval workouts on the StairMaster--20 minutes and 15 minutes. Followed by stretching (which I need to do more of!!). Unfortunately, I only had time to do bis last night (tris will be fit in with another workout tonight). I'm pretty sure I was testing my body during the highest weight of my ascending sets of bicep curls. Talk about being close to tears (I'll get to that later). But all-in-all, it was a mediocre better workout than the day before. I only say that because I feel like I'm pushing too hard, then with my next exercise, I allow myself to go down in weight and don't push myself enough. Talk about a yo-yo effect!

Now, this would all be normal be okay, if my competition was still in July, but my competition got pushed back to early-August. However, the May competition by the same association also got pushed back...to early/mid-June. This gave me something to think about--August was NEVER in my time frame (in fact, way far out), and my ideal time frame was late-May into June. The May competition, the Annapolis Cup, was a no-go because it was right around graduation, and I know I would need a bit of time around then. The Potomac Cup, the one I had decided on, was still outside my time frame, but one of my only choices, and I received good feedback from it, so I had decided on that one. Well now, I am faced with a June show and an August show, and guess which one I'm choosing? June. Sunday, June 12, 2011, to be exact, in Annapolis, MD. This has cut about 6 weeks off my training time, and I already feel behind.

I don't have time to be frustrated, I don't have time to fail at things like deadlifts. And yet, I feel like I'm just doing a lot of failing right now, and I can't help that it gets to me. Yesterday I got home from the gym and went to take my puppy outside to potty. I walked into my room to a shredded book on the floor and the netting-stuff on the underside of my box spring hanging from its frame. I couldn't help it, I had to cry just a little. It's the last thing I wanted to come home to, and now I feel like I'm failing at raising my puppy properly not to mention I now need to find a way to fix my box spring. Hopefully this is just a phase--a sleep-deprived phase that will soon pass. I may need to repeat this a few times today: This too shall pass.

P.S. Feel free to check out the page for my competition, now the 31st Annual Annapolis Cup.

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