EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the athlete journal of CrossFit trainer and masters athlete Patrick McCarty. Patrick competed in the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games in the 45-49 age bracket and has his sights set on the Games again this year. Follow Patrick’s journals here every Wednesday.
Athlete Journal Entry 20 – 7/17/2013: Let’s Recap, Shall We?
I leave Saturday for Los Angeles, California for the 2013 CrossFit Games Masters Division 50-54. I started training for this pretty much when the 2012 Open ended.
I began on the OPT “Being” programming track and moved to the “Will” track, before morphing over to individualized programming the last eight weeks leading up to the Games.
In the past year, I’ve added about 30lbs to my snatch, 50lbs to my clean, and 25lbs to my jerk. I’ve added upwards of 40lbs to my front and back squats, mastered bar muscle-ups, transitioned from false-grip to regular grip muscle-ups, reached a point where 155lb thrusters are no big deal, mastered the butterfly method of pull-ups, and mastered full-range deficit handstand pushups.
I have dialed in my diet and packed on the amount of muscle weight I believe will keep me strong, but have also leaned out just enough to make the gymnastics and endurance events workable. I have worked on mental toughness and rep-scheme strategies with my coach Stephen Flamm to enable me to keep working while remaining strong and fast.
I have done everything I can do, that is within my control, to go to the Games and achieve my goal – that is, to make it to the final day of competition. No brainer, right?
Wrong.
Why? Because first of all, everything I have just listed above is likely being done in mirror-image fashion by the nineteen other competitors in my bracket. And the one thing I cannot control is them. I may be able to state my goal of making the finals, but this goal involves many factors outside of my control – the other competitors, the workouts, the judging, even the weather.
So while of course my goal is still to make the final day, perhaps it is more effective for my overall performance and experience to modify that goal a bit. So here it is:
My goal for the 2013 CrossFit Games? To give my all. To literally empty every ounce of fuel during each workout and to leave no rep undone. To refuse to take the deal when my body and mind are screaming at me to rest for breath while my competitors are passing me by. My goal is to have at least one “wow” moment where I surprise myself. Where I go in with confidence and come out with the satisfaction of knowing I just leapt some hurdle that seemed insurmountable. Otherwise, the goal is to have fun and savor the moment.
So, here we go folks. I have enjoyed writing for Breaking Muscle immensely since I took on this project and my sincere hope is to continue even after the Games end. If that’s the case, expect a bit more pot-stirring. I have a lot of topics I’d like to touch on in order to generate a good deal of discussion.
See you on the other side!