10,000 KBS, WORKOUT 13, 22 JULY 2014

-I completed the workout in 45:45. I increased my BS weight by ~3.5% (10#) to 295#. I used the 40 kg bell for my sets of 10 and the 32 kg bell for the sets of 15, 25, and 50.

-This completion time is my second fastest BS time, and only 17 seconds slower than my all time best BS time, regardless of KB or BS weight.

-I am totally blown away by my performance today. Please let me provide some context:

• I worked from 0515 until 2200 the day prior: √ I coached the 0515 and 0630 classes, then hopped on the welder for an hour to work on the pull up and squat rig, then ran out and picked up another bottle gas. √ I came back and coached the 0930 class, jumped back on the welder until 1545 when I had to stop to coach Olive and Vic for an hour. √ I coached the 1700 Barbell Class, followed by my hockey players from 1815-1915. √ I got home at 1945, wolfed down some food, and sorted through some admin crap until 2200. • I hit the rack at 2230. • At 0230 my eyeballs popped open and I knew I was screwed. My mind was racing – there was not a chance in hell of going back to sleep. I was too wired thinking about the new space, the new schedule, adding yoga, my kid’s training, my workout, the twins, our next training cycle, etc. • I lay there awake until 0410 when the alarm went off. • At 0500 I turned the lights on in the gym. • I then coached the 0515 and 0630 class. • At 0745, exhausted but feeling unexplainably drawn to the kettle bells, I started warming up for the workout.

-I didn’t have high hopes for a good completion time; to the contrary I had my second best BS performance. I provided the above facts only to give you insight as to the reason I wasn’t confident.

-The first cluster was fine. No problems with swings. The BS felt heavy and slow, however. It did feel like I had a little “hitch” or hang up in my left hamstring. I stretched it out during my first 3 min rest period and it felt fine there after.

-The second cluster was unremarkable, physically, other than the BS felt heavy and slow, again. I was also getting gassed sooner. What is remarkable was that I started to loose my mental focus. I started to let myself believe that I was not able to handle this workout today – that it might be ok to fail. My mind became a whirlwind of excuses. Pick any from the above list. I cycled through all of them and probably 100 more again and again looking for a reason to quit. Somehow I made it to the end of the cluster.

-With the third cluster came a fresh outlook. I focused on my breathing and of clearing my head, not thinking of anything – literally trying to empty my mind – during my second 3 minutes of recovery. I felt surprisingly strong going in to cluster 3 and hit it with renewed purpose and vigor. I had thrown down the gauntlet to my own self and I needed to rise to the challenge. Through out the third cluster I kept reciting to myself, again and again:

“The body is capable of far more than the mind believes”. That was a precept I learned first hand while assigned to the Mountain Warfare Training Center, and while deployed to the mountains of Afghanistan. I’ve seen my Marines do amazing things…

-Before I knew it I was finished with my last set of 50 swings and the third cluster was in the history books.

-I don’t remember much about the forth cluster. Only that it was challenging. The swings were tough but manageable and the BS were heavy and slow, but they always went up.

-I looked at the clock while recovering for 3 minutes before my fifth cluster and was, again, surprised. I had no idea I had shaved so much time off my rest periods. In each cluster I tried to shave a few seconds here and there by ending my rest early, or getting on the bar sooner. Ovid was right when he said, “Add a little to a little and you have a great heap”.

-I felt great in the fifth cluster. I knew I had won. Each set of swings felt awesome, and my BS blasted right up. I set my bell down after swing 500 feeling like was ready to take on the world.

-This workout was probably my most important one to date because it reminded me of the power of the mind, and how resilient our bodies are when properly trained. I’m not advocating going on 4 hours of sleep. You better believe I will be getting plenty of shuteye tonight; I’m exhausted. But when we are properly trained, with the right mindset we can go into “surge ops” and crush anything in our path.