10,000 KBS, WORKOUT 14, 23 JULY 2014

-I completed the workout, using the 40kg and 32kg bell, in 47:13. I got 7 hours of sleep the night prior. FS weight remained at ~.75 1RM at 243#.

-While this completion time is slower than my last FS workout by 2:03, it is still far better than my slowest time of 49:49.

-Going into the workout today I was optimistic and in good spirits. I did feel rushed as I was trying to complete it prior to my 0930 class kicking off and I didn’t start warming up as promptly as I should have. I was up against a clock, literally.

-I’m going to cut right to the chase on this one – I struggled through the entire thing. It didn’t matter the set or the cluster, I was in a hurt locker. Every rep felt like a ton of bricks, my grip was challenged on each set of 50 swings, and I had great difficulty getting under the bar in a timely fashion.

-As I was working through the first cluster I knew this was going to be a tough one. It wasn’t until I completed the cluster and began my first 3-minute rest period that I realized just how tough it was going to be. Regardless of my herculean efforts at controlling my breathing I was not able to lower my heart rate to an acceptable level. It seemed like I could feel it pounding in my chest the entire time. That right there is a clear indication I was not fully recovered from the previous workout.

-Before starting the second cluster I turned around my running clock so I would not see how slowly I was going; I figured it was going to be that bad.

-I slogged my way through clusters 2, 3, and 4 with great effort. I found myself taking longer and longer to get each set going and it seemed like I was taking forever to get under the bar. I was adding a breath here or a second to two there. I knew I was now adding to my completion time in the same fashion that I had been shaving time – by adding a little to a little! Finally I reached the forth rest period and focused on recovering for the fifth cluster.

-The fifth cluster was agonizing. I was breathing hard, too hard, and my heart rate was screaming. My FS felt slow. I had to really force my knees out hard and drive my elbows up to keep my chest up. I finally got to my last set of 50 swings. I turned back around the running clock and was blown away – it read 45 minutes and change. I thought for sure I was deep into the 50’s. In a flash I was on the 32kg bell and swinging like a banshee. My pinkies pulled out of the horn by swing 30 and were useless by swing 40. My ring fingers were barely there by swing 45. By swing 50 it was my middle and index fingers, and not much more, that were still in the fight. I set the bell down and found the clock. 47:13. Ugly as hell, but I’ll take it.

-Recovery is important. Clearly the last two days of work combined with minimal sleep has taken a toll on me. I must fix that, now.

-Not every day can be a good day. If every day was a good one, then none of them would be a good. I just can’t have two bad ones in a row. I will take solace in Ovid’s words, “There is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement.