2.3

     GK is my wife. She is cool. I nerd out on this sport because of her. We know how to help you because of where she has been and how she has gotten there. Prior to her Back to Back 4th place finishes in the North Central Region, GK had two different shoulder injuries that "temporarily set her back".

     She hated every minute of her rehab and rest time. But she had the patience and the foresight of a champion... she humbled herself and took a step back so that later she could take two steps forward.

     I asked her to write this because many of you have had, do have, or will have injuries. Learn from her experience.

     Most of you don't realize how incredibly unique it is to have so many seasoned CF athletes next to you everyday. Don't tell her I said this, but Ginny King is an elite animal... and she is human... and she can become injured. The difference is: She attacks injury like an elite athlete. 

GK 2012 NC Regionals, 4th Place

Injury.

It can make you anxious and angry.

Ginny King

     I am really excited that my little insight gets to follow Kelsey's. She talked about patience and perseverance yesterday. I'm going to continue that trend and add in the word "stubborn". Being stubborn is a blessing and a curse.

     I grew up an athlete. I swam, played soccer and softball. I played softball in college at a very good NAIA program (yeah, we were little). I'm used to being successful in competition because success is what has always been expected of me by my team, coaches and mostly myself. Good enough was never good enough if you wanted to be great.

     I remember, in college, being told I had to leave the cage because I wouldn't stop hitting. If I was having a bad hitting day I would just keep going and going thinking I was going to hit my way out of bad training day. Trust me, that doesn't really happen. It would only create worse habits and I would become more frustrated. I was stubborn.

     I started CrossFit in July 2008. I picked up on it quickly. I started to compete the first year that athletes had qualify for the Games. I placed 10th at the Hell's Half Acre Regional qualifier. the top 5 were sent to compete in Cali. I was addicted and I wanted it. Bad.

     The next year Kody started programming for me. We worked well together. He did the research and I did the work. He loved watching me succeed and I really enjoyed being good at something competitive again.

     We knew things like muscle ups and handstand push ups could possibly show up in competition. I was nowhere close to having these movements. Nowhere. I worked and worked and worked. The thing about working a particular movement over and over and over again is that you use the same muscles and joints over and over and over again.

     Guess what? That isn't good.

     After nagging pain in my right shoulder for a few weeks, I finally listened to Kody ::cough cough:: you were right ::cough cough:: and stopped using my arm. I laid off any pressing with my right arm for two weeks. It was miserable. It started feeling better so I started using it again just like I had before. It was fine for a day or two, but then felt exactly the same. Ugh. I was panicked.

     This was in January of 2010(before the invention of the Open) and just three months before the Oklahoma Sectional to qualify for the South Central Regional. I had no choice but to just stop using my arm. It was so overused and inflamed that everything I did hurt. It hurt just walking around at this point. That's not good. I kept thinking, "OK, it will be better next week". Wrong. "Surely after two weeks of nothing it will be fine!" Wrong.

     I was off my arm for close to eight weeks. Nothing. For two months. I didn't touch a weight, do a push up, pull up, or ring row.

     There were movements that didn't hurt, but I still didn't do them.  Once I got the green light to test my shoulder I had about three weeks until the sectional. I had no pain. Hooray!

     I placed 3rd at the sectional.

     Four weeks later, I got my first muscle up.

     Four weeks after that I placed 7th the South Central Regional. In the final event, I completed ten muscle ups and fifteen STRICT handstand push ups. I could not do either of those movements before my injury, let alone that many of them!

     I was able to accomplish these things because even though I was injured, I was smart. I continued to keep my other side strong. I worked on things I normally wouldn't have and it made me more a well rounded athlete.



     It is a frustrating thing as an athlete to sit and wait, know you need to get better at very specific things, and not be able to work on them. I get it. It can make you anxious and angry.

     I watched girls in my gym get their first muscle up while I was doing one armed DB snatches. I'm not ashamed to say I cried about it at home and in the gym bathroom. Every single one of you understands "that feeling" whether you shed tears about it or not.

     I was stubborn and didn't listen when I was told to take it easy when my shoulder first started hurting. I didn't listen and do the exercises I was told to do to help rehab my shoulder. I was really bad about taking the anti-inflammatory meds on a regular basis. I was really bad about resting it when I knew I should have rested.

     If I had listened, I could have easily taken two weeks off and been fine, but I let it get too bad and spent two months watching everyone else get better.

     December 2012 an almost identical situation came up. It was my left shoulder this time and in a different location on my shoulder. Immediately I knew what to do. I stopped everything. I even dropped out of a competition I had been looking forward to for months.

     I had plans and goals and those included qualifying for the 2013 CrossFit Games. I was not going to ruin my chances of reaching my goal to do some things that maybe seemed important at the time, like keeping up with everyone in class or placing well at a well respected competition. Eyes on the prize.

     I took my time off. I did my rehab. I stayed strong on my "good" side. At the end of my rest period I competed at Fittest in the OK. I had been "back in the game" for just one week before the competition.

     I placed 2nd.

     I remember being terrified to compete. I didn't want to embarrass myself and I didn't want to re-injure myself. On day two of the competition there were ring dips. Dips had been excruciating for me before my time off. I have a very vivid memory of warming them up on some bars and starting to panic and cry because I didn't think I was going to be able to complete the workout. I told Kody I wanted to drop out. He calmed me down. He told me if I was injured, I should drop out. He also told me that if  I wasn't injured, I should get out there and win. I ended up doing extremely well on the workout and didn't have any pain. I was just scared.

     That year, I placed 4th for the second consecutive year at the North Central Regional. I was able to do this because I listened to my body, remembered my goals, and focused on my long term training.

     Do I think if I hadn't have had those two months off things would have been different? Maybe, but probably not. If I had been as stubborn as I was in 2010 would things have turned out differently? Absolutely and for the worse.

     I'm sharing this because I want YOU to know that I get it. I understand the drive and frustration that comes with wanting to be good at something and trying to overcome a setback or injury. If you do not take care of yourself then you will never see your full potential. You will continue digging a hole that becomes harder and harder to get out of.

     When coaches suggest that you take a day off, do it. If we suggest that you lay off certain movements, listen and do it. We aren't trying to be dramatic. You're probably fine, but an extra day of rest or two or three never hurt anyone.

     It is very hard mentally for anyone who is competitive to be told not to do something. Get over it. Work around it. Get creative. Ask us. I promise many of us have been there. It doesn't make you weak or less of an athlete to take care of yourself. It makes you smart and it makes you better.

     Be relentless, but don't be stupid. The fact is, we do this because we have fun. We aren't professional athletes. There is no need to destroy your body. I promise your body will tell you everything you need to know. Just listen to your body and follow it's suggestions.

I typically like to end my blog posts with a picture, lyric or video. I'm super obsessed with this song right now. This video is so fun. For some reason it really resonates with what I'm trying to say...and the dancing is super fun. The line of people are anxious, frustrated and just want to move, but they can't. Waiting can drive you crazy, but be patient. "Ohhh crazy's what they think about me, ain't gonna stop because they tell me so. Cause 99 miles per hour baby is how fast I like to go".

     We have nothing to prove. Be smart. Have fun. Be awesome.

2.3

OLY STRENGTH

     1. 3-Position Clean (floor, below knee, above knee) + 1 Jerk 

          3+1 @ 60%, 3+1 @ 65%, 3+1 @ 70%, 3x3+1 @ 75% 

     2. Clean Pull 

          2x3 @ 95% (of cln), 2x3 @ 100%

     3. Good Morning 

          3x5 @ Heavier than last week

COMP WOD

     AMRAP in 7 Mins

          15 double Unders

          7 Dumbell Burpees

Rest 2 Mins

     1 Max Set of MU (scale to C2B, chin over bar pull ups, or incline ring to chest rows)

then immediately after last rep

     400 m sprint run (record run time)