Coach Kirstin

Yesterday my schedule was different and it threw my eating off a bit in the am.  By afternoon it became  a downward spiral. And then I hit the gym... Deadlifts were the prescribed strength training from my coach.  And I was regretting my decision of gummy bears and popcorn for my snack by second set.  I record all my workouts in this great little book that I used to loath that Jeremy makes us use.  Now its like a version of crack.  I look back and compare my workouts and how I'm improving.  My last DL was a 6x3 this was a 5x6.  Different but I should still have comparable ranges.   Not post gummy bears.  My final set was 245 and it was hell.  I had a full week of rest, that should have been nothing.  I felt nothing in my legs.  Not even burn.  They just felt nothing.  And that is why I manage my diet.  Because I can feel it in my workout.  I can tell it gives me the energy to do a workout...

I will freely admit I'm an introvert. I like my time to myself. Actually I need it. All day at work I have to step outside of my introvert comfort zone box. At the gym it's split. I can be in my own little bubble but I love those people so I also enjoy talking to them. But by the time it hits Saturday afternoon my extrovert meter is on empty and I become a hermit in my apartment. Except not lately. Lately I can't spend enough time around 4 or 5 friends. Normally I won't give anyone time on Sundays because its my time. Unless its one of those friends. And then it's disappointing when I have to leave them. And we are already making plans for the next time we see each other. They are those rare people that you can just talk to. Nothing is forced. And if there is a pause its ok. They are the friends I see myself having for a very long time. They are the people that make life better.

It's what one of my coaches asks. After practice. After competing. Anytime. I try and use that constructively, though I am much better at being deconstructive. 4 fights and 3 ish training cycles I am learning a lot about me as a competitor. My training is leaps and bounds better. Conditioning is on point. It's my head that I struggle with every cycle. You can know something means a lot to you. You arrange your whole life around it. But at the same time, you don't always realize how important it is to you. Until you get emotional about it. And apparently that's going to happen once a training cycle for me. Anyone that knows me would say I'm not very emotional. Probably just the opposite. But apparently once a training cycle I will reach my break point, which apparently includes crying. And then I go to bed at like 9, sleep 10 hours and I'm fine. Yes, I know it's a little over training too. But the first time it happened, it wrecked me. It was so close to ...

I have always slept easy, as long as its not hot. I hit the pillow and am out in 2 minutes. I read an article a while back about an elite marathoner who was struggling with her training because her insomnia affected her sleep. I felt fortunate to not have that problem. Until about a year and a half ago. I took on some personal endeavors and had trouble sleeping. That passed. Then a bad break up. That passed. And now I'm exhausted and can't sleep. There are some things going on at work that I believe are impacting this. I just didn't realize how bad it had gotten until last week. 15 minutes ago I was teary-eyed I was so sleepy, laying on the couch watching tv. Wash my face brush my teeth and I'm wide awake at 1am. And I'm rethinking everything. Usually fighting or training. I know. Worst calming activity ever. But it's running through my mind, keeping me up. And the frustrating part is, I see it impact my training. It affects how tired I get, how much I ...

What causes some to have unmatched success and others to fade into nothing?  Or others to bounce back from what appears insurmountable failure? Its something I have thought a lot about.  And as any good business person, have read a fair amount about.  I thought I understood this concept of success. And then fighting came into my life.  And success took on a whole new meeting.  I didn't have to just be stronger, I had to be physically better.  I had to be able control my emotions, channel them into something that I wanted.  When I wanted them.  Something I had never experienced before.  I never competed in sports growing up, something I now regret. I have spent a great deal of time talking with others, especially my coaches on this.  Its a learning curve.  Just as my body went through it and now handles the training with ease, my mind needs to catch up.  Im reading the book "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin.  An ...