When Lifting Gets Inside Your Head

I’ve iced my shins yesterday and they are still tender to the touch today and my calves are a big ball of knots, but I Still showed up for the Oly class this morning.

Since I have missed the past 2 weeks of classes (sometimes, I have to work! 😉 ), I had no baseline for these. I just went along with the numbers I had recorded for when we practiced the moves in regular classes.

Squat Clean 5×2 E3M

Coach Caleb wanted us to go heavy on those. I based myself on my Power Clean back in May. We had done 5×3 E2M and I finished with 75#. Coach Caleb wanted us to pick up a weight and stick to it for all the rounds. I warmed up at 35#, 55#, 65#, 75# and tried a few at 85#. I couldn’t get the high pull on the bar so I dropped down to 80 and tried a few reps at that weight. I managed the high pull, but couldn’t drop below the bar. It was extremely frustrating and I think I was starting to overthink it all. I tried my first round at 80#, but just couldn’t do it. Coach Caleb told me to drop to 75# and that’s what I did for all the remaining rounds. I felt more confident towards the end and it felt more fluid when I didn’t think about it too much. I need to get out of my head for this lift and just approach the bar with a clear head.

Romanian Deadlifts 5×5 E2M

For these, we were allowed to go up in weight. I had done these back in June and had finished with 70#. Coach Caleb told me to aim for a last round at 75#, which is what I did. Here were my reps:

55#-60#-65#-70#75#

I could definitely feel it in the hamstrings, but I also think I could have gone heavier. I’ll let you know tomorrow how I feel about them! 😉

My home away from home. I feel so comfortable and at peace when I’m here! #Boxlove

 

On a totally different topic, I’m realizing just how fast the girls are growing up. As I was fixing Rina’s bed this morning, I realized that she wasn’t dragging her “Yayoos” (loveys) with her as much as she used to. As a matter of fact, she only wants them when she’s going to bed lately. These cruddy, filthy rag dolls have been with her since she was born. She has chewed them when she was teething, we always had to make sure we had them with us at all times and now, she is slowly outgrowing their comfort. I am proud of her for becoming slowly more independent, but I will probably keep them for her as a memento of her childhood.

 

First friend

As for Béatrice, she is also developing her very own personality. This is what she chose to wear to go pick up Rina at pre-school yesterday. She definitely loves her tutu!

Stylin’

Preschool Update

Sweet Rina,

Two days ago was our scheduled phone call update with your preschool teacher. Madame had mostly some positive points to say about you and she also mentioned some things that needed to be worked on. She said you were very, uhm, DETERMINED! You refuse to respond during roll call, when she asks you to clean up the toys, you turn your head away from her, nose up and cross your arms on your chest and totally ignore her. Ha! Did she think she was telling me anything new?!?

Where she called you determined, I would have said strong-willed or pig headed strong headed. I’m not disillusioned, the apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree. Both Ben and I are stubborn strong minded and are pretty determined when we chose to be. Madame said that from September until now, she was observing the group, but from now on, she would be a little firmer in implementing the rules. I was happy to hear her say that her way of dealing with your “determination” was very similar with mine:  we both tell you there is something to do or a behaviour to change and that it’s not a choice. If there is no imminent change, you sit on a chair until you apologize or are ready to change the behaviour (usually 2-3 minutes!). It is very similar to the method I have adopted with you shortly before Béatrice was born and you were acting up. It is still an effective way to give you a “time out” as I don’t have to use it everyday. If I needed to use it multiple times/day, I would say it wasn’t effective and would look into a different approach, but so far so good!

I’m glad she isn’t out to “crush” your little independent spirit. You are your own person and I want you to be able to grow into a beautiful girl, independent and all. She just wants to make sure that your independent spirit is lead in the healthy direction it should be. It is nice to see that she got to know you and she said you are very caring with the other kids, share well (sometimes, too much. You always want to share your snacks and it’s not allowed at preschool) and your favourite time of the day at preschool is story time.  She painted a pretty accurate picture of who you are which made me feel even more comfortable in our choice of preschool for you.

Please, don’t ever change, my love. You are an amazing little girl and I love you just the way you are!

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Love,

Maman Xxo