2018 goals

I had e couple big goals for 2017. I wanted to deadlift 495lbs and I wanted to be able to compete the 307lb weight class. I was able to accomplish both in December. My next big goals is to be able to compete in the NASA powerlifting state championships in April in the 275lb weight class. And by the end of 2018 to squat 500lbs or more, bench 300+, and deadlift 600+. A 1400+ pound total.

Bad training days and great coaches

Last week I had a horrible day of squating. I was only able to squat 185X10. I can usually rep out 245 pretty easily. So today at the gym my Powerlifting Coach Vernon Smith pulled me aside to talk about it. He explained hypertrophy. And explained what I should do next time if I'm in that situation again. He put things in perspective. He even gave me a hell of a pep talk. It was exactly what I was needing. I'm ready for my next bad day of training. I know what to do in that situation and how to handle it. I really like my coach. He's awesome.

Celebrating with food

On Christmas Eve I weighed less than 300lbs for the first time in a very long time. On Christmas I over ate. All day. The next morning I weighed 307. I knew most of it was salt and water retention. But still, 4 days after I'm still at 300. I've learned two lessons from this:
1) Overeating for a Holliday or a family function just isn't worth it.
2) when celebrating eat a bit less all day so I can have more to eat during the celebration so that I don't feel like I'm going without or sacrificing as much.

Training ups and downs

On Monday I had a horrible squat day. On Wednesday I had by far the best day of deadlifts I've ever had in my life. Then this morning I had a total crap day of CrossFit. I used to let the ups and downs effect me emotionally. I'd feel on top of the world in every aspect of my life on a good day of training and I'd feel like the world had caved in on me if I had a bad day of training. I'm learning to not allow the highs and lows to effect me as much. I'm trying to remember that training is like bouncing a ball while traveling up hill.  There are a lot of small ups and downs. But the end effect is still going in an upward direction.

For a long time I was angry and resentful. I'd been forced to work 80-90 hours a week for so long I was depressed and had lost hope of a decent life. I haven't worked any overtime since October. Just 36-40 hours a week. Not working as much, being able to spend time with my kids, and time to workout has done miracles for my happiness and contentment. This week was the first time in over a decade that I felt that I was glad to be married.

Christmas binge

I had eaten perfectly every day since September 5th. But Christmas Eve and Christmas I ate whatever I wanted. All that crappy food in excessive amounts made me feel sluggish and weak during my last couple workouts. Today I'm back on the diet wagon. And I'm glad to be eating healthy and reasonable amounts again too. I've been on a roll for the first time in years. As long as I continue to do what Avatar Nutrition tells me to do I should be at my dream weight by mid-late summer. It'll be nice to lift in the 110k weight class. And being 60 pounds lighter will help a lot in CrossFit too. Being 300lbs doesn't exactly make me efficient or fast to say the least.

I was home on Christmas Eve and Christmas. This was only the 2nd time I've ever been off of work and home with my kids on Christmas. It was great. I'm really in a good place right now. I'm happy.

Holliday's at Bear Canyon CrossFit

Most CrossFit gyms are closed on Sundays and Holliday's. But Bear Canyon CrossFit has a Sunday class. They also have a classes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, etc. I love that. But I'm beginning to think the owners of Bear Canyon CrossFit hate Holliday's. Every time I've shown up on a holiday the workouts are brutal. The Thanksgiving sampler took me an hour and eleven minutes. Yesterday's 12 days of Christmas was a nightmare. Today, Christmas Eve, took me 38 minutes. Brutal. But it helps. Because most people over eat on the Holidays. And having a workout before celebrating can help keep a person focused on not over indulging. It helps me to focus on making training and eating a lifestyle. It helps remind us that we can have fun without losing control. Plus after the holiday workouts my legs are to fatigued to get up from the table to refill my plate.

Under 300lbs!

I weighed in at 299lbs for the 2nd day in a row. I've lost a total of 47 pounds so far. My goal is to get into the 110k (220-242lb) powerlifting weight class. So I need to loose anywhere from 57-79 more pounds. Depending on how I feel will determine how low I'm willing to go.

I was a little hungry this week. Which is unusual. I really haven't been hungry at all since starting Avatar Nutrition. I lost more weight this week then I usually do. 4.1lbs So the the Avatar program will increase my macros next week. They do that to prevent quick weight loss, rebound dieting, muscle loss, and metabolic damage. So far I really love Avatar Nutrition. It works.

My favorite quote

"At the peak of tremendous and victorious effort, while the blood is pounding in your head, all suddenly comes quiet within you. Everything seems clearer and whiter than ever before, as if great spotlights had been turned on. At that moment, you have the conviction that you contain all the power in the world, that you are capable of everything, that you have wings. There is no more precise moment in life than this, the WHITE MOMENT, and you will work hard for years, just to taste it again."

Life in Albuquerque

I'm finding myself blogging almost daily. Occasionally I'll post twice a day. It's been a long time since I've been so excited about something that I've done that. I'm getting stronger, I'm loosing weight, getting faster, building endurance, and having so much fun doing it all. I've found a great niche here in Albuquerque. I have a great powerlifting coach who is understanding about me wanting to supplement Powerlifting with CrossFit for health and weight loss reasons. I really love my CrossFit gym, the coaches, and members there. The support and encouragement I'm getting from both the Powerlifting and CrossFit community is awesome. And most importantly I'm not killing myself working overtime anymore. I have time to spend with my kids, working out, and time for myself. I think the word I'm looking for here is content. I'm content. I'm perfectly happy just the way things are. I still want to loose some more weight, get faster, stronger, and build more endurance. But I'm enjoying the journey instead of just obsessing about the end goal.

1st Powerlifting workout at Bear Canyon CrossFit

In the past I had tried to do my own strength workouts at CrossFit gyms I'd been a member of. They made it known that under no uncertain terms was I allowed to do any workout in their gym but the workout of the day (WOD) during the designated group class settings. When I signed up I had asked the owners of Bear Canyon CrossFit if I could supplement my training with some of my own Olympic style weightlifting or powerlifting on my own in their gym. They said yes. But because of my experience at other CrossFit gyms I didn't believe them. I felt that they were just saying that to get another contract locked in and$ in their pockets. I assumed the moment I tried to do my own thing in my own time in their facility they'd say "hell no". So Yesterday I decided to try it. I did a powerlifting deadlift specific workout at Bear Canyon CrossFit. Not only was everyone cool with it, but they were encouraging and complimentary about my strength and weight loss too. I was pleasantly surprised. I really like it there.

I take my wedding ring off so I don't scratch or bend it when I train. Yesterday while i was doing my Powerlifting routine at Bear Canyon CrossFit I got hit on. At first I thought she was joking. Guys as fat as I am don't get hit on in a gym setting. Ever. There's to many guys there who are in great shape. Why go for the fattest bull in the field when they could try for a young fit one? So I laughed like it was a big joke. But I realized pretty quick she wasn't joking. Looks like it's time for me to get one of those silicone wedding bands to wear when I train. I doubt a bald, fat, old dude like me will ever get hit on again in a gym setting. It's never happened to me before. But just in case I guess it's time for me to buy one of those fancy silicon wedding bands that you can work out in.....

2 gyms memberships and a glory board

I train Powerlifting after work 4 days a week. I've always done it at Iron Soul. Iron Soul is a barbell club. I fit in well at that barbell club and they've always been nothing but good to me. On November 1st I started doing CrossFit 3x a week too. Apparently I'm really starting to like Bear Canyon CrossFit because I've found myself wanting to do my Powerlifting routine there instead of my barbell club. So today I'm doing a test run. I'll be doing my heavy deadlift training day at Bear Canyon CrossFit instead of Iron Soul. We'll see if they will actually be cool with a meat head like me doing nothing but streangth work and no WOD in a CrossFit gym.

Yesterday was test day for power cleans at Bear Canyon CrossFit. I got a 265lb power clean. I tied for 2nd in the gym. I'm pretty excited about that. I'll be getting my name on the gym's glory board for every event I take top five in. So far I've placed top 5 in 3 of the 4 streangth tests. Squat, deadlift, and power clean.

Power cleans and Grace test

Today was my favorite day at Bear Canyon CrossFit. Test day! We tested power cleans and the benchmark workout called Grace which is 30 power cleans for time. There was only 4 people in the class. A relatively small class, so I thought we'd have a little more time. But I felt a little rushed. I wanted to try at least another 2 attempts but wasn't able to. I was still pretty happy with my result though. I got a 265lb power clean. My Grace time was slow though, 4:24. Cardio is definitely my weakness. But that's changing as I'm getting in better shape and loosing weight. I have %100 faith that between my Powerlifting Coach Vernon Smith, Bear Canyon CrossFit, and Avatar Nutrition I'll be a hell of an athlete soon.

It burns!!!

Today was the first day of my new programming. Coach Vernon had me doing hypertrophy. That means high reps and short rest intervals. My plan was to go into the gym gung-ho and only take 45-60 second rests between sets. After my first set I realized short rests was NOT going to happen. I had no idea hypertrophy was going to burn so bad. I don't remember hypertrophy EVER hurting like this before. I'm not sure if it hurts like this because it's been so long since I've done hypertrophy (it's been 10+ years). Perhaps it's because I've never been this strong and done this much weight with high reps and short rests. Or if it's just because I'm getting old. But regardless it surprised me. This block of training is going to be unpleasant. The good news is hypertrophy makes it easier to slim down. That makes me happy. I've been hovering around 304-302lbs for almost a month. It would be really nice to get into the 200's again.

day one of 2nd training plan

 Coach Vernon sent me my next training block. It starts tomorrow. I've enjoyed this week away from the gym. But it got old quick. I can't wait until tomorrow. I miss training. I miss the stress relies and working towards a goal. I'm also thoroughly looking forward to test Tuesday at Bear Canyon CrossFit. I can't wait to find out what we're testing. Bench press and Grace are the two I'm looking forward to most.

Recovery mode

My body was really tired after the deadlift test on Tuesday. I tried doing a small squat workout on Wednesday. But my body is fried and needs some R&R. I'm not stepping foot in a gym or working out until Monday. And then coach Vernon Smith said he's going to be pushing me as hard as my body can handle. He warned me, this next training session will be intense. He told me he needed me to come into the gym physically and mentally ready. Because he's going to test my limits, So, no training for me until Monday. Sounds like fun huh?

Deadlift test day at Bear Canyon CrossFit

On Saturday I competed in a powerlifting competition. My top deadlift at the meet was a lifetime best of 479lbs. On Tuesday my CrossFit gym was having a deadlift test day. If I finished in the top 5 of the entire gym then my name would be put on a board that hangs in the gym for an entire year. It had only been three days since my Powerlifting meet so I was sore and felt beat up. But somehow I set another lifetime best deadlift of 495lbs. And the craziest thing, I did this after having lost 43lbs, and I felt like I could have gone higher! Usually people loose streangth when they loose weight. But I've been loosing weight by using a website called Avatar Nutrition and flexible dieting. It's awesome. I love it. I especially love the price, $9.99 a month.

NASA, USAPL, and USPA in New Mexico

My middle son, age 10, enjoys doing powerlifting meets with me in addition to weightlifting. He won the NASA powerlifting state championships in both 2016 & 2017. He wanted to compete last weekend in the USPA state championships, but they have an age minimum of 13. USAPL contacted me and they advised me they have a youth division my son can lift in. So my son and I will be lifting together in the USAPL New Mexico state championships on March 17th 2018. Bonding time. I can't wait.

2017 USPA New Mexico powerlifting state championships report

BW 138k
Squat 457.2lbs (PR & state record)
Bench 297.5lbs (tied PR & state record)
Deadlift 479lbs (PR and state record)
Total 1227lbs (PR and state record)

Yesterday I completed in the 2017 USPA New Mexico state powerlifting championships. I've been lifting exclusively for powerlifting for only 2 months. And two and a half weeks of that I didn't lift because the family and I were on vacation or I had started out at CrossFit and was to tired to lift. So after only 5.5 weeks of actual training I wasn't expecting much. My powerlifting coach Vernon Smith had a lot more faith in my abilities than I did. He sent me the lefts he wanted me to try and it was much much higher than I had faith that I could do.

The first lift was my favorite one. The Squat. I'd done Olympic style weightlifting for 4.5 years before jumping ship to powerlifting. We squat a lot in weightlifting. But there's absolutely no bench press. And only light weighted clean deadlifts. I got a little freaked out during warm ups because my last set of 405 I struggled with. My first squat of the day was 425lbs. It was felt moderately heavy, but lighter than the warm up 405. The next attempt tied a lifetime best of 440lbs. It didn't feel heavy at all. My last attempt was 457.2lbs. If I made that lift I'd have set a lifetime best of over 17lbs! My last attempt felt even easier than my 2nd attempt. Three white lights. Good lift!! I was shocked! How the heck did I get that strong in only 5.5 weeks of training? The squat was a state record.

Next up was the bench. I've always sucked at bench. And I haven't done any training for bench since Olympic weightlifters never do much upper body work and we NEVER bench. I really didn't think I could do what coach was wanting. But Eric, owner of Iron Soul told me, and I quote, "do what your coach days. You have him for a reason. Do it or your a dumbass." Well, I did it. 270, 285, 297.5 and I was shocked. I had more in the tank. My coach knew me well. The bench was a new state record.

When I first stepped on the platform for my first deadlift I felt like something was wrong. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. But there definitely was. My first deadlift of 430lbs was a good lift. It was also a state record. When the judge went to check my he said, "there's no great to check." I looked down and realized I had forgotten to put on my weightlifiting shoes, weightlifting belt, and knee sleeves. Once I geared up I feel a lot better on my 2nd deadlift of 451lbs. My last lift of 471lbs was going to be a 28lb personal best and another state record. It went up so easy I was amazed. I think a 500lb deadlift is in my near future.

My total of 1227lbs was a lifetime best by 39lbs and a state record. I'm shocked what I was able to do with only a couple months training. I can't wait to see what I'll be able to accomplish with more time in training and more weight loss guided by my awesome coach Vernon Smith.

Registered for a Track and field meet

Now that I've been training consistently in both powerlifting and CrossFit and have lost 42 pounds I'm feeling more athletic and confident. I'm getting the itch to go out and see what my body can do. So yesterday I registered for the 9th annual Garden Swartz Great South West track and field classic. I signed up for the 60 meter and 200 meter dash. Best case scenario I do well. Worst case scenario I do poorly and will be able to look back years from now and say, "look how far I've come." The event will be held at the Albuquerque convention center on Mondo track. Mondo track is the 2nd fastest indoor track in the nation.

 This will be my first track and field meet since 1989! 27 years! Eek!

There beginning of 2018 is going to be super busy. In addition to all three of our kids involved in three different sports with practices all over the city. The kids and I have competitions all over New Mexico. This is happiness and living life to the fullest.

-Jan 7 wrestling, Moriarty
-Jan 13 powerlifting seminar, Albuquerque
-Jan 20 wrestling, Carlsbad
-Feb 3rd wrestling, Albuquerque
-Feb 10 9th annual Garden Swartz Great South West track and field classic, Albuquerque
-Feb 24th NASA open, Roswell
-March 17 USAPL state championships, Albuquerque
-April 28, NASA New Mexico state powerlifting championships, Gallup

NASA powerlifting New Mexico state records

Since I'm tapering for a meet this weekend I've got more time on my hands. And now that I've lost enough weight to lift in a lower weight class I decided to look up the NASA New Mexico state records for records that are vacant or that I'm strong enough to break. It's a long list.

In the 308lb weight class:
Unequipped pure
Unequipped masters 1
Unequipped masters pure
Retro pure 308
Retro open
Retro police
Retro masters 1
Unequipped push/pull pure
Unequipped push/pull open
Unequipped push/pull police
Unequipped push/pull masters pure
Unequipped push/pull masters 1
Power sports police
Power sports Masters 1
Power sports pure
Power sports open
Power press masters 1
Power press pure
Power press open
Power press police

275lb weight class:
Retro open
Retro pure
Retro police
Retro masters 1
Unequipped push/pull pure (325k)
Unequipped push/pull open
Unequipped push/pull masters 1
Unequipped push/pull masters pure
Power sports police
Power sports open
Power press pure
Power press masters 1
Power press pure
Power press open
Power press police

The beginning of a new adventure

 I've struggled the last 2.5 years trying to decide if I should train exclusively for weightlifiting or powerlifting. I flip flopped between the two more times than I'm comfortable admitting. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I finally decided that powerlifting will be my #1 girl. I'm the type of person who throws himself into a project full force once I'm fully committed.

 Today was my last workout before my powerlifting meet. The next training block I do will be significantly more difficult. The last training cycle I did was to get back in shape and to prepare my body for heavy lifting. But after the powerlifting meet on Saturday things will get harder and more intense. So as i threw my last workout into the trash at the gym I got a little sentimental. That little piece of paper is the last piece of the first step of this grand adventure I've decided to partake. Goodbye old me.

Hello to a new adventure, a new lifestyle, a new me, and a huge new goal.

Next training cycle

Have I mentioned recently how much I like my powerlifting coach? Well I think he's pretty awesome. I emailed him this morning and asked if I should start training more frequently. I asked if he thought I could handle training some two-a-days. His response motiated me.

His response, "I’d say stick with 4 days of powerlifting a week. Since we’ll be going off of 1RMs during this next training cycle (instead of just slowing getting back into lifting shape), the workouts should be much harder and much more taxing. Doing a two-a-day in the midst of such workouts would, I think, be Ill advised."

Looks like the next training cycle will be pretty intense. I can't wait!!!

Crazy taper thoughts

This Saturday is the US powerlifting association New Mexico state championships meet. This week I started my deload week. We used to call it a taper back in my triathlon days. I hate tapering. I keep thinking crazy OCD thoughts, "I could be gaining more streangth if I was training hard. What if I'm doing my taper wrong and screw up my meet. Why don't I Just say screw this meet and continue training through to prepare for the next one. Missing one meet won't hurt. Etc."

I also started eating to maintain my weight instead of dieting to drop weight. That way I'll go into the meet fully fueled and not at a deficit. And of course I'm miserable doing that to. I have more and even stronger OCD thoughts about pushing pause on my weight loss until after the meet. "I could be 5 pounds lighter by now! I could just diet through the meet, 5 or 10 pounds on my meets total won't really matter. I'm finally on a roll loosing weight, what if I can't get back on the diet wagon?"

I know I'm doing the right thing by slowing my training and dieting. But it's hard when I'm such a one track mind kind of a guy.

Oh, by the way. Have I mentioned lately how much happier I am now that I'm not being forced to work 80-90 hours a week anymore? I'm spending a lot of my time with my kids. Driving them to wrestling, volleyball, and weightlifiting practices. Watching thier sporting events. Getting in my workout time. And now that I can sleep a normal amount of time I'm no longer struggling with overeating and depression. Life is finally good again. That 11 years of hell is finally over.

Train less, gain more, hire a strength coach

For years I was a hard gainer. That's a term powerlifters, bodybuilders, and strength athletes use for someone who doesn't gain size or streangth easily. Someone who has to train harder and still takes longer to get gains than most. For years I'd heard how the majority of streangth athletes over train. And of course I thought I was training perfectly. I felt I was doing the proper amount of everything. And then I hired my powerlifting coach Vernon Smith. I'm training less now than I ever have. And now I'm getting the best streangth gains I could ever have dreamed. Turns out I was just like every other idiot amatuer athlete out there. To much training and not enough rest. All I needed this whole time was a good coach. I only wish I had figured this out when I was younger. I wasted a tremendous amount of time and effort in my twenties training religiously with hardly any gains.

If your an athlete. Do yourself a favor. Hire a coach. You'll be great full you did.

Bear Canyon CrossFit test day

One of the gyms I train at has two boards hanging on the wall. Each board has the top 5 athletes of each lift, benchmark workout, or hero WOD. They only test for these boards once a year. If you make top five athlete in that event then your name's up there for a full 12 months. Since starting to go to this gym I've been staring at these boards everyday in envy. I want my name up on one of those boards! Yesterday was squat testing. Squats are one of the things I'm best at. I assumed I'd squat in the high 300's. Some how I did a 440lb squat! I tied a lifetime PR! That amazed me. I've only been back to training for 6 weeks! That bodes well for me and the USPA New Mexico state powerlifting  championships. The video is below.

We also did the benchmark workout Isabel. Which is 30 snatches of 135lbs for time. I finished all 30 in 4 minutes 1 second. That was huge for me. I wasn't fast. But it was the first WOD I was able to do at RX. So it meant a lot to me.

NASA powerlifting men's weight classes

I'm finally on a roll with my weight loss so now of course I'm obsessing about the weight classes of different federations I lift in. I thought I'd put NASA's up and calculated into pounds so it's easier for me.

SHW 140k and up/ 308.1 lbs and up
125-139.9/ 275.01-308lbs
110.01-125k/ 242.02-275lbs
100.01-110k/ 220.1-242.01
90.01-100k/ 198.1-220
82.51-90/ 181.5-198
75.01-82.5/ 165.1-181.4
67.5-75/148.5-165
60.01-67.51/ 135-147.5
56.01-60/ 123.5- 147.4
52.01-56/ 114.4-123.4
48.01-52/ 105.6-114.3
44.01-48/ 96.8-105.5
44 & under/ 96.7 & under

Increasing calories for the state championships

I felt a little weak in the gym yesterday. It's because I have been dieting since September 5th. I've made great progress on my weight loss, 42 pounds, while also making some of the biggest streangth gains I've ever made- thanks to my powerlifting coach Vernon Smith. But I'm going to hit pause on my weight loss temporarily. I have the USPA New Mexico state powerlifting championships on December 9th, in 13 days. So I'm going to reverse diet for a couple weeks to ensure a good meet.

I just learned about reverse dieting. I learned about it when I first got on Avatar Nutrition. Reverse dieting is pretty interesting. If you haven't heard about it I highly suggest reading up or listening to some YouTube videos about it. What I'm doing isn't actually reverse dieting. Reverse dieting is to repair a dieters matabolism. I'm only doing it to make sure I'm at my best for the upcoming powerlifting meet. After the meet I'll go back to dieting to get down to my dream weight of 110k powerlifting weight class. But until then I'm focusing on the meet. For the first time I'll be lifting in a division other than the super heavyweight. I'll be lifting in the 139k weight class, thanks to Avatar Nutrition.

My review of Avatar Nutrition's customer service

I've been using Avatar Nutrition to loose weight and get back into shape. Essentially Avatar Nutrition is a diet program that helps you loose, maintain, or gain an exact amount of weight each week. If you loose our don't lose enough then the program adjusts how many macros you eat daily to make sure you hit that set amount of weight that your shooting for. I had some questions and contacted them. Keep in mind this was on Thanksgiving day. I'd never attempted to contact them so I wasn't sure how responsive or helpful they'd be. They answered my question within hours. On a holiday! This was my email to them.

Me:
My weight hadn't dropped in three and a half weeks and my macros have dropped tremendously. Today my scale was malfunctioning. I purchased another scale and I weighed 10 pounds less than the malfunctioning scale showed. Apparently my old scale hasn't worked in awhile and I didn't realize it. So on my next weigh in it will show I've lost around ten pounds in one week. I don't want to gain weight with excess macros until the Avatar program adjusts and fixes the problem. Is there anything you could do to help?

Avatar Nutrition's response:

Hi Cody, 

I'm sorry to hear you had that malfunctioning scale. Sounds like a nice "surprise" though. 

So, the best way go about this without throwing the system off would be to mark the next weigh in as noncompliant, even if you were compliant with your macros. This way the system won't detect a crazy change in weight and make the wrong adjustments. 

When you weigh in again the following week, you'll be right on track again!

Sound good?

Best regards, 

I sent them a simple email saying thank you and again, they sent me what seemed like a heart felt response:

No problem, Cody!

Don't hesitate to reach out in the future if you have any other concerns. We would be happy to help. 

Have a wonderful week!

Best regards,

In my opinion Avatar Nutrition rocked my one and only contact with them. I was pleasantly surprised.

Avatar Nutrition and malfunctioning scales

The last few weeks i haven't been losing any weight. Avatar Nutrition has been reducing my macros every week. I've been getting increasingly frustrated and hungry. Yesterday I stepped on the scale and the scale said 319lbs which doesn't make sense. There's no way I've gained weight this week with how hard I'd trained and I've eaten perfectly. I stepped off the scale, then back in and it said 307. Then 311, then 319. I realized my scale was broken. I purchased another one. This morning I weighed in at 306.6 lbs. Turns out I have lost weight the last few weeks. Thankfully. I'm so relieved. As of this morning I've lost exactly 40lbs. 86 more pounds to go until I got my goal weight of 220lbs.

Thanksgiving sampler

• Today I completed the longest and hardest WOD of my life. It was called the Thanksgiving sampler. It took me a 1 hour 10 minutes 22 seconds. By the time I finished the Thanksgiving sampler WOD the next class was half way through their warm up. On one hand I was embarrassed. On the other hand I was proud that I didn't give up- which I was close to doing. Something very kind and supportive happened today. 6 of my fellow CrossFit'ers saw I was hurting pretty bad. They all gathered around me and finished the burpees with me at my place even though they had already finished theirs. It made me able to push much harder for longer. Not sure I could have finished without them.
• 
  
• For Time
• 5 Rounds of:
• 5 Pull-Ups
• 10 Push-Ups
• 15 Air Squats
• Then, 4 Rounds of:
• 8 Handstand Push-Ups
• 15 Kettlebell Swings
• Then, 3 Rounds of:
• 15 Box Jumps
• 15 Knees-to-Elbows
• Then, 2 rounds of:
• 20 Wall-Balls
• 30 Sit-Ups
• Then, 1 Round of:
• 50 Burpees

Day off for recovery and New Mexico health Care connect

Just last week I was blogging about how I'd gotten in good enough shape that I was working out 7 days a week. And that in addition to training every day I was hoping to start doing two workouts in one day at least once a week. Well yesterday I felt like crap. I was tired, sore, grouchy, and wasn't motivated to go to the gym. So today I had to eat my words and take a day off from training.

My day of recovery couldn't have happened at a better time. My wife had the day off from work. So we spent the day together. We slept late, did lots of cuddling, and a few chores together.

My wife has been commuting 120 miles a day for work since we moved to Albuquerque 19 months ago. She got a new job that's only 2.7 miles from our house. That'll give her an extra 2 hours a day at home. The best news is her new job has full benefits. Her medical insurance is only $600 a month. We had been getting medical insurance from New Mexico health connections. For the 5 of us it was $957 a month. But the cost was going to go up to $1257 a month on January. My wife saved our butt financially with her new job! $1,257 a month is rediculous. Needless to say we have cancelled New Mexico health connections.

Thursdays WOD from hell

On Thursday I did another brutal WOD. By far the worst one I've ever done. I usually love the grueling Metcons. But this one was so hard it wasn't fun at all. It hurt. Bad. I was the slowest of the entire box again. And I want even close to the men's RX weights. I don't mind being the slowest. But I'd at least like to be somewhat close to the next slowest. I completed it in 21:52. The next slowest was almost 5 minutes faster than me. But, I'm showing up. I'm giving my best every workout. I'm slow. But I work hard. And eventually the training and flexible dieting will pay off. Eventually I'll be fast, strong, and no longer obese. This horrible workout was 4 rounds of:
15 burpees
12 DB deadlifts
9 DB hang squat cleans
6 DB thrusters.
It was hell.

Today is my 42nd birthday.  A couple more years and I'll age up into the Masters division 45-49 age group. I can't believe I've made it this long. I always assumed I was going to be killed on duty during the 21 years I was a correctional officer at the New Mexico state penitentiary. Or die from being worked to death. I worked 80-90 hours a week from 2006-a month ago. 10.5 years. I'm so glad to be alive, to no longer having to kill myself working double shifts, to br healthy enough to train and compete in athletic events, and being a father to three gorgeous children.

Powerlifting and CrossFit two-a-days

My weight hasn't changed in three weeks. But my physique has. I was surprised at how much it has. Yesterday I put on pants that haven't fit me for almost two years. My strength has exploded the last month too. At first when I started CrossFit i had to slow down with powerlifting and weightlifiting. But my body has already adapted. I'm up to powerlifting training 4 days and CrossFit 3 days a week. I no longer feel sore or exhausted. After the New Mexico USPA powerlifting state championships on December 9th I'm going to try doing a two-a-day a week. Powerlifting in the AM and CrossFit in the PM. 4 workouts of each every week. That'll give my body another month to get into good enough shape to handle a two-a-days. But since I'm not going to attempt it until after the USPA state championships I know I'll be showing up with good training without worry of overtraining for the meet. The powerlifting meet is too important to risk injury or overtraining. I'll be attempting to defend my New Mexico USPA championship state championship.

The biggest reason for getting so out of shape was that I had worked 80-90 hours a week for the last 10.5 years. I was chronically fatigued and didn't have enough time to train or prepare food. But I'm refusing to work that many hours anymore.i threw down an ultimatum. Next time my wife makes a bad life decision that would force me to work rediculous amounts of overtime to fix, we're getting a divorce. She seems to have fixed her spending and bad life decisions. We'll see. but either way, I'm never working like that again.

Training, sleep, and contentment

I've planned and logged every meal since September 5th. I'm making sure I get the proper amount of protein, fat, and carbs daily to make gains. That's a little over 2 months. I've lost 30 pounds. I'm feeling stronger, faster, and I've built up more endurance. My endurance has been the slowest to build, but it's still getting better. For the first time in 11 years I'm getting enough sleep. I feel really good right now. By God!?! Is that feeling happiness and contentment? Yup, I think it is. I think I could get used to this.

Today's WOD/MetCon

I never thought I'd be one of those CrossFit bloggers. Triathlon blogger, yea. Powerlifting blogger, yes. Weightlifting blogger hell yeah. But CrossFit blogger? Apparently, yes.

Today's MetCon was brutal and the most fun I'd had on any WOD yet. It was 3 rounds of 30, 20, & 10 reps of box jumps overs, wall balls, and clean and jerks. It took me ten minutes to get through the first round. I was dieing! By the third round I didn't think I'd be able to finish. Coach Dylan McGwire saw I was struggling so he and a couple of CrossFit'ers who were already done went over to support me. Two of them were saying encouraging things while coach McGuire would count down from 5 anytime I was resting. Once he got zero he told me "go!". I did. And each rep hurt worse as I got more out of breath and fatigued. But I finished. It took me 20 minutes and 51 seconds. But I finished. I was the slowest of the entire box. But I finished. After the workout I was so exhausted I couldn't do anything but sit on the couch. But I finished!

My weight hasn't moved in three weeks. I'm still stuck at 319lbs. I assume it's because I'm gaining muscle. But I'm not certain. Avatar Nutrition has consistently lower my daily macros. And I'm getting to the point that I'm hungry. But I still haven't lost any weight. I guess all I can do is workout, eat clean, log my food, and do what Avatar Nutrition tells me to do. Worse case scenario is I'll be healthier than I was before picking up CrossFit and flexible dieting. The USPA New Mexico powerlifting state championships is in a little over three weeks. There's no way I'll be a natural 307 by then. If I want to lift in the 307lb weight class I'll have to cut water weight before weigh ins. I haven't had to do that since my Brazillian jui-jitsue days over a decade ago

New Mexico Junior Wrestling and New Mexico youth weightlifiting

My youngest son is a wrestler. He's only lost three matches in the last 2 years of wrestling. This year he's 8 years old and weighs 53 pounds. Unless he looses weight by his first wrestling tournament he'll be competing in the 8 and under age group 53-57 pound class. He'll be one of the older but lighter kids this year. Last year he was one of the youngest and lightest in his age group and weight class and he still did pretty good. I'm excited about this year.

My oldest son is 10 and weighs 29.09 kilos. He has a real love for weightlifting. He's been training with his weightlifiting coach, Vernon Smith, for about 5 or 6 months. I looked up the New Mexico weightlifting state records for his weight class. There are none for the 13 and under age 25-29 kilo or the 13 and under 31-35 kilo weight classes. So all he has to do is lift one good snatch and one good clean and jerk and he'll be a state record holder. His first weightlifiting meet will be the 2018 New Mexico games.

Wodify

When logging today's workout on Wodify there was a gold medal next to my name. Turns out that means I lifted the most weight in the CrossFit box for today's workout. I never thought I'd see that happen. There's all sorts of things that motivate in this box. Even the logging program is motivating. Hopefully I'll get another 1st someday.

Double metcon

My weight loss has plateaued again. I'm stuck at 319. I'm getting stronger and my speed and endurance is increasing so I'm trying not to get frustrated. My next weigh in is on Sunday. Without any weight loss Avatar Nutrition will decrease my macros. I haven't been hungry at all the last few weeks. So that's probably a good thing.

 Today's WOD was brutal. The strength session was a metcon workout. It was:
12 clean and jerks
50 double unders
9 clean and jerks
50 double unders
6 clean and jerks
50 double unders

And then the WOD was another metcon of:
24 kettle bell swings
12 ring dips
20 kettle bell swings
10 ring dips
16 kettle bell swings
8 ring dips

Powerlifting and CrossFit

Last night I attempted one heavy snatch and one heavy clean and jerk. And the weight I lifted was rediculously low. The last couple years I've been struggling at weightlifiting. I love weightlifting. But my body just isn't good at it. I can squat and deadlift very well. But not the snatch and clean and jerk. I've decided I'm going to train CrossFit and powerlifting. Which works well because I really like the powerlifting coach I've been training with. I know how rediculous this is. I've flip flopped between weightlifiting and powerlifting a dozen times the last couple years. I need to decide and stick to it. I think this time I will. But then again I thought I'd decided a bunch of times before and it changed shortly.

RX CrossFit, sore shoulders, and recovery

I've been completely wiped out. I need a day to recover. A day that I don't workout. I was supposed to take today off. But when I looked at today's WOD I realized I could RX this one. So I drank a ton of coffee and went for a 9am workout. The WOD was as many rounds as possible of snatches 115 lbs and toes to bars. The reps of each round got bigger each round. 3 of each exercise, then 6 of each, then 9, etc. I was handling the weight of the snatches fine. But my shoulders we killing me. So I had to drop the weight to 95 lbs. And I'm still to overweight to do toes to bars. My belly's to big. So I did hanging knee ups. That's progress. Also couple weeks ago I couldn't do knee ups. I had to lay on the floor and do leg raises. So I thought I could do RX. But I didn't.

Tomorrow is weightlifiting. I never miss weightlifting. So my next day of recovery will be Tuesday. Let's hope my shoulders can make it through one more day of weightlifiting. My shoulders are killing me. I'm still not %100 sure me doing CrossFit is a good idea or not. CrossFit is really hard on my shoulders.

Powerlifting state championships

The USPA new Mexico state championships is in 4 more weeks! I'm getting antsy. I only participated in one competition the entire year. Normally I compete in close to ten a year.

I'm still losing weight, but it's  slowed down a lot. I'm not sure if I'll be competing as a super heavyweight or a 307lb'er  There's no state records in the 307lb or the Super Heavyweight classic division. And in all 10 of the powerlifting meets I've done I've never once had someone else compete in my age group and weight class. So if, as usual, no one else competes in my age group or weight class but me I'll be USPA state champion two years running and set another 4 state records. There's so few overweight masters athletes out there in powerlifting and weightlifiting it makes winning easy as showing up. I love lifting as a masters athlete.

Weight loss, getting back in shape, and CrossFit

I'm exhausted. After doing minimal training last year I'm doing CrossFit 3 days a week, weightlifiting 3 days a week, and a bench press program 3 days a week. I'm taking tomorrow off from training. I'm just going to eat healthy and recover.

I can tell my physique is changing. My clothes are fitting much looser. And my wife freaked out a couple days ago when we hugged. She said my midsection had gotten so much smaller it was like hugging a stranger. I'm losing WAY more weight in the last two weeks with CrossFit than I was doing powerlifting and track training. That's one thing I remember from back in the day at Zia CrossFit in Santa Fe NM. CrossFit gets you in shape QUICK! But I also remember being chronically injured. And this morning at weightlifiting practice my shoulders hurt so bad I couldn't do my push press sets. I'm struggling with my decision to go back to CrossFit. Yes, it'll get me back in shape and help me lose weight quicker than anything else. But I'm already beat to hell and it's only been 2 weeks. Is it worth it?

Eat and sleep!

Last night I struggled getting through my weightlifting workout. Once I got home I was so exhausted I couldn't get off the couch. I finally mustered enough energy to eat and shower. Then I collapsed into bed. I slept for ten hours. Once I awoke I weighed in, increased my macros on MyFitnessPal,  and ate a big healthy meal. Now I feel like a million bucks!

All week my calories were really low. Probably to low. I gained two pounds this week. I weighed in at 319 with 31% body fat. I assume the weight gain is either my body freaking out from not having enough fuel, water retention, or muscle gains. I'm doing a ton of strength training right now. Weightlifting 3 times a week and 3-4 days a week of CrossFit. But even with that much strength training I'm assuming 2 pounds of muscle gains in one week is pretty much an impossibility. I increased my calories on Avatar Nutrition to only lose a moderate amount of weight instead of the extreme weight loss option. I guess my next weigh in on 11/7/17 will show me if I made the right choice.

To much on to little calories

Tonight at weightlifting I could barely finish my workout. I'm exhausted. After doing minimal training the last year I jumped full throttle back into weightlifting 3 nights a week, CrossFit 3 nights a week, and calorie restriction. I'm trying to do to much, to soon, with not enough calories. Tonight I'm getting a full 9 hours sleep. Tomorrow I'll increase my calories and do less weight at CrossFit. I got much to excited about getting down to the 105k weight class. I need to slow down my weight loss and take care of my body. I'm not as young as I used to be. My body isn't nearly as able to tolerate the abuse it used to.

Bear Canyon CrossFit barbell club

Last night I did my first weightlifiting workout with Bear Canyon CrossFit barbell club. I had a lot of fun. The people were really friendly, welcoming, and supportive. I was definitely training with a group of like minded people. I enjoyed it a lot. The head coach Dylan was pretty knowledgeable.

The next 7 weeks we'll be doing a pretty aggressive squat program. I'm looking forward to gaining back the strength I'd lost the last year. This gives me 8 months to prepare for my big 2018 goal of The New Mexico games weightlifiting meet. Plenty of time to get my game back.

I seem to be recovering better this week from the crazy hard CrossFit workouts I'm doing 3-4 days a week. It didn't seem to hurt my weightlifiting training last night much, if at all.

Flexible dieting

Tonight after dinner I had 2 pieces of bacon for dessert. I've been craving bacon for a week. Those were the best bacon I'd ever had! It's funny how when your dieting even the smallest food treats can be so amazing. At first I really didn't like flexible dieting. But I'm starting to enjoy it. On Wednesday I'll be eating 1 cup of pistachios. Consequently the rest of my meals that day will just be base vegetables and chicken breast. But I sure am looking forward to eating those pistachios!!!

CrossFit, Avatar Nutrition, and the New Mexico USPA state championships

Yesterday was my scheduled weigh in day. I lost 9 pounds this week. I have no idea why my body dropped so much weight this week. Perhaps it's because I'm doing such intense workouts in CrossFit? I dunno. But Avatar Nutrition increased my calories to 2094 a day. I'm still in shock that I lost 9 pounds eating 1900 calories a day. But I'll take it gladly! If I continue to drop an average of 3 pounds a week then I'll be able to compete in the 307lb weight class in the 2017 New Mexico USPA (powerlifting) state championships on December 9th. I've only competed as a super heavyweight. Competing as something other than a super heavyweight will be pretty awesome. I looked up the 307lb USPA New Mexico state powerlifting records. I can beat them. 

Weightlifting, CrossFit, and powerlifting

Weightlifting is my baby. Has been for about a half decade. I'm not saying I'm great at it or consistent. Just that I love it. It's the most complicated and rewarding sport I've ever competed in.

In addition to weightlifting I also enjoy competing in powerlifting. Weightlifting training transfers well into squat and deadlift, but not bench press. So not only will I be doing weightlifting and CrossFit I'll also be training bench press. I maxed out on bench this morning and I was pleasantly surprised. 285lbs! That's the 3rd most I've ever maxed. 

I completed 3 CrossFit workouts in the last 4 days. I woke up this morning and was exhausted. I needed a day of recovery. Tomorrow I'm doing another CrossFit workout. And then on Monday I'll be starting a weightlifting program with coach Dylan McGwire out of Bear Canyon CrossFit. It'll be my first training session with coach McGwire. I'm exited and nervous. I'm hoping it's quality weightlifting coaching. If it's not then I'll have to start training at High Dessert Athletic Club with Joaquin Chaves or Iron Soul with Vernon Smith. Going to two different gyms, one CrossFit box, and one weightlifting gym would make training much more difficult and costly. I'll keep you informed on how the coaching and training is.

Bear Canyon CrossFit and Bear Canyon CrossFit barbell club

Like I said in my last post, I miss weightlifting. I can't train at the two places I want to train at because of my work schedule, High Dessert Athletic Club or with Vernon Smith. And I won't train weightlifting by myself. Weightlifting by  yourself sucks! So I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how/where to train. I found a CrossFit gym a block from my house. I remembered watching them compete in the state games this summer and thinking to myself that they were the only CrossFit weightlifting team I'd ever seen that had decent weightlifting form. So yesterday I drove to Bear Canyon CrossFit to try them out. I did a CrossFit workout both yesterday and today. I'm in REALLY bad shape. No cardio what so ever. I had to keep dropping my weight until I was down to the girls R/X weight. Today I decided I wasn't going to lower my weights during the workout. I started at the girls R/X weight right off the bat. And the workout was still hard with that light of weight. I'm in really bad shape! No one seemed to be judge me. As a matter of a fact they were all super supportive. I also trained with their barbell club. It was max day. So I maxed out my snatch and clean and jerk. I've lost a rediculous amount of strength and explosiveness. I maxed at a 86k snatch and 110k c & j. Those are down from 100k & 125k. That's a big loss of strength. I want to get back into weightlifting, I need to lose a crap ton of weight, and I need to get my cardio back. So I joined for a month long membership. The big question is, how is thier weightlifting coaching? If the weightlifting coaching is good, I'll sign a year long membership. If not then I'll just go back to Vernon Smith's powerlifting program. I'll keep you updated on my progress and what I think of Bear Canyon CrossFit and thier barbell club.

Starting point:
Body weight- 326lb (down from 346)
Max snatch- 86k
Max clean and jerk- 110k

Goals:
Do a competition at 224lbs (the lowest I've ever competed in a weightlifting comp is 288lbs)
Sntach- 101k (1k above lifetime PR)
Clean and jerk- 126k (1k above lifetime PR)
And of course my long time and biggest goal- qualify for the Masters National weightlifting championships

Breaking up is hard to do

My family and I returned from vacationing the North East. I planned on training while on vacation. I didn't. But I didn't overeat much while gone. So that's a plus. When I returned I realized something that I've known for a long time. I don't enjoy training powerlifting. I love competing in powerlifting meets. But I don't enjoy the training. I miss weightlifting. I love weightlifting training. And I love weightlifting meets. I miss obsessing over my former goal of qualifying for the Masters national weightlifting championships (I did qualify once in my 5+ years of weightlifting). So I guess what this means is I'm going to stop powerlifting. That sucks because I love my new powerlifting coach, Vernon Smith. He's awesome. I love the way he programs and I think the world of him as a person. I'm not sure how to break this to him. I think, honestly, I need to approach this like a business transaction. I tend to get overly attached to my coaches and feel guilty and stressed when I choose to move on to another coach or another sport. Especially my last few. My weightlifting coach Joaquin Chaves and my nutrition coach Barry Schroeder. I adore botth of them. I still feel guilty when I see them or talk to one of them. So long story short I want to go back to weightlifting. My current work schedule doesn't work with my two favorite weightlifting coaches here in Albuquerque, Joaquin Chaves or Vernon Smith (Vernon coaches both powerlifting and weightlifting). So I need to try and figure out something. Not sure what yet. But I'll work it out somehow.

The 3rd annual CrossFit Hellbox triathlon race report

I really wanted to compete in the 3rd annual CrossFit Hellbox triathlon in Rio Rancho NM. But the 2nd WOD looked brutal. So instead of competing I spectated. Turns out the WODs weren't as bad as they looked. I could have completed it. I may have been one of the slowest. But I could have done it. I should have done it. I only need 14 more triathlons to complete my bucket list of 100 multi-sport events. And I've never done a CrossFit triathlon before. 100 multi-sport events completed would have looked great on my athletic resume! Earlier this year I also chickened out of competing in the New Mexico games track and field meet. If I'd have signed up my finishing time would have put me in third place in my age group. Am I turning into a coward in my old age? I used to sign up and compete in ANYTHING! Even if it was something I'd never done or had very little experience. I have a new resolution. I'm going to stop being so cautious and tentative. I've gotten soft since turning 40. That's going to change! I have no clue how long I'm going to be on this Earth. So I want to make the best of it while I can. I'm going to register for all sorts of stuff next year. Anything at all that I'm doing or have done in the past I'm going to compete in. Especially if it's considered a "state championships". I'm putting this out there now. Next year I'm going to compete in the:
1) 2018 NM games for weightlifting
2) 2018 NM games for track,
3) the state state championships USPL (powerlifting)
4) the state championships for NASA (powerlifting)
5) the state championships for USPA (powerlifting)
6) some sort of 2018 CrossFit games, local or otherwise
7) the 4th annual CrossFit Hellbox triathlon
8) and possibly one or more other multi-sport events.

 Next year will be epic. Did I really just use the word epic? What am I 12 years old?

Week two of my return and winter post bid

My weight training has been excellent. My strength is returning. I'm not getting sore anymore from the strength training sessions. I've been following my diet plan from Avatar Nutrition perfectly. I've lost 25 pounds so far. I'm down to 321 pounds. I haven't felt focus like this since my best triathlon years of 2008-2010. Anyways, 97 more pounds to lose until I get to my goal weight of of 224 (the 105k weight class). Hopefully by the 2018 New Mexico state games, the weightlifting state championships.

On Tuesday we leave for vacation for New York for 7 days. I'll find a gym and continue my workouts while on vacation. But there's no way I'm going to follow my diet plan. I'll just pick it up when I get back.

I post bid for work on October 19th. The next bid will last 5 months. There's a shift I'm hoping I get. It's Monday- Friday, weekends and holidays off, 1230-1930. That would be perfect for my training and my kids. I could spend the morning with them. Make them breakfast, make thier lunches, help them get ready for school, drop them off to school, I'd have a couple hours to train in the weight room and track before work, get home in time to eat a late dinner with the kids, tuck them in, and be able to spend a couple hours with the wife before bedtime. Sounds like a dream shift to me. The only down side is it's only 35 hours a week. But I figure I deserve it after working 75-90 hours a week for 10.5 out of the last 11 years.

Avatar Nutrition and flexible eating

The times in my life I've lost a significant weight I did it with low carb eating or a computer program called Diet Power. Diet Power was awesome because it adjusted my calories to ensure I hit a certain weight of my choosing by a certain date also of my choosing. The big problem with Diet Power was it was a computer program that was downloaded with a disk. So I had to carry a lap top with me everywhere. I also tried flexible eating with a diet coach. That worked well. I thoroughly enjoyed having someone knowledgeable there to tell me how many carbs, fat, and protein I needed to eat to make my goals. I also really enjoyed being able to log my food and prepare meals with absolute control and accuracy of carbs, fat, and protein. But a nutrition coach was expensive and having to report my daily successes and failures with feed back every week was to much pressure for me.

I recently found a website that seems to have all of the positive aspects of a nutrition coach and Diet Power on a mobile site for your phone. It's called Avatar Nutrition. It allows me to prepare and log food. And it also adjusts my calories, carbs, fat, and protein to ensure I'm maintaining my weight loss goals.

I started it today. I'll be able to use it until my family and I leave for a 7 day vacation in New York. During that time I'll put the Avatar Nutrition program on vacation mode, so I'll be able to start back where I left off when I get back from vacation.

Current weight 325lbs, down from 346lbs a month ago. My goal is to get down to the 220's.

I'll keep you updated on how I'm doing and what I think of Avatar Nutrition.

High quality training and recovery on the return

I've lost 20 pounds since hiring a powerlifting coach, a track coach, working less, sleeping more, concentrating on nutrition, and putting myself first for once. On Sunday I did deadlifts from the blocks and my biggest weakness, lunges. On Monday my quads and glutes were so sore I dared not do my sprint training for fear of injury. On Tuesday I was recovered enough to do another strength training session. I was able to squat 15 pounds more than I did a week ago. And today I completed 5X125 meter sprints on an incline in front of GI Sanchez middle school before going in to watch my daughter's volleyball game. I already feel faster now with less training than I did earlier this year. Getting enough sleep and not working myself to death is the key to gains. Who knew?

First week with coach Vernon Smith

I finished my first week of being trained by Coach Vernon Smith. I sent him an update of how my week went. He sent me an amazing email explaining what we're doing, why the training I'm doing effected me the way it did, what to expect from my body in the next couple weeks, and what to expect from the training program in the upcoming weeks.

I understood coming into this that he was knowledgeable. But I wasn't expecting such great communication. Most coaches aren't able to spend that much time to go that into detail. Thus far I'm beyond happy with him as a coach.

The third annual Hellbox CrossFit triathlon

The WOD for the third annual Hellbox triathlon came out. I was wanting to do it. But this year's WOD is way to hard. Only super stud athletes will be doing it this year. I'm going to go and watch it. But you couldn't pay me enough to do it. If next year's CrossFit triathlon is a bit easier I'll do it. But not if it's anything like this year's. This year's is rediculous.

The Hellbox CrossFit triathlon

I just saw on Facebook that there will be a CrossFit triathlon here in Rio Rancho on October 22nd. That sounds like a ton of fun... And pain. I only need 17 more triathlons and duathlons to complete my bucket list of finishing 100 tri's and du's. Having a CrossFit triathlon on the list of 100 would be awesome. I'm going to train for this next year! Danm, that would be cool.

Last year this was what the tri and WODs looked like:

2nd Annual CrossFit HellBox Triathlon, Sunday, October 23rd, 8:30am. Swim, Bike, Run with a CrossFit Twist! 

Swim: 400 Meters (Individual and Team)

Transition WOD: Kettlebell Swings (Individual 50, Team 150)

Bike:10 miles (Individual and Team)

Transition WOD: Chipper

(50 Wall Balls, 40 Sit Ups, 30 Overhead Weighted Lunges 45/25#, 

20 Burpees, 10 Pull Ups. Individual 1 Round, Each Person in the 

Team completes 1 Round of the Chipper)

Run: 2 Miles (Individual and Team)

Back into it at 41

For the last three weeks I've been running stairs during my lunch, track training (100 & 200 meter) two days a week, powerlifting four days a week, and eating low carb. I hired a powerlifting coach, Vernon Smith. As of this morning I've lost 16 pounds. 106 more pounds to go.

My ultimate goal is to get back down to 224 pounds and compete in the 105k weight class of weightlifting. You may wonder, if his goal is weightlifting, why is he training powerlifting? I've tried losing weight with weightlifting before and it didn't work. I can easily maintain my weight with weightlifting. But not lose. I've heard this before from other people too. Im not the only one. Once I get down to 224 lbs I'll transition back to weightlifting. But until then I'll be doing low carb, powerlifting, and track training.

Day one back in the weight room

Yesterday was my first day of no longer working obscene amounts of overtime. After work yesterday I went to the gym. I haven't worked out consistently in almost a year. It felt great to get in there again. I'm pretty sore today. But again, I love it. It feels great.

Now that I've realized I need to make my health and happiness a priority i feel like a weight has been taken off my shoulders. I've realized the only one in this relationship who cares about my health and happiness is me. No more work weeks above 48hrs. If she makes more bad life decisions or wants a luxury item she needs to save for it or go out and earn extra money. It's as easy as that. I'm not going to kill myself with overtime anymore. 11 years of 80-90 hour work weeks was enough.

I also need to realize I'm partly to blame. At anytime I could have simply refused to work as many hours as I was. I should have. I didn't.

Training starting and working much less

Earlier this week my boss cut my hours from the 73 a week I had been working. At first I was freaking out. But I eventually realized this was the best possible thing for me. I emailed coach Vernon Smith and told him I wanted to hire him as my powerlifting coach. He had an opening for a client! The only down side was the days I'll be working out would be Wed, Fri, Sat, & Sun. Three days in a row is not a perfect training scenario. So today I called up my boss and told him I didn't want to work a 2nd shift on Monday's anymore. He agreed. So now I'll be able to work out Mon, We'd, Fri, and once on the weekend. From here on out I'm going to be spending more time working out, spending time with my kids, and sleeping. I'll never allow myself to be forced into working 70-90 hours a week ever again. I'll still be working 52 hours a week. So it's not like I've become a complete lazy slacker...... Could this be the fist step in me becoming happy for the first time in 11 years?

Dreams of spare time

I'd been working so many hours for so long that I had began to forget how to dream. I forgot what it was like to have enough spare time to do anything I want in life. To workout, to prepare meals, to have hobbies..... Since advising my wife I won't be working more than 48 hours a week as of November 1st I've started to day dream what my life will be like. Spending more time with my kids, making and having friendships, working out, sleeping a full 8 hours, being competitive in athletics. For the first time in over a decade I'm excited about about life. For the first time in 11 years I believe I'm going to be happy. I don't think my wife will be happy when she cashes my check with ungodly amounts of overtime. But I don't care anymore. She can either adjust her unrealistic lifestyle expectations or go and find someone else who can afford her.

New Mexico games track and field 2017 results

I had registered for the 2017 New Mexico games track and field 100m dash for the Masters division 40-44 age group. The weekend of the meet I was feeling sorry for myself because I'd been working a lot of overtime and hadn't trained like I wanted to. So I ended up not competing. I just looked up the results and there were only 2 people in my division. If I'd of competed I'd of been in third place at least.

1st place: Chris Barrett 12.67
2nd place: Vince Ortiz 13.14

Next year I will compete!

Marriage is slavery

I've been married for 13 years. I've worked 80-90 hours a week for the last 11 of them. I'm not a workaholic. I don't enjoy working extra hours. I'm beyond unhappy. I'm miserable. From very early in our marriage my wife had unrealistic lifestyle expectations. She spent more than two men could earn. And I had to work more than two men combined to try and out earn her spending.

I always wanted to be a doting husband. A selfless provider who put my wife's need above my own. My assumption was always that if I did enough for my wife, if I gave her the things she said would make her happy, if I sacrificed more than any other man could that she'd eventually love me enough that I wouldn't have to anymore. I was wrong. She'd rather me be exhausted, overworked, missing my kids, and depressed than to go without extra money or the things money can buy. I'm nothing more than a wage slave. A utility to have resources extracted from. I've known this for quite awhile. But I just kept trying. I'd work harder and I'd spend less so she could have more in the hopes I could finally win her over and have her choose me. In the hopes she'd love me enough to not want me to suffer anymore. All the while I'd beg and plead with her to please spend less so I could have a normal life. So I could work normal hours, have time with my kids, have hobbies, and be able to sleep a full 8 hours. Oh how I miss sleep! But last night I finally accepted the truth. She's ok with me suffering as long as she gets what she wants. She'll never put me and my needs above her own wants and desires. Last night I told her after the trip to New York in October I won't be working overtime anymore. If she wants something she'll have to save for it like responsible adults are supposed to do. There's been other times in  the past that I've told her I won't be working overtime. I've told her she won't be allowed to spend more than we make anymore. She always threw a fit. She'd say manipulative things. She'd try using shaming language. She'd blame me and try to play the victim role. I'd always cave in. I'm hoping this time I'll stand my ground and do what's best for the whole family. Me being home would be better for my kids, our marriage, and me. She definitely won't like it. She'll have to learn to accept it or file for a divorce. At this point I've been used and abused by her for so long I'm ok with either decision she makes.

After we get back from New York in October I'm getting back into athletics. I'm hiring a coach, probably coach Vernon Smith, I'll be eating right, sleeping enough, and for the first time in 13 years I will make sure I'm happy. She won't like it. But I don't care.

The end of training for......

I finally got the problems for my pituitary gland fixed. I feel so much better now. I have more energy. And I'm sure once I'm able to start working out again I'll start  getting gains again. But I can't work out right now. Earlier this year my wife got a invitation for a wedding in New York City. She desperately wanted for all five of us to go. We made a deal. I'd pick up a couple extra shifts a week and she'd get a part time job on her 2 days off. We also agreed we wouldn't go unless we could save the money in cash. We wouldn't use credit cards, loans, or tap into our emergency fund. As the months passed I continued to do my part picking up extra shifts. But she hasn't done anything at all to earn any extra money for the trip. Last month I reminded her that since she hasn't held up her end of the deal we haven't saved enough money to be able to go. She told me she didn't care if we had the money to go or not, that she and the kids are going. She said she'd use credit cards or empty out our emergency fund if she had too. I don't want her to put us in another horrible mess financially like she has so many times in the past. So for over a month I'm working from 5:30am-8:00pm every weekday. I don't even have enough time to sleep, much less workout. I'm overly fatigued and I miss seeing my children. Since starting to work like this again I'm gaining weight hand over fist. I worked 80-90 hours a week from 2006-2014 because of her bad decisions and disregard for me. And here I am doing it again. It's unfair. I'm tired of being a wage slave.

More men died by suicide last year than in WWII. The reason is ignored or repressed. Studies are met with animosity.

My opinion is that the majority of men's suicides are by middle aged married men or men being destroyed by divorce, family courts, unfair alimony, spousal support, and child support.

Most married men have to work a rediculous amount of hours or work jobs they don't like in order to support their wife's lifestyle expectations. The wife rarely has a job that could support her unrealistic lifestyle expectations so the man has to pick up the slack working hours and jobs he'd never have chosen if he was on his own. But the married man is trapped. He can't escape this nightmare. If he stops working the excessive hours and/or goes back to the jobs that would make him happy his wife will leave him or she'll continue her spending and he'd be in bankruptcy court. Once she realizes he can't provide her the lifestyle or the things in life she expects she'll start looking for someone who will or she'll want a divorce. The husband will get stuck with all the debt. She'll get all the assets. And he'll lose his kids.

Let's look at the numbers. If I make $50k a year the government will take just shy of %35 ($17,500) in taxes. Then I'll pay child support for three kids ($12,500). Plus approximately $600-$800 a month in alimony or spousal support ($9,600). So that leaves me $10,400 a year to live on. That's less than a thousand $ a month. The only way I can have my kids stay the night at my place on the days I have them is if I have a place the state deems appropriate. That alone would take almost all of the money I'd have left over. I'd have no money for food, gas, utilities, clothes..... So the way I see it is there are only 3 options.
1) continue to be a wage slave and live a miserable existence of working 60-90 hours a week with no help.
2) divorce and live an even worse life of being broke and never seeing my kids.
3) suicide....

I don't want a divorce. All I really want is for my wife to act like an adult. I want her to stop making bad decisions that only I pay the consequences for. I feel like she's an entitled child living in an adults body. I'm a wage slave and there's no end to the suffering. I'm tired of working so many hours. I'm tired of feeling like the person who is most comfortable with me suffering is my own wife. I want a partner. A helper. I want to be a part of a team. What I'm experiencing is not team work. It's abuse.

Goodbye Dad

My natural father and I were very close when I was younger. He used to pick me up on weekends and every other holiday. Once he moved farther away he'd fly me out to visit him every other summer, spring, and Christmas break. And then when I was 12 he disappeared without any warning. I found him again in 2002. He was living in Truth or Consequences New Mexico, just a few hours from where I've lived my entire adult life. I visited him and I asked if I could could see him every once in awhile. Maybe catch a movie or something. He responded, "that would be abandoning my family." His response made no sense to me at all. Obviously seeing a movie or going out to dinner occasionally isn't abandoning anyone. And I was his family. I didn't contact him again until after my wife and I had three kids together. I thought he'd like to meet them and get to know them. I was wrong. He's never called on anyone's birthdays, Christmas, etc. Last Christmas he traveled the country to spend time visiting each of his kids and step kids. Everyone of them but me. He didn't call when his Dad died. I wouldn't have known about my grandpa's funeral if one of my cousins hadn't called and told me. I called him on father's day. He said he heard in February that my father-in-law died. He knew for two months and never even bothered to call and see how we were doing. Since getting back into contact with him the only times he's ever called was to tell me I was cut out of his will. And another time to tell me he was going to give the watch my grandpa left to me when he died to my uncle instead. Id gladly trade inheritance and my grandfather's heirloom for an occasional phone call. Would an "I love you son" be to much to ask? I've tried really hard to build a relationship with him. But I've come to realize he is dead set against one. At the time I didn't understand what he meant when he told me he'd be abandoning his family if he spent time with me. It's taken me until now to understand that what he meant was he didn't want to spend time with me at all. Ever. I should have known back then. Perhaps I was in denial. But I understand now..... I wish I could say I won't miss you.  But I will. I have mourned over your absence for 29 years. It felt like there was a void created in my heart once you bailed out of my life.... Goodbye Dad. Even though you don't deserve it, I love you. And I'll miss you deeply.

Medical update

I saw an endocrinologist this week. She believes my poor strength, inability to recover, weight gain, and fatigue has to do with me getting ran over by a car. She believes my pituitary gland was damaged. In addition to low testosterone I also had no detectable human growth hormone, my calcium has dropped significantly, etc. I'm having more tests done to see what we can do about it. Until we figure it out she requested I slow down or stop training altogether.

Poor performance and recovery

I've noticed I'm not making gains or recovering like I used to..... No matter how much I try to lose weight I can't..... Seems the harder I work the weaker and fatter I get..... I get night horrible sweats to the point the bed is soaked..... i expect some of these due to age but not this much. I finally broke down and went to see my doctor. Turns out I have very low testosterone..... I'm not sure what to think about this yet. I'm almost relieved that I finally have an actual reason that I'm feeling like this. I have an appointment with an endocrinologist this week. I'll keep y'all updated as I find things out.

Sold my baby

I've had a Cannondale Slice for a long time.

I put a lot of miles on it. Almost 12,000 miles. I'm very emotionally attached to this bike. I tried selling it on Craigslist. But when people came over to look at it I'd end up telling them I'd changed my mind.

This weekend my cousin came up from Lubbock Texas. He said if I was selling it he'd really like to buy it. I was so excited! He takes really great care of his bikes. This couldn't have worked out better. My beautiful bike has a good home.

Weightlifter

This week I've been training really hard. My legs are trashed. Last night I wasn't able to finish my clean and jerk workout. That rarely happens. I'm going to increase my calorie intake by 50 a day to see if that helps. This morning I woke up and my legs are still tired. But I'm going back to High Dessert Athletic Club this morning anyways. There was a period of time that I was struggling to decide if I wanted to be a weightlifter or a powerlifter. I tried powerlifting. I didn't like it. I have focus now. A focus I was missing before. I'm a weightlifter.

Weightlifting hard!

This week has been a great week for weightlifting training, track training, and eating. During my taper for the state games I was missing working out so bad! This week I've thrown myself back into it hard. I seem to be making progress on eliminating the pause I have at the knee. I also have new motivation. My best buddy started dating a girl with a sad story. After her divorce she started working hard on losing weight. She's lost 120 pounds. Her feelings are hurt because her ex-husband only wanted her back after she lost the weight. And her ex-husband is hurt because he feels she was only willing to get in shape for other men, not him. I've always prided myself on being a selfless and doting husband. But that girl's story made me realize that me being overweight may cause problems in the way my wife sees and appreciates me. Me being kind, hard working, selfless and a good father for her children just  may not be enough.

Great financial news

On May 31st, 7 days ago I finished paying off my father in law's funeral and our state tax bill. It took a few months of pounding out a lot of overtime. But it's finally paid off. I'm exhausted​ and ready to catch up on rest, but we're caught up with our finances.
I know I posted this a couple weeks ago. But here it is again. From 2007-2015 I worked 42,120 hours. That's 4,680 hours a year. An average person that works 40 hours a week works 2,080 hours a year. I averaged more than double that. Being put in a position that I was forced to work overtime for so long caused a lot of problems including but not limited to severe depression. I'd never struggled with depression before that. I'm really sick of overtime. I'm hoping this is the end of me having to hammer out overtime. It's doubtful. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The 2017 New Mexico games weightlifting report

91/117/208k
BW 148.8k

Today I competed in the 2017 New Mexico games. This meet is the state championships for weightlifting. I'd won the last three years in my age group and weight class. This year I wasn't expecting to do very well. I was out for 6 months with a non-weightlifting related back injury. I've only been back to training for three and a half weeks.

When I first got there I was so happy. I saw all my current teammates, teammates from my former gym, and other weightlifting buddies I've made over the last 5 years. I love weightlifting so much. A lot of the reason is the people. The only person I didn't get to see who I was looking forward to seeing was David B from my old gym. He and I lifted at the same time the full 3.5 years I lifted in Santa Fe. I absolutely adore him and his wife. They're great people who I miss seeing and training with.

Pictured below is my former coach Shane Miller and my current coach Joaquin Chaves. I love both these guys so much. They are more than just friends and mentors.

 I also was lucky enough to be able to get a picture with my current coach, former coach, and my former nutrition coach Barry Schroeder. I'm going to have this picture framed and I'm going to hang it in with my families pictures. Barry was the one who was my motivation to get into weightlifting long ago and he took me under his wing and taught me about weightlifting specific nutrition.

The last couple weeks I haven't been able to snatch anything more than 86k. I only made 84k two out of 7 attempts. Coach Joaquin Chaves told me he wanted to start out at 90k. I begged him to let me start at 74k. He told me he wanted me to start out at 84 at least. He said he knew I could get a 90 easy. Long story short, I made 3 good lifts for the snatch. 84/88/91. Even after 6 months away from weightlifting I was able to get within 9k of my lifetime best snatch of 100k. Coach Chavez was right. I made 91k easy. No problem at all. I need to trust him. He knows my ability more than I do. Anytime I ever doubt him I always find out he was right. 

The clean and jerks felt great also. I made a 114k/117k and missed a 121. There was no reason at all for me to have missed the 121. I pulled it high enough. I just had that same pause at the knee that I usually do with my snatches.

I've noticed the last few weeks my strength has come back quickly. But it's taking me longer to recover between sets than it used to. I never told coach Chaves I wasn't recovering as quickly. I also never told him during the meet that to do well I'd need more time between lifts. But he knew. And after every set he'd change my weight two or three times to buy me extra recovery time. Thanks in large part to my coach I finished 1st in my age group and weight class. This was the fourth straight year I was state champion. But this time it was just plain luck. I was the only one in my division competing.

Now that I'm back into the weightlifting game my next goal is to qualify for the 2018 masters national weightlifting championships that will be held in Buffalo NY. I'll need a 230k total. That's only 22k more than my total today. That gives me plenty of time.

It's been 6.5 months since my last sports competition. That was the longest I'd gone without competing since 2004. I missed competition. My next sporting event is the New Mexico games track and field on June 24th. Its going to be held at Milne stadium in Albuquerque New Mexico. Thats within walking distance of my house!

My son and weightlifting training

I contacted one of my former weightlifting coaches, Vernon Smith, and asked if he'd be willing to train my oldest son. He agreed! My son starts training on Thursday June 1st, 2017. We're both really excited.

I got called in for jury duty. I'm hoping I get chosen. I've always thought being on a jury would be fascinating.

A weightlifting wizard

I'm not sure if everyone at High Dessert Athletic Club gets as much from coach Chaves's coaching as I do. But I'm constantly amazed by his ability to diagnose and fix problems with form. The last week my snatches have been absolute crap. After the first couple reps coach Chaves went over and started his magic.

  "Cody, your hesitating after the knee. That pause is causing negative momentum. Which is why your dropping to the front."

  Next set: " Cody, your concentrating on staying over the bar. Which is good. But your overthinking it. It's causing the pause at the knee. Now stay over the bar without slowing down". 

Next set: "now your slowing down to much during the whole lift. Your concentrating on making sure you're getting a good lift so much that you've slowed the whole snatch down. EXPLODE! Don't hesitate! Some of your best lifts are missed. Some are your worst lifts are makes. Now come on. EXPLODE!"

  Not only was he able to see what I was doing wrong with my form, he even told me what I was thinking while I was doing it. And he was right every damn time! Coach Chaves is amazing. I'm so greatfull to have wandered into his gym. 

The pain in my shoulders and elbows is almost gone already. I think I'll be fine at the New Mexico games this Suñday.

Help with my snatches

Last week was a great week for clean and jerks. Up until this week the most I'd I c&j was 100k. This week I lifted 110k multiple times. But my snatches were horrible this week. I dropped just about everything I tried. Coach Chaves saw I saw struggling and he diagnosed the problem. Just l like always. His ability to figure out what's wrong with a person's form and help them fix it is unmatched. He helped me a lot this week. I can't say I'm going in to the New Mexico games confident in my snatches. But I'm going in knowing they're better than they were last week.

My shoulders and elbows have been bothering me a bit this week.

Nutrition and less weightlifting support

I learned a ton from my former nutrition coach Barry Schroeder. I decided I'd try some of the things I learned from him. I spent the last 15 days logging everything I ate and measuring how much I weighed. Based off of those two numbers I figured out my metabolic rate. It's a little over 4,100 calories a day. So I'm going to eat 3,400 calories on days I do weightlifting. And 2,800 on days I don't train. That should put me at a 7000 calorie a week deficit. 7,000 calories should make me lose approximately 2 pounds. I doubt I'll stick with it for long. I never do. But I'll try it for now.

My weightlifting coach, Joaquin Chaves, told me he wanted me to train three times this week. Monday, Wednesday, and today.  I wasn't able to train this morning at High Dessert Athletic Club. Normally I'd just shoot him a text and ask him to send me the workout for me to do on my own. But he told me not to text him anymore. I waited all day to see if he'd text me a workout. I never got one. Coach Chaves is looking for ways to decrease the demands in his life. I'm doing my best to be patient and understanding.....