The Truth Hurts…

So I’ve been having issues with pain in both shoulders on and off for the last 2 years, and today I went and saw the 3rd orthopedic doctor about this extremely annoying recurring problem, as the last 2 doctors were unable to come up with any answers. I already underwent physical therapy and still do the stretches and exercises on my own at home, and while they have helped my range of motion improve, the pain persists. In many cases, it also prevents me from reaching my full potential on certain crossfit movements. Well I finally got an answer today…

The diagnosis? Impingement Syndrome. That basically means there’s not enough room between the bone on the top of my shoulder (the acromion) and my rotator cuff, so when I raise my arms, the acromion rubs against/impinges on the rotator cuff tendons and the bursa (small lubricating sac between the acromion and the rotator cuff), causing pain, irritation and inflammation. Woohoo.  The treatment? Each shoulder got an extremely painful shot of novacain, followed by shots of cortisone, a steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine – which were equally painful despite the fact that my shoulders were supposed to be numb from the novacain. And if you know me, you know I have a very high tolerance for pain, so you also know those shots really friggin’ HURT! Now I’m supposed to ice heavily for the next two days, followed by little to no overhead movements or lifting for the next 4 weeks. That’s right, 4 whole weeks. If you’re a crossfitter you know how long that actually is. Ugh. Which also means that if you’re a fellow crossfitter, I’m expecting you to hold me accountable to not pushing myself and focusing on lower body movements for the next 4 weeks, so my shoulders can actually heal. Guess that muscle-up is just going to have to wait….

It’s all in the family

So I was perusing facebook this morning, and I noticed an interesting trend. Pretty much most, if not all, of my friends who are crossfitters either have a picture of them at crossfit as their current profile picture, a past profile picture, or at least a decent collection of pictures from crossfit in one of their albums. My friends who are not crossfitters have the usual social pictures, cute head shots, etc, and many of my rugby teammates do have rugby action shots in their collection – but not one picture from the gym, whether it’s Gold’s or Best, or Planet Fitness – nope, not one. A little bizarre don’t you think? Why is this? It’s actually pretty simple – crossfit is not a gym. What, you say, of course it’s a gym, you work out there don’t you? Well yes, but it’s so much more than a gym. For one, I would actually consider it to be a sport. I don’t just go there to workout, I go there to compete, whether it’s in a daily WOD where I’m competing against myself for a good time on a metcon, or for a PR on a heavy lift, or whether I’m competing against my fellow athletes in an in-house (and maybe someday a regional) competition. Notice I said athletes, not gym-goers. It takes an immense amount of dedication, determination and mental strength to be a crossfitter – there is no such thing as an easy workout here. So of course when I go and I bust my ass to be the best athlete I can be, of course I’m going to be proud of my efforts.  Secondly, and actually more important to me,  crossfit is a community, and in many cases, close enough to be considered family. Not only do I look forward to seeing my fellow crossfitters, coaches and trainers, I know what people go to certain classes and who coaches which class, and I know who I want to workout next to because I know we’ll push each other during the WOD. I’m not just happy when I hit a PR, I’m happy when my girlfriend hits a PR, I’m happy when my friends hit PRs, and I’m happy when the guy or girl next to me that I may or may not know very well or even at all hits a PR. I am proud of my family and who they are, what they put themselves through on a regular basis to be faster, stronger, healthier – but never getting cocky or arrogant about what they are capable of.  They have supported me from day one, when I didn’t know a thing about crossfit and had to unlearn all my old bad gym habits. They support me at my worst, when I’m in a bad mood, or when I was sick and barely able to train, and they support me at my best.  And I know for a fact that my fellow athletes feel the same way. So it makes sense that they all have pictures up on facebook of crossfit. Call it a cult if you will, people have, but we know what we are a part of and we are proud to call ourselves crossfitters. Truth be told, I’ll probably eventually retire from rugby, as other people will probably retire from their current sports or move on to another, we’ll all move different places at some point, meet new people, make new friends – but I know that no matter what, no matter where we go, we will never stop crossfitting.

When mind over matter doesn’t matter

So we’ve all heard it – think before you act, mind over matter, it’s a mental thing…. but what happens when your brain actually gets in the way? I’m starting to discover that when it comes to workouts, sometimes you just have to let go and stop thinking – because when you do, that’s when you find out what your real limits are. You’d be surprised at how much stronger your body is than your mind lets you believe. That 20 minute AMRAP from hell? Yes, you can finish it even though you think you can’t. That 20, 24, 36 inch box jump? Yes, you can make it. That heavy deadlift or squat might look intimidating with all those plates on the bar, and it’s heavier than you’ve ever lifted…. and yes, you can lift it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve completely psyched myself out because I let myself think too much about how heavy or how hard something was. So in this case it is a mental thing -  too mental. Most of my PR’s have come when I just shut my brain off and went for it. If you fail, you fail – what’s the worst that can happen? But you’ll never know if you don’t push yourself. Like I said, you’ll be surprised at what your body can actually do if you let it.  So against most conventional wisdom we’ve been given, here’s my advice – for however long your workout is, STOP THINKING. Don’t let your mind underestimate your true abilities. Don’t let fear get in the way of achieving your fitness goals. Just go for it. Go for that PR, go for Rx in a WOD and use a weight you’ve never used, conquer your suck list. And then after you’ve done whatever it is you’re trying to do, only then, go ahead and turn your brain back on – so you can think about what a kick-ass job you just did and bask in your awesomeness. Because you are awesome, no matter what you think.

National Champions!!

This year Women’s Division II was officially recognized under USA Rugby for the first time, with USA Rugby hosting the DII National Playoffs at the same time as the Premier League and Division I National Playoffs. Which is why it was even more exciting and significant that the Albany Knicks Women’s Rugby team won our first National Championship in our ten year history. And we got to go home with shiny gold medals and a big shiny trophy! Below is the press release for the weekend written by our amazing coach Lori Staples :-)

Albany Knickerbockers RFC Women win
2010 USA Rugby Division II National Championship

Mesa, Arizona, November 14th, 2010 -
The Albany Knickerbockers Rugby Football Club is proud to announce that their Women’s team won USA Rugby’s inaugural Division II National Championship Tournament, held in Mesa, Arizona November 12th – 14th. The Women defeated strong sides from Severn, Maryland and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and finally clinched the National Title by beating a young powerhouse team from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Women’s team brings home the title in a fitting tribute to their 10th anniversary as a part of the Knickerbockers organization.

This is the Albany Women’s second National Championship Finals appearance, having succumbed to a team from Raleigh, North Carolina in 2006. Arriving in Arizona with a full travelling squad of 24, the Women first took on Severn River (Mid-Atlantic # 2 seed), scoring almost immediately and controlling the match while making good use of strong substitutes. The team went on to win the game by a commanding 41 – 5 margin, with tries scored by Kristin Bonomo and Rachel Start of Albany, JoAnne Kos of Troy and 15 yr old Jenna Watson of Coxsackie.

The semifinal proved to be a re-match of a game Albany lost to Pittsburgh (Midwest # 1 seed) during the 2009 Invitational Tournament in Houston, Texas. This year, the Albany Women scored quickly with another JoAnne Kos try, but the score remained at 5 – 0 for much of the first half. Ruth Robertson of Albany added another try which Kos converted, bringing the score to 12 – 0 at the half. The second half saw strong Pittsburgh offense, but Albany countered with tries by Alicia Backus and Willow Eyres of Albany, ending the match at 22 – 0.

The Women arrived for the final match on November 14th with plenty of nervous energy, and the game started slowly for Albany with Albuquerque scoring first. The first half saw a lot of back and forth play with both teams making pushes into the other’s territory, but Albany was able to cross the try zone twice in the last five minutes of the half, as Kate Fuller of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Ruth Robertson breached Albuquerque’s defense to bring the score to 17 – 10. The second half of the final match started well for Albany as JoAnne Kos scored again but Albuquerque quickly countered with a try of their own. The final 10 minutes saw one more Albuquerque try, and additional Albany tries from Willow Eyres and Beth Fairall of Albany. It was 34 – 22 at the final whistle and the Albany Women were excited and proud to have won the USA Rugby Division II National Championship!

The Knickerbockers also congratulate JoAnne Kos on winning the 2010 Tournament MVP award.

Perspire, Persist, Perservere

Perserverence (n): steady persistence in a course of action in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement