Written by Alyssa Ritchey
I have been swamped with new decisions and new ideas. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about
my CrossFit & weightlifting training and my career as an athlete. As I prepare for Weightlifting Nationals in late July, I’m beginning to see the pressure of making weight and hitting the perfect total in order to qualify for Worlds. I never thought that I would compete in weightlfiting again. When I was younger, I competed in several weightlifting meets and didn’t enjoy them because my heart wasn’t truly in it. However, today I want to thank my old amazing weightlifting coach, Tod Baden, for making me realize how strong I truly am. Since CrossFit regionals has ended I’ve put CrossFit metabolic conditioning on the side and made weightlifting my prime focus. I have seen some new strengths I never thought I’d see so early in my athletic career.
When I was in Colorado for the week I talked to a few coaches, Skip and Jodi at Crossfit Front Range, about new drills I could do to perfect my lifts. They helped me realize that my first pull needed some work. I took their advice and began working on the drills they provided. I would begin by doing pulls, shrugs, and lift-offs to improve first pull, bar path, and my foot positioning. I have also grasped the concept of how to split my feet further during the catch in the snatch. This change has helped me to stay more upright and catch heavier weight at the bottom of the snatch. I have seen substantial gains in my lifts since working on these new areas. I hit a 200lb hang clean which is a 15lb personal best. I also hit a 135lb snatch every minute on the minute for 15 minutes and only missed one lift because I caught it too far forward; this was my old snatch PR last June. I also caught a 195lb clean twice after doing a long heavy clean workout. When it comes to getting heavier weights, its apparent that I have so much more in my little body to destroy.
As for my diet that another story. We all clearly know that I am a little fatty, especially with the Oreos. Since it is summer, I’ve increased my sugar intake by ten fold. The other day I told my girlfriends I would begin my diet that day and they said they’d join me. Then the sounds of the creepy ice cream truck came down the street the gym was on. How convenient! Of course, I yelled really loudly, “Oh my, ice cream!” not knowing he would drive the truck around the block.
One of the guys from the gym gave me money like a daddy giving his little daughter cash for an ice cream cone.
Anyway, the diet has been going good ever since. Today I limited myself to one sweet instead of three. Besides, I only have 4lbs to lose – so dropping some water weight and eating a few less Oreos should do the trick!
I am excited to see how my training and weight loss goes for the next couple of weeks. I have worked this hard and I will continue to stay healthy and work hard until the day of the competition.
Have a good day all and keep in touch for more updates! Love you!
