Celebrate the little things

Today I was itching to run but it wasn't to be. Tuesdays are generally a lunchtime Crossfit session and today's session was a hero WOD known as Klepto.  This WOD consisted of:
4 rounds for time of:
27 Box jumps, 24/20″ box
20 Burpees
11 Squat cleans, 65/45.2kg

After a little bit of push I loaded my bar to 30kg for the WOD.  I'd never done one let alone 44 squat cleans at that weight before. The initial lift to check what I was doing made it clear that this workout was going to be one that I'd have to fight to complete without dropping the weight.

For as long as I can remember I've had an "issue" with squatting.  I cannot get my feet to sit flat on the floor.  Emma has been working on it with me for months and I'm getting better.  A couple of weeks ago I managed to keep my feet flat on the floor with a back squat, but it wasn't until there was about 50kg on my back!

For those that don't understand weight lifting terms a squat clean involves pulling the barbell from the floor and receiving it (or catching it) in a front squat position with the barbell resting on the shoulders (around the collar bones is the easiest way to explain it) before finishing

A movement where an object (barbell) is pulled from the floor and received in a front squat position with the object resting on one's shoulders before you stand. Sounds easy enough? For a lot of people the main problem is getting the timing right but I have another issue to add in, my weird feet. Last week I did the lift while strangely balancing on the balls of my feet.

Into my second round of Klepto I noticed that on my first lift that my feet stayed flat on the floor.  The second lift was the same and then the third.  By this time I'm yelling out with what little breath of got left that my feet are flat. Such a small thing for most but it was worth celebrating for me.

After almost 45 minutes I managed to complete the WOD. I never thought that I'd be wishing for burpees or box jumps but lifting that weight that many times was rather exhausting.  I surprised myself that I didn't drop the weight back either considering I was going to do it all at 25kg.

So what if I was the last to finish, I did it and I pushed myself the whole way. What's more is that I got a PB on my squat cleans and I may have patterned in my flat feet on my front squat.  Now I have to remember to keep those damn elbows up ......