Important to have Passion
First and foremost, I want to thank those of you who came out to support me this past weekend at the Atlantic State Championships. It was a great day and it meant a lot to me that you guys were there.
I don’t normally enjoy writing about myself or my goals/achievements, but this comes by request of Marcos, whom I’ve had many conversations with about life, goals, and the importance of following your passion.
I did very well. No, I killed it. Or in the words of my Coach, Gary Valentine, “I fucked shit up”. Long story short, I went 6 for 6, hitting all the weights I had mapped out. And the result? A Meet PR Snatch @ 90kg (198#) seen here:
And an overall PR Clean & Jerk @ 120kg (264#), seen here:
Marcos had asked me to note my experience based on the results:
I got into Olympic Weightlifting based on the notion that it would get me stronger for CrossFit. I had no idea that I would take it as far as I have to date. What happened this past weekend has proven I have made the right decision to take it as far as I can go, to ride it until the wheels fall off. What brought me to get into it? Simple: I was afraid of it.
Everyone wants to lift big weights but most are scared of getting under a heavy barbell. And that was me. I have decided to focus on Olympic Weightlifting because it was a new challenge and I feel I have a gift for it. I want to push myself relentlessly, tolerate the pain, and become better because of it. I will always have CrossFit, always. But this is a whole new beast. This is just me and the Bar. I will either move it, or I won’t. I have 1 chance to do it right. That presents so many challenges within itself and so many emotions that the first time I stepped onto a platform I thought I was going to shit my pants. And now before I enter the Gauntlet, I take two biiiiiiig deep breaths, and tell myself one thing, “Put everything into this lift. Control it.” Don’t get me wrong, the “3,2,1 GO!!” before a CrossFit WOD brings about nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach…..you know the rest, but, seeing a loaded Barbell with almost twice your bodyweight on it is scary as hell!
But like I said, or rather what Chris Spealler said, “I feel like I have a gift and I won’t let fear stand in the way of it.” Where do I want this to take me?
I am going to become one of the Nation’s best lifters in the 69kg weight class.
“We’ll keep improving and take everything along the way.”- Coach Gary Valentine
Oh and here he is, at 56 years young, 100kg Snatch (220#), with this lift he Qualified for the World Master’s Championships in Italy.
Strength
Press 4-4-4-4
WOD
5 rounds of:
6 Power Cleans (115/75)
8 Burpees
12 Wallballs (20/14)
Find something you are passionate about. It can be anything. Put in the work everyday for it and stay focused. 
Yosh, my friend, coach and an awesome human being,
I have no words. I am the first one to post and still have no words. I am very, very happy for you, reading the post above. What an accomplishment! I remember the first time we met at Fenway, then the beginning of CFSV, you know what I am talking.
You are an example to be followed. You know, by our conversations, how much I respect people with honor, character and determination. You are one of these people.
It has been a privilege to have you here, my friend.
Thanks for the post. I learned a lot!
Amazing work Yosh and great post. You are a great example of hard work truly paying off.
Press: 105# each set.
WOD: 8:13 Rx
Felt good to race against Marcos on this one. Great job 5:30am!
i won’t take offense that you didn’t feel like you were racing me, even though i was right next to you.
Good one, Cal…
Very good to have you and Asia there this morning. It makes the whole difference.
Great job, Jim. I had to move faster!
congratulations, yosh! really amazing stuff right there.
press: 65# across sets, which actually felt pretty good today.
wod: 11:08 Rx. wall ball is the devil.
bravo Yosh. Your hard work and dedication (not to mention damn near flawless snatch technique) are evident every day, and are an inspiration.
Yosh it was awesome seeing you in action this weekend. Great atmosphere and I’m glad you’ve reached (at least for now)the goals you set for yourself. Keep it movin’.
-H
Yosh, it is a great pleasure and privilege to have you as a coach. Your discipline and tough demeanor inspires me to try harder and not give up on my goals. Congrats on this past weekend. I hope you celebrated with a huge juicy steak cause you deserve it.
Press: 125# across
This felt too easy.
WOD: 8:52 Rx+ (135#)
Wall balls were the zapper for me I thought.
Marcos, I hope you signed for the Open! It’s not too late if you haven’t 🙂
Hi Dan, thanks for the support!
I will be in Brazil for most of the workouts, so I will have to join you “unofficially” in some wods. I wish I could do all of them through the regular process. Next year, definitely.
I will be cheering for you and the whole CFSV crew.
Enjoy Brazil!! I am super jealous!
Thanks Dan, but Brazil means work for me…anyway, will try to have some fun at the same time…they opened three boxes there, very simple ones. Let’s see.
Awesome job Yosh. Sorry I missed it.
Press: 110#, was on the verge of failing the last rep the last two sets, so this was probably the right weight.
WOD: 7:53 Rx
Press 82# across
WOD 12:00RX. This was a hard one but I was happy to RX it! Fantastic job Lara!
Press: 55#
This was technically 75% of my 2RM but it was kind of easy…hm.
WOD: 11:39
SHOULD HAVE USED 75#! My cleans feel so much better than they did a month ago so after the WOD, I was kicking myself for not attempting RX.
FOR ANYONE INTERESTED here is the link to the brownies I brought to the Crossfit Open meeting last night. Only differences is I didn’t put any chocolate chips in and I used blueberries instead of cherries.
http://paleomg.com/dark-chocolate-cherry-brownies/
If anyone wants to talk paleo foods, hit me up 🙂 my boyfriend and I have attempted a lot of different things (and he’s a chef) so I’d love to exchange recipes!
All the brownies!
heard I missed some delicious noms. I will chat paleo food with you any time. I have a lot of great recipes but one I just can’t perfect are paleo meatballs. You can’t just remove the bread AND the cheese from these and expect them to still be moist and delicious. I tend to drown them in my home made marinara to make them delicious again but I miss eating them off the oven tray and them being so freaking delicious just solo that I almost don’t want to sauce them. HALP! 🙂
Press: 75# across – that 4th one got hard. This was more than 75% for me, though.
WOD: 10:05 Rx …as much as I dislike wall balls I am getting better at them. I do “no rep” myself on these a few times each time they’re in a WOD so I feel like getting the form correct has been more of a priority bc wasting that energy totally sucks.
Yosh: You are an inspiration the way you work toward your goals and tackle them. I know you’ve been working toward these PR goals for some time. I’ve seen you in the corner working solo on them. Your persistence and tenacity is just intense. Your passion shows when you succeed AND when you fail. Your heart is in it. I am honored to call you my coach. I hope, one day, I will be able to move half as fast under the bar as you do. Congratulations on this past weekend.
110# for two sets, 120# for two sets. First two were a bit too easy.
WOD: 10:12 Rx. I need to do some death by wall ball workouts.