My training was going really well.  I had completed Week 8 of Enter the Kettlebell with a 12kg bell.    (This is my second time through ETK.)  Pressing the 12kg kettlebell even once was nearly impossible for me just a few months ago, so being able to do ladders with it represents significant progress.   The last day (heavy day) of Week 8 is the first point in ETK that includes ladders of 5 x 5.  Anyone who has completed this type of workout knows it’s both physically and mentally draining.  But I successfully performed that workout.

Then, I got sick.  H1N1? Seasonal flu? A bad cold? I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter what it was, at least at this point.  I was sick.  I had a fever and a cough.  I needed rest but had to get up to teach boot camp before dawn three days a week.  I’m not complaining.  This is the life I have designed for myself and there are just going to be times like this.  You deal.  I did.  And I ended up with bronchitis.  That in itself wasn’t that bad.  Once I finally got some meds, I began to feel better.  But the end result was a fairly significant loss of strength and endurance – a setback in my training.  BOO!

Last week I began inching my way back.  A few swings, some presses.  One day I had thoughts of trying to do a 5 x 4 Clean and Press ladder but only managed 4 x 4.  I’m educated enough in the Laws of Pavel to know that going to failure won’t make me stronger.  So I didn’t push it (that hard.)  I tried some snatches, kind of a Viking Warrior Conditioning thing.  (I need to get the book and read it before I can really say I did any of it.)  The snatches went really well that day, but I was using a  much lighter kettlebell than usual.

Today, with a  hopeful heart, I went back to Enter the Kettlebell.   And happily, the presses went fine.  Then came time for the kettlebell snatches.  From the first one, I could tell that things were off.  It only got worse.  I might as well have had someone else’s arms attached to my body. My form was horrible, especially on one side.  But I knew not how to correct it.  Perhaps it’s a result of the break due to illness.  Who knows.  All I know is I’m not snatching well at a time when I want to be steadily improving, in order to prepare for the someday-RKC that I plan to attend.  And that is sad, and scary.

I’m hoping I’ll find my technique for the snatch as quickly as I lost it.  If it’s possible to self-correct this problem, I’ll do it.  Just in case, though, I’ve got my RKC’s number handy.

Two steps forward, one step back.  I guess it can be true in kettlebell training just as it is in so many other things.  This is the time for me to focus.  And persevere. My goals are intact.  I’ll get there.