This morning I had a pre-workout conversation with Emily Carothers about how her body was feeling and where she was mentally. Let’s just sum up the conversation by saying none of her responses were good. I expected this as she is currently on the tail end of a very intense and high-volume prep cycle for the Games. In fact today is her longest training day and has her in the gym or outside on the trail somewhere close to six or seven hours. Mentally she has been taxed much more than she was in prep for Regionals and physically her body is under a great deal of duress. I knew this would be the case and had told both her and Jeff to be prepared for those effects at the end of this week.
No less than 30 minutes after I hung up the phone with her did I get a text message with a PR Clean and Jerk. Not only was it a PR CJ, she powered it. Her best clean and jerk to date was 205 pounds. Today she power cleaned 215 and jerked it. Anyone who knows anything about weightlifting knows what that likely means her potential clean and jerk chould had she landed in a full squat.
Emily modeled something today that I think many of us can learn from. Regardless of how you’re feeling away or where you are mentally, commit to the work out. Don’t walk in the gym having already let your training for the day beat you. You may never know what’s in store for you. Congratulations Emily this is great timing.
Emily Carothers PR Power Clean and Jerk at 215# from Power And Grace Performance on Vimeo.