Failure

I don't like to fail. Not solely because failure in athletic endeavor brings back that vestigial last-in-gym-class feeling but also because, quite simply, I don't like the attention. Who does, really? But man alive, I can't stand it! Same reason I don't like finishing last on a WOD--all those eyes, all that focus.

But failure is always an option; more still, it's a tool. I've been avoiding a failed back squat like the plague these past few months, managing my workload such that I never pushed that last 2-3% on a max rep. Today, however, I failed at 265 on the 2nd rep of my third set of 3. Oddly enough, the world didn't tilt on its axis, my spotters remained calm and brought the weight with me back up to the rack, and my psyche's not crushed.

Go figure. Where I go from here: squatting reps of 255 with more confidence, sitting back deeper into the squat, secure in the knowledge that I'm building strength via greater attention to form at just sub-maximal loads. And then...hitting my next set of 3 at 265.

Thoughts? Your own failure-to-success stories? Hit me at woodshedfitness@gmail.com--can't wait to hear from you.

Sleep: 7 hrs--not good at onset of evening
WOD: 6 AM CFB, mobility, agility warmups; 10-8-5-3X3 back squat (95, 135, 185, 235, 255, 265 1 rep of 3), 3X3 shoulder press (125, 135 2 reps of 3, 135)
Food: 17 pro, 12 carb, 32 fat (high fruit day--frozen blueberries! Feeling a little carb bonk after the midmorning fruit, however)
Skill Work: Max rep burpees 1 min, tabata pushups