Days Left: 21

With only 21 days left of the before and after photo competition I am really going to concentrate on that goal over the next couple weeks. It is the only New Year’s Resolutions I made that has a real deadline aside from one I assigned so I need to put it first.

Today’s CrossFit Workout:
As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
3 deadlifts at 120# (185# for boys)
6 push ups
10 double unders (jump rope)

I made it through 15 rounds which means in the end I did 45 deadlifts, 90 push ups, and 150 double unders. It was a good score and I was happy with it but I was still slowed way down by the push ups. I used to have to do them on my knees so it has improved a lot. But still, by the last couple rounds I could only do about one push up at a time so they still need work.

I am so sore today I could barely get out of bed. CrossFit was particularly brutal the past two days with lots of squats, pullups, running, kettlebells, and the worst – 100 wall balls with a 14# ball at a 10 foot target. (See the video below). I have not been this sore since I started this thing in January. Good. It must mean I am working harder. Not holding anything back now. The end date is so close I feel more motivated now than ever. Today at lunch I am going to run the long route. Normally I run about three miles. The long route is about 4.5. Hopefully that will help loosen me up a bit too.

The reunion with my friends over the weekend was a blast but I definitely fell off the wagon. It started with a Frito. Then it was a lot of Fritos. Jodi brought delicious cornbread. Monica made amazing cookies. Emily came with cheesecake. I ate all of it. Fine, I get Saturday nights off anyway. But it spilled into Sunday with the leftovers. On top of that I did not feel well and skipped volleyball. Then we ended up having pizza and candy for dinner. With only three weeks left before the after pictures I really need to dig in. I still have some butt to work off.

During Week 6, I featured Louie Psihoyos, the director of a documentary called The Cove. Psihoyos, who is based in Boulder, gave a talk at a local scuba shop shortly after Todd and I had seen his movie on the plane ride home from Bonaire. See feature here. 

The Cove just won an Academy Award for Best Documentary! If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. I never used to be crazy about documentaries in general but either they are growing on me or they are just getting better.

Every year a group of girls from Greeley joins girls from Boulder
for a reunion at my place. I absolutely love these girls:

http://blog.changemyselfchangetheworld.com/?page_id=1796

Craigslist is instrumental to getting more organized. It is our constant online garage sale. This week I sold a set of glass bookshelves that I have been storing for ten years. The buyer paid $20 extra for us to deliver them to a part of town that turned out to be… a lot different than Boulder. The guy who opened the door looked at us like we were from outer space. We were obviously not from the neighborhood. It reminded me of Guess Who when the daughter sees Ashton Kutcher and asks “Are we being audited?”. The guy figured out who we were but could not help unload the shelves from the car because he was under house arrest. I wanted to ask what he did but decided against it. Despite being so totally out of our element they were very nice and I found myself wanting to join the parents who were sitting on the couch playing Ms Pacman. Games are amazing these days but sometimes I am happy just eating pellets in a 2D maze.

Normally during a CrossFit workout I tell myself “you can do more!” and “keep going!” while there is always an overwhelming desire to stop. Yesterday I had a very different mantra. Mostly expletives. The workout was three rounds as fast as you can of hanging from a bar and touching it with your toes 15 times, 10 dead lifts at 155#, and 20 double unders. All three are normally strengths for me. But I was totally preoccupied with a thick blister on the joint of each ring finger from trying to do pull ups the previous day. So during the workout all I said to myself was “the blisters are pinching me”. I couldn’t hang from the bar more than a few seconds and couldn’t grip the dead lift bar.  I was SO frustrated. In retrospect I was really being a baby. The stuff in my head turned what should have been a great workout into a terrible performance. I hear some people wear gloves during these workouts which I tried once but to be honest it doesn’t work very well. Plus I read a saying among the CrossFit community which basically says that if you wear gloves to workout in make sure they match your purse.

I ran outside today instead of on the treadmill for the first time in a long time. It feels a lot different driving yourself forward with your legs as opposed to jumping up while the ground moves out from under you. Either way it is exhausting. And in either case I am going to need more time. I am nowhere near my goal of a 7:30/mile 5k yet. Luckily, the race I want to run is not until the last weekend in April giving me a much needed extra month to reach that goal. The Cherry Creek Sneak is the same race where I ran my previous best ever* 5k time of 7:46/mile so it will be the perfect place to attempt to beat that time.

*At altitude. Best time ever was 7:36/mile by the beach in CA.

Last night at volleyball I ran into my cousin Jeff. It was so random to see him there having a beer with his coworkers at the bar. I have been playing at Sports Oasis for about 5 years now and apparently he works right across the street. Jeff is the perfect person to run into when you are trying to push yourself to your physical limits. I wish I had thought of talking to him earlier. He is the type of guy who will wake up early in the morning and climb Long’s Peak just to get a little exercise before he starts his day. Very inspiring to anyone trying to get in shape. Also it reminded me that climbing Long’s Peak again is another resolution I make every year but don’t ever do. I guess that means this is the year.

One of the requirements for the before and after photo competition is that the “after” photos are taken professionally. It is more of a recommendation than a requirement but if you look through photos of past winners they have all been taken in a studio. So yesterday I booked an appointment with a photographer. Ugh. I hate getting my picture taken. I know hate is a strong word. But yeah, I really hate it. That lens staring at you from across the room. I am dreading it. At the same time, having booked the appointment and knowing it is coming up in one short month should motivate me to work even harder. I can do this.