Archive for January, 2011

Winter Training Camp: Day 1

Day 1 started with a warmup and a short workout followed by an hour and a half of lifting. They served us a very healthy lunch and then we were on our own for a couple hours before round 2. In the afternoon we had a bit longer race and then spent an hour on the floor working the soreness out of our muscles with rollers and lacrosse balls.

It is very inspiring to workout with 25 people with this kind of work ethic. Most of them come 6 days a week and bust their butts. The quote on their website today pretty much sums up their philosophy.

“There is no strong performance without a little fanaticism in the performer.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think that probably holds true at work and at home too. People who do well at work really dedicate themselves sometimes beyond the understanding of others. Fixing up your home or keeping it clean and organized requires a certain amount of dedication. I have realized lately that even the relationships I have in my life can be amazing with a conscious and consistent effort to improve and enjoy them.

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The slacking comes to an end

No Sugar Challenge Day 4: Still going strong!

beatdown It has been an interesting week. I have one cat with some disease that causes her body to eat away at her teeth. I have another cat with a failing kidney. And I hyper-extended my wrist. We will all three be fine, I am sure. But it made me think a lot about what happens to your goals when you allow yourself to get distracted mentally. My workouts have been sloppy and it has caused a bit of a backslide. Three months ago at a tactical strength challenge I did 136 kettle bell snatches at 35 pounds in 5 minutes. Last night I put the bell down after 10 reps. My muscles are fatiguing faster. My brain wants to stop sooner. A little pain in my hand and I am ready to quit. I haven’t put in the extra effort lately and it shows. Unacceptable. You can’t expect the same performance without putting in the same amount of effort.

Time for that to end. This weekend I am going to a training camp at Front Range CrossFit where they are going to beat us up for four days. Long overdue. I am going to suffer for my slacking. I had my hand x-rayed and it is just a little bruised bone or a tiny strained muscle. It is what it is and it is up to me to make the best of it whether it hurts or not. So I guess my main goal for the weekend is to put everything I have into it and come out of it ready to work. I have already recaptured that passion I had in the Fall and now I just need to back it up with hard work. That said, I’m going for a run…

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30-Day No Sugar Challenge Is On!

The rumor that my gym is having a 30-Day No Sugar Challenge was true. And they decided to make it interesting. To participate, you have to bet $100. If you make it, you get your money back. If you don’t your money is dispersed among the people who did. The rules are simple. No added sugar or sugar substitutes of any kind (honey, syrups, agave, Spenda, etc) and no alcohol. Naturally occurring sugar in stuff like fruit and milk is allowed. But if the nutrition label includes any type of sweetener or alcohol in the ingredients, it is out. Officially the 30 days starts today but I started Saturday. After many restless nights and feeling terrible during several workouts over the past month or so I couldn’t wait. If I can manage 30 days I can manage 32. I normally don’t go through a whole day without sweeteners of some kind but I think putting up the cash will keep me from going into auto pilot.

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The New Year

newyearIt is hard to believe 2010 is already over. Not surprisingly, I have been thinking a lot about all the goals I made the past year and how they all turned out. If someone asked how my year went I would not have a good answer. Some things were amazing, better than I ever thought possible. Other things went horribly wrong, worse than I could have imagined. My goals changed a lot. I added so many short term goals I don’t even remember them all. And some of my long term goals changed or were completely forgotten. There were even goals I should have set but didn’t. Very important ones. It does no good to reach a destination if you don’t stop once in awhile to make sure you are on the right track. So this week I am doing a bit of a post mortem. I am reading back through my posts to see what went well, what failed miserably, what I forgot about, and what I did not think of last year that will make 2011 the best year yet.

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New Year’s Eve

DSC01254 Yesterday morning I made a new batch of cookies to redeem myself for Thursday. Then Todd and I conquered Big Brother before heading to my dad’s house for a pizza bake off. Originally we were going to have it at my uncle Edward’s house with everyone. But with 25-30 people coming and only one oven they decided to have us come over AFTER dinner instead. So my sister and I went to my dad’s and had one of our own. Gayle made a meat pizza with Italian sausage and ham that reminded me of the way my Mom used to make pizzas. I found a recipe for pizza that took 2nd in a Best Pizza In The World competition in Italy and bested Bobby Flay in a ‘Throwdown with Bobby Flay’. It came out great! My sister brought a Nick-N-Willy’s pepperoni to make sure her kids had food they would actually eat. Yum. I think I might do the same thing with my college buddies for our annual reunion in March. _DSC0119_2After pizza we headed to Uncle Edward’s for treats and beer and hot apple cider. We listened to the Miller Family’s amazing musical talents as always, one of Grandma’s favorite things. Then played Pictionary which was actually a riot with that many people. Some of the simplest ones were the most challenging. How do you draw a hole? Hehe. Here is Grandma trying to draw an olive: _DSC0171

And in the final moments of 2010 we completely trashed their house with confetti to bring in the New Year.

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