My toe is still a little sensitive but I am considering running the sprints today anyway. When I get to Douglas County Fairgrounds I’ll put on the cleats I picked up from Play It Again Sports for 10 bucks and run a bit and see how it is. The workouts in today competition are:

1. Team Suicides.
2 men and 2 women do a 2000 meter suicide relay on a soccer field

2. Team Snatch.
30 minutes for each team member to complete their heaviest sntach (pull the weight from the ground straight up overhead without a stop in the middle). Bonus for how quick you can get through it.

3. Team Triplet.
2 men and women do 50 muscle ups on the rings. 200 overhead squats 95#/65#. 3000 meters on the rower.

Our teams prediction is that there will be a lot of teams that will run faster than us in that first workout but we will do great in the second two. Lucinda lifting technique is like a professional’s, Rosanne can probably do 100 overhead squats by herself, and Steve and Sid can both do more muscle ups than most people there. So our sprinting is just going to be damage control to try not to let it hurt us too bad. We’ll see.

http://www.northcentralregionalcrossfitgames.com/
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The worst is probably the tall kitchen garbage bags. I go through at least one a day. With all the other bags I have thrown out I am certain I put over 1000 a year into the landfill. All those bags will still be there when my great great grandchildren are around. Yikes. The more I look into this the more I realize that the eventual answer will have to be composting. My aunt just moved to Toronto and they are way ahead of us. Composting is expected and regulated there. Almost nothing goes into the regular garbage bin. Hmmm……

I buy a lot of fruit and vegetables and all those clear plastic bags go straight in the trash. Reusing them would be a good idea except for some reason it doesn’t appeal to me to put grapes in a bag that used to carry onions. Instead I found some mesh produce bags on Amazon so I am going to order those. I am wondering how strange I am going to feel carrying all of my various bags around King Soopers but in the grand scheme of things I think I can handle it.
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A few years ago I used full sized grocery bags to clean the litter boxes every single day. What a waste! I finally switched to doggie bags made from recycled plastic so that was an improvement. But that is still up to 31 little bags in the trash every month.

Then I thought… What if I just flush it down the toilet? Bad! I was researching flushable cat litter and found out cat feces has toxic chemicals and parasites that cannot be removed by water treatment plants. Organizations like The Sea Otter Alliance actually speak out against flushing that stuff because they are finding sea otters infected with Toxoplasma from cat feces.

I looked into composting (also a goal of mine). Same problem. You don’t want toxic chemicals and parasites in your vegetable garden. To go that route they recommend a separate bin that sits at least 18 months before the compost is used! I will look into that eventually but I am not quite there yet.

I had no idea finding an environmentally friendly way to clean the cat litter would be so complicated. But finally I found out they make biodegradable doggie bags called BioBags. I am going to order some of those and in the meantime reduce cat litter cleanings to 2-3 times a week.

BioBag Website

Biodegradable Doggie Bags on Amazon

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For some reason it was awkward carrying a canvas bag into the grocery store a few years ago. I felt like a bank robber. But I got used to it and now it is no big deal. In fact, it surprises me that more people don’t use them. They are so much nicer than those flimsy plastic things. Even so, I still forget to take them to the store sometimes and then its back to the plastic. For my experiment if I forget the canvas bags I either have to abandon the groceries or buy new bags. That is the penalty. If I end up with more bags than I need I can always give them away.
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This morning I made a quick sweep through our house and gathered up all the plastic bags that aren’t currently storing anything. The picture below is the result. I put a Nalgene bottle on the counter so you can tell how tall the pile is. It reaches my shoulders. I count 421 bags including Ziplocs and ones I use to clean the cat litter.

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It is amazing how many plastic bags two people can go through if they are not paying attention. So for the next two weeks I am going to pay attention. No, I don’t think I can save Earth by banning plastic bags at my house. I am not going to be militant, refusing to buy baby carrots because they come in plastic. But I do want to find out how easy it is to just be a little better about it.

I am starting small. For two weeks the plan is to not bring any new plastic bags into the house. The goal is to end up with as close to as many as I start with, reusing what I have. In the meantime I can figure out ways not to use them at all. The three main areas of focus will be:

1. Carrying store bought items (groceries, clothes, etc)
2. Carrying produce
3. Disposing of garbage

It is infinitesimally minor in the grand scheme of overall environmental issues but I figured if I approach it as an interesting experiment rather than an attempt to save the planet it will feel more significant, at least to me.

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This round is going to be half as long and will focus on fewer areas. As I mentioned Sunday, it started Monday and will last 6 weeks ending on Memorial Day.

Here are the goals:

At Home:
1. Stain all the trim and doors for the basement.
2. Plant herb and vegetable garden.
3. The Plastic Bag Experiment. (I will talk about this on Friday).

Fitness:
1. Maintain weight around 135-137
2. Kipping pull-ups – 3 sets of 20 in under 6 minutes

3. Burpees – 42 Day Burpee Challenge. (I will talk about this tomorrow).

4. Toes to bar – 20 in a row

5. Jump Rope Double-Unders – 50 in a row.
Note: I did this once and have not been able to do it since.

In the first 12 weeks I also learned that if I try to do meet every goal at the same time some goals fall by the wayside. Here are goals I have not yet met from Round 1:

1. 10 dead hang pull-ups. See post.
2. Run a 5k in 7:30s. See post.
3. Organize my office. See post.
4. Stain trim and doors in basement. See post.
5. The Cat Room. See post.
6. Destinos episodes and workbook. See post.
7. Finish reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective Living. See post.

As for the ‘Excel At Work’ goal I suppose I will find out during my performance review. Originally I had planned to kick butt on an application team but I was pulled off that assignment on to something else. So I need to re-evaluate this one and set new goals.

I learned a lot In the first 12 weeks. For one thing I learned that it will take me a lot longer that 12 weeks to meet my goals. I did reach some though. Here are the goals I managed to achieve from Round 1:

1. Lost 20 pounds. See post.
2. Completed the entire Body For LIfe Challenge. Finally! See post.
3. 25 military push ups in a row. See post.
4. All the clothes I put aside now fit! See post.
5. The junk drawers in the kitchen? Done! See post.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

6. The disaster of an entry way? Done for now… See post.

BEFORE:

AFTER:
 

7. The basement was ready to watch The Super Bowl. See post.
8. Finished my taxes by the end of February. See post.

Last minute additions:
9. Hike Mount Sanitas every day in the last week. Did that. See post.
10. Make the Flatirons CrossFit Affiliate Cup Team. Did that. See post

Tomorrow I will post the goals I have not yet met.