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.

In February I backslid a couple times on the diet. I wanted to quit more than once. The triumph is that I didn’t. Reading about those Olympians who sacrificed so much for what they wanted made me feel silly for wanting to quit because I miss cookies. Less than 5 weeks to go for Round 1 and I really have my work cut out for me. March should be a good month. Here are my stats for February:

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Pull-Ups Goal: 10 Dead Hang 
Starting: 2
End of January: 3
Current: 5  
Best ever: 8

Push-Ups goal: 25 Military 
Starting: 8
End of January: 13
Current: 20 
Best ever before today: 15

Run 5k goal: 7:30/mile 
Starting: 8:50/mile
End of January: 8:30/mile
Current: 8:20/mile 
Best ever: 7:46/mile*

February Totals 
# of pull-ups: 670 ** 
# of push-ups: 761
# of sit-ups: 1230
# of miles run: 28 
# of total lbs lifted: 35,056

January Totals
# of pull-ups: 275 ** 
# of push-ups: 475 ***
# of sit-ups: 830
# of miles run: 18
# of total lbs lifted: 10,500

Total Totals
# of pull-ups: 945 ** 
# of push-ups: 1236
# of sit-ups: 2060
# of miles run: 46
# of total lbs lifted at CrossFit: 45,556

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WEEKLY WEIGH-IN:
February Start: 147
Today: 145
Goal: 137

* ‘At altitude’. I ran 7:36/m by the beach in CA – way less than my time here.
** Workouts include assisted, negative, and kipping pull-ups. Goal is 1500 total. 
*** Did girl push-ups the first two weeks. Goal is 2000 total.
**** Situps goal is 3000 total.

It is funny to imagine how other people see someone close to you in your life. But I wish everyone had the privilege of seeing all the things I get to see about Todd Ramirez every day.

http://blog.changemyselfchangetheworld.com/?page_id=1600

Death and Taxes. In general my philosophy has always been to put them both off as long as possible. But an amazing thing happened this past week. I finished my taxes and sent them off on Tuesday! That had to be some kind of miracle. I don’t think I have ever finished before April. I remember one year in college I dropped them off at a desk at the airport on April 15th on my way to a catch a flight I was probably late for. My tax accountant (also my uncle) who knows me too well had already filed an extension. That is sad. Not this year though! I tell myself every year that I am going to finish by the end of February. And what-do-ya-know? I finally did it!

Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) – pentathlete, decathlete, general track and field, professional baseball, professional football, and professional basketball.

Jim Thorpe has been named the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th century. In 1912, he easily won Olympic gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon and placed third in the javelin, an event he had never competed in before. When it was discovered that Thorpe had received as little as $2 a game to play baseball in North Carolina he was stripped of his medals by the IOC. Strict rules dictated that since he had received money, he was a professional and thus not qualified to have competed.

Professional Baseball 1913-1922: New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves. Scored 91 runs, had 82 RBI and hit .252 in his 289 games. As a baseball player he met the Pope, the last khedive (viceroy) of Egypt, and played before King George V.

Professional Football 1913-1928: Pine Village Pros, Canton Bulldogs in the American Pro Football Assoc which became the NFL. The team had 25 straight games without a defeat, a record that still stands. Thorpe played in 52 and was their best player.

Professional Basketball 1926-1928: Recently, it was learned that Thorpe, of Native American descent, played pro basketball for a team called "Jim Thorpe and His World-Famous Indians". Although they were not an NBA team, they were professionals.

Remaining years: The end of Thorpe’s career coincided with the Great Depression. Thorpe struggled to support his family and spent his remaining years in poverty struggling with alcoholism.

Vindication: In 1982, 30 years after his death, Jim Thorpe’s Olympic medals were re-instated. Two of his children received commemorative medals. (The two originally awarded to Jim were stolen from a museum.)

Keeth Smart (1978 – present) – Fencing

I started this one as a regular blog post but quickly realized I needed a whole page for this guy. His story is amazing, compelling, and heart-breaking.

http://blog.changemyselfchangetheworld.com/?page_id=1535

Larissa Latynina (1934 – present) – gymnast

Larissa Latynina holds the record for the most number of total medals in the history of the Olympics with nine gold, five silver, and four bronze for a total of 18. The Russian-Ukrainian gymnast won a medal in every Olympic event she competed in during three Olympic Games except one. On the balance beam in 1956 she came in fourth. She is the only woman with nine Olympic gold medals, a record that ties Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, and Paavo Nurmi, second only to Michael Phelps. (Phelps has 16 total medals: 14 gold and 2 bronze). Latynina is now 75 years old and lives in her estate near the town Semenovskoye, Moscow region.