Full Steam Ahead

Yesterday I took a quick look back at 2013.  All in all, 2013 was a good year for me.  Today, I’m all about looking ahead and making 2014 even better.

My overall goal for the year is to end it in better shape than I start it.  Ideally, that means being a little lighter, a little tighter, and a LOT stronger!

While being active is a key part of that, perhaps even more important is diet and how I fuel my body.  So, 2014 is going to be another year of EATING CLEAN and ensuring my body has what it needs to keep up with tough CrossFit workouts and all the other crazy stuff I put it through!

To help get me off to a a good start with both diet and exercise, I have joined the Whole Life Challenge again. My gym isn’t participating in the challenge this time, but I have friends who go to a different CrossFit and their gym is doing it this time…and they convinced me to join with them.  It’s a bit last minute, since the challenge starts on Saturday, so I’ve got some logistical things to figure out.  I will be away with the kids at a hockey tournament this weekend, so can’t go to the preliminary measurement and workout class that is being held Saturday morning.  I looked into finding CrossFit gym location in London (where the tourney is) to see if I could squeeze in a WOD Friday afternoon between games, or Saturday morning before games.  Then I got an email from the coach running the challenge and they have set a makeup class on Tuesday night…this works perfectly for me!  So, I will be weighing in, getting measured and doing the baseline WOD Tuesday at 7:45pm.  The coach is announcing the WOD they will be doing on Friday night.  I’m dying to see what it will be.  From what I can see on the WLC website and emails I still get sent from the WLC folks, the suggested WOD this session is:

It looks harmless enough on paper, but I’m sure it will be 11 minutes of pure hell.  Starting with 1000m row should make my legs nice and tired going into 75 squats!  Fun Fun!  There is no guarantee this will be the baseline WOD I will be doing, since gyms are free to set up their own WOD.  As long as it is something that can be replicated and tracked at the end of the WOD just about anything goes.  I can’t wait to see what we will be doing!

I’m looking forward to doing the challenge again.  It will be a tough start to it, since I’ll be in hotels and eating out for all meals over the first weekend, but I’ll just do my best and not stress about it too much.  I do need to get organized food-wise when I get home Sunday.  Planning and preparedness is key to being successful in this challenge.  I learned that last time, and I plan to be just as successful at this challenge this time around!  I will have my iPad loaded with paleo cookbooks and my Clean Eating magazines and planning next week’s menu between games and while we drive to/from London.  I’m looking forward to some good eats for the next 8 weeks.

Aside from starting my year with the Whole Life Challenge, I’ve also got some help from my CrossFit box to make sure the year get off to a good start .  The coaches at the box have created a goals list for all members.  We need to fill in the Google Doc with a CrossFit goal for January and then 3 goals for the rest of the year.  This is perfect, because I had planned to set up some CrossFit related goals for the year anyways.

The CrossFit goals I’ve set are:

January Goal:  10 unbroken kipping pull-ups.  Since finally getting unassisted pull-ups in August, I haven’t practiced them as often as I should.   I seem to be stuck at only 3 in a row and then I need to drop off the bar and re-group.  I think my goal of 10 in a row, unbroken is quite doable.  Last week we had an  EMOM WOD that was 1 heavy squat snatch and 6 pull-ups.  My coach suggested I scale to 3 pull-ups so I would be able to do it and still have time to rest before the next minute started.   I was able to do all rounds with 3 in a row and even did 4 in a row the last 2 rounds.  After class I stayed to do a few more pull-ups to get closer to the 60 that the WOD was meant to have.  I managed to string together 5 in a row 4 times and then 4 in a row twice…which brought my total number of Rx pull-ups for the night to 60…right where I wanted it!  So, I am now working off a base of 5 in a row.  I’m confident I can hit 10 in a row by the end of the month.

Goals for 2014:

1. 20 Rx Push-ups.  Push-ups are another weakness of mine.  When the reps get high, I have to drop to my knees…and I hate that!  I can do maybe 3-4 solid, perfect form Rx push-ups and then it all goes to crap.  My goal is 20 good ones by the end of the year.  I will have to see if I can find a push-up app.  I should get my workouts folder on my phone…I probably already have one!
2. Rx Fran:  Fran is one of the benchmark workouts.  It is 21-15-9 of Thrusters and Pull-ups.  Rx weight for girls is 65#.  So far I’ve only ever done it with a 35# bar.  My goal is to be able to do it with the 65# prescribed weight and unassisted pull-ups. 
3. Handstand Push-up:  The handstand push-up is another killer move.  I can get up into the handstand no problem, and can dip a little bit, but can’t come all the way down to touch my head to the floor and then push myself up…I get stuck at the bottom.  For any WOD with HSPU in it, I always do them off a 24’ box.  My goal for the year is to do one at the wall.  It can be with a kip or strict – it doesn’t matter to me.  I will just be thrilled if I can do it at all!
4. 1 Dead Hang Pull-up:  Now that I can consistently do unassisted kipping pull-ups, my next goal is to get a dead hang pull-up.  Of all my CrossFit goals this is the one that I think will be the hardest.  Hopefully as I strengthen my upper body I will eventually be able to get a dead hang.  I don’t need to crank out 20 or anything…just one will do!

I didn’t put this one on the official CrossFit goal file, but I do have one more thing I would love to accomplish:  do 1 MUSCLE UP.  This is the mother of all CrossFit moves and there are some really strong and experienced CrossFitters at my box who still haven’t gotten a muscle up.  I will admit, I’ve never even tried to do one.  They scare the crap out of me.  Swinging like mad from the rings and then somehow getting your body up into the press.  I am terrified of falling off the rings during the swing part of it!  I have no idea if I will be able to get a muscle up or not, but I think I should at least start trying.

One other goal I would like to set for the year is to read more.  I enjoy reading, but just never seem to have enough time for it.  I am going to try to regularly read before bed each night – and read books, not blogs!  My goal for the year is to read 24 books.  I’ve already read one, so only 23 more to go.  I just finished reading Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.  I had started this book a couple of times before, but never made it past the first chapter or two.  This time, once I got going, I couldn’t put it down.  I think the next book I read will be Allegiant, the final book in the Divergent trilogy.

So, there they are, all written down and official, my goals for 2014.  I’m looking forward to working hard and achieving all of them.

Have you set any goals for 2014? 

Do you have any suggestions for any good books I should read this year?

---