2014 Goals

2013 has held loads of change for me. While it has been the only year since high school that I haven't had multiple jobs (hooray for only one W-2!), much has changed in my personal life. After breaking free from a terrible relationship, I found myself growing and changing in ways that I find amazing. I found CrossFit not too long after that breakup, which catapulted my life down a new and healthy path. I'd always been interested in healthy food and being fit, but my commitment to those interests had been a roller coaster of highs and lows. Finding my physical strength gave me the confidence to make improvements in other areas of my life, which I talk a little bit about below. Goals 1-5 are areas that I want to begin/continue improving on that relate to the way I treat myself, others, and my future, behavioral goals, if you will. Goals 6-10 are fitness goals that I can work towards in the gym.

1. Eliminate debt: because, duh. So many doors would be open to me if I didn't have those extra bills hanging over my head each month. With the exception of a car payment, I'm going to attempt to pay off as much debt as I can this year.
2. Fill out the FAFSA: If I'm even considering going back to school, which I very well may be, I'll need to have this done.
3. Get more sleep: at least 7 hours a night. This means I'm going to have to go to bed earlier, and if I want to start working out in the mornings as well as in the evenings, I'll have to go to be even earlier! 
4. Cut out negative self-talk and negative thoughts towards others: How awesome would the world be if we quit thinking the worst of ourselves and others? I'm starting with myself on this one and making a big effort to stop harsh and judgmental thoughts.
5. Volunteer: In 2013, I was given $100 by my company to donate to a charity of my choice. I chose Girls on the Run because I really get their purpose.  As a girl that often felt inferior growing up, I would have loved the chance to have encouraging female coaches and friends who were all working towards a goal (and achieving it!). I want to do more with Girls on the Run in 2014.
6. Run a half-marathon
7. Muscle-up
8. 150lb Front Squat/175lb Back Squat
9. 150lb Clean & Jerk
10. 115lb Snatch

Here's to a Healthy and Happy 2014!

Happy Turkey Trot Day!

Happy Thanksgiving, All!  

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays to spend with my family. Rather than Christmas, its the holiday where everyone gets together in one place to hang out and eat a meal.

My dad and I have been trying to find a 5K that we could run together for a while now and a Turkey Trot seemed like the perfect opportunity. Surprisingly, one in my parents area was dfficult to find, but we happened across one at the last minute. A  lot of other people must have found it at the last minute as well, because the coordinators said they were overwhelmed by the number of people who had come out to run.

We're all pretty beat since none of us have been doing much running due to schedules and dropping temperatures. It was just reaching 36 degrees as we were leaving this morning's race. Nick and I are signed up for a "Frosty Frolic" in a few weeks and today was likely a good preview of what that will be like. Cold. So cold. I was extremely thankful that I'd remembered my fleece headband and running gloves  this time.

In a few hours, we'll be off to my aunt's to hang out an eat! 

A Major Recap

One of my biggest flaws as a blogger is that I fail to blog for long periods of time. It usually starts out as a lack of inspiration, where anything I'd write would feel forced and fake, so I just don't write it. I then fall out of habit, get busy, and forget that I started a blog over the summer that I haven't even gotten around to naming yet (but I think I'm close). I've been in the "busy-out-of-habit" phase for a long time now, but I'm ready to give it another stab. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Going way back to the summer....

Our box had a swim WOD! I wish we did this more often. I bought a few day passes to the local rec center to brush up on my swim skills beforehand. I quickly found out that if I ever want to train for another swimming event (mini-triathalon, anyone?) I'm going to have to find a larger practice space. Training for an 800m swim in a 20m lap pool is just tedious.

Despite my dismal failure at online dating, I found myself becoming better acquainted with the guy in this photo. We're quite happy, thankyouverymuch. He joined CrossFit shortly after we started dating and did the Hotshots19 WOD as his second WOD. He's hooked needless to say, and I love it! Its so great to be with someone who has similar fitness and lifestyle goals as you do. I'm sure he won't be absent from my future posts : )

In early September, two teams from my box participated in a morning-long "Amazing Race" hosted by another local box. We traveled all around the area, completing WODs at every location. Some were team/partner WODs and others were modified individual versions. We made it through Fran, Grace, Diane, Karen, Annie, and 150 burpees each! It was so much fun, even if we were one of the last teams to finish.

In October, four people from my work (including me) ran a marathon relay. It was supposed to be a five person team, but we couldn't fill the fifth spot due to illness and injury in a few of our fellow runners, so we split the five relay legs between the four of us. This meant that I'd be running a little more than 5.5 miles...a much longer distance than anything I'd even attempted since high school cross-country almost 10 years ago.  It felt like such an accomplishment to finish my miles at 8:30/mile and to cross the finish line for my whole team. A few of us even decided to try for the half marathon next year. Stay tuned to see how that goes, haha.

That's all for now, folks! I swear I've been doing more than just CrossFit and running, but I feel like I've been going on long enough for this post.

Ciao!