This week I hit a milestone of 200,000 miles on my Honda Civic which I purchased new in 2003. In 10 and a half years, I have traveled up and down New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Most of the miles were from work commutes from NH to MA, but I also tacked a lot of miles visiting Mark up at Vermont Law while he was studying there. In the wake of this milestone, it seemed useful to reflect on some of my major workout milestones since it was not until about ten years ago that I started to seriously train and workout beyond some brief phases in college. During my senior year of college I dabbled briefly in lifting with machines and some light free weights, so it is hard to believe at 32 that I am more fit than I was at 21.
Highlights from 2004- 2013:
5 Half Marathons with a PR of 1:58:33 at Half at Hampton in 2012
6 Recorded (but several not listed in Athlinks) 5Ks with PR of 26:37 at Concord Rock N'Race in 2012
3 10Ks
7 Snowshoe Races
2 Olympic distance triathlon
4 Sprint distance triathlons
1 Half Ironman
Crossfit Gains from 2011-2013
Deadlift 130lbs --> 215lbs
Military Press 45lbs -->85lbs
Back Squat 90lbs --> 150lbs
Front Squat 65lbs --> 105lbs
Split Jerk 55lbs --> 100lbs
Power Clean 65lbs --> 95lbs
Push Press 55lbs --> 100lbs
Bench Press 67.5lbs -->105lbs
Being a Type A and an overachiever, I tend to think anything less than perfect is not good enough. Consequently, this past year has been a challenge because I focused on certain areas in my life more than others. We had a tremendous loss in our family, and I became a homeowner. Despite all of these changes, I still made huge gains in terms of my strength and conditioning. Last year, I hurt myself deadlifting and stopped doing that for about 6 months, yet now I am up to 215lbs for my one rep and am looking to top that in the next 4 week cycle. So, instead of reprimanding myself for failing at my 150 perfect bricks and nutrition, I think I should acknowledge that it has been a successful year in many ways. The failures are just opportunities to crush goals next year. I did hit #100 for perfect bricks in November and will focus on trying to clean up a bit on food for December before doing a Whole 30 reset in January.
Last weekend I participated in a partner workout(Erica and I pictured below) as a fundraiser for the Movember foundation. It is rewarding to give back while getting your butt kicked! I am so proud to belong to a crossfit gym committed to the clients and philanthropic causes.
