Goals Revisited

Day 213

I've completed my first scheduled race, found my maxes, and am finishing my fitness nutrition final today. It's time to start looking ahead and make some new goals.

March 2018 is an important month for me. It's the culmination of all that I've been working towards. So much has changed over the last 213 days. I've changed. Sure, I still struggle with a sugar addiction, self-doubt and fear, but I try not to let it stop me. It may hold me up, but so far it hasn't stopped me. I'm stronger, happier and slightly more self-confident... usually. ;)

So... what happens in March? Two things, actually.

First, I start my master personal trainer program at Lifetime Academy in conjunction with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. I'm all kinds of nervous for this one. This is definitely stepping out of my comfort zone. I'm worried that I won't be able to keep up physically with the other younger, more fit students and I'm concerned about the work load. The 40 weeks I'll be in the program will be stressful for this mother of 5 with an already busy schedule. Let's hope I can still handle some book learning!

Second, my first Spartan race is in March. Woohoo!! I'm doing the Las Vegas Spartan Super and I can't wait! I want to conquer every obstacle of this race this time around! It's going to be hard and a lot more work, but I'm almost confident I can do it... almost. Lol.

With all this in mind, I made a list of goals and presented them to my trainer on Tuesday. I thought I'd share them with you, you know, to keep me honest and motivated. (The normal font is the goal, the italicized is how I'm going to START to achieve that, in case you were curious about the goals and wanted to skip the rest.)

1. Finish my Fitness Nutrition Specialist certification - Almost done! Yay!
2. Get my Weight Loss Specialist certification - Start studying that next week.
3. Five 20" box jumps in a row - Start jumping more often. I've avoided it because of my knees. Time to relearn that movement.
4. Walking lunges the length of the gym and back - Incorporate them into my workout 2x per week.
5. Cross the monkey bars - This is one of the Spartan obstacles that will be hard for me. Right now, I'm working on hanging and transferring my weight from hand to hand. I need to hang a little every day.
6. Five sets of 30 burpees with a 1-minute rest between each set - Burpees in my workout 2x per week.
7. 100 lb weighted squat - Done! Lol. Didn't know how much I could do because I'd never done them before due to my knee issues. I squated 3 sets of 10 at 105 lbs yesterday. I'm going to just put this into my regular weight lifting rotation now.
8. Three sets of ten inverted sit-ups holding a 25 lb plate - Yep, you guessed it. Gonna do these twice a week too, without the weight to start, though.
9. Single leg squat - This one will be harder, especially at my size with less than stellar balance, but I have the strength, so I'm going to give it a whirl. I'm going to just keep working on my leg strength through various leg exercises, occasionally doing assisted one-legged squats.
10. Handstand push-up - Yes, seriously. Handstands twice a week, bobbing up and down until I can go down fully.
11. 16-foot rope climb on a knotted rope - My trainer thinks this is unrealistic in this time frame, and it most likely is, but I'm going to work towards it anyway. Swinging on a rope a couple times a week could be fun!
12. Scissor lunges, any number. I just want to be able to do them. -  Yep. More lunges. More jumping. See box jump and walking lunges.
13. Run 400 meters with a 20-pound weight vest on - More high intensity cardio conditioning. I tend to stick to the easy, low-intensity run. Starting today, that is going to change. Must get two of these in a week.
14. Consistently run 8 miles without stopping to walk - On a good day, I can do 6 1/2 miles without walking. I need to just keep doing what I'm doing: continue to push myself and increase my distance. 
15. Inchworm with a push-up for 2-lengths of the green at the gym - This means I actually have to do these!! They are my least favorite of all the things my trainer has me do. I'm gonna save these for Fridays. Blech!
16. Dragonwalk 3 lengths of green at the gym - On the other hand, I LOVE these. Another Friday exercise!!
17. 3 sets of 10 tricep push-ups - I am HORRIBLE at these. Gotta do them twice a week!