“I don’t expect perfection, I expect progression”
Hey there everyone, hope the last couple weeks have been motivating and successful for you all. I have struggled a bit with finding a balance with life, food, and mental peace. Sometimes when things get crazy it’s hard to put the energy and focus into some of those things. I am recommitting myself to putting forth the effort to keep progressing both mentally, physically and spiritually. I don’t see it as a setback, but as another opportunity to grow. I don’t expect perfection, I expect progression.
I am going to kind of re-assess my goals for this week and figure out what I want to really focus on. So, let us take a look at what I’ve done and how I want to move forward.
Physical – I have been very active, definitely not on a daily basis but I don’t really feel that it matters. I probably was taking it to an extreme to focus on every day. For physical I still want to be doing exercise 3-5 times a week. I would like to run 6 miles on a regular basis as well. I would like to do some regular yoga again, and I want to integrate more weight training again.
Mental – I am very proud of myself when it comes to the mental challenge. The challenge was to read at least ten pages a day. Now I cannot say I haven’t missed a day here or there on a particularly crazy day. However, the whole goal was to get back into reading. I used to read all the time and it has fallen to the wayside. I have made it through two books now and have a list of ones that I am excited to start reading.
Spiritual – I was practicing meditation. I am not gonna lie, it doesn’t come naturally to me. I feel like I’m just sitting there. However, I have a sister (who we affectionally refer to as our hippie voodoo sister) who meditates regularly. I’ve discussed with her my struggles, and she is going to help me to start some guided meditation. I will keep you updated on any improvements in my meditation.
Ragnar – I have completed my Ragnar race! It was a trail race and had some brutal elevation gains. I’m talking on your toes, knees to your chest kind of elevation. However, I was very happy with the whole experience. I met or beat all of my projected times. I accomplished the 7.8 mile run with a minute to spare on my projected time and was the only one on my time to do so. I got very little sleep and my muscles were way tight. However, I did not have any crazy, unable to walk soreness from it. I feel like I have been so much more in shape and accomplished with this Ragnar than any previous ones.
Running – I signed up for a 10K May the Fourth Run. I ran it with someone close to me who really didn’t want to do it. So, instead of using it as a “race” kind of opportunity, I used it more as a coaching kind of opportunity. I paced myself at her pace and talked her through making it the whole 6.2 miles. She really did not want to even go one mile. However, she made it the whole distance and felt really good about it. I was very proud of her and happy to have been a part of it.
Pull-ups – I am ashamed to admit that I am absolutely horrid when it comes to pull-ups. I have never in my life been able to do a pull-up. However, with all the training and workouts that I have been doing I wondered if I would be able to do a pull-up. I was shocked that I actually was able to do one good strong pull-up. I tried to go for two and sort of squeaked by with a really ugly second one. However, it makes me want to be able to do more! I want to get myself a pull up bar and start practicing on a regular basis.
Pushups – I feel like I have been majorly slacking with pushups. I want to eventually be able to do 50 pushups but haven’t even been doing them at all lately. I was really focused on Ragnar training and that was pretty much all I was doing. However, I do want to refocus on this goal and keep trying to improve.
Adventures – I feel like my running events have been quite the adventure. I did get to do some camping for that as well. I really want to get out and do a rock-climbing adventure and some hikes. We are hoping to plan a camping adventure next month as well.
Mel's Health and Fitness 