Now is the time of year when people are thinking about what they want to accomplish in the next 12 months. What do you want to be? Where do you want to go? How much Body Glide do you need to stock up on? For me in the past, "thinking big" usually involves a full marathon, perhaps a PR. Not this year, y'all. This year I am thinking EVEN BIGGER.
Spartan Trifecta!
The last 7 months have gone very well with my training. I have increased my upper body and grip strength, and I'm at the point where mud no longer intimidates me. Therefore I bit the bullet, bought a trifecta pass, and will be completing it this calendar year.
The Spartan Trifecta is, quite simply, one of each of the Spartan race distances. I will do the Minnesota Sprint, which is 3-5 miles and about 20 obstacles, June 9. The Chicago Super, 8-10 miles and 30+ obstacles, is June 23. (My reward for finishing those is to see Hamilton in Des Moines on June 30, but that is neither here nor there.) And the baddest bitch of all, the Beast, I will be doing in Indiana on September 8. It's 12-14 miles and 40+ obstacles. In addition to these Trifecta races, I will have a couple other assorted races throughout the year...and of course, half marathons walked to perfection.
Not gonna lie, I am a bit nervous about what this will entail. It will push my training to places I have literally never gone (like trails through the woods). But I'm guessing that, in addition to making me a more well-rounded athlete, it will make my blog more interesting, so stay tuned.
Another big goal: fix my back! For the last several years, I have had sporadic issues with my trapezius on my right side. It tends to lock up randomly for about a week, about 4 times a year. That, plus my recent overuse issues with my deltoids, led me to seek help from a place I never expected to try: a chiropractor. But in two sessions, I have gone from being a major skeptic to being a major fan. My entire right shoulder complex was up and back from where it was supposed to be, which was causing all kinds of muscular havoc. Getting massages would be putting a bandaid on the problem. I need to get adjusted frequently in the next couple of weeks, but after that I will continue going once a month to make sure that everything stays in place and I get no major back/shoulder issues that will derail my training.
The difference between a goal (end result) and an objective (means of achieving the goal) is significant. Here are my major objectives for 2018.
-develop pull-ups to the point where I can do at least 3 unassisted
-continued grip strength - hang for 1 minute plus with both regular and suicide grip
-stay free of major injuries
-find ideal Spartan race shoes/orthotics/socks combo
-learn to perform long workouts as self-supported as possible
-build up to doing 200 burpees in 30 minutes (okay, maybe 40 minutes)
-be described by others as "effing ridiculous" at the gym, either in appearance or behaviors
I will be posting more details about my Spartan workouts on the blog as the year progresses. Of course, I will still be walking as well. Fast, fancy walking.
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