Some Firsts! 2014 Bucket List in Review

I’m a list person. I love them, and frankly, have a hard time functioning normally without them. And I’m old fashioned about it. Give me a piece of paper and a writing tool to make my list and I’m content. I keep an ongoing grocery list stuck to the fridge. I keep a daily/weekly to-do list on my desk at work to keep me on the straight and narrow. On particularly busy weekends, Rob and I hash out a list of what we want to get accomplished and it keeps us motivated and moving. And I like yearly bucket lists. I only just officially started this initiative this year, and you may have read a post or two in the past referencing that. I like to set goals (no matter how big or small, insignificant or life-changing) a year at a time because I think it brings an urgency to them that maybe wouldn’t be there without such a short expiration date. And most of them are silly, but it keeps me accountable to my own happiness and my own purposefulness.

So, for 2014, I made a list and this is what it looked like:

2014 bucket list

Eat a doZen Krispy Kreme donuts 

Sub30 minute 5k(SO CLOSE)!!

Run a 10k

Eat at buffet Popeyes 

Body weight pull up

Clean 100lbs to overhead 

Get a passport 

New York City with Rob

Rx a benchmark WOD 

It’s so crazy to look back and know that a year ago I didn’t even have a 100 pound clean. I got that just before the start of the year and the jerk to get it above my head came shortly after. I haven’t attempted a heavy lift in a long time but my old 1RM C&J is 135 which I think I achieved in early summer.

You remember this post, when I happily achieved my pull up.

And this post, when I Rxed my first Benchmark WOD!

So this past week held another achievement (almost two!!)

I proudly received my first passport! I realize that maybe, this isn’t any big deal to most people. But, I’m wildly proud of it. For one, it required visiting the post office, which houses the passport office. Then, I had to give the post office money. It was awful, but I kept telling myself it was for a bigger cause.

Secondly, it signifies my freedom to travel anywhere. That’s a cool feeling. (Financial freedom soon to follow, God willing). My passport photo even came out decent!

Then…today I was inches away from getting my first sub 30 minute 5k!! A year ago, I participated in our city’s official 5k for Breast Cancer Awareness. It was my first attempt to ever really run a 5k and I was super proud because I ran the entire thing without stopping and finished in 36:20. That was after 4 months of crossfit. I really don’t enjoy running, and so I never gave myself another opportunity during the year to flirt around with trying to improve that. We run a lot in Crossfit, but never that far. We do a lot of mile running, sprint training, and only once in the last year did we have a timed 2 mile run. So I was looking forward to the race this year to see how I compared. Well..

I haven’t posted about this much, but my back injury which I’ve posted a little about before, has really been crazy to deal with the last 5 months. I’ve thought about writing more about my experience with chronic pain, and how desperate that kind of suffering makes you, but I haven’t really wanted to cope in that way. It’s helped more talking openly about it with a few people, and just praying about it. Two weeks ago, I was forced to make the decision to completely suspend my Crossfitting. This was a difficult decision mentally and spiritually, but was absolutely necessary in order to begin the very slow process of healing. With the rest, combined with beginning physical therapy, I can say it’s only just the last few days where I have actually begun to really feel some improvement. I’m not anywhere near normal yet, or pain free, but I’m hoping that by December I can return to Crossfit Huntsville and begin conditioning the same way I had been prior to hurting my back. I’m learning to be patient and to celebrate even the smallest improvements.

With that said, I wasn’t sure what my game plan would be with this run. I didn’t want to aggravate my back, but going from 4-5 times a week of Crossfitting, to only walking some days, and stretching, has been misery. I wanted an opportunity to feel like I was using my body and getting some good work in. I wanted to feel like I was burning off some of this damn brie cheese I’ve been eating all week. So I figured I would start the run and see how I felt.

Well I felt great today! So I kept on running and reflected on how good it felt to move, and feel my heart rate increase, and to sweat. I thought about what a blessing it is to use your body, your limbs, your breathing in the way they are intended to be used. And I prayed that I would continue to get better.

I finished the run in 31:09. Just a minute over reaching my goal, but I set over a 5 minute PR. I was very proud 🙂 And satisfied with not officially crossing that off the list yet. I’m sure I probably could before the year is over, but like I said, I don’t really look for reasons to run a 5k, so next year is my year! (Shout out to my main squeeze Hubby!! He DID run under 30 minutes!)

As for the other items on the list that I haven’t knocked out yet, I’m not sure I will. A dozen donuts and some crap fried chicken doesn’t really sound that fun anymore. The New York trip WOULD be amazing, but Sneak took all our money, remember?

Oh! I cut my hair. I really love it.

This weekend is gorgeous. It’s fall perfection. We are going to a local farm tomorrow to walk through a pumpkin patch and do other fall festivities. This is the start of my absolute favorite time of year!!