I Love a Challenge

You may not know this about me, but I have a very hard time turning down challenges - especially physical ones. I am engrained with a competitive side that may not show in my every day interactions (although my coworkers laughed when I said that, so perhaps it shows more than I thought.) I am more competitive against my own self than anything.

 I don't ilke to be told I can't do something, and when someone does say that, it makes me want to prove all the more that I can.

 I don't like being told "You're a girl, this isn't for you."

 I don't like the feeling of not pushing myself.

 I enjoy a challenge. This helps me be part of who I am. I am a goal setter. It is true I don't always achieve what I set out to do. However, I generally grow and become better in the process, regardless of the outcome. That is part of why I love to run. Running allows me to set physical challenge goals and work towards them and learn about myself in the process. TRX does the same for me. Just when I think my body/muscles are used to an exercise, the instructor pushes it to  a new level.

 I love a good challenge. I don't always talk about the competitive goals on which I am working, but I suppose that is in part because I think what if I can't do this?Then what will people think?  But that is silly.  As I said before, I don't always achieve the goal towards which I am working.  But every time along the way, no matter how detailed or simple or big or small my goal is, I do always become better in one way or another.

 If it doesn't challenge me, it probably won't change me. I found that saying last year with my TRX and I have thought about that often. A challenge does reshape me every time.  And God has a way of using even the physical challenges to teach me spiritual truths.

 January was not kind to my body. I fought a few different infections, have taken more than one round of antibiotics, battled minor shin splints and the ups and downs of the temperatures have played havoc on my sinuses.  I did not give up in any of those, but I finally feel my body regaining its normalcy to a degree, so I have begun working harder once again towards some new fitness goals and participating in a challenge.

 #pushupforwhat presented by my TRX instructor for the month of February presents a challenge I am struggling with, but I am working hard to accomplish nonetheless. The challenge was put out to everyone, but obviously not a requirement. But, as I said to start, I have a hard time turning down a challenge. Perhaps it is a downfall of mine, but I see it as a bettering quality. The challenge is to do 100 pushups/100 sit-ups week one. 200 week 2. 300 week 3. 400 week 4. They can be spread out through the day, it doesn't have to be all in one sitting. I have made it through week one! I told Steck, the instructor, I wasn't sure if I could make it to 400....doing 100 is a struggle for me. He said "That's alright. That's why it's called a challenge. You push your limits as much as you can and it's still an accomplishment." However, I feel strength building through this already, and there is a satisfaction that comes with completing a challenge. So, we will see how this goes. And no, I don't even do the girly pushups. I push myself to do them for real. It's taken me years to get to that place, but TRX has done wonders for me. So that is my current challenge.

 Along those lines, what are the rest of my challenges? Most of them are goals I aim to reach by the end of the year.

 1. I would like a PR in my half marathon. My PR was in 2010 (ironically on the Air Force Marathon course!)  It's time to break that. For me, this is really hard. I don't like speed workouts or hill training, which one of those will be what helps me push towards a new time goal. I am paying attention to my heart rate, which is a pain, but it does make a difference. And every time I push towards this, my body tends to call Stop- and shin splints in January were the first obstacle. But I am not quitting.  Now I feel slower because of taking several weeks of very low key fitness, so it's sort of like starting from scratch, but... here I go.

 2. I hope to better my plank challenge time every month. (To hold a plank for so long until I have to drop.) Obviously that will get harder the longer I have to hold it. But even if it is one second longer, that will be an improvement to me.

 3. I want to do a pull up. I'd really like to do more than one, but I will take even one. Why are those so hard??

 4. We have this song-challenge thing we do in TRX. It's sort of hard to explain. But one would be the song Roxeanne. Or the song Proud Mary. We are in the straps with our feet in. Like this, as one example: (PS- I definitely do not look that good doing this! )

 But Steck calls out through the whole song all different things for us to do. Mountain climbers, planks, pikes (shown in the photo), side planks, atomic pushups... the list goes on. I have yet to be able to make it through a song challenge without dropping somewhere in the middle of it. It is HARD! So my goal is to make it through the song challenge without dropping. Those song challenges may be one of the times I sweat the hardest in TRX.

 there is one more TRX challenge but it's complicated to explain. I aim to make it through another Ab challenge of sorts without dropping. It isn't easy. There are 3 others in the class who have done it and I am setting out to become a 4th one :)

 These goals may take me all year to get there. Or I may not even make some of them. But the journey towards them is always healthy. I learn more about me, I help reform my mindset, and I do get better physically one way or another in the process.

 If it doesn't challenge me, it won't change me. Perhaps that is one reason I love a good challenge. Growing is important!