One Year

Warning: This post will contain excessive amounts of talk on the subject of Crossfit. All haters/nay-sayers/don't-carers (totally a word) have been warned. ;)

You guys. Come the 29th of September I will have officially been a part of Crossfit for 1 year. I feel like there should be some sort of celebration - or at least some cake.

But in all seriousness I can't believe it's been a full year since that first workout I did after my sweet Rose was born. So much has happened in that year (i.e. I now have a one year old - what?!). I decided a couple weeks back that once I hit this anniversary I'd post a little tribute blog for myself. I am a firm believer in goals and an even firmer (again totally a word) believer in celebrating our accomplishments. While I am usually great at celebrating others accomplishments I tend to down play my own - but not this time. I am proud of what I have done in the past year and how far I've come, so I'm gonna celebrate dang it (but probably with a donut rather then cake... I'm much more of a donut kinda gal).

Now while I am in no means saying in this blog that I am a top dog or even close, I can still be proud of what I can do and the scores/weights I can pull. So for those that actually semi-follow this blog (hello to all 3 of you!) - bare with my as I toot me own horn. ;)

Looking back and thinking of the first time I went to work out with Braedon after Rose was born is a bit weird. I remember being almost sick to my stomach I was so nervous and was feeling rather intimidated. My first day at Crossfit was a Saturday - which means Team Workout day. I told Braedon I wanted him to do it with me because I didn't want to hold anyone else back. The work out was as follows:

In teams of two, with only one person working at a time, and alternating rounds, complete 10 rounds each of:

- Power Clean x 3 Reps

- Burpees x 6 Reps

- 100 Meter Sprint.

I could choose from three different weight categories - advanced (135 pounds), intermediate (105 pounds), or beginner (65 pounds). I of course went with the beginner weight.

Folks, I remember this being one of the hardest things I had done in a long time (possibly ever). I even think the phrase "labor was easier" came out of my mouth. I remember my arms feeling like Jell-O from that 65 pounds. And I especially remember thinking Braedon was doing his rounds WAY too fast and that he needed to slow down so I could have more resting time.

One year later and I now warm-up on power cleans at 65 pounds. In fact, my one rep of a power clean is now 150 pounds. And don't even get me started on how crappy my burpee's and runs looked.

That right there is improvement if I ever saw it.

Now, unfortunately there still are times that I get frustrated with my performance or don't feel I am progressing fast enough - we all know it's hard to see the change in ourselves sometimes. Things can be so gradual that it almost doesn't feel like we are really moving. I finally feel like I had a bit of a break through on how far I've come this past week. It was benchmark Friday and we were doing a workout that we hadn't done since December of 2012. We were doing Angie:

Complete the following:

- 100 Pull-ups

- 100 Push-ups

- 100 Sit-ups

- 100 Squats

You can partition the reps however you wish. 

Like I said, we did this workout back in December of 2012 and it destroyed me. I had just started to do my pull-ups without any assistance of a band. I still had to do my push-up's on my knee's. I was slow on my sit-ups still having that little bit of a mommy gut. Basically it was like my worst enemy of a workout. Most people were finishing this in under 20 minutes. I on the other hand did it in 28:45. I remember being so proud and happy that I actually finished it. While my time wasn't great (and I'm pretty sure I was the last one done) - it was still an accomplishment.

Fast forward to September 19th of this year.

I finished in 16:27.

That's over 12 minutes difference! Twelve Minutes! And of course this time I did my push-up's the regular ol' way rather then on my knees. I was floored. I couldn't believe the difference. This was the proof that I needed to really tell myself that I am doing alright and progressing just fine.

I could go on to mention a bunch of other PR's (personal records) but I wont (have I mentioned my 48" box jump? ;)). Let's just leave it with the fact that I have come far and what's even better is I plan to keep going. Crossfit has shown in me that I do have what it takes. That I can do hard things, lift heavy weights, run faster, push harder, etc. It has given me so much strength not just physically, but mentally. I have a drive in me that I never knew existed and I love it.

Back when I wrote my post about Crossfit in February I thought I knew what Crossfit was to me. Turns out I was only scratching the surface.

I feel strong, happy, alive, and healthier then I ever have. I am so lucky to be a part of this amazing community and to have so much support not only from my trainers and fellow athletes, but from my amazing husband. He supports me and lifts me up in all that I do and I am so glad we can do all this together.

It may be cheesy, but Crossfit truly has been completely life changing.

And the best part - if the numbers weren't proof enough, and how I feel isn't proof enough - there is always how I look (nothing like loving your body and marveling at all it can do):

And while I know it's not for everyone... boy do I love me some Crossfit!

Happy Anniversary to me and Crossfit Draper! :)

Changes

Life has been a bit crazy lately.

This leads to many ideas that I feel I need to write down but that I don't actually ever get around to writing due to lack of time. This then leads to forgetting said idea's when I actually do make the time to write them down.

It's a vicious cycle.

Last night we got word from our Realtor that our buyer on our house needs to push our closing date out a week. My first thought is "does this mean it's not going to go through?"... followed by a huge sigh of relief, now having an extra week to pack and get our crap together.  I feel like I got a weeks worth of time back that we didn't have before... so I find myself sitting here blogging rather then cleaning or packing.

It's a pretty great feeling, guys.

It still feels a bit surreal to  me that we are doing this whole "selling and buying" deal. While I'm definitely ready to move on to a bit more space and feel great about our decisions thus far... there still is that part of me that feels a bit nostalgic about leaving our first home. Braedon and I (and my parents and other various helpers) put so much work into our place when we bought it. Don't believe me - just take a look at these before and after picks here. Looking back and remembering the weeks of staying up late, the hard work, the stress about the paint and how it looked when it dried.... and then the feeling of accomplishment when we were finally done and ready to move in is a bit crazy and gratifying.

Now I look around at our home and see it filled with dog toys and baby accessories and think how much we've changed in the past two years.... we've made memories in this home. We've learned and grown and laughed and cried in this home. It's only been two years but I feel that it's so much more. It's a bit sad thinking about leaving this place behind. I almost feel like I'm cheating on a lover or something. Weird? Probably.

That all being said I'm ready to move and ready for the change. We've found another wonderful townhome in Lehi right next to Thanksgiving Point. We've looked at a lot of houses and a lot of townhouses the past few months. We even found some that we thought we liked enough that we put an offer on them... only to be quietly shot down due to other higher offers. Each time we felt a bit of relief though upon hearing we didn't get the home. I kept getting frustrated wondering if I would ever feel that feeling. You know. The one where you feel quite and calm yet excited at the same time. The feeling of rightness. While we hadn't particularly felt bad about some of the homes we put offers on... I never felt right.

After much deliberation (and some blunt words from my family about how un-thrilled we seemed about certain houses we had looked at) we finally set up an appointment to take a look at the townhomes in Thanksgiving Meadow's.

I finally got that feeling. It felt right. It felt good. We liked the floor plan. We liked the location (ten minutes from Crossfit, and three minutes from the freeway - hello!). We liked the space. We liked the fact that it will be new and be ours.

Rightness.

So we picked out our lot (oh did I mention that the only downfall is that it wont be completed until the end of December?), signed some papers, gave a deposit and are now in the process of picking out our colors and upgrades and so forth.

In the meantime we will be moving in with a friend and her parents (Hi, Kelila!) who have been so gracious as to give us a piece of their home. And we now just play the waiting game. First waiting for our sale to finalize, then waiting for our new home to be built so we can move in (hopefully before Christmas *crosses fingers*).

So there you have it. My spiel on all things moving/buying/selling of the Goudie household.

Anywho. I have other items to blog about - like the fact that I have a one year old that is basically walking. And the fact that we went up camping this year and it didn't end in a rush to the hospital as a small child willed herself out of my uterus. And how I didn't die while participating in the Crossfit Retro Games. But I'll get to those another day.

Hopefully.

Love and hugs, ya'll.