Posted onNovember 6, 2023|Comments Off on A Week Of Celebrations (or Finishing Hell Week With Lots Of Awesomeness)
This past week of workout was half HellWeek and half regular workout week. I also realized at the beginning of the week that this past week might end up being a rough one for me with pain and nausea. But I was hoping that wouldn’t happen until the end of the week so I was hopeful I would finish out Hell Week without too many issues. And I’m glad that was what happened to me.
I started out my workout week by completing my 4th Hell Week class. I was glad to have the weekend off so I could relax a bit and get ready for some more hard workouts. And I think that Monday’s workout was the one I felt the most ready for and had the best time with. But that also might have been because I was ready to earn my shirt since I’ve done that every year since my firstOrangetheory workout! I’m missing a shirt, but my collection is looking pretty nice.
On Tuesday, it was the last day of Hell Week and Halloween. I’ve worn random costumes occasionally, but I didn’t have a good idea for a costume this year. Although I did realize a good costume idea for the future after this class was done, so hopefully next Halloween I’ll have something better. But I decided to be a bit silly and I wore my strike shirt so I could go as a striking actor for my costume in class.
The workout was tough, but I still think the first class the week before was the hardest of all the Hell Week workouts. I did have a little extra challenge on Halloween because I didn’t realize the difference between performance fabric and normal fabric would be so much. I normally wear a workout tank top in class. I do sweat, but the performance fabric does not make me feel overheated or gross. But my strike shirt is normal fabric, so I felt so much warmer and icky while I was sweating in class. I guess I decided to make Hell Week a little harder on myself for a little extra challenge. But I got through it and learned that wearing non-workout tops in class is probably not a smart idea.
And I had another awesome thing happen this past week. The Orangetheory app tracks how many workouts we’ve done in the studio, and I noticed that I was about to get to another milestone class. Because the app can take a day or so to update, I’m not exactly sure when I got to this milestone, but it was either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Because I average about 200 workouts a year, this means that I’ll be taking my 2000th class right around Hell Week 2025. That’s so crazy to think about! And I know that this tally doesn’t count the workouts I did at home with the app, so I have actually done closer to 1800 workouts if you could those. But I also know the workouts I did at home were not nearly as tough as the in-studio ones, so I’m ok counting them separately. I know that I probably shouldn’t be as shocked or impressed by myself since these workouts are a regular part of my life now, but I still remember how hard it was to find a workout that I really clicked with. And to know that I’ve not only clicked with these workouts but really have thrived in class and have achieved so much still amazes me. It’s been a long journey to find my fitness home, and I’m still so grateful that I’ve found it.
I love that I had so many positive things happen to me this past week. I ended things on a rough note with some really horrendous nausea, but I just kept remembering that I had done some awesome things at the beginning of the week to balance it out. I might still be a bit off at the beginning of this week, but I have a feeling I’ll be ending this week on another high!
Posted onAugust 2, 2023|Comments Off on A Few Months Of Celebrating (or Enjoying Each Age)
I set my monthly challenge for July to be to celebrate the last full month of my 30s. I know that’s not really a challenge like some of the ones I’ve done in the past, but I did want to make an effort to celebrate my age because I think it’s important to do so. Age is such a weird thing and I hate the stigma that seems to come with certain ages.
I didn’t stress as much as I thought I would 10 years ago about turning 30. I think turning 29 was almost a harder birthdate. For some reason, there was a block in my mind about what I was supposed to accomplish before 30 and I saw my 29th birthday as the cutoff to get those things accomplished. I don’t know why 29 was as tough for me as it was, but I was grateful that turning 30 wasn’t as bad as I feared.
I haven’t had a big issue in my mind about turning 40. I find it a bit tough to believe because I don’t feel like I’m 40. I think the pandemic made a few years feel like they didn’t happen, but also there was an idea in my mind when I was a kid about what 40 meant. I remember seeing all those over-the-hill gag gift things for someone turning 40, and I don’t feel like I’m headed toward the end of my life. I actually think that my life has been so much better in my 30s than in my 20s had been. I think I really stopped caring about some things that don’t really matter, and that made things a lot better for me. I also had some really great steps with improving both my mental and physical health and that helped this past decade a lot too.
I think every age is important, and it was extra important to acknowledge all the things that happened to me in my 30s. I had so much growth and celebrating that felt like the right thing to do. I didn’t do anything in particular, but I did make sure that I got out and spent time doing fun things with my friends to enjoy the last full month of my 30s.
And my challenge this month is kind of the same as what I did last month. Turning 40 is a milestone birthday, even if it doesn’t have the same feeling now as I thought it might when I was younger. I think it’s awesome that I’m turning 40 and I think that this coming decade will be even better than my 30s. I never knew how amazing my 30s could be, and I am so excited to see how my 40s surprise me. I don’t fear growing older or a specific age, so I want to celebrate how cool it is that I will be 40!
I am planning a casual birthday gathering since I haven’t really celebrated my birthday in the past few years. And I have the usual birthday traditions that I’m planning on doing again this year. I want to start off this decade by trying to spend time doing things I want to do, which I don’t do often enough. I’ve been doing better about getting out of my house and seeing friends, and I want to keep doing that. I want to make sure I take advantage of this month and enjoy as much time as I can. I know that I won’t be able to do that all the time, but making the effort to celebrate my birthday and my new decade is important to me.
I know this is another easy challenge to do, but I think it’s the perfect one for me this month. I haven’t had other life milestones yet that a lot of other people have that they celebrate (like a wedding), so celebrating a big birthday is an important one for me and I want to make sure I start off this decade in the best way possible!
I knew this past week of workouts would be better than the week before. I was feeling much better, which always helps me have a good workout week. But this week was unexpectedly good in ways I didn’t plan for, which made things even better!
Monday’s workout had an interesting format. For cardio, we had our blocks back to back. But for the rower and the floor, we switched between blocks. So when we started on the rower, we went rower, floor, rower. And on the floor, we went floor, rower, floor.
I started on cardio, and we had 3 blocks that focused on 30-second intervals. We had 3 30-second intervals before a recovery in each block. Sometimes those were base, push, and then all-out. And sometimes it was a push, push to all-out, and all-out. I used my normal resistance levels for these and when we were supposed to be between a base and push or push and all-out, I used the level between those.
On the rower, we had the same thing each time we were rowing. It was a 3 1/2-minute row with a 30-second all-out at the end. Rowing for 4 minutes isn’t the worst thing, but it’s also tough to do sometimes. I tried to limit my breaks on the rower, but I did have to take a few. And on the floor, we also did the same thing each time we were at that station. We had bicep curls, lunges, tricep extensions, and push-ups.
On Monday evening, I went to look at the Orangetheory app because I knew on Tuesday we had a benchmark class. I wanted to see my past times so I would be prepared for the next class. I took a look at that but noticed something else pretty amazing. The app also tracks how many in-studio classes you have taken (it doesn’t could any of the at-home classes done when things were shut down). And I missed noticing this before, but Monday’s class was a milestone one for me!
I knew that this milestone was coming up, but I wasn’t paying that much attention to when it would happen. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it, but I’m proud of myself. When I started going to Orangetheory, I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to keep things up even though I knew I wanted to. But I was quickly hooked and it’s become a part of my routine now and I’ve missed it when I haven’t been able to go to class. When you could my home workouts, I’m over 1700 workouts, but I also know I didn’t work out as hard when I was at home compared to when I was in the studio.
Tuesday’s class was the 200-meter row benchmark. This is a fun benchmark to do because it’s always very fast. Since I knew my past times for the row, I had a goal in mind for what I wanted to do. I wasn’t going for a PR since I know I can’t PR every time, but I wanted to be close to it so that was the goal I had in mind.
I had my cardio work first, and it wasn’t too intense since we were supposed to save our strength for the benchmark. The first 2 blocks were 4-minute distance challenges. I set my resistance level to be just below my push level so it wasn’t too hard but not too easy either. I think that was a good choice because it did feel challenging, but not impossible. In the last block, we had intervals of a push pace to a base pace with an all-out at the end. I did use my normal resistance levels for those, but I didn’t go too crazy since I was about to row.
On the rower, the first block was more of a warmup and prep for the benchmark. We did have 200-meter rows, but we weren’t supposed to go hard and be closer to a push row. Between each row, we had lunges. I felt pretty ready for the benchmark in the second block. And that’s all we had in the second block to do. I didn’t rush into starting since I had 4 minutes and I knew the row would be less than a minute. And I was very happy with how it went. I was rowing a lot harder than I thought I could do and I was keeping my form to a sprint row form. I didn’t get a PR, which is what I expected, but I was closer to it than I thought I could. Only being .15 seconds off is probably more about a tiny bit of form than anything else so maybe I’ll be able to beat it soon.
The last row block gave us another chance to do the benchmark, but I was exhausted so I just did push rows again instead of going crazy. I also still needed a bit more recovery time from the benchmark, so I was happy I had the time to do that.
And the floor was also a bit easier than normal since the entire workout was designed around the benchmark. Each of the 3 blocks had 2 exercises that were supposed to help people get ready for the benchmark if they did the floor first. We had high lows to low rows on the straps and hip hinge swings, plank pikes and superhero planks, and single-leg deadlifts with the straps and plank pull-throughs. I know I was still a bit sore from the row so I didn’t do anything extraordinary, but I was trying to work harder than I would have if I still had to do the row after.
Wednesday’s workout was a bit of a recovery workout. I might have overdone things on Tuesday or I might have just been having a bad hip day. I wasn’t sure what was causing the pain, but I was hurting so I had to just be cautious. But I was still pushing myself quite a bit.
For cardio, our 3 blocks focused a lot on incline work. We had base, push, and all-out paces with inclines and a lot of base paces without inclines between them. For the resistance levels, I did try to increase them compared to what I would normally use, but I struggled to do exactly what we were supposed to do. So for most of the workout, I did just one level higher than normal when we were supposed to have inclines. It was still harder than normal, but not quite as hard as it could have been if I did what I might have done if I wasn’t hurting.
On the rower, we had one long block. We started with a 600-meter row followed by front presses with a medicine ball. Then we had a 400-meter and 200-meter row also with the front presses. Then we worked our way back up starting with a 200-meter row but we had overhead presses with the medicine ball between each row. I did a lot better with my rowing than I thought I would. Even though I did need some breaks in the long rows, I didn’t need as many as I thought I might have to take.
And on the floor, the focus was on load and explode movements. So we had back-to-back exercises that worked similar muscle groups. We first had goblet squats to regular squats. Then we had lateral raises to uppercuts. And finally, we had bicycle presses to sit-ups. I did have to do a few modifications for some exercises, but they were expected modifications for me and not necessarily because of how my hip was doing.
When I showed up to Thursday’s workout, my coach had set up the brag board to celebrate my milestone. It was set up to say I did 1500 classes, but that class was going to be my 1503rd. So I joked to him that I was going to fix it later, which is exactly what I did before I posted it online.
I really appreciated that because it’s always awesome to be celebrated. But it’s more awesome to be celebrated for something that wasn’t easy to start and could have been very simple to give up on. But I have stuck with it. Even though now it’s something I’m used to, I still make a choice to go early in the morning when I would rather be sleeping in a bit more.
I only celebrated the milestone for a quick moment before the workout started and it was time to get into things. For cardio, we had 3 blocks. The first block was focused on 30-second intervals with a base pace, push pace, and all-out. We did that twice within the block. In the second block, we did bases at inclines, and I was able to use the resistance levels I should have used. And the last block had 90-second base paces with 30-second push paces with the focus being more on the base pace and making sure we could get back to a base without needing to recover.
On the rower, we had 3 blocks that all had 150-meter rows. The first block was just rounds of an all-out 150-meter row. We could take whatever recovery time we needed before doing another all-out row. In the second block, we had 10 step-out squats between each row. And the row was supposed to be a push row instead of an all-out row. And in the last block, the rowing was supposed to be more of the recovery than the focus. We had 10 squats to start and then the 150-meter row was a base row.
And on the floor, we had one long block. In that block, we had skater lunges, cleans with weights, kneeling shoulder presses, lunges, plank taps, and double crunches. I didn’t go extra heavy with the weights I used, but I did try using the heavier weights before going to the normal ones I use. I’m glad it was just one block of work because it allowed me to take my time to work on each exercise and not feel rushed.
When I started this past week of workouts, I knew it would be a benchmark week, but I had no clue it would be a milestone week. I’m so glad I happened to look at the app on Monday so I could see that I hit such a cool milestone the day it happened. Of course, I would have celebrated it even if I didn’t notice until I was past it, but I’m happy I got to celebrate as I did my 1500th class! And based on how many workouts I do on average, I’m about 2 1/2 years away from celebrating my 2000th class!
Posted onJuly 8, 2022|Comments Off on Another Hip Surgery Anniversary (or Making It To Sweet 16)
Yesterday marked 16 years since I had my hip surgery. I didn’t exactly forget about it this time, but I didn’t remember it in time to be able to post about it on here on the actual day. I was in my workout yesterday morning and was thinking about some upcoming events our coach was sharing with us. I was thinking about what day of the week some of those things would be on, and then I realized that day was the 7th and my hip surgery anniversary.
I know that 16 years isn’t exactly a milestone marker, but I think I’m always still in a bit of shock about how well I have done since having that surgery. I was always prepared to have one of the next ones that I would need pretty soon after the first one. My doctors thought I would need at least one more within the next few years. But somehow, I haven’t had to have any other procedures yet. This doesn’t mean I’m out of pain, but I’m not anywhere close to the amount of pain I was in before I had surgery. It’s been a while so I don’t remember exactly how bad the pain was, but I do remember how many painkillers I was on and how much I struggled to walk. And I do remember how little the pain after surgery felt compared to what I was in before.
The pain that I deal with now is a combination of issues with my hips. On the side that was operated on, I am bone on bone. The next surgery I need on that side will be a total hip replacement because there is nothing else they can do to get me out of pain completely. The pain I feel is when my bones hit and when things get out of place. I can’t really describe what that pain is like, but it’s not a sharp pain. It’s a weird dull pain that just feels wrong. But when things get out of place, I do have some tricks to help make that better. On the side that wasn’t operated on yet, the pain I feel is due to the damage that is still there. To remove the damage would make that side be bone on bone, so my doctors said that maybe the next step would just be a hip replacement instead of the surgery I had on the other side. Nothing was really decided or planned since we had no clue how long it would be until I needed the surgeries. And when it came time for them, then we could come up with a plan.
The only plan that was really discussed with me was that the end result would likely be total hip replacements on both sides and that in an ideal world I would not have a hip replacement done before I turned 40. Replacements don’t last forever so the longer you can wait until you get one, the better it is and the fewer future surgeries you might need. And even though I can’t believe my age at times, I’m only about a year away from that milestone birthday. So there is a good chance that I will make it to 40 before having a replacement.
I remember when I had the first surgery 16 years ago that turning 40 seemed like a lifetime away. While I always hoped I would not need surgery before then, I also worried that things would be so bad that I wouldn’t be able to wait that long either. I’m seriously so grateful that while I have dealt with pain, it has never gotten so bad that I considered that I would need a hip replacement. I thought maybe my other side would need that first surgery, but when I had my last exam and x-rays on my hips, the doctors could see some damage but it was not that much worse than what it was like before. And that does make sense since the pain I’ve been feeling over the years has been pretty stable and hasn’t gotten much worse over the years. I have good days and bad days, but they are still pretty similar to what they have been like for a long time.
Next year’s hip surgery anniversary will be right before I turn 40. And as long as things continue the way they have been going, I should still be fine without having to have another surgery before then. And I don’t plan on getting surgery after I turn 40 unless I really need it. My goal has always been to go as long as I could before the next one because that will help me have the best results long term. But it will be nice to know in a year that I have made it to that big goal my surgeon set for me so many years ago.
Posted onJanuary 12, 2021|Comments Off on A Weird Dating Milestone (or At Least I Know I’m Trying)
I’ve been active on dating apps for almost 4 years now. This isn’t the first time I’ve used dating apps (or dating websites), but I feel like the past 4 years have been a very different time than any other time I used them. I have had a bit more of a purpose and a slightly more open mind. And I feel like I have been much more active this time than I ever had before.
And I know I am using apps more than many people. Now during the pandemic, I’m sure this is even more true. But even before the pandemic, I know that I was more active than many others. This is particularly due to having a thick skin and tolerating things a bit better than some. I’ve had friends who have taken extended breaks from apps after they got ghosted. I have taken little breaks, but rarely longer than a week unless I was seeing someone that I thought was going to go somewhere.
I don’t really track how many people I match with or message on dating apps because it would be just too much. But I learned a few weeks ago that there is a way to see some of that information in Bumble. Bumble has a program called Moves Making Impact. It’s a free and optional program that allows you to help raise money for a charity every time you send an opening message. I signed up for it since it’s free and doesn’t affect my profile at all. But someone mentioned that if you go back to that section of the profile settings, it lets you know how many first messages you have sent since selecting a charity.
But it also shows you how many first messages you have sent since signing up for Bumble! At the time, it was just under 5,000 for me. I wasn’t going to go out of my way to match and message people I didn’t care about just to get the number to 5,000, but it wasn’t that long before I hit that milestone.
But this is only tracking Bumble and that’s not the only app that I’m on. So I would say it’s a safe bet that between the various apps that I use, I have matched and messaged at least 10,000 men.
I’m not embarrassed by this number. It’s a sign that I’m trying to date and find my person. But it is a little frustrating that I have gone through 10,000 men and still am single. I never thought I’d need to talk to that many people that I would reject (or that would reject me). Of course, when I started on the apps again, I was hopeful that I would be one of the rare cases that meet their person within the first few messages, but I knew that was unlikely. But I never expected that 4 years and 10,000 men later, I’d still be as single as I was before.
Of course, I have learned a lot about myself while dating. They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a new skill. So maybe messaging 10,000 men makes me a little bit of an expert in dating. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, but maybe a little bit of one. But even if I’m not an expert in dating, I’m an expert in what I want in dating and what I know I deserve. I know what I do not have to stand for and what my hard lines and boundaries are. I know what I am looking for more than ever and have a much clearer idea of what I want my future to be like with another person. Some people learn this by being in relationships. I learned it by not really being in one. But I still learned it and am happy that I have had that growth.
Will I get to 10,000 first messages on Bumble? I have no idea. I honestly hope that I don’t because I do want to find my person. I don’t want to date endlessly and still be single. But I do know that could happen and I won’t be mad at myself if that is my future. I know for sure that if I was in a relationship with anyone that I had gone out with before that I wouldn’t be happy. Maybe right now during the pandemic, I wouldn’t be as lonely, but I know I am happier now than I would be if I was with any of them. So it is for the best.
I will continue to try dating the best I can during the pandemic. I don’t know if I’ll meet my person with how we have to date now, but maybe I will. And if I don’t, I will be back to dating normally when it is safe to do so. And if I get to another milestone number in the future, at least I know that it is a sign that I am trying and hopefully am closer to finding my person.
Posted onOctober 10, 2019|Comments Off on A Major Workout Milestone (or Getting To 1000)
Yesterday, I hit a huge workout milestone. It’s something that I honestly didn’t know that I would get to, and I’m still a little surprised and in shock. Yesterday was my 1,000th Orangetheory class!
Because I track my workouts, I knew that this was coming up. I did only 3 workouts last week to make sure that my 1,000th class was in one of my regular classes (I’ll post more about my weird workout schedule in my recap on Monday). I wanted to have my milestone class be a class where I knew I’d have friends with me. While I’ve had other milestones with Orangetheory, this was one that seemed crazier to me for some reason.
I had been getting excited about this milestone for a while, and the staff at the studio knew what was coming up as well. But it still surprised me when I walked into the lobby and saw a giant sign congratulating me on doing 1,000 classes.
I’m not going to write about the workout much in this post since I’ll be doing that on Monday. But I want to share some of my thoughts after completing 1,000 classes.
I’ve said it before on here, but I had struggled in the past to find a workout that connected with me. There were other workouts that I tried that I just couldn’t do or coaches that treated me differently because of my size or medical conditions. I didn’t know it at the time, but I needed to find a place that treated me like everyone else but also helped me modify things when necessary. And when I walked in Orangetheory for the blogger preview, that’s exactly what I found. While I have been invited to check out other workout studios or classes, I’ve always compared it to Orangetheory and have always wanted to stick with it.
I started about 5 1/2 years ago and have consistently gone at least 3 times a week since I started. I started tracking how many workouts I did after a year or two so I could set goals for each year. But I also was able to track overall milestones. And I knew that getting to 1,000 classes was possible, but for some reason, I never thought too much about it until the beginning of this year when I started to add up how many I had done from every year.
I might not look different on the outside, but I know I am a different person than who I was when I started. I have gained so much confidence and awareness with my body. I feel more in control. I understand what I can push my body to do and what limitations I have. And I do think that I look a little different on the outside too because there is no question that I have gained muscle. Weight loss will hopefully come soon, but eating disorders are tough to beat and that’s a big issue for me with weight loss.
But I haven’t only made changes through the workouts directly. I have also made amazing friends from going to the same classes from week to week. I have brought friends and family to class with me and that’s been awesome too. I feel like it has helped me be a bit more outgoing being in class and the routine is a good thing for me (even though I did just complain a bit about being too much in a routine). I feel like I have more of a purpose each day and when I don’t get to work out it feels so odd to me.
I still don’t see myself as an athlete all the time because I know I don’t look like one. But after completing 1,000 classes, I think that I need to stop questioning that and believe that I truly am an athlete.
1,000 classes ago, I started a journey that I wasn’t aware was going to happen. So many things have happened for me because of taking that first class and I wouldn’t change it for anything. And next week, I start the journey of the next 1,000 classes and whatever that will bring my way.
Of course, I had to take a picture with some friends after my 1,000th class, and I wanted to compare it to the photo I took after my very first class. I feel like I look the same (which I’m trying not to focus on too much), but I also feel like you can see the difference in my eyes and smile. I have gained so much from these 1,000 classes and there’s no denying that.
Posted onJuly 11, 2018|Comments Off on Celebrating My Mom (or She Hit A Big Milestone)
It’s been a long time since I’ve written about my mom’s cancer on here. And that’s for a good reason. My mom had surgery, chemo, and radiation and she was declared cancer-free after her treatments. She still has sporadic appointments to get checked out and for other things, but she hasn’t needed any further treatments beyond her original treatment plan!
When my mom was originally diagnosed, there was a lot of information coming at us to understand what all of this meant. Even though my entire family is in medicine, cancer was a new things for us all and there was so much that we didn’t know. And there was plenty that my parents knew that they didn’t necessarily tell me. We never discussed survival rates because we also knew that it really didn’t mean much. I’ve had medical situations that were 1 in a million so even if the survival rate was 1% my mom could be the 1% that survives (I think it’s really closer to 75% but I’m not too sure).
The one thing that we did know was that getting to the 5 year mark was important and a good sign. We didn’t realize that the anniversary date is from the date of diagnosis before my mom got treatment. I guess I always figured 5 years cancer free means 5 years from when doctors declare you cancer-free. But it’s really a 5 year survival marker which is 5 years of surviving past diagnosis. It makes sense thinking about it now, but I remember at first that it was a weird idea.
Well, today marks 5 years for my mom! It seems like forever ago that my mom was diagnosed and that I felt so overwhelmed by the news. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out from my mom. It was a day that for several hours I wondered if I imagined hearing the news. And I had an event to go out to that night that I really couldn’t skip out on and I felt so weird trying to put on a happy face. I remember sitting at home with a friend the day my mom had surgery (she didn’t want me to come up because there would be delays in the surgery schedule) and waiting on the news that she was out of surgery and it went well. I was so surprised when it was my mom who Facetimed me and my friend and I both told her how amazing she looks after surgery. Her hair looked better coming out of surgery than my did that day!
I remember seeing my mom’s scar for the first time and the first time I saw her without her hair and her wig. I rarely saw her without her wig, but she did show it off to me once. And I remember celebrating every milestone that she hit like when she was done with chemo and when she was done with radiation. And now I get to celebrate her again!
The 5 year mark is a big one but it’s not a guarantee. My mom will always be at risk for the cancer coming back, but it’s much less likely now that she made it 5 years. It’s a milestone that I know we have all been looking toward for so long. Even though in a way it doesn’t matter because she has been fine since her treatments, I’ve been waiting for the 5 year mark so that I could breathe a little easier. Somehow now, it seems more likely that we won’t have to worry about this any more. I know things can change, but this feels like we don’t have to think about it as much.
I have had several friends in the past 5 years get a cancer diagnosis and I know they are all looking toward the 5 year mark. And while all of my friends have been amazing how they’ve handled things and almost all of them have completed their treatments, my mom is still the most incredible person I know who has gone through treatments. The way she handled herself and was able to support our family as well when we were all having tough moments is so inspiring. I know that even with me dealing with my non-cancerous tumors, I wasn’t as amazing as she was and I wasn’t dealing with anything nearly as serious.
I guess the next milestone would be 10 years cancer-free, but that’s never been something I’ve really thought about as far as my mom not having to worry about cancer anymore. Getting to 5 years has been something we’ve all talked about for so long and it’s such a relief that my mom has made it. While I haven’t thought about her cancer for a while, it has been in the back of my head. Now, I can just relax and keep feeling reassured that she is fine and that cancer is in her past.
While I do have my blog anniversary marked in my calendar, I really don’t think too much about blog milestones much anymore. I actually missed acknowledging my 1,000th post because I didn’t think about it. And the only reason why I knew this would be my 1,500th post is because 2 weeks ago someone asked me how many blog posts I’ve done so far. I looked up the number and realized this milestone was coming up. While I knew I had written a bunch of posts since my last milestone post, I honestly had no clue that I was about to get to another milestone.
If I hadn’t been asked about it, I could have gone several months without checking to see how many posts I’ve done. When I started, it was such a big deal when I realized how many posts I had done because it was proof of me following through with a goal to keep this blog. But it’s become so normal for me now that I don’t really know what a milestone really means for me.
On the days I don’t write a blog post (either I don’t need one for the next day or I’m blogging in advance and don’t need to write), it almost feels weird and that something is missing in my life. I’m so used to having the time most days to reflect on a specific event or subject that when I don’t have that moment I miss it. I almost crave the time I take to write my posts. I don’t crave it enough to try to blog every single day (5 days a week is enough), but it really has become almost a part of my self-care work. It would be nice if other aspects of my life could feel so needed to me like meal planning, cooking, or stretching. But for now, I can be happy that blogging feels so natural and normal.
But even though in a way having a milestone like this doesn’t feel like a big deal because this blog is just a part of my life, it is a big deal and I should recognize that. I have several blogger friends who either just didn’t like blogging or didn’t feel like they could keep up with it. Even friends of mine who were much more successful than I am have decided it wasn’t worth it. Maybe they felt like the money they got wasn’t worth it, but I find this so worth it even though I don’t make money from here (I do have ads and affiliate links, but I’ve made under $100 over the entire lifetime of my blog).
I have had people ask me how long I’m going to keep blogging. For me, I really can’t see myself stopping. I can imagine in the future maybe I won’t be blogging every day (I had that thought last year when I was going to have surgery), but I don’t see an end point yet. Maybe in the future I’ll be done with doing this, but this blog isn’t necessarily about a journey that will have a conclusion. This is the journey of my life and there have been lots of twists and turns that I never imagined when I started this. Obviously I never thought I’d have liver tumors and that took my blog in a new direction. I also never thought I’d be blogging about dating (partially because that felt too personal and partially because I didn’t have much to say), but I’ve written lots of posts about that too. And I’m sure that there will be so many more posts about things in the future that I can’t imagine right now.
It’s funny to think about how worried I was to be a good blogger when I started when in reality I just needed to be consistent, true to myself, and honest. I’m not the most interesting person and I know there are plenty of boring posts on here, but that’s the truth of my life. And even if I feel like I don’t have anything interesting in my life, I’ve got 1,500 posts on here saying otherwise. And while I know that not all 1,500 posts have been the most interesting ones, they are proof of the life that I’m living and that I am making progress in many aspects of my life.
Posted onJanuary 16, 2018|Comments Off on Joining The 500 Club (or A Special Workout Class)
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I actually did 5 workouts last week. I had my normal workouts on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. But I also had a workout on Sunday as well. But this wasn’t just any workout. This workout was a class that you had to be invited to attend.
I found out that this class was only for the select few members who have done at least 500 classes. I don’t know exactly how many people have done that, but they mentioned that it was a pretty small number. And even though this workout would mean that I would end up doing 4 workouts in a row between last week and this week, I knew that I had to take the class no matter what! And the class was coached by Drew, who doesn’t usually teach when I go, so I wanted to make sure I made it for his class.
The class was a pretty tough one. It was strength based so there was a lot of inclines on the treadmills, heavy weights on the floor, and lots of rowing. There were 3 groups in the class so we did switch and that helped. But that doesn’t change that I think all of us wanted to show our best ability in class because we knew that we were an elite group. The social media manager for the studio was there taking videos and photos of us during class, and I saw myself on their Instagram feed after class was done.
This post isn’t a workout recap. To be honest, I don’t remember a ton about the workout because I was super focused on doing my best and not remembering what was happening each block. This post is about how I diminished and underestimated my accomplishments and never realized that I have become one of the hard-core members of my studio.
I’ve been going to Orangetheory at least 3 times a week every week since they opened. Since then, I’ve almost attended 650 classes (that does include my workouts in San Diego at Thanksgiving). That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment, but I just assumed that a lot of people have done that. I see a lot of the same people in class from week to week and I always thought that most of them take other classes at times that I don’t go. So while I know that over 600 classes is an accomplishment, I figured that a lot of people had done that.
But to realize that there weren’t that many of us who have done enough workouts to be invited to this class was eye-opening. I had to take a moment to think about it and realize how this shows my dedication to my fitness. This isn’t to say that people who haven’t done 500 classes aren’t dedicated. A lot of my friends either didn’t join as early as I did or go to other workouts throughout the week, and they are super dedicated too. But for me, who never probably did 500 classes of any other workouts combined, this is proof of my work. While I don’t see the proof all the time on my body, this has gotten it into my mind.
After the class was done, they had cake out in the lobby for us all.
I was going out to dinner right after the class so I skipped out on the cake. But they also had special Orangetheory hats for us all that had “500” embroidered on the back that I got. That is a really awesome hat and I know that I will wear it with pride!
I really love how my Orangetheory studio does special stuff like this for members. They always work on building us as a community and not just as random people who work out. It’s such a special feeling to know that I am part of an amazing group of athletes. Even if I don’t feel like one myself, I know that I am getting there. I can’t do as many workout as I have without at least making steps to being the elite athlete that so many members are!
I don’t know if there will be another milestone class thing like this. I am over halfway to 1,000 classes so maybe there will be one for that. But even if there aren’t other classes like this again for me, I love knowing that I have done over 500 classes and got to celebrate that accomplishment!
When I wrote my 900th post, I mentioned how the next milestone was going to be a huge one. And I really did view my 1,000 post to be a big milestone and I was super excited to get there. A few months ago, someone asked me when I would get to my 1,000th post and I checked and saw it was still a bit away. I was excited that it was coming up, but I didn’t focus too much on it because it was not coming up too soon. But perhaps I should have looked at my numbers more carefully because I realized this week that I actually had my 1,000th post almost 2 weeks ago!
My 1,000th post was the one about the cast and crew read through for the short film I’ll be starring in, so at least I had written about something fun! But I still feel really dumb for forgetting to remember a milestone that I had been looking forward to for so long! I hadn’t had a big blog post figured out for my 1,000th (I’m sure I would have figured out something if I planned in advance), but I would have loved to acknowledge it on the day that post went live. But instead, I’m doing that now on my 1,009th post!
Maybe me forgetting about this is a sign that writing this blog has just become almost like a habit for me. I don’t pay attention to how many posts I’ve written (or how many more I will write) and just enjoy writing on here and sharing whatever things are happening in my life. Sometimes I have fun things to share, sometimes I have massive writer’s block and I feel bad I’ve got nothing to tell you all. But sharing the truth in my life has just become normal to me and I think if I was forced to stop blogging for some reason that I would feel a huge hole in my life.
I’ve seen a bunch of articles lately about how right now there are too many bloggers out there, nobody is making money off of their blog, and eventually people are going to stop reading blogs. That’s fine with me. I’ve never made a penny with this blog (I would love to eventually, but I haven’t yet). While it’s been a while since I’ve had a day without readers, I would still write this blog even if nobody looked at it. I’ve said this so many times before, but this blog has become the therapy for me that I never knew I needed. It’s also become a memory book and there are times that I search my own blog to find out what date I had done something or gone to a certain event. I like that I have this record of this time in my life and hopefully I will be able to keep things up for many years to come.
I know I’ve said this before, but when I started this I thought that maybe my family and a couple of friends would read this. While a lot of people who read my blog are people who know me in real life too, I’ve met new people though the blog as well! It’s opened up new social circles and groups that have introduced some of the most amazing and incredible people to me. I’ve had opportunities that I don’t think I could have gotten without having this blog and I’m so grateful for everything that has come my way because of these 1,009 posts. I never would have imagined when I wrote my very first post that staying consistent with my writing and working hard at it would get me to this point. I honestly started the blog because a friend told me I should do it, so I jumped in without really thinking what I would do.
I have no clue what my next milestone post will be. I don’t think I’ll be thinking each 100 posts is a milestone and I don’t know if I would want to wait until my 2,000th post either. My blog anniversary is coming up soon and that will always be something to celebrate. But since this is really just a daily part of my life, I’m not sure if I want to celebrate every step since it is just my life and not anything extraordinary to me anymore.
But for now, here’s to 1,009 posts and the journey that I’ve been on and that you have all followed me on! Who knows where I will be when my 2,018th post comes out? I can’t wait to see!
Another Week Of My Own Hell Week (or Hell Month Is No Joke For Me)
