New Years Resolution. About Damn Time...

This is probably my 4th or 5th go at trying to write this blog. Within those attempts, I've easily come up with a dozen different goals, all of which I was never really happy with. That being said, I going to skip the fluff and jump right to my New Years resolution, as to avoid a 6th attempt at this.

My 2009 New Years resolution is to qualify for the 2010 CrossFit Games. There, I said it. No going back now. Onwards and upwards!

Okay, now onto the fluff...

Q: 2010 CrossFit Games? Isn't that... in 2010?

A: Yes. The regional qualifiers would be somewhere around May 2010, with the actual games in July of 2010. This gives me roughly 18 months to prepare.

Q: Why not the 2009 CrossFit Games?

A: I'm planning on participating in the regional qualifier, but it would be an extreme longshot for me to qualify (I'd put it up there with the Huskies chances of making a bowl game next year). Only 4 men and 4 women are taken from the NW Region.

Really, I'm just planning on going this year for fun and the experience. 6 months should be enough time to not completely embarrass myself, where 18 months should be enough time to actually reach a competitive level.

Q: So... this is your big goal that it took you two weeks to write down?

A: Encompassed within this goal are dozens of smaller goals that I am going to have to work to get to my destination. There are about 1-2 dozen benchmarks that I will be working towards over the next 18 months that will help gauge my process. On top of that, this is going to take a lot of dedication and commitment.

Q: What are some of these benchmarks?

A: CrossFit has a lot of daily workouts (WOD's) that serve as benchmarks that people can do to compare there level of fitness to others who are doing the same workouts. The most notorious of these is a workout called "Fran," which involves a round of each of the following:

21 Thrusters - 95 lbs. /21 Pull Ups

15 Thrusters - 95 lbs. /15 Pull Ups

9 Thrusters -95 lbs. / 9 Pull Ups

I believe the current record for this is 2 minutes and 5 seconds, however I don't believe this record is performed to competition standards, which includes full depth squats with no ball, and chest to bar pull ups. These additional requirements can add a significant amount of time, which make a 5 minute "Fran" competitive.

Another benchmark is what is referred to as a CrossFit Total. This is a total of your max deadlift, squat, and press. You are allowed 3 attempts at each and there are strict form guidelines that help to standardize the lifts. Anything over 1000 is pretty ridiculous. Especially considering that some of these guys are 160-165 lbs. A CFT of 900 is pretty competitive.

I am confident that I can reach many of these competitive levels in the next 18 month. The X-factor here is the fact that the CrossFit games is only now coming into its 3rd year. Two years ago, a CFT of 900 was considered amazing. Now, those same competitors are reaching 1000-1100.

Q: Uh... what is CrossFit again?

A: Visit www.crossfit.com for more information. I also have a short blog post on it if you don't feel like making the jump.

Here is a video from the 2008 CrossFit Games:

Q: Why this? Why not something else as your goal?

A: I could probably write an entire book about this, which would include much of my life story. To save you (and I) the pain of going through that, let's just go with the cliff-note version:

I find myself being at or around average at a lot of things. This makes CrossFit a good fit for me as it stresses a balance between all 10 aspects of fitness. I don't think that I'm great, or horrible at any one aspect, which makes me a fairly balanced person in regards to fitness. Do I see myself being the strongest person out there? Of course not. What I do see is the possibility of being above average and excelling at all of the aspects of fitness? Yes.

Aside from the whole physical aspects of this goal, I think this will also be a great challenge mentally. With all that in mind, that is how I came to this goal.

Q: What if you don't make it?

A: My fallback plan is to move to Japan and attempt to become The Ultimate Ninja Warrior.

*Note: Ugh... just tried to find the YouTube video of this but it looks like all of them were removed due to copyright infringements.

Q: What...

A: Sorry, that's all the time I have for questions tonight. In closing I'd just like to say that I am disappointed that we never found any weapons of mass destruction.

-dunkie