Yesterday being Winter Solstice, I figured it was time to take stock of how far I’d come this fall with my Fitness Challenge.

I ran a mile pace test today and was 10:39. While that doesn’t feel all that fast to me, it’s still a whopping 34 seconds off my last pace test in September.

Other results thus far:

Total pounds lost: 24
Inches lost off tummy: 4.5 (WOW!!!)
Inches lost off hips: 1
Inches lost off bustline: 3
Inches lost off thigh: 2.4 (each!)
Inches lost off wrist: no change
Inches lost off upper arm: N/A because didn’t take this metric back in September (but now I did, so I’ll have it documented for next time I record these stats).

My body fat %, oddly, stayed the same according to my home scale. That could be a glitch or it could be my diet is still poor. But either way, with the rest of the stats, I will take it!!

The best thing about these numbers is that I didn’t really make any major changes to get them. To be completely truthful, my diet is still pretty junky. I was just telling a story last night about how I was scarfing Taco Bell on my drive home from work :P I think mostly these positive results were more from just WORKING and doing physically hard, manual labor now as part of my daily job. Getting in and out (and in and out) of an ambulance is like doing a bunch of deep lunges. And picking up patients in the gurney is doing squats. Not to mention walking the halls of various hospitals (and they always keep the dialysis centers in the waaaaay back or in the basements, so many of my “bread and butter” calls have long walks involved!).

The other thing I changed is that I added lifting to my weekly routine. Earl and I have been meeting at the gym pretty regularly which I LOVE. We don’t do the same machines or anything, but for me just knowing that someone else is meeting you there is motivation to get up and go. I haven’t been nearly as consistent about lifting as I should; my goal was to go 3 times a week, and I had been pretty steady at just ONCE or twice for a while, but you know… I think even doing that has been enough to cause some changes.

Oh hey! Speaking of lifting, here are some more metrics I can document. These are the increases in my lifts since September: This is what I am at lifting for 3 sets of 10 reps, NOT MAX OUT:

Benchpress: @ 85, increase of 20lbs
Leg press: @ 230lbs, increase of 40lbs
Lat pull downs: N/A, because we just added these to my routine last week
Skull crushers: @30lbs, an increase of 10lbs
Shrugs with bar: @ 90lbs, increase of 70lbs (!!!!!)
Seated row: @ 80lbs, increase of 30lbs
Calve raise: @ 105, increase of 30lbs
Curls: @ 20lbs each hand, increase of 10lbs

So look at that. I am undeniably getting a lot stronger. That shrugs thing is CRAZY. I think it’s mainly because Earl (sometimes) lends me these little wrist grabber-y thingers that help you hold more weight. That way it apparently more your muscle strength maxing out and not your grip strength. I like those little grippers. I asked Earl for my own pair in my stocking this year, we’ll see what happens :P

On that note, I think I should add some grip strength stuff to my routine, mainly because grip strength is such a HUGE part of my daily job of being an EMT. We basically grab sheets and blankets and PULL. And it’s so, so important to have a locked down grip on the drawsheet because slippage could not only injure yourself, but also your partner and the patient.

As for my fitness-related goals from here on out, I am scaling back a bit on some things, and ramping up on others. At this point, I am not *so, so* concerned about the NUMBER weightwise, and am just going to be trying to get overall healthier and more fit. And while I do have a “goal” number which I would like to weigh under, I am not putting a time crunch on it, which is very contrary to how I have conducted myself previously. If it takes me until the spring, the summer, or heck even next fall to get there, so be it. I am not feeling any pressure or any rush. Here are my fitness goals for the upcoming year:

- weigh under 150lbs
- run 50 miles in a race
- bike 100 miles (have done this many times before, but sooo far away from where I am now!)
- pass the CPAT
- join a cycling club here in SF
- do yoga consistently
- lift 3x a week
- finish within the cutoff times for the Ohlone 50k
- hike or run a Peak a Week and report them here

Also, my Race Calendar for 2010 looks like this:

Feb: Woodside 10k
March: Pirates Cove 20k
May: Ohlone 50k (“A” race)
July: Headlands Marathon
October: Dirk Collins 50 miler (“A” race)

I picked mainly ultras and trail runs mostly because their registrations are so cheap! Coming from the world of triathlons, these races, often at $40 a pop, seem like a downright steal. Very refreshing :) And very within my budget!

I am so excited for the new year, happy with my progress, and proud of how far I’ve come. Bring on 2010!